How do your favorite DLC characters stack up?
Dragonball FighterZ is undeniably the largest fighting game out on the market currently. In the tournament scene, it is often the most entered game at any tournament it is present at. Notable examples include Orlando’s CEO, St. Charles’ Combo Breaker, and of course the biggest fighting game tournament in the world; EVO. With a game so popular, it’s no surprise it would get DLC to add more characters to its roster, but which ones got better treatment in design? That is exactly what we will be going over, and what makes the character strong or weak.
8. Base Goku
You'll probably never see this screen in a real match.
There’s a bit of irony that one of the strongest characters in the anime is one of the weakest in the game! If you look at a lot of pro players’ tier lists, you’ll more often than not see poor Goku near the bottom. Base Goku is designed around being an anchor and comeback character, which isn’t bad per say. What does make it bad is that a lot of Goku’s tools require assists and DHC synergy to work and to set up for Spirit Bomb plays. Goku also possess a relatively weak assist, which only makes his position as an anchor character worse; and when you're designed to be an anchor troubles arise with viability.
7. Android 17
The perfect pose to not be able to get in.
Android 17 was one of the characters that many thought would be apart of the main game, but it wouldn’t be until the last wave of Season 1’s DLC the popular character would be added as a full fighter (instead of only a part of Android 18). Many would be disappointed as Android 17 struggles with a lot of things. He has some of the shortest normals in the game and has no real reliable blockstrings that end safely. Android 17 also suffers in neutral (a very important part of DBFZ) and has a hard time getting in without assists, forcing him to be a point character exclusively. Granted you would want to play Android 17 on point to begin with, as his assist is far from the greatest outside of the corner all while being hard to time for combo extensions.
6. Broly
Sliding into your fight like
This is the part in the rankings where the characters start moving up in the tier list from low and bottom tier to mid-tier, and that’s exactly where Broly stands. Broly has some pretty good normal buttons, and one of the best ki blast in the whole game. The overly buff Legendary Super Saiyan also possess moves with super armor, command grabs, and wall bounces for all sorts of different plays. Broly’s biggest issue as a character is he basically needs you to be in the corner to take full advantage of his toolkit. While being great in the corner is good, there are other characters that work well mid-screen too, and in a game like Dragonball FighterZ; to hang with the best you need to be good anywhere on the screen.
5. Cooler
TFW your opponent superdashs and you're ready for the DP
Cooler proves to everyone he really is better than his brother, as in DBFZ he’s far better than Frieza and a relatively good character all around. Cooler has the pleasure of having some of the farthest reaching normals in the game (the complete opposite of an earlier entry on this list) as well as a DP on the ground and air. Possessing a DP like this is very good in DBFZ due it allowing characters to punish superdashes easily even if your in the air. Cooler’s biggest flaw as a character is because of his supers. His grounded level one as well as his level three super both take your opponent out of the corner (which is where you want them), not to mention the fact that he can’t do a normal level three on the ground as the ground version is a counter (which isn’t good as all level three supers have invulnerability on frame one) and this version of it only serves as a way to bait your opponent, and they’re not always going to bite.
4. Zamasu (Fused)
Let's get these Ningens
Zamasu is an interesting character in where when he was released, not too many people thought he would be able to leave his comfortable spot in low tier. Come a few months later he would be apart of a winning team at EVO 2018 under top player SonicFox’s usage. Zamasu has quite a bit of hidden synergy with a lot of characters thanks to his level one ball super that allows a multitude of the cast to double super (something very crucial in today’s metagame). On top of that, Zamasu has good built in mix up potential and moves overall. He also has a pretty decent assist, making him a good character overall that is held back by being a little too weak when he’s on his own.
3. Vegito (SSGSS)
C'mon, get serious already!
Vegito released along with Zamasu in the second wave of DLC, and had a similar fate to Zamasu in that a lot of Vegito’s potential was unlocked thanks to certain top players not giving up on them. Easily considered the best of the Super Saiyan Blues, Vegito has some of the best meter gain in the whole game that comes with the added bonus of looking cool as hell. On top of looking flashy, Vegito also has reverse beat; meaning that he can start his combo chain with a medium and then use his light buttons instead of being locked out of them, something that only Golden Frieza and a fully leveled up Adult Gohan have which opens up crazy mix up and damage potential. Vegito also has some of the best corner carry in the game, and can easily double super with his sword super. On top of all of this, Vegito has pretty good solo damage; the only thing keeping him from being a top tier is a lackluster neutral and an only decent assist.
2. Base Vegeta
Shine!!!
And so we have entered the best of the DLC characters and while Base Vegeta isn’t at the tip top of top tier, he still sits comfortably in high tier. Vegeta has really good oki off of knockdowns thanks to his down special ki blast and really good mixup options off of his level three (especially in the corner). Vegeta doesn’t have the greatest of neutrals without assists, but can do a lot of solo damage thanks to his ki blast loops. Vegeta’s assist is quite deceptive, and while it seems bad at first it has a surprising amount of hitstun and thanks to its unique angle covers a lot of the screen. Vegeta has one main weakness (and it has nothing to do with his toolkit); he requires amazing execution at basically all times, since his timings are very strict for his max damage potential which leads to him being relatively underplayed despite his strengths.
1. Bardock
You can hear this picture.
If you’ve watched any major Dragonball FighterZ tournament since Bardock’s release, odds are you’ve seen Bardock’s level three a lot. The best DLC character should be a surprise to no one, as it is universally considered to be Bardock; who is also a contender for best character in the entire game. Bardock has every tool a good character needs from good normals (his second hit light autocombo is notorious for being too good) to good supers (complete with built in ability to double super) to having the easiest double super setup in the game. Bardock doesn’t have a single bad move, even his assist is really good despite its simplicity. Even though he doesn’t have a real beam, Bardock doesn’t really have anything he can’t do, and that not only makes him the strongest DLC character, he’s quite possibly the best fighter in DBFZ.
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