Soundwave

## Bio

*Who is superior? Soundwave and his trusty minions Laserbeak and Ravage, that’s who! The Decepticon model of loyalty to Megatron's cause, he takes advantage of his title as Communications Officer to ingratiate himself with Megatron every chance he gets.*

## Max Stats

**2-Star:**

* Health: 1,802
* Attack: 141
* Max Rating: 548

**3-Star:**

* Health: 4,425
* Attack: 296
* Max Rating: 1299

**4-Star:**

* Health: 11,499
* Attack: 769
* Max Rating: 3502

5-Star:

## Game Abilities

### Basic Abilities

* Power Gain
* Power Leak
* Shock

### Abilities

* Passive: Soundwave does not generate Power from hitting opponents, use his Heavy and Special Attacks to generate Power instead.
* Heavy Attacks:
	+ Generates 14-17% of a Power Bar per second until a Special Attack is activated or upon gaining 2 bars of Power.
	+ 100% chance to inflict Shock, dealing Shock Damage for 49% Attack over 6 seconds.

### Signature Ability

**Sonic Shield**

*Soundwave projects a Sonic Shield that grants him Energy Resistance and a chance to Reflect incoming Ranged Attacks.*

When filling a Power Bar: Soundwave projects a Sonic Shield that grants him 35% Energy Resistance and has a 20~90% chance to Reflect incoming Ranged Attacks, dealing 140% of their original damage.

+about 0.9% per level

### Special Attacks

1. **Sonic Cannon** - *Listen to this and your ears will be burning.*
	* 60% chance to **Stun** for 1.5 seconds.
	* 85% chance to **Power Leak**, consuming 60-90% of a Power Bar over 4 seconds.
2. **Ravage** - *Ravage. Prepare for battle. Eject!*
	* Deals Shock Damage for 70% Attack over 6 seconds
	* Generates 15.4-20% of a Power Bar per second until a Special Attack is activated or upon gaining 3 bars of Power.
3. **Eject** - *Turn it up to 11 with the ultimate mixtape, featuring appearances by Lazerbeak and Ravage.*
	* Deals Shock Damage for 80% Attack over 5 seconds.
	* 70% chance to **Power Lock**, severing the target’s flow of Power for 8 seconds.
	* 65% chance to Stun for 2.5 seconds.

### Synergy Bonuses

* **Allies** - Ramjet, Bludgeon, Kickback - +2~3~8% Armor.
* **Enemies** - Optimus Prime - 2~3~8% Attack Rating.
* **Enemies** - Blaster - 2~3~8% Attack Rating.
* **Shield Amp** - Mirage, Rhinox - 2~4~10% damage reduction when Shielded.
* **Brain Gain** - Shockwave - Soundwave increases his Attack against Demolition Bots by 10~15~25% at the start of the fight. Shockwave only benefits from this bonus if all Bots on the team have this Synergy.
* **Brain Drain** - Shockwave - Shockwave's Shocks last 8~10~25% longer.
* **Till All is Ours** - Megatron - All Decepticons gain 5~10~15% Attack against Autobots.
* **Taped Together** - Soundblaster - Increase Heavy Attack Damage by 4~10~14%.
* **Leadership** (5-Star) - +10% Power Rate for all lower tier teammates.

## Strategy

### Commander

While Soundwave has above average health than other Bots, his main drawback is that he cannot generate Power by attacking. However, if he manages to hit his opponent with his Heavy Attack or Special 2, he will start gaining Power over time quickly. If he gets hit, he will also gain Power as normal bots. If you can stall for time, do so after the power gain; then he will have a huge power advantage over the opponent.

Soundwave arguably has the most offensive moveset of Tech bots, dealing significant damage with special 2 thus encouraging a repeat charge and discharge tactic, thus the power control abilities of his other specials often end up secondary and situational.

Compared to Jetfire's reflection, Soundwave's deals more damage than Jetfire's. (100% on a max-ranked Jetfire compared to 140% on Soundwave) But they are passively activated and only have a chance to reflect, whereas Jetfire can actively reflect with manual timing.

### Opponent

#### General

Al Soundwave relies on predicable heavy attacks and his Special 2 to be effective, dodge them to prevent him from generating max power. Try to use as many normal attacks as possible so his Power will be remain capped at 2 bars. Abilities like Backfire, Nullify, and power draining abilities can hamper him from using his Special.

#### Rulers of Kaon

 *Rulers of Kaon* Soundwave plays like any other Soundwave fight, though with this Soundwave awakened and having a higher block proficiency, it's best not to spam ranged heavies (Like Shockwave's - if you happen to run a Brain Drain Blaster for example it's best to wait until you use a special 1 or 3) Also try not to be tagged by his heavy so he doesn't gain more power.

### Strong Match-Ups

* Ironhide (ROTF) - Soundwave’s Sonic Shield is extremely effective against Ironhide’s Special Attacks reflecting his Ranged Attacks back at himself will only tear himself apart.
* Hound - Reflecting Hound's ranged attacks can easily bring the bulky bot down.
* Megatron (ROTF) - Shocks ignore Megatron’s tough armor and the sonic shield will ensure that the damage from the impair charges will never be inflicted upon him. Instead Megatron will be using his heavy attacks on himself.
* Galvatron - The master of Demolitions will be self-Dark Burned by Sonic Shield.

#### Mods

* **Finesse** - Soundwave's Power Gain ignores the zero Power Rate debuff instigated by this Mod.
* **Laser Guidance Module** - Bots who uses ranged attacks especially those whose heavy attacks are ranged will get their shots reflected back on them with no time to block.

### Weak Match-Ups

* Windblade - Windblade can neutralize Soundwave’s Power Gain and inflict extra damage with her Special 1. Soundwave’s Heavy Attack is also very ineffective when Windblade is using her own Heavy Attack because of her ability to make Ranged Attacks miss.
* Kickback - This Insecticon will easily consume Soundwave's shocks, Power Leak and Power Gain with his Heavy Attacks, as well as prevent Soundwave from spamming heavy attacks with T-Clog.
* Grindor - Grindor does more damage as the opponent gains power and since soundwave gains massive amounts Grindor will tear Soundwave apart.
* Grimlock will find Soundwave’s shocks to be a joke as they get instantly purified once inflicted.
* Megatronus - The relic of obedience will prevent the power-hungry Soundwave from gaining power when he spams heavies or even activate his sonic shield despite the class type advantages though a duped Soundwave can reflect his dark burning abilities back at him.

#### Mods

* **Power Conductor** - Soundwave will be unable to use his Special 2, as his static Power will immediately drop the moment his Power Gain ends.
* **Paralyzer** - This mod will drain Soundwave’s power hampering his ability on using his specials.

### Recommended Modules

Make Soundwave a S*uperior* Base Defender with these mods!

* Laser Guidance Module - When Soundwave Reflects the opponent’s Ranged Attacks, the Laser Guidance Module will enhance its damage.
* Robot Resource & Superconductor 2000 - The synergy between Soundwave’s Power Gain plus the Power Gain from those modules can stack. This will create a deadly combination in your base.
* With the Transwarp Cell, Soundwave can drain the opponents' Power while charging his own. That would be very unfair!
* Tech Console - This radio drops some serious Shocks and Shields that will be strengthened, making it so Soundwave will be even more superior.
* E. M. I. Module - Optional if Soundwave's Signature is at low level.

## Obtainment

* Bot Crystals (3~4-Star)
* Soundwave Arenas
	+ Analogue Armament (3-Star)
	+ Mixtape Mania (4-Star)
* Cassette Crystal
* July Daily Login Calendar
* February 2020

## Updates

* July 30th, 2020 update:
	+ Increased chance for SP1 to Power Drain from 75% to 85%.
	+ Increased chance for SP1 to Stun from 50% to 60%.
	+ Increased Shock Damage on SP3 from 60% to 80%.
	+ Increased chance for SP3 to Stun from 40% to 65%.

## Notes

* Soundwave's design is based on his *Titans Return* toy, but with his own concussion blaster.
* Soundwave is the only Bot that does not have an alt-mode in the game. According to the designers, "*There were a lot of jokes whether kids today would know what a boombox with tapes is and the obvious scale difference once he transforms into a boombox.  He would look strange being so small next a giant robot that could step on him or kick him off screen and end the match instantly."*
* Soundwave and Blaster are the only Bots that deploys other bots, namely his pets Laserbeak and Ravage. Blaster deploys Rewind and Steeljaw.
* Soundwave is the only Bot who "speaks", when activating his Specials.

## External Links

* Bot Intel Report
* Soundwave Brings Noise to the Fight