Re: Character Upgrades Guide: Garden Warfare 2!
CHARACTER UPGRADES
Health Regeneration Delay
Effect: This upgrade decreases the delay for your natural regeneration to begin after you have last taken damage.
Level of Unlock: Recruit (Level 5).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Every character.
Upgrade Stats
You get a 25% reduction to your Health Regeneration Delay while you have this upgrade equipped. There is a special character variant which benefits further with this upgrade, which is mentioned below.
- Health Regeneration Delay (without the upgrade equipped): 6 seconds.
- Health Regeneration Delay (with the upgrade equipped): 4.5 seconds.
Chomp Thing is a special Chomper variant that has an improved natural regeneration rate and a greatly reduced health regeneration delay. The difference in health regeneration delay for Chomp Thing are as follows:
- Health Regeneration Delay (without the upgrade equipped): 1 second.
- Health Regeneration Delay (with the upgrade equipped): 0.75 seconds.
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade pairs well with the Health Regeneration upgrade, as it further enchances your regeneration speed after you prevented taking further damage. I find that this upgrade works well with characters that have lower maximum health, as they can begin to heal sooner and will heal to full health more quickly anyway, due to having a lower maximum health pool. If you can remain in combat without taking damage and can avoid attacks from your enemies quite easily, or your enemies have a slow fire rate, this upgrade can trigger even in combat.
Drawbacks: I find that this upgrade does not pair well with characters with higher maximum health, as it only affects the time before your regeneration initally starts, and your actual regeneration rate will remain the same, making this upgrade nearly redundant. It is the first upgrade that you unlock on your characters, so you will probably want to switch it out for other upgrades when you unlock them, however I would suggest using this upgrade on any character until you unlock enough additional upgrades that you will not be able to equip all upgrades at once.
Additional Notes: On Chomp Thing, this upgrade has an interesting effect. As the health regeneration delay of the character is already low, using this upgrade can further reduce the delay, however it is even hard to notice the effect. Fire damage is dealt every 0.75 seconds and toxic damage is dealt every second, so if afflicted with those debuffs, you actually will not be able to naturally regenerate at all during this time, even with this upgrade. However, this upgrade could be worth using here, as this character is unique in having a greatly reduced regeneration delay. It is your choice!
Upgrade Facts
- This upgrade stacks with being healed, so even if you are being healed by an effect or your ally, you will still receive the reduced natural regeneration delay if you can prevent taking damage, which will allow you to naturally regenerate faster and heal to full health more quickly.
- If you are able to stay in combat and avoid taking damage for long enough, you can actually start naturally regenerating in battle without needing to flee for safe healing. If you can utilise this tactic well, this upgrade could be a great asset to you.
- You may not find this upgrade on healer characters to be as useful, which are Sunflowers and Scientists, compared to other characters, as you can generally heal yourself without requiring natural regeneration or being healed by another source to heal you.
Health Regeneration
Effect: This upgrade increases the rate of your natural regeneration after you have stopped taking damage.
Level of Unlock: Specalist (Level 5).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Every character.
Upgrade Stats
You get a 25% increased health regeneration rate while you have this upgrade equipped. There is a special character variant which benefits further with this upgrade, which is mentioned below.
- Health Regeneration Rate (without the upgrade equipped): 4 health per second (1.75 health per second, while at high HP).
- Health Regeneration Rate (with the upgrade equipped): 5 health per second (2.19 health per second, while at high HP).
Chomp Thing is a special Chomper variant that has an improved natural regeneration rate and a greatly reduced health regeneration delay. The difference in health regeneration delay for Chomp Thing are as follows:
- Health Regeneration Rate (without the upgrade equipped): 7 health per second (3.06 health per second, while at high HP).
- Health Regeneration Rate (with the upgrade equipped): 8.75 health per second (3.83 health per second, while at high HP).
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade works well with the Health Regeneration Delay upgrade, as it allows you to start receiving your enchanced health regeneration more quickly. I find that this upgrade works well on characters with higher maximum health, as it will take much longer for them to heal to full health after taking damage, and the high HP threshold, which is when you lose some of your regeneration rate, will be higher which is good. Once you get behind cover or to a safe spot when you can prevent taking damage, the high regeneration rate is greatly useful.
Drawbacks: I find that this upgrade does not really work well with low health characters, as it will not take as long for them to heal to maximum health anyway, although it could still be useful, as you can take a breather and enter the fray more efficiently. When you unlock this upgrade, I would absolutely recommend using it, although you may find it more beneficial to you to switch this upgrade out when you unlock some more of the upgrades, as you will still be able to naturally regenerate after taking damage completely fine, although it will be at a somewhat slower rate.
Additional Notes: On Chomp Thing, this upgrade is amazing. As this is the only character who has a naturally increased regeneration rate, using this upgrade will improve your high regeneration rate even more, so I absolutely recommend using this upgrade on this character, and it will allow you to survive and return to combat more effectively after taking damage. Torchwood and tank characters will greatly benefit from this upgrade, as they have a huge health pool to heal up. It is your choice whether to retain this upgrade on your characters or not!
Upgrade Facts
- This upgrade stacks with being healed, so even if you are being healed by an effect or your ally, you will still benefit from the increased natural regeneration rate, which is great for healing you up all the way to full health at a faster rate.
- You can actually benefit from this increased health regeneration if you are invincible at the time or if you can place yourself in a location where you are unlikely to be hit, improving the regeneration you will receive before you take damage again.
- You may not find this upgrade on healer characters to be as useful, which are Sunflowers and Scientists, compared to other characters, as you can generally heal yourself without requiring natural regeneration or being healed by another source to heal you.
Zoom
Effect: This upgrade reduces your field of view, allowing you to zoom in more accurately.
Level of Unlock: Recruit (Level 9) or Specalist (Level 9).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Every character, apart from close range characters.
Upgrade Stats
You get a 20% reduced field of view while you have this upgrade equipped. There are some characters that benefit further with this upgrade due to having naturally increased zoom, which are mentioned below.
- Zoom Field of View (without the upgrade equipped): 35 degrees.
- Zoom Field of View (with the upgrade equipped): 28 degrees.
Some characters have a naturally increased zoom, which allows them to zoom in further again when using this upgrade. These characters include Camo Cactus, Camo Ranger, Golf Star and Painter (some other characters may have naturally increased zoom as well, which I am unaware about). Camo Cactus gets a 50% reduced zoom field of view, instead of the regular 20%.
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade works well on characters that have increased zoom by default, or on snipers, as this upgrade will effectively improve your accuracy at long range. Snipers and characters that generally tend to attack from long range will benefit well from the increased zoom. You always have the option not to zoom in when you are close to your enemies or if you do not find need to, although if you are able to keep your distance from your enemies, you can use your improved zoom and reduced field of view to become more accurate at a longer range.
Drawbacks: I find that this upgrade does not work well on close and medium range characters. The zoom is almost worthless when attacking at these ranges, and even completely useless on some characters that are limited to close range combat only. Zooming can actually impair your ability in combat, as your turn and movement speed is reduced, along with not being able to see to the sides as much, when you are up close or at medium range from your enemies. It is much better to use the reduced field of view on characters that tend to fight from longer ranges.
Additional Notes: Camo Cactus has a very small field of view of 16 degrees (without the upgrade) or 8 degrees (with the upgrade), giving her a 50% reduced field of view, making this upgrade almost essential on her, due to her very long range nature. There are different characters that have reduced field of view by default, although they will generally only benefit from a 20% reduced field of view. It depends from which range you actually intend to use these characters, however these characters generally benefit from long range combat. The choice is yours to make!
Upgrade Facts
- No Chompers ever receive this upgrade as they are completely limited to close range and zoom will not benefit you in any way. The exception in Yeti Chomper, that is able to zoom due to it being a ranged Chomper, and it does indeed receive this upgrade. I would suggest that you use it, as it is quite interesting to use on a Chomper.
- Super Brainz do actually receive this upgrade, due to them having a ranged attack. It is not very useful, however, due to it only applying to the beam and because Super Brainz is a melee character. Captain Deadbeard absolutely does get this upgrade, although it only ever applies to the sniper weapon, due to the shotgun requiring you to not aim for you to use it.
- You can actually zoom in on some close range characters, such as Chemist, Zoologist and Roadie Z, although this is completely pointless, and you do not get the zoom upgrades for these characters. Characters that do not get the zoom upgrade generally receive some cool or stackable upgrades to make up for the lack of this upgrade.
Speed
Effect: This upgrade improves your general movement speed in all situations.
Level of Unlock: Recruit (Level 9) or Specalist (Level 9).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Every character.
Upgrade Stats
You get a 5% movement speed boost while you have this upgrade equipped. Each character has varied amounts of base speed, with normally faster moving characters moving at a quicker pace, therefore further benefiting with the upgrade.
Characters such as Hot Rod Chomper, Twilight Chomper, Moto-X Star and Breakfast Brainz have the highest base movement speed, so they would benefit more with this upgrade. If your character has an ability that boosts your movement speed, this upgrade will stack with these abilities and will allow you to move even faster. Armored characters have reduced base movement speed compared to their base characters, except for Roadie Z, so this upgrade will have less of an effect on those characters as a result.
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade works well on characters that have a high base movement speed or on characters that have abilities that improve their movement speed, as the speed increase is much more significant, and it can allow you to chase your enemies, avoid attacks or to retreat. If you want to close the distance on your enemies, this upgrade will allow you to achieve that more easily. The additional speed will allow you to be faster than other characters of the class, and you will benefit from if you are trying to get back into combat or to an objective.
Drawbacks: I find that this upgrade does not work well with armored characters or characters that have a low base movement speed, as the speed upgrade does not provide very much of a movement speed boost overall, to the point where you might not even notice the difference in speed. Snipers do not really need additional speed, as they normally lack mobility anyway and keep distance from enemies. You could use it on those characters if you want to, or if they have abilities that improve movement speed, although it unfortunately will not make much of a difference.
Additional Notes: Hot Rod Chomper actually receives 2 speed upgrades, which can both be equipped to stack the effect and provide additional speed. I recommend using both of these upgrades on this character, as it is the fastest character in the game (tied with Twilight Chomper, although it only gets a single upgrade). Hovergoat-3000 has an ability that improves his movement speed and nearby zombies when activated, which can stack with the additional speed, meaning you can improve your speed even further. All legendary characters have a meter, which when filled, will grant a speed buff, along with other buffs. This upgrade stacks with the additional speed from the legendary meter and you can move around even faster. Choices!
Upgrade Facts
- This additional speed will be useless while you are rooted in position. This upgrade will not be worth using if you often tend to use rooted abilities, such as Pea Gatling, Sunbeam, Big Bolt Blaster or Cannon Rodeo, as you are unable to move around in these forms.
- This upgrade can be a minor counter to chill and freezing effects. You can still be frozen and slowed down, however this upgrade will reduce your movement speed penalty slightly, which could prevent you from being frozen if you can get to cover.
- As this upgrade stacks with almost any source of movement speed boosts, it is very beneficial if you can utilise abilities and effects that improve your movement speed, as it will allow you to get full use from this upgrade. Having improved movement speed will allow you to dodge enemy attacks more often.
Damage
Effect: This upgrade improves the damage you deal with your primary weapons.
Level of Unlock: Elite (Level 5).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Every character, except elemental characters (not including electric). Toxic characters do recieve this upgrade if they do not have a toxic aura. Some other characters generally lose this upgrade, if they get a replacement upgrade.
Upgrade Stats
You get a 10% damage boost to your primary weapons while you have this upgrade equipped. The damage increase that your characters gain can actually vary, depending on which character, so this increase is not always fixed. Not all characters receive this upgrade, with exceptions including elemental characters and characters that gain unique upgrades will generally lose this upgrade as a result, however electric characters and toxic characters that do not have a toxic aura still receive this upgrade.
This upgrade only applies the damage boost to primary weapons, and it only affects the direct damage of a character (splash damage and extra damage properties of the attack will not be included). However, this upgrade does affect the arc damage of electric characters, which makes this upgrade even more effective against enemy groups when using an electric character.
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade works well on almost every character that receives this upgrade. Charge-up characters hugely benefit, as it affects their uncharged damage and the overall charged damage, which can equal huge damage buffs. Characters that deal high damage per shot, characters that have a fast rate of fire and electric characters will benefit significantly as well, as the damage of each shot will be buffed, including arc damage if you are an electric character, and the damage being increased further if your primary weapons deal high base damage.
Drawbacks: I find that while this upgrade is beneficial in many situations, there may be some occassions where it is not as useful. Characters that have significant splash damage does not work as well with this upgrade, as the upgrade only benefits the direct damage aspect, which means you must land a direct hit to gain the additional damage and the added splash damage part on a direct hit will not be benefited. Characters that have significant damage drop off at range will likely not benefit from additional damage when fighting at long range, due to rounding in damage.
Additional Notes: Critical hits will stack with this upgrade, allowing you to deal even higher damage on successful critical hits, which synergises really well with characters that have enhanced critical damage, including Agent Pea and Camo Cactus. Some Chompers and Roadie Z receive 2 damage upgrades, due to lacking some other more common upgrades, which can be stacked to provide even more damage. Nec'Rose is able to jinx enemies, making them take around 75% more damage from all attacks, which stacks with this upgrade. Hovergoat-3000 can buff the damage of their allies, which stacks with this upgrade as well. All legendary characters have a meter, which when filled, often provides additional damage, along with other effects, which stacks with this upgrade as well. This upgrade is great and useful in nearly all situations that you will encounter! It is up to you which characters you decide to use this upgrade on! Plumber only deals 1 more total damage with this upgrade, and only on direct impacts, due to most of its damage being dealt through splash damage, so this upgrade is almost completely useless on him unfortunately.
Upgrade Facts
- This upgrade will apply to both of Captain Deadbeard and Super Brainz's attacks, as they actually have a primary and secondary weapon. They can use either attack at any given time without losing the benefits of this upgrade. The upgrade suits them well and it allows them to have an overall improved damage per second.
- Count Chompula actually receives additional healing, based on the amount of damage upgrades it has equipped. You will heal 62 health per digested enemy (instead of 50) if you equip both damage upgrades. This may not seem like that much of an increase, however it gives the damage upgrade an additional effect on him.
- This upgrade does not apply to abilities, only primary weapons. This is not particularly that large of a problem, although do keep this in mind when you use your abilities for additional damage on your enemies. Your legendary meter and additional damage boosting effects will generally apply to your abilities though!
Health
Effect: This upgrade increases the base maximum health of your character.
Level of Unlock: Super Elite (Level 5).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Every character.
Upgrade Stats
You gain an additional 10 maximum health while you have this upgrade equipped. This amount of bonus health will always be the same on every character, and it will not be affected by the base maximum health of your character. This is the only way to actually improve the maximum health of your character in the game, so using this upgrade will make you more defensive and will allow you to take more damage before you are vanquished.
The additional maximum health does stack with indirect effects, such as damage reduction effects, healing and natural regeneration, allowing you to essentially take more damage at any given time. It does assist against elemental effects as well, allowing you to sponge the elemental damage more easily.
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade works well on characters that have a low amount of maximum health, as the health increase will be more significant and it will improve your survivability on those characters. This includes healers, supports and high damaging characters, as they are generally more fragile and will benefit from improved health. This upgrade pairs well on characters that have ways to reduce or prevent damage, including legendary characters, which while in legendary mode, you are granted with damage reduction, which will stack with the increased health.
Drawbacks: I find that this upgrade does not work well with characters that have high maximum health, as the health increase will not be as significant and it might not actually benefit you at all in certain situations. This being said, though, Torchwood and some high health characters could benefit, as they can reduce or prevent damage, which stacks with the improved health. Snipers and characters that attack from long range will not particularly benefit from the additional health, as they will generally be located a distance from the enemies and they do not need extra health.
Additional Notes: Armor Chomper actually receives 2 health upgrades, which can both be equipped at the same time to stack the effect and to grant even more additional health. This may not have much of an impact, although equipping one of both of them could be useful for survival, especially when digesting an enemy. Legendary characters will heal to half of their maximum health when their legendary mode activates if they are under half health, so you will actually heal to a higher amount of health if you use this upgrade, and the additional health stacks with damage reduction as well, improving your survivability when using your legendary modes.
Upgrade Facts
- You can pair the additional health with your natural regeneration to have enhanced maximum health in between a fight, however it will take you longer to heal completely. Being healed or having access to healing effects will reduce the time for you to heal to full health.
- This upgrade does stack with damage reduction as well, meaning that if you are using effects or abilities that provide you with damage reduction, the health upgrade is actually going to technically increase your maximum health further during this time.
- If you are using this upgrade, if you ever find yourself at 10 or less maximum health for any reason, remember that the likely reason that you were not vanquished was due to this upgrade. Appreciate the upgrade for that, it may happen to randomly save you in particular situations.
Ammo
Effect: This upgrade increases the maximum ammo capacity for your primary weapon.
Level of Unlock: Advanced (Level 9).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Most characters that use ammo (not overheat). There are exceptions to this, as not all characters that have ammo actually do receive this upgrade, for various reasons.
Upgrade Stats
You get a 20% maximum ammo capacity boost to your primary weapon while you have this upgrade equipped. The maximum ammo increase that your characters gain can actually vary, due to rounding, so this increase is not always fixed. Not all characters that use ammo actually recieve this upgrade for various reasons, such as having a low amount of maximum ammo, they get a replacement upgrade, due to the way the character works or even for different reasons.
The upgrade only applies to your primary weapons. There are some abilities that use an ammo system, which will either be automatically consumed as the ability is resolved or it will be manually used, however this upgrade does not work on these abilities and will not increase the ammo capacity of the abilities.
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade works well on characters that have a high amount of base maximum ammo, and even on most characters that receive the upgrade in general. It will be more beneficial on characters that have high maximum ammo, as the ammo capacity increase will be greater and you can shoot for a long time before you even need to reload at all. You are able to use this upgrade to reduce the frequency of needing to reload, and you will be able to deal higher damage to your enemies in a single clip, effectively providing a small damage increase as well.
Drawbacks: I find that this upgrade does not work well on characters that do not have as much maximum ammo, or if it will take a long time to even burn through your ammo. The maximum ammo capacity increase will not be as significant if your character has less ammo capacity, and you can generally reload manually in between combat if it takes a while to consume all of your current ammo. It may not provide as much of a difference if your character burns through your ammo capacity quickly, although it may still be useful for more damage and sustained fire per clip.
Additional Notes: This upgrade synergises well with burst fire variants, as you will be able to unload additional bursts of fire before each reload, so if your burst fire character receives this upgrade, I would recommend using it. Sun Pharaoh, Pops Corn, Super Commando and Pylon Imp are all burst fire variants, although only the former 2 characters mentioned here do actually receive an ammo upgrade. I would generally suggest using this upgrade on any character that receives this upgrade, as it will benefit you most situations and provides a significant effect for your character.
Upgrade Facts
- Chemist actually receives 2 ammo upgrades, and even gets a reload upgrade as well. Zoologist receives an ammo upgrade as well, despite having 2 reload upgrades. They are both melee characters, so these additional upgrades replace the zoom upgrades, and they all stack and synergise nicely together. Chemist is the only character in the game to receive more than a single ammo upgrade.
- If your character does not receive the ammo upgrade, however it uses the ammo system, they will likely receive 2 reload upgrades to make up for this, which stack together. These could be used together to provide a similar effect, although not the exact same effect, to having increased ammo.
- If your character never overheats and does not use an ammo system, they will receive completely different upgrdes to these mentioned upgrades. This would make sense, as these upgrades have no effect on the character and would never benefit those characters.
Reload
Effect: This upgrade reduces the reload time for your primary weapon.
Level of Unlock: Advanced (Level 5) and sometimes Advanced (Level 9).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Most characters that use ammo (not overheat). Many characters will receive an additional reload upgrade, if they do not receive an ammo upgrade. Each of the upgrades stack to further reduce reload time.
Upgrade Stats
You get a 20% reduced reload time for your primary weapon while you have this upgrade equipped. If you equip 2 reload upgrades at a time, you will have a total of a 36% reduced reload time instead. The potency of this effect can actually vary, as characters have varied reload times. This upgrade only applies when you are using your primary weapon and you are reloading, however it will work when you either manually reload or you automatically have to reload.
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade works well on characters that have short or average reload times, or on characters that find themselves needing to reload often, as the change in reload time will be significant and you will benefit from the quicker reload more often. It works when you manually reload as well, which is useful if you decide to reload and then get attacked as the process will be quicker. This will benefit with characters that have low ammo and characters that get 2 of these upgrades, as the effect will be more frequent and will prove to be even more useful.
Drawbacks: I find that this upgrade does not work well on characters that already take a long time to reload or on characters that take a while to empty a clip before they need to reload. If your character takes a long time to reload, the change will be helpful, although not that significant. If your character takes a while to empty their clip, you may not find yourself needing to reload in combat often and you should simply be able to reload in between a fight, as well as the quicker reload not activating as often. It could still be useful though in some cases, so the choice is yours!
Additional Notes: You can use this upgrade on nearly all characters that use an ammo system, as it will generally benefit them in some way. It will assist in combat, and could serve as an alternative to ammo. When you have access to 2 reload upgrades on a character, you can stack them for even quicker reload time, although it will cost 2 of the 3 upgrade points, which normally have a significant benefit.
Upgrade Facts
- Zoologist actually receives 2 reload upgrades, while still getting an ammo upgrade as well. Chemist receives a reload upgrade, even though he has 2 ammo upgrades. They are both melee characters, so these additional upgrades replace the zoom upgrades, and all of these upgrades stack and synergise nicely together. Zoologist is the only character in the game to get an ammo upgrade along with 2 reload upgrades.
- If your character never overheats and does not use an ammo system, they will receive completely different upgrdes to these mentioned upgrades. This would make sense, as these upgrades have no effect on the character and would never benefit those characters.
- Captain Squawk is the only character in the game to have the reload and overheat upgrade. This is because he has multiple primary weapons, with his close range attack using an overheat system and his long range attack using an ammo system.
Overheat
Effect: This upgrades increases the amount of time you can fire your primary weapon before it overheats.
Level of Unlock: Advanced (Level 9).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Characters that have infinite ammo, although are susceptible to overheat. There are limited characters and attacks that have infinite ammo, although they will not overheat, so they will not receive this upgrade.
Upgrade Stats
You get a longer firing time for your primary weapon before you overheat while you have this upgrade equipped. The amount of additional firing time before you overheat with this upgrade depends on which character you are using, as the time duration increase varies significantly. In general situations, however, the longer time before overheating is significant and will allow you to fire for much longer. This upgrade will benefit you when you take short pauses while shooting, as you will further improve your firing time as a whole before you end up possibly overheating.
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade works well on almost any character that is able to receive this upgrade. The time before you actually overheat is generally significant, and it will almost always be useful to you in combat, even if you tend to take small pauses constantly. Taking small pauses and using this upgrade will allow you to continue firing your weapon for a very long time, so pause shooting when there are no enemies you can deal damage to at the time. You will still be unable to shoot for a while if you overheat, so try your best not to overheat where possible.
Drawbacks: I find that this upgrade does not work well on characters that overheat really quickly, or on Super Brainz variants. The improved overheat time will not provide a significant increase to overheat time and you will generally still overheat quite fast. For Super Brainz, this upgrade only applies to the ranged beam attack, which is not as powerful as their melee attacks, which never overheat. The beams overheat very fast as well, so this upgrade is not going to provide a significant difference, and you will still likely overheat anyway, even if taking pauses.
Additional Notes: Torchwood will never overheat while using Smoldering Madness, and activating the ability while you have overheated will completely reset the overheat, meaning that this upgrade is not as useful. It will still be beneficial in general situations when you are using your primary weapon, so you can decide whether to equip it or not. Breakfast Brainz can actually overheat with his melee attack if he continues attacking for a long time without a pause. It takes a very long time to overheat his punches already, although this upgrade is very beneficial as he will take even longer, and will additionally increase the overheat for his ranged attack slightly. Characters that have infinite ammo and that never overheat will not receive this upgrade.
Upgrade Facts
- This upgrade provides one of the most significant bonuses in the game. There are some characters that get more than a 50% increase to their firing time before they overheat, which means that this upgrade is very powerful and has a great impact.
- If your character uses an ammo system, they will receive completely different upgrades. This would make sense, as this upgrade has no effect on the character and would never benefit those characters.
- Captain Squawk is the only character in the game to have the overheat and reload upgrade. This is because he has multiple primary weapons, with his close range attack using an overheat system and his long range attack using an ammo system.
Overheat Penalty
Effect: This upgrade reduces the amount of time after you overheat before you can use your primary weapon again.
Level of Unlock: Advanced (Level 5).
Characters That Receive This Upgrade: Characters that have infinite ammo, although are susceptible to overheat. There are limited characters and attacks that have infinite ammo, although they will not overheat, so they will not receive this upgrade.
Upgrade Stats
You get a 20% reduced duration before you are able to use your primary weapon again after you overheat while you have this upgrade equipped. Some characters will not receive this upgrade if they gain a replacement upgrade. This effect will not reduce the heat on your weapon if you stop firing, it will only apply when you have actually overheated. Since this is the case, it will only assist you in certain situations, although it will reduce the amount of time that you are left vulnerable in a fight, if you have overheated.
Upgrade Tips and Suggestions
Benefits: I find that this upgrade works well with characters that tend to overheat quickly, or if you struggle to control the overheat of your character. Some characters may overheat quickly, although if this is the case, they will generally have a reduced overheat penalty, so use this upgrade alongside and you will be able to start firing again more quickly. This upgrade will be useful as well if your overheat penalty duration is quite long, as this upgrade will significantly reduce the penalty and you will be able to start firing your weapon again more efficiently.
Drawbacks: I find that this upgrade works well if you are actually able to prevent your character from overheating often, which will especially be the case if you use the other overheat upgrade. As this upgrade will only apply once you actually overheat, it will not come into effect until you have actually overheated, and you will still be left vulnerable if you overheat during combat, although not for as long. Super Brainz will not really benefit either, as this upgrade only applies to their beam attacks and the overheat penalty is still many seconds before it can be used again.
Additional Notes: Torchwood will never overheat while using Smoldering Madness, and activating the ability while you have overheated will completely reset the overheat, meaning that this upgrade is not as useful. It will still benefit you if you overheat in general combat, so whether to use this upgrade or not is your choice. Baseball Star has a very quick overheat time, although his overheat penalty is very short, so using this upgrade is excellent on this character, to take advantage of this mechanic. Characters that have infinite ammo and that never overheat will not receive this upgrade.
Upgrade Facts
- Any Chomper that can overheat actually does not receive this upgrade, although they still receive the regular overheat upgrade. Captain Squawk does not receive this upgrade either, as he instead gets a reload upgrade, which assists for his long range weapon.
- While this upgrade and its use is relatively situational, you can actually deliberately get more use out of it. Rather than trying to take pauses while firing to prevent overheat, instead, when you are in combat, you can deliberately shoot until you overheat, and you will trigger the reduced penalty effect more often.
- If your character uses an ammo system, they will receive completely different upgrades. This would make sense, as this upgrade has no effect on the character and would never benefit those characters.
The upgrades are to be continued in the next post below. This post was too long, so this guide had to be made in 2 parts. I will be covering the less common upgrades there!