Apocalypse

Apocalypse – The Mutant Deity Awakens

Champion Breakdown

About Apocalypse

Character Class: Mutant

Brief Overview: Apocalypse, born as En Sabah Nur, is the first mutant in existence. Master of both ancient and alien technology, his power is nearly unmatched. His unique abilities revolve around accumulating Genetic Code to empower himself and his fellow mutants, increasing his strength and debuff capabilities as the battle progresses.

Apocalypse Origin: Originating from Marvel Comics, Apocalypse has traveled the earth for centuries under the guise of a deity, manipulating civilizations and using Celestial technology to achieve his goals. In Marvel Contest of Champions, his lore and abilities reflect his imposing and god-like image.

Lore Background

Apocalypse History: Thousands of years ago in Aqaba, En Sabah Nur was born, the first being to express the mutant X-gene. Dubbed "Apocalypse," he convinced ancient societies of his divinity, inciting wars to stimulate growth and destruction. After centuries of conquest, Apocalypse used Celestial technology to enter suspended animation, awakening in the modern age to reassess and fullfill his judgment on humanity.

Personality Traits: Apocalypse is characterized by his god-complex, seeing himself as a judge of the worthy and a harbinger of evolution. This persona influences his fighting style, making him relentless, powerful, and unyielding in battle, always seeking to prove his superiority.

Apocalypse's Gameplay Mechanics

Basic Abilities: Bleed, Weakness, Poison, Concussion, Degeneration

Apocalypse's gameplay revolves around building Genetic Code to amplify his abilities and create a variety of debilitating effects on his opponents. His basic structure includes an array of attacks and debuffs which increase in potency and versatility as he accumulates Genetic Code.

Basic Attacks:

  • Light Attacks: Swift strikes that are ideal for quick debuffs.
  • Medium Attacks: Harder hits that are strategic for triggering certain debuffs.
  • Heavy Attacks: Inflict Bleed and refresh existing personal debuffs on the opponent.

Passive and Active Basic Abilities:

  • Genetic Enhancement: Gain Genetic Code by defeating opponents, max stacks of 4.
  • Total Molecular Control: Develop immunity to Bleed, Incinerate, and Disorient effects over time.
  • Evade Bypass: Ignores opponent's Evade chances, increasing his efficiency in battles.
  • Purify Prevention: Reduces opponent's Purify Ability Accuracy by 100%, blocking their ability to cleanse debuffs.

Special Attacks:

  1. Celestial Energy Blast: Inflicts Weakness or Poison based on the last Light or Medium Attack.
  2. Overheated Projectile Barrage: Inflicts Concussion or Degeneration based on the last Light or Medium Attack.
  3. The Final Judgment: Retriggers all personal debuffs on the opponent with increased potency and pauses them indefinitely.

Special 1

Celestial Energy Blast: Inflicts a chosen debuff based on the most recent Light or Medium Attack. If fighting mutants or if at 4 Genetic Code, both debuffs are applied simultaneously.

  • Light Attack: Weakness reducing attack rating.
  • Medium Attack: Deal significant Poison damage and reduce healing.

Special 2

Overheated Projectile Barrage: Inflicts Concussion or Degeneration based on the last Light or Medium Attack. Both debuffs are applied if against mutants or at maximum Genetic Code.

  • Light Attack: Concussion reducing Ability Accuracy.
  • Medium Attack: High damage Degeneration.

Special 3

The Final Judgment: Retriggers all personal debuffs on the opponent with doubled potency and pauses them indefinitely. If no debuffs are active, inflicts two random debuffs.

Signature Ability: Survival Of The Fittest: When not fighting, Apocalypse regenerates health at the start of the next fight based on the number of wins by teammates. Awakening this ability enhances his durability, allowing him a consistent health recovery mechanism, adding sustainability to his robust toolkit.

Strategy and Playstyle

General Strategy: Utilize Genetic Code to steadily boost Apocalypse’s prowess in battle. Focus on stacking his persistent Genetic Code and managing debuffs through Heavy Attacks and proper special attack choices. Opt for Light attacks for utility-based debuffs and Medium attacks for damage-focused debuffs.

Advanced Techniques: Master chaining Heavy Attacks into Special Attacks to maximize debuff durations. Employing Special 3 at crucial timings can lock in significant debuffs, allowing for extended control of the fight. Leverage his ability to ignore Purify and Evade capabilities of opponents to maintain a constant offensive push.

Mastery Tips

Skill Mastery: Dedicate practice to effectively cycle through Special 1 and 2 for desired debuffs before capitalizing with Special 3. Comprehending the nuances of triggering debuffs with combo enders will vastly increase efficiency.

Team Composition: Pair Apocalypse with other powerful mutants to benefit from his pre-fight Horseman abilities, greatly enhancing a chosen mutant’s effectiveness throughout the quest.

Synergy Bonuses

  1. The First One: With other mutants, grants +15% Attack Rating.
  2. Your Fate Is Mine: With Kang, Mister Sinister, Cable, provides various improvements to each character, including starting the first fight with maximum Genetic Code.
  3. Bringer of Death I to IV: With characters like Psylocke, Gambit, Wolverine, and Archangel, providing significant enhancements while a Horseman of Apocalypse.
  4. Impending Storm: With Storm, improving Shock debuff duration and synergy bonuses.
  5. Guardian of the Pyramid: With Storm (Pyramid X), boosting offensive prowess and critical rating.

Countering Apocalypse

Counter Tactics: Utilize characters and strategies that can either nullify or mitigate his debuffs. Robots, Poison and degeneration immunities are key for reducing his effectiveness.

Apocalypse Counters:

  1. Omega Red: Resistant to bleed and powerful at long-range battles.
  2. Warlock: Robot with ability to convert debuffs into power drain effects.
  3. Ghost: Phase ability to negate his debuffs and avoid direct hits, leveraging his weaknesses against him.

Conclusion

Final Thoughts: Apocalypse stands as a towering figure within MCoC. His ability to empower both himself and his mutant allies makes him an invaluable asset, especially in longer quests where his ramp-up time pays dividends in overpowering his adversaries.

Encouragement to Experiment: Players are encouraged to delve deep into Apocalypse’s mechanics, experimenting with various team setups and strategies to uncover the full potential of this ancient and formidable mutant.