Variant 4 – Chapter 1.2 Guide

Summoners!

Here’s my guide for Back Issues (Variant) 4 – Waning Moon – Chapter 1.2.

General Thoughts: The paths themselves are pretty straightforward, there is nothing really tricky to deal with. Paths 1 or 3 could be considered easy options for an initial clear. The X-Force Deadpool boss, on the other hand, is one of the most talked about fights in Variant 4. I’m not a huge fan of this fight design (it’s just one too many nodes), but there are solutions to keep you from wrecking your item stash, which I cover below. Outside of the boss fight, this is a pretty quick and fun chapter.

Restrictions: 5* Champions Only

MVP Champs: Hyperion, Blade, Corvus Glaive

Global Node: +400% Attack and Health Boost

Boss: X-Force Deadpool with +100% Health, Fundamentals (-100% chance to use specials, with less than a bar of power reduces all damage by 95%, with 1 bar gains +2100 block penetration, with 2 bars all attacks are unblockable, with 3 bars all attacks are unblockable and charging a heavy attack deals 50% of the defenders attack as direct damage), Aggression, Mighty Charge 2, Limber, Duodeum Prod, Rainbow of Power (Double Power Gain), Enhanced Bleed, Counterstrike, Force of Will.

So this X-Force Deadpool has a lot of nodes on him, and it’s a really, really annoying fight. Yes, there is a “cheese” method where you can get him into the corner at the start of the fight and spam heavy attacks, but he’s got to play the right way at the beginning of the fight (not dash back) or you won’t be able to set this up. Personally I find it difficult to string together multiple heavies in a row.

Now there are other options. If you can play touch-less Quake, that works. Stark Spider-Man can draw out some specials with taunts, so you can do some damage that way, but getting a solo will take a lot of skill.

But the option that worked the best for me was Hyperion. You can start the fight normally with him. By the end of your third parry and 5 combo you should be able get off a SP2. Hopefully you get the stun and can go back in. Afterwards, back up to the far left corner against the wall. When Deadpool dashes in, counter with a light combo, and because it’s Hyperion, you can usually end with a special (hopefully a SP2 that gets the stun) and repeat this. This counter-against-the-wall trick should work with anyone, but Hyperion’s increased power gain and stun means you can get a lot more damage out of each counter attack.

Lane 1 – Far Left

Defenders: Domino, Red Skull, Hela, Thor Ragnarok, King Groot

Nodes: Feats of Power, Enhanced Fury, Enhanced Critical Buffs

Team: Blade, Ghost-Rider, Stark Spider-Man, Sentinel, Hyperion

Tips: Easy path, basically just run-of-the-mill fights with big health pools. Make sure you have a Domino counter.

Lane 2 – Middle Left

Defenders: Doctor Strange, Havok, Symbiote Supreme, Mephisto, Aarkus

Nodes: Aspect of Evolution, Improved Power Gain

Team: Blade, Mephisto, Stark Spider-Man, Venom, Hyperion

Tips: While the nodes aren’t too bad here, you’ve got increased power gain to deal with, combined with a few champs you don’t generally want to get to two bars of power. You’ve also got three champions in Havok (Armor Up), Mephisto (Incinerate Immune/Blade), and Aarkus (Coldsnap Immune) that you’re going to need to bring counters for, so make sure you’re covering your bases when you select your team.

Lane 3 – Middle Right

Defenders: Ronin, Cull Obsidian, Sentinel, Taskmaster, The Hood

Nodes: Mighty Charge, Aggressive

Team: Sentinel, Stark Spider-Man, Hyperion, Ghost-Rider, Blade

Tips: Great path for a duped Blade, as you can heal the chip damage. Since all of the defenders except for Taskmaster have an easy SP1 to bait and punish, as long as you can get into the start of the fight you’re set.

Lane 4 – Far Right

Defenders: Wasp, Goldpool, Killmonger, Yondu, Blade, Annihilus

Nodes: Stun Immunity, Destructive Feedback

Team: Hyperion, Ghost-Rider, Blade, Mephisto, Corvus Glaive

Tips: This is an awesome path to run a duped Corvus Glaive at 1% health. Just don’t parry/block at all, and keep hitting into the opponent’s block. Punish a few specials and you’re set. Even if you mess up and have to block, the reflection damage can’t kill you if your Glaive Charges are active. Killmonger is the one to be careful with. If he throws a SP1 he will be able to counter-punch when you hit into his block, so watch out there (he got me with that).

If you don’t have a Corvus, I recommend using another heavy hitter that can crit through blocks, someone that reduces block proficiency (like Sunspot), or a champion like Void, who does not need to hit the opponent to do damage.

Annihilus obviously needs a direct counter, so make sure you have a strong option there. If you get the early intercept of Annihilus (when the destructive feedback is up), make sure you wait until after it expires to push him above a bar of power. You don’t want to lose that stored up damage if this is a tricky fight for you.

Recommended Videos:
KT1 – Deadpool Mega Cheese

AmaznSpiderPaul – Stark Spider-Man Solo of Deadpool

Seatin – Ghost vs Deadpool

Gabreal – Aegon vs Deadpool

S3D – Hyperion vs Deadpool (Back Wall Trick)

Jump to Chapter Guides:
Chapter 1.1
Chapter 1.2
Chapter 2.1
Chapter 2.2
Chapter 3.1
Chapter 3.2

-Dano357