Marvel's Avengers is adding Black Panther to the playable roster with its War for Wakanda expansion, making it a really exciting time for the game. A new location, new enemies, and more are all reasons for players to come back to the game (if they ever stopped), but arguably, the biggest draw is the leading man: Black Panther.
Without a doubt, many players will want to be checking out Black Panther from launch, and interestingly enough, his kit and playstyle is unique. Black Panther is designed to be defensive, to be support, or to be aggressive, meaning his playstyle is far more varied than most characters in Marvel's Avengers.
For example, blocking and parrying allows Black Panther to build his Intrinsic Meter to release a burst of Kinetic energy, while he also has a unique pounce mechanic that allows him to pin enemies of most sizes to the ground. There, the Vibranium Claws do all the work, but as players learn his kit, Black Panther's abilities will be the most important.
Black Panther's Support Heroic - Kimoyo Beads
As aforementioned, Black Panther is a more utilitarian, rounded hero in Marvel's Avengers. Nowhere is this more visible than his Support Heroic, the Kimoyo Beads. These allow Black Panther to heal allies, destroy projectiles, or stick enemies and be detonated via upgrades. While a small thing, this means players can play their Black Panther as they want, opposed to other players and their style with Black Panther.
Black Panther's Assault Heroic - King's Mercy
Stepping away from the claws, kinetic energy, and rounded gameplay is Black Panther's Assault Heroic, King's Mercy. As its name suggests, this move is all about damage and sees Black Panther pull out a spear (at least one way this Black Panther differs from the MCU). This spear can pin up to three enemies, giving it a sort of control meta, but Marvel's Avengers players can upgrade the ability to remove said effect. While three spears remain possible, they can be equipped with vortex or kinetic explosive upgrades instead, focusing more on raw damage dealing than controlling the battlefield.
Black Panther's Ultimate Heroic - Bast's Chosen
Bast's Chosen, Black Panther's Ultimate Heroic, bonds the split between Black Panther's offensive and defensive gameplay, giving him buffs all around for both. Black Panther summons Bast with this abilities, who can then be seen pursuing enemies within the area. The key improvements though are that his attacks are automatically charged with intrinsic energy, so he doesn't have to Block and Parry to charge them. He'll deal more damage and take less while this is active, while his defensive abilities will also work against larger enemies than it normally does.
Overall, it's a unique gameplay style for Marvel's Avengers, but one perfect for Black Panther. It remains to be seen where he its into the hero meta, based on these abilities or perhaps pick rate/popularity, but it's clear Black Panther is coming with his claw out.
Marvel's Avengers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.