Steven Universe is one of the most unique characters on the MultiVersus roster. In addition to being one of the few members of the support class, Steven can use his shields in unique ways to his team’s advantage. Here are all the best ways to utilize this gem-human hybrid.
Steven’s Unique MultiVersus Mechanics
Like the other expert-level characters in MultiVersus, Steven has a few mechanics to set him apart from other fighters. First is his shield ability. Unlike other MultiVersus characters, Steven has a shield in addition to his dodges. While holding the dodge button in place, Steven summons a shield for himself and his ally. This shield can absorb three hits, and prevents hitstun from any attacks that hit the shield until it breaks. Because of this, the shield is incredibly useful if Steven is partnered with a bruiser or tank. This way, his teammate can wreak havoc without the threat of being punished.
Next is his bubble. If Steven hits his enemy with his Neutral Ground Attack or Neutral Special, a meter appears above them. The gauge is called Rose’s Gaze, and is filled any time the enemy is hit or bounces off a floor, wall, or Steven’s shields. Once the gauge is filled (the amount of hits/bounces reaches 10), the enemy is bubbled and unable to move for a period of time. The enemy also can’t be damaged in this state. The best way to take advantage of a bubbled enemy is to double team the other enemy while the bubbled opponent is out of commission.
Steven Universe Moveset Overview
Steven is one of MultiVersus’ expert-level characters. Along with his bubble mechanics, his difficulty comes from setting up shields using them to his team’s advantage.
- Neutral Ground Attack: Steven charges up a punch infused with the power of his gem. This attack also gives an enemy Rose’s Gaze.
- Side Ground Attack: This attack starts a short combo of jabs, which ends in a sliding attack with a diamond dealing damage. The Side Ground Attack is great for building up damage, but also has pretty good horizontal knockback.
- Up Ground Attack: Steven charges an uppercut that utilizes his gem. Has good knockback, but its short range makes it hard to connect.
- Down Ground Attack: Steven charges up an attack that hits the area surrounding him (except above). This attack is a spiky wall that can deal good damage, but lacks knockback power. It also breaks armor and destroys incoming projectiles.
- Neutral Air Attack: Steven charges an explosive bubble. The area this attack covers increases the longer Steven charges it.
- Side Air Attack: Steven unleashes a shield directly from his belly button gem. This is a great attack to approach enemies with little risk.
- Up Air Attack: Steven infuses his hands with gem power and claps. This attack is powerful, but be wary of its long windup time before it finally connects.
- Down Air Attack: Steven slams his fists downwards and spikes his enemy. This is a useful move both for catching opponents off-stage and starting a combo by slamming them against the stage’s floor.
- Neutral Special: Steven attaches a crystallized time bomb to his ally or the nearest surface. When this detonates, it damages enemies and applies Rose’s Gaze to them. This attack has a short cooldown.
- Side Special: Steven charges a projectile that stops when it reaches the end of its charge or collides with an enemy or projectile. Once it reaches this point, the projectile becomes a shield that acts as a wall. When on cooldown, this input becomes a sliding kick.
- Up Special: For this attack, Steven rises up and places a shield at the apex of his uppercut. This shield can be used as a platform at the end of this maneuver. This move, along with his Up Air Attack, are Steven’s best finishing moves.
- Down Special (Ground): While on the ground, Steven creates a healing aura around him and summons a Watermelon Steven to be his ally. Watermelon Steven isn’t very strong or smart, but serves as an effective distraction. This move has a lengthy cooldown.
- Down Special (Air): In the air, Steven’s Down Special has him summon a shield to use as a makeshift “snowboard” below him. This attack damages enemies below him and lets him slide along the ground for some time.
How To Win MultiVersus Teams Battles As Steven Universe
As a support character, it’s natural that Steven excels best as a teammate. Steven’s low damage output means he works best with high damage dealers on his team. Specifically, this means working well with Bruisers and Assassins. Here are some of Steven’s best partners:
- Arya Stark (Assassin)
- Batman (Bruiser)
- Taz (Bruiser)
- Finn the Human (Assassin)
- Harley Quinn (Assassin)
Overall, the best thing to focus on when playing as Steven is creating opportunities for teammates. By deploying his Side Special shield at opportune times, Steven can help his damage-heavy teammate succeed. Watermelon Steven will help as well. This minion can help distract enemies from the real threat: Steven’s ally. If he gets lucky, Watermelon Steven might even connect a charged attack to K.O. an opponent.
Another key component is to remember Steven’s unique dodge mechanic. By holding dodge, the shield will cover both Steven and his ally. Using this, Steven can help his partner be very hyper-aggressive, and charge the opposition with few consequences.
Steven can also help out by putting pressure on opponents. With his excellent high attacks, Steven can help chase enemies off the top blast zone. Using his Up Air Attack and Up Special, he can dispose of overhead enemies effectively, if they’re at high enough damage.
How To Win MultiVersus 1v1 Battles As Steven Universe
One-on-one battles as Steven are much trickier. Much of Steven’s kit revolves around protecting his partner. Because of this, singles battles get a lot dicier for this gem-human hybrid.
However, Watermelon Steven can provide some relief for this. Although his cooldown is long, this minion can help distract enemies. In singles, it’s even more vital for Steven to take advantage of this distraction to tack some damage onto his opponent.
Best Steven Universe Perks – MultiVersus
Steven’s abilities aren’t as well augmented by perks as some other characters. Regardless, here are some of Steven’s ideal perks.
Steven Universe Best Perks (1v1)
- Triple Jump (unlocked at level 2)
- Ice to Beat You! (unlocked at level 11)
- Up, Up, and A-Slay (unlocked at level 13)
- Signature Perk: Green Thumb (unlocked at level 10)
Triple Jump gives Steven some bonus aerial mobility to chase enemies vertically easier. Ice to Beat You adds some extra incentive to use Steven’s projectile based attacks to slow enemies and set up other hazards like Watermelon Steven. Up, Up, and A-Slay is just to increase his vertical knockback and K.O. enemies with his Up Special earlier. Finally, Green Thumb allows Watermelon Steven to grow in size and strength the longer he survives.
Steven Universe Best Perks (Teams)
- Standard Perks: Match teammate’s for stack
- Signature Perk: Bounce Bubble (unlocked at level 8)
To be honest, no perks give Steven that much benefit. As a support character, he typically sticks to the backlines in any case. As such, it’s usually a good idea for Steven to simply match his teammate’s perks. That way, his teammate gets as much benefit from their perks as possible.
One thing to note, though, is Steven’s different Signature Perk, Bounce Bubble. Bounce Bubble increases the hitstun and speed of enemies bouncing off of Steven’s shields. In 2v2 battles, Watermelon Steven likely won’t live long. This makes Green Thumb essentially obsolete. On the other hand, the chaos of battle will likely mean more launching of the enemies. Because of this, it’s nice to just equip Bounce Bubble instead, so allies get more benefit from utilizing Steven’s bonus wall and platform.
Steven Universe MultiVersus Season 1 Changes
Steven was left mostly untouched in Season 1 so far. The only big change to his moveset is his Down Special. Watermelon Steven’s cooldown now starts when he’s rung out, instead of when he’s summoned. This has made Watermelon Steven much less common, which unfortunately makes him much less useful to Steven players.
Steven Universe is one of the most complex characters in MultiVersus. His bubble and shield mechanics are very deep, making him a hard character to master. But with enough time, MultiVersus players could use this Crystal Gem to always save the day.
