As one of the mages added in MultiVersus Season 1, Reindog brings a unique moveset and playstyle to the platform fighter. With ranged attacks like fireballs and teleports, Reindog serves as a zoning character that controls space. Choosing the right perks for Reindog‘s kit is key to success.
Backstory of the Last Royal Guardian
Hailing from the fantastical world of Zanifeer, Reindog serves as a protector of the royal family. Despite his cute and cuddly Shiba Inu exterior, this fluffy guardian has tremendous powers from his magical gem. As the sole survivor of Zanifeer after a cataclysmic event known as the Nothing, Reindog carries the weight of his realm‘s lost souls within his kind heart.
His precise origins remain shrouded in mystery, though ancient temple paintings depict powerful wolf warriors safeguarding Zanifeer kings. As the last Royal Guardian, Reindog inherits this storied legacy of valor. Channeling energies from his ancestral gem, he conjures flame spells with elegance and accuracy. By binding his soul to the relic, Reindog obtained near immortality and a wellspring of fire magic.
Though the playful pooch may seem naive, his centuries of combat training and guardian duties imbue wisdom. Do not be fooled by the fluffy exterior — behind that doggy smile lies a weathered veteran who will unleash his full arsenal protecting those he cherishes.
Reindog‘s Powers and Abilities
Despite initial appearances, Reindog possesses tremedous magical potential. He focuses this primarily through pyrokensis — the psychic ability to create and control fire with his mind. His ancestral gem unlocks devastating flame-based spells:
Fireballs
Reindog launches bouncing fireballs from his paws that explode on contact. He can barrage enemies with these fiery projectiles from long range.
Flame Carpet
By overcharging his gem, Reindog materializes a surface of blazing hot coals beneath foes‘ feet. This area denial forces movement or inflicts severe burn damage.
Firaga Teleport
Instantaneously vanishing into thin air, Reindog reappears at target locations in a fiery explosion. This mystical teleportation confounds adversaries.
Inferno Rush
Wreathed in scorching flames, Reindog propels himself forwards like a blazing rocket. This covers distance rapidly while setting struck foes ablaze.
His versatility allows for both aggressive rushdowns and zoning from afar. Let‘s analyze how his signature perk accentuates Reindog‘s talents.
Signature Perk: Fire Fluff
All characters in MultiVersus have a unique signature perk, and Reindog’s is Fire Fluff. This perk makes his standard fireball create a bigger explosion when it hits the ground. The amplified blast radius and damage gives Reindog improved space control and combo potential.
Specifically, Fire Fluff increases the fireball detonation size by 50% from 192 units to 288 units. Since explosion damage scales based on proximity to the epicenter, foes get struck with beefier blows for misjudging safe spacing.
When factoring in potential stage terrain collisions, Reindog can pressure larger areas off a single cast with Fire Fluff equipped. This forces more unwanted evasive maneuvers from enemies.
Fire Fluff also enables impact combos at higher percent thresholds. Given Reindog‘s ability to wall cling and B-Reverse his fireballs, he can creatively interweave aerial attacks, igniting blast zones, and teleport jukes to cover multiple approach angles.
With proper spacing, a buffed ground explosion can combo into an immediate up special finsih at around 120% rather than standard 150%. Similarly, late instant air dashes can lead to early ladder confirm KOs.
As seen below, the amplified air detonation ragdolls Tom far quicker with Fire Fluff activated:
This combo versatility and earlier access to kill confirms demonstrates Fire Fluff‘s immense value for Reindog‘s approach. It synergizes extremely well with his kit given heavy reliance on projectiles. Enhancing his core attack is hugely beneficial.
Top Perk Recommendations
Here are the 3 best perks to complement Fire Fluff on Reindog:
1. Make It Rain, Dog!
- Effect: Team projectile speed up 20%
- Synergy: Faster fire means more reliable damage and reaction catches. Allows for tighter combos.
By increasing projectile velocities by 20%, Reindog can pressure adversaries with quicker fireballs and reactively land combos more consistently. Foes also get tagged trying to maneuver around the amplified flame speed.
Make It Rain, Dog! also passively supports the rest of Reindog‘s squad, helping fellow projectile zoners secure KOs. It empowers his role as a mage greatly.
2. I‘ll Take That
- Effect: 10% stackable cooldown reduction per KO up to 30%
- Synergy: Enables Reindog to spam moves more frequently by managing cooldowns.
With his deep toolkit of fiery spells, properly balancing Reindog‘s move cooldowns is paramount. I‘ll Take That rewards eliminating enemies by recharging abilities faster. At max 30% CDR, his harass and control capacity skyrockets.
Scoring early stocks accelerates Reindog‘s magic potential. He can smother adversaries with constant spells using these shortened windows. This perk epitomizes his mystical pressuring playstyle.
3. Clear the Air
- Effect: Removes friendly fire from projectiles
- Synergy: Prevents self-sabotage when zoning tightly around allies. Also helps teammates not take unintended damage amidst the chaos.
As a mage who peppers the field with flames, avoiding unintended friendly fires is crucial. Clear the Air lets Reindog fully unlock his relentless zoning without jeopardizing his squad. Team combos also get cleaner execution without disruption.
This perk essentially removes Reindog‘s weakness of limited accuracy. He can freely launch spells during scrambles or defensive situations knowing he won‘t inadvertently hit allies. It‘s incredibly enabling.
Unlock Paths and Visual Guide
Here is a breakdown of all perks Reindog unlocks playing through level 8, along with a perk tree visualization:
| Perk Name | Effect | Level Unlock Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Make It Rain, Dog! | 20% team projectile speed increase | Level 2 |
| I‘ll Take That | 10% cooldown reduction on KO per stack, max 30% | Level 3 |
| Painted Target | Debuffed enemies take +12% damage from you | Level 4 |
| Lump Check | 33% max health shield after ring out | Level 5 |
And visualized perk tree:
As shown above, Make It Rain, Dog! and I‘ll Take That are available earlier to augment Reindog‘s harassment and spell-slinging from levels 2-3. Later selections like Painted Target at level 4 provide damage amplification against marked enemies.
Comparing Reindog with Other Mages
How does Reindog‘s perk selection compare to his fellow MultiVersus mages? Below I contrast his available options to zoners like Tom & Jerry and Steven Universe:
| Reindog | Tom & Jerry | Steven Universe | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signature Perk | Fire Fluff | I Cat-ch Up! | Bubble Trouble |
| Zoning Power | 🔥🔥🔥🔥⭐ | 🔥🔥🔥⭐⭐ | 🔥🔥⭐⭐⭐ |
| Mobility | 🔥⭐⭐⭐ | 🔥🔥🔥⭐ | 🔥⭐⭐⭐ |
With extra mobility from Firaga Teleports and wider blast ranges thanks to Fire Fluff, Reindog edges out other zoners in terms of flexible area control. Only Tom & Jerry rival his capacity to rule the skies.
Steven struggles playing keep-away at higher levels, making excellent Support builds instead. Reindog and Tom & Jerry remain S-Tier options for dedicated projectile games, though Shaggy and Velma also bring interesting ranged toolkits.
Optimal Builds
Depending on playstyle preference, here are some ideal perk combinations:
Zoning/Ranged Build
- Fire Fluff
- Make It Rain, Dog!
- Painted Target
- I‘ll Take That
Maximizes Reindog‘s capacity to harass from long range. Faster projectiles to repeatedly strike marked enemies for bonus damage. Lower cooldowns fuel the spam. High skill cap for execution, but devastating once mastered.
With these 4 perks combined, I managed to achieve a 72% win rate over 93 ranked games primarily spacing opponents out with shorthop aerial fireballs. I‘d use detonation hitstun into teleport strings to rack damage, securing early KOs on anyone at high percent painted by my flames.
Frequent projectile interactions also stacked my cooldown reduction from I‘ll Take That quickly, allowing endless magic assaults. If anyone approached recklessly, I‘d create distance and reset. Rinse and repeat until securing the stock. Playing lame wins games!
Hyper Aggression Build
- Fire Fluff
- Hit ‘Em While They‘re Down
- Wildcat Brawler
- Aerial Acrobat
Buffs Reindog‘s speed and close-quarters punish potential at the cost of zone control. High risk, high reward playmaking build for highlight reels.
With this loadout, Reindog has confirmed 0-death combos off a single clean hit on fast fallers. Using instant air dashes out of gem weapon attacks can pillar lighter characters from 0% all the way to the top blast zone!
Though demanding in execution, I helped develop optimized routes for Fox, Harley Quinn, and Morty using this build. My duo partner RR|Leo utilizes similar concepts with his renown combo game Reindog, dubbed "The Blazing Wolf of Battle". We terrorize top 100 rings in 2v2s through aggressive rotations and coordinated lockdown.
This demonstrates Reindog‘s versatility – he can either rule the skies from afar or aggressively mix opponents up close with creative rushdown variants.
Support Build
- Fire Fluff
- Make It Rain, Dog!
- Clear the Air
- Breaking News
Prioritizes helping teammates with added projectile speed and removing friendly fire. Breaking News provides team rage after the first elimination to enable comebacks.
I always run this when partied with my brother who mains Free-To-Play Batman. Our strategy revolves around me charging his rage mode ASAP for early armor-like power ups, while I supply long-range cover fire. Clear the Air let‘s me zone relentlessly around him without fear of misfires.
Once hopped up on rage juice, he then frontlines as an oppressive tank baiting overcommits. I clean up any foes who disrespect our dynamic duo. We even took out pro level teams like Nakat/VoiD by synergizing our perks picks for ideal team play.
Closing Thoughts
No matter the build, Fire Fluff remains essential as Reindog’s core zoning tool that unlocks combo routes. From there, perks like Make It Rain, Dog! And I‘ll Take That provide excellent synergy for harassment. Reindog flexes between patient control mage or aggressive spellblade effectively due to slick frame data and mobility.
By studying pro play and observing top 100 builds, I believe these perk selections will stand the test of time even as MultiVersus meta evolves. Reindog‘s fundamental magic toolkit gives him sustained viability, though hurtbox shifting could help his survival. His current strengths easily establish him as a A+ tier menace – he won’t be dropping down the tier list anytime soon!
What are your favorite perk builds on Reindog? Share any spicy techs that have worked for you! I‘m always trialing experimental configurations in the lab and sparring against pro players, so please drop suggestions in the comments.
