MultiVersus: How To Train Perks

While many initially saw "MultiVersus" as another simple "Super Smash Bros." clone when it was first announced (like the underwhelming "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl"), the new platform brawler from Player First Games has come to distinguish itself with several of the new features that it has announced. The game's massive character roster that pulls from numerous Warner Brothers properties, its fun battle animations, its focus on team-oriented fighting, and some pretty unique looking combat mechanics have all helped set it apart – not to mention the fact that it will be both free-to-play and cross-play.

First impressions from critics have generally been favorable, with some suggesting that it could do for fighting games what "Fortnite" did for shooters. There are even already plans in the works for a 2v2 "MultiVersus" tournament to be featured in the upcoming Evolution Championship Series. Fans who wish to play "MultiVersus" can take part in the open beta, which begins July 26, but with so much anticipation building for the title, many are eager to learn as much as they can about the game's mechanics now. One of the new gameplay elements that many fans seem most curious about is the Perk system.

The YouTube channel VIP2Gaming received an advanced alpha copy of "MultiVersus" and shared a video in which they talked about what Perks are available and how they work. In addition to all of the character-specific abilities that each fighter will have in the game, players will also be able to assign up to four Perks to each character. They will then have different abilities depending on what Perks the player assigns to them at the beginning of the game. So, two people may end up being able to play the same character very differently depending on which perks they chose for them.

There are two kinds of Perk in the game. Each character can equip one Signature Perk, which are unique abilities that are only available to them, and three universal Perks which are available to all characters. A fully leveled character will have access to two Signature Perks, one which is unlocked at level eight and another which is unlocked at level ten. Shaggy, for instance, can choose either the "Hangry Man" Signature Perk which allows him to quickly charge rage when he eats an equipped sandwich or the "One Last Zoinks" Signature Perk which makes him gain rage automatically after passing 100 damage. Other perks are broken down into offensive, defensive and utility categories and stack with your teammates' abilities. Players will have to level up their characters to unlock them though.

Unlike in "Super Smash Bros.," characters in "MultiVersus" can level up and gain new abilities. This is done through something called the Character Mastery system (via IGN). Character Mastery bars are unique to each fighter and so are the rewards that players can unlock by using them. This is a level-up design that works sort of like a battle pass in that players can unlock tiered rewards, but unlike a battle pass, they can upgrade it without spending any real-world money. There are two ways to do it. The bar can be upgraded with XP Boosts, or it can be upgraded simply by playing the character. Most of the rewards consist of either money or Perks. This is where all of the player's Perks will come from for the first part of the game.

That might sound troublesome, but it doesn't seem to be too much of a grind. According to Ronny Barrier of IGN, it took him just three hours to get Shaggy to level 11 out of 15, suggesting that maxing out a character's level is perfectly manageable without having to resort to spending money. Developing a character's skills doesn't end when a player has unlocked all of the Perks available in the Character Mastery bar, though. New options will become available when players unlock Perk Training once they reach level nine.

Once the fighter reaches level nine and Perk Training has been unlocked, players can then go to that character's page and start unlocking more Perks using gold. This gives the character access to all of the Perks that are found on other fighter's Character Mastery pages. Not only does unlocking these abilities give the player more options for what Perks they wish to use, but it also makes it possible for them to combine skills that are usually designated to specific play-styles. Most of the Perks on a given fighter's Character Mastery bar are designed to accommodate the fighting style that character was designed for. Using skills from different characters makes it possible to create some truly unique skill combinations and even stack skills with your partner in a match.

Perks that have never been unlocked on any character are more expensive while Perks that have already been unlocked via another character are sold at a discount, so it might be worthwhile to spend some time leveling up a character who's skills the player wants. This will help them grind gold and lower the cost of that character's skills at the same time. The only ones that cannot be purchased through Perk Training are Signature Perks.