Get Legendary With This Broly Guide for Dragon Ball FighterZ

The first downloadable combatants for Dragon Ball FighterZ have entered the arena! Broly and Bardock are available now, and players have already started digging in to learn everything they can about the two new Saiyan warriors. Here we’re going to focus on the Legendary Super Saiyan himself, but feel free to check out our Bardock guide here if you wish to play as the father of Goku.

Broly is a big, beefy character with the potential to dish out massive damage, but his ability to do so along is extremely limited. His strengths come from overwhelming an opponent with pressure, using command grabs to your advantage, and calling in assists to pour on the pain during an extended combo. We can break Broly down into five key points, and if you remember these in the heat of battle Broly should be able to score you some victories.

Legendary Armor

Many of Broly’s attacks, including the Lariat Express (quarter-circle forward and attack) and the Gigantic Claw (quarter-circle back and attack), and even some normals, have what is known as “super armor.” Basically if Broly is actively performing moves with super armor, he can absorb damage from opponents’ attacks without being interrupted. Think of it this way: if you activate Lariat Express and your opponent tries a heavy attack to knock you out of it, Broly’s going to be damaged by the heavy but still complete the Lariat.

This gives Broly enormous rushdown potential, as some of his moves cannot be stopped outside of a special or super move. Opening up an opponent via a counter is much easier when you have a little more leeway in making a prediction, and being able to brush aside enemy normals like they’re nothing helps tremendously in that regard. The only caveat is that the majority of the moves can only absorb one attack before getting countered, so try not to throw a standing Heavy at a Kamehameha.

His Bark is Worse Than His Bite

The armor is neat and all, but this “legendary” Super Saiyan is not without his downsides. One of the most glaring flaws is his damage output, which is surprisingly low for a big beefcake like Broly. Out in the open Broly players should try to get into the corner as soon as possible, as his ability to chain special and super attacks into his normal combos is limited. As such Broly defenders need to keep the giant away from the edges as much as they can, particularly in the late game when he has no assist support to back him up.

Remembering that Lariat Express is the only armored attack to have more than one hit of armor is crucial. When he’s pressuring you in a corner, waiting for a opening and unleashing a quick multi-hit attack will be the only way to overcome the situation. In fact, we advise staying out of the corner all together when facing off against Broly, as not even the low damage output can put a damper on how powerful he is on the edge. By staying in the middle of the screen and picking your spots, Broly’s slow speed and limited combo abilities will eventually catch up to him.

Open Up The Corner Store, Here Comes The Pain

Being able to absorb enemy attacks means Broly can be in total control of the battlefield, which is a great thing for one reason: Broly is a nightmare to a cornered opponent. His massive size makes him hard to jump over, armor means he can counter normal attacks just by throwing his own attack, and his hardest hitting combos come in the corner. He can even get himself out of the corner with a simple light attack auto-combo, as the command grab on the third hit throws the opponent over Broly’s head and switches sides. Broly’s corner game, to put it lightly, is no joke.

Venerable YouTube fighting game expert Maximilian_Dood shows exactly what we’re talking about in the video above. He shows off two different corner combos bordering on or reaching 100% damage, both of which take advantage of a unique foible in Broly’s offense that we’ll get to later. One combo calls for assists, ending with a super move by his DLC buddy Bardock, while the second amazingly only needs Broly himself. Granted the combo requires a full seven bars of meter and likely won’t have any use in ranked or competitive play, but the idea that Broly can wipe out a foe with one combo is ludicrous.  

The Magic Whiff

Here’s the “unique foible” I mentioned in the last paragraph: by whiffing the first hit of the light auto-combo and connecting with the second one, Broly’s damage outputs for the rest of the combo dramatically increase. No other characters in the game has this sort of quirk, but the results are hard to ignore. Just take a look at that Maximilian video and see the difference for yourself.

Unfortunately this will be very difficult to employ in real-time situations. The first attack of the light auto-combo does not have any super armor, so whiffing it will open Broly up to a world of hurt if a veteran player knows it’s coming. The easiest way to achieve it in theory would be to try and fake out a blocking opponent with a few other attacks before trying the auto-combo, or by backing up and giving the opponent room to “breathe” before knocking his or her teeth in with this kick. We don’t know if this phenomenon is a bug in the system or if this was always the intention, but either way Broly players better find a way to make him miss once in a while.

Get To The Point

There is no question that Broly is suited for the point position on a team. His dependence on assists to keep combos going means that he is best with two teammates behind him ready to go. In fact the other DLC character Bardock is a perfect assist character for Broly, as his simple dash punch can not only extend a combo but also give Broly an opportunity to get closer to his opponent while Bardock is out.

The middle position isn’t a bad choice either, as he serves well as a stopgap between the point and anchor characters thanks to his strength. Whatever you decide do not designate Broly as an anchor, as that limited combo potential we addressed earlier makes being the last man standing on a team a hard mountain to climb.

There’s still a lot to find with Broly as he continues to enter the Dragon Ball FighterZ metagame. In time we fully expect to see a lot of the legendary Super Saiyan in future tournaments, though he won't be allowed at this weekend's NorCal Regionals major. Soon we will see this legend in action and be content until the next batch of downloadable content is announced...whoever those characters may be.