Boombox is a support Phighter who specializes in controlling the battlefield with his intense knockback and shield-based abilities. Pulse Wave allows Boombox to knock enemies away from him and his allies as well as 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 better gap closing between his team and the opposition. His Phinisher, Raining Tacos, can turn the tides of the battle with powerful crowd control and granting his teammates an insane amount of temporary shields, making them nearly invincible for the duration.
Abilities
Charging Blitz
Charging Blitz
Type
Ability Type Passive
N/A
Perfectly timing your primary boosts your primary, gives you and allies short burst of speed, and grants you a charge. Being late or early only grants a charge.
Ability Demonstration
Timing between perfects: 1 second Haste: 25% for 0.5 seconds Max. charges: 4
Details:
The player must damage at least one enemy to obtain a charge.
Perfectly timing Pulse Wave has various texts.
PERF!
PERFECT!
GREAT!
COOL!
RADICAL!
NEAT!
Pulse Wave
Pulse Wave
Type
Ability Type Primary
AoE
Fire a wave forward that knocks enemies away.
Ability Demonstration
Damage: 8 + 2 * no. of charges Knockback force: 8 + 2 * no. of charges Range: 20 studs Fire rate: 0.9 seconds Ammo: ∞
Details:
The ring is centered around Boombox's upper torso.
Shielding Amplifier
Shielding Amplifier
Type
Ability Type Ability
AoE
Fire a soundwave that shields allies and grants haste depending on your charges.
Ability Demonstration
Damage: 5 + 5 * no. of charges Shield: 15 + 15 * no. of charges Overshield duration: 6 seconds Knockback force: 5 * no. of charges Haste: 12 * no. of charges for 2 seconds Range: TBA Cooldown: 8 seconds
Details:
Bass Boost / Beat Drop
Bass Boost / Beat Drop
Type
Ability Type Ability
AoE/Mobility
Jump in the air and pull enemies in, reactivate to slam down and push enemies away.
Deploy a 300HP 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.
Jump high into the air and slam the ground with a giant explosion. The explosion will give you and allies a temporary 400 shield, as well as slow enemies.
Ability Demonstration
Damage: 8 + 15 * airtime duration, max. 40 Knockback force: 20 + 7 * airtime duration, going up only, max. 50 Shield: 75 on cast, 400 decaying immediately at a rate of 2 per tick upon landing Slow: 30% for 3 seconds Radius: TBD Phinisher cost: 150
Details:
The landing effects of Raining Tacos is cancelled if Boombox dies before slamming the ground.
The damage and slow of Raining Tacos will not apply if the player is out of line of sight of Boombox. The shield application ignores line of sight.
Multiple instances of Raining Tacos' shield and slow does not stack. If the player is provided a second Raining Tacos' shield, nothing happens.
Strategy
Pros
Versatile support, with charge allowing for greater offense and defense simultaneously
Raining Tacos can deny enemy Phinishers
Knockback on abilities helps counter melee Phighters
Cons
High skill floor due to Boombox's passive
Low hitpoints
Poor range
Long Phinisher cast animation
Boombox excels when he can consistently hit his Charging Blitz. Not only does it give anyone around him a 25% speed 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.
Protecting Overtone's knockback on activation and reactivation is powerful enough to throw Phighters out of bounds on maps such as Rocket Arena and The Iron Cafe when given the opportunity.
Pulse, Sound Wave and Protecting Overtone can be used during the end-lag of the reactivation. Use it to squeeze in additional damage.
It is not recommended to use Raining Tacos at low health as there is a large risk of dying and wasting the phinisher.
Counterplay against Boombox
Ranged Phighters with any source of mobility can outrun a Boombox. Maintaining distance from Boombox prevents him from gaining charges for Sound Wave and doing damage with Pulse and Jump Smash Move. 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 aerial coverage and 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, shield piercing and AoE damage can pass through the forcefield. Without Protecting Overtone, Boombox is frail and can be taken out from the fight with ease.
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.
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.