Combat

Melee

All heroes have melee skills, though some like Hulk, Venom, and Drax are more skilled in hand-to-hand combat than others. In melee, one punch or kick may be fine, but you usually want to string together a combo of melee attacks to inflict maximum damage on a foe. Many enemies will fall down after taking some damage, but that doesn’t mean they are defeated. A lot of them can be hit while they are down or trying to get up, so make sure to finish off a single enemy. Quickly switching from enemy to enemy is a good tactic when you are surrounded, but it is always a good idea to reduce the number of foes you face as soon as possible.

Ranged

Heroes like Hawkeye, Nova, and Star-Lord have ranged attacks that can deal damage far away from the potential danger of melee combat. Ranged attacks will generally shoot at the closest target; however, when you need precision, you can enter a zoomed-in mode where you can place the aiming cursor over what you want to hit. When your ranged fire is locked on an enemy like this, you can still run and gun, allowing you to move quickly while unloading ranged damage on a single target. It’s also a good technique for destroying obstacles.

Area-Effect

Certain heroes have area-effect attacks that will damage multiple enemies that are close together. Area-effect comes in two forms: personal area-effects, such as Thor’s Lightning Strike, which surrounds the hero with damage, or ranged area-effects, such as Hawkeye’s Rain of Arrows, which deals out damage to all enemies in the area surrounding the point of attack. All heroes have the ability to perform an Air Attack, which is useful when surrounded by enemies as it lifts your character out of danger for a second and delivers an attack to the enemies immediately nearby.

Special Moves

Every hero has different special moves that make them unique in combat. Depending on the mission and enemy encounters, you may want a quicker hero like Iron Fist, or a well-rounded hero like Spider-Man, or a ranged specialist like Rocket Raccoon. Your main special ability is powered by purple Sparks. Once you trigger it, such as Thor’s Lighting Strike, your special ability bar depletes and you’ll need more purple Sparks to power it back up. Get to know your heroes and what they can do. When you receive a mission that requires stealth, call on Black Widow, but a mission with hordes of Frost Giants pinning you down might benefit from Cap’s Shield Assault.

Blocking

On the opposite end of the combat spectrum is the defensive ability to block with a simple button press. Most attacks can be blocked, and while this doesn’t get you any closer to defeating your enemy, the maneuver can set your enemy up to drop its guard. By blocking or absorbing an attack, it can create an opening for you to counter or avoid getting knocked down. If you aren’t sure what to do in a battle, especially when faced with a powerful foe, fall back on the block and plan your next move. Keep in mind, too, that certain attacks can break blocks and deliver potent counterattacks. For example, Hulk’s Sonic Clap Combo breaks an opponent’s block and juggles them into the air for a Sonic Clap Attack.