Batman is a Bruiser character that focuses on Vertical kills. Batman has good air mobility, and can connect ground and air attacks together fairly easily with good damage. His main combo tool, Batarang, is a fast and powerful projectile that is his main approach tool when starting combos. However, without Batarang, he can have a hard time getting into the enemy without playing risky, or characters using armor to nullify the Batarang hit.
Batman Match-Up Chart
Without Batarang, Batman’s approach options are limited or risky. Some characters can block or deny the Batarang hit fairly easily, with moves such as..
These types of moves can stop Batarang from hitting, which makes it harder for Batman to start combos. Things like Grapple Hook (Side Special) also get stopped by either armor or projectiles. Batman has several tools to not get hit by projectiles, such as his speed and his Smoke Bomb (Grounded Down Special), so the main counter to him lies in how effective his Batarang is against his opponent. Against these types of characters, it’s important to use Batarang and angle it upwards to hit them while they approach, or in the middle of combos to extend them. You can use it to initiate combos but just beware it is riskier.
Batman wins against characters with slow attacks, or attacks with smaller hitboxes. Batman is fast, and can string together combos easily, so against Iron Giant, he has an easy time to combo him. One of Iron Giant’s strengths is his survivability due to his weight, but with Batman’s built-in weaken stacks, killing Iron Giant is easier. Weaken makes the target take more damage and knockback, so it lets you kill Iron Giant easier. The only thing he has to counter your combos and pressure is his Armor Bolts. For Reindog, a lot of his moves are slow so usually if you play right, you can hit him before they come out. Morty has pretty short ranged hitboxes, and as long as you play around his grenades, you can pretty effectively get in on him. Just watch out to make sure your Batarang doesn't get destroyed by his projectiles, try to throw it at an angle rather then straight at him.
Best Perks for Batman
For Attack Perks, I’ll Take That seems perfect for Batman. Giving Cooldown reduction when hitting debuffed enemies is great for Batman, as your cool down for Batarang will be reduced if you catch it during the follow up of throwing it. Multiple moves deal weaken, so you should be able to get value out of this perk throughout the whole match. I would use this in Teams, not 1v1's though, as pairing it to get 0.50% cooldown is worth it, but .25% for 1v1's isn't that good. I would use Make it Rein, Dog! for that. That’s Flammable, Doc! and Ice to Beat You! help Batarang become stronger. That’s Flammable, Doc! will make them take increased damage when you follow up with your Batarang. Ice to Beat You! slows the enemy by 15% when they are hit by Batarang, allowed easier follow-ups or kills.
For Defense Perks, School Me Once… can help against unfavorable match-ups. Slippery Customer can help dodge certain attacks that either have disjoint or by several projectiles. Toon Elasticity increases survivability against ground spikes. This is especially helpful when fighting Tom and Jerry, where their Frying Pan (Down Aerial Attack) is strong and will be used a lot by them. This perk allows you to reduce the knockback of that move, making it kill at a higher percent then it usually does.
For Utility Perks, perks that help him in the air can enhance his combo potential and increases the lethality of his vertical kill power. Aerial Acrobat lets you move faster, or achieve max air speed faster, which helps when you combo from Batarang. Triple Jump will trigger after you use an aerial normal attack. So something like Up Aerial Attack, you can use it, which applies weaken on second hit, then follow up with Up Special, and then get another jump to react to their next move with. Leg Day Champ increases jump height, allowing for easier Up Special hits if the enemy is higher then what would normally reach. Coffeezilla can also be helpful on Batman, or if you are more confident is dodging successfully, I Dodge You Dodge We Dodge would be great as an alternate, and in some cases, even better than Coffeezilla.
Bouncerang is, in my opinion, Batman’s best signature perk. It applies full stacks of weaken (which is 5) when it hits an enemy while it is returning you. This sounds hard to hit, but it can hit people pretty consistently. Some opponents try to combo you after dodging it the first time, but will get heavily punished if they don’t dodge on the way back. This becomes even better if you are already hitting them with something like Ground Forward Attack or Forward Aerial Attack. Then, if they get hit by it, you can easily combo into it with Forward Aerial Attack or Down Aerial Attack. Overall, it is fairly easy to hit, can be used as a combo extender or get you out of a bad situation, and make the enemy take more damage and knockback for a bit.
Placement in the Tierlist
Batman is a fast, agile fighter with good projectile combo potential, and can be a threat from afar and can combo and confirm into that projectile really fast. His grapple hook is a good recovering tool and combo extender, as if used effectively, can help him close gaps fairly fast. His smoke lets him set-up and bait people into taking more damage then they should, or can give him a short recovery period against projectile heavy characters. He has good aerials, and can apply weaken fairly easily throughout the match, putting him in A tier. He can struggle against certain match-ups or playstyles, but using his movement effectively and hitting opponents in unexpected angles is key to playing around your losing match-ups.
