DRAGON BALL GEKISHIN SQUADRA

DRAGON BALL GEKISHIN SQUADRA

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Frieza - A Breakdown
By Yian Yan
This is intended to be a detailed look at Frieza - not just a guide on what buttons to press but a thorough look at how he works with various mechanics (and a refresher on some that some players may not know).
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What's A Frieza?
Frieza is a Technical Hero in this game. He is focused around using his minions, Zarbon and Dodoria to interfere with and damage his foes. On his own he isn't very formidable being neither durable nor damaging.
What are his abilities?
These are Frieza's buttons as per the in game tooltips:

Show Them, Zarbon!
Deploy Zarbon to a set position.
Zarbon will retreat when his HP reaches 0 or when the command is re-entered
The more HP the retreating subordinate has, the shorter the cooldown of this Skill.

Zarbon:
Fires energy blasts at enemies in front.
Applies Strike Defense Down and Movement Speed Down to enemies and gradually increases range of attack as time passes.
Energy blast becomes energy wave at Skill Level 3 (Super)


Crush Them, Dodoria!
Deploy Dodoria to a set position.
Dodoria will retreat when his total HP reaches 0 or when the command is re-entered.
The more HP the retreating subordinate has, the shorter the cooldown of the Skill.

Dodoria:
Launches lunge attacks that push back enemies in front and behind.
Deals more DMG to enemies in the center of the attack when they hit a wall at Skill Level 3 (Super)


Imperial Decree!
Create a surrounding field that strengthens allies and subordinates.
Applies Movement Speed Up to self and ally heroes.
Increases attack speeds of deployed subordinates.
The field's duration is extended if an ally hero or deployed subordinate is strengthened when it's activated.


Supernova
Fires a massive energy blast in a set direction.
Increases range and AoE the longer it's charged.
Can move/redirect while charging.
The blast blocks enemy energy attacks.
Applies All Attack Down to enemies who step where the blast has hit.
Explodes and deals more damage when it disappears at skill level 3 (Super).


Rush Attack
An energy blast attack.
If the attack lands, subordinates will launch a follow-up energy blast to deal more DMG.


Fearsome Emperor
An ability that increases mobility.
Applies Movement Speed Up to self during high-speed flight.
Allows quick movement without stopping even when under attack.
This ability is nullified for a set period after being attacked.
Some details on those abilities.
Now for some details on that aren't strictly in the tooltips.

Show Them, Zarbon!
Does what it says on the tin. You deploy Zarbon and he starts shooting at things. His range starts short and grows the longer he is deployed to his maximum. His speed debuff is very brief but fairly strong and the Strike Defense debuff lasts quite a while and stacks (at about 8% more strike damage from Dodoria per stack) making him pair naturally with Dodoria's active and Frieza pair nicely with Strike heavy Damage heroes.

Leveling this skill makes Zarbon attack more frequently. From level 1-2 he will not do more damage with his attacks while deployed. Level 3 will change it to a beam, as said, and will do increased damage. Level 1 can stack its debuff to about 4-5 (if it can hit the target repeatedly) with its fire rate (before augmentation from Decree). Level 2 can do 6-7. Level 3 also does 6-7.

The skill has a 20 second cooldown. If Zarbon is completely uninjured when you call him back it's cut down by 17 seconds to 4 seconds. What's important is that as long as he has 1 hit point when he's called back the cooldown will be no more than about 12 seconds: he will cut off 8 seconds of cooldown. If he is killed then you face the full 20 second cooldown. I'm not confident enough in my skills to tell you how to play Frieza but despite that I am confident enough to say this in bold: Do not let your subordinates be killed. Zarbon is fairly squishy and can die easily.

Crush Them, Dodoria!
Dodoria instantly does one of his lunges and then stands roughly in the center of his template and will lunge at any target that enters his zone.

Leveling this skill makes Dodoria's area of attack larger both in girth and length. It also increases the damage Dodoria does and, as said, will gain an extra trait at level 3 wherein enemies in the center of the attack, if they hit a wall, will take double damage.

The skill has a 20 second cooldown. If Dodoria is completely uninjured when you call him back it's cut down by 12 seconds to 8 seconds. As long as Dodoria has 1 hit point the cooldown will be at most 12 seconds: cutting off 8 seconds of cooldown. If he is killed then you face the full 20 seconds cooldown. It bears saying again: Do not let your subordinates be killed.

Imperial Decree!
This move is a bit harder to quantify as it is a speed buff. My initial (superficial on movespeed) tests show that increasing the level mostly just increases the area on it. The Effect part of the level bonus is negligible and is most noticeable when interacting with the effect's duration being boosted by hitting subordinates/allies.

It lasts up to about 5 seconds on you/allies if multiple targets are hit. It lasts for up to 7 seconds on surbordinates (running out faster if you leave the effective range of the ability) granting them increased attack speed. 250% boost speed on Dodoria and a 60% reduction in Zarbon's attack interval. It is a significant boost to attack speed that will improve your damage output accordingly.

The skill has a 15 second cooldown.

Supernova
It's pretty straightforward. Chargeable orb. You throw it. It does damage in multiple hits as it rolls forward instead of as a singular big hit. The blocks enemy energy attacks property is only while it is thrown and it does as much damage charged as uncharged. This won't hold true with the extra explosion added at level 3 and the area is almost 100% worth charging to max (as it doesn't take long and the uncharged version is quite pathetic).

The skill has a 50 second cooldown.

Rush Attack
This is an important detail most people will not notice and can be a source of Frieza feeling bad. Frieza's rush attack involves him shooting 7 small projectiles for very small damage on each. The subordinate follow ups are what's important. Each attack alternates between Zarbon and Dodoria doing a followup for you (but only if they aren't currently deployed).

Zarbon, straight up, does more damage than you do to the effect of doing a single hit for roughly 1.15 times the total damage of your rush attack.

Dodoria fires 3 bolts that are slightly stronger than your own resulting in an attack that is only about as strong as .53 times your rush attack.

BUT and this is a big BUT their attacks get stronger as they are leveled. Not on their first level but on their second and third. Zarbon rises to ~1.6x and then more than double your total rush damage at roughly 2.05x. Dodoria's damage remains unchanged but goes from 3 to 5 to 10 projectiles resulting in him rising to ~0.9 times your damage and then again to ~1.8x your damage.

So, as Frieza, if your subordinates aren't at your side and they aren't doing anything productive, then you are doing anywhere from 2/3rds of the damage you could be doing with a rush attack to as little as a 1/3rd of the damage you could be doing.

Another important detail of this ability is that your Rush Attack will mark enemy heroes and your deployed subordinates will target them before other enemies (when possible).

Fearsome Emperor
This passive is very very finnicky. Any hit on you while in High Speed Flight will knock it off you. The act of using your Imperial Decree and hitting yourself with the buff will knock this passive off of you if you use it during High Speed Flight. It will only get knocked off you if you are in High Speed Flight. It has 30 seconds of downtime before it is active again.
Divine Condiment Cards?
Divine Combo Cards are something that intimidate or are otherwise mostly skipped over by a lot of players. They do a lot of things and some of these aren't fully understood by players and even when they are their limitations may not be immediately apparent regarding each character's ability to interact with them.

There's also a mechanic surrounding them that you might not know. You gain statistical benefits, when you get your third Divine Combo Card based your Divine Combo Card colors.

Red Cards grant you Damage output of about 4.4%/8.8%/13.2% for 1/2/3 cards.
Green Cards grant you Damage Reduction of about 5.2%/8.7%/12.1% for 1/2/3 cards.
Blue Cards grant Cooldown Reduction of about 4/7.77/11% for 1/2/3 cards.

These are all in addition to whatever your cards actually do.

So. What do they do and which are good for Frieza? I'll let you decide which are best but will give my thoughts on a few.
Combo Cards Tier 1
Lightning Swift (Red)
Deals additional energy DMG to enemies attacked within 2 seconds
Activation Conditions
After using Vanishing Step


A very solid card for anyone looking to do a bit more damage. It will do about a skills worth of energy damage as a bonus to whatever enemy hero you first strike after doing a vanish step. (in this case it's about as strong as one Zarbon shot from his deployed state.) This include with a rush attack or skills. So Zarbon or Dodoria may apply this damage whenever you Vanish Step for a small boost to damage output. It can combine well with some other cards to add small but significant spikes of damage to your output.

Super Snowball (Red)
All Attack Up
(Up to 4 times. Attack power increase is lost if you are KO'd.)
Activation Conditions
Every KO or assist on an enemy hero.


The boost is nothing to sneeze at as it has 4 stages sitting at roughly 6.7%/13.2%/19.8%/26.2% extra damage. That's a lot of damage. Especially if you add it to the overall boost from having three red cards and any other damage boosts you might have. But you have 0 damage boost until you get a kill and it goes all the way back down to 0 if you die.

Build Up (Green)
All Defense Up
(Up to 10x!)
Activation Conditions
Every 2 KOs or assists on enemy NPCs.


The boost starts off small and doesn't get huge. It's about 1.5% per stack but not perfectly and ends up at about 13.7% Damage Reduction. I like this card, for Frieza, because this Damage Reduction does apply to your minions and can give them a little extra up time. I do not think it's the best choice for him, though, despite my affinity for it.

Too Easy! (Green)
Gives extra HP for 2 seconds.
(Can be activated once every 30 seconds.)
Activation Conditions
When you take damage that brings your max HP to 50% or less


This card can be good but it feels rather useless for Frieza. The temp HP is small (I believe because his actual HP is small) and has no impact on your minions (other than the contribution having a green card will have after you acquire all three). I think this one is a miss for Frieza.

Strategic Escape (Blue)
Boosts movement speed slightly.
Activation Conditions
Back is turned to a nearby hero.


The default card of choice for Technicals, I believe (auto card allocation) and probably the best choice for Frieza. It stacks with his passive and with his playstyle. It's a significant speed boost that lets you get away with a lot. Most notably: getting away.

GEKISHIN High (Blue)
Shortens the cooldown of the activated skill.
Activation Conditions
When you land a GEKISHIN Burst.


Not my first choice for most people but definitely one Frieza can benefit from as when you use any skill for a Gekishin burst you normally use the cooldown. For Zarbon and Dodoria, well, that's pretty damning and part of why I usually play Frieza as a Gekishin enabler instead of as an actual Gekishin tower destroyer.
Combo Cards Tier 2
Giant Slayer (Red)
Boosts damage dealt to target in proportion to their max HP until the end of the battle.
Activation Conditions
When attack hits enemy hero with 80% or more HP.


If you initiate combat with anyone at 80% or more HP you do more damage until it ends. A solid choice for most anyone and that includes Frieza but, if you're going for damage, it may be a situational pick between this and the next.

Prepare to Die! (Red)
Boosts DMG slightly on the enemy hero until the end of the confrontation.
(Effect greatly boosted if target lasts at least 2 sec.)
Activation Conditions
When attack hits enemy hero with 50% or less HP.


A card for getting more damage when finishing off damaged opponents. Again, if you're going for damage this is more a situational choice based on if you feel you need tank busting or if you find yourself mopping up injured opponents.

With this and the last one, I would need to do more testing to fully understand the numbers and which is just numerically 'better'.

Steel Skin (Green)
Reduces DMG a set amount per hit.
Activation Conditions
Take an attack from an enemy hero.


This card is 'good' for many small hits but doesn't do much for Frieza as it only activates when Frieza is hit. It provides no real tangible benefit to his minions.

Solid Barrier (Green)
Gain a barrier that greatly reduces DMG from enemy heroes.
(Barrier is broken 2 seconds after enemy hero damages it.)
Activation Conditions
Don't take DMG from enemy heroes for 10 seconds.


Probably the superior option for Frieza, if you're going defense, as he is prone to getting one shot with how fragile Frieza is. This can really help to avoid sudden big damage spikes that come from off screen or take up too much space to dodge. My personal choice for Frieza.

Art of Decoy (Blue)
Big boost to movement speed and reduces Vanishing Step cooldown time for 4 seconds.
(Can be activated once every 10 seconds.)
Activation Conditions
Get obstructed by an enemy hero.


This is a very strong escape tool for a lot of situations as getting obstructed means any of the following effects: Movement Speed Down, High Pressure, No Vanishing Step, No Skills/Attacks, Provoked, Wrath. Pretty much any loss of control effect and a lot of abilities come with some small amount of it. All of Caulifla's kit is around hitting you repeatedly with Provoked! Pair it with Lightning Swift and you're suddenly doing more damage the more the enemy dares to use their CC on you. Even without the combo it can mean getting away when you otherwise might not.

Epic Hunter (Blue)
Boosts damage to boss for 4 seconds.
(Effect is canceled once the last boss who meets the activation conditions is KO'd)
Activation Conditions
When you deal damage to a boss with 50% or less HP.


Frieza, when leveled and used right, can absolutely shred bosses on his own without this card. This card could speed things up on that front. It's not my first pick, though.
Combo Cards Tier 3
Wicked Warrior (Red)
Boosts rush attack DMG.
(Ends 4 seconds after end of rush attack on enemy hero.)
Activation Conditions
Land 3 rush attacks in a row on an enemy hero.


This does augment the previously mentioned attacks from Zarbon and Dodoria when they're supporting you directly. Fully stacked damage can let you just melt people with rush attacks if you've got your boys at your side.

Pursuer (Red)
Deals additional energy DMG to target/boosts your speed for 7.5 seconds when heading towards target.
(Can be activated up to once every 7.5 seconds.)
Activation Conditions
Land attacks on an enemy hero with 2 skills within 2 seconds.


Are Zarbon and Dodoria hitting things together as they probably should be? Then you can trigger this for a small skills worth of damage every 7.5 seconds. Frieza's not exactly the 'Pursuer' kind, though, and might not get as much out of this as others.

Guardian Angel (Green)
Take some of an ally's DMG for them.
(DMG taken is reduced when more allies are nearby.)
Activation Conditions
Nearby ally takes DMG from enemy hero (except those with Guardian Angel).


Frieza does not have a surplus of health nor defenses to take hits for teammates. This is very not a Frieza card, in my opinion. Maybe I don't have enough information on the card, though. It's not very easy to test its limits in Training Mode.

Defense Step (Green)
Reduces damage from enemy heroes for 3 seconds.
(Effect is greatly boosted for Super Attacks. The amount of damage reduced by the effect decreases over time.)
Activation Conditions
After using Vanishing Step.


An option for late game when vanish step can't get out of the many huge super attack templates so you at least have some mitigation to the moves you can't escape. A solid green card that won't directly effect your minions but, again, the combo bonus of a green card will.

Backstab (Blue)
Greatly shortens the cooldown time for the skill landed.
Activation Conditions
Land a skill (except Super Attacks) on an enemy hero within 3 seconds of being discovered.


What I believe, at this time, to be the single best in slot card for Frieza. This card makes any skill you hit with within 3 seconds of being discovered get a 50% cut on its cooldown. For anyone this is powerful.
For a speedster whose abilities have an inherent trait of granting 60-40% cooldown reduction when utilized properly this becomes monstrous.

Let me explain
As long as you satisfy the condition "within 3 seconds of being discovered" any attack from Zarbon or Dodoria will instantly put them at 50% cooled down regardless of whether they are killed or not. As mentioned earlier, if they are recalled before they are killed they will cut off anywhere from 40-60% of their cooldown. These things stack directly and with the small amount you get from having blue cards.

SO, if you properly utilize your speed to suddenly appear and throw down Zarbon and Dodoria it should be simple to trigger it on them. If you somehow don't get it on them you can zip into a bush or off screen and return and get 'discovered' again and have 3 seconds where they can then proc it if they hit any hero. If they look like they're going to die or simply are out of position you can then recall them and instantly redeploy them at full health and continue to use your speed and nearby terrain to re-trigger the effect.

Limit-Breaking Jump (Blue)
Lets you use Vanishing Step one more time before its cooldown time ends.
Activation Conditions
Vanishing Step is in cooldown.


The default Technician choice and a solid one at that. Your Vanishing step cooldown lets you step twice. Paired with Lightning Swift and Art of Decoy can result in many many procs of Lightning Swift and just generally gives you a lot of evasive power.
So how do I level a Frieza?
I'm not the best Frieza there is out there so you should probably decide this for yourself. If you really want to know my thoughts then here:

Default: Zarbon, Dodoria, Decree, Supernova, Dodoria, Zarbon, Zarbon, Dodoria, Decree, Supernova, Decree, Supernova

Cards: Strategic Escape, Solid Barrier, Backstab

Reasoning: Getting all your tools, in order of usefulness is step 1, Dodoria's area and active impact growing on level means he gets level 2 first but Zarbon's upgrade to beam gives him 3 first. The pair get level 3 before anything else and then Decree follows in value because of the growing size making it easier to hit multiple teammates and extend its active time.

Super Start: Dodoria to 3, Zarbon, Decree, Zarbon, Supernova, Decree, Zarbon and so on

Dodoria's massive area and shorter general cooldown (and getting double damage on wall hits) gives him more value, to me, for raw Super Start. Might change my mind down the road. Zarbon is just too easy to kill in Super Start, in my opinion.

BUT
Super Start AND Super DMG Boost Skill 1? Zarbon, of course.

Frankly, this is what I think would be best but I do, at times, try: Zarbon, Dodoria, Dodoria, Zarbon, Decree, Skip, Zarbon/Dodo 3 at 8

Not getting all your tools is bad and you're hurting your team but the power spike of Dodoria and Zarbon at 3 at 8 can be strong. Probably only works in baby games.
Recommendations from others.
Feel free to make comments on the guide on things you think should be added or changed. If I have any information or numbers plainly wrong, do tell me.

Originally posted by Blunette:
...One thing that might need mentioning is the fact that Frieza's passive speed means he can be a bit of a dirty sneak and backdoor exposed GoD's if he's allowed. There's a bit of a tradeoff because Frieza's squishy and his CD's are very long, but you can easily chip away at a GoD and halve it or more if you're given a window. If playing this style, try to keep at least one button as a get-off-me option (Dodoria/Decree) for when the enemy team inevitably starts collapsing on you. In fact, the long CD's of Frieza means you might be better off playing area denial for a push rather than try to Gekishin Burst yourself. It'll be a lot easier for your team squabbling over the GoD if they have Zarbon in the back and a Supernova dropped to cover them...
TL;dr
DON'T ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LET ZARBON AND DODORIA DIE.
DON'T LET THEM SIT AROUND PICKING THEIR ASS.
Backstab (Divine Card) is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cool.
2 Comments
OmegaMilton25 17 Sep @ 12:29pm 
@Blunette Agreed about the subordinate life bars, this is the single most frustrating thing with regards to using Frieza. The most simple solution to this would be to have Zarbon and Dodorias portraits with life bars appear just above your skill/super status indicators. When deployed, their portraits light up; when non-deployed, their portraits are greyed out.
Blunette 15 Sep @ 8:59pm 
Personally I wish Frieza had an easier time seeing the life bars of Zarbon and Dodoria (like how the Gammas can see the health of the one in stock) since they drop quick once Super Skills come online.

One thing that might need mentioning is the fact that Frieza's passive speed means he can be a bit of a dirty sneak and backdoor exposed GoD's if he's allowed. There's a bit of a tradeoff because Frieza's squishy and his CD's are very long, but you can easily chip away at a GoD and halve it or more if you're given a window. If playing this style, try to keep at least one button as a get-off-me option (Dodoria/Decree) for when the enemy team inevitably starts collapsing on you. In fact, the long CD's of Frieza means you might be better off playing area denial for a push rather than try to Gekishin Burst yourself. It'll be a lot easier for your team squabbling over the GoD if they have Zarbon in the back and a Supernova dropped to cover them.

Great guide though~. :SMT5V_JackFrost: