Bionic Avengers – Deathlok and Viv Vision
Introduction
A few days ago, we talked about the first three characters that will form Bionic Avengers – Iron Man, Vision, and Hulkbuster. At the time we could figure that the fourth character would be Viv Vision but until now we didn’t know who the last member of the team would be. Scopely usually waits before revealing all members of the new team, but this time they introduced the last two members fast.
Anyway, in the official “Bionic Avengers: Part 2” blog we learned that Deathlok will join Viv Vision to complete assembling the new Bionic Avengers. We already figured that rebalanced Iron Man and Vision with the help of Hulkbuster will have the unseen distribution of Ability Energy between team members.
When you learn about Deathlok and Viv Vision you will undoubtedly understand that Bionic Avengers will be the first team in Marvel Strike Force whose members will have all their skills at their disposal all the time regardless of cooldowns. It is hard for me to get used to the fact that I will control the team of characters who are not limited to using any of the skills they have during the entire battle, so I am still not sure if they will be totally OP or just decent.
Before jumping to conclusions let’s first see what Deathlok and Viv Vision actually offer to us.
Deathlok
Luther Manning aka Deathlok was a veteran US Army colonel who was mortally wounded in a peace-time war-games exercise. Without having permission, Luther’s superiors have used his lifeless body in a Project: Alpha-Mech transferring his living essence, brain, and neuro waves into an artificial body.
Basically, Luther became the first Cyborg on Earth 616 and due to his deceased status, he got the name Deathlok – locked in Death.
Project: Alpha-Mech was fully successful – Deathlok proved to be an asset who has given the edge to the US military in dozens of missions, but everything changed when he started to regain memories from his normal life. Realizing that he is now just a tool in hands of others without any connections to his previous life and the people involved in it, Deathlok leaves the military to find out his true purpose.
Accepting his current state cannot be changed, he decides to use his abilities in fights against the same type of people who decided his fate without asking him. That led to numerous adventures where Deathlok helped iconic Superheroes fight for the right cause.
Alongside his partner Godwulf, Deathlok helped S.H.I.E.L.D., Spider-Man, and Daredevil among others in a neverending fight against oppression and injustice.
MSF Role
In MSF, Deathlok is a Hero Blaster who carries Bionic Avengers as the main damage dealer and main buffer. His presence on the team continuously increases the damage to all members of the team.
Basic Attack
Basic Attack causes medium damage which is followed by three bonus attacks. Each additional attack causes half of the damage inflicted initially. In Raids, if any of four attacks is a critical hit, Deathlok generates 1 Ability Energy for two random Bionic Avengers up to 4 Ability Energy in total.
Considering Deathlok’s potential damage, his basic attack will be like Ikaris with one major difference. This will be another ability on the lengthy list of Bionic Avengers abilities that grants Ability Energy. If Deathlok is equipped with Raider ISO-8 class, the chance of granting Ability Energy will be almost certain.
Special Ability
Special Ability can be used in the first turn and costs 5 Ability Energy. Deathlok will buff all members of the Bionic Avengers with Offense Up for two turns before executing a moderate damage AOE against all enemies. In addition to the damage received, 2 Bleeds will affect all enemies. Simultaneously, Deathlok will grant 1 Ability energy to all adjacent bionic Avenger allies. This attack cannot be Dodged or Evaded if there are 3+ Bionic Avengers along with Deathlok.
This is an average AOE that will place 2 Bleeds on each target. This skill will be the same as Ghost Rider special except it will affect all enemies and will be always executed while Deathlok is having Offense Up same as the rest of Bionic Avengers. Obviously, it will be extremely powerful but costly.
Due to Ability Energy distribution in Bionic Avengers, Deathlok will use this ability whenever he wants or on every second turn in the worst-case scenario which is insane. The only thing you need to worry about is that Deathlok’s position is not on the far left or far right because you want him to be between two characters for maximum Ability Energy overflow.
Ultimate
Deathlok’s Ultimate cannot be used at the start of combat. It costs 7 Energy while Deathlok starts with 5 Energy for this ability. This means that it can’t be used before the third turn of combat but due to Bionci Avengers’ Ability Energy Mechanics, you will be able to use it in the second turn.
Ultimate attacks primary and adjacent targets causing up to 450% damage to each target. If the Target is Tech, the damage is increased to 500% damage. The primary target will be affected by the Ability Block for 1 Turn (2 Turns if Tech). Simultaneously ultimate grants 1 Ability Energy to adjacent Bionic Avengers (same as Special Ability).
Even if possible, Deathlok would never use Ultimate at the start of combat before using Special Ability that grants Offense Up. So, we should not consider it as a disadvantage, on the contrary. Deathlok Ultimate is like Vision’s special but with higher damage. It cannot place Ability Block on secondary targets, though.
The fact that Ultimate also grants Ability Energy means that Deathlok is the best battery in the game that fills allies in every turn. To reach the full potential it is mandatory that Deathlok land Ability Block and fully control battle in the second turn of combat. After reading Passive Ability, you’ll see that Deathlok won’t necessarily need the Skirmisher ISO-8 class to do this.
Passive Ability
Passive Ability permanently increases the damage of all Bionic Avengers by 15% per turn to the maximum of 45% in the third turn. Also, the Focus of Deathlok is passively increased by 100% meaning that his debuffs will always land regardless of ISO-8 Class.
In Raids, Deathlok will get +1 Charged whenever he or any other Bionic Avenger in the team receives Ability Energy. Upon reaching 5 Charged at the end of any Turn, Deathlok will automatically execute a free attack causing up to 300% damage and losing all Charged.
This passive ability is quite simple and extremely powerful. The damage to Bionic Avengers in all game features will gradually increase with every turn. Knowing that they will have amazing stats like all the new characters, we can simply conclude that the potential damage of this team will be insane regardless of the game segment.
In Raids, this passive ability will be even more powerful allowing the main Damage dealer of Bionic Avengers to have a powerful free attack every second turn at worst. It will practically double Deathlok’s already amazing damage output.
Deathlok kit looks extremely good. However, since the team in general lacks Safeguard or Trauma he won’t be able to shine against Meta teams in War and CC. Nevertheless, depending on the stats Scopely gives him Deathlok could potentially be in the top 10 Damage Dealers in the game.
Viv Vision
When Vision, one of the most powerful and iconic superheroes decided to have a family, he used Scarlet Witch’s brain patterns to create Virginia to become his wife. The next step was creating the kids from his own brain patterns combined with Virginia’s. That is how Viv and Vin Vision was born.
They were identical twins – boy and girl. Soon they moved to Arlington, Virginia where all of them became celebrities (like the Kardashian family IRL).
Viv Vision inherited all her father’s abilities, but she was never happy since she is different from normal humans. Her never-ending pursuit of becoming human led her through numerous adventures where she collided with Grim Reaper and High Evolutionary who were her main adversaries.
Eventually, Viv will lose her mother and brother in this fight, and she will join a Superhero group known as the Champions (mostly teenage superheroes like Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales, etc..) before making an ultimate sacrifice.
Viv has all superhuman powers like her father Vison including superhuman strength, flight, density manipulation, and intangibility. Her computer brain allows her to live inside the internet, being able to remotely connect with any computer or device on the network.
MSF Role
In Marvel Strike Force, Viv Vision is the Hero Support for the Bionic Avengers who heals the team whenever someone gets Ability Energy. At the same time, like other members of the team, she grants additional Ability Energy and controls a battle by preventing enemies from using their abilities.
Basic Attack
Basic Attack causes moderate damage against the single target and places Deflect to the most injured ally (+2 Deflect on Bionic Avenger). In Raids, Basic Attack allows Viv Vision to grant 2 Ability Energy to random Bionic Avenger and 1 Ability Energy to Vison. This attack will always be assisted by Vision but only in Raids.
Viv Vision’s basic attack is not immensely powerful outside raids. It will indeed grant Deflect to the most injured ally but outside of that, it is nothing special. From what we could learn in the official Blog Viv Vision will always assist Vision’s basic attacks which is not the case in the opposite direction (Viv Vision will receive assists only in Raids).
If that is the case Viv will be crippled for other game segments, but I wouldn’t jump to conclusions before seeing their kits in the game. Scopely is known for releasing half or even false information in announcements.
Special Ability
Special Ability costs 4 Energy and can be used at the start of combat. It will cause moderate damage against a single target while placing Offense Down and Ability Block for 2 Turns. Simultaneously it will generate 1 Ability Energy to two random Bionic Avengers that are not at full energy.
In Raids, this skill cannot be blocked and if the target is killed Offense Down and Ability Block are transferred to adjacent enemies.
Viv Special Ability allows Bionic Avengers to place 2 Ability Blocks for two turns at the start of combat. It sounds insanely overpowered, but the true effectiveness will depend on the base Speed of Vison, Viv Vision, and their enemies. Nevertheless, being able to cripple two enemies in the first turn and then to do it again with Deathlok in the second seems insane (at least against enemies who have no Immunity at the start).
The potential of this ability is even greater in raids where Viv can spread Offense Down and Ability block if she kills the target. Naturally, this is also another Bionic Avengers skill that grants Ability Energy.
Ultimate Ability
Ultimate Ability costs 6 Energy and can also be used at the start of combat. It first flips two negative effects to positive for all allies (all negative effects for Bionic Avengers) before causing heavy damage to the Primary target and all other enemies in the same row. The primary target will also be Blinded in the process.
If there are 3 or more Bionic Avengers in the team this attack cannot be Dodged or Evaded. Simultaneously, all Bionic Avengers will be granted 1 Ability Energy.
This is the first ability in the game that affects enemies in the same row. There are two rows in every battle (front and back), and this will be especially effective in Raids, which can spawn more than five enemies at the same time.
You will have a tough time deciding whether to use Special or Ultimate in the first turn, but you should not consider it as a dilemma but as an opportunity – you will control the battle depending on your enemies.
Passive Ability
Passive Ability allows Viv to heal all Bionic Avengers by 3% of her Max HP whenever any member of the team gains Ability Energy. It also permanently increases Armor for Viv and all Bionic Avengers.
When any member of the Bionic Avenger team drops below 50% HP, Viv instantly clears Disrupt and Heal Block from that team member and places Stealth on them. In Raids Bionic Avengers receive one additional Ability Energy when they drop below 50% HP, and their Armor is further increased.
Viv Vision’s healing may seem low at first glance but that would be an extremely wrong deduction. When you look at the big picture and conclude that every member of the team will receive at least 2 Ability Energy every single turn, by using simple mathematics you came to the result of healing equal to 30% of Viv’s Max HP each turn (5 members x2 Ability energy x 3% HP=30% HP).
Knowing that Viv’s base HP will be higher compared to other characters the only logical conclusion is that Viv will be fully overpowered as a healer.
It is sufficient to say that in Raids, the Ability Energy distribution will be almost doubled. Her passive protection of Bionic Avengers when they drop below 50% HP after understanding her healing abilities seems irrelevant, while it is almost identical to the protection of Darkhold in the same situation.
Overall, Viv Vission’s passive utilizes the power of all other members combined and makes an unbelievable synergy for Bionic Avengers in general.
Conclusion
It is too early to accurately predict Bionic Avengers’ importance overall. It will depend on a lot of things and on their base stats. What we know for sure is that they will be insane in Raids but that is not enough for deciding to fully invest especially for f2p players.
Even though their kit sounds amazing they will not be able to deal with the current META (Darkhold, Eternals, Weapon X, Unlimited X-men, Infinity Watch) in War and CC.
As I said I cannot predict if they’ll be usable against specialized Defensive teams like Hero Asgardian, Wakanda, Young Avengers, or EPryorMaruders since it will depend on their stats. What I know for sure is that they will be a better option for nodes 5 and 10 in Death Scourge compared with Hero Asgardians.
It is obvious that their damage potential and self-preservation in prolonged battles are definitely much better. Unfortunately, due to their dependence on other Bionic Avenger members, they are also not good DD5 material except maybe Viv Vision.
We will have to wait and see the final requirements for Death Scourge Nodes 5 and 10 before giving the final verdict. If nothing changes, they will be mandatory, and I will suggest full investment immediately. However, if there is a better option for Death Scourge, I am not sure that their overall potential will be good enough to prioritize them before Unlimited X-Men or even Hero Asgardian.
What I know for sure is that answers to all questions will be revealed soon enough. Keep tuned and let us find out together 🙂