March Madness takes on a whole new meaning for Marvel Heroes with the release of Green Goblin scheduled for (hopefully) later this week. I’ve been keeping up with each iteration of Goblin on Test Center since he initially came online there and I wanted to take some time this week to offer up some of my early impressions on my most anticipated character release for Marvel Heroes this year.
Let’s kick things off with a look at his three skill trees.
MADMAN
Madman is probably the least interesting of Green Goblin’s three trees. This is where you’ll find his basic attack, Razor Bats, which I really wish had a specialization option to make it a spender (maybe with an added bleed?). It’s just too iconic to be retired at max level. Goblin Sparks, one of his ranged spirit spender options, may be comic accurate, but doesn’t do a whole lot for me. Aside from that, Madman is where you’ll find key passives, his flight mode, and his signature, Carpet Bomb. Carpet Bomb is already one of my favorite signatures in the game, as it fully captures the Green Goblin fantasy of flying around chaotically tossing Pumpkin Bombs all over the place.
BAG OF TRICKS
This is where things really get interesting. Green Goblin’s theme of chaos isn’t just for flavor, it’s all throughout his kit, and Bag of Tricks probably emphasizes this more than any of his other trees. Every single power in this tree is an area of effect power. If you just want to blow up the world, this is your tree. He’s got Pumpkin Bombs, Gas Bombs, Hallucinogen Bombs (confuse), Ghost Bombs, and most amusing of all, a swarm of Sonic Toads. Yes, you can unleash something like nine explosive Sonic Toads at your enemies (with the right specialization). I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the mother of all bombs, The Big One, which as you might imagine, is a giant Pumpkin Bomb you can toss at your enemies.
Basically, this build tree screams awesome for Cosmic Danger Room.
GLIDER WEAPONS
Not only does Green Goblin offer players a wholly satisfying ranged area build option, but he also brings a full movement build to bear with his array of glider abilities. You’re always moving in a Glider Weapons spec. In fact, the tree’s main spender, Goblin Gunner, comes with some new tech that allows you to strafe while firing. The execution right now is perhaps a bit clunky, but I have to say I appreciate the novelty.
Aside from that, the Glider Weapons tree brings lasers, rockets, and a couple of AOE glider-based moves, such as Remote Controlled Dive and Wing Clip. One of my favorite skills in the tree is Nitrous Boost. This supercharges the engines of your glider, allowing you to zoom around the map (stack this with his flight power for some hilarious results) and torch your enemies with your exhaust. You can even use this to detonate the DoT applied by Gas Bomb.
Overall, I’m plenty happy with the way Green Goblin is turning out, but the one thing I hope to see improved over the next few builds are the specializations on his anti-requisite abilities, particularly OsCorp Laser.
For example, Serrated Blades for OsCorp Laser adds a bleed to Goblin’s dash power. This is pretty neat and lets you use items like Sabretooth’s Furry Mane. Unfortunately, to pick it, you need to do so over something like Ultra Wing Clip (larger AOE radius and damage, adds a cooldown), a much more practical choice for movement builds, and Nitrous Boost, which is more fun than anything else to me. I don’t feel either the bleed or the boost are compelling enough options to be much of a choice at the moment. These options could stand to be improved upon or replaced entirely and their effects added to default versions of their respective powers. Perhaps I’m missing something, but that’s what jumps out at me for the moment.
Have you tried out Green Goblin on TC yet? Share some of your build theorycrafting with us in the comments below!
