When most gamers hear the term "Speedster", the image that comes to mind is a figure zipping about the battlefield, going where they are needed, and taking advantage of the opponents' blind spots.
As such a swift character, Gengar in Pokemon Unite offers their team a powerful ally for scoring and going on the offensive. There are 2 main builds that players can specialize in while playing as Gengar: the first focuses on debuffing foes and sneaky healing, for more of a support role, and the second utilizes status effects to plague adversaries while chaining vicious attack combos on them is a devastating offense that can melt multiple opponents simultaneously.
Gengar Special Attacker Support Build
Gengar Special Attacker Support Build Moveset
- Shadow Ball
- Dream Eater
Gengar Special Attacker Support Build Items
- Sp. Atk Specs (Held Item)
- Wise Glasses (Held Item)
- Leftovers (Held Item)
- Eject Button (Battle Item)
Tips On How To Use The Gengar Special Attacker Support Build Effectively
First off, playing as Gengar will take a bit of getting used to for some players, as they can only reach their final form at level 9, meaning that the early and part of the middle of the match will be spent at a fair deal less than full power. It is for this reason that players beginning as Gastly should do their best to acquire Exp quickly from wild pokemon and at least evolve into Haunter before beginning to face off against trainer pokemon.
However, once players have had the chance to evolve into Haunter and transform their Will-O-Wisp and Lick moves into Shadow Ball and Dream Eater respectively, they can begin dishing out damage in satisfying amounts. Shadow Ball launches a dark orb in a linear pattern that hurts targets as well as drops their Special Defense, meaning that moves classified as having Special Attack will deal much greater damage to those afflicted by Shadow Ball's effects. However, since Gengar doesn't really have any other moves that deal Special Attack damage besides Shadow Ball itself and their boost basic attacks, this move ends up being more useful to support allies who have moves that do unleash Special Attack damage.
Dream Eater comes into play to allow Gengar to temporarily disable foes by putting them to sleep before dealing damage to enemies and recovering some HP in the process. The 2 stages of this attack can make it a bit tricky to get used to using, as with a lot going on, it can be tough to time the phases efficiently. Players should use Dream Eater's sleeping portion to stun foes who are getting away or about to enter the team's goal zone while the damage (plus healing) part should be used only when one is low on HP or when there are enough allies around to cover one's movements. As a Speedster, Gengar cannot take too many hits, and the amount of HP recovered from Dream Eater cannot allow one to heal-boost through even damage dealt by a singular foe.
That's why it's best to stick with teammates almost the entire time when using this Gengar build, as this is how one can allow their team's Special Attacks to hurt enemies the most while they also provide cover and some safety as Gengar puts adversaries to sleep and leeches HP from them.
Gengar Poison Combo Build
Gengar Poison Combo Build Moveset
- Sludge Bomb
- Hex
Gengar Poison Combo Build Items
- Sp. Atk Specs (Held Item)
- Wise Glasses (Held Item)
- Float Stone (Held Item)
- Eject Button (Battle Item)
Tips On How To Use The Gengar Poison Combo Build Effectively
While the build mentioned above is a decent one, this build feels much more overpowered by comparison due to the sheer amount of damage that can be unleashed in only a few seconds. As before, try to obtain as much Exp early on as one can to evolve and learn Sludge Bomb and Hex as quickly as possible to become a dominant force on the battlefield.
By itself, Sludge Bomb is a great move and can be used to hurt foes enough to make them reconsider sticking around unless they are within one of their own goal zones or have some manner of healing, such as Slowbro or Snorlax players. The damage is greater than what Shadow Ball does and the lingering poison additionally applies stress to the adversary's HP bar. Furthermore, since it is a ranged attack that possesses a generous area of effect, it can plague multiple foes, even stealthily from the cover of some tall grass.
However, alongside Hex, players can deliver crazy-high damage. When Hex is used, it teleports players in their chosen direction and allows them to strike foes suddenly. Though, if the target is afflicted with a status ailment, such as the poison inflicted by Sludge Bomb, Hex's cooldown will be drastically reduced upon doing damage. Normally, the cooldown is 7.5 seconds, but when hitting a poisoned enemy, the cooldown drops to merely 1 second. If timed properly, Gengar can use Sludge Bomb to poison foes for a few seconds and then follow this with up to 3 Hex attacks for a chain of strikes that can absolutely decimate the HP bar of any foe short of the toughest Defenders. Even more impressively, since Sludge Bomb and Hex both have an area of effect, this combo can hit multiple foes simultaneously and potentially net a Gengar player a double or even a triple takedown.