Harley Quinn, former Joker fangirl and current leading lady, is one of the premier assassins in MultiVersus. Fast and deadly, Harley can lash out with a storm of strikes, and mess up her enemies with traps as well. If you want to strike crushing blows and then laugh about it, here are some tips on how to best use MultiVersus Harley Quinn’s moveset.
Harley Quinn Moveset Overview – Basic Attacks
As a MultiVersus Assassin, Harley Quinn’s normal attacks tend to be quick, and easy to chain into one another. Some of Harley’s attacks apply a unique status effect called Confetti, which triggers a damaging burn effect after enough hits. Harley is at her best when she can apply Confetti, then perform a multi-hit combo for big damage and a burn at the end.
- Neutral Ground Attack: The big hammer. It’s chargeable and does heavy knockback at a low angle, making for a good horizontal kill move on an otherwise vertical character. Of course, it’s also slow, locking Harley in place. It’s easily punished if your opponent knows it’s coming, and Harley can’t take much punishment. It’s safer when intercepting an offstage opponent.
- Side Ground Attack: Harley’s basic ground combo. Four hits with her bat at different heights, ending with an upward swing. It’s great for getting multiple hits in a row to trigger Confetti, but as with most built-in MultiVersus strings, it’s not always a true combo. Doing a different attack in place of the finishing swing, like down attack or up special, can open up stronger combo routes.
- Up Ground Attack: A quick upward swing with the bat. It’s great for ending a side ground string. It also has an extra property: when fully charged, it becomes a twirling tornado with multiple hits and a strong finish. This attack is often overshadowed by others, though. Up special in particular is a similar bat swing, but with much greater range.
- Down Ground Attack: A chargeable sliding kick. The charge increases the slide distance, starting short and becoming lengthy at full charge. This move can be used to zip forward and poke occupied enemies, or to modify a combo string with more options. It also comes with a follow-up: pressing down ground a second time kicks the opponent away.
- Neutral Air Attack: In the air, Harley’s big hammer is a lot scarier. It’s still big and chargeable, but it doesn’t lock her in place. She can swing while jumping forward, allowing her to menace enemies with a big moving hitbox. It even has a “sweetspot” that does extra damage: behind her, at the end of the swing. Even if Harley’s target dodges, she can still catch them with this powerful follow-up.
- Side Air Attack: A short air combo ending in a cool backflip. Great for harassing aerial targets and stacking Confetti. If this combo ends up dragging the opponent onto the ground, Harley can chain it into her side ground string for even more hits.
- Up Air Attack: An explosion of upward confetti, which, yes, applies the Confetti debuff. Harley is a Vertical character, meaning her deadliest abilities launch her enemies upward to be bullied with further upward attacks. Her best air finishers are this, and her upward special. Thanks to the Confetti, this attack is best used on low damage enemies to soften them up for the up special kill later.
- Down Air Attack: It’s a projectile! A boxing glove fired downward, like Mega Man’s Hard Knuckle from Smash Bros. Great for spiking from a safe distance. When used onstage, it can set up an easy vertical combo. Be aware that it bounces when it hits a surface: the ricochet can sometimes hit, but the bounce prevents this attack from passing through thin platforms. Watch out on stages like Trophy’s E.D.G.E. 2, where that tiny moving platform can sabotage your moves.
Harley Quinn Moveset Overview – Special Attacks
Unlike most other characters in MultiVersus, all of Harley Quinn’s special attacks work exactly the same in the air as they do on the ground.
- Neutral Special: This attack has three steps. The first press readies the Batman doll. The second press throws it. The third press detonates it. While the doll is readied, using a directional special throws the doll instead. This lets Harley throw in any direction, but also briefly prevents her from using her specials. The doll travels slowly, and not very far, but it hangs around on the ground for a while. It sticks to the first person it touches: enemy, ally, or yourself. It will then detonate after a short time, or immediately if you press neutral special while it’s out. Against enemies, it deals damage and applies Confetti. Skilled Harley players can trigger the bomb and follow up with a free combo, or end a combo by triggering the bomb for the last hit. It’s slow to set up and use, but it controls a good deal of space. Attached to your teammate, it restores their jumps on detonation, allowing them to play aggressively. The timer’s short, though, so this feature is hard to set up without good coordination.
- Side Special: Harley dashes forward, turns around, and fires a boxing glove behind her. This wonky move is best used to confuse an enemy who thinks they know where you’re going. Use it sparingly, though. It’s a little slow to fire, making it easy to punish if anticipated.
- Up Special: This is Harley’s best kill move, no contest. A wide swing with the bat, hitting the area above her and giving her a little height as well. Much of Harley’s gameplan is based around chasing the enemy into the air, then finishing with this attack. Be aware, though, that aggressive air pursuit can leave you vulnerable if you miss. Using this counts as one of two allowed air specials. Use an up air attack instead if you’re worried about running out of jumps.
- Down Special: Harley places a jack-in-the-box that acts as an explosive trap. Simple and straightforward – have this deployed whenever you can. It’s on a cooldown, but that only reinforces how useful it is. It will even hang in the air! The setup lets Harley stall in the air for a moment, and also lets her put it in awkward positions for the enemy. It can hang offstage to block recovery. One Harley player set theirs near the top of the map, so any enemy knocked into it would die instantly from the trap’s mild knockback. There are plenty of applications that make this a scary, stage-controlling trap – and both you and your teammate can trigger it to restore your jumps, to boot.
How to Win Team Battles as Harley
MultiVersus‘ Harley Quinn is fast and deadly, but she dies quick. Her strengths make her a solid teammate in most setups, but she doesn’t have many dedicated support moves. She’s best at controlling space for herself and her team, quickly intercepting enemies harassing her teammate, and securing kills off the top of the screen.
When paired with other Vertical characters such as Batman, or anyone who tends to juggle enemies upward, Harley is in a great position to follow up with a lethal air combo. She can also benefit from characters who help her live a little longer. Wonder Woman‘s armor can let Harley shrug off a hit and start her assault, as can Steven Universe‘s shield bubble.
How to Win 1v1 Battles as Harley
MultiVersus‘ Harley Quinn’s lack of team skills means she tends to dominate in 1v1. Her speed and combo potential are all you need to open up the enemy and cause lots of damage in a short time. Zip forward with a grounded down attack or a big swinging neutral air attack. If your enemy tries to back off, you can start setting traps. Chain explosions together to get stylish kills off the top!
If Harley has a vulnerability, it’s that she has some trouble dealing with horizontal projectiles. These can disrupt her otherwise decent range, and also destroy her jack-in-the-box. It’s possible for Harley to dodge these and close the distance, but she has no natural defense against them. Be mindful of your MultiVersus opponent’s strengths.
Best Perks For Harley
MultiVersus‘ Harley Quinn’s signature perks are a mixed bag, often with tradeoffs to make. Glove Control is the most used signature perk for Harley, but these all have possible applications based on playstyle.
- Confetti Explosion replaces the burn effect of Confetti with an explosion launching the opponent upwards a short distance. In theory, this keeps enemies in Harley’s preferred position (above her), and can also trigger a death off the top when applied correctly. Overall, though, it’s hard to get much use out of it without timing and practice. Until then, losing the Confetti burn damage stings.
- Glove Control alters Harley’s down air attack. In this form, it can be aimed left and right to fire at an angle. This lets Harley attack with the deadly spike from farther away, which is a little safer for Harley and more frightening for her enemies. The tradeoff is that it changes the move’s air momentum. Aiming is slow, and locks Harley in the air for a moment. It’s good for floundering opponents, but easily punishable onstage.
- Smooth Moves is a straightforward buff, applying some dodge invulnerability to the start of her side special. There’s no downside, so this is the simplest choice, but her side special isn’t super useful. This only enhances its defensive potential a little, but it’s still slow and easily punishable after the startup dash.
For secondary perks, it makes sense to boost Harley’s dodge ability. Since she can’t take many hits, it’s best to avoid being hit at all. A combination of Slippery Customer (10% increased dodge invulnerability) and Fancy Footwork (10% increased dodge distance) can help keep Harley safe. Fancy Footwork’s range increase also helps her pursue enemies with an upward air dodge.
The ever-popular Triple Jump is especially strong on the Vertical-focused Harley, allowing her to add a little extra height to her lethal air combos. Lastly, her starting perk Up, Up, And A-Slay boosts the damage and knockback of her upward attacks a little. Red-colored Damage perks are often too weak to be worth using, but it’s worth considering if you know you’re focusing on upward kill moves, especially if the perk would help your MultiVersus teammate as well.
