As of writing, I am the #1 Pinja player in the US, and #10 overall. The following will be a brief guide on what you need to know about Pengu and how to use them.
Intro / Strengths & Weaknesses
All credit goes to Dusk !
Pinja is an opportunistic area-denial specialist that capitalizes on the chaos of battle and the mistakes of your enemies. While you play Pengu you will need to play with a mindset that differs from most other characters. It’s not as simple as place down your ability and get easy freezes…
First off, you’ll want to know if you’re even compatible.
Pinja:
- Requires strategy
- Has a high skill-ceiling
- Takes advantage of enemies’ mistakes
- Locks down groups and small areas of the map
- Thrives in risky situations you setup
- Is a melee expert
Pinja is not:
- Easy
- Able to quickly escape
- A quick damage dealer
- Able to use their ability whenever it comes off cd
- Exclusively bomb reliant
General Strategy
So what is the mentality you need when playing Pinja?
First off, you’ll want to be an expert at melee. Know when to charge attack and when to tap. A general combo is to tap attack and then follow it up with a single bar of charge attack before moving away. Pinja brings a lot of opportunities to use melee, from the 10% speed boost when inside your own AoE, to the slow enemies receive, and their desire to leave. Often times enemies will be passive as they try to escape, as returning the attacks will put them at risk of freezing. You can often use this to your advantage as you charge up a bar or two of your attack, especially if the enemy is fleeing towards you. Pinja has roughly 50% more melee damage than the average character! Use that to your advantage to win fights, especially in your AoE. Pinja can win long fights, so be persistent and chase the enemy down with melee after you’re done!
The main goal when using Pinja’s ability is to keep the enemy in your AoE as long as possible. You do not necessarily need the Freeze to get great value out of it. Think of yourself like a sheep herder. On one edge of your ability, you have your melee ready to lock them inside the AoE. On the other side, you have bombs waiting that they’ll run away from. This can be your own bombs, or an enemy’s. Any obstacles that keep them from going elsewhere is all the better. Look to interrupt fights already in progress. An enemy (or several) will be caught in your AoE without realizing the gravity of the situation.
You have to play as an opportunist. Do not waste your ability by using it whenever it comes off cooldown. Save it for when an enemy is in a tight area, is fighting someone else, used their ability, is low health, and/or is about to run away from bombs and straight towards you. Place down your AoE and guard your exit with a charging bat, or place a bomb(s) and launch them to the other side first. Ideally the enemy will be at the far side, coming towards you, and blocked off from where they’re coming from.
Once you have an enemy successively captured into your AoE with no time to escape, you’ll need to quickly evaluate the situation. If there aren’t already bombs about to go off, you’ll probably not have enough time to set them up, unless you feel confident you can knock those bombs directly into the area that the enemy will go to when free, or completely cover the area in bombs with no room of escape. Otherwise, you’ll want to resort to melee. Start charging your melee as soon as you feel confident the enemy will be frozen. You’ll only get 1 charged attack in before they break out. Between the AoE dmg, any melee attacks done to trap them, and this big hit, you’ll be in a good position to chase them down and finish them off. On the flip-side, if there are bombs about to go off, be sure to add some bombs of your own to the mix and cover any area you can. Pinja can thrive in chaos, and setting up a field of bomb explosions within your AoE is a best case scenario. It’s risky, but learn to position yourself safely. Your enemies are panicking, slowed, and already running in a specific direction. YOU have control here. Just make sure to save your bombs for when this situation pops up.
Closing Thoughts
A final warning: be aware that many abilities can be used to escape your trap. Catty, Bjorn, & Fangs won’t be hindered by your AoE, and any movement ability can be used to escape it. If your enemy has any of these off cooldown, your best bet would be to block the exit they’re traveling to with bombs, and hope that explosion would be threatening to them.
Wait ready to melee them as they try to avoid it, or ready to knock a bomb in the direction they turn to. If you both “waste” your abilities, then you’re at an advantage thanks to your extra melee damage, and them moving in a hopefully predictable manner away from your chaos. Remember, you’re opportunistic!
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