I haven't been able to play in three days and I feel like I regressed. Dropped down in rank for the first time from 7 to 6 and not liking it. Just so damn frustrated at my play right now. Attempting to use Min Min and while I was able to fight back against a Helix, I just keep getting out played. Gonna take a breath and maybe try GP or Party for a bit.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
ARMS |OT| (-)-------------
- Thread starter Dandy Crocodile
- Start date
Nocturnowl
Member
It is troubling that running out the clock can seem like a legitimate tactic due to how defensive/evasive the game can be.
Even when not being cheesy about it there are times where when a hard fought even match is coming down to the wire and the timer is gonna go, that it seems like the safer option if you have a small life lead to just not attack since that's arguably a lot more risky than just keeping on the move while your opponent has no choice but to keep up the attack.
I wish the L/R buttons could be used at all. Id just map block to them.
TheGoreMagala
Member
Leafy and Jorpen use Min Min, Shrek uses Twintelle and Lucifer and Andy use Kid Cobra
As in arms.
Try putting the Megawatt on the left and Dragon on the right. You can use the charged Megawatt as a shield and do zoned chip damage with the dragon arm.
Hypothetically if you do this right you should be able to bait enemies into attacking you at close range and open up grab opportunities.
Interesting, I definitely need to get better at aiming the dragon. Been a lot of flukes thus far but I appreciate the suggestion!
TheGoreMagala
Member
Surpringly, despite being placed in the worst tier initially, everyone at around rank 15 uses Bibb (the black glove) in some fashion, it's pretty godlike at times.
Skellig Gra
Member
Oh man, I didn't even know double KO was a thing haha
Placebo effect?
People see bubbs at rank 15 scene and think "it must be the best arm!" *inserts bubb into loadout*
Yeah in the very first hour of the first Test Punch I got a win in a 1v1v1 because the other two players knocked each other out. Thought it was pretty funny.
I can see buff/bubb being underrated. They get larger when charged. The more I play I see that aim matters; it's viable to tag people's arms, go from yellow to red on just one, and then punish.
TheGoreMagala
Member
They're actually really effective, they go straight but they buff up in size allow for pretty strong attack but defense as well because of the size though stay fast due to being medium.
I'm not saying it's the best always, but it's definitely the best for the rank 15 scene and high skill play I've seen, and I don't think lower ranks are copying, I believe it's exclusive to the elite ranks since I thought it was a joke and never saw them until I got that high. In fact, Lucifer, a skilled Kid Cobra, is so good/confident in them that all three of his arms are Bubbs and I believe he's rank 14/14. Keep in mind I'm talking about the black one since I know there's a green one with a similar name.
Dragoshi1
Member
Either no one knows how to beat Poppers, or Poppers are OP.
Randomly decided to throw it on my Mechanica after a losing streak, made an absolute comeback, got to +4 in party mode. Double Poppers are awesome, and it's a great punishing ARM for those who spam dodging/grabs.
And Hammer is much better than I originally thought. Never understood how it works exactly, but now I appreciate it.
Randomly decided to throw it on my Mechanica after a losing streak, made an absolute comeback, got to +4 in party mode. Double Poppers are awesome, and it's a great punishing ARM for those who spam dodging/grabs.
And Hammer is much better than I originally thought. Never understood how it works exactly, but now I appreciate it.
TheGoreMagala
Member
They definitely aren't OP, you just have to be careful.
Can.....someone help me with this game? I'm really struggling. I'm getting my ass absolutely handed to me in Level 3 Grand Prix.
I have no problem with motion controls. I was great with Skyward Sword, Wii Sports, even SSX Blur and Wonderful 101 and Kid Icarus were darling to me. It's not the controls themselves. I can maneuver and punch and that all feels fine.
I just can't get a grip on how to play this. I feel like I'm just endlessly dashing to the side until I get an opening to attack. Placing offensively wasn't working so I play defensively to slightly more success, but I still get beaten up so badly. Is Level 3 really this hard?
I'm normally pretty good at games, and I really love the controls and presentation, I just don't know if I 'get' it. I get destroyed. Someone please help.
I have no problem with motion controls. I was great with Skyward Sword, Wii Sports, even SSX Blur and Wonderful 101 and Kid Icarus were darling to me. It's not the controls themselves. I can maneuver and punch and that all feels fine.
I just can't get a grip on how to play this. I feel like I'm just endlessly dashing to the side until I get an opening to attack. Placing offensively wasn't working so I play defensively to slightly more success, but I still get beaten up so badly. Is Level 3 really this hard?
I'm normally pretty good at games, and I really love the controls and presentation, I just don't know if I 'get' it. I get destroyed. Someone please help.
QuixoticNeutral
Member
Well, I went ahead and did it: cleared GP 4 with Helix and his (its?) default arms.
By this point I'd already blown through this difficulty level with seven other characters and felt totally comfortable with it. But Helix was a whole step up, not so much because of Helix but because of the arms, just as expected. It didn't help that Ninjara was the first opponent. The whole run took me an hour and a half, noticeably longer than any other run on level 4 since my first GP on day one, and the first half-hour was all Ninjarathe hardest match against the CPU I've had all week, Hedlok included, as I was figuring out my options on the fly and didn't really know what I was doing. It's one thing to understand the fundamentals of the game, but another to apply them with the Blorb, Ice Dragon, and Guardian. And the Ninjara fight certainly forced me to learn how to contain him with the Guardian so he wouldn't reach around every single thing I (slowly) threw at him.
For those of you crazy enough to try thiswell, first of all, ask yourself if you really want to do it, but if you do, here are a few notes:
- Rush attacks with these arms are too slow to be useful unless you get in really close. Even if the CPU opponent has its arms out behind you, it will be able to retract them in time to block before your rush can hit them. I played the entire GP with almost no successful rushes (despite consistently landing them with every other character), to the point that in most cases, I didn't even bother anymore, so a failed rush wouldn't expose me to a counter.
- If for some reason you have a Guardian extended when the opponent triggers a rush, and you are not in position to block or dodge (or poke the opponent out of the rush) in time, you can still strafe behind the Guardian and mitigate about half of the incoming damage.
- A few rounds in, I started to find that I had the best success with keeping a distance and poking with the Ice Dragon: it's very easy to cheese the CPU with successive charged hits since the ice effect kills their movement. This also quickly teaches you how to aim a dragon beam. For most fights I kept the Ice Dragon on my right for a poke and a Blorb on my left for defence only. Block -> duck -> beam was my standard sequence, as it charged the arm and also let me sneak the beam under incoming punches without getting hit.
- Double Ice Dragon works just fine for V-Ball, which is good, as I didn't even try the Blorb or Guardian here and can't imagine they are at all useful.
- The outer perimeter of Max Brass's stage is too low for attacking in puddle form. It's better to control the centre here and force the opponent to the outside, so you can make full use of Helix's whole range of height options.
- Strangely, given how hard it was to push through the early bouts, especially in the very first match, this was the easiest time I've ever had with Hedlok. Mostly it was that I had the Ice Dragon method down cold by then, but it also helped that a successful ice shot cuts off his hammer attack, and the Blorb can hold its own against any weight class to get me out of trouble.
Glad I did this once. Not going to do it twice. And I'm sure somebody here will claim to have done it already on GP 7.
By this point I'd already blown through this difficulty level with seven other characters and felt totally comfortable with it. But Helix was a whole step up, not so much because of Helix but because of the arms, just as expected. It didn't help that Ninjara was the first opponent. The whole run took me an hour and a half, noticeably longer than any other run on level 4 since my first GP on day one, and the first half-hour was all Ninjarathe hardest match against the CPU I've had all week, Hedlok included, as I was figuring out my options on the fly and didn't really know what I was doing. It's one thing to understand the fundamentals of the game, but another to apply them with the Blorb, Ice Dragon, and Guardian. And the Ninjara fight certainly forced me to learn how to contain him with the Guardian so he wouldn't reach around every single thing I (slowly) threw at him.
For those of you crazy enough to try thiswell, first of all, ask yourself if you really want to do it, but if you do, here are a few notes:
- Rush attacks with these arms are too slow to be useful unless you get in really close. Even if the CPU opponent has its arms out behind you, it will be able to retract them in time to block before your rush can hit them. I played the entire GP with almost no successful rushes (despite consistently landing them with every other character), to the point that in most cases, I didn't even bother anymore, so a failed rush wouldn't expose me to a counter.
- If for some reason you have a Guardian extended when the opponent triggers a rush, and you are not in position to block or dodge (or poke the opponent out of the rush) in time, you can still strafe behind the Guardian and mitigate about half of the incoming damage.
- A few rounds in, I started to find that I had the best success with keeping a distance and poking with the Ice Dragon: it's very easy to cheese the CPU with successive charged hits since the ice effect kills their movement. This also quickly teaches you how to aim a dragon beam. For most fights I kept the Ice Dragon on my right for a poke and a Blorb on my left for defence only. Block -> duck -> beam was my standard sequence, as it charged the arm and also let me sneak the beam under incoming punches without getting hit.
- Double Ice Dragon works just fine for V-Ball, which is good, as I didn't even try the Blorb or Guardian here and can't imagine they are at all useful.
- The outer perimeter of Max Brass's stage is too low for attacking in puddle form. It's better to control the centre here and force the opponent to the outside, so you can make full use of Helix's whole range of height options.
- Strangely, given how hard it was to push through the early bouts, especially in the very first match, this was the easiest time I've ever had with Hedlok. Mostly it was that I had the Ice Dragon method down cold by then, but it also helped that a successful ice shot cuts off his hammer attack, and the Blorb can hold its own against any weight class to get me out of trouble.
Glad I did this once. Not going to do it twice. And I'm sure somebody here will claim to have done it already on GP 7.
TheGoreMagala
Member
I thought after 5 days you get to see your play time? It's been five days but nada
QuixoticNeutral
Member
It's ten.
TheGoreMagala
Member
That'll be an ungodly play time then
Spehornoob
Member
Doing a little better at GP3 now.
Playing as Master Mummy. Realized I can use one Megaton ARM to cancel out enemy's punches, and use one other arm for primary offense. That helps a lot.
Playing as Master Mummy. Realized I can use one Megaton ARM to cancel out enemy's punches, and use one other arm for primary offense. That helps a lot.
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
Dove in more tonight finally. Played through GP3 and GP4. Much salt was had, but got through it. Pretty lame to lock ranked behind GP4. Pretty sure I learned nothing of use there as I only got through with Ribbon Girl once I switched to double poppers and mostly cheesed battles with chipping away with those and baiting throws and often just dodging around the last 20 seconds to win rounds on health.
There's nothing else locked behind GP mode right? I'd rather just focus on MP from here out.
There's nothing else locked behind GP mode right? I'd rather just focus on MP from here out.
Spehornoob
Member
Never mind my last post. Fuck Kid Cobra. He jumps around like a fucking rabbit the whole time.
Did you jump right into GP3 by any chance? Also, who are you using? Are you taking full advantage of their gimmick/abilities? Do you have the hang of charging your arms?
A couple of things:
1. Load up Versus, 1p fight, hit Set Rules, infinite timer, infinite health, no items, stationary CPU. Now you have a training dummy. Wail away and see if you really understood how your Arms worked, etc.
2. Don't be afraid to stay at a GP level, or even go down a level, until you are completely confident clearing it- not just succeeding once, but able to reliably crush all fights. If that means messing around on 2 for a while there's nothing wrong with that. You need to really get a feel for all the systems at play rather than just scraping by and not improving.
You can check out this FAQ to see if it includes any questions you have or useful info.
There is absolutely a steep learning curve, but if you stick with it and it clicks, it's great.
I'm here to help if you have specific questions. I will be beating GP4 with every character and default arms only at some point, so this will be me soon. Thank you for the write up.
I think your perspective on this is kind of fascinating. We're approaching the issue completely differently from the very premise.
From the get-go you're operating on the level of: "what if I am matched up against x character, because I don't know what my opponent will pick? This could result in an unfair matchup."
With that basic dilemma in mind, I can't think of any fighting game that solves it, or even makes a direct attempt to do so. Not all matchups will be equal- this is par for the course, it's by design.
What Arms does is allow you to switch between 3 arms, on each hand, at the outset of each round. So let's pretend first that you are locked into only the default 3 starting arms for each character. Here we already have more customization per matchup than found in a more traditional fighter. Oh, you're matched up against x? Doubling up on Arm 2 is going to be better against them than what I was planning. Oh, but yikes, they're using arms that trump those- for the second round I should switch it up and try one of Arm 1 and one of Arm 3. I beat them the second round, but now they can mix up their arms as well of course...
Now, add in the element of further customization that allows you to choose any 3 arms for your loadout. You can decide the mix of versatility and specialization to bring to the table, and how to utilize them between rounds. You say bringing an arm that specifically helps you deal with Helix isn't reasonable because he's rarely played. Well..if he' s giving you trouble when he is, maybe that's a perfectly good reason to use one of your 3 arms to prepare for that potential situation. You have two others to handle those that remain. Simultaneously, the notion that characters may be likely to be unprepared arms-wise when facing a character that is rarely played... sounds like a valid reason for someone to choose a rarely-played character.
It's not about making every round as fair as possible. These are strategic and tactical decisions introduced by the system that would be removed allowing you to pick literally any arm before every round. My opinion is that it would make the game worse, not better.
I'm totally curious to hear how others feel about this.
Spehornoob
Member
Me tonight:
Discovered that today too, went down together with Master Mummy as Spring Man.
Definitely struggled more with Spring Man.
Think this game might've broken the L button on my left joycon already...
Spring Man is the most i've struggled to get through rank 3 so far. Helix i straight-up failed, though i see how he can be good.
I want to give Min Min another chance, see if i can get up to 7 clears of rank 3, then filter four of those out for rank 4.
Did you jump right into GP3 by any chance? Also, who are you using? Are you taking full advantage of their gimmick/abilities? Do you have the hang of charging your arms?
A couple of things:
1. Load up Versus, 1p fight, hit Set Rules, infinite timer, infinite health, no items, stationary CPU. Now you have a training dummy. Wail away and see if you really understood how your Arms worked, etc.
2. Don't be afraid to stay at a GP level, or even go down a level, until you are completely confident clearing it- not just succeeding once, but able to reliably crush all fights. If that means messing around on 2 for a while there's nothing wrong with that. You need to really get a feel for all the systems at play rather than just scraping by and not improving.
You can check out this FAQ to see if it includes any questions you have or useful info.
There is absolutely a steep learning curve, but if you stick with it and it clicks, it's great.
Thanks Hawkian, I'm on it! Will be back in here tomorrow with my impressions.
Any suggestions on starter fighters? I've been going with Ribbon Girl and Spring man and their regular punching arms to start off.
Those are good starter picks from what I understand!
Did you start on GP1 and have no trouble with it?
I'm not going to lie, I started on GP3. I figured GP1-2 would be baby-tier, but....looks like I was wrong.
Going to jump into GP1 and GP2 tonight. I did struggle my way through GP3 with Ribbon Girl once, but every win felt lucky.
I never expect the AI to be so good in this game. I figured only GP6 and 7 would give me a hard time. At this rate, I don't think I'll ever beat GP7.
Did you jump right into GP3 by any chance? Also, who are you using? Are you taking full advantage of their gimmick/abilities? Do you have the hang of charging your arms?
A couple of things:
1. Load up Versus, 1p fight, hit Set Rules, infinite timer, infinite health, no items, stationary CPU. Now you have a training dummy. Wail away and see if you really understood how your Arms worked, etc.
2. Don't be afraid to stay at a GP level, or even go down a level, until you are completely confident clearing it- not just succeeding once, but able to reliably crush all fights. If that means messing around on 2 for a while there's nothing wrong with that. You need to really get a feel for all the systems at play rather than just scraping by and not improving.
You can check out this FAQ to see if it includes any questions you have or useful info.
There is absolutely a steep learning curve, but if you stick with it and it clicks, it's great.
I will be beating GP4 with every character and default arms only at some point, so this will be me soon. Thank you for the write up.
I think your perspective on this is kind of fascinating. We're approaching the issue completely differently from the very premise.
From the get-go you're operating on the level of: "what if I am matched up against x character, because I don't know what my opponent will pick? This could result in an unfair matchup."
With that basic dilemma in mind, I can't think of any fighting game that solves it, or even makes a direct attempt to do so. Not all matchups will be equal- this is par for the course, it's by design.
What Arms does is allow you to switch between 3 arms, on each hand, at the outset of each round. So let's pretend first that you are locked into only the default 3 starting arms for each character. Here we already have more customization per matchup than found in a more traditional fighter. Oh, you're matched up against x? Doubling up on Arm 2 is going to be better against them than what I was planning. Oh, but yikes, they're using arms that trump those- for the second round I should switch it up and try one of Arm 1 and one of Arm 3. I beat them the second round, but now they can mix up their arms as well of course...
Now, add in the element of further customization that allows you to choose any 3 arms for your loadout. You can decide the mix of versatility and specialization to bring to the table, and how to utilize them between rounds. You say bringing an arm that specifically helps you deal with Helix isn't reasonable because he's rarely played. Well..if he' s giving you trouble when he is, maybe that's a perfectly good reason to use one of your 3 arms to prepare for that potential situation. You have two others to handle those that remain. Simultaneously, the notion that characters may be likely to be unprepared arms-wise when facing a character that is rarely played... sounds like a valid reason for someone to choose a rarely-played character.
It's not about making every round as fair as possible. These are strategic and tactical decisions introduced by the system that would be removed allowing you to pick literally any arm before every round. My opinion is that it would make the game worse, not better.
I'm totally curious to hear how others feel about this.
You are doing good work, bud. Thanks for this.
The difficulty in this game progresses differently than most. It's a lot more iterative and less bulletpoint-ey in my experience. I once thought GP3 was hard as fuck, but it taught me how to counter a lot of GP4 stuff. Now both are pretty easy, and those difficulties taught me how to get there.
Re Loadouts in competitive.
I think you have to pick 1 of 2 options.
1. Allow character swaps between rounds or
2. Allow Arm swaps mid round.
Given how each characters special abilities are quite unique (and hard to learn) I personally would go with allowing ARM swaps every round. I think it creates a good tactical element while keeping matches visually cohesive.
I think thats important when it comes to fight promotion, you can promote it as Ribbon Girl vs Twintelle ect. If you were watching ARMS on TV and the fighters changed characters while you went to the kitchen for a drink, you would be confused as to why it was different fighters. This would be especially true if you were a casual viewer who stumbled upon a fight while chanel surfing.
I also think that this distinction allows you to class ARMS characters like Boxing classes weight divisions. This would ultimately be good for tournaments as you could rank players per character/division and eliminate any Tier list whining.
Sure some characters will have advantages over others, but if you want a fair fight you can just engage in mirror matches. That way people who like lesser tiered characters wont be at a competitive disadvantage aside from at big Any Character tournaments.
I think you have to pick 1 of 2 options.
1. Allow character swaps between rounds or
2. Allow Arm swaps mid round.
Given how each characters special abilities are quite unique (and hard to learn) I personally would go with allowing ARM swaps every round. I think it creates a good tactical element while keeping matches visually cohesive.
I think thats important when it comes to fight promotion, you can promote it as Ribbon Girl vs Twintelle ect. If you were watching ARMS on TV and the fighters changed characters while you went to the kitchen for a drink, you would be confused as to why it was different fighters. This would be especially true if you were a casual viewer who stumbled upon a fight while chanel surfing.
I also think that this distinction allows you to class ARMS characters like Boxing classes weight divisions. This would ultimately be good for tournaments as you could rank players per character/division and eliminate any Tier list whining.
Sure some characters will have advantages over others, but if you want a fair fight you can just engage in mirror matches. That way people who like lesser tiered characters wont be at a competitive disadvantage aside from at big Any Character tournaments.
Yeah, it's designed for you to go through each to improve gradually- and here's the thing: don't just be able to beat a GP before moving on to the next one, be confident as hell with it. (You probably will be on 1 to start with, but just in case). Be able to kick a GP's ass before moving on to the next. They really don't take long at all once you're good- even if that might seem impossible right now.
Don't count yourself out yet. The first time I did GP4 (believe it or not, there's a massive difficulty spike from 3 to 4), I found it incredibly hard- like, 15+ retries on some fights... A day and a half later I could completely blast through it without issue on mulitple characters.
Hehe thanks a ton. I love this stuff.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
Yeah, I really don't have a fucking clue how to play this game. Even getting my ass handed to me, even by AI. My punches miss all of the time, I can't dodge for shit. What a joke. Any advice would be appreciated.
First, some general notes that apply to all ARMS and the interplay between them.
Arms have either a Light, Medium, or Heavy weight, with a simple "greater-than" dynamic (not rock-paper-scissors as sometimes misnamed).
Punching at one another:
When Arms match weights, they will both fall to the ground, and then recover to both players.
When a heavier arm hits a lighter arm, the heavier weight beats the lighter and continues attacking.
So,
Light matches Light and beats nothing.
Medium beats Light, matches Medium and is beaten by Heavy.
Heavy matches Heavy, and beats everything else.
During rush, all Arms gain +1 weight. A Heavy can beat anything except another Rush Heavy, a Rush Medium matches a regular heavy and beats a regular medium, and so on.
One unique note on priority in addition to the weight classes: The rapid-fire Multi-Shot arms, Revolver and Retorcher, can but thought of as firing three lights in a row. against a single Light Arm attack two of the three shots will still penetrate, fired through two Light Arms, a single shot may still penetrate. Mediums and Heavys simply absorb all three shots if they contact one another; though notably, several of the Multi-Shots fire in patterns that can sneak individual projectiles around Medium or Heavy arms to make the hit.
Activating your charge imbues your Arms with special properties and sometimes boosted stats.
Three Arms have no element or effect associated with them: Megaton, Buff, and Bubb. Instead, these Arms increase their hitbox size when charged.
The remaining Arms have one of the 7 elements as follows:
When you unlocked a duplicate of an Arm you already own for a character, it gets a one-time upgrade to a plus version, with 10 higher base damage. Some also give slightly higher recovery speed, and Megaton, Megawatt, Whammer and Guardian give +5 to throw damage.
Plus Arms do not increase Rush damage.
All Arms in ARMS have an identical maximum range; the range they extend to if you whiff. You may have encountered the situation where you and your target are seemingly just inches outside of one another's effective range, with arms stopping in front of your face. This maximum distance also represents the maximum amount of rush meter you can gain with a single punch, because meter is gained gradually while a punch is traveling.
Different classes of Arms have wildly different times-to-reach-max-range, a metric that is confounded ever further by Arms hitbox size per character. Arms within each class have much subtler variations to either their starting hitbox size or their hitbox size on charge (thus slightly affecting recovery), travel speed outright, or recovery time outright.
Simply measuring travel speed of a single punch and comparing it to the travel speed of another is inadequate because punches will often be thrown in rapid succession over the course of a fight. Furthermore, even slight variances in travel speed may come into play when two punches are thrown simultaneously at each opponent and the aim is true- the first one to hit may interrupt the incoming punch or even end the match.
In order to properly compare relative speeds with all the different Arms, we developed two metrics that quantify "overall punch speed" in two ways that can help with selecting your loadout. One is relevant to Arms that are doubled-up/dual-wielded (same Arm in both hands), and one regards builds with a different Arm in each hand. These are called MPPM (multiple punches per minue) and SPPM (single punches per minutes). These values represent not how fast any one punch is, but the notion of "how many punches you can squeeze out over the course of the match." Because of all the variables in testing, these numbers should not be taken as literal, but relative metrics for comparing the speed of one Arm to another.
MPPM (multiple punches per minute): When dual wielding Arms, you can send one punch out until fully extended, and then when its recovery is in process, fire off the other, so that you have a continuous rhythm of punches that is much faster than you could achieve firing just one Arm as rapidly as possible. The more familar you become with the exact frame timing of your Arms' recovery, the more MPPM you can muster from a given dual set of arms- the risk of firing too fast, of course, is that you sent out your second arm before the first one is on its way back, leaving both deployed and your fighter defenseless, as well as breaking this rhythm for max efficiency.
SPPM (single punches per minute): To obtain relative speeds of arms for single-wielding, we simply fired off the same arm as quickly as the animations would allow within the course of ten seconds. SPPM can be thought of as a measurement of speed including full recovery time, and perception-wise affects how fast an Arm "feels" as part of a split Arm build. Because travel speed and recovery times vary, MPPM is not equivalent to double SPPM and in some extreme cases (Dragons, the Mega- series) is only slightly higher.
When the variable differences are slight, the effects are felt more easily over prolonged/continuous/multiple punches (MPPM) and may not be noticeable at all in the SPPM of the same arm.
TL;DR: Higher MPPM (multiple punches per minute) and SPPM (single punches per minute) correspond to Arms feeling faster overall.
Note: This data was collected through exhaustive testing using Helix's tower mode state to permanently charge all shots, and fire as many as possible in the span of 10 seconds; this was then extrapolated into a per-minute rate. In some cases, after multiple tests, Arms seemed to different by a fraction of a punch within the 10 second window. In these cases a range of punches per minute you may be able to achieve are listed. (many thanks for Gore for the hours in the lab)
Now, onto the categories... - Continue to Part II
|_____Weight_____|
Arms have either a Light, Medium, or Heavy weight, with a simple "greater-than" dynamic (not rock-paper-scissors as sometimes misnamed).
Punching at one another:
When Arms match weights, they will both fall to the ground, and then recover to both players.
When a heavier arm hits a lighter arm, the heavier weight beats the lighter and continues attacking.
So,
Light matches Light and beats nothing.
Medium beats Light, matches Medium and is beaten by Heavy.
Heavy matches Heavy, and beats everything else.
During rush, all Arms gain +1 weight. A Heavy can beat anything except another Rush Heavy, a Rush Medium matches a regular heavy and beats a regular medium, and so on.
One unique note on priority in addition to the weight classes: The rapid-fire Multi-Shot arms, Revolver and Retorcher, can but thought of as firing three lights in a row. against a single Light Arm attack two of the three shots will still penetrate, fired through two Light Arms, a single shot may still penetrate. Mediums and Heavys simply absorb all three shots if they contact one another; though notably, several of the Multi-Shots fire in patterns that can sneak individual projectiles around Medium or Heavy arms to make the hit.
|____Element/Effect____|
Activating your charge imbues your Arms with special properties and sometimes boosted stats.
Three Arms have no element or effect associated with them: Megaton, Buff, and Bubb. Instead, these Arms increase their hitbox size when charged.
The remaining Arms have one of the 7 elements as follows:
- Blind - Blind puts a blue smear across a human player's screen, obstructing their vision. This is extremely annoying to me, and has no effect on the CPU.
Pros: New or unconfident players will be unable to maintain calm while Blind and can be easily attacked for the duration of the effect.
Cons: Seasoned players will not panic and simply play defensively until the effect is gone. Currently, the effect is only on Blorb, one of the most difficult Arms to succeed with.
- Electric- Electric Arms disable an opponents Arms and render them unable to move or guard for a brief time. They are completely vulnerable in this state and typically punished with a Grab or Rush.
Pros: The effect is extremely disorienting and punishable when applied for its full duration. Electric Arms are dominant to the point of even seeming broken in early play. New players will panic when hit with this effect, leading to sloppy play and a quick end to the match.
Cons: Electric arms have the lowest overall damage in their class, and tend to be the slowest in class as well. The electric effect is applied exactly on hit and its duration lasts the same amount of time regardless of Arm or circumstance. In the case of being the second hit of a combo (which knocks an opponent to the ground) or hitting an opponent in the air (at which point they will fall to the ground while stunned) the stun may not last long enough to punish. In either of these cases, the charged punch was essentially equivalent to a regular punch, with no added damage and lower than average damage in its class.
- Explosive- When charged, Explosive arms hit, then explode for a second hit with extra damage and knockdown.
Pros: The explosions have a wide blast radius and are great for catching slippery enemies. Players who did not notice the charge may guard, stop guarding after the initial hit, forgetting about the delayed explosion. Being hit multiple times with charged explosive shots can be very intimidating and cause panicked play.
Cons: The explosion is capable of damaging the user too. Watch your distance. If struck by another Arm directly they will explode, even if right at your sides. Characters with high arm girth are somewhat at a disadvantage using explosive Arms since they can be more easily hit.
- Fire- Any charged hit with Fire immediately knocks an opponent to the ground.
Pros: Knockdown is useful, but Fire weapons also tend to be the most damaging and among the fastest in their class.
Cons: Hitting someone with a Fire arm eliminates the possibility of a 1-2 followup because they'll already be knocked down. Follow up hits once an opponent is hit/set on fire do only 20 damage.
- Ice- Ice dramatically reduces movement speed and renders the victim unable to jump or dash.
Pros: Like Electric, this effect is incredibly disorienting at a low level and can cause panic play among the uninitiated. resulting in a quick victory. Mobile characters will often use muscle memory to try to escape only to squirm helplessly. Opponents can be "re-iced" by hitting them again after waiting longer than the window for a 1-2 combo but prior to the ice fully wearing off.
Cons: Seasoned players will simply guard and break throw attempts with punches while frozen instead of trying to mode. All of the inefficiences of electric (potentially missing out on the effect due to hit in the air or knockdown) still apply, but Ice arms do gain some additional damage from charge.
- Stun - A bit of an anomaly, charged Stun hits provide an additional bit of hitstun after a charged attack. It is effective at enabling follow-up 1-2 combos, but is not enough of a stun to punish with a Grab or Rush. Stun is best evaluated in terms of the Arms on which it appears; there are only 3 and each is fairly unique.
Pros: When used as the opener of a 1-2 combo, guarantees the hit even if the opponent attempts to guard as quickly as possible. Only found on Arms that have fairly unique applications and have no Electric equivalent.
Cons: Stun is a brief duration. When it hits as the second hit in a 1-2 combo, the knockdown overrides the stun and the effect is lost. Full effect is minimized against airborne enemies as they would not have had the option to block anyway.
- Wind - Charged hits with Wind do the damage, then cause a small tornado lifting the enemy for a potential juggle.
Pros: Though tough to pull off, a follow-up hit to a juggle is free and satisfying. This effect can be disorienting to new/untrained players. Two very high-ticket Arms are Wind type and offer unique advantages. If used as the second hit in a 1-2 combo, it provides for one of the only ways that such a combo can be ended without knockdown. Most notably, the launch can be followed by a Rush for a confirmed hit. Wind-centered builds should focus on using this (Charged Hit + Super).
Cons: Juggle damage is not particularly high compared to other follow-up options. Difficult to hit juggled enemies in many cases. If used as the first hit in a 1-2 combo, the effect may lessen the potential damage and increase the difficulty of the second hit.
|____Plus Arms____|
When you unlocked a duplicate of an Arm you already own for a character, it gets a one-time upgrade to a plus version, with 10 higher base damage. Some also give slightly higher recovery speed, and Megaton, Megawatt, Whammer and Guardian give +5 to throw damage.
Plus Arms do not increase Rush damage.
|____Distance____|
All Arms in ARMS have an identical maximum range; the range they extend to if you whiff. You may have encountered the situation where you and your target are seemingly just inches outside of one another's effective range, with arms stopping in front of your face. This maximum distance also represents the maximum amount of rush meter you can gain with a single punch, because meter is gained gradually while a punch is traveling.
|____A Note on Speed____|
Calculating the effective speed of Arms is more difficult than expected.
Different classes of Arms have wildly different times-to-reach-max-range, a metric that is confounded ever further by Arms hitbox size per character. Arms within each class have much subtler variations to either their starting hitbox size or their hitbox size on charge (thus slightly affecting recovery), travel speed outright, or recovery time outright.
Simply measuring travel speed of a single punch and comparing it to the travel speed of another is inadequate because punches will often be thrown in rapid succession over the course of a fight. Furthermore, even slight variances in travel speed may come into play when two punches are thrown simultaneously at each opponent and the aim is true- the first one to hit may interrupt the incoming punch or even end the match.
In order to properly compare relative speeds with all the different Arms, we developed two metrics that quantify "overall punch speed" in two ways that can help with selecting your loadout. One is relevant to Arms that are doubled-up/dual-wielded (same Arm in both hands), and one regards builds with a different Arm in each hand. These are called MPPM (multiple punches per minue) and SPPM (single punches per minutes). These values represent not how fast any one punch is, but the notion of "how many punches you can squeeze out over the course of the match." Because of all the variables in testing, these numbers should not be taken as literal, but relative metrics for comparing the speed of one Arm to another.
MPPM (multiple punches per minute): When dual wielding Arms, you can send one punch out until fully extended, and then when its recovery is in process, fire off the other, so that you have a continuous rhythm of punches that is much faster than you could achieve firing just one Arm as rapidly as possible. The more familar you become with the exact frame timing of your Arms' recovery, the more MPPM you can muster from a given dual set of arms- the risk of firing too fast, of course, is that you sent out your second arm before the first one is on its way back, leaving both deployed and your fighter defenseless, as well as breaking this rhythm for max efficiency.
SPPM (single punches per minute): To obtain relative speeds of arms for single-wielding, we simply fired off the same arm as quickly as the animations would allow within the course of ten seconds. SPPM can be thought of as a measurement of speed including full recovery time, and perception-wise affects how fast an Arm "feels" as part of a split Arm build. Because travel speed and recovery times vary, MPPM is not equivalent to double SPPM and in some extreme cases (Dragons, the Mega- series) is only slightly higher.
When the variable differences are slight, the effects are felt more easily over prolonged/continuous/multiple punches (MPPM) and may not be noticeable at all in the SPPM of the same arm.
TL;DR: Higher MPPM (multiple punches per minute) and SPPM (single punches per minute) correspond to Arms feeling faster overall.
Note: This data was collected through exhaustive testing using Helix's tower mode state to permanently charge all shots, and fire as many as possible in the span of 10 seconds; this was then extrapolated into a per-minute rate. In some cases, after multiple tests, Arms seemed to different by a fraction of a punch within the 10 second window. In these cases a range of punches per minute you may be able to achieve are listed. (many thanks for Gore for the hours in the lab)
Now, onto the categories... - Continue to Part II
Below are descriptions of the arm classes:
|____Legend____|
Listing for each Arm class
-Intro paragraph explaining Class of Arm and its use case(s)
-Aim Type: How the class of arm is aimed; whether curve is decided before or after release and how much its path can be affected after release.
-Rush Type: Description of rush and damage (exact damage depends on damage of individual arm)
-Counters: Gameplay tactics and Arms that are useful to counter this class
|
|
Gloves
|
Description: Gloves can be thought of as the most basic type, sure. But they are also some of the most versatile and potent in the game. They have solid damage, solid speed, solid curvability and ease of use. In many situations, a glove type Arm is basically your safest bet across the board, and as such all of the gloves are valuable from your first Arms match to the highest-tier play in the world. Gloves are also perfect for practicing the fundamentals of the game in its purest form.
Aim Type: Very straightforward, gloves can be aimed a bit prior to throwing,
even in an upward arc, and then curved to a reasonably high degree while traveling. They are good practice for the idea of curving punches in general.
Rush Type: A straightforward barrage of direct punches, ending with a finisher as your meter expires. The Rush can be held off and the player can manuever in between any punches leading up to the finisher. Double gloves are able to punch many times but it is difficult to land every possible hit from both and only one finisher can hit. Maximum damage per arm is 190-215.
Counters: Good fundamentals, footwork and evasion; Arms with wider or unusual curves, because gloves users tend not to be focused as much toward their sides; Arms with "stopping power" like the Revolver/Retorcher/Hydra/Triblast, Megaton, and Megawatt can interrupt the onslaught or simply override in the case of the Heavies with properly timed single throws; Popper and Cracker can outclass them for pure speed.
----
|
|
Multi-Shot
|
Description: Multi-Shot arms are about the closest you'll get to traditional projectile weapons in a game in which everything is a projectile. These light weapons empower you to attack safely from a distance and sometimes completely pin down opponents through either a wide attack radius or rapid-fire. These can worm their way past even Medium and Heavy arms to get the hit with their unusual spread patterns or multiple shots. They can be subdivided into the horizontal and vertical spread-fire Arms (Tribolt, Triblast and Hydra) and the burst-fire Arms (Revolver and Retorcher). For Arms that fire more than one projectile, damage is done as a first and second hit, then causing knockdown. If only one hit connects, only the first number applies. Additional juggles/hits after the second are very difficult and will always do 20 damage.
Aim Type: The projectiles are shot in the direction you throw the initial punch, and then can be curved lightly during flight.
Rush Type: Shoot a rapid-fire barrage of the original projectile; opponent will bounce after one cycle of firing and need to be juggled in the air for full damage. Maximum damage per arm is 165-210.
Counters: While they can be intimidating sending so much lead, electricity, fire or explosions at your face, every single Multi-Shot weapon is a Light arm, meaning the shots can be plowed through with well placed Medium (or Heavy) ARMS. The spread-fire ones also have predictable horizontal or vertical paths that can be jumped over or sidestepped respectively (though when doubled up, they can cover a huge radius).
----
Birds
Description: Birds offer flexible, unpredictable curve options, anti-air, high Rush meter gain per throw, and outstanding Rush attacks in exchange for fairly long, slow travel arcs and very visible but small hitboxes. They are easy to spot and block against and tricky to hit with, but solid in every area with skilled use. As a Medium, with sharp aim these can counter the Multi-Shots and Poppers to some extent. Offers the only option available for a high-curve Electric arm.
Aim Type: Birds are aimed in any direction before throwing and can be sent out with a variety of curve options, including "forehand and backhand" in either direction or a straight shot. They are also one of the few arms in the game that can be thrown in upward arcs. Cannot be controlled after throw.
Rush Type: One of the most reliable Rushes to punish an enemy opening with, the bird is thrown with fast flight and on contact, follows up with a number of automatic hits. If the initial hit misses, the Rush ends immediately. No additional input is required and if the first hit connects, full damage is guaranteed. Maximum damage per Rush is 170-175.
Counters: Long arcs and small hitboxes mean that aggression and straight punches, especially from Gloves, consistently interrupting flight will limit the birds' use. As ranged tools, they are generally passed over in favor of more consistent options, but do have potential to build around.
----
Boomerangs
Description: Boomerangs offer extremely wide, unpredictable and versatile curve arcs, unique element options, and high rush meter gain per throw with the tradeoff of poor direct/straight attack ability, low damage Rushes, and slow travel combined with long recovery periods that can leave the user vulnerable. Boomerangs are identical in throw performance to the Chakrams but have a vastly different Rush. Their hitbox is also much smaller, making them tougher to interrupt with Gloves or other Mediums.
Aim Type: Boomerangs are aimed entirely before throwing in wide arcs offering a variety of options including "forehand and backhand" in both directions and extremely wide circular arcs to hit opponents from the side. They cannot be fired straight forward and always travel with at least a slight curve, though it can be made very shallow with aiming. Cannot be controlled after throw.
Rush Type: Shoots out a tornado that hits multiple times and can sometimes be followed up for a same-arm juggle. Maximum damage per arm is 160-165.
Counters: Long arcs mean that situational awareness to guard against the curve combined with aggression and straight punches, especially from Gloves, consistently interrupting flight can limit their ability to connect. Limited effectiveness against airborne enemies. As ranged tools, they are generally passed over in favor of the Chakrams.
----
Chakrams
Description: Chakrams offer extremely wide, unpredictable and versatile curve arcs, good damage, and high rush meter gain per throw with the tradeoff of poor direct/straight attack ability and slow travel combined with long recovery periods that can leave the user vulnerable. Chakrams are identical in throw performance to the Boomerangs but have a vastly different Rush.
Aim Type: Chakrams are aimed entirely before throwing in wide arcs offering a variety of options including "forehand and backhand" in both directions and extremely wide circular arcs to hit opponents from the side. They cannot be fired straight forward and always travel with at least a slight curve, though it can be made very shallow with aiming. Cannot be controlled after throw.
Rush Type: Punch continuously for a rapid barrage of thrown chakrams. Maximum damage per arm is 190-210.
Counters: Long arcs mean that situational awareness to guard against the curve combined with aggression and straight punches, especially from Gloves, consistently interrupting flight can limit their ability to connect. Limited effectiveness against airbone enemies.
----
Dragons
Description: Dragons are a completely unique set of Arms that fire off a head a short distance that them produces a beam that shoots to max range. They are unpredictable, have timing that is difficult to counter, and very good damage along with one of the best implementations of the Ice element in the game. If not for the slowest punches per minute in the entire catalogue, these versatile weapons would be among the easiest to recommend.
Aim Type: Dragons can be thrown straight out in any direction, then pause, and fire a beam which can be dramatically curved. The starting angle of the beam can be aimed before it is actually fired.
Rush Type: Catch opponent in a giant beam fired like a single standard Dragon shot. You can fire again after the initial for the duration of the Rush. Knocks down. Maximum damage per arm is 175-190.
Counters: Dragons can be outplayed with high evasion and aggression, and are awkward to use as defensive tools. Thus some of the Multi-Shots are also very effective against them. Any Heavy Arm will simply block the beam and continue on toward its target.
----
Mines
Description: The duo of Mine Arms are the game's big daddy Heavies. They have huge hitboxes, and Megaton's increases in size when charged; they can be curved considerably (more than opponents might expect) during their incredibly long flight paths (which also generate a ton of meter). There's nothing subtle here: they are huge, powerful, and slow, just barely beating out the Dragons for the spot of second-slowest class in the game.
Aim Type: Mines can be thrown with a slight curve before aiming, and aimed continuously after throwing. Mines are one of the few Arms that can be thrown with a slight upward arc.
Rush Type: Toss out a massive version of itself, which catches opponents and hits multiple times for huge damage. A second follow-up on the bounce can add 25-30 damage onto the theoretical maximum, making for one of the biggest spikes of damage available in the game.Maximum damage per arm is 175-190.
Counters: Heavies fail to shine on the field against other Heavies constantly canceling each other out, and they can be outplayed with high evasion and aggression. A number of curving Arms can completely avoid their paths Whiffing with a Mine is inherently punishable.
----
Missiles
Description: The Mines are to brute force what the Missiles are to firepower. You throw them, they home in on enemies, hit them, and explode. They have a huge blast radius and high damage when charged, despite lower than average when uncharged. The delayed hit of the explosion can catch new players off guard if they stop blocking too early, and the Missile Rush is one of the best in the game.
Aim Type: Missiles can be aimed with a slight curve before throwing, and then home in enemies for the rest of their travel path. They are one of the few Arms types in the game that can be thrown in an upward arc. Cannot be aimed after throwing.
Rush Type: Fire a huge missile that explodes whether or not it hits anything. Enemies can be caught in the explosion from behind if unlucky. Massive damage. Maximum damage per arm is 200-220.
Counters: These heat-seeking missles need to be given constant attention, but they are outmanueverable with moderate evasion or guarded against as they are quite slow. Any fast-firing Medium with the ability to shoot straight can decidedly shut them down at range.
----
Poppers
Description: Speed is the name of the game here- both Popper-class Arms are the fastest firing in the game. They are weak uncharged, but surprisingly strong charged and make up for low Rush gain per punch with the highest "rate of fire" in terms of MPPM in the game by far, which can build Rush at an alarming rate.
Aim Type: Poppers are rapidly fired straight ahead, then curved a fair amount after throwing.
Rush Type: Fires a souped up popped straight ahead. A well-timed followup hit can add another 30 to the maximum damage. Maximum damage per arm is 155-165.
Counters: Parasol is a hard counter for poppers. High evasion and a high curve weapon can put a Popper user on their toes, especially if combined with a Gloves- both Mediums beating out the Light popper shots. Heavies can also power through the barrage, though watch out for the easy punishment on whff. The Whips can attack through and around the onslaught as well.
----
Shields
Description: The Shield Arms, Guardian and Parasol, have little in common, though they both block enemy Arms and share a Rush.
The Parasol is a potent, unique Medium weapon that extends into a width circular shield when thrown and carries the Wind effect. It can shrug off Lights and hit with decent damage. The Guardian is a slow, homing Electric shield that has its own HP and can absorb multiple arms hits before "breaking." It also has a secondary attack which quickly homes in if close to a target.
Aim Type:
Parasol has a slight start-up time, then is fired straight and then can be significantly curved in flight.
Guardian is simply launched from the position of the arm when you punch, and then begins homing very slowly onto your target as it heads toward max range. Punching again will extend its path with a slight rush forward to hit the target if it's close enough, then retract.
Rush Type: Slight startup time, then fires fast in a straight line to max distance and returns. Can be fired again at short range for a possible follow-up hit. Maximum damage per arm is 155-175.
Counters: Parasol is a versatile, popular weapon, but as a Medium its wide hitbox can be easily punched through by a Heavy Arm. Good fundamental use of Gloves and high curve weapons are also effective as they will match Weight and can simply be beaten in a slugfest. Guardian requires patience, attention, and occasionally a more conversative playstyle to outplay when used well.
----
Whips
Description: The whips stand alongside the chakrams and boomerangs as effective keepaway tools, and are uniquely satisfying to connect with. Side evasion is punished by them. Each of the two has distinct pros and cons and ideal use cases; broadly speaking, Slapamander is better on a single arm while Slamamander is the better choice for dual-wielding.
Aim Type: Whips are entirely aimed prior to throwing and can be curved versatility to end up hitting a point at the distance of your target when you start the attack. Unlike the other high curve Arms, the Whips can be aimed straight forward.
Cannot be aimed after throwing.
Rush Type: A flurry of straightforward whips and a finisher attack. Maximum possible damage is 175-180. A lucky followup can add another 15-35 damage.
Counters: Comparatively long recovery and broad curves are a dilemma when facing straight-punching Mediums in close. Curve Arms that just barely beat these to the punch will be able to keep them tied up as well.
----
Hammers
Description: The Whammer is currently the lone occupant of this category but that may change with the arrival of Max Brass to the roster. This is a Heavy Arm with a massive hitbox. It's slow, it's unwieldy, it does high damage. Not a subtle weapon.
Aim Type: The Hammer is aimed before throwing the punch, in fairly shallow arcs, travels to the opponent and pauses before slamming.
Rush Type: The Hammer extends to the opponent and slams a bunch of times. Maximum possible damage per Arm is 195.
Counters: This weapon's laborious speed and predictable slams make it straightforward to evade; it is most threatening when paired with another disorienting or unpredictable Arm. It can be stopped with the other Heavies and its users interrupted by fast curving Arms.
----
Unique
Description: Currently, the Blorb stands alone with a unique bounce aiming style, an effect that physically obstructs the player's view, and unpredictable stopping power and damage as the final Heavy Arm.
Aim Type: The Blorb is aimed in a large arc prior to throwing, and then can be redirected at the point of a first bounce and second bounce before retracting.
Rush Type: The Blorb Rush tosses a blorb in an upward curve that finally explodes for high damage and applies the blind effect. Maximum possible damage with a single arm is 200. A lucky followup hit can add another 45 damage, for one of the biggest single damage spikes in the game.
Counters: Blorb's incredibly unusual bounce pattern can certainly interrupt many Arms and power through Mediums and Lights, but it will suffer against high curve Arms and speed in general. Without
Here's an at-a-glance chart of the vital stats of all 30 Arms:
Now, on to the arms...
For more detail on each, Continue to part III.
- Gloves
- Multi-Shot
- Boomerang
- Chakram
- Dragon
- Mine
- Missile
- Popper
- Shields
- Whips
- Hammer
- Unique
|____Legend____|
Listing for each Arm class
-Intro paragraph explaining Class of Arm and its use case(s)
-Aim Type: How the class of arm is aimed; whether curve is decided before or after release and how much its path can be affected after release.
-Rush Type: Description of rush and damage (exact damage depends on damage of individual arm)
-Counters: Gameplay tactics and Arms that are useful to counter this class
Description: Gloves can be thought of as the most basic type, sure. But they are also some of the most versatile and potent in the game. They have solid damage, solid speed, solid curvability and ease of use. In many situations, a glove type Arm is basically your safest bet across the board, and as such all of the gloves are valuable from your first Arms match to the highest-tier play in the world. Gloves are also perfect for practicing the fundamentals of the game in its purest form.
Aim Type: Very straightforward, gloves can be aimed a bit prior to throwing,
even in an upward arc, and then curved to a reasonably high degree while traveling. They are good practice for the idea of curving punches in general.
Rush Type: A straightforward barrage of direct punches, ending with a finisher as your meter expires. The Rush can be held off and the player can manuever in between any punches leading up to the finisher. Double gloves are able to punch many times but it is difficult to land every possible hit from both and only one finisher can hit. Maximum damage per arm is 190-215.
Counters: Good fundamentals, footwork and evasion; Arms with wider or unusual curves, because gloves users tend not to be focused as much toward their sides; Arms with "stopping power" like the Revolver/Retorcher/Hydra/Triblast, Megaton, and Megawatt can interrupt the onslaught or simply override in the case of the Heavies with properly timed single throws; Popper and Cracker can outclass them for pure speed.
----
Description: Multi-Shot arms are about the closest you'll get to traditional projectile weapons in a game in which everything is a projectile. These light weapons empower you to attack safely from a distance and sometimes completely pin down opponents through either a wide attack radius or rapid-fire. These can worm their way past even Medium and Heavy arms to get the hit with their unusual spread patterns or multiple shots. They can be subdivided into the horizontal and vertical spread-fire Arms (Tribolt, Triblast and Hydra) and the burst-fire Arms (Revolver and Retorcher). For Arms that fire more than one projectile, damage is done as a first and second hit, then causing knockdown. If only one hit connects, only the first number applies. Additional juggles/hits after the second are very difficult and will always do 20 damage.
Aim Type: The projectiles are shot in the direction you throw the initial punch, and then can be curved lightly during flight.
Rush Type: Shoot a rapid-fire barrage of the original projectile; opponent will bounce after one cycle of firing and need to be juggled in the air for full damage. Maximum damage per arm is 165-210.
Counters: While they can be intimidating sending so much lead, electricity, fire or explosions at your face, every single Multi-Shot weapon is a Light arm, meaning the shots can be plowed through with well placed Medium (or Heavy) ARMS. The spread-fire ones also have predictable horizontal or vertical paths that can be jumped over or sidestepped respectively (though when doubled up, they can cover a huge radius).
----
Description: Birds offer flexible, unpredictable curve options, anti-air, high Rush meter gain per throw, and outstanding Rush attacks in exchange for fairly long, slow travel arcs and very visible but small hitboxes. They are easy to spot and block against and tricky to hit with, but solid in every area with skilled use. As a Medium, with sharp aim these can counter the Multi-Shots and Poppers to some extent. Offers the only option available for a high-curve Electric arm.
Aim Type: Birds are aimed in any direction before throwing and can be sent out with a variety of curve options, including "forehand and backhand" in either direction or a straight shot. They are also one of the few arms in the game that can be thrown in upward arcs. Cannot be controlled after throw.
Rush Type: One of the most reliable Rushes to punish an enemy opening with, the bird is thrown with fast flight and on contact, follows up with a number of automatic hits. If the initial hit misses, the Rush ends immediately. No additional input is required and if the first hit connects, full damage is guaranteed. Maximum damage per Rush is 170-175.
Counters: Long arcs and small hitboxes mean that aggression and straight punches, especially from Gloves, consistently interrupting flight will limit the birds' use. As ranged tools, they are generally passed over in favor of more consistent options, but do have potential to build around.
----
Description: Boomerangs offer extremely wide, unpredictable and versatile curve arcs, unique element options, and high rush meter gain per throw with the tradeoff of poor direct/straight attack ability, low damage Rushes, and slow travel combined with long recovery periods that can leave the user vulnerable. Boomerangs are identical in throw performance to the Chakrams but have a vastly different Rush. Their hitbox is also much smaller, making them tougher to interrupt with Gloves or other Mediums.
Aim Type: Boomerangs are aimed entirely before throwing in wide arcs offering a variety of options including "forehand and backhand" in both directions and extremely wide circular arcs to hit opponents from the side. They cannot be fired straight forward and always travel with at least a slight curve, though it can be made very shallow with aiming. Cannot be controlled after throw.
Rush Type: Shoots out a tornado that hits multiple times and can sometimes be followed up for a same-arm juggle. Maximum damage per arm is 160-165.
Counters: Long arcs mean that situational awareness to guard against the curve combined with aggression and straight punches, especially from Gloves, consistently interrupting flight can limit their ability to connect. Limited effectiveness against airborne enemies. As ranged tools, they are generally passed over in favor of the Chakrams.
----
Description: Chakrams offer extremely wide, unpredictable and versatile curve arcs, good damage, and high rush meter gain per throw with the tradeoff of poor direct/straight attack ability and slow travel combined with long recovery periods that can leave the user vulnerable. Chakrams are identical in throw performance to the Boomerangs but have a vastly different Rush.
Aim Type: Chakrams are aimed entirely before throwing in wide arcs offering a variety of options including "forehand and backhand" in both directions and extremely wide circular arcs to hit opponents from the side. They cannot be fired straight forward and always travel with at least a slight curve, though it can be made very shallow with aiming. Cannot be controlled after throw.
Rush Type: Punch continuously for a rapid barrage of thrown chakrams. Maximum damage per arm is 190-210.
Counters: Long arcs mean that situational awareness to guard against the curve combined with aggression and straight punches, especially from Gloves, consistently interrupting flight can limit their ability to connect. Limited effectiveness against airbone enemies.
----
Description: Dragons are a completely unique set of Arms that fire off a head a short distance that them produces a beam that shoots to max range. They are unpredictable, have timing that is difficult to counter, and very good damage along with one of the best implementations of the Ice element in the game. If not for the slowest punches per minute in the entire catalogue, these versatile weapons would be among the easiest to recommend.
Aim Type: Dragons can be thrown straight out in any direction, then pause, and fire a beam which can be dramatically curved. The starting angle of the beam can be aimed before it is actually fired.
Rush Type: Catch opponent in a giant beam fired like a single standard Dragon shot. You can fire again after the initial for the duration of the Rush. Knocks down. Maximum damage per arm is 175-190.
Counters: Dragons can be outplayed with high evasion and aggression, and are awkward to use as defensive tools. Thus some of the Multi-Shots are also very effective against them. Any Heavy Arm will simply block the beam and continue on toward its target.
----
Description: The duo of Mine Arms are the game's big daddy Heavies. They have huge hitboxes, and Megaton's increases in size when charged; they can be curved considerably (more than opponents might expect) during their incredibly long flight paths (which also generate a ton of meter). There's nothing subtle here: they are huge, powerful, and slow, just barely beating out the Dragons for the spot of second-slowest class in the game.
Aim Type: Mines can be thrown with a slight curve before aiming, and aimed continuously after throwing. Mines are one of the few Arms that can be thrown with a slight upward arc.
Rush Type: Toss out a massive version of itself, which catches opponents and hits multiple times for huge damage. A second follow-up on the bounce can add 25-30 damage onto the theoretical maximum, making for one of the biggest spikes of damage available in the game.Maximum damage per arm is 175-190.
Counters: Heavies fail to shine on the field against other Heavies constantly canceling each other out, and they can be outplayed with high evasion and aggression. A number of curving Arms can completely avoid their paths Whiffing with a Mine is inherently punishable.
----
Description: The Mines are to brute force what the Missiles are to firepower. You throw them, they home in on enemies, hit them, and explode. They have a huge blast radius and high damage when charged, despite lower than average when uncharged. The delayed hit of the explosion can catch new players off guard if they stop blocking too early, and the Missile Rush is one of the best in the game.
Aim Type: Missiles can be aimed with a slight curve before throwing, and then home in enemies for the rest of their travel path. They are one of the few Arms types in the game that can be thrown in an upward arc. Cannot be aimed after throwing.
Rush Type: Fire a huge missile that explodes whether or not it hits anything. Enemies can be caught in the explosion from behind if unlucky. Massive damage. Maximum damage per arm is 200-220.
Counters: These heat-seeking missles need to be given constant attention, but they are outmanueverable with moderate evasion or guarded against as they are quite slow. Any fast-firing Medium with the ability to shoot straight can decidedly shut them down at range.
----
Description: Speed is the name of the game here- both Popper-class Arms are the fastest firing in the game. They are weak uncharged, but surprisingly strong charged and make up for low Rush gain per punch with the highest "rate of fire" in terms of MPPM in the game by far, which can build Rush at an alarming rate.
Aim Type: Poppers are rapidly fired straight ahead, then curved a fair amount after throwing.
Rush Type: Fires a souped up popped straight ahead. A well-timed followup hit can add another 30 to the maximum damage. Maximum damage per arm is 155-165.
Counters: Parasol is a hard counter for poppers. High evasion and a high curve weapon can put a Popper user on their toes, especially if combined with a Gloves- both Mediums beating out the Light popper shots. Heavies can also power through the barrage, though watch out for the easy punishment on whff. The Whips can attack through and around the onslaught as well.
----
Description: The Shield Arms, Guardian and Parasol, have little in common, though they both block enemy Arms and share a Rush.
The Parasol is a potent, unique Medium weapon that extends into a width circular shield when thrown and carries the Wind effect. It can shrug off Lights and hit with decent damage. The Guardian is a slow, homing Electric shield that has its own HP and can absorb multiple arms hits before "breaking." It also has a secondary attack which quickly homes in if close to a target.
Aim Type:
Parasol has a slight start-up time, then is fired straight and then can be significantly curved in flight.
Guardian is simply launched from the position of the arm when you punch, and then begins homing very slowly onto your target as it heads toward max range. Punching again will extend its path with a slight rush forward to hit the target if it's close enough, then retract.
Rush Type: Slight startup time, then fires fast in a straight line to max distance and returns. Can be fired again at short range for a possible follow-up hit. Maximum damage per arm is 155-175.
Counters: Parasol is a versatile, popular weapon, but as a Medium its wide hitbox can be easily punched through by a Heavy Arm. Good fundamental use of Gloves and high curve weapons are also effective as they will match Weight and can simply be beaten in a slugfest. Guardian requires patience, attention, and occasionally a more conversative playstyle to outplay when used well.
----
Description: The whips stand alongside the chakrams and boomerangs as effective keepaway tools, and are uniquely satisfying to connect with. Side evasion is punished by them. Each of the two has distinct pros and cons and ideal use cases; broadly speaking, Slapamander is better on a single arm while Slamamander is the better choice for dual-wielding.
Aim Type: Whips are entirely aimed prior to throwing and can be curved versatility to end up hitting a point at the distance of your target when you start the attack. Unlike the other high curve Arms, the Whips can be aimed straight forward.
Cannot be aimed after throwing.
Rush Type: A flurry of straightforward whips and a finisher attack. Maximum possible damage is 175-180. A lucky followup can add another 15-35 damage.
Counters: Comparatively long recovery and broad curves are a dilemma when facing straight-punching Mediums in close. Curve Arms that just barely beat these to the punch will be able to keep them tied up as well.
----
Description: The Whammer is currently the lone occupant of this category but that may change with the arrival of Max Brass to the roster. This is a Heavy Arm with a massive hitbox. It's slow, it's unwieldy, it does high damage. Not a subtle weapon.
Aim Type: The Hammer is aimed before throwing the punch, in fairly shallow arcs, travels to the opponent and pauses before slamming.
Rush Type: The Hammer extends to the opponent and slams a bunch of times. Maximum possible damage per Arm is 195.
Counters: This weapon's laborious speed and predictable slams make it straightforward to evade; it is most threatening when paired with another disorienting or unpredictable Arm. It can be stopped with the other Heavies and its users interrupted by fast curving Arms.
----
Description: Currently, the Blorb stands alone with a unique bounce aiming style, an effect that physically obstructs the player's view, and unpredictable stopping power and damage as the final Heavy Arm.
Aim Type: The Blorb is aimed in a large arc prior to throwing, and then can be redirected at the point of a first bounce and second bounce before retracting.
Rush Type: The Blorb Rush tosses a blorb in an upward curve that finally explodes for high damage and applies the blind effect. Maximum possible damage with a single arm is 200. A lucky followup hit can add another 45 damage, for one of the biggest single damage spikes in the game.
Counters: Blorb's incredibly unusual bounce pattern can certainly interrupt many Arms and power through Mediums and Lights, but it will suffer against high curve Arms and speed in general. Without
Here's an at-a-glance chart of the vital stats of all 30 Arms:
Now, on to the arms...
For more detail on each, Continue to part III.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
See if any of the questions here apply: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=241267668&postcount=3801 (I sense some similarities to question 2
edit: shit, sorry, meant to edit.
Thanks Hawkian, I'll read through this later today and try and get the basics first. I thought I did okay during the Test Punch, but going online today and also facing level 6 AI in the Grand Prix straight away probably wasn't a good idea.
Ten characters, three default Arms per chacter- 30 arms so far. This is as comprehensive a dive as I was able to make based on my own research and talking to GAF's best.
I've organized them here, grouped by the "type" or "class" (not sure if these are official terms, so these labels may be different elsewhere).
If you want to look something up but can't quite remember it by name, here they all are in alphabetical order, for CTRL + F purposes:
| Blorb | Boomerang | Buff | Bubb | Chakram
| Chilla | Coolerang | Cracker | Dragon | Guardian
| Homie | Hydra | Ice Dragon | Megaton | Megawatt
| Parasol | Phoenix | Popper | Ramram | Retorcher
| Revolver | Seekie | Slamamander | Slapamander | Sparky
| Thunderbird | Toaster | Triblast | Tribolt | Whammer
Toaster
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 130
Rush Damage: 215
MPPM: 72
SPPM: 48
Notes: The default character's default Arms, humble Toaster can bring you from GP1 well into the ranked scene with strong play. It is surprisingly the fastest in class of the gloves, balanced only by the fact that any single charged hit with it knocks down, thus limiting combo potential when doubling up. With the highest damage of the gloves as well, Toaster is always a good choice.
----
Sparky
Element: Electric
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 90
Rush Damage: 205
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 42
Notes: Electric effect on a reliable Medium Arm with all the class advantages of gloves. Sparky is one of the best beginner Arms there is and can embarrass newbies and low-GP AI opponents without mercy. It is typically chosen as the lead punch of a build with the other intending to deliver up a higher damage strike in the event you can't Grab/Rush.
----
Chilla
Element: Ice
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 195
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 48
Notes: Completing the glove elemental trio, Chilla is a surprisingly quick and effective Ice weapon, tied for second-highest of the gloves in speed and damage. Chilla is a viable choice especially if you can master the ability to reapply ice before it wears off your target and build around punishing frozen enemies.
----
Buff
Element: None
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 48
Notes: Buff differs from Bubb only in its curve type. This is the only Glove with auto-aim, aggressively seeking targets but limiting itself on more custom curves. The expanded hitbox on charge, depending on the size of your character, can become quite ridiculous and is great for blocking medium and light hits effectively. It is, however, lowest in speed in its class, often relying on firing off constant straight punches or an unpredictable secondary arm, and often leaves itself open to counterattack from high curving arms.
----
Bubb
Element: None
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 42
Notes: I'll just read the in-game description of this one: "Solid all-around gloves that buff up in size. Originally designed for beginners, they've become a favorite of many high-level fighters." These gloves are ARMS, distilled: the ability to throw and curve punches from a distance. Because it increases in size on charge, plows throw double-Light opponents, and can be fully curved after release, it has been called a "mini-Megaton." It is, however, lowest in speed in its class, often relying on firing off constant straight punches or an unpredictable secondary arm, and often leaves itself open to counterattack from high curving arms.
Tribolt
Element: Stun
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 110
Rush Damage: 180
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 48
Notes: Tribolt fires three projectiles in a horizontal spread that, when charged, stun the enemy. Uncharged two of the projectiles may easily hit; charged you only get one damage popup of 110. This is one of the smallest damage increases in the game. While on paper this seems like a weak entry in its class, Tribolt is likely the best Arm in the game for disabling enemy Arms. The spread is such that a perfect throw will hit the hitboxes of both, damaging them. Three hits disables an enemy's Arm. It is the faster of the two horizontal Multi-Shots, and because it is not Explosive, a charged hit will not cause knockdown, allowing you to continue to whittle away and take advantage of hitstun for a 1-2.
----
Triblast
Element: Explosion
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 70+50=120
Rush Damage: 210
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 48
Notes: The easiest way to characterize Triblast is that it's a Light Arm that explodes. The horizontal spread makes for great blast radius, the damage is good (especially its Rush), and it's very nearly as fast as Tribolt. Because of the knockdown, this can't be used while charged to injure enemy Arms, but it is still a strong choice for evasive enemies and those that have large hurtboxes.
----
Hydra
Element: Fire
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 110
Rush Damage: 150
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 48
Notes: Hydra fires a vertical triple shot, and suffers from the same low charge damage as Tribolt, low Rush damage in its class, and knockdown on charge without the other typical advantages of the Fire element. The tradeoff? Hydra offers the best anti-air Arm in the game, with additional niche uses like hitting Helix's puddle form. It can also slip past Medium or even Heavy Arms a hit with one or more of the multiple projectiles if they are not intercepted.
----
Revolver
Element: Electric
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 70+35=105
Rush Damage: 175
MPPM: 66-72
SPPM: 36
Notes: Electric on a rapid-fire multi-hit weapon that more often than not will knock down on hit, nullifying the electric effect without offering Retorcher's damage. It compensates somewhat with higher Rush damage and slightly higher speed, and can shine against enemies with large hitboxes and flinch resistance. Revolver very slightly outclasses Retorcher for speed, and is also extremely fun in scenarios other than 1v1.
----
Retorcher
Element: Fire
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 110+20=130
Rush Damage: 165
MPPM: 60-66
SPPM: 36
Notes: Retorcher offers three rapid-fire shots, any of which when charged will knock down an enemy and offer high damage. While it is lower in Rush damage than most Fire weapons and the 2nd hit in the air is not guaranteed, this is the closest ARMS has to a machine gun, especially when dual-wielded. When facing off against it, the weapon always fires its triple-shots from the barrel in the order top-left-right on either hand; so you can consistently dodge in one direction.
Phoenix
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage: 175
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 36
Notes: Phoenix is versatile high damage and knockdown at a distance. While Ramram is the seeming go-to choice for a fire weapon at high curve, Phoenix has the advantage of upward curve arcs for anti-air and higher MPPM for possible double-bird "divebomber" builds.
----
Thunderbird
Element: Electric
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 80
Rush Damage: 170
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 42
Notes: Thunderbird is tied with Guardian for the lowest overall damage in the game. It makes up for this as the only high-curve electric Arm, and slightly outclasses Phoenix for speed, an outlier among Electric arms. Matching MPPM to Phoenix means that a gimmick "divebomber" build, feinting with Thunderbird until an electric hit connects, then following up with Phoenix for a 200 damage delayed combo (or 140 damage 1-2 combo) could be viable.
Boomerang
Element: Wind
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 90
Rush Damage: 160
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 36
Notes: The Boomerang is the only high curve Wind element Arm, and with practice can be used to set up a guaranteed Rush attack after a charge, even from long range. Slow speed and low damage overall, especially in its Rush compared to the Chakrams, make it a finesse weapon- but when paired with the right secondary arm and played with a Rush-focused mindset, this can be a tool to be reckoned with.
----
Coolerang
Element: Ice
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 90
Rush Damage: 165
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 36
Notes: The Boomerang is the only high curve Ice element Arm, able to reapply Ice rapidly from afar. Though slightly higher speed, it has low damage overall especially in its Rush compared to the Chakrams.
Chakram
Element: Stun
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 48
SPPM: 36
Notes: The Chakram is a reliable high-curve combo machine. Because it does not knock down on a charged hit like Ramram, you can follow up with a 1-2 for half charge damage on whatever secondary Arm you have equipped and punish mistakes easy. It bests the Boomerangs in raw damage but lacks their elemental options.
----
Ramram
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage: 210
MPPM: 48
SPPM: 36
Notes: Ramram is one of the best keepaway options in the game, able to knock down opponents and disrupt their rhythm from the side. Especially effective against Glove users. It is the most damaging high curve weapon overall as well with superb Rush damage.
Dragon
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 130
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 36
SPPM: 30
Notes: Although this is the slowest overall weapon in the game, the Dragon is potent firepower with an extremely curvable beam attack. You can chase targets farther than you think when that beam has fired, and you can punish them from anywhere.
----
Ice Dragon
Element: Ice
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 175
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 30
Notes: Lower damage, higher speed makes Ice Dragon an on-demand Ice beam to chase and freeze your targets. Pair it wish something that can punish panicked enemies.
Megaton
Element: None
Weight: Heavy
Uncharged Damage: 110
Charged Damage: 130
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 42-48
SPPM: 36
Notes: This is the quintessential wrecking ball of Arms. Heavy weight, high damage, a size increase on charge and a slow path that allows for careful aiming make Megaton a winner that can shut down double-Light users from afar.
----
Megawatt
Element: Electric
Weight: Heavy
Uncharged Damage: 110
Charged Damage: 110
Rush Damage:175
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 36
Notes: Megawatt offers Heavy Arm force with added Electric at the cost of lower damage and slightly lower speed than its big brother. In certain builds, it can be reliably used as the opening hit to punch throw lights/mediums and deliver a stun for a followup throw, Rush, or punch.
Homie
Element: Explosion
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 70
Charged Damage: 70+50
Rush Damage:220
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 36
Notes: The very model of a heat-seeking missile, Homie hits first and does high charge damage with a delayed explosion that may catch unaware players offguard. It also has the honor of the highest individual Rush damage of any Arm. Just be wary of self-damage, and use the initial curve wisely to avoid the other Mediums on the field.
----
Seekie
Element: Electric
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 70
Charged Damage: 70+40
Rush Damage:200
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 36
Notes: Seekie brings homing Electric stun on a delayed explosion, and doesn't sacrifice much on damage like many Electric arms. The Rush is easily aimed to punish enemies for a big damage spike. Just be wary of self-damage, and use the initial curve wisely to avoid the other Mediums on the field.
Popper
Element: Electric
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage:155
MPPM: 66-72
SPPM: 48
Notes: The potent Poppers hold the crown of highest PPM in the game, firing off shots with surprisingly high charge damage at speed and applying the Wind effect for to set up guaranteed Rush. Rapid firing these can quickly fill your Rush meter as well.
----
Cracker
Element: Fire
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70
Charged Damage: 130
Rush Damage:165
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 48
Notes: Crackers trade the speed edge and juggle setup of Poppers for on-demand fast-firing knockdown. Connect with a few of these in a row and your target will find themselves at an enormous HP deficit in seconds.
Parasol
Element: Wind
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage:175
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 42
Notes: Parasols are versatile, unique shielding arms that can easily block Light spam, offer impressive curve control, and can use Wind to set up a guaranteed Rush. They can be shut down up close by faster-firing mediums. Throwing these while in the air generals a small updraft.
----
Guardian
Element: Electric
Weight: N/A
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 80
Rush Damage:155
MPPM: 54
SPPM: 42
Notes: While not easy to use, Guardian offers a strategic defense against aggressive opponents. When charged, the slow moving Electric stun is often overlooked. It can take multiple hits and its HP can be estimated from the green lights it displays. The dimmer and less visible lights there are, the closer to "broken." By punching a second time, Guardian will slightly accelerate and push forward a few feet to try and tag its target. The max range of the guardian can be "extended" if you wait for it to travel slowly toward max distance before hitting the second punch. Guardian requires patience and foresight, but is completely unique within the game.
Slapamander
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage:180
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 36
Notes: Slapamander is a very satisfying weapon to use, with strong keepaway capabilities and high damage. Its versatile curves offer many angles from which to knock down in one charged hit. It is slightly slower when fast-firing multiple punches than its Wind counterpart, but can't be overlooked.
----
Slamamander
Element: Wind
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 90
Rush Damage:175
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 36
Notes: Slamamander offers strong keepaway and Rush setup from a distance. While lower damage than Slap, it is faster, has almost as much Rush damage and can even exceed Slap's Rush by a considerable margin if you hit a lucky follow-up, which is made easier by the Wind effect.
Whammer
Element: Stun
Weight: Heavy
Uncharged Damage: 100
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage:195
MPPM: 48
SPPM: 30
Notes: The Heavy with the largest hitbox,this massive Arm is best used for pressure and to force an enemy to pay attention to your other arm, rather than to do its own damage (despite high damage across the board). Its slow swipes are predictable, but the threat of high damage is enough to force an opponent to move and punish accordingly. If your enemy takes their eyes of the Whammer for too long, it's game over. A charged hit that connects can be used as the first hit in a 1-2.
Blorb
Element: Blind
Weight: Heavy
Uncharged Damage: 100
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage:200
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 30
Notes: A completely unique, disorienting Heavy Arm with an aiming scheme unlike any other. Though its arcs are difficult to control, this chaotic interruption of Medium and Light arms can play to your advantage. If charged, the Blind effect does nothing to the CPU but finds many new or panic-prone players unable to stay calm and leading to sloppy play. Because of the Blorb's atypical bounce pattern, grabs (especially when using Blorb in one hand and another Arm in the other) may be unusually lopsided.
----
Here's an at-a-glance spreadsheet of the vital stats for all 30 Arms:
I've organized them here, grouped by the "type" or "class" (not sure if these are official terms, so these labels may be different elsewhere).
If you want to look something up but can't quite remember it by name, here they all are in alphabetical order, for CTRL + F purposes:
| Blorb | Boomerang | Buff | Bubb | Chakram
| Chilla | Coolerang | Cracker | Dragon | Guardian
| Homie | Hydra | Ice Dragon | Megaton | Megawatt
| Parasol | Phoenix | Popper | Ramram | Retorcher
| Revolver | Seekie | Slamamander | Slapamander | Sparky
| Thunderbird | Toaster | Triblast | Tribolt | Whammer
|____Gloves____|
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 130
Rush Damage: 215
MPPM: 72
SPPM: 48
Notes: The default character's default Arms, humble Toaster can bring you from GP1 well into the ranked scene with strong play. It is surprisingly the fastest in class of the gloves, balanced only by the fact that any single charged hit with it knocks down, thus limiting combo potential when doubling up. With the highest damage of the gloves as well, Toaster is always a good choice.
----
Element: Electric
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 90
Rush Damage: 205
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 42
Notes: Electric effect on a reliable Medium Arm with all the class advantages of gloves. Sparky is one of the best beginner Arms there is and can embarrass newbies and low-GP AI opponents without mercy. It is typically chosen as the lead punch of a build with the other intending to deliver up a higher damage strike in the event you can't Grab/Rush.
----
Element: Ice
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 195
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 48
Notes: Completing the glove elemental trio, Chilla is a surprisingly quick and effective Ice weapon, tied for second-highest of the gloves in speed and damage. Chilla is a viable choice especially if you can master the ability to reapply ice before it wears off your target and build around punishing frozen enemies.
----
Element: None
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 48
Notes: Buff differs from Bubb only in its curve type. This is the only Glove with auto-aim, aggressively seeking targets but limiting itself on more custom curves. The expanded hitbox on charge, depending on the size of your character, can become quite ridiculous and is great for blocking medium and light hits effectively. It is, however, lowest in speed in its class, often relying on firing off constant straight punches or an unpredictable secondary arm, and often leaves itself open to counterattack from high curving arms.
----
Element: None
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 42
Notes: I'll just read the in-game description of this one: "Solid all-around gloves that buff up in size. Originally designed for beginners, they've become a favorite of many high-level fighters." These gloves are ARMS, distilled: the ability to throw and curve punches from a distance. Because it increases in size on charge, plows throw double-Light opponents, and can be fully curved after release, it has been called a "mini-Megaton." It is, however, lowest in speed in its class, often relying on firing off constant straight punches or an unpredictable secondary arm, and often leaves itself open to counterattack from high curving arms.
|____Multi-Shot____|
Element: Stun
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 110
Rush Damage: 180
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 48
Notes: Tribolt fires three projectiles in a horizontal spread that, when charged, stun the enemy. Uncharged two of the projectiles may easily hit; charged you only get one damage popup of 110. This is one of the smallest damage increases in the game. While on paper this seems like a weak entry in its class, Tribolt is likely the best Arm in the game for disabling enemy Arms. The spread is such that a perfect throw will hit the hitboxes of both, damaging them. Three hits disables an enemy's Arm. It is the faster of the two horizontal Multi-Shots, and because it is not Explosive, a charged hit will not cause knockdown, allowing you to continue to whittle away and take advantage of hitstun for a 1-2.
----
Element: Explosion
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 70+50=120
Rush Damage: 210
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 48
Notes: The easiest way to characterize Triblast is that it's a Light Arm that explodes. The horizontal spread makes for great blast radius, the damage is good (especially its Rush), and it's very nearly as fast as Tribolt. Because of the knockdown, this can't be used while charged to injure enemy Arms, but it is still a strong choice for evasive enemies and those that have large hurtboxes.
----
Element: Fire
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 110
Rush Damage: 150
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 48
Notes: Hydra fires a vertical triple shot, and suffers from the same low charge damage as Tribolt, low Rush damage in its class, and knockdown on charge without the other typical advantages of the Fire element. The tradeoff? Hydra offers the best anti-air Arm in the game, with additional niche uses like hitting Helix's puddle form. It can also slip past Medium or even Heavy Arms a hit with one or more of the multiple projectiles if they are not intercepted.
----
Element: Electric
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 70+35=105
Rush Damage: 175
MPPM: 66-72
SPPM: 36
Notes: Electric on a rapid-fire multi-hit weapon that more often than not will knock down on hit, nullifying the electric effect without offering Retorcher's damage. It compensates somewhat with higher Rush damage and slightly higher speed, and can shine against enemies with large hitboxes and flinch resistance. Revolver very slightly outclasses Retorcher for speed, and is also extremely fun in scenarios other than 1v1.
----
Element: Fire
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70+35=105
Charged Damage: 110+20=130
Rush Damage: 165
MPPM: 60-66
SPPM: 36
Notes: Retorcher offers three rapid-fire shots, any of which when charged will knock down an enemy and offer high damage. While it is lower in Rush damage than most Fire weapons and the 2nd hit in the air is not guaranteed, this is the closest ARMS has to a machine gun, especially when dual-wielded. When facing off against it, the weapon always fires its triple-shots from the barrel in the order top-left-right on either hand; so you can consistently dodge in one direction.
|____Birds____|
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage: 175
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 36
Notes: Phoenix is versatile high damage and knockdown at a distance. While Ramram is the seeming go-to choice for a fire weapon at high curve, Phoenix has the advantage of upward curve arcs for anti-air and higher MPPM for possible double-bird "divebomber" builds.
----
Element: Electric
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 80
Rush Damage: 170
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 42
Notes: Thunderbird is tied with Guardian for the lowest overall damage in the game. It makes up for this as the only high-curve electric Arm, and slightly outclasses Phoenix for speed, an outlier among Electric arms. Matching MPPM to Phoenix means that a gimmick "divebomber" build, feinting with Thunderbird until an electric hit connects, then following up with Phoenix for a 200 damage delayed combo (or 140 damage 1-2 combo) could be viable.
|____Boomerangs____|
Element: Wind
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 90
Rush Damage: 160
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 36
Notes: The Boomerang is the only high curve Wind element Arm, and with practice can be used to set up a guaranteed Rush attack after a charge, even from long range. Slow speed and low damage overall, especially in its Rush compared to the Chakrams, make it a finesse weapon- but when paired with the right secondary arm and played with a Rush-focused mindset, this can be a tool to be reckoned with.
----
Element: Ice
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 90
Rush Damage: 165
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 36
Notes: The Boomerang is the only high curve Ice element Arm, able to reapply Ice rapidly from afar. Though slightly higher speed, it has low damage overall especially in its Rush compared to the Chakrams.
|____Chakrams____|
Element: Stun
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 48
SPPM: 36
Notes: The Chakram is a reliable high-curve combo machine. Because it does not knock down on a charged hit like Ramram, you can follow up with a 1-2 for half charge damage on whatever secondary Arm you have equipped and punish mistakes easy. It bests the Boomerangs in raw damage but lacks their elemental options.
----
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage: 210
MPPM: 48
SPPM: 36
Notes: Ramram is one of the best keepaway options in the game, able to knock down opponents and disrupt their rhythm from the side. Especially effective against Glove users. It is the most damaging high curve weapon overall as well with superb Rush damage.
|____Dragons____|
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 130
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 36
SPPM: 30
Notes: Although this is the slowest overall weapon in the game, the Dragon is potent firepower with an extremely curvable beam attack. You can chase targets farther than you think when that beam has fired, and you can punish them from anywhere.
----
Element: Ice
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage: 175
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 30
Notes: Lower damage, higher speed makes Ice Dragon an on-demand Ice beam to chase and freeze your targets. Pair it wish something that can punish panicked enemies.
|____Mines____|
Element: None
Weight: Heavy
Uncharged Damage: 110
Charged Damage: 130
Rush Damage: 190
MPPM: 42-48
SPPM: 36
Notes: This is the quintessential wrecking ball of Arms. Heavy weight, high damage, a size increase on charge and a slow path that allows for careful aiming make Megaton a winner that can shut down double-Light users from afar.
----
Element: Electric
Weight: Heavy
Uncharged Damage: 110
Charged Damage: 110
Rush Damage:175
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 36
Notes: Megawatt offers Heavy Arm force with added Electric at the cost of lower damage and slightly lower speed than its big brother. In certain builds, it can be reliably used as the opening hit to punch throw lights/mediums and deliver a stun for a followup throw, Rush, or punch.
|____Missiles____|
Element: Explosion
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 70
Charged Damage: 70+50
Rush Damage:220
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 36
Notes: The very model of a heat-seeking missile, Homie hits first and does high charge damage with a delayed explosion that may catch unaware players offguard. It also has the honor of the highest individual Rush damage of any Arm. Just be wary of self-damage, and use the initial curve wisely to avoid the other Mediums on the field.
----
Element: Electric
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 70
Charged Damage: 70+40
Rush Damage:200
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 36
Notes: Seekie brings homing Electric stun on a delayed explosion, and doesn't sacrifice much on damage like many Electric arms. The Rush is easily aimed to punish enemies for a big damage spike. Just be wary of self-damage, and use the initial curve wisely to avoid the other Mediums on the field.
|____Poppers____|
Element: Electric
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage:155
MPPM: 66-72
SPPM: 48
Notes: The potent Poppers hold the crown of highest PPM in the game, firing off shots with surprisingly high charge damage at speed and applying the Wind effect for to set up guaranteed Rush. Rapid firing these can quickly fill your Rush meter as well.
----
Element: Fire
Weight: Light
Uncharged Damage: 70
Charged Damage: 130
Rush Damage:165
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 48
Notes: Crackers trade the speed edge and juggle setup of Poppers for on-demand fast-firing knockdown. Connect with a few of these in a row and your target will find themselves at an enormous HP deficit in seconds.
|____Shields____|
Element: Wind
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 100
Rush Damage:175
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 42
Notes: Parasols are versatile, unique shielding arms that can easily block Light spam, offer impressive curve control, and can use Wind to set up a guaranteed Rush. They can be shut down up close by faster-firing mediums. Throwing these while in the air generals a small updraft.
----
Element: Electric
Weight: N/A
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 80
Rush Damage:155
MPPM: 54
SPPM: 42
Notes: While not easy to use, Guardian offers a strategic defense against aggressive opponents. When charged, the slow moving Electric stun is often overlooked. It can take multiple hits and its HP can be estimated from the green lights it displays. The dimmer and less visible lights there are, the closer to "broken." By punching a second time, Guardian will slightly accelerate and push forward a few feet to try and tag its target. The max range of the guardian can be "extended" if you wait for it to travel slowly toward max distance before hitting the second punch. Guardian requires patience and foresight, but is completely unique within the game.
|____Whips____|
Element: Fire
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 90
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage:180
MPPM: 60
SPPM: 36
Notes: Slapamander is a very satisfying weapon to use, with strong keepaway capabilities and high damage. Its versatile curves offer many angles from which to knock down in one charged hit. It is slightly slower when fast-firing multiple punches than its Wind counterpart, but can't be overlooked.
----
Element: Wind
Weight: Medium
Uncharged Damage: 80
Charged Damage: 90
Rush Damage:175
MPPM: 66
SPPM: 36
Notes: Slamamander offers strong keepaway and Rush setup from a distance. While lower damage than Slap, it is faster, has almost as much Rush damage and can even exceed Slap's Rush by a considerable margin if you hit a lucky follow-up, which is made easier by the Wind effect.
|____Hammers____|
Element: Stun
Weight: Heavy
Uncharged Damage: 100
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage:195
MPPM: 48
SPPM: 30
Notes: The Heavy with the largest hitbox,this massive Arm is best used for pressure and to force an enemy to pay attention to your other arm, rather than to do its own damage (despite high damage across the board). Its slow swipes are predictable, but the threat of high damage is enough to force an opponent to move and punish accordingly. If your enemy takes their eyes of the Whammer for too long, it's game over. A charged hit that connects can be used as the first hit in a 1-2.
|____Unique____|
Element: Blind
Weight: Heavy
Uncharged Damage: 100
Charged Damage: 120
Rush Damage:200
MPPM: 42
SPPM: 30
Notes: A completely unique, disorienting Heavy Arm with an aiming scheme unlike any other. Though its arcs are difficult to control, this chaotic interruption of Medium and Light arms can play to your advantage. If charged, the Blind effect does nothing to the CPU but finds many new or panic-prone players unable to stay calm and leading to sloppy play. Because of the Blorb's atypical bounce pattern, grabs (especially when using Blorb in one hand and another Arm in the other) may be unusually lopsided.
----
Here's an at-a-glance spreadsheet of the vital stats for all 30 Arms:
Whoops.
I think its a good design decision because it gives you options. Its nice to have access to a plan B in game rather then being stuck having to execute you plan A that may or may not work vs that particular opponant.
This is even more true in online play where people's personal preferences may alter strategies. IE someone may play Ninjara as a close attack Agility Tank, while others would prefer to play as a typical ranged attacker only using the dodge.
Edit: whoops i seeming missunderstood you initial post a second time.
I like the system the way it is. Taking in 3 sets of Arms gives you 6 potential loadouts. (and 12 with Min Min due to her lopsided nature) Thats enough options to have a variety of stratergies without rounds getting bogged down by people taking overly long to choose their prefered arms.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
Welp.
Totally agree- it's a good strategic compromise between being locked into one configuration and having literally every arm available every round for endless counterpicks.
I'd describe what you did as jumping in at the deep end if the deep end was full of sharks and also the water was made of fire.
Been playing GP6 and it's actually very intuitive. I just like the experience in agility it gives you, and it's fun, imo. I use Ribbon Girl. A few times I get stumped, but I switch ARMS around. Now I have the perfect set that works for my Ribbon Girl, and I'm stuck on the Semi FinalsSpring Man is tough.
If y'all can make it past rank 6, you can best GP6!
If y'all can make it past rank 6, you can best GP6!
jamsethoth
Member
Think it's finally starting to click. Been playing Master Mummy from the start and was getting frustrated with my lack of mobility. I started making good use of the super armor and damage resist as well as trying to keep the opponent from charging and it's been working. Admittedly, I only just started GP4 in earnest, so it'll probably all fall apart pretty quickly.