With Invincible VS releasing on April 30th and the last round of testing wrapped up, it feels like the right time for some pre-launch tips. Invincible VS is an intense 3 v 3 tag fighting game that is exceptionally fast-paced and may be difficult for new players to pick up. After playing the alpha and beta tests, these are some of the things that I wish I had known earlier. These tips will focus on general things applicable to the entire roster rather than character specific combos or interactions.
1. Rushdown is king
Invincible VS’s rapid pace punishes players for playing too passively. Your main focus early in the game should be on figuring out how to apply pressure and put your opponent on the backfoot. This can be done in a variety of ways but generally focusing on combo starters and dashing will allow you to get in an opponent’s face and force them to make a mistake. Characters can start combos from anywhere on the screen, so it is extremely difficult to guarantee safety if you aren’t controlling the tempo. This doesn’t mean that you should forego blocking entirely, it means that any time your opponent leaves an opening you should take advantage of it aggressively.
Invincible is an extremely well-rounded character with relentless rushdown and lots of means of applying pressure.
2. Use the active-tag mechanic for longer combos.
Invincible VS has a variety of assist mechanics that use inactive teammates to help in the fight. By holding down L1 or L2 you can switch your active character with a benched teammate anytime. Doing this in the middle of a combo will perform an active-tag which will bring the character in mid-attack, continuing the assault. This is key because it lengthens the maximum combo time and allows for lots of damage while also being difficult for players to defend against early. Always keep an eye on the timer for tags and use the active-tag consistently to maintain pressure and dish out lots of damage in a single combo.
Allen the Alien continuing a combo started by Omni-man.
3. Practice learning how to counter-tag
Since active tagging is so strong, defending against it is key to winning fights. IGN’s fighting game guru Mitchell Saltzman made a great video detailing this which I will link here but essentially by pressing the heavy and medium attack buttons at the same time (Triangle + Circle on PS5) during the opponents active tag you can counter-tag to stop the attack and begin your own combo. This timing requires some practice to figure out but once you have it down you can shut out a lot of the dangerous rushdown that active tags enable.
Huge thank you to IGN for making such an informative video detailing counter-tagging.
4. Learn assist breakers to shut down combos early
While counter-tags are great for dealing with active-tags, assist breakers are the most powerful defensive tool in Invincible VS. By holding the boost button (R2) and either assist button (L1 or L2) you can call in an assist to completely stop an opponent’s combo string and knock them away. This requires two bars of boost meter and leaves the assist character on a ten second cooldown but should be used whenever it is available to shut down dangerous combos. The best time to use this is at the beginning of a combo to mitigate as much damage as possible. Alternatively, use it after a failed counter-tag attempt to prevent the tag from being able to come in.
Assist breakers will send your opponent flying and your assist will do a cool nonchalant pose afterwards like Battle Beast here.
5. Utilize the dash button
Dashing in Invincible VS initially seems unnecessary because many attacks can cover ground quickly. This couldn’t be further from the truth as dashing allows for quicker, more controllable movement. Dashes can be used omnidirectionally by pressing R1 and moving the stick in a direction. There are a variety of uses for this including closing gaps, retreating from attacks, or continuing combo strings that normal attacks cannot reach. Boosted dashes (R1 + R2) can span the length of the entire screen and are especially useful for catching a retreating opponent. Mastering dodging is essential for manipulating space and adapting to the speed of Invincible VS.
Dashing is especially important for large characters like Allen the Alien and Battle Beast who have less mobile attack options available to them.
6. Master the push block
Push blocking is a key fighting game mechanic that allows players to knock an opponent back upon a successful block and create some much-needed breathing room. This is a key component in Invincible VS and is performed by tapping the dash button (R1) while blocking an opponent’s attack. Push blocking stifles the threat of throws, mixups, or many of the super moves in the game by not letting the opponent get in close enough. Once you are confident in the push block, it becomes a great offensive tool that can be followed up with a dash or assist to catch an opponent by surprise.
Push blocks are a great way for creating space for the multitude of dazzling super moves available in the game.
7. Snapback to prevent opponents from regaining health
Like most tag fighters, team members in Invincible VS have their own health bars so you need to defeat all three in order to win a match. When a character is switched out, they will slowly regain some of their missing health in the form of a purple health bar. If the opponent has a character on the bench with lots of purple health don’t let them gain it back! Snapback attacks (Forward/Backward + Medium + Heavy) knock the active character out and switch them with a teammate, removing their purple health in the process. Preventing your opponent from regaining health pays massive dividends in close matchups, and if you are able to eliminate a character completely it will shut down access to their assist options.
Purple health bars can be removed completely by snapbacks, but they become obsolete when only one character is left on a team.
8. Learn your blue moves
Boosting some moves in Invincible VS gives the character blue super armor. This prevents them from getting staggered by an attack and allows you to fight through an opponent’s offense while starting your own combo. Most characters have access to blue moves, but they are especially important for bigger, slower characters like Monster Girl, Battle Beast, or Allen the Alien who rely on them to start combos against faster characters. Learn the blue moves for your character and practice timing them against opponents attacks to break through and win neutral exchanges.
Lots of blue moves can be performed by using a boosted forward special (Forward R2 + X) but make sure to experiment and learn all of them for your team of choice.
9. Pay attention to the timer & sudden death
Matches in Invincible VS have a 99 second time limit. If that timer hits zero the game will go into a sudden death 1 v 1 fight where player health bars drain constantly. Depending on the circumstances, waiting for sudden death can become an improbable path to victory. For example, if you are losing a match and have one character left against an opponent’s three you should play defense and wait for sudden death. Fighting without assists is extremely difficult so guaranteeing a 1 v 1 is the easiest way of leveling the playing field from behind. Conversely, if you have three characters to an opponent’s one near the end of a match you should put your foot on the gas and do anything to prevent sudden death from occurring.
Waiting for sudden death would have been a nice option here.
*Bonus tip: Play who you want to play!
Choosing a main in a fighting game is often daunting because players are concerned about choosing a character that is not ‘top tier.’ During the beta the roster in Invincible VS was very well balanced with no characters feeling especially strong or weak. Characters are also all easy to pick up and play so you should choose the characters that seem the most fun or interesting to you and think about the meta later. The most important thing is to develop your skills and to get used to the rhythm of the game. This will be a much more enjoyable process if you choose characters based on whatever metric is exciting to you.
The most recent beta only had 10 characters available but there will be 18 on launch day.
There you have it! Hopefully these tips can help you get a head start when release happens on April 30th. There are lots of other things to learn and make sure to practice in the tutorial and training areas. I can’t wait to dive in and try out the story mode and all of the new characters that were not available during the beta. This is an excellent, bloody fighting game that will please fans of the Invincible series and newcomers alike.
JoeGames 