ASCENSION LAUNCH POOL - MUTANT AND TECH!

Greetings again, Summoners!

Welcome back for the final set of reveals for the 7-Star Ascension base pool! Without further delay, let’s hop right into it.

MUTANT

Toad - BUFFED (last month)
Bishop
Gentle
Emma Frost - BUFFED
Storm (Pyramid X) - BUFFED

Gentle and Storm (Pyramid X) join our previously-announced Mutants to round out the Class. With a strong Prowess presence, various forms of survivability, and plenty of utility, these Mutants are well equipped to ascend to new heights. With most of them also having a strong defensive presence, look towards the Tech pool for answers!

For Storm (Pyramid X), our focus is on enhancing her interactions with both Tech and Skill abilities, modernizing her Tempest mechanics, and enhancing the value of her Signature Ability.
Her general change log is:

Added to Signature Ability: Landing a Heavy Attack activates Storm’s alternate Tempest for up to 15s based on Heavy Attack charge time
Adjusted Signature Ability low-Health alternate Tempest activation to trigger as if it was also the default for that fight
Expanded list of effects that remove Tempests to include Power Burn
Adjusted Glancing component of Ice Tempest to be conditional upon it being the default Tempest
Added ability to Glance Special Attack hits against Skill Champions
Adjusted Sp2 Combat Power Rate reduction and Shock potency increase component of Lightning Tempest to be conditional upon it being the default Tempest
Adjusted chance to apply Stun on Basic Attacks per Prowess component of Lightning Tempest to be conditional upon it being the default Tempest
Added: If the opponent has an Endurance effect, Storm’s Parry inflicts a Passive Stun
Moved Energy Resistance to base stats
Slightly increased 6 Prowess Special Attack Unblockable duration
Added: Sp1 Coldsnap and Sp2 Shocks scale with Special Damage

With these changes, Storm (Pyramid X) will have much greater offensive access to both Tempests and see her damage over time effects spike as she gains more Prowess, connecting her abilities together more cohesively.

TECH

Peni Parker
Howard the Duck
Lady Deathstrike - BUFFED
Iron Man (Infamous) - BUFFED
Captain America (Sam Wilson) - BUFFED

Surely all these Champions are a surprise, and no rubber ducky spoiled them for you, right? In the typical Tech way, all these Champions will bring Armor to the fight as an offensive tool and defensive threat. Damage over time, Autoblock, and Power control will also be prevalent to punish Mutants and be punished by Cosmic Champions. With this Class featuring the most tuneups, let’s talk about the ones not announced in last month’s livestream!

Iron Man (Infamous) is receiving a relatively small set of changes aimed to make his already strong base set of abilities more consistent:

Added: Heavy Attack first hit cannot trigger a Critical Shock
Changed Armor Up Buff to Austere Armor Up Buff
Lowered Armor Up Buff return timer from 12s to 10s
Increased Cowardice duration from 5s to 8s
Increased Medium Attack Shock duration from 2s to 2.5s
Increased Medium Attack Shock potency from 10% to 12.5%

As has been the trend among most tune ups in this series, these adjustments heavily focus on attack with minimal defensive impact. With the Heavy Attack change, activating your Aura with a Heavy and cancelling into Special Attack 2 will no longer have a chance to lower the opponent’s power, meaning your Sp2 will lock in more damage. As a reminder, Austere Armor Up Buffs were first seen on Spider-Slayer (J. Jonah Jameson). Iron Man (Infamous)’s upgraded Austere Armor Up Buff will be protected against Nullify and Stagger, expanding the matchups he can take. Speaking of his matchups, Iron Man (Infamous) will feel strong against multiple Mutant Champions in the Ascension pool, being able to trigger his “If an Opponent would gain 2 or more Prowess effects at once…” ability!

Captain America (Sam Wilson) is getting a few more changes, with their goals being to add comfort and some damage to his offensive loop while also making his utility more consistent:

Added: Start the fight with 1 Armor Up buff
Increased duration of Armor Up buffs from 10s to 15s
Removed the requirement for, and consumption, of an Armor Up for gaining Bulwark on Intercepts
Decreased Sapped Charges stack limit from 25 to 20
Increased Sapped Charges duration from 15s to 20s
Increased Sp1 Physical Vulnerability potency from 10% to 20%
Increased Sp1 Physical Vulnerability duration from 14s to 30s
Added Sp1 Physical Vulnerability stack limit of 8
Replaced Special 1’s extra Physical Vulnerability while Locked On with 1 extra Sapped Charge
Reduced Special 2 and Special 3 Armor Up removal from all Armor Ups to all but 1
Changed Special 2 Attack Rating increase to scale with Base Attack and Armor as a percentage
Fixed bug where Special 2 Attack Rating increase was not applying to blocked hits
Replaced the Patriot synergy with a 3s Vigilance on Well-Timed Blocks
Changed the synergy with Captain America (Infinity War) to only remove one Fury Buff when struck or on a non-Well-Timed Block, instead of all
Reduced stack limit of Fury Buffs in the above synergy from 5 to 3
Increased potency of Fury Buffs in the above synergy from 13% to 21% Base Attack

Overall, these changes enhance the Armor Up, Bulwark, and Sapped Charge economies in his kit. He’ll also see more damage output thanks to the enhanced Special Attack 1 effects and his Special Attack 2’s scaling changes. Again, these changes will express themselves most strongly on attack, but his Special Attack 2 is certainly something you want to be wary of even more when fighting against him as a defender.

OVERALL SUMMARY

Circling back to our holistic goals for this group of Ascendable 7-Stars, we wanted to ensure each Class has a strong identity of shared abilities while also representing some diversity of effects and playstyles. We hope this helps all the Champions feel highly interactive, valuable, and ultimately fun as players wade into this new type of Champion power.

Which Class do you think has been the biggest winner? Whose tune up are you most looking forward to trying out? Which non-Ascendable Champions are you still excited to rank up further? Which Ascendable Champions do you think will shine from this group? 7 Star Ascension is launching very soon… Now that the full launch pool has all been revealed, keep an eye out for the final bits of info as we approach the full release!