Multiversus is the Super Smash Brothers alternative from Warner Brothers Games for Playstation, xBox, and PC. The beta is available for free now, so we want to share our best controller settings and tips to help you improve at Multiversus and win more playing this incredibly fun game!

Controller Settings

As we recommend with most games, before you hop into a match, you want to check out the gameplay and controller settings, to ensure that the layout matches your preferences so that you are learning good habits while you complete the Tutorials. If you are coming from Super Smash Bros, you may want to switch your controls to “Legacy” at the top, as this will be closer to that control scheme. We also recommend turning off vibration, as we do in most competitive games where it gives no advantage. Make sure you have Neutral Attack and Neutral Special mapped, as this will enable you to use those abilities more easily while on the move.

Depending on your controller, you may also want to adjust the dead zone settings. We recommend Omni Performance Thumbsticks for Multiversus, which lock your thumbs in to the controller a little higher than default thumbsticks. By using KontrolFreeks and adjusting this dead zone setting, you will be able to make finer adjustments to your movement and positioning on the map.

Advanced Tutorials

Most of us will play our first game of Multiversus after a friend convinces us to download the beta. Then you hop in to a 1v1 with your friend who has been playing the game and they destroy you. Instead of rage-quitting, play the game by yourself for a while and complete all the Advanced Tutorials. Even if you are a pro at fighting games, you will learn a lot of mechanics new to Multiversus in the Advanced Tutorials.

• Dodging is your primary defensive evasion tool in Multiversus. You are invulnerable for a brief period while dodging. The number under your character is the amount of damage you have taken, which affects how far you are knocked by your opponent’s attacks. The blue meter under that number is your “Dodge Meter”, which depletes every time you dodge, but will replenish over time when you are not dodging and even faster if you are damaging enemies.
• Some special attacks have Cooldowns, which will appear under your dodge meter after you use that ability. You’ll be unable to use that special again until that cooldown icon disappears. Some perks and abilities can reduce these cooldowns.
• Unlike Smash Bros, all characters in Multiversus can Grab On to Walls be moving towards the wall in the air. While you are sliding along a wall, you can jump as many time as you need. This can be especially useful for saving yourself on the edge of the map, and Performance Thumbsticks like Omnis always come in handy when clinging for dear life!
• Some characters can apply Armor to themselves and teammates, which will prevent you from being interrupted or knocked back by an attack.

• In our opinion, Dodge Jumping is the most useful mechanic to learn in the Advanced Tutorials. If you jump while running on the ground, you will maintain some forward momentum, but if you dodge just before you jump, you will carry that dodge momentum into the jump to leap farther and faster. Use this to quickly cross the map, mix in with your standard jumps to throw your enemy off, and perform deadly aerial attacks quicker by mastering the dodge jump.
• You have a plethora of tools to use while engaging in Aerial Combat in Multiversus. With two jumps, two air dodges, and two aerial specials, unless you get KO’d, you should be able to make it back to the map without falling.
• When an attack is used too often in succession, you will see Attack Decay above your character. This means that attack will have reduced Hitstun and damage values if you continue to use it. Using other attacks will reset this decay.
• To Fast Fall, press downward while in the air. You can use this to avoid attacks, reach the ground before your opponent, and even increase the spike power of some attacks. If you still have a jump available to use while fast falling, you can use it to bounce slightly higher than you would with a standard mid-air jump. Performance Thumbsticks make it easier to adjust the speed of your fall in mid-air.
• Spiking an opponent downward off the edge of the map might seem like a risky play, but with all of the aerial survivability in Multiversus, there going for a spike while an enemy is off the edge of the map, and doing so can get you an easy kill, even with an enemy at relatively low damage.
• Dodge Attacks can be used to travel further towards an enemy before you attack to ensure you hit them.
• Knockback Influence (KBI) is a somewhat hidden defensive maneuver, which allows you to adjust the trajectory when knocked back by an enemy attack. You can use this to hit walls in the stage to stay alive.
• Some characters have abilities that will apply Elemental Effects to targets, like fire and frost. Hitting a target with fire will cause them to ignite and take damage over time, whereas hitting someone with frost will apply a frost stack, that if it reaches max, will freeze the opponent solid for a short duration. Learn more about these elemental effects by reading the character move descriptions.

Character Selection

Now that you know the basic gameplay mechanics, let’s talk about picking your character. First off, there are some characters that excel in 1v1 and others that dominate 2v2, so it’s important to think about what game modes you are playing. When starting off, consider playing 2v2 Co-op for a while. This will allow you to learn attacks and mechanics in a casual environment while playing with a friend or matchmade ally. 2v2 Co-op is also a great way to level up, complete challenges, and earn gold so that you can unlock other characters you might want to try. Rather than going over every character in the game, lets discuss the different factors that go into making a decision about which character to level up next.

Characters in Multiversus all have a hidden weight value, which factors in to how far they are knocked by attacks along with damage values and attack power. For example, hitting Iron Giant at 100 damage with a fully charged attack won’t be enough to KO him, but Arya Stark on the other hand, will go flying off the map from that same attack if she has 100 damage. Refer to image below, provided by reddit user u/Kaninapo for a character weight reference.

Playable Characters in Multiversus belong to one of Five Classes:

• Bruisers are your standard frontline fighters. They tend to be a balanced characters that are great for 1on1 fights.
• Support characters have abilities to heal and enhance themselves and their allies during a fight. As such, we recommend playing Support characters in 2v2, where you can utilize their skills to the fullest.
• Assassins are light characters that can move around the map quickly dealing heaps of damage and using their speed to avoid attacks.
• Mages are tricky characters to use as they focus on ranged attacks and maintaining distance from your enemies.
• Tanks tend to be the heaviest characters with lower maneuverability, but more survivability and defensive abilities to keep them alive.

Play with characters in the lab to find your favorite moves. With every character, you will need attacks to consistently deal damage, that you should be varying to throw your enemy off, but you will also need finishing moves that apply a lot of knockback or spiking power to finish your enemies off. While some characters have a lot of moves capable of KO’ing and enemy, lighter characters and support characters will often only have a few viable finishing attacks. In a 2v2 match, you may want one character, like Reindog, capable of dishing out massive amounts of damage with his elemental specials, and another, like Superman, capable of KO’ing damaged enemies easily for a balanced team. Try out different characters and team builds to find the best fit for you!

Landing Attacks

You may want to play around with the mapping of your right stick. By default, this will be set to attacks, but you can choose to change it to specials. Using the right stick for attacks will make your movements and attacks quicker especially when dodging and in the air. It can take time to move your thumb from dodge to jump and then attack, but by using the right stick, especially with an Omni Performance Thumbstick on there, you will be able to activate directional attacks quicker while jumping or closing the gap.
Another hidden mechanic in Multiversus is that every attack has a set Hitbox around the attacker or projectile that only connects if it contacts an enemy. These hitboxes are often deceiving and not intuitive. For example, some attacks can hit enemies behind you! Be sure to practice with a character in the lab for a while to learn where the hitboxes are for each of your attacks.
Some attacks can be charged by holding the input to make it more powerful, but you don’t have to follow through with a charged attack. You can cancel an attack by pressing dodge before you fully charge the attack.

Selecting Perks and Leveling Up Characters!

• Each Character has two to three character-specific perks that are only available to them and enhance certain special attacks.
• Each character will also unlock 3-4 non-specific perks for each of the 3 perk categories. You can use any combination of non-specific perks that you want, including 3 greens, 3 reds, or 3 blues.
• In 2v2 matches, using the same perks as your teammates will provide an additional bonus to that perk.
• Once you reach a certain level with a character, you’ll gain the ability to Train Perks, by clicking on the (+) to the right of your non-specific perks. You can then select from the entire collection of non-specific perks, which perks you would like to train to this character for gold. The amount of gold it costs to train a perk is determined by if this character learns that perk on their own and if you have already learned this perk on another character. While it can be tempting to buy a bunch of perks on your favorite character, this will increase the amount of time it takes for you to unlock all the characters using gold.

As we mentioned previously, 2v2 Co-op is the best game mode for beginners to earn gold, unlock new perks and characters, and generally learn the game. We recommend doing this until you earn enough gold to buy the character you want to try or until you level up your favorite character enough to have the perks on them that you want.

Once you’ve learned the mechanics, you’ve leveled up your characters, and you feel comfortable fighting with them, hop into some real matches to hone your skills and always rematch, even when you lose. You will improve quicker by playing tougher opponents. Don’t panic though, because you’re going to lose sometimes. When your hands are sweating during those sudden death moments in heated grudge matches, you want to know you can rely on your controller. That’s when you really want to have your controller upgraded with some KontrolFreek Performance Thumbsticks and Performance Grips to keep you calm, cool, and completely connected to your controller.

If you are looking for more controller tips for your favorite games, check out our other KontrolFreek Blogs. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to stay up to date on the latest gaming content and join our Twitch streams for opportunities to win free KontrolFreek and SteelSeries products!