RELATED: The Most Iconic Enemy Mascots In Games
Now, Omega Strikers has some relatively complex stuff going on for a f2p game such as complex mechanics, status effects, individual character variables, multiple ways to level, and much more. Because there’s a lot to learn, there are also a lot of easy mistakes people are making.
10 Worrying Too Much About Using Abilities Off-Cooldown
First off, while it is neat that almost every playable character has three abilities they can use outside of their standard Strike, it’s a mistake to get too invested in using these abilities. While they can completely change the tide of a match or even just a point, it’s the players who think they “need” to use their abilities as soon as they’re up that end up letting the Core through into their goal.
There are a good number of abilities that have start-up animations such as Juno’s Make it Rain Special and trying to use them at improper times just leads to the player missing entirely. Thankfully, this ability does spawn a bunch of Slimes, which the Slime Rancher 2 fans should be happy about.
9 Staggering & KO’ing Enemies Is A Big Part Of The Game
The Stagger Meter in Omega Strikers is essentially the character’s life bar, as it is what determines when they get KO’d. It fills when players are hit with enemy abilities, and once it’s full they become Staggered and take massively increased knockback, making it much easier to get hit into the sides of the arena and get Knocked Out.
Don’t worry, these innocent and adorable little characters aren’t “killed” per se, just Knocked Out. Since the Weak, Medium, and Heavy Hits that come from abilities can do a ton of Stagger damage, KO’ing others is honestly a big part of the game.
8 Anyone Can Be Goalie At Anytime
As much as the game seems to put a lot of gravitas on the “Goalie” label in the character select screen, this label doesn’t actually do anything other than letting the rest of the team know that “they’re the Goalie”.
RELATED: Underrated Nintendo Switch Card Games
If, for example, a three-stack of people playing with each other queues up and the person who got assigned as Goalie would actually rather play Forward, they can switch with a teammate mid-match. There is no statistical difference between the Goalie and Forward role as the Goal Arc Buff applies to anyone within it. So, if it’s necessary, players can absolutely switch roles mid-game, even in solo queue.
7 Goalies Should Usually Be On The Outer Edges Of The Goal Arc
Speaking of Goalies, let’s talk about how close players are to sticking to their Goal Gates in Omega Strikers currently. This might seem like the best area for a Goalie to hang in and defend from the Core getting in, but it’s actually hindering them more than helping.
While there, the Goalie can be easily KO’d by an unexpected Medium to Heavy Hit, such as Era’s Magic Maelstrom. Additionally, they need to walk up further for returns which lets enemies feel comfortable getting closer. And lastly, the area of “coverage” they have from incoming Cores is actually less near the Goal Gates than it is around the outer edges of the Goal Arc. It’s the same as actual Soccer (or Soccer anime for the non-sports fans) where Goalies are usually found near the edges of the Penalty Area.
6 Team Comps Actually Matter
Next up is the concept of team composition. Like in any team-based online game such as League of Legends or Valorant, team comp absolutely matters. Though, to be fair, Omega Strikers only has two roles, Goalie and Forward, unlike other games which tend to have 5 or more.
That said, there are sub-roles within Omega Strikers’ two roles. For example:
There are Forwards that excel in the middle of the arena rather than pushing into the enemy Goal Arc. There are Goalies that can reliably leave the Goal Arc to help in attacking and then quickly return And there are Forwards that focus primarily on KO’ing other players rather than just getting Goals.
So, players need to think about this during character selection. Otherwise, they may just end up with a team of three hard-to-play characters who are too slow and heavy to actually play defense.
5 Players Aren’t Switching Up The Direction Of Their Strikes Nearly Enough
This feels like something people should learn about within their first hour of playing Omega Strikers, but it’s actually relatively hard to internalize. Plus, because the play sessions for this game are relatively short, it’s even harder to pick up the muscle memory for these types of Strikes. Essentially, when players left-click to Strike the Core, they can choose what direction their Hit will send it, denoted by the arrow direction in the circle of their Strike telegraph.
Most players just click as often as possible to instantly return the Core in the opposite direction it was coming from, but a well-timed upward or downward Strike can throw the enemy team off, as players don’t use their movement abilities to chase the Core nearly enough.
4 The Edges Of The Arena Are Dangerous
Remember, going for KO’s only matters if the enemy players are getting close enough to the sides of the stage while chasing the Core. It’s incredibly difficult to get a KO on someone in the center of the arena after all, even when they’re Staggered.
And this is a mistake people are making constantly right now. Players need to stop carelessly approaching the sides of the arena while fighting for control of the Core. Let the Core bounce and get it after because there are a lot of Forwards that intentionally hit the Core off the edges of the arena to lead their opponents there and then KO them when they get too close.
3 Adjust Your Character To The Enemy Team & Arena
While all of Omega Strikers’ arenas have the same general look to them, the actual layout of the stage and bonus effects it grants differ from game to game.
RELATED: Games That Are Designed To Be FrustratingAnd, tons of players aren’t even aware they can see what stage they’ll be playing on and what bonuses it gives right from the top-left of the character select screen. To see these bonuses, simply hover over the question mark icon next to the stage name in the top-left. Then, once a player takes stock of the arena and enemy character choices, they can make their own choices based on that info. Counter-picking for team comps is basic knowledge for any online head-to-head game, after all, even mobile games have their own “meta” Team Comps to pay attention to.
2 There’s More To Leveling Than Meets The Eye
Characters in Omega Strikers follow the standard sort of MOBA-esque leveling system where players at a higher level tend to have higher stats than lower-level players. And, to get EXP in this game, players can make Saves, get Takedowns, hit the Core, collect Power Orbs, or get Goals.
A lot of players have been assuming that it’s just Goals and KOs that contribute to level, but there are a lot of different fun ways to go about the leveling process, and knowing about them will absolutely change the way someone plays the game.
1 Peruse The Omega Strikers Playbook
And finally, let’s get to what seems to be every gamer’s Kryptonite, reading and playing tutorials. Once they install a game, most people want to just get in the thick of it immediately and learn while doing. But, Omega Strikers has a lot more variables than it may seem at first, and reading up through the Playbook will help people understand how everything works much faster.
This codex-like menu can be accessed by clicking the book icon on the top-left of the main menu, next to the friends’ list. Here, players can see in-depth info on every character, their backstories, all the explanations on game mechanics, what status effects do, and more.
MORE: Grand Strategy Games That Are Good For Beginners
