Mekko

**Mekko** is a Fighter featured in *Bleeding Edge*. He is technically the game's first post-launch character, released the week of April 27, 2020.

Mekko is a dolphin, born in Japan in captivity, experimented on and tortured in order to become a living weapon by his corporate handlers. This torture fostered a hatred for humans in the sea creature, but he would see a new side to humanity when the "Bleeding Edge" gang, a group of human cyberized misfits, rescued him from captivity and forcibly scuttled the corporate operation. Enamored by these humans who would call him "family," he mounted a quadripedal "crab" mech suit that lets him speak with them, and he joined their squad, finding solace among these humans who would help him in his revenge against Human Augment Systems. Mekko is technically the youngest member of the Bleeding Edge, at only 10 years old.

## Biography

*Once upon a time in 2045, a baby dolphin named Mekko was born. Cuter than a billion buttons, the bright eyed and split tailed mini-mammal had a whole life ahead of him.*

*A life of captivity and torture, as living property of a devious corporation, being slowly modified into a biological sonic weapon, the sole survivor of binary communication experimentation, to cause destruction and agony as his sole purpose in life, just like the rest of the oceanic experiments encaged around him. Yay!*

*Mekko was doomed. Why Mekko? Mekko mad. BAD HUMANS!*

*But not all humans are evil, and the Bleeding Edge would prove true. They would rescue the marinated chatterbox and shut down all the psychotic aquatic bionic operations.*

*But Mekko confused. Mekko HATE the humans. But new humans are...family.*

*So while this odd pod of misfits sought similar vengeance on H.A., Mekko’s new life of trash-talking and crab-walking would begin.*

## Abilities

### Basic Abilities

*Continuously fire on enemies.*
 Bubble Block
*Protect yourself with a bubble shield. Absorbed damage feeds the Power Orbs passive.*
 Power Orbs  | *Absorbing damage with Bubble Block generates Power Orbs. Hold <Evade> while casting Specials to expend orbs for extra effects.*
By default, Mekko has two Power Orb stacks available to him. When a Power Orb is fully charged and ready to spend for an EX Special, it will turn purple in the UI, and a purple light will light up on Mekko's mech's body. Power Orb status, including available orbs and current progress in building orbs, is tracked at all times and persists even through death.

### Specials

Mekko can use Bubble Block while Lifeline is active to block the damage from Lifeline. Lifeline is active for 10 seconds (default) and goes on cooldown at the end of the time, if Mekko presses <Special 1> to reel his ally to his position, or if the distance between Mekko and his tethered ally is so large that the tether snaps. The tether has a set maximum distance and accounts for going around physical obstacles to ensure the shortest distance between Mekko and his target ally. The shield created by EX Lifeline lasts a couple seconds and grants the target a bit of armor.
Mekko creates a persistent AoE zone at his feet that lasts for 10 seconds (default). Mekko and all allies standing in the zone gain the Defence Up buff ("Player takes reduced damage from enemy attacks."), and all friendly attacks that deal damage have lifesteal while in the zone. EX Safety Zone has a purple color to the AoE zone; enemies standing in the zone gain the Healing Down debuff ("Player receives reduced healing from allies.").
Mekko channels a charge forward for 3 seconds (default), and any enemy he makes contact with during the charge takes damage and is knocked away. Mekko can turn while Surging but cannot jump (a jump input will be stored and performed when Surge ends). Mekko maintains his elevation when he Surges, meaning if he Surges off a ledge over lower ground, he will maintain that height and hover above the ground for the duration. At the end of Surge, Mekko does one last small AoE knockback for damage. EX Surge gives Mekko passive health regen for the duration. Surge ends at the end of the channeled duration, or if Mekko cancels Surge early with <Attack>.

### Supers

When activated, Mekko's sonic gun releases a large forward cone of consant sonic energy for several seconds, dealing damage to any enemy in its AoE and pushing enemies away if they get close. The damage AoE is larger than the pushback AoE. Sonar Gun is inactive for the duration of Sonic Barrage, but all other actions can be performed while the super is active.
An enemy trapped inside the Exclusion Bubble can perform no actions, except for gently floating in a direction they input at greatly reduced speed. A trapped enemy is untargetable by Mekko's allies and technically counts as Invulnerable for the duration. A trapped enemy can be bodily pushed around by other Fighters, even vertically; if close enough, the trapped enemy can still count as holding or contesting a control point. The Exclusion Bubble has its own health bar and can take damage from the enemy team to destroy it early. If uninterrupted, Exclusion Bubble lasts for several seconds.

## Mods

High Tide • Slippery • Surge Protection • CoolHeaded • Downstream • Brimming • Long Watch • Overflow • Floaties • Surface Tension • Long-Winded • Ultrasound • Pressure Valve • Life Bouy • Long Line • Sealed Leak • Bubbled Up • Shipwrecker • Swell • Quick Save

## General Strategy

> "A ranged tank with limited mobility who can pull allies to safety. Mekko uses an active shield to absorb damage in orbs that can be used to empower his attacks."
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Mekko the dolphin is a ranged tank who loves to keep his friends close and his enemies not quite as close. He doesn't quite get in the face of his enemies like other tanks - though he can if he wants to - and instead prefers to pepper his foes with ranged damage while keeping his allies out of trouble and close to him to benefit from his boosts. His special bubble shield provides on-demand armor when he needs to protect himself; in fact, he counts on protecting himself with that shield so as to eventually power up his specials with bonus effects to make them even stronger, rewarding fine defensive play with greater power.

Mekko has no stamina charges and lacks real mobility outside his Surge dash attack, which has a relatively long cooldown, so positioning is important for him to function at his best; he needs to keep his surroundings in mind when establishing his domain and have an escape route planned if he needs to take off. Fortunately, he is not without ways to defend himself. His primary source of survivability, and the core piece of his kit, is Bubble Block; this summons an on-demand bubble shield that gives him armor to absorb enemy attacks. The shield will have to recharge when it gets low or risk getting popped and rendered unusable for an extended time. In fact, however, Mekko wants to absorb attacks with Bubble Block, as blocked attacks provide fuel for the other core part of his kit: Power Orbs - stored stacks of power that can be spent while Bubble Block is active to activate EX Specials, augmented versions of his regular Specials.

Mekko's Sonar Gun is his primary source of damage, plinking enemies at range and discouraging them from getting close. Lifeline is how a ranged tank like Mekko protects his allies - attaching a tether that redirects part of his friend's damage to himself (which he can also block with his bubble shield) and reeling them back to his side if they're especially stuck in the fire and need help getting out; EX Lifeline gives his friend an extra shield to further mitigate their damage. Safety Zone is how he encourages his friends to stay close to him while asserting his own domain, creating a zone that gives him and his allies damage resistance and lifesteal to stay in the fight longer; EX Safety Zone exacerbates this by giving his enemies reduced healing at the same time, discouraging them from further invading the sea mammal's space with one of the rare instances of anti-healing in a Fighter's base kit that doesn't involve mods. If he really wants to force control of his personal space, Surge lets him charge forward and bash any enemies out of his path, great for clearing a zone, if he needs to make some space away from the front, or if he wants to isolate a particular enemy by repeatedly shoving them backwards with multiple tackles; EX Surge provides additional health regeneration at the same time, improving his self-survivability in a pinch. Mekko's supers are how he even further declares his own domain and controls his space. Sonic Barrage provides considerable damage and pushes away all enemies who get caught listening to the dolphin's lovely singing voice, while Exclusion Bubble greatly dictates the pace of a fight by forcibly removing a single enemy from action in a bubble, letting his allies play the numbers game while his enemies have to free their friend from their bubbly prison or risk being down a man for the upcoming fight.

## Gallery

Pixel ArtConcept ArtBLEEDING EDGE MEKKO Guide - Abilities, Supers, Tips & Tricks