The Open Beta of Dragonball FighterZ has come to a close, but the popularity of the game was made very clear. Despite the hiccups that the beta has gone through, many strong fighting game players, streamers, and experts alike have gravitated towards strong characters right off the bat.
Note that this is solely based off of the beta, and any information can and will be subject to change upon the game’s release. Things will also change because the second half of the roster will drastically shake up what was going on before.
Super Saiyan Vegeta: Vegeta has proven to be one of the better assist characters. The sheer versatility of the assist allows character like Cell and Adult Gohan to get very strong combo extensions. Additionally, it allows characters like Piccolo and Android 18 to further their already strong mixup potential, making Super Saiyan Vegeta a very nice fit on many a team. Add the fact that he seems to have quite a bit of potential as an anchor, and you have a character that can turn strong teams into deadly teams.
Cell: Cell was pretty popular in the beta, and for good reason. He really doesn’t have any major weaknesses. He has more reach on his normals than many other characters, making him exceptional at footsies, has a beam assist, a combo ender that enables many assists to act as extensions, and a pretty strong level three.
Android 18: 18 seems to have been the mixup and frame trap queen in the beta, primarily due to the amount of options that the Android 17 assist gives you. Note that 17’s assist is independent of your team’s assists, so you can use them together. Her level 1 super is also very versatile, punishing a lot of other level 1 beam supers. I expect to see her on many teams at the point on the game’s release.
Frieza: Frieza is in an incredibly good spot coming out of the beta, filling any role on any team. As point character, he is exceptional at zoning opponents out and punishing whiffs, as well as having a multitude of projectiles for any assist that may be of annoyance. As an anchor, he makes use of excess meter very well, as his Sparking Blast (and to a lesser extent, Golden form), can enable some disgusting comebacks due to the sheer speed boost he gets. Frieza is going to be a great fit on any team that wants a solid well-rounder with ranged comeback potential.
Of course, it would be remiss if we didn’t mention the characters not featured in the beta. While we did not get our hands on them before, we have a lot of information and videos out there. That said, the majority of the following will be speculation based off of what we know. Things will very likely play out differently, not only because we’ll actually be able to put much of this to the test and discover better things, but because metas shift, and the most powerful thing that can be done may very well invalidate what might be talked about.
That said, here’s what I’m looking forward to:
SSB Goku and Vegeta: We know that these versions of Goku and Vegeta will be more offense oriented, with more glaring weaknesses. What these weaknesses are, we aren’t sure. SSB Goku’s assist can fill similar roles as SSJ Vegeta’s, acting as a combo extender, but it will be noticeably worse as a mixup tool. Vegeta’s assist is an aerial Big Bang Attack, which will be useful for rushdown denial and helping out against mixups. Both of them have a command grab, and both of their movesets will revolve around approaching and utilizing the many options you have when you do approach.
Hit: Hit might possibly be the most unique character in the game, as he is the only one (to our knowledge) whose foundation is based off of counters. He is also a pure ground based character that has many crossups in his kit, which culminates into a lot of versatility options on the offensive end. If I were to play a character like Hit, I’d want to play him on point with any sort of defensive support, such as Android 18’s Barrier, or either Gohan’s DP. The sheer speed and versatility this character has will make him a very popular choice in the beginning of the game’s lifetime.
Captain Ginyu: Here is the wild card of the roster for me. Captain Ginyu doesn’t have anything too special going for it. His assist is solid enough, he doesn’t have a particularly great level 1 super. His normals are pretty average, and he requires a whole lot of mental tracking, as well as setup to make what he is good at great. That said, his various Ginyu force summons are pretty amazing when utilized properly, and while his level 3 essentially requires you to be behind in the match (as health bars swap as well), it can completely destroy an opposing team’s strategy. When you successfully land a body swap, they essentially get a heavily nerfed version of Captain Ginyu, being unable to summon any of the Ginyu Force at all, only one super, and his assist. That’s it. You’re going to steal an awful lot of games from opponents who rely on a strong point or assist character with Captain Ginyu, but you’re also sacrificing a lot of potential tempo and team synergy for it. This is either going to be a really powerful character, or very unpopular.
Dragonball FighterZ releases on January 26th, but the amount of information out there is vast, and incredibly useful for players looking to take this game seriously. The first few events are going to be especially key, as well as watching top overall fighting game players figure out powerful synergies and strategies.