Game:

Bugsy (1986)

Duration: 9:59

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So, Bugsy is a very much needed update to the F2P Bug-type scene. I'd say he performs better than non-EX Guzma when built *correctly.* Bugsy is an atypical Striker in that a lot of the standard builds you would use for other Strikers are suboptimal for him, so Bugsy's grids are plagued with misconceptions.

First and foremost, Bugsy needs offensive babysitting. Bugsy can maximize Eva to set-up Blind Spot + Bob and Weave. Bugsy's TM also buffs +1 Spe and Mega Beedrill has innate Amped Up 1. Bugsy can buff Atk with Fell Stinger should he knock-out an enemy with it. While Bugsy can Sure Crit his nuke, he needs intense physical Support from Hop or Hilbert to cover +6 Atk and +3 Crit. For what it's worth Bugsy sets-up his own multipliers and his gauge is comfy.

Bugsy is weird because he runs two moves with nearly identical BP. Fell Stinger is 52 BP, while Twineedle is 24 BP but hits twice. Just by multiplying Twineedle it results in worse BP. Bugsy's grid favors Twineedle because it's got Twineedle Ramming Speed, but this is bad bait.

What you need to realize about Bugsy is that his moves' BP are so pitifully weak that gridding BP tiles has equal value to his multipliers. For instance, a couple Twineedle +2 BP is nearly the same as gridding Toxic Power 3. This steers Bugsy's grids into a very different direction. He should favor BP tiles, NOT multipliers.

So what's better, Twineedle or Fell Stinger? Twineedle is worse than Fell Stinger because the double-hit gives it a higher damage roll variance, so it peaks lower than Fell Stinger. The Poison side-effect is irrelevant because Bugsy is more about sniping, so enemies won't actually incur Poison recoil. Fell Stinger yields more cohesive grids and Bugsy can usually afford ALL his Fell Stinger tiles for +20 BP. Bugsy's highest DPS does involve Twineedle, but the result is abysmal compared to his nuking builds and it's addressed in the third showcase of this video.

[0:00] - Bug Zone
Bugsy is lucky to be a physical Bug-type Striker because it means he partners well with our good friend Costume Ingo. Ingo necessitates offensive support as much Bugsy, so their teambuilding needs overlap. Pair them with Hilbert or Hop and they easily melt on-type.

Here I'm showing a Bugsy passive that goes largely ignored: Super Victory. When Bugsy defeats an enemy with a move (not a sync) he gains SE Next. Bugsy has to sacrifice a syncing tile and an Atk +20 tile to reach Super Victory, but all the Fell Stinger BP he gains more than makes up for it. Super Victory dramatically improves Bugsy's damage so he should always aim to snipe an enemy for the boost.

[2:02] - Budgety
No Zone? No problem. Bugsy rewards debuff playstyles because he is about delivering nukes. I brought Tech Parasect to activate Bug-type Skills and for concentrated Screech debuffs. Karen is very annoying to use Def debuffs against because she has Shielded 1 and the Sharpedo has X Defense All, but a few debuffs is all Bugsy needs to hit his ranges. I did a cheeky play and sniped Sharpedo to transfer Super Victory to Bugsy's nuke, and with Sure Crit it's totally reliable. I gave Hop Unflappable because Flinch was pissing me off. I'm certain Bugsy can handle Bug-weak Lucian with this lineup.

[4:34] - Don't Use Linear DPS (It's bad)
So, a Bugsy DPS mode is very tempting. He has Bob and Weave, Twineedle Ramming Speed and Toxic Power 3... but the result is atrocious. This showcase is mostly to teach you that pure DPS Bugsy is a bad idea.

First, Toxic Power 3 Bugsy has to sacrifice Twineedle tiles. Bugsy peaks with 69 BP that way, but the grid I'm using in this video reaches 68 BP. That's how little Bugsy's multipliers matter in practice. Toxic Power 3 is not only conditional, it's only marginally better than going for raw damage.

Bugsy can afford some self-sufficiency because we are not forcing ourselves to grid Toxic Power 3. I gave him Critical Might 1 so he can buff his Atk, so he only needs Crit and Spe support to cap out Ramming Speed. After looking through my Support list I just went "fuck it" and used SS Blue as a treat, because I don't remember the last time I used him in a CS video. I wanted a strong Support because DPS Bugsy should ONLY be humored in dual strike, so here you can compare him to Guzma I guess.

[6:59] - Off-Type
Do not even think about running Bugsy off-type without Bug Zone. His damage is barely functional after Ingo kindly debuffs the enemy.

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The Eggmon Compendium: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kxM8KgAZjJzony2dkXxzswToB8jaZtVGoAP4WAmAN6M/
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