Black Adam, the latest Bruiser added to MultiVersus is a DC villain-turned-antihero who channels the power of the ancient Egyptian gods to shoot lightning and sometimes perform the People’s Elbow. Bruisers are usually balanced fighters with decent attack and defense. Black Adam certainly has both of these: he’s heavy, has incredible recovery, and can hit extremely hard. However, he’s an “Expert” character. His restricting weakness is his speed – a misplaced move from Black Adam is easily punished, and several of his moves take extra aim to connect. If you want to roll with the King of Kahndaq, you need to be ready. Here’s our MultiVersus Black Adam guide.
MultiVersus Black Adam Guide – Basic Attacks
For the first part of the MultiVersus Black Adam guide, I’ll describe his basic attacks. Most of them are slow, powerful strikes, but some have unusual special properties.
- Neutral Ground Attack: A melee lighting blast straight out of Injustice. Like many neutral attacks, this is a slow, powerful hit. Unlike many neutral attacks, it’s not armored and not chargeable. “Not chargeable” meaning, it can’t be released early. Pressing that button locks you into a very long windup. Use sparingly to avoid being punished… but know that its range extends farther than its animation. It kills easily, and also applies a damaging Shocked debuff.
- Side Ground Attack: A three-hit string. The second hit knocks the enemy upward slightly, and the third is an upward-angled grab that flings his victims behind him. The third hit often misses, so this isn’t much of a combo by itself, but you can substitute the grab or the second hit for other attacks to create different strings. Side > Side > Up will catch enemies trying to dodge through you, and Side > Side > Neutral Special will connect reliably, especially angled upward. The grab is also worth trying; it can kill at high damage, and throws the enemy at a low angle. If Adam’s back is to the ledge, landing the throw will reverse his fortunes in an instant.
- Up Ground Attack: A multi-hit electric attack, arcing above his hands like Spongebob’s imagination rainbow. It’s not great against enemies in front since it mostly hits above him, but it can trap enemies trying to move past him. It also has a special bonus: once the attack ends, a bolt of lightning drops from above! The bolt is subject to cooldown, but it offers a wide range of benefits. It can hit enemies near the top of the screen, it can end a combo with a powerful final strike, and if it doesn’t hit an enemy it gives Black Adam the Electrified buff for bonus damage.
- Down Ground Attack: Black Adam punches the ground, causing a small shockwave. More importantly, it triggers an electric attack beneath the feet of every standing enemy, anywhere on-screen. It can target two enemies at once, and even emerge from the sides to hit wall-clingers! Using this effect takes ammo, but it’s a quick recharge. Throw this out from time to time to keep your enemies afraid. Charging it speeds up the attack and boosts its damage, making it much harder to avoid if the enemy isn’t watching you.
- Neutral Air Attack: The Clap! Black Adam claps his hands together, causing a large shockwave. It’s a lot like his neutral ground attack: a powerful, slow area hit. The Clap isn’t as strong, but it hits a wide area and is more maneuverable. With proper timing, this is a great way to punish offstage enemies or control space in neutral.
- Side Air Attack: A two-hit series of punches. Unusual for a forward air, this one ends in an uppercut with strong knockback. Intercepting an aerial enemy with the two hits will often kill off the top of the screen. It’s possible to juggle enemies into the uppercut from several attacks – get creative and see what you can string together.
- Up Air Attack: The same arc as his up ground attack, but without the extra lightning bolt: it doesn’t affect its cooldown either. It’s a lot easier to hit enemies in the air, and makes a decent way to push enemies off the top. It stalls Black Adam in the air a little, which makes him a bit vulnerable but also lets the hitbox linger. Set up and let the enemy fall right into you.
- Down Air Attack: A big sweeping roundhouse kick below him. This is Black Adam’s go-to option for punishing enemies below him, and charging it up during your jump lets it hit even harder. It even has a sweetspot at the end of the attack, so it can hit extra hard if you aim just right. His flight ability allows him to chase offstage enemies at little risk to himself, so make sure to hit ’em while they’re down.
MultiVersus Black Adam Guide – Special Attacks
Black Adam’s special attacks are more creative uses of electric force. Several of them have multiple different possible effects.
- Neutral Ground Special: A forward beam of Palpatine-style lightning. If it hits an enemy, they get stunned and thrown upward. The beam also extends to other nearby enemies and projectiles. Charging this and firing it into a fight can freeze the entire enemy team. It doesn’t travel far uncharged, but the quick fire version can sometimes end a combo. It can angle up or down as well, and the upward-angled version slams enemies down instead of launching them up, which can easily chain into his upward ground attack. The beam also reflects off your allies, buffing them while extending the attack’s range. This is an extremely powerful special, but Black Adam stands perfectly still the entire time it’s active. Taking its lengthy cooldown into account as well, this is especially painful if you miss.
- Neutral Air Special: Black Adam magnetically attracts nearby enemy projectiles towards himself. That sounds like a bad idea, but it also slows them down, making them easy enough to evade afterward. This cooldown move is a decent way to disrupt an enemy’s projectile game. It’s also possible to attack the magnetized projectiles to reflect them, but that’ll be easier for a faster ally of yours.
- Side Special: Black Adam flies forward, dropping a ball of electricity behind him. Once he’s finished flying, the ball hurries after him. It doesn’t do anything to Black Adam if it hits him, but if he jumps over it, it continues traveling in a wide arc all the way off the screen. Angling the path of the ball correctly can send it into faraway enemies, potentially knocking them off the top. This is also a solid defensive move if Black Adam’s in a bad position. It’s a quick rush that leaves a trap for pursuers. It combos easily if you dash through the enemy, placing them directly in the path of the electric ball. The move isn’t a dodge, though, so be wary of using it while the enemy is attacking. It also takes ammo to fire the ball, so watch those cooldowns.
- Up Special: Free flight for about one and a half seconds. This might be the best recovery move in the game. It has no cooldown, and since players get two air specials, it can be used twice without needing to land. Besides letting Black Adam easily recover, this also lets him safely pursue enemies all over the screen. Chasing targets above you is child’s play, and can surprise enemies who think they’re safely out of range.
- Down Ground Special: A big bubble shield that stays in place. It blocks enemy projectiles, so it’s best set up while the enemy is far away. Use it to cancel out enemy zoners and strike back with a downward ground attack. It also has a few extra properties that can come in handy. Its activation pushes the enemy back slightly, so it can disrupt offstage enemies. It also reflects the lighting ball from his side special, turning it into a forward-firing projectile. Lastly, it kills Jerry the mouse for some reason.
- Down Air Special: Black Adam hovers and fires two electric shots at a downward angle. Their range isn’t great, but this projectile doesn’t take ammo, making it a low-commitment way to harass enemies below him. The shots knock the enemy upward slightly on hit, so they can easily chain into Black Adam’s powerful air attacks.
Best Perks and Teammates For Black Adam
For the last section of the MultiVersus Black Adam guide, I’ll go over his perks. He has two Signature Perks, each one emphasizing a different playstyle.
- Circuit Breaker, earned at level 8, lets Black Adam do a little extra damage to Shocked enemies. It’s a straightforward damage increase that works most consistently, but be aware that not many of Black Adam’s attacks actually apply Shocked. Pick this to do the most damage close up.
- The Hierarchy of Power, earned at 10, changes his up ground attack so that the extra lightning bolt hits his ally instead of him. This can help allies fight off close enemies, or buff them with Electrified if no enemy’s around. It also has the best name. This complements a Black Adam who focuses on ranged combat with down attack and side special, and lets his ally focus on the hand-to-hand.
Black Adam has two main paths for his secondary perks: cooldown reduction or defense. Since Black Adam has so many cooldowns (six different moves!), cooldown reduction should be a priority. His earliest perk, I’ll Take That, fits nicely. It refreshes some cooldown when you hit a Shocked enemy. But remember, only a couple of your attacks actually cause Shock. Coffeezilla‘s flat cooldown reduction is a lot more reliable, as is the dodge bonus from I Dodge You Dodge We Dodge.
Since Black Adam has no natural armor, defensive bonuses are a little extra important. Tasmanian Trigonometry is an obvious pick, letting the bulky Bruiser survive a lot longer. Pair it with Last Stand, and his deadly strikes will hit much harder.
The right partner can compliment Black Adam nicely. An easy choice is Garnet, whose electric attacks have some synergy with Black Adam’s Circuit Breaker. Since Black Adam is so slow, a quick Assassin teammate like Harley or Stripe can keep the enemy locked down and vulnerable to Black Adam’s slow finishers. Lastly, an armor-focused supporter like Wonder Woman or Steven Universe can take the edge off of Black Adam’s slow, punishable strikes.
