Thundercracker

**Thundercracker** is a Decepticon Brawler.

## Bio

*Often fighting in the shadow of fellow Decepticon Starscream, Thundercracker loves a good battle…but only against a worthy opponent. He hates fighting against humans because it feels like unfair victory rather than true combat, and Decepticons aren’t forged to fight by overpowering the weak.*

## Max Stats

* 2-Star
	+ Health: 1,924
	+ Attack: 175
	+ Max Rating: 469 / 571
* 3-Star:
	+ Health: 4,725
	+ Attack: 371
	+ Max Rating: 1,367
* 4-Star:
	+ Health: 12,281
	+ Attack: 963
	+ Max Rating: 3,646
* 5-Star:
	+ Health: 29,814
	+ Attack: 2,337
	+ Max Rating: 8,847

## Game Abilities

### Basic Abilities

* Melee Buff
* Burn
* Shock

### Abilities

* Passive
	+ Whenever a Debuff is Purified, gain a 3~8% Melee Damage Buff for 7 seconds.
	+ Unstoppable against basic Melee Attacks while Sidestepping.
	+ After knocking the enemy out of their ground vehicle form, gain a 20% Armor and 10% Melee Attack Buff for 7 seconds.

* All Attacks
	+ +100% Attack when striking a Bot in their ground vehicle form.
	+ Thundercracker cannot land Critical Hits.
	+ Whenever Thundercracker would increase Critical Damage, he instead increases Attack by 8% of the amount of Critical Damage that would have been added.
	+ Successful melee hits refresh all Melee Buffs on Thundercracker.
	+ Sidestepping after a melee attack also refreshes all Melee Buffs.

* Passive
	+ Entering the aerial alternate form Purifies Shock, Burn, Bleed, Backfire, and Daze Debuffs.

* Heavy Attacks
	+ For each Debuff Purified in this way, this attack inflicts a Burn Debuff causing 80% Attack as heat damage over 7 seconds.

* Ranged Attacks
	+ Gain a 10% Melee Damage Buff for 0.9 seconds.

* Blocking
	+ +15% Block Proficiency against melee attacks.
	+ An additional +15% Block Proficiency against the melee attacks of ground vehicles.
	+ While above 14% Health, Block cannot be broken by attacks from Bots in their ground vehicle form.
	+ Well-timed Blocks against ground vehicles grant a 10% Melee Buff for 5 seconds and knock opponents out of their vehicle form.

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### Signature Ability

**Ascension-** *Thundercracker proves his melee worth by fighting off Debuffs, enhancing melee hits, and increasing his damage against tough opponents.*

**All Attacks**:

* Every 5 consecutive melee attacks dealt while not Debuffed grants a 5~20% Melee Buff for 7 seconds.
* Melee attacks have an 0.2% chance per each Signature Ability Level to Purify any Debuff.
* At the start of each fight, increase Attack by 0.2% of the enemies’ bonus Attack for each Signature Ability Level.
* + about 0.15% per level

### Special Attacks

1. **Inferiority Complexion** - *Vengence comes to those who fight for it.*
	* Each projectile hit grants a 10% Melee Buff for 2 seconds.
2. **Brutal Treachery** - *When your enemies think you're cornered... crush them.*
	* +2% additional damage for each active Buff on Thundercracker.
3. **Shocking Oblivion** - *Conquest is made by frying enemy circuits extra-crispy.*
	* Inflict a Shock Debuff causing 60~100% Attack as shock damage over 6 seconds.
	* +2% Shock Damage for each active Buff on Thundercracker.
	* +5% Shock Damage for each active Buff on the opponent.

### Synergy Bonuses

* **Starscream's Seekers** - Starscream, Ramjet, Dirge, Skywarp - +5~8~15% Damage and 20~30~75% Armor Piercing for all Decepticon Ranged Attacks.
* **Sky Assualt** - Cyclonus, Grindor, Ramjet, Starscream, Windblade, Jetfire - +7~10~25% Anti-Evade
* **Leadership** (5-Star) - Acting as a beacon of leadership, all lower tier teammates gain +10% Attack Rating.

## Strategy

### Commander

Thundercracker is a melee and ground combat specialist. He is most effective against Bots who use ground vehicles as their Heavy Attack (ie. Optimus Prime, Wheeljack, Prowl) and especially Bots who apply lots of debuffs, especially damaging debuffs (ie. Scorponok, Drift). If the enemy is a ground vehicle, dashing in while the enemy attempts to use a Heavy Attack deals more damage; well-timed blocks effectively parries a Heavy Attack.

He is the only bot who can’t score a Critical hit (which actually puts him in a good position against Bonecrusher but the worst one against Skywarp), but he can purify any damaging debuffs (and Backfires and Dazes) with Heavies, making this Purify one of **the** most powerful in the game. If you're inflicted with a potentially powerful debuff like Venom Backfires (especially over 3 stacks as they can Shock), just use a Heavy and you're good!

The best way to gain Melee Buffs is a Special I. After using it keep on attacking the enemy to keep his Melee Buffs active for long enough.

### Opponent

Don't inflict too many damaging debuffs nor spam Heavies (especially if you're using a Bot with a ground vehicle mode) as you'll only give Thundercracker Melee Damage Buffs (which refresh per Melee Attack he hits!).
If he has recently tagged you with a Special I, try to avoid further hits to make his Melee Buffs lapse.

Choose some powerful aerial fighters like Megatronus, Cyclonus, or even Starscream. Thundercracker won't have any attack bonuses against Bots with a flying alternate mode.

Try not to use Heavy Attacks while he's above 15% health - It is to be noted that his Block *can't* be broken until he is below 15% Health.

The only Damaging Debuff that ignores the Purification is Mixmaster's Acid from Ranged Attacks, which is the only exception against this brawl jet.

### Strong Match-ups

#### Bots

* Thundercracker is one of **the** most potent counters to Bots with Damaging Debuffs.
* **Drift'**s many Bleeds will only be Purified and turned into Melee Buffs.
* **Bonecrusher'**s passive Bleeds rely on enemy Crits to activate, something Thundercracker can't score. Also, any Bleed Bonecrusher inflicts will be Purified and turned into Melee Damage, putting the walking cactus in a... dire situation.
* **Scorponok'**s powerful Backfire and Daze debuffs will be Purified. No more instant Shocks nor missed Ranged Attacks. (This also goes for Barricade, Slipstream and Jazz, who both have powerful Backfires)
* In a rare case of a Brawler being superior to a Tactician, Thundercracker has bonuses against **Optimus Prime'**s Bleeds and the fact the Prime is a truck means he will have increased damage.

#### Mods

* The **Harm Accelerator'**s potentially harmful effects will be Purified when Thundercracker is in his Aerial Alternate Form.
* **Melee Bleed** - These Bleeds will only turn into Melee Buffs AND Heavy Attack Burns.

### Weak Match-ups

#### Bots

* **Megatron** can steal his ally’s melee buffs so Megatron will be the one ascending.
* **Starscream** will Nullify his comrade's many Buffs.
* **Skywarp** - Skywarp's Teleport Charges relies on Critical Hits to be removed, which Thundercracker has no answer to and finds that his brother-in arms to be his worst nightmare.
* **Galvatron, Megatron (ROTF)** and **Megatronus** all inflict instant energy damage and will blast though Thundercracker like he's nothing and Megatronus in particular has the relic of obedience which means Thundercraker will not gain enough buffs in order to defeat Megatronus.
* **Grimlock**’s melee buffs and high special damage will take the brawling jet down.
* **Kickback** will T-Clog Thundercracker and disable the Purify, leaving the brawling jet prone to Kickback's diet.
* Bots with any Unblockable Attacks (ie. Cyclonus, Duped Dinobot, and Duped Mirage) will break through Thundercracker's powerful Block.
* Meanwhile, Beast Ancestor (Tantrum) makes the attacks of *Beast Wars* Bots unblockable, so add Beast Purification (Optimus Primal) and Thundercracker will get a taste of his own medicine when *his* debuffs are purified.
* Hot Rod - In a rare case for a warrior to be superior to a brawler, Hot Rod's Decerelation isn't one of Thundercracker's listed debuffs and in turn can't be purified into strength against him.
* Mixmaster - Though it's good to purify Burns and inflict Burn back, Mixmaster's Acid the only damaging debuff is a surprise counter to Thundercracker's Heavy which is not listed in purification usage.
* The **Enforcers Synergy** will prevent Thundercracker from Purifying Motormaster, Kickback and Ramjet's many Debuffs.

#### Mods

* NEVER use this bot against Ly-car-thropy because only Critical Ranged attacks can defeat the opponent.

### Recommended Modules

Pair these mods with Thundercracker on your base!

* The **Transwarp Cell** will increase the chances Thundercracker will Purify. This is most effective against Raiders whose Bots inflict lots of Damaging Debuffs.
* The **Exo-Filter** will enhance Thundercracker's Purify and give him even more Melee Damage Buffs.
* The **Laser Guidance Module** will turn Thundercracker's Heavy Attack into a nightmare, especially if he had Damaging Debuffs that were Purified.
* **Strange Refractor**allows Thundercracker to stun while blocking, allowing him to deal more damage.
* Thundercracker is a melee specialist, the **E.M.I. Module** will keep enemies close to him so that he can keep pounding on the enemy with strong melee damage.
* The **Superconductor 1000** will increase the likelihood of Thundercracker's Melee Gains.

## Obtainment

Thundercracker was exclusive to his Challenge Mission, his Crystals and his Arenas. He is the second "Exclusive bot" in the game, the others are Bumblebee and Nemesis Prime.

Outside of these things, he was also obtainable through Nemesis Prime's Crystals and the Generations Crystals (joy!)

### Thundercracker Challenge

For two weeks, Thundercracker could be obtained through his challenge.

* Trouble Brewing, Rising Danger - 2-Star
* Critical Challenges - 3-Star
* Thunder Struck - 4-Star

### Featured Thundercracker Crystals

On April 11, 2019, Thundercracker crystals appeared in the Energon Store as part of a bundle, then during the Thundercracker Arenas for regular Energon purchase:

* Stormy Sky Crystal - 3 and 4-Star Thundercracker

* Aerial Assault Crystal - 4 and 5-Star Thundercracker

### Thundercracker Arenas

Starting April 18, 2019, 3-day Thundercracker Arenas had a chance at a 3~5-Star Thundercracker:

* Aerial Duel (3-Star)
* Worthy Opponent (4-Star)
* Superior Combatant (5-Star)

These Arenas are structured like the old Arenas of Featured Bots. That means only 30 grinding Commanders can get these Thundercrackers!

### Obtainment as part of Nemesis Prime's Featured Crystals

As part of Nemesis Prime's release, Thundercracker was made available in the Dark Matrix and Doppelganger Crystals for a week starting July 11, 2019, giving Commanders another chance at him (though it's all down to luck!)

### General availability

From March 27, 2020, Commanders around the world felt joy as Thundercracker amongst the other two "exclusive" Bots were added to all Bot Crystals.

(For a 5-Star, you need to collect 170,000 Titan Fragments.)

## Gallery

A 2-Star Thundercrackeras he appears in Hard difficulty of his challengeas he appears in the banneras he appears in the newsfeed
## Trivia

* He is a repaint of Starscream, in-game and toy-wise.
* Thundercracker appeared in the background of one of the earliest promotional images for the game.
* There was an issue where Thundercracker did not purify Burns and Backfires (not Scorponok's Venom Backfires) upon using a Heavy Attack. There was also an issue where Thundercracker would successfully Block Ranged Heavy Attacks from Ground Vehicles. Both of these issues were promptly fixed.
* Like Starscream, he does not have his handheld gun.