A Comprehensive Review of America Chavez

Colonaut123Colonaut123 Member Posts: 3,091 ★★★★★
After the positive remarks on my Comprehensive Review of Purgatory, I decided to make a similar review of America Chavez.

America Chavez can be considered a middle-tier champion. She is designed better than Purgatory, but she does have obvious flaws, which I will detail later. This post is to give an in-depth analysis of America Chavez's abilities, one possible way to play her and some suggestions to Kabam to fix her.

Standard disclaimer: I'm not all-knowing. This is just my analysis of this new champion. You're welcome to share your thoughts, tips & tricks.

Basic stats

A R5 5* (no masteries) has:
Health: 29,264 (Comparison: AA has 31,170)
Attack Rating: 2,437 (Comparison: AA has 2,301)
Critical Hit Rating: 738 (Comparison: AA has 628)
Critical Damage Rating: 900 (Comparison: AA has 738)
Armor Rating: 525 (Comparison: AA has 525)
Block Proficiency: 3,022 (Comparison: AA has 3,734)

America Chavez has no immunities or extra passive attributes.

General mechanics

America Chavez is all about opening Parallel Dimensions. Parallel Dimension passives can be activated by throwing a Heavy Attack. The dormant Parallel Dimension passive switches between Heavy Attack hits. When the Heavy Attacks ends, or is interrupted by launching a Special Attack, the dormant Parallel Dimension passive activates for 30 seconds. Parallel Dimension passives of the same dimension have a -20% duration penalty.

Luckily, she has a mechanic that aids her. After a non-combo ending basic attack, charging a Heavy Attack inflicts a Passive Stun for 0.75 seconds. Heavy Attacks also generate 25% less Power on Hit. This means you do not rely on parry to open Parallel Dimensions.

The Heavy Attack has three hits:
  1. Cancelling the Heavy Attack after the first hit with a Special Attack opens the Utopian Parallel. Utopian Parallel reduces the opponent's Fury, Armor Up, Precision and Cruelty Buff Potency by 70%. Stacking Utopian Parallel passives reduce this additive (Buff Potency = 100% - (70% x number of passives) like how Petrify reduces healing), this can go into the negative and reverse it. With Mojo and Longshot synergy, Utopian Parallel reduces Unstoppable Buff Duration by 50%. This passive has the same icon as Dragon Man's Ineptitude Debuff.
  2. Cancelling the Heavy Attack after the second hit with a Special Attack opens the Dark Dimension. Dark Dimension reflects 40% of hit damage taken back as Energy Damage to the opponent. The maximum amount of damage is capped at 4389.6 (for R5 5* no masteries). With The Hood or Ghost Rider synergy, America Chavez regenerates 30% of the damage dealt to the opponent, thus maximum 1,316.88 health. This passive has the same icon as Mysterio's Reflect Gas Passive.
  3. Landing the Heavy Attack completely opens the Negative Zone. Negative Zone reduces the opponent's Ability Power Gain Rate by 60%. This can go into the negative, so power gain can be reversed. With Annihilus synergy, each stack of Negative Zone passively generates 1.2% of a Bar of Power per second. This passive has the same icon as a Power Drain Debuff.
When a Wither Debuff is inflicted on America Chavez, the last activated Parallel Dimension is removed.

While defending on a Quest node, if she has two of the same Parallel Dimensions active, she randomly opens a third Parallel Dimension.

When three unique Parallel Dimensions are active, her signature ability makes she becomes Supercharged, gaining extra effects.

America Chavez has an ability called Dimensional Energy Infusion. For each unique Parallel Dimension and for each buff on the opponent, she gains +584.88 Attack Rating and +286.36 Energy Resistance (for R5 5* no masteries), for a combined total of 9 total stacks, or +5,263.92 Attack Rating and +2,577.24 Energy Resistance. While Supercharged, she gains, depending on signature level, between +12% to +50% Dimensional Energy Infusion Potency. That makes +877.32 Attack Rating and +429.54 Energy Resistance, for a maximum of +7,895.88 Attack Rating and 3,865.86 Energy Resistance (at max sig).

In a match-up with no buffs, she can only gain +1,754.64 Attack Rating (+2,631.96 Attack Rating while Supercharged at max sig) (for three unique Parallel Dimensions). In case you only open two unique Parallel Dimensions, or against the average opponent with two buffs active, that's +1,169.76 Attack Rating (no Supercharged bonus). In sum:
  • 2 unique Parallel Dimensions, 0 buffs: +1,169.76 Attack Rating (no Supercharged bonus);
  • 3 unique Parallel Dimensions, 0 buffs: +1,754.64 Attack Rating (+2,631.96 Attack Rating while Supercharged at max sig);
  • 2 unique Parallel Dimensions, 2 buffs: +2,339.52 Attack Rating (no Supercharged bonus);
  • 3 unique Parallel Dimensions, 1 buff: +2,339.52 Attack Rating (+3,509.28 Attack Rating while Supercharged at max sig);
  • 3 unique Parallel Dimensions, 2 buffs: +2,924.40 Attack Rating (+4,386.60 Attack Rating while Supercharged at max sig);
  • 3 unique Parallel Dimensions, 3 buffs: +3,509.28 Attack Rating (+5,263.92 Attack Rating while Supercharged at max sig);
  • 3 unique Parallel Dimensions, 6+ buffs: +5,263.92 Attack Rating (+7,895.88 Attack Rating while Supercharged at max sig)
Is this a lot? Let's compare it with Captain Marvel Movie. She can have up to 5 Fury Buffs, each Fury Buff giving +690.30 Attack Rating for a total of +3,451.50 Attack Rating (R5 5* no masteries), with almost 100% uptime. For the same damage boost, America Chavez requires rounded-up a combination of in total of 3 unique Parallel Dimensions and 3 buffs. At max sig, this lowers to a combination of in total of 3 unique Parallel Dimensions and 1 buff. Her unique Parallel Dimensions have 30 seconds duration, but the opponents buffs only last for like 10-20 seconds, if you're lucky. Only with Resistor node has America Chavez more consistent damage bonus, but this is also lowered by the Resistance Buffs. America Chavez cannot compete with Captain Marvel Movie.

Although it is claimed her signature ability isn't necessary (because she works fine without), I would say she needs it to hit decently hard. At max sig, every two stacks gives a third, so at max sig she can have virtually 13.5 stacks instead of 9.

America Chavez has the following special attacks:
  1. Special Attack 1: Every unique Parallel Dimension activates a Passive Power Gain effect that generates 40% of a Bar of Power each (40% - 80% - 120% bars of Power) over 1.5 seconds. This is the fastest way to get either Utopian Parallel or Dark Dimension activated. It is not necessary though, you can also use the SP1 after a regular MLLLM combo, if the Power Gain is the only thing you need.
  2. Special Attack 2: This attack consists out of 4 hits, of which the last 3 opens the extra Big Bang Dimension (a passive with a Prowess icon) for the duration of those hits, dealing a burst of Energy Damage equal to 50% of hit damage dealt (+12% potency with She-Hulk and Captain Marvel Movie synergy). Based on the last Parallel Dimension activated, these three hits gain the following effects:
    • Utopian Parallel: deal 1949.6 additional damage on hit;
    • Dark Dimension: regenerate 12% of hit damage dealt;
    • Negative Zone: hits are unblockable. This is gives no benefit, it would be a waste of power.
    While Supercharged, activating a Parallel Dimension during Special Attack 2 grants an extra stack of the last dimension activated.
    I am not 100% sure if the Big Bang Dimension, since it has an icon, counts as an unique Parallel Dimension (the sig ability does state "three or more", suggesting it could be a 4th Dimension), but it could be (although short-lasting).
  3. Special Attack 3: activate 1 of each Parallel Dimensions. You can pretty much forget the Special Attack 3 exists, as you do not need it.
Strategies

America Chavez is all about stacking those Parallel Universe passives and dishing out SP2's.:

There is one effective strategy:
  1. You activate at least one Negative Zone by either parry-heavy or doing a heavy during a combo.
  2. You go get one bar of power, cancel the heavy after the second hit with a SP1, activating Dark Dimension, and gaining two stacks of Power Gain passives that give in total 80% of bars of power.
  3. You go get two bars of power, cancel the heavy after the first hit with a SP2, activating Utopian Parallel, and deal maximum amount of damage.
  4. After that, you should do a normal heavy attack to get a stack of Negative Zone.
  5. Once you go to SP1 to get a stack of Dark Dimension, you should have three unique Parallel Dimensions active, giving a net benefit of 120% bars of power.
  6. Do SP2 again with Utopian Parallel activated. Start again from step 4.
Overall, it's worth doing the SP1-SP2 rotation, but maybe you want to rush to the SP2 in shorter fights or with suicides.

If you however do the suicide masteries, you might prefer to activate Dark Dimension during the SP2, so you can heal back some recoil damage. If doing so, activate Utopian Parallel through the SP1. She isn't the most suicide mastery friendly champion, but it is doable.

If for some reason you need to reverse the potency of some buffs, then you activate Utopian Parellel first through the SP1. Then you can do another SP1 to activate Dark Dimension and then go to a SP2 with another activated Utopian Parallel to do maximum damage.

There is another potential, albeit only theoretical, strategy.

In the description of the SP2, it is stated that the "these hits gain a bonus effect based on the last Dimension activated". But what if all three dimensions are the last ones activated? This can be done through the SP3. It is sufficient to then rush towards a SP2 and have all three effects at once. I have yet to confirm this is the case, but even so, one SP3-SP2 cycle would take 5 full bars of power, which isn't enough benefit in my opinion, compared to the already discussed SP1-SP2 cyle of 1.80 to 2.20 bars of power.

Quirky utility

America Chavez is not a typical Mystic. She can't nullify buffs, so in a situation where you do need to strip the opponent of buffs, she isn't the ideal Mystic. There are however plenty of match-ups where it doesn't matter, it isn't possible (like Mystic Ward or Mystic Conditioning) or it's adverse to nullify buffs (like Return Policy). That's where she shines.

Take for instant Hit Me, I Dare You node. Every 10 hits a 50% Armor Up buff activates for 30 seconds. While America Chavez cannot nullify or armor break, she can reduce and even reverse the potency of that Armor Up buff. On top of that, she gains extra damage as long it is active. She turns a negative into a positive. Ditto with Explosive Personality, Tough As Nails, Turtling or Ionized Armor. Or Civil Warrior (especially as he is nullify immune) and Colossus.

In 7.1.5. there is the UNLIMITED POWER! node. For each Debuff the Defender has suffered since the start of the fight, every 10 seconds they activate a permanent Fury Buff increasing their Attack by 25%. If these Fury Buffs are Nullified or removed in any way, the Defender gains 15% of their max Power for each Buff Nullified. Guess what? America Chavez can reverse those Fury Buffs until the opponent has zero attack rating. Yes, you read that right, you basically can get hit and take no damage at all. Don't believe me? Check out this video. It's crazy.

Aegis (Heavy) is no problem. Her heavy attack has 3 hits, so one is mostly enough. But even better: even against a champion that can shrug off or purify debuffs, or is combined with a Limber node, that's no issue as her mid-combo stun is a passive.

Feats of Power? She can reduce the buffs.

Lifecycle? She can easily throw heavy attacks mid-combo, knocking the opponent down repeatedly.

Powerful From Afar, Feat Of Energy, Supercharge, Hyperion, DPX, Spite, Kinetic Transference, you name it: she can quickly and consistently reverse Ability Power Gain with just two stacks of Negative Zone, which requires no special attacks to activate.

Resistor node? With every buff she gains more attack.

[ I have hit character maximum. The discussion is continued below.]

Comments

  • TheHeroDeservedTheHeroDeserved Member Posts: 756 ★★★
    Great write-up. Just pulled her from a featured crystal and was excited becuase of her uniqe abilites. Really hope she is one of those champs that really get to shine in solo competition.
  • DNA3000DNA3000 Member, Guardian Posts: 19,677 Guardian

    He’s done the impossible. He has come close to the writing powers of @DNA3000

    Is this a thing people are attempting to do deliberately?
  • DrZolaDrZola Member Posts: 9,125 ★★★★★
    DNA3000 said:

    He’s done the impossible. He has come close to the writing powers of @DNA3000

    Is this a thing people are attempting to do deliberately?
    Please let it be just a passing fancy…the company servers are already strained enough.

    Dr. Zola
  • ChikelChikel Member Posts: 2,106 ★★★★
    Great write up. I mistakenly opened a featured and got her and it was painful. That unlimited power interraction is interesting though I'm planning to awaken and use Ronan for it.
    Small correction: iHulk received a small tune up that made him playable (his rage stack timer was increased and pauses during special attacks) People often bring champions like HT, Quake, iHulk as receiving negative reviews on release forgetting that they were buffed before they became playable.
  • DrZolaDrZola Member Posts: 9,125 ★★★★★
    DrZola said:

    This is a nice review. As the new owner of a 6* America, it confirms my conclusions (basically, that she’s unlikely to see resources) and that she is in desperate need of some updates to her kit. Disappointing for a featured pull but that’s how it works sometimes.

    Thank you.

    Dr. Zola

    Disagrees on this thread are a pretty good example of an area where moderation could improve the forums.

    Dr. Zola
  • DNA3000DNA3000 Member, Guardian Posts: 19,677 Guardian
    DrZola said:

    DrZola said:

    This is a nice review. As the new owner of a 6* America, it confirms my conclusions (basically, that she’s unlikely to see resources) and that she is in desperate need of some updates to her kit. Disappointing for a featured pull but that’s how it works sometimes.

    Thank you.

    Dr. Zola

    Disagrees on this thread are a pretty good example of an area where moderation could improve the forums.

    Dr. Zola
    Disagrees are a way to funnel inarticulate negative energy to a place no one cares about.
  • DrZolaDrZola Member Posts: 9,125 ★★★★★
    DNA3000 said:

    DrZola said:

    DrZola said:

    This is a nice review. As the new owner of a 6* America, it confirms my conclusions (basically, that she’s unlikely to see resources) and that she is in desperate need of some updates to her kit. Disappointing for a featured pull but that’s how it works sometimes.

    Thank you.

    Dr. Zola

    Disagrees on this thread are a pretty good example of an area where moderation could improve the forums.

    Dr. Zola
    Disagrees are a way to funnel inarticulate negative energy to a place no one cares about.
    Inarticulate negative energy…that describes a lot of the forums in general. Maybe “unusually inarticulate negative energy” or “ineffable negative energy” or “unintelligible negative energy” would better describe?

    Dr. Zola
  • altavistaaltavista Member Posts: 1,453 ★★★★
    I had some catalysts expiring, and was debating between Sasquatch and America Chavez rank up. I went with Sasquatch, based on the better utility. But, I am kinda regretting it, as AC just feels more fun to play (animations, playstyle, etc)

    I do agree with the points you bring up. The regen feels pretty lackluster, and Negative Zone does feel like a wasted opportunity.

    Definitely not a champion as your Main, but as a random champion, she's pretty fun.
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