Professor X: In-depth how-to-use Guide

Professor X is all about ramping him up until you can destroy the opponent with massive special damage.

Channeling
You want to get to 100 channeling charges which is done mainly by charging heavy (can use sp1 to get 25 charges, then channel, or use an sp2 to channel after, but heavy is the best way to channel)

When opponent is below a bar of power you can hold heavy and let them hit you, and they’ll miss. This also counts as an intercept if you time it right. This is a great way to channel up especially if you’re on low charges.

Ramp up
I usually go for Sp1 ramp up I find it’s easier. If you have 1 cerebro charge definitely go for Sp1 ramp up. If you have more charges then it’s up to you when you want to go for sp3 ramp up. Try both out and see what works for you.

Specials and Prowess
What you want to do is get to 100 channeling charges and literally just under your sp2. Hold heavy to channel, throw special to cancel channel, then you will channel again, cancel the channel with a quick tap on block and charge heavy again to channel and throw your special to cancel. This will get you a prowess every time you cancel channeling, doing this rotation right will get you 8 prowess, 7 if you refresh at the end.

That sounds complicated so I’ll say it again a bit simpler. Charge heavy, throw special, tap block, charge heavy, throw special, tap block and repeat until your last special, then dash back.

Keep practicing that and you’ll learn how to get it quick enough so the opponent doesn’t have time to interrupt you by dashing. A small hint is just that you can usually block a bit sooner than you think you can, so that gives you more time to charge heavy after.

Rotations
In longer fights I usually ramp up until the opponent is 70 ish % health left and then go for sp2 rotation.

Sp2 rotation is the same, but get just under your sp3. The sp3 can be ok, but the difference is quite large. If you go for sp2 then you can do this combo:
Sp2, sp2, 4 hit combo, sp2, Sp1, Sp1 and maybe another Sp1 depending on power.

If you go for sp3, then you can do
Sp3, sp2, 5 hit combo, sp2, Sp1 Sp1

I think there’s a pretty big difference in damage and I much prefer the sp2 rotation.

In shorter fights I think it’s better to go straight for sp2 rotation. Get just below three bars of power, heavy into mind control and use your 3 sp2s, and sp1s and the opponent will usually be dead. If not, go again.

What is he good for?
He’s great for countering any damage back champs/nodes like Korg, Electro, killmonger since all but his first medium are non contact, and all attacks are energy. He’s great for long fights where his damage just goes up and up and up. He’s a monster for abyss or any nodes that punish a high combo since he has a low hit playstyle. Any form of power reserve or power shield will be crazy for him. He can also counter evade and miss with 2 heavies, one special one or if he’s duped after 25 seconds. He also works incredible well with a mutant power booster.

Sig ability?
His dupe ability is nice to have, but absolutely not necessary. The 1 charge per second while under 75 is great for fights when it’s hard to channel/heavy. The extra prowess potency is nice for sure, but not necessary.

Overall
Professor X is my favourite champion in the game, he has insane damage, great utility and I love his playstyle and the skill required to play him. He’s not your typical champion.

I’ve found so many uses for him, some surprising, some expected. There will rarely be a quest I don’t think I’ll bring him on and I wish I had him when I was going through act 7, I can’t wait to use him in 7.2!

Comments

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BitterSteel

Why block after throwing special one ? Cancelling directly to heavy will give the same effect

Yes it will, but for some reason if you charge heavy, throw special, then charge heavy, you need to hold onto heavy longer than usual for the second prowess to proc. I’ve tested it loads, and either the opponent will rush at you and you won’t have time to get the second prowess, or you waste some mind control time and get less specials off.

Tapping block first speeds up the process and makes it much safer.

The_Sentry06

Why block after throwing special one ? Cancelling directly to heavy will give the same effect
Yes it will, but for some reason if you charge heavy, throw special, then charge heavy, you need to hold onto heavy longer than usual for the second prowess to proc. I’ve tested it loads, and either the opponent will rush at you and you won’t have time to get the second prowess, or you waste some mind control time and get less specials off.

Tapping block first speeds up the process and makes it much safer.

Yea I noticed that too. Overall, he is super fun to play once you learn and is a great counter for everything and has solid synergies. The only draw-back to him is that his sp1 crashes my game the first time I use it.

Colinwhitworth69

Why block after throwing special one ? Cancelling directly to heavy will give the same effect
Yes it will, but for some reason if you charge heavy, throw special, then charge heavy, you need to hold onto heavy longer than usual for the second prowess to proc. I’ve tested it loads, and either the opponent will rush at you and you won’t have time to get the second prowess, or you waste some mind control time and get less specials off.

Tapping block first speeds up the process and makes it much safer.

I charge heavy and cancel into a special, without blocking. Just gotta hold long enough to see the Prowess text display a second time and then you can fie a special. You get two prowess per special this way.

Fear_of_Clowns2099

Yeah, he's freaking amazing. I just soloed Electro Luke with a 6r1. Great guide too

The_Sentry06

Why block after throwing special one ? Cancelling directly to heavy will give the same effect
Yes it will, but for some reason if you charge heavy, throw special, then charge heavy, you need to hold onto heavy longer than usual for the second prowess to proc. I’ve tested it loads, and either the opponent will rush at you and you won’t have time to get the second prowess, or you waste some mind control time and get less specials off.

Tapping block first speeds up the process and makes it much safer.
I charge heavy and cancel into a special, without blocking. Just gotta hold long enough to see the Prowess text display a second time and then you can fie a special. You get two prowess per special this way.

It takes slightly longer for me to do that than blocking and charging. That wastes some valuable time in mind control.

BitterSteel

Why block after throwing special one ? Cancelling directly to heavy will give the same effect
Yes it will, but for some reason if you charge heavy, throw special, then charge heavy, you need to hold onto heavy longer than usual for the second prowess to proc. I’ve tested it loads, and either the opponent will rush at you and you won’t have time to get the second prowess, or you waste some mind control time and get less specials off.

Tapping block first speeds up the process and makes it much safer.
I charge heavy and cancel into a special, without blocking. Just gotta hold long enough to see the Prowess text display a second time and then you can fie a special. You get two prowess per special this way.

Yeah that’s one way to do it, I’ve just found that if you tap block after your special, it speeds up and makes it much more reliable.

BitterSteel

Why block after throwing special one ? Cancelling directly to heavy will give the same effect
Yes it will, but for some reason if you charge heavy, throw special, then charge heavy, you need to hold onto heavy longer than usual for the second prowess to proc. I’ve tested it loads, and either the opponent will rush at you and you won’t have time to get the second prowess, or you waste some mind control time and get less specials off.

Tapping block first speeds up the process and makes it much safer.
Yea I noticed that too. Overall, he is super fun to play once you learn and is a great counter for everything and has solid synergies. The only draw-back to him is that his sp1 crashes my game the first time I use it.

It is weird how it works, but since you can tap and block with the same result it doesn’t hugely affect him.

Yeah his synergies are amazing, especially the poison resistance for any suicides users.

BitterSteel

Yeah, he's freaking amazing. I just soloed Electro Luke with a 6r1. Great guide too

He’s great for about half of the bosses in act 7, I’ve soloed a fair few of them with my prof X. Working on uploading them to YouTube currently!

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SkyLord7000

Pretty good review. Few techs not mentioned such as the double heavy when gaining channeling charges to double channeling ramp up.

I think the block into heavy is a huge placebo. The heavy itself may take longer because it needs to register as not a special attack. Though the heavy may be slightly longer, blocking before heavy is definitely slower in general. Someone should test this.

He’s been my favorite 6* recently so it’s always nice to see a review.

BitterSteel

I took him into the abyss and he was my answer for Luke cage, killmonger, omega red, korg and invisible woman. Plus his synergies with magneto make magneto even more viable. He’s a unit saver, no doubt.

Yeah he’s awesome for so many abyss fights. I don’t think he could be used as a main clearer, but alongside someone else like Nick and magneto, then a mystic and an incinerate option they would be a great team for Abyss.

Kill_Grey

Yup, I love my rank 5. Awakened him and left him at sig 1. I also find that whiffing a light attack then heavy cancelling into a special counts towards the double prowess.

Soloed labyrinth old man Logan with him in only 100 hits. And I wasn't even consciously trying to get a low hit takedown.

DrZola

I’ve bookmarked this for when (if) I finally pull a 5/6* Prof. So many tries, such empty hands.

Dr. Zola

BitterSteel

Pretty good review. Few techs not mentioned such as the double heavy when gaining channeling charges to double channeling ramp up.

I think the block into heavy is a huge placebo. The heavy itself may take longer because it needs to register as not a special attack. Though the heavy may be slightly longer, blocking before heavy is definitely slower in general. Someone should test this.

He’s been my favorite 6* recently so it’s always nice to see a review.

Yeah if I went through every single part of the little things you can do with prof X I’d be here all day haha. Just went for the main parts of what you need for prof X, and get people started and to a good level. I could mention his amazing block proficiency, insane heavy reach and other things, but couldn’t cover everything!

I’ve actually tested both block into heavy and just heavy and block is quicker. It’s a pretty noticeable difference personally and I find it a lot safer. It’s of course personal preference, and I think any professor X player could use a block or straight into heavy, but for me having to hold onto heavy longer just isn’t preferable over a quick tap on block.

BitterSteel

I’ve bookmarked this for when (if) I finally pull a 5/6* Prof. So many tries, such empty hands.

Dr. Zola

I think we’ve all been there with a certain champ haha, best of luck getting him!

BitterSteel

Yup, I love my rank 5. Awakened him and left him at sig 1. I also find that whiffing a light attack then heavy cancelling into a special counts towards the double prowess.

Soloed labyrinth old man Logan with him in only 100 hits. And I wasn't even consciously trying to get a low hit takedown.

I found that whiffing a light felt a bit clumsy to me and left me more open. Personally I think block is smoother and works better for my playstyle. But I like that prof x users can go with whatever they want to, light attack, block, or straight into heavy whatever they fancy!

BitterSteel

@SkyLord7000 so I’ve done a little more testing with prof X and holding heavy after a special, and I think if you practice it, it can be a little quicker but the issue is this:

When you hold heavy straight after a special, the channeling text takes a little longer to pop up. I recorded doing it both ways, and here’s a few screenshots.

So first is going straight into heavy from the special, so no blocking.

So you can see above this is the end of the sp1. The channeling and prowess call out (text) is from the previous prowess gained. I am just about to start charging heavy.

This above image is when I’ve started charging heavy, just note that prof X hands are on his helmet but there is no channeling call out. Usually, he would have started channeling by now, that’s the visual cue for him to start channeling. But because I charged heavy directly from a special, he begins channeling later.

And the above image is when he does start channeling, much later than he would have if I’d tapped block first.

And now below in order is the same, but when I tapped block first before the heavy charge. First picture shows just about to charge heavy, the call out is from the previous channel. The second shows just before prof X touches his head, and the third is when he has just touched his head, and the channel begins.

First..

Second

Third

So the channeling takes longer to show up when you charge heavy right from the special, this is valuable time and tapping block speeds up this process and makes it feel a lot smoother

Vendemiaire

Professor X gang!

BitterSteel

Professor X gang!

Hoping more people see his value soon!

odishika123

Thank you bro
This is very insightful

DawsMan

Pretty good review. Few techs not mentioned such as the double heavy when gaining channeling charges to double channeling ramp up.

I think the block into heavy is a huge placebo. The heavy itself may take longer because it needs to register as not a special attack. Though the heavy may be slightly longer, blocking before heavy is definitely slower in general. Someone should test this.

He’s been my favorite 6* recently so it’s always nice to see a review.

I've been using block heavy ever since I got him. Beroman, MSD, and Swedeah all use block heavy and they do crazy things. I understand that just because a good player does it it doesn't make it the best way, but when it works really well for me and three amazing players use it? Yeah it's safe to say it's not a placebo.

BitterSteel

Thank you bro
This is very insightful

You're welcome! Glad it's helping

Colinwhitworth69

Question Mr. Steel: PX’s abilities say sp3 grants one prowess per cerebro charge, max four stacks. Does that mean four total per fight? Or if aI have four charges I get four prowess each sp3?