Omega Strikers guide - Tips for beginners

Since the official release of Omega Strikers last week I've been playing a heck of a lot of it. In that time, I've unlocked all of the strikers, played a good amount of all the game modes, and ascended out of the lowest ranks of the game's competitive mode.

I'm still by no means an expert, but there are a few things I've picked up that have really elevated my game and could possibly raise yours as well.

Play your position

If you glean only one thing from this guide, please, please try to make sure that if you are playing as a forward you generally stay out of the goal area. Protecting your goal in Omega Strikers is a very important thing to do, of course, but it's harder for your team's goalie to do that if everyone (regardless of whether they are friend or foe) crowds around the core (i.e. the puck).

Not only does this make it hard to see what is going on, but if you strike the core ahead of your goalie expecting to they can find themselves on cooldown when the rebound shot from the enemy comes. Instead, trust your goalie to do their job while you do yours (disrupt enemy strikers, be open for a pass), and if that doesn't seem to be working maybe suggest to switch positions via in-game ping ("Let me defend").

Tactics > strategy

I'm sure there are plenty of recommendations for tier lists or "builds" of certain strikers floating around out there, and I'm sure at least some of them are well informed, but for the most part I have found the most success in Omega Strikers by making situational choices for strikers, play-styles, and builds that feel like they'd benefit the current matchup the most as opposed to trying to "main" a high-tier character and apply them to every situation.

The first reason for this is simple: Omega Strikers actively discourages static strategy through its various systems. You can never bank on having access to the same items, having the same level dynamics, or even the ability to choose the exact striker you want thanks to the draft system. The second is that building a cohesive team--while not entirely necessary--can give you an edge against opponents. For example, if you are picking characters before a match and see your teammates pick more precision-based strikers, you may want to opt for a heavy just to give you some power for knocking out enemies even if you usually prefer to play someone like Estelle.

Don't just chase the core

Regardless of your position in Omega Strikers, you should not just blindly chase the core and try to get it into the goal. The more your team can control and have a presence across the entire map the easier it is to beat your opponent. A good rule of thumb is to try and play the half (upper or lower) of the map you spawn on if you are a forward and to cover the goal area (obviously) if you are the goalie.

If you find your teammate heading into your zone, it may be wise to switch into theirs to be open for a pass and also be able to guard any open opponents looking to take advantage of a free path to the goal. If you aren't battling over the core, you can always look to harass enemy strikers, gather power orbs, or just try to stay open. If you are open a lot, any decent teammates will start passing to you, forcing the other team to have to make adjustments.

Play mind games

There is obviously a high level of mechanical skill you can develop in Omega Strikers, but no matter what striker you play as you are still essentially just trying to hit the core past other people. It sounds dead simple to say out loud, but the only way you can control this is simply by being the last person to hit the core.

This means you may often want to try and stall or wait for as long as possible before striking the core to bait hits from opponents. It might also mean hitting shots that aren't directly lined up with where you want the core to ultimately go. If you stay unpredictable while also picking up on your opponents' tendencies, that will always serve you better no matter what characters are on the field and their builds. Without doing any of this, the only thing you can really rely on for success is the other team making mistakes.

Open aggressively

At the start of every Omega Strikers match, it behooves you to take a more aggressive start as opposed to perhaps turtling to wait for an opening. There are a few reasons for this, including that it can help your team level up faster, gather more power orbs, and establish map control that allows you to push your opponents around where you want them more easily.

Early aggression can pay off by giving your team a power advantage which you can use to help you get KOs more easily to continue snowballing into a victory. As a game gets longer and levels even out, this may not be the best approach to continue using, but it is valuable at the start of virtually any match of Omega Strikers.

How to f2p

If you play Omega Strikers for free, my recommendation is simply to focus on unlocking all the strikers first while playing quick play or normal modes to get a feel for characters as you unlock them. Learning every character will help you get a feel for your own preferred style of play while also knowing what to expect from your opponents.

There doesn't really feel like a disadvantage to playing for free unless you are interested in the game's cosmetics. The beginning characters are all good and unlocking the rest of the cast does not take a ton of time. This is a major upside to Omega Strikers generally so don't feel like you have to "buy-in" to be competitive.