In this beginner’s guide to Rumbleverse I’ll teach you some of the most important tips you need to bear in mind if you want to consistently win fights and matches. We’ll cover everything from looting to stamina management, from attack priorities to particular combos, and other useful little tidbits that may save your life on the punishing streets and rooftops of Grapital City.
Use Playground Mode to learn the basics
There’s a lot to learn about Rumbleverse’s combat system, and the best way to get to grips with it is to spend some time in Playground Mode when you first load up the game. Playground Mode gives you free rein of the map of Grapital City, and highlights various tutorial areas across the map which you can use to learn about individual aspects of the game. You can also turn on combat mode to spar with other players that have entered into Playground Mode. If you’re struggling to understand what’s going on on-screen during a fight, hop into Playground Mode and spend some time learning the different moves.
Land next to multiple crates if possible
Grapital City is filled with crates containing useful loot such as weapons, skills, and power-ups. To get your looting off to a roaring start, aim for an area with multiple crates nearby so you can quickly hop from one to the next without spending time moving between them. Plenty of rooftops across the map have more than one crate, so aim for one of those and then use the high ground to scout for more crates.
Powders are your top priority early on
The thing you’re really looking for in the crates dotted about the map are Powders. There are three types of Powders in Rumbleverse:
Arms Powder (Red): +10% Attack Damage Legs Powder (Yellow): +10 Max Stamina Core Powder (Green): +100 Max Health
You can drink a maximum of 10 powders in a match, and it’s well worth spending the early game hunting for as many powders as you can - particularly the red ones. Extra damage is extremely powerful in Rumbleverse. I’d aim for at lesat 5 Arms Powders before you get into the final fights of a match.
Stock up on chicken
Chicken is your primary source of healing up in Rumbleverse, and there isn’t too much of it around usually, so it’s a very valuable resource. You can hold items in reserve in one of your four pockets so that you can use them later on, and I’d strongly recommend you fill at least 3 of these slots with chicken, or else you’ll find each fight bleeds your health away until you’re unable to fight anymore.
Skills are stronger than regular attacks
Don’t neglect skills. You can get by decently well with nothing but your own two fists, but to really best your opponents you’ll need to carefully pick your skills. You have two skill slots, and you can learn a new skill by reading a magazine. Skills often deal a lot more damage in a shorter space of time than regular attacks, and they can be much more difficult to counter or predict. The Whirlwind skill, for example, has a large AOE that disrupt an enemy’s attack patterns. You can also get skills that work like Vicious attacks which cannot be blocked - but some of these skills activate much more quickly and have higher priority than regular vicious attacks.
Learn the attack priorities system
If two players hit each other at the same time with the same type of attack, then they’ll clash and knock each other backwards. But if they aren’t the same kind of attack, then the priorities system determines whose attack lands first. From highest to lowest priority, the attacks are: This means you can interrupt an enemy’s Vicious attack with a basic Strike, or you can counter the enemy’s Strike with a Special Strike using a non-Vicious skill. Learn these priorities - they are essential if you want to consistently win fights.
Deal damage to unlock perks
Rumbleverse encourages players to get into the action and stay there throughout the course of the game. As you deal damage during a match, you’ll unlock random perks at certain thresholds. While you can’t bank on getting any particular perk as they are all given completely randomly, there are some perks that make a huge difference, such as the Meditative perk which allows you to heal slowly while standing still. So don’t be tempted to hide and avoid fights throughout a match, because all it means is you’ll reach the final circle against enemies that are much better equipped than you.
More fall time means more damage
With most moves in Rumbleverse, the longer you or your opponent spend in the air, the more damage they will be dealt. If you were to jump off a skyscraper and slam into an opponent on street level, the damage will be much higher than if you had jumped off a one-storey building. It also means that if you can hit your opponent off a rooftop, they’ll likely be dealt a lot of damage as they hit the ground.
Throw weapons to disrupt enemies
Weapons are powerful items that are quickly destroyed after a few hits. Many players like to rip up signs and garbage cans from the ground to use as melee weapons, but it’s often better to throw those weapons at enemies instead. Thrown weapons are partially guided, so you’ll often hit your target if you aim relatively near them. It deals a nice chunk of damage, and more importantly it knocks them off their feet, allowing you time to run or close the distance and capitalise on your attack.
Hold block to regain stamina quickly
A quick but useful tip: if you hold block, you’ll regain your stamina much more quickly than the default rate. This is particularly useful when scaling tall buildings or if you have a moment to yourself during a fight. Running out of stamina is never a good thing in Rumbleverse.
Don’t always get up immediately
Often during a fight, you’ll be knocked off your feet. The natural impulse is to get back up immediately, but actually while you’re on the ground you’re immune to most attacks (though not leaping slam attacks, so be wary of those), and so it’s a great way to break up the rhythm of a losing fight and regain some much-needed stamina while you’re at it.
Jump-climb to scale walls quickly
If you want to scale a wall as quickly as possible, jump repeatedly while climbing. It eats through your stamina, so be very careful if there’s a fight waiting for you at the top of the building, but for speedily gaining the high ground, there’s not much better.
Superstar Mode is your strongest weapon
As you fight and collect stars across the map, you’ll fill up your Superstar Meter. When it’s full, press “R” to initiate Superstar Mode with an unblockable explosion around you. While in Superstar Mode, you gain health regeneration and faster stamina regeneration, as well as increased attack damage, movement speed, and jump height. While the mode is active, your Superstar Meter will deplete, and the mode will end if the meter empties. However, you can also end Superstar Mode with a Super Attack - the strongest attack in the entire game. While in Superstar Mode, land a Vicious attack to start a Super Attack, where you’ll send your opponent flying into the air before leaping up and slamming them back into the ground, often dealing upwards of 1000 damage. Also, if you have a full Superstar Meter when you get downed, you come back to life with a small chunk of health and automatically activate your Superstar Mode, giving you an extra life of sorts. So Superstar Mode is a very versatile and powerful tool in Rumbleverse that you shouldn’t neglect.
Use the Strike-Strike-Vicious combo
Most new players know the basic 3-hit strike combo, but not many realise you can end a combo with a Vicious attack to create different effects. One of the most useful attacks in the game is the Strike-Strike-Vicious combo. This combo knocks the enemy up into the air behind you, and the amount of time the enemy spends in the air coupled with their recovery time on the floor gives you a lot of time to run away, heal, or pick up a new item before they get back to their feet.
Watch out for rustling bushes
You can hide in bushes to avoid detection from enemies, but there is actually a subtle giveaway. If you see floating leaves emanating from a bush or the leaves of a tree, that means there’s a player hiding inside it. I’ve killed multiple players before by hurling a weapon at them while they thought they were hidden.
Bait enemy attacks so you can counter them
Fights with more than 2 players can quickly become chaotic, but 1v1 fights are actually very nuanced. Two skilled players fighting feels like a dance in many ways, and there’s a rhythm that players fall into which can be exploited by baiting them into doing the obvious attack. The most obvious example is if you’ve just knocked an opponent to the ground. If you stay close to them, you can bait them into getting up with an AOE spin - but if you’re expecting it and dodge through their spin, then they’re already caught off-guard for your next attack. This is just one example. As you learn the game more and more, you’ll discover new ways to bait enemies into putting themselves at a disadvantage.
Pick your fights and know when to run
As I mentioned, fights with multiple combatants can quickly become chaotic. If you’re having a close fight with an enemy and a third player enters the fray, it’s often best to back off, let the other two fight each other, heal up, and either run or find the right moment to re-enter the fight. The same goes for 1v1 fights. If your opponent has the upper hand, it’s often best to wait for that one good moment to run than to try and stick it out and turn the fight around. Make use of that attack combo I mentioned a few points ago to give yourself enough time to run away, so you can come back stronger later on. That wraps up this compendium of handy Rumbleverse tips and tricks! Hopefully you’ve learned a thing or two that will help you in the bright and dangerous world of Grapital City. If you’re looking for more games of this ilk, check out our list of the best Battle Royale games on PC.
