9 Bleeding Edge Tips To Help You Land A Win

Ninja Theory's Bleeding Edge is now out on Xbox One and PC. If you're an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, the game comes included in the service on both platforms. At first glance, Bleeding Edge looks like it may resemble plenty of the character-based multiplayer games that have released in recent years (like Rainbow Six Siege and Apex Legends). However, the game has a lot of similarities to multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games too, so there is a bit of a steep learning curve at the start.

Once you overcome that hump, though, Bleeding Edge can be a great game to play with your friends if y'all have nothing to do and are stuck inside all day. In the following article, we go over some tips to help improve your chances at succeeding in Bleeding Edge.

Use The Environment

There are quite a few environmental hazards that can damage or outright kill you. If you know what to be careful of, though, you can use the environment as a weapon to finish off your enemies.

What you want to look out for are pits (as well as the edges of the map), missile barrages, and trains. The missiles will only damage you, but falling off the map or getting hit by a train is a great way to die instantly. Every tank and most of the damage fighters can push enemies with one of their attacks, so feel free to shove someone to their doom if it feels like the actual brawl isn't working in your favor.

If you want to be an absolute prick genius of a trapper, some fighters possess abilities that almost seem made for killing enemies through the environment. Kulev can use Bamboozle to take control of an enemy and walk them straight off a cliff, for example, while a combination of Buttercup's Yank and Miko's Stasis is a sadistic method of pulling someone into the path of an oncoming train and making sure they'll be stuck there long enough to get run over.

Don't Focus On One Class

Bleeding Edge currently has 11 characters, all of which are divided into one of three different classes: damage, support, and tank. Damage fighters have quick abilities that typically focus on one target, support fighters buff and heal allies, and tank fighters can take a beating and have more area-of-effect attacks. You aren't expected to know how to play all 11, but you should know how to play at least one character from each class.

A standard team size is four players, and you ideally want at least one of each class to achieve a good balance. It seems like one damage, two support, and one tank is ideal, though I've seen teams succeed with two damage, one support, and one tank as well. Because a well-balanced team is key to success, you need to be prepared to play as any class. For example, if you see two of your teammates have picked support and one has picked a tank, then you should really go with a damage fighter--otherwise, your squad isn't likely to be able to pull off strong enough combos to fight the other team.

So if your primary pick is a tank, make sure your secondary and tertiary options are a support and damage character. You never know when you'll have to step up and be the one to balance your team.

Take The Time To Learn Abilities

Similar to games like Siege and Apex Legends, identifying your opponent is key to success. If you know who your enemy is, you know what they can do and thus how to counter them. This, of course, only works if you know what every character can do.

Before jumping into a match, complete Bleeding Edge's three basic tutorials and one advanced tutorial. The tutorials actually put you in control of several different characters during combat scenarios, offering an excellent opportunity to see how a few of the fighters operate without the threat of other players. Unfortunately, the tutorials focus on damage and support fighters--so swing on by the Dojo to see how the tank characters work.

Be sure to check how far a ranged character can hit a target, the area-of-effect radius of certain abilities, and the strength of certain character's passive skills. These will all help you better understand a fighter's strengths and weaknesses.

For example, though Daemon's Stealth/Sleep ability allows him to get the drop on opponents, it ends the moment he attacks or gets attacked and has a nearly 20 second cooldown. If you're a character with an ability that has a good range or shotgun-like spread and you see a low-health Daemon in front of you try to Stealth/Sleep escape, just fire off an attack. Chances are you'll hit him and break his invisibility, giving you the chance to finish him off. Every character has a weakness to exploit--and playing around with them in the Dojo is an easy way to figure out what they are.

Stay Away From The Advanced Fighters (At First)

Not every character in Bleeding Edge is created equal. Some offer much more powerful strategies at the cost of possessing more intricate abilities that are more difficult to understand. You may want to avoid picking the advanced fighters at first if you're just starting out. It will possibly be a detriment to learning the rest of Bleeding Edge's mechanics if you're also struggling to remember how your character is supposed to work.

Of the starting 11 characters, three are more difficult to learn than the others: Maeve (damage), Cass (damage), and Kulev (support). Maeve is tricky because you need to rely on her passive--all ability cooldowns reset when you kill an enemy--to take advantage of her skills that allow her to control the flow of a fight but have some pretty long cooldowns. Cass has powerful close-range attacks but the lowest health of any fighter, making her a risky hit-and-run tactician. Kulev has perhaps the most fun Super ability of any support character, Bamboozle, but unlike the other two, he does not possess many ways to defend himself if he ever gets into trouble and has to hold off enemies until help arrives.

Coming to the game at a later date, Mekko is Bleeding Edge's twelfth character and the first advanced tank. Their abilities rely on a complex pattern of systems that are difficult to pick up--though their mech is cool, the Japanese-speaking dolphin is definitely not a great option for those just starting out.

Wear Headphones (Yes, Really)

This may seem like a weird tip, but there is a benefit to wearing headphones while playing Bleeding Edge. The game uses sound to help you determine the importance of certain actions and identify threats within the chaos of a hectic brawl. An enemy that's no longer attacking you will be more quiet than an enemy that is, for instance, and you'll be able to rely on the volume of a healing ability to determine whether it's affecting you or a teammate. It's all much easier to discern with headphones.

Additionally, two fighters--Daemon and Miko--can stealth. Miko can actually make her entire team go invisible. You can still hear the footsteps of a stealthed target though. Throw on a pair of headphones to hear the little pitter-patter of enemy footsteps. Every fighter has a unique footstep sound as well, so you can identify who's near you just by listening to the noise of your allies and enemies' footsteps.

If your headphones happen to have a mic too--even better. Communication is pretty crucial in Bleeding Edge and the in-game ping system isn't nuanced enough to convey the level of strategy you probably want in a fight. That said…

Ping When The Odds Aren't In Your Favor

The ping system in Bleeding Edge isn't all that good prior to or in the midst of a fight--it's missing messages you'd probably want, like "defending this spot" or "enemy here, but wait to attack." It does, however, have some excellent messages that will help when a fight isn't going your way.

If you must, you can ping "help" at your team when you're about to die. However, the far more helpful ping is "retreat." If you realize your team's resident healer or tank is about to die, you have to know it's time to sound the alarm and pull back. Committing to and winning a fight is always the best option, but regrouping and then beating an enemy team is far better than getting annihilated.

Remember, though both of Bleeding Edge's game modes are objective-based, teams can score points through kills too. If the match is almost over and your team needs five points to win, while the other team needs three and you see your healer go down, you should sound the retreat and regroup with your support fighter at your spawn. Teams are at an immense disadvantage once their healer falls (which is why having two is ideal), so keep track of them and let your squad know if it's time to disengage.

Take The High Ground

Channel your inner Obi-Wan and seek the high ground whenever possible. This gives you more options for both attack and escape than being on the ground floor. In terms of fighting, you can shoot down with ranged attacks, leap off a ledge and ground slam, and fight any other enemies on the platform with you. When you need to get away, you can fall off platforms from pretty much anywhere and start running, but there are only certain points where jump pads give you the option of ascending. In a game where you can possibly lose yourself to the flurry of a brawl, taking the high ground can help you enter (or exit) the fray on your own terms.

Rely On Movement-Based Skills

Of course, certain characters can more easily take the high ground or escape fights than others thanks to their passive abilities. Take advantage of how your character can move to give you an edge in a fight, especially if it allows you to attack a foe from an angle where they can't retaliate.

Daemon can use his stamina to wall jump, for example, allowing him to easily escape spots where an enemy has him cornered and then attack from above. Cass will naturally start running faster while moving, so you don't have to pause and summon a hoverboard to more quickly get around the map like the other fighters have to do. She can also charge her jump, allowing her to reach platforms without the use of a jump pad.

Certain characters can utilize their active abilities to move around too. El Bastardo can use Leap of Faith, for instance, to both leap forwards or upwards. He'll naturally leap forwards, but if you jump before activating the ability, he'll go up instead of out.

Pay Attention To Where Objectives Will Open

While playing Objective Control, pay attention to your minimap. In the seconds leading up to the objective points opening up again, the ones scheduled to open will start flashing. Remember, just because there are three possible objective points doesn't mean all three will open up. Use the knowledge of where the next objective points will appear to plan out which to go to first and how you can set up ambushes for the other team. If you understand the lanes of the map, you'll likely predict how another team will move on a certain point.

Of course, be wary as you move to the next objective point. The other team has this info, too, and will likely use it to figure out their own strategies. Be prepared for a fight if you see that only one of the three points is opening at the start of a round because that likely means everyone is converging on that one spot at the same time.