The Duelist is Marvel Rivals’ go-to damage class, a group of characters that makes up over half the roster. But while there is plenty of variety when it comes to the different heroes and how they play, few look as badass as the psychic ninja mutant known as Psylocke.
Read More: Marvel Rivals’ Damage Heroes, Ranked From Worst To Best
Don’t expect Psylocke to play like all the other Duelists though. This character requires a lot of patience to determine the opportune moment to score an elimination. Mastering the timing for her combos and the additional mechanics of her attacks, some of which are barely mentioned in-game, are crucial for improving your performance.
Poke for damage and then pick off supports
When it comes to damage and movement, Psylocke excels in controlled bursts. While she can be helpful fighting side-by-side with her teammates, she’s best played like an Assassin who prioritizes Strategists. You want to be as annoying as possible by diverting enemy attention and taking out their support heroes.
That doesn’t mean sneaking behind enemy lines is always the best strategy. You should mix up your approach now and then, but getting chased down by a more mobile hero sucks. A common tactic instead is to focus on flanking and attacking just off the side. Keep poking for damage and then dive in quickly to take out their Strategists or anyone with low health. Don’t forget that her primary fire (Psionic Crossbow) and Wing Shurikens have some major falloff damage, so you shouldn’t be attacking from too long of a distance.
Maximize your burst damage with animation cancel combos
Quite a few heroes in Marvel Rivals can boost their damage output through animation canceling. The idea is to use melee or other abilities to interrupt the recovery animations of an attack, allowing you to quickly chain together moves for a quick burst damage combo. A common case for Psylocke is using melee or another ability right after throwing out her dual-projectile primary fire will skip the brief recovery period. Coming to grips with these is vital to utilizing her full potential.
The optimal combo starters for mid-range and close-range can be seen below. Keep in mind that they will do more damage by landing critical hits or ending with a Psi-Blade Dash, but you’ll still be putting the hurt on your opponents either way. If your targets are especially low on health, you can also animation-cancel after the first set of her primary fire projectiles for potentially quicker burst damage.
- Mid-range Combo: Psionic Crossbow > Wing Shurikens > Wing Shurikens > Psionic Crossbow
- Close-range Combo: Psionic Crossbow > Melee > Psionic Crossbow > Melee
Always have an escape plan, and at least one dash
Smart positioning and critical hits will help you against a single enemy, but the tables can quickly turn when fighting multiple opponents or even a full-health Vanguard. Psylocke’s kit isn’t quite meant for those situations, which is why you must always have an escape route in mind.
Most players will try to save one of their Psi-Blade Dashes just in case things go south. I’ve found that using it to dash upwards to higher ground is a great way to escape from most situations. Her Psychic Stealth invisibility can also help you out here, although it will be interrupted if you use another ability while invisible. The rewinding team-up ability she gains from Magik is another great tool for retreating, but I don’t recommend activating it when surrounded due to the vulnerable state you’re in during the startup.
Make use of Psylocke’s attacks’ special mechanics
Aside from her Ultimate, each of Psylocke’s attacks has an additional mechanic that helps her sustainability. Only two of these are mentioned in-game, and none of them provide the associated stats either. Here are the interesting mechanics to keep note of:
- Psylocke’s primary fire, Psionic Crossbow, reduces the cooldown of her abilities by 0.25 seconds for each bolt projectile that hits an enemy. She shoots out a pair of four bolts each time you cast the attack. Landing all eight bolts will shorten any cooldowns by a much-appreciated two seconds.
- Bonus health will be granted for every Wing Shuriken projectile that hits an enemy. She’ll throw out five at a time, with each one granting 10 bonus health. Any enemy hit during the recall will also count for a maximum of 75 bonus health. Just remember that similar to Venom, this extra bit of HP isn’t permanent and will start depleting after a few seconds.
- Any thrown-out Wing Shurikens will be recalled after using a Psi-Blade Dash. They’ll travel to her location at the start of the dash and then return to her current location. This is kind of an awkward mechanic, but the benefit is that it’ll add to the damage from your dash.
Getting one or two kills with your Ultimate is ideal
Dance of the Butterfly is a flashy AOE (area-of-effect) Ultimate that sees Psylocke slash away at enemies with 150-damage attacks. It initially sounds like the perfect team-killing Ult (Ultimate), but she can only perform up to eight attacks and the target of each is selected at random, with priority given to those who have been hit fewer times. That means your chances of getting a kill are lower with each additional target.
Instead of aiming for the entire team to earn a solo Ace kill, use it against groups of two or three. I’d only suggest the latter amount if they’re all close together and relatively squishy with health. You’re more likely to land at least one kill here along with leaving some enemies weak, but fingers crossed you can eliminate more with the ultimate. Strategists should naturally be the priority for this, while any Vanguards should be avoided unless their health is low.
Psylocke is a fun character to play, as long as you don’t assume she handles like any other Marvel Rivals Duelist. Focus on dishing out burst damage and you’ll be the bane of the enemy team’s existence.
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