Boombox is a support Phighter who specializes in controlling the battlefield with his intense knockback and shield-based abilities. Perfectly timing Pulse Wave allows Boombox to increase his own damage or the supportive effects of Shielding Amplifier through gaining charges. Protecting Overtone grants Boombox a forcefield that blocks incoming projectiles, allowing for him and his teammates to close the gap against the opposition. His Phinisher, Raining Tacos, can turn the tides of the battle with a powerful crowd control, as well as granting his teammates a huge overshield, making them nearly invincible for a few seconds.
Abilities
Type
Passive
Charging Blitz
Perfectly timing your primary boosts your primary, grants you and allies short burst of speed, and grants you a charge if you hit an enemy. Being late or early only grants a charge.
Time between perfects: 1 second Metronome BPM: 120 BPM Max. charges: 4 Haste applied: 15% for 1 second (perfect hit)
The player must damage at least one enemy to obtain a charge.
If Pulse Wave is timed too far to be neither early nor late, no charge will be granted.
All charges are lost if Boombox dies.
Perfectly timing Pulse Wave displays various messages above the crosshair:
COOL!
GREAT!
NEAT!
PERF!
PERFECT!
RADICAL!
Type
Primary
Pulse Wave
Fire a pulse wave forward.
Damage: 6 (miss) / 6 + 2 * # of charges (perfect hit) Fire rate: 0.9 seconds Range: 20 studs
The ring is centered around Boombox's upper torso.
Type
Secondary
Shielding Amplifier
Fire a soundwave that shields allies and grants haste depending on your charges.
Boombox cannot cast any abilities during Bass Boost / Beat Drop until he lands.
Type
E Ability
Protecting Overtone
Deploy a forcefield that follows you for 15 seconds or until it is destroyed. Reactivate while the forcefield is up to destroy it and push any enemies back.
Instantly grant shield to nearby allies. Jump high into the air and slam the ground. Allies nearby are granted a rapidly decaying shield, haste, and 50 shield.
Low hitpoints, poor self-sustain without a healer support
Low range
Long Phinisher cast animation
Boombox excels when he can consistently time Pulse Wave to gain charges for Charging Blitz. Not only does it give anyone around him a 15% Haste boost, but it also allows him to constantly deal damage and then bring his team's shields back up. Boombox is best played around his team or at least one teammate.
At maximum charges, perfectly timing Pulse Wave will deal 14 damage per hit, which can make enemies lose health quicker than expected, especially if Boombox teams up with another ally.
Although the timing for perfects may be difficult at first, it will eventually become muscle memory with enough practice and time.
Position in front of your teammates to make the most of forcefield.
Can also be utilized to protect ranged Phighters, such as Hyperlaser in ranged exchanges.
Its knockback on activation and recast is powerful enough to throw Phighters out of bounds on maps such as Rocket Arena and The Iron Cafe when given the opportunity.
As with most Phinishers, is not recommended to use Raining Tacos at low health as there is a large risk of dying and wasting it, especially due to its long cast time.
Casting Raining Tacos at the peak of Bass Boost / Beat Drop can lead to a safer Phinisher cast.
Boombox is immobile for a short while after landing, letting enemies get easy hits in. Ensuring that Protecting Overtone is active during and after using your Phinisher can mitigate this.
Counterplay against Boombox
Ranged Phighters with any source of mobility can outrun a Boombox. Maintaining distance from Boombox prevents him from gaining charges for Charging Blitz and doing damage with Pulse Wave and Bass Boost / Beat Drop. On smaller maps, the player should be mindful to avoid backing themselves into a corner/dead-end.
A significant weakness to Protecting Overtone is its lack of vertical coverage and its semi-cylinder shape. Ranged Phighters such as Rocket or Slingshot can take up a higher elevation and damage Boombox and his teammates without issue. In addition, forcefield piercing attacks and AoE damage can pass through it. Without Protecting Overtone, Boombox is frail and can be taken out from the fight with ease.
Furthermore, recasting Bass Boost / Beat Drop leaves Boombox vulnerable on the ground for a moment, giving opportunities for other Phighters to land powerful attacks during the downtime, such as Sword'sLunge or Skateboard'sBASH 'EM!!.
Raining Tacos is extremely telegraphed and risky to use in the middle of a teamfight. The player should take a moment to kill any Boombox attempting to use it at low health. Ranged Phighters with hitscan projectiles such as Hyperlaser and Slingshot have the opportunity to shoot down the mid-air Boombox. If Boombox is too healthy to kill in this state, the best option is to back out or seek high-ground to avoid the damage.
The "bass drop" badge condition was changed from "be airborne for 3 or more seconds while using your phinisher" to "land directly on an enemy during your phinisher and kill them".
REWORKED: Damaging at least one enemy with Pulse grants you a charge, max. 4 charges. On activation, consumes all charges to release an AoE that heals allies and damages enemies. Each charge increases the damage, healing and knockback force.
Damage changed from 10 to 5 x no. of charges.
Healing changed from 0 to 10 x no. of charges.
Knockback force changed from unknown to 5 x no. of charges.
REWORKED: On landing, allies in the AoE are granted a 200 HP shield that starts to decay after 2 seconds. Damaged enemies are slowed by TBA% for 4 seconds.
REMOVED: No longer creates an 12 HP/sec AoE heal on landing. No longer heals allies.
Damage and healing changed from unknown to 8 + 15 * airtime, max 40.
References
↑aidn in boggio community, 16 April 2022 (Link | Image) - "boombox's ultimate visual is inspired from kazuha's burst from genshin (although not as complex)"