Black Panther Guide

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I am a Grand Master player who primarily plays Invisible Woman as a main. I also main Peni Parker for a Vanguard and Punisher for a Duelist. I also study top level streamers, tournaments, and data published by first and third party sources to help deliver the most accurate information I can.

Basic Ability Guide (For Beginners)

At first glance, Black Panther is quite simple. He has 2 throwable spears and 2 different dashes. If you simply use these abilities like any other character's, you'll immediately think "this character is awful!" However, these abilities all work together to make him incredibly strong in the right hands.

To understand how he works, let's look at the spear and the spinning kick (2nd dash). Hitting an opponent with either of these will give them a "vibranium mark", which is indicated as a small icon above their head. The spinning kick requires you to make contact with the opponent, but the spear can be thrown at the ground next to an opponent(s) to place a mark.

What makes the mark significant is it empowers Black Panther's entire kit. By using your "Spirit Rend" dash on a marked enemy, you will recharge your spirit dash instantly, as well as give you 30 bonus health! It does remove the mark from the opponent, but you can mark them again, dash again, mark again, dash again... you get the idea. As long as you hit the marked target, you get your dash back. As long as you can mark them again, you can continue the pattern.

For an extra way to mark opponents, his ultimate ability does a quick 150 damage to enemies in your path and marking them as well. Without your dash, this ultimate is quite lackluster. Ideally, you want to mix this in as a finisher to wipe out the back line.

Black Panther has 2 passive abilities worth noting. If you run and jump towards a wall, he will begin sprinting up the wall. You can jump off at any time, which will give you a one-time use double jump. This can let you position yourself on the exact player you are trying to target. His other passive gives you a 20% damage boost if your health is below 100.

How to Play Black Panther

If you couldn't tell by now, Black Panther is a pure combo character. To be effective, you must execute the combo perfectly or risk stranding yourself with no defensive options. His basic combo works like this:

1. Throw a spear at your target, then dash through them.
2. Turn around to face them again. Throw a spear and dash again.
3. Turn around again. Spin kick through them. Turn around once more and dash again.

This combo should kill any character at 300 or less hp. You should have 1 remaining dash left after this combo. If your opponent is near death, you can turn around and do one final dash. If not (or if they are already dead), use that last dash as an escape tool.

If you have your ultimate ability charged, you can mix it into the combo at any stage. Simply ult towards your targets, turn around, dash through them, and continue your combo. The time it takes to ult should give you enough time to recharge a 3rd spear, so you can add that in as yet another dash attack.

Tips and Tricks for Gameplay

Playing Black Panther means you have a very specific goal: target the backline or low hp players. Targeting them let's your team more effectively push the tanks and dps while you have the healers distracted (or dead).

You will never win versus a tank or agile dps, so don't even attempt it. If you are getting attacked by one, just go ahead and retreat until your team can get their attention back.

You don't always have to be fighting with this character. It's okay to hide in the shadows for a short period while your ability charges. You may also need to wait for an opportune time to strike.

Just because you see the healer doesn't mean you should rush them immediately. Make sure they are positioned in a way that prevents them from running to safety before you combo them.

This is a dirty tactic, but a valid one: if you manage to kill their healer and make it out alive, go to their spawn area. You can often catch them by surprise when they respawn, netting you another kill and netting their team an extended period without a healer. Even if you don't kill them, wasting their time makes their team have a disadvantage of missing a healer.

Black Panther won't be effective in every match. He has counters in both playstyle and in character picks. If you can't successfully dive their healers, go ahead and swap characters. You don't have to prove a point by forcing him to work when you are clearly countered.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Great for eliminating healers
• You can be difficult to kill
• Dashing through opponents diverts attention away from your team and the objective

Cons:

• Can be easily counter picked
• Missing the combo makes you borderline useless
• Can't battle tanks
• Damage is primarily melee, so you can't target flying characters

Matchups