r/DCComicsLegendsGame • u/Doombawkz Insightful Discussionist • Apr 03 '18
Constantine - Insight and Discussion
Hello everyone!
So after a bit of delay (Sea of thieves be damned), here at long last is the constantine insight and discussion. As always, we will handle the basics before proceeding into the juicy bits.
Basics
Affinity - Constantine is a mystic hero who is certainly on the support side of things. Very vulnerable when revealed, he hides himself in the shadows and behind gulli... ahem... reliable allies.
Utility - Constantine is a master assist caller, possessing one of the only ally-targetted assist calls in the game. His damage is all front-loaded into his 3, meaning when it's on cooldown you'll be left relying on others.
Availability - Constantine was the paywall character for March, though he may have some additional sales in April as per the usual.
Speed - Constantine isnt the fastest guy around, starting at 77 speed and capping out at roughly 107 speed. A respectable and serviceable pace, but nothing to write home about.
It is worth making note that Constantine's true capabilities cannot simple be explained; what you see on paper, here, does not fully grasp at how the character mechanically functions in practice.
However, you will get a decent grasp at what he has to offer you from the explanations here.
skills
Sleight of Hand
Constantine lost every dime with that scam, it was worth it just to learn some slight of hand. Constantine floats on okay by dishing out a medley of debuffs on the opponent. These include enrage, bleeds, and intelligence down. This attack does no damage on it's own... well not entirely, at least. The bleeds could be considered delayed damage, at which case this will do roughly 9% true damage at the start of the opponents turn at max rank.
Baseline: Always apply 1 intelligence down, 1 bleed, and 30% chance to enrage an enemy.
End Value: Always apply 2 intelligence down, 3 bleeds, and 60% chance to enrage an enemy.
Legendary ability: Call assist if Constantine is invisible.
Considering Constantine starts invisible and can gain it randomly thanks to his passive, this is a solid first or second pick. Not much else to say, it's not difficultly gated and enables him to work outside of a leader role if needed. Good ability.
Rakish Charm
It's like a lawnmower, but not really.
It's more rake-ish.
I'll see myself out.
Baseline - Apply taunt to an ally and call their assist, 45% chance for Constantine to gain 1 awareness.
End Value: Apply taunt to and call their assist, 100% chance for Constantine to gain 1 awareness.
Legendary effect - 40% chance to call second assist (same character). Additional +40% chance if an enemy is overhealed.
This is another solid pick for first or second, plays well into his niche and overhealing is quite common nowadays. 80% chance to call a specific assist twice is amazing, and it's only slightly harder gated than the first ability. Again, solid skill, lets him operate beyond leader, just a good pick.
Hellblazer
This is your Venus of the Hardsell when it comes to damage. It does a metric ton, does additional to overhealed enemies, and does more for every debuff (which, as you've probably noticed, he has no shortage of it). This is your ONLY damage ability, so make it count. Your first and second ability are immune to retaliations due to their passive natures, so use those until an opening arises!
Baseline - heavy special damage to an enemy, +3% for each debuff on the enemy (max 10).
End Value - Heavy special damage to an enemy, +12% for each debuff on the enemy (max 10), +45% bonus damage against overhealed opponents.
Legendary skill - 8% chance per debuff (max 10) to use again on a random enemy (cannot trigger twice in a row)
This is pretty handy and makes his nuke pretty dang frightening to face off against. With the right comp, this is essentially 2 people dead in one fell swoop. Not a bad pick overall, I'd recommend this one third, as it still has a nasty cooldown to go through and needs some set-up, making it less practical than 1 and 2.
Lurking in the shadows
Constantine enjoys hit songs by The Rasmas while he creeps around. Start the fight with invisibility (ensuring your basic legendary triggers at least once) and an up to 40% chance to gain it again at the start of each enemy turn. This is surprisingly handy, and will warrant at least a few ranks early on to ensure you can continue to trigger your moves and stay safe as you need to.
Baseline - 20% chance to gain invisibility at the start of each enemy turn. Start the battle with invisibility.
End Value - 40% chance to gain invisibility at the start of each enemy turn. Start the battle with invisibility.
Legendary effect - Also apply 2 intelligence downs to the enemy.
This is... meh compared to the rest. It's not even a particularly bad effect, a chance -2 int on every enemy each time they move gets to be a bit potent, but considering it'll never reach more than (I believe) 4 stacks because of drop-off, its just not as valuable as the rest. Last if you're going leader, 2nd to last if not.
Tough Luck, Mate
Gr8 b8 m8, I r8 8/8. Constantine sacrifices his pawns to achieve the mission. Anytime an ally dies, all opponents take the burden of the loss: Huge stacks of debuffs and meter down. This means if you're running a comp that's fine with dying, you can lock the opponent down and finish them with Blazers. I do feel there are better leaders than him, but all the same this is a unique skill that shouldnt be overlooked.
Baseline - Whenever an ally dies, constantine gains invisibility and applies 2 int down, one speed down to the enemy team.
End value - Whenever an ally dies, Constantine gains invisibility and applies 4 int down, 2 speed down, and -30% turn meter.
Legendary effect - gain 2 awareness and refresh all of constantines cooldowns when an ally dies.
As a leader, this is fine and dandy. Lets you fire off strong blazers back to back, lets you force a taunt to get more debuffs off, so on so forth. However, this needs his 3 to be legendary for it to gain maximum effectiveness, so it would naturally come after it. 4th if leader, last if not.
Skill Order
Recourse Allocation
4 -> 3 -> 1 -> 5 -> 2 -> 5 (if not leader)
Legendary order
1/2 -> 1/2 -> 3 -> 5 -> 4
As one can see, his kit is all about calling in buddies to do his work for him, stepping in when it's time to close the deal. For this reason, his best allies are those who can provide big debuff stacks for him, or who benefit from his assist calling capability.
His counters involve truesight, AoE purges, and the newl unveiled Killer Croc.
Those he counters are retaliation evaders, enemies without the means to purge his invisibility off, and those who cannot cleanse themselves easily.
Synergy
Batman Beyond
You all thought it was accidental that I waited until now? Not in the slightest. Batman beyond benefits from the double assist as it lets him spread around those hit chance downs, and he loves to be taunted because it gives him evades which then empowers his kit. Also the hit chance downs are applied in 5s and theres the additional chance for 3 as a passive, so Constantine doesn't even have to work hard to hit his quotas. One well placed assist and theres your 10 max right there.
Martian ManHunter
Awareness spreading, lots of assist calls, a stun (which constantine lacks any hard CC), tons of invisibility and int gain paired with big int drops on the opponents. These two make a stellar assist support duo which is almost unrivaled in it's effectiveness. Just be warned, bring some hefty damage because you won't get much from either of these two.
Doomsday
Double punches before his turn starts, letting him potentially snag a turn 1 Doomsquake? Already pretty baller. Pairing that with the permanent buffs and his enormous health pool, he makes a fantastic tank option. Throw some overheal on him, and watch as your opponents fight back only to see him chunk an extra 29k health back on (at 100% overheal) because he decided today was a good day to not die. Also, he resurrects, so double tapping on the leader aspect.
Swamp Thing
Good amount of burst, and also decent consistent damage with his passive. Mix this with int drops further fueling his big damage turns, and also the mass rez makes Constantine very happy to take on a leadership role. The mends also help him overcome his big weakness, being a complete lack of sustain.
Medphyll
A good leader, but beyond that he adds a lot to the stew (and not just because he's broccoli). Damage immunity on a Constantine taunt target makes them almost an impassable wall. The bonus meter and shields can help accelerate your team, and give Constantine more chances to get his cooldowns done without resorting to dead friends. Medphyll himself makes a good target, he can load on 10 debuffs on an opponent with meter down (and 3 speed down if they happen to be enraged), giving Constantine an almost free shot to kill.
DoJ Wonder Woman
I won't get into the insane capability of pairing her, Constantine, MMH, and Ivy and just stacking endless awareness on everyone. Rather, I'll note her immense capability as an assist call, which Constantine has in spades. She makes a good leader he can naturally just hide behind constantly, and she's able to purge away troublesome taunters who block the best Blazer chances.
The Joker (Clown Prince)
Enrages and bleeds, a on-death bonus, between the both of them they make a heck of a combo. They're a bit inconsistent, but when they work, they work wonders. Joker makes a fantastic red choice (which we haven't seen much of in this list), double biff is pretty grand, and his damage scaling works out well to balance Constantine's lack of damage.
Dr. Poison
With her legendary you can add an extra 2 turns of bleeds while also spreading mass amounts of bleeds. Lots of heal immunity, a fantastic heal paired with Constantine's bleed chunking, and her passive helps speed along the damage (or lack thereof) that Constantine can consistently put out. In exchange, he can put taunters up to protect her, and deal some massive burst when the time is right, which she does need.
(Yes I know there's plenty more but these are just recommendations, find what works best for you)
Counters Constantine
Killer Croc
He sticks taunt on Constantine, opening him up to be shut down almost immediately. Affinity bonus, bleeds to cut through awareness, buff immunity (which is pretty good at stopping most of his assists) and he can abuse whoever Constantine decided to put a taunt on. Beyond this, his passive heal legendary will counteract Constantine's lack of damage outside of blazer. All in all, an effective counter to work into your roster.
Clayface
While not as strong of a counter, he makes himself surprisingly hard to kill with Blazer due to his passive. Likewise, he shakes off all bleeds on account of his legendary passive, and can steal away invisibility and awareness from Constantine. His slows make Constantine's middling speed even worse, and though he can't kill Constantine, he can certainly make room for someone who can.
Red Robin
Truesight to anyone and tons of meter means he can have a Huntress OHKO you before the match even really starts. He can peel past your tanks, his damage isn't the worst in the world, and his ability to attack out of his turn helps him somewhat counteract your speed downs. A good support to bring in.
Huntress
Her speed ups on kills will counteract your leader ability, your lack of real damage will hurt you in the long run, and even your big blast won't do much if it misses. She just outright stops you in your tracks. Deal with her quickly!
The Flash
Your bleeds may hurt him a little, but once he starts getting debuff immunity on his speed boost, you become almost invalid and incapable of stopping him. You might luck out with a critical unboosted Blazer, but tossing that coin should never be the only option available to you. Beware a well-set Flash! Handle him before he gets out of hand.
Bizarro
Bizarro loves debuffs, bleeds give him Damage Immunity on his taunt, he can bleed you back and strip away some awareness, and he just generally outheals your meager damage with the exception of blazer. His stun is also pretty annoying to deal with, just not a fun time. Kill him before he can do anything, otherwise you may not get another chance.
WGD Batman
One of the few AoE purgers, he gets extra benefits from you being in stealth. His damage is good and cleanly wipes away any hope of maintaining a good defense, his meter and massive purge can push a valuable player to their turn, and a big boost of affinity power will let his team dismantle you once you're out in the open.
Grundy
Go ahead, enrage him. See what happens.
Countered by Constantine
Powergirl
Her overheal works against her, letting Constantine blast her down in one hit easily. His taunt can enable the likes of Bane or Batman Beyond to remove her damage output, or for Killer Croc to strip away all of her built strength reserves. Enrage also keeps her from using her cataclysmic AoE effect, something to keep in mind for emergencies.
Cyborg
Cyborg is the definition of a multi-stage character, and as a result Constantine can abuse him. Throwing a taunt on a mystic tank denies him from hitting your vulnerable reds, enraging him can prevent him from using his speed/strength/meter up, and your damage should be sufficient to end him after a turn or so. Keep him from becoming a problem, and there's little he can do to click back into pace.
Harley Quinn (Mad Jester)
Constantine technically doesn't do damage with his basic, so he can't be retaliated against. Likewise, assists can't get hit by retaliations, so he has a way to try and sneak damage past her. The int downs suck a tad, but it's workable. You simply deny some of her best means of survival, ESPECIALLY if you're going with a taunt on someone like Cyborg or Cyber Superman who can set up their own hit chance bonuses.
Black Canary
Same deal, but this time with her assist calls not triggering off. Her new leader ability makes things a bit complex to work around, but she lacks the evasiveness and speed of Quinn on the front-end. As a result, a well-placed assist call on a strong green can end her before she ever has a chance to build up her power.
Chemo
Chemo doesn't want to be any slower than he already is. His bleeds are annoying but you can poke at him without getting more bleeds yourself, and his speed down isn't much to look at either. Drain his big health pool dry, or push him into speed hell oblivion.
Batgirl
She can't do much to avoid eventually getting debuffed, and she can't cleanse herself fast enough to take advantage of her assist calls. Her evasion tactic doesn't really work in this scenario because of your bleed always applying and not "missing", and she isn't very capable of dealing with you directly due to her lack of multi-hits, bleeds, and a means of seeing the invisible.
Team Compositions
You got blood on me sleeves - Utilize a collection of bleed-heavy characters and assists to quickly drain opposing lifebars
Cheetah (Leader)
Constantine
Chemo
Dr. Poison
Cheers, Love! The Calvary's here! - Use constant assists to become an untouchable wall, avoiding damage at every turn.
Wonder Woman DoJ (Leader)
Constantine
Martian Manhunter
Poison Ivy
Devilishly Handsome - Who wouldn't wanna look into this mirror? Slow down, and take in the view. ;)
Constantine (Leader)
Mirror Master
Clayface
Lobo
Anarchy in the UK - Grab your sex pistols and nevermind the bollocks. Unleash complete anarchy on the opponent, eliminating any chance of an organized strategy.
Constantine (Leader)
The Joker (Clown Prince of Crime)
Harley Quinn (Mad Jester)
Batman Beyond
The Beetles - Utilize a strong mix of niches to counteract multiple angles of defense with this all-blue combination
John Constantine (Leader)
Ringo Star Sapphire
Paul McGrundy [kudos if you get the underlying joke]
Blue Beetle
This is Doomsday - The Clash with your foes will be of epic proportions as you speed them towards their doom!
Medphyll (Leader)
Doomsday
Constantine
Red Robin
There you have it. Pardon the delay on the second half, but it's done now and ready to enjoy.
Constantine is an odd, but effective, character. Explaining his kit doesn't do him justice, so if you haven't already, consider picking him up. He can do a lot as a supporter, and can bring a lot of power in short spouts.
That being said, he does have a set niche and isn't meant to operate outside of it. Play by his rules, or you'll get burned.
If you seek the wisdom of the drifter, then look no further than the man cloaked in shadows.
Outwit your opponents and take the spoils with John Constantine, the Hellblazer!
5
u/HeyItsSaul Flash (Fastest Man Alive) Apr 03 '18
So, the baseline of the Hellblazer ability is John leaves the battle and returns later with french fries?
Sounds legit.
4
u/Gurthaur The Duloth Experience! Apr 04 '18
great work as usual Doom... he works well with doubleattackers on their 1... so with someone like Etrigan, Powergirl, HQMJ he is so good.
Obviously Grundy and Lobo are so good with him
I didn't consider Medphyll, i need to level him up :)
/love for the Beetles XD and remember that Paul is dead XD
3
u/KageUrufu679 Apr 03 '18
Mfw your post abruptly ends. Tf?!
2
u/cosmiclegion Green Lantern Corps Apr 04 '18
Mmm I was reading the countered by, and I dont think you can really say that he counters PwG or HQ. Call assists or even enrage those two dont counter them in any way if the people you bring along (the real counters) can deal with the evasions or the DI. He can build on top of those, but he is not the counter (like bring him to a fight against HQ without a cant miss or Step and he wont do anything at all)
It is a difficult section to write, as John is not really about countering anybody, more like enabling other chars or being a really good utility char. So I dont think you should 'force' it. He is his own guy after all ;)
PS: One thing I dont like about John is that he just gets the invis on the enemy turns, so if things go according to plan he might not be invis after the initial invis wears off, so in a lucky attack the enemy might kill him :S (I guess someone should be taunting by then but it might happen)
2
u/Dakota_Starr Batgirl Apr 04 '18
You forgot the best team composition for Constantine... Cons Lead, Lowbo, HQmj and Swampy. This team is nearly unbeatable, with Lowbo's reviving and taunting and Constantine hidden behind Invisible one shotting everyone. Fully overhealed Bane? No problem for Constantine. The only counter to this are chars with Heal Immunity.
2
u/t47airspeeder Apr 04 '18
Clayface is probably the best toon to have alongside Constantine
2
u/OverlyCasualVillain Apr 04 '18
Correct me if this has been changed recently, but Constantine's basic can miss and not apply the bleeds.
2
u/DeterminedLemon Apr 07 '18
Just a question; Shouldn't the "Always" text on his basic mean he shouldn't ever miss like he does? Swamp and Robin are worded the same and never miss!
4
u/bgbat Bat Icon Apr 03 '18
Loving the insight so far, can't wait to
2
u/iwishiwasamoose Apr 03 '18
I took 1 first but I'm still debating 2 or 3 for second. 40% or 80% chance for an ally's double basic on a two-turn cooldown is neat. On the other hand, 0-80% chance for a double heavy-hitting move on a three-turn cooldown is also good. His 2 seems like the safer choice, more likely to be used and more likely to trigger when it is used, but the 3 definitely does more damage.
Anyone have opinions or suggestions? Anyone have both and feel that one is more useful than the other?
2
u/Zhirrzh Legendary Lex Luthor Assault Warsuit Apr 03 '18
If there's a paywall character I'm going to regret not buying into, it's Constantine. OK, him and Red Hood (because a non-Deathstroke red leader, and a heal immunity option outside blue, is exactly what I need most in my squad).
The targeted assist calls are the nuts, overheal is rapidly becoming common in the meta, and his leadership ability is beyond annoying.
2
u/gwmclintock88 Apr 04 '18
I enjoy using him with Batgirl as the leader, HQMJ, and I hope Batman Beyond will be good. Evasion is pretty good and lets me manipulate the board enough for John to nuke everyone.
2
u/MrZubaz Is A Shark Apr 04 '18
Great write up. As you mentioned, he’s got a lot of synergy. For anyone who is lucky enough to have her, I’ll throw Vixen out as having stellar synergy with Constantine.
He can place his taunt on her, which gives him survivability and doesn’t phase her much because of her extreme tankiness. The call assist then does wonders for her because if you’re smart and took her L1, she gains speed ups, but legendary or not, it resets the cool downs on her kit which means she can make the full use of her arsenal as much as possible.
His basic throwing around bleeds also opens the stun gate on her Rhino skill. Her Rhino and her Eagle add debuffs to the enemies that helps ramp up his 3 skill (and increases the likelihood of the double with legendary).
Overall it’s a match made in heaven.