Hawkeye is a founding MCU Avenger; yet, he wasn't included in the base Marvel's Avengers game. An update in March 2021 finally added him in. However, there isn't just one Hawkeye. There have been two Hawkeyes in Marvel Comics. The original was Clint Barton, but a later Hawkeye by the name of Kate Bishop made her debut with the Young Avengers team.
With these characters still so fresh and new in Square Enix's Avengers game, players may be wondering how to best play Hawkeye. For this list, we are going to be focusing on Clint Barton Hawkeye as we break down which ten skills players should unlock for this Avenger.
10 Implosion Arrow
The Implosion Arrow is a very useful tool and one that players are going to want to unlock as soon as possible in a ranged-focused Hawkeye build. Naturally, a ranged combat build is a perfect fit for Hawkeye, given that he is the Avenging Archer.
The Implosion Arrow is a light attack upgrade that allows Hawkeye to fire an arrow that pulls nearby enemies near its impact point. This is ideal for keeping a distance from foes, keeping them off-balance, and keeping this Avenger safe.
9 Instant Implosion
Instant Implosion is another variation on the Implosion Arrow, but this one allows Hawkeye to fire an Implosion Arrow from the air. This also falls under the light attack skill tree.
Being able to fire an Implosion Arrow from the air allows Hawkeye to remain maneuverable while still dealing damage and disrupting his enemies. Hawkeye doesn't have Cap's shield, Iron Man's armor, or Hulk's tough hide. He's just a guy, so he has to rely on his agility to avoid damage.
8 Split Shot Arrow
The Split Shot Arrow is a potentially devastating arrow that is available in the heavy attack skill tree. By holding the heavy attack button, Hawkeye can fire an arrow that splits into three and homes in on a single target.
If he's not locked onto a single target, the arrow will spread across a crowd of enemies. This allows the potential for massive damage that he can spread out across several opponents.
7 Splintering Fire
The Splintering Fire attack is a variation on the Split Shot Arrow. Again, this variation allows Hawkeye the maneuverability and agility to dole out damage while avoiding taking hits from his opponents.
Additionally, the Splintering Fire variation of the Split Shot Arrow actually fires two of the arrows at once. This results in six different projectiles targeting Hawkeye's opponents.
6 Bag Of Tricks
Bag of Tricks may very well be Hawkeye's most powerful skill upgrade. It also comes from the heavy attack skill tree, and it requires players to unlock Split Shot Arrow as a prerequisite. Hawkeye can activate Bag of Tricks after another signature attack or power attack.
The Bag of Tricks fires off three different kinds of arrows in succession. The first arrow is a Tripwire Shot which can trip up opponents, and the second shot is a Pulsar Arrow which explodes on impact. The third shot is a trio of Split Shot Arrows, which totals nine separate projectiles on their own.
5 Tripwire Shot
The Tripwire Shot is an upgrade to the Cluster Arrows in the ranged attack skill tree. The Cluster Arrows on their own are a useful weapon. They fire a trio of energized arrows which have a high chance at staggering opponents.
The Tripwire Shot is a charged version of the Cluster Arrows. It connects an energy tripwire between the three arrows, which damages and trips the enemies hit by the Tripwire Shot. This is another way to keep enemies off-balance and far away from Hawkeye.
4 Stationary Target
The Stationary Target is another ranged attack upgrade, this time to the Pulsar Arrows weapon. Pulsar Arrows are explosive arrows that can be manually detonated. This is great on its own, but the Stationary Target is even more potent.
The Stationary Arrow is a charged version of the Pulsar Arrow that pins an enemy to a surface until the arrow is detonated. This allows the player to take a smaller enemy out of the game for a bit until they're ready to blow up the enemy and take them out.
3 Neutron Blast
The Neutron Blast is the fully-upgraded version of the Pulsar Arrows, which charge even more power than the original Pulsar Arrows. They charge up power after being fired, to do potentially devastating damage.
However, with the Neutron Blast skill upgrade, the Pulsar Arrows can be thoroughly destructive. They'll keep enemies off-balance, or just take them out entirely.
2 Startling Disruption
The Startling Disruption skill upgrade brings us to the intrinsic ability skill tree. This skill allows Hawkeye to jam a Disruptor Arrow into an enemy after performing a parry on a melee attack.
This Disruptor Arrow makes the disrupted enemy 25% more susceptible to critical hits from ranged attacks for six seconds. Even if an enemy gets too close to Hawkeye, he can weaken them, making it easier to take them out with his ranged attacks.
1 Rocket Arrow
The Rocket Arrow is another intrinsic upgrade that requires the player to unlock Startling Disruption beforehand. This is another follow-up to a parry, except Hawkeye attaches a rocket arrow to the enemy which launches them into the air before detonating. That said, some enemies are immune to being carried by the arrow.
This is another excellent way to avoid being bogged down in the middle of an enemy group. Hawkeye can force an enemy far away and potentially take them out with the explosion.