In any MOBA, hero shooter, or other team-based competitive titles, composition is crucial. However skilled a player may be, it’s tough for them to tough to carry a whole team by themselves. Generally, then, if you’ve picked a supportive character, a pure DPS-dealer, or so on, you’ll need to perform that role well while being aware of your own specific character’s strengths and weaknesses to best complement your allies.
In Ninja Theory’s team fighter Bleeding Edge, this is just as true as ever. If you’re drawn to Buttercup’s tanky, aggressive playstyle and want to pick her up, you’ll need to be aware of certain strengths and weaknesses of hers before you hit the battlefield. Here’s a quick rundown.
10 PRO: She’s Easy To Pick Up
One of the first things you’ll notice about her is that she has the lowest difficulty rating. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s easy to jump straight in and perform well with immediately, it does mean that she has a simple and easy-to-understand kit for beginners to come to grips with.
When you’re not simply learning a new character but the mechanics of the game too, this can be crucial. Buttercup’s game plan is easy to make sense of at a glance: pull opponents in with Yank, trap and debuff them with Oil Slick, then pile on the damage, escaping with Burl when necessary. In the heat of battle, this may not be that straightforward to pull off, but knowing the theory is a tremendous help for beginners in any game, from Bleeding Edge to Dark Souls.
9 CON: She Lacks Much Recovery
Being a close-range aggressive tank, Buttercup’s job is to disrupt enemies, choose the right moment to strike, and pick off key targets, taking damage for allies where possible. The issue with this strategy is that, unlike some of her fellow Bleeding Edge tanks (and Overwatch’s Roadhog, who functions similarly and has some equally eye-catching skins), she struggles to sustain herself.
If she can’t escape from danger, she’s a very big target who will struggle to evade it. She’s a key linchpin for her team, too, meaning that trouble can quickly follow if she’s taken out.
8 PRO: She’s Great At Picking The Opposing Team Apart
Buttercup may have the most disruptive kit in all of Bleeding Edge. Between her hooks and oil spills, she can bring enemies into close quarters with ease and also prevent them from escaping easily. As a melee specialist, she’s devastating at this range too, making for one-on-ones that are usually unfavorable for the opponent.
While your Yanks will need to be super accurate to get the best value from Buttercup, she’s a force of nature that can dominate the battlefield with practice.
7 CON: She’s Quite An Easy Target Without Backup
While Buttercup is a huge menace and can certainly absorb her share of damage (especially considering she doesn’t flinch on taking light attacks), it’s important not to get overconfident when it comes to attacking. She’s meant to be played aggressively, but no tank can absorb everything.
Get overeager and you can be picked off with ease. Being such a threat on the battlefield, she’s a common target for focused fire, which can absolutely ruin her day very quickly.
6 PRO: She Actually Has Surprising Mobility
In fighting games, the beefier, more powerful characters tend to be slower and more cumbersome (think the villainous Bowser in the Super Smash Bros. series), while the agile and combo-heavy fighters can zip around the stage. The same is true of tanks and speedy, mobile DPS heroes in titles like Bleeding Edge.
Buttercup has an interesting quirk in this regard. Thanks to her high-tech vehicle, she has a mounted/unmounted mechanic like most others and a stamina bar, which gives her surprising movement options with Burl and Power Slide, launching herself around the battlefield and bullying opponents along the way. She can’t casually dash away from trouble, but she certainly has the tools to make an escape if played carefully.
5 CON: Her Lack Of Range Can Be A Real Problem
As always, no character can have it all. Balancing is all about trying to give out positives and negatives, weighing them against those of the rest of the cast and trying to keep everybody on a level playing field. Difficult as this can be in some titles, Buttercup definitely has some major downsides to counterbalance her strengths.
As you could probably tell with just a casual perusal of her list of skills, she really suffers at anything beyond close-to-mid range. There’s a reason she has that hook, after all, and it’s for the player to make the very best use of it they can. When striking from distance or trying to close said distance, she’ll often have a hard time. Good Range is a huge boon for her, upping the distance Yank reaches by 25%.
4 PRO: She’s Got Great Supers
Another crucial aspect of any Bleeding Edge character to consider is their choice of Supers. These ultimate moves can turn the tide in an instant, whether in a crucial Bleeding Edge one-on-one or a frantic team fight.
Luckily for Buttercup, she has two great choices. Her first, Burnout, is a big area-of-effect attack that can debilitate the whole opposing team if timed well and can also have its damage buffed with a mod. Alternatively, Turbo Charged will give her an extra third max HP, grant her 50% of the damage she deals to foes back as health, and throw in a 25% damage buff on top. It’s a short-lived but very powerful buff.
3 CON: She Can Be Very Reliant On The Parry Mechanic
If there’s one major complaint that Bleeding Edge players had with the title early on, it’s the way the parrying system works. Having it mapped to the same input as evade is very problematic, meaning that choosing between the two is sometimes a player’s only way of escaping a sticky spot.
This is a particular issue for Buttercup, who has a lot of speed and movement options but nothing strictly for evasion. If focused and cornered (which she will be at times), parrying can be very tough to pull off; like scoring a parry and Visceral on a tricky Bloodborne boss.
2 PRO: She’s A Great, Versatile Fit For Almost Any Team
When it comes to discussions about the best characters in any given game, is versatility more important than niche use? For instance, is a character who shines the most in a very specific team competition better than one versatile enough to fit anywhere? Of course, it depends on the situation.
Buttercup fits into the latter category for sure. Her raw strength, presence in objective modes, and movement option make her an excellent ally in almost any situation. Buttercup mains will be pleased to know that she will rarely be unwelcome on a team.
1 CON: Being So Common, She’s More Than A Little Predictable
As a result of all these assets, Buttercup has always been a very popular Bleeding Edge pick. While this is a testament to just how good she is, it can actually make her a bit of a liability too.
Being as ‘meta’ as she is, opponents will usually be very familiar with what Buttercup is capable of, as well as the most popular ways of running her. Counterplay will be equally common as a result, meaning that good Buttercups will have to be at the top of their game to pull off any major surprises.