Gum Needle

**Gum Needle** is a Gum Shoot in *Ninjala* that takes on the form of a one-eyed creature that looks like a dragonfly. Once shoot it flies in an arc because it is affected by the gravity. Upon landing it sticks to the ground, walls, ceiling, opponents or Drones. By landing on an opponent or Drone the Gum Needle changes its shape to a pin needle and sticks to the target. It moves as the target moves. After a short period of time, no matter where it landed, it explodes and deals Gum Damage within a radius. Not only one but even multiple opponents can get hit by the explosion. A medium or large sized needle can Gum Bind opponents.

Gum Needle sticked to a wall.Gum Needle sticked to an opponent.
When the needle lands on an opponent, they get Gum Damage and a short hit stun. Once it explodes there is another hit stun that this time additionally deals a small amount of damage. If the opponent blocks the needle, the needle still sticks to that opponent. They need to block the upcoming explosion as well to successfully get away from the Gum Needle.

## Priority

When it comes to priorities, the Gum Needle does actually have two different. Landing on opponents or drones has a much higher priority than when it flies or when it lands on the ground or walls. There are just a few ways to get rid of the needle once its attached to a opponent or drone. The blast when entering a parry can wipe out the needle or knocking out the opponent or destroying the drone prevents the needle to explode.

As for the other cases it is ranked on the same level with Gum Boomerang, below Gum Shot and above Gum Launcher. So it is rather a strong one as it can easily compete with a lot of other Gum Shoots. In terms of sizes, a small Gum Needle that is placed on the ground can be used to shield Gum Balloons up to even a undeployed Gum Net, no matter its size. On the other hand a large sized Gum Launcher can wipe out a small needle. Any Gum Shoot ranked above can wipe out a Gum Needle, even if they are small sized, except for Gum Ghost. As with all other Gum Shoots, Gum Needle trades with Gum Ghost, both pass through.

### Versus Other Projectiles Attacks

*The projectile attack priority list can be found here.*

A large grounded Gum Needle ties with Punch Type B Normal Attack Stage 2 and Extra Weapon Type A Zanshin Back Attack, a medium sized one loses. Ties means that both dissolves. It wins against everything ranked below. A medium sized needle stands a chance against the wave of the Special Attack Overpowering Wave by tying. Any projectile attack ranked lower than the wave loses against a medium needle. A small sized Gum Needle ties with a Extra Weapon Type A Break Attack, both dissolves. It wins against anything ranked below. So basically, to sum it up, the smaller the Gum Needle the lower the tier it can compete against. Large needles ties with projectiles with the priority 8, medium sized with 9 and small sized with 10. The special attacks Thunder Cannon, Cannon Bomber and Fiery Raid cannot wipe out needles of of any sizes but at the same time they can hit the user. So it is a trade just like with Gum Ghost.

When a Gum Needle is attached to an opponent or Drone, it cannot be canceled by any projectile attack.

## Weapons

* Oedo Cannon
* Knockout Door

## Patch History

### Version 15

* ▲ Hit detection range of the explosion has been increased
* ▲ Explosion blockstun (or: the time opponents are immobilized when guarding against the explosion) has been increased