This page covers characters in Dragon Ball FighterZ that have been disliked for being ineffectual.
Due to the 3v3 Tag Team mechanics with unique synergies, assist mechanics, and the fact that Arc System Works patches the game frequently (with sweeping changes throughout the entire roster at the introduction of a new season), sometimes a character may change tiers multiple times over the course of subsequent patches. Thus, this page will focus on characters who were particularly infamous at points of the game's competitive history.
For characters who are or were despised for being overpowered and overused: see here.
Terminology frequently used on this page:
- Cross/Mix-up: The ability to force an opponent to guess, where guessing wrong leads to damage or some other disadvantage.
- L/M/H: "Light", "Medium" and "Heavy" attacks.
- Numbers (1,2,3,4,5,etc.): Each number designates the direction on the joystick/control pad a player (standing on the left side of the screen) must press to execute a move (based on a keyboard's numberpad). For example, 1 is down-left, 5 is no direction, 6 is forward, and 7/8/9 are jumping.
- Oki/Okizeme: Forcing an opponent into a mix-up after being knocked down.
- Option Select: A move or technique that defeats two or more of an opponent's mix-up options, thus removing the need to guess between them.
- Rushdown: The ability to attack at close range frequently, with little chance for the opponent to fight back.
- Zoning/Keep-away: The ability to prevent an opponent from getting close enough to attack.
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Android 17
- Android 17 eventually found himself relegated to the very bottom of the tier list. Similar to Krillin, many of 17's normals are stubby, with some, such as 17's jab, having even less range than Krillin's. His neutral game is weak, due to his special projectile needing to be charged first. His wall jump is largely useless, due to being unable to do anything else until landing. His intended design as a mix-up heavy character with his rekka special attack having high and low options might seem intimidating...until you realize that both the real and fake versions of his overhead could be effortlessly countered with a 2H, for which 17's only counter without an assist requires meter and surrendering pressure, turning what was meant to be his strength into a joke. Lastly, his assist is in contention for the worst in the game, starting as a defensive barrier for a bit before doing a blast, on paper providing both offensive and defensive utility, but being mostly useless on both fronts in practice. He would later get some major buffs in the March 2019 update, most notably making it so his pressure no longer loses to a 2H. It wasn't enough to make him particularly good, but it's at least taken him out of the running for the game's worst character. Later buffs would eventually push him into being a genuine meta contender.
Captain Ginyu
- Captain Ginyu, mainly due to a combination of having weak combo potential in how his Ginyu Force call in mechanic operates, only having one Super Attack and one Meteor Attack (with the latter being the Body Swap), and having a lower damage output on a whole. While naturally there are many who do good with him, for most players, Ginyu is far too gimmicky to play well and lacks the power many other fighters have. Even adding a new Level 3 Super to his kit in Season 3 didn't do much for Ginyu's tier placement, and he remains closer to the bottom.
Gogeta (SSGSS)
- Gogeta was a strange one because on paper, he seems like he has everything he needs to be a high tier character: long-range normals, high damage, high-low mixups, a command grab, a reversal DP, and Kamehameha beams as his Ki Blasts. Unfortunately what kills him was his abysmal frame data. Most of his normals were slow and have high recovery, which made it difficult for him to end pressure safely, leaving him very vulnerable should he fail to open the opponent up. Furthermore, his 5L hits twice, but could only be canceled on the second hit, meaning you’re screwed if your opponent reflected the first hit, causing the second to whiff (though this issue has been addressed in the 3.5 update). His Ki Blasts take the form of Kamehameha beams, which on paper seems really good, but being beams they’re slow and have long recovery, which is something you don’t want in a Ki Blast to use in neutral. Finally, none of his supers grant him any oki should they connect, not helping his already questionable pressure game. He would however get major buffs down the line, rocketing him into top-tier.
Goku (SSGSS) & Vegeta (SSGSS) (assists)
- In terms of assists, Goku and Vegeta SSGSS (or Blue) are noted as having some of the worst ones in the game. Goku Blue's assist is a dive kick that's too short in length to be useful for anything other than creating sliding knockdowns when a character otherwise wouldn't be able to do one. Vegeta Blue's assist, despite ironically being the same canonical attack as his Super Saiyan version's super, is way too slow to come out and only hits once, making it very hard to use effectively. Season 3 has improved them (as well as fellow terrible assist owners, such as Android 17) by giving the choice to choose from three different assists. Furthermore, Goku Blue's old assist was majorly buffed as it can now induce a ground bounce, greatly boosting its followup potential.
Goku Black
- Goku Black was considered one of the best characters in the game at launch, but saw a rapid drop-off as many players caught on to his gameplay due to overuse (not unlike, say, Wesker in Marvel vs. Capcom 3) and have taken to more dangerous characters. Towards the end of Season 2, Black was considered to be midtier at best and inferior to regular Super Saiyan Goku in all areas. He fell off even more with the advent of Season 3, as the new Z Assist Selection mechanic granted characters like Krillin and Trunks his once-coveted Beam assist, and his buffs did little to improve his ability to open up players with proficient defense. The 1.25 balance patch solidified Black's placement near the bottom of many players' tier lists, as he only received minor buffs to his (barely used) B and C Assists, while other low tiers like Jiren and Videl received much more meaningful changes. As a result, many players even argue that Black is the worst character in the game.
Jiren
- Jiren, ironically enough, suffered from the reputation of being near the bottom of the tiers until later buffs. His normals were mediocre, having only one low hitting attack and the worst 5H (Standing heavy) in the game as a slow grab that loses to jabs. His specials were also mediocre to useless, his Grand charge is invincible to projectiles but lacks in range and his Infinity Rush is unsafe on block without an assist. He also has a lot of counters, and while his physical counters are OK (Especially his Hard/EX version), his projectile counter, the iconic Counter Impact, was one of the worst moves in the game, as it’s effortlessly baited, even by slow level 3 supers like Base Goku or the universal Super Dash. note A decent assist was generally considered his only redeeming trait, but even then there are far better ones available. This video sums up his dilemma in four minutes while showing how laughably outclassed Jiren is by DBZ Broly, who can do everything Jiren can but better.
Fortunately, he got massively buffed in a mid-season 3 patch, especially with his previously useless Counter-Impact special getting changed to being an omni-counter that works even against a dragon-rush. This would see him rise to the upper tiers as he is now a serious threat more befitting of his canonical strength.
Krillin
- Krillin is a trick play and support style character and very useful when he produces a Senzu Bean off his Assist, especially to defensive characters. However, his moveset tends to get blown out by most of the cast. Combine that with his shorter limbs and lackluster combos, and you have a character who seems like he can do more. His rock assist in particular is a frequent target of derision for being completely useless for basically everything. Season 3 buffed it considerably though by having Krillin throw two rocks now and they can no longer be superdashed through like before, as well as giving him an infinite number of Senzu Beans to use.
Nappa
- Nappa can potentially be a dangerous character with a unique gimmick in the Saibamen: when you think you are allowed to start your combo, a Saibaman can simply come up and knock you out of it. Getting it that way, however, is a different story. Nappa needs time to set up his Saibamen, which his Assists can grant him but when left on his own, he is VERY open to attack. And the Saibamen themselves are very fragile; a single hit will immediately put a stop to their attack, meaning a stray jab, Ki Blast, or Assist call will easily halt their pressure. Not helping matters is Nappa's moveset as a whole. His normal attacks are wanting in both speed and range (the most critical examples being his 2L and 5L), and his ranged tools are mostly ineffective at pressuring opponents. His basic grounded Ki Blast is incredibly slow and reactable as a trade-off for its physical hitbox, and Blazing Storm cannot contest beams and is pierced by most other ranged Specials. Though he does have his qualities; his lacking defense, weak neutral, and major reliance on Assists results in Nappa being held in low regard by many players from launch all the way to Season 3.
Videl
- In a more canonically fitting example of low tier, we have Videl. She does have some solid tools, such some solid zoning tools from some of the Great Saiyaman calls and a great 5H that acts as both a decent anti-projectile and excellent tag in option both on block and hit. What kills her viability though, is her spot-dodge in place of the standard reflect. While it does have some rare situational advantages if you can get a read on the opponent, its lack of meter gain and pushback when used successfully means that it's usually just going to keep you in a bad position that a good opponent can ruthlessly exploit. She thus ends up embodying the downfalls of a Mechanically Unusual Fighter, with most holding little hope that it will be changed lest they accidentally make her too strong.
