Champion Guide – Killmonger

Inspired by Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal of the character in Black Panther, Killmonger is one of the most versatile characters in Marvel Contest of Champions. Killmonger has an extensive bag of tricks that reward Summoners who pay attention to his kit. Originally hailed as a counter for Medusa’s Auto-Block and a Defensive stud, Killmonger is now respected as a well-rounded champion that can deal with some of the most troublesome challenges in Act 6.

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Key Information:
Killmonger is a high-utility Skill champ that relies on Bleeds and targeted use of special attacks to break down opponent’s defenses. He doesn’t have a complicated ramp-up for damage, but you do need to know which specials and abilities you are looking to maximize during the fight to get the most out of him.

One of the most important parts of Killmonger’s kit is his ability to gain a True Strike Buff, which allows him to ignore the opponent’s Armor, Resistances, Auto-Block, and all Evade effects. Killmonger gains True Strike by punishing the opponent’s special attacks. If the opponent has an easy to punish SP1, you should be able to achieve 100% True Strike uptime via normal gameplay.

Killmonger has Vibranium Armor. This grants him additional Armor Rating, and a passive power gain of 15% of his missing power each time he is inflicted with any Debuff. Vibranium Armor is disabled if Killmonger has an Armor Break Debuff on him.

Killmonger has an 80% chance to inflict a Bleed Debuff of 1.5 seconds on Critical Hits. This Bleed does not stack.

Killmonger also has additional Critical Resistance as part of his base kit.

Signature Ability:
Killmonger’s Signature Ability provides both offensive and defensive benefits. The awakening is not required to play him on offense (it’s nice to have though), but if you’re going to place him on Alliance War Defense, he should be awakened.

When awakened, Killmonger’s Vibranium Armor activates Reverberation for 8 seconds, which deals damage back to the opponent when Killmonger is struck or Blocks an attack. The reflected damage is Physical. The more power Killmonger has at the time Reverberation activates, the more damage done. There is an 8 second cooldown after Reverberation expires.

If Reverberation and True Strike are active, Killmonger gains an increase to attack rating while hitting opponents. This increase in attack scales with Signature Level.

Team Building/Key Synergies:
Killmonger has several unique synergies. The most common partner for Killmonger is Void. Both champions receive excellent benefits from the “Fearless” synergy. Killmonger gains a 35% chance to purify a debuff after a .5 second delay and instantly heal 4% of his health. This is the synergy which allows Killmonger to “cheese” the Icarus Node. Void will regenerate 1% health when placing an Intimidating Debuff, making him very sustainable in longer quests.

Killmonger has the “Enhanced Soldiers” synergy with Winter Soldier, which grants Killmonger 100% chance to acquire True Strike when Intercepting a dash attack. This isn’t a common synergy to use for Killmonger but it can be useful in select circumstances, particularly against a Spider-Man or Nightcrawler. This is also the synergy that turns Winter Soldier into “Star-Lord,” granting him a 5% attack increase per hit of Winter Soldier’s Combo Meter.

With the “Wakanda Leadership” synergy with Black Panther Civil War, Killmonger gains 3 Indestructible Charges and 3 Counterpunch Charges at the top of the fight. Again, not a common one to use, especially since you’re sacrificing a roster spot by bringing BPCW. This synergy will allow you to tank damage or SP3 at the top of the fight without getting to your SP2 first. Killmonger also gains +6% attack from the Nemesis synergy with BPCW.

With Storm Pyramid X, Bleed Debuffs will last +30% longer with the “Kingdom of Wakanda” synergy.

By pairing Sabretooth and Killmonger, the “No Mercy” synergy activates. This grants Killmonger +30% offensive power rate when hitting an opponent suffering from a Debuff. Sabretooth gets the better of this synergy, as Inflicting a Debuff reduces the opponent’s Ability Accuracy by 100% for .7 seconds. This allows Sabretooth to effectively turn-off the Masochism Node.

Mastery Setup:
Killmonger is a somewhat Suicide friendly champion if you have the Void synergy which allows you to shrug off the debuffs. By running Suicides you would be sacrificing the utility of the SP1 and SP2 or taking the recoil damage. Maxing Deep Wounds is very important for Killmonger.

Alliance War Defense:
Killmonger should be awakened before being placed on Alliance War Defense. Placing him on a Debuff Immune node prevents Armor Break champions from shutting him down. Stunning Reflection can be a good node for him as well. Increased Power Gain or Power Reserve can also be useful.

Special Attacks:
Killmonger’s SP1 attack grants him 2 Counterpunch charges. These charges allow you to shrug off enemy attacks when they hit into your block and then immediately counter-attack. This is very useful in scenarios where your opponent is stun-immune and you need a way to set an opening.

The SP2 grants Killmonger 3 Indestructible Charges (max stack of 4) which will ignore all incoming damage from either a hit or a blocked attack. These are incredibly valuable, as they provide a huge safety net while playing Killmonger, allowing you to tank SP3s from your opponent.

The SP3 can inflict up to 50 Bleeds on the opponent lasting 6 seconds, based on the number of Bleeds Killmonger has already inflicted over the course of the fight. You need to have inflicted a minimum of 15 Bleeds for this ability to activate. The SP3 is most useful in long fights as there is a ramp-up required.

Pros:
Very rewarding to play for Summoners who understand his kit and many tricks.

Is not synergy dependent, and his best synergy is with Void. As Void is arguably the best Science champion, you’re not wasting a roster spot to gain the benefits of the synergy.

One of the easiest champions to maintain a constant True Strike buff. 100% percent uptime of True Strike is available in many of the fights where you need it. True Strike is gained by punishing specials. Since you should be doing that anyway, there is no need to adjust your tactics.

Excellent counter for challenging defenders such as Thing, Medusa, Wasp, Mr. Fantastic, and Heimdall.

Passive power gain in matchups where the opponent is placing many debuffs on Killmonger allows for easy cycling of SP2s.

Indestructible Charges provide a big safety against nodes like Destructive Feedback or power gain champions such as Mordo and Hyperion.

Good for the Do You Bleed? node.

No real “damage ramp-up” to worry about maintaining.

Cons:
There are much better pure DPS options available. Bleed-Immune matchups can be rough.

Not a high Prestige champion.

Not a Spider-Gwen counter, as she can Nullify his True Strike Buff.

While he does have Bleed Debuffs, Killmonger is not a good option for the Diss Track node since the Bleeds don’t stack.

If Killmonger is suffering from an Armor Break, he loses his Vibranium armor, and thus much of his utility. This includes his damage reflection, passive power gain, and the benefits of the Void “Fearless” Synergy. He has no way to shrug-off an Armor Break. Avoid taking him against Aarkus or the Crumbing Armor node.

Pro Tips:
If you need to use the Counterpunch charges, try to throw an SP2 first. That way you won’t take damage from the blocked hit that sets up your opening.

You can turn the challenging Icarus node in Act 6.2.3 into your best friend by playing Killmonger with the Void synergy. Killmonger will consistently gain power and heal from the debuffs.

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-Dano357