Miko

**Miko** is a Fighter featured in *Bleeding Edge*. A proud, poised and graceful South African tribal warrior-maiden, she was raised humble but fulfilled, heavily steeped in her Xhosa culture and lineage. A deadly sickness saw her exploited by the Human Augment Systems corporation, unwittingly signing away her freedom to be cybernetically augmented and tortured by her captors. But her spirit never broke: her traditions, training and rage saw her escape her bindings, and she quickly fell in with the "Bleeding Edge" gang of ragtag cyber misfits. She joins their underground pit fights to honor both her Xhosa heritage and her newfound family.

## Biography

*Despite being born into harsh conditions and relative poverty, Miko grew up happy, in a loving extended family unit, rich with their Xhosa ancestral heritage.*

*As a young girl, she mastered her clan’s ruthless fighting techniques under her grandfather’s guidance. She would endlessly educate herself in her people’s traditions and rituals.*

*But when Miko was diagnosed with a deadly new plague virus, she reluctantly left her family for the chance of a cure via experimental nanobot treatment. But little did she know what she was signing up for.*

*They would augment and encage her, torment and enrage her, but genetic resiliency would soon fuel a spirited Miko. She would have her freedom, and on escaping HA's facilities, would be whisked to safety by a young man in a demon mask.*

## Abilities

### Basic Abilities

*Fend enemies off with flowing staff combos.*
 Evade
*Dodge out of harm’s way. Costs stamina.*
 Parry
*Deflects an enemy's attack when well-timed.*
 Regenerator
*Staff impacts heal Miko, or a nearby ally with the lowest health.*
Only successful Augmetic Staff attacks trigger Regenerator; this includes attacks against deployables, like Gizmo's T-RUT or Kulev's Sacred Ground ward, or even power cell containers. If no allies are within range, Miko will heal herself. If at least one other ally is nearby, Regenerator will prioritize whoever has the lowest health at the time of each attack impact - whether Miko or any nearby ally - and heal that fighter.

### Specials

*Heals an ally, then bounces to a second target for half the amount. Double tap to cast on self.*
Single tap targets an ally within range closest to where Miko is looking; double-tap targets Miko herself. Chain Heal applies an up-front heal, followed by a small heal-over-time. The Chain Heal will bounce to the next closest valid target, whether another ally or Miko herself, and perform the same heal at half strength.
Miko drops a large green energy dome targeted on herself. The dome blocks all enemy projectiles and beams that attempt to pass through it; this includes channeled and even non-offensive abilities, like Maeve's Siphon Life or ZeroCool's Recharge. The shield can take a limited amount of damage before it is destroyed, or it will fade on its own after several seconds. All fighters - friend or foe - can pass through the dome. The cooldown begins the moment the barrier is active.
Miko throws a projectile at a nearby enemy. If it connects, the enemy takes a bit of damage and is instantly Frozen for about 1s (default), leaving them unable to move and defend themselves.

### Supers

Stalker is a global super. When activated, Miko and all allies immediately are Invulnerable (cannot take damage or die) for a split second and enter stealth for the next 10 seconds (default). At the same time, all enemies are revealed in the field and on the map, even if no one is nearby to grant vision. While stealthed, Miko and allies gain a sustained heal-over-time effect. Jumping, evading and mounting up do not break stealth. Using a basic attack or any special or super will break that character's stealth for 2 seconds, removing the HoT as well, after which the stealth and heal will immediately be restored as long as Stalker is still active.
When activated, Miko hits the nearest targetted ally with a powerful channeled healing beam that lasts for several seconds. During its duration, she can turn towards another ally to target them and tap <Super> again to immediately shift Life Force to her new target. She can redirect it as many times as she wants for as long as it is active. Once Life Force is active, it will remain connected to its target at infinite range, but if Miko breaks line-of-sight (LOS) with her target (e.g. she ducks behind a wall), the beam will break and do no healing but will still be channeled and targetted, immediately reconnecting once LOS is restored. Miko can only run and jump while Life Force is active; performing an Evade will cancel it early.

## General Strategy

> "A melee support who generates life on hit and can protect her teammates."
>
>

Miko is a devoted melee support who, unlike other ranged supports, reaches her full potential deep in heat of battle. The proud Xhosa warrior-maiden best serves her team by standing alongside them in pitched combat, healing them by dealing damage herself or with a generous multi-target burst heal, and providing both offensive and defensive crowd control with her dome shield and ranged freeze, complemented by supers that further boost her team's survivability in direct or indirect means. Of course, being a support makes her a high-value target even in the chaos of close-quarters combat, but she is well capable of defending herself.

Miko has two different main heals. Her more obvious heal is Chain Heal, her main burst heal on a fairly short cooldown that provides a quick shot of health to two allies (herself included). Her less obvious heal, her Regenerator passive, allows successful basic attacks with her staff and kicks to quietly heal whoever has the lowest health around her, whether herself or an ally in need. Regenerator, combined with Chain Heal, is what encourages her general playstyle: being aggressive and getting stuck in with her team to deal damage not only helps take down opponents but also helps keep her team going between her bigger team burst heals.

Kinetic Shield affords Miko and her team ranged protection, whether guarding against ranged attacks or cutting off beams, leaving enemy melee stranded from their ranged backup. Stasis provides a short but very powerful crowd control to a single target, and its versatility lends it to a wide variety of scenarios: a combo extender, an interruption, a gap closer, an escape tool (combined with her high stamina), and so on. Her two supers provide different forms of longevity and utility for her team: Life Force is a concentrated single-target super heal that can keep an ally going in the heat of battle, while Stalker helps her team either disengage from a messy fight or stalk enemy team members and potentially launch an ambush from stealth, either case allowing her (and her team) to hopefully engage on her own terms.

## Gallery

Pixel ArtBLEEDING EDGE Miko Guide - Abilities, Supers, Tips & TricksMiko under mask