Skills to Pay the Bills
Old Guard, New City
Looking to level up your game? Lemme tell you what: you came to the right place. We’ve collected a panel of absolute experts on what it takes to kick ass in Knockout City™. They have a combined playtime ranging in the hundreds of hours, so they probably know what they’re talking about.
Too bad I lied and none of them actually know what they’re talking about*. Take it from me: I’m Chris Mercado, aka Merc, the Technical and Gameplay Designer at Velan Studios who definitely earned my nickname by reputation and for no other reason. Despite others’ best efforts, I’ve been alone atop Git Gud Mountain for the last four years. So if you wanna keep me company (please, it’s lonely up here), buckle up and let's learn you a thing or two.
The Power of Position
The best fight is an unfair one, and what’s less fair than stabbing your opponents in the back? Or at least hitting them in the back with a well-placed dodgeball? After all, they can’t catch what they can’t see! Always be on the lookout for opportunities to slip away from the action and reappear where they least expect. Just don’t take too long, or the other team will figure out your plan and rush your friends while they’re a player down!
If you can’t get behind them, you can always get above them! Staying high not only gets you a great angle on your targets, but also a ton of visibility on the rest of the arena. Use your superior vantage point to call out enemy positions, note ball locations, or even just plan out the route to your next destination. And if your opponents make the mistake of drawing too close, glide over their heads and drop down from above!
Of course, you can’t capitalize on your position if you don’t have a dodgeball. Does that mean you gotta leave? Of course not. That’s what passing is for! Stake your claim at the best spot on the map and let your teammates do the hard work by making them get the dodgeballs for you. Call for a pass and take advantage of the free Overcharge and superior position to launch a powerful surprise attack!
Honest Lies
So whaddya do if you find yourself in an actual honest, face-to-face fight? Fight honestly? Absolutely not! You gotta trick your opponent and keep them guessing. If you’re predictable, you’ll get got faster than you can say “dodgebrawl.” The easiest way to trip them up is with your fake throws. With any luck, your opponent will freak out and try to dodge or catch a throw that was never coming, giving you a window to bean them straight in the face!
Of course, not all foes are so freely fooled by such facile fakes. A keen eye can track your ball and note when it stays firmly in your grasp. That’s why a well-timed pass can be just the thing to trick your opponents into opening up their defense. Any opponent that tracks your ball will see it start soaring through the air and will be all but compelled to respond. And that, my friends, is when you (or your new favorite teammate) bop them into oblivion.
Or you could just suddenly stop moving entirely in the middle of an intense fight. I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but nothing confuses a dodgebrawler more than when their foe suddenly stops and does absolutely nothing. Count to three, and then fire! It works every time.
Teamwork Works
Should you find yourself with the good fortune of having reliable teammates, you won’t even need to bother with those silly mind-games. After all, you can only look in one direction at once, so what will your hapless opponent do should they find themselves smushed between you and your friend? It’s simple: they lose! All you need is one dodgeball between the two of you, and you can play monkey-in-the-middle until their heart is broken.
If they manage to squeeze their way out of being a helpless sandwich (or you just run at them straight on with a friend), you always have the nigh-unstoppable option: the Synchronized Attack. With perfect timing, you and your teammate unleash throws of different speeds that impact your target at the same time! No matter how skilled your opponent is, they can’t stop two attacks at once! Well, unless they dodge them both, but they won’t do that. Trust me.
Old Beginnings
Then again, what do I know? I’ve been out of the game for a while, but your story is just beginning. Develop your own strats, blaze your own trail, and leave your mark on Knockout City.
*Note: they actually do know what they’re talking about, especially my boss. Yup, mhm. I love him oh-so much. He’s very good at the video game. Here’s a story of how he single-handedly took me down.
Wait, no, it was the other way around. My bad.
If you want to try your hand at playing against Merc in Knockout City, sign up for the Cross-Play Beta, coming April 2–4, 2021, for PlayStation®4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Origin, and Steam, with full backwards compatibility on PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Follow us on Twitter and join our Discord to stay up to date on the game in the lead-up to Knockout City’s launch on May 21, 2021.
- Chris Mercado, aka Merc