Overview
A quick guide that lays down some basic rules for people who want to play Muckle like a real fighting game.
1. Basic Rules
Muckle is a game mode where players attempt to beat the stuffing out of one another for points.
Here are some basic rules I’ve developed to help make the game fair and interesting.
1. Both players must stick with the weapons they entered the match with. Players cannot pause and equip different weapons during a match.
2. Muckle must be played on a balanced field; in order to create a balanced field, use the world editor tool that replicates whatever you do across the X or Y axis.
3. Matches should be played to the best 2 out of 3.
4. No quitting! Be a good sport.
5. Have fun!
Weapon Tier List
While it may seem a bit silly, I have created a list of what I believe to be the best (and worst) muckle weapons, along with reasons for each one being where it is.
A tier (Almost always useful):
Frog: The Frog is personally my favorite weapon in the game for Muckle, and it’s extremely versatile. It has a pretty short animation, it can create multiple frogs, and the weapon requires very little from the user in order to be effective. I mainly use it for zoning opponents, then later killing them once they’re cornered. The best way to utilize Frogs is to drop one in the direction you’re going, then leap over it and try to slam your opponent down into the frog (using your Aerial X button move). This often leads to a kill, netting 3 points for the slam and 20 for the kill.
Even if you aren’t getting kills, though, Frogs can effectively zone an opponent and reduce their chasing ability, allowing you to effectively kite them. On top of all that, Frogs are also immune to being reflected or absorbed by the Fan or Vacuum, making them difficult to block.
The only real weakness of Frogs are that they are ground-bound, making them ineffective against jumpy targets, and that they will detonate one another, allowing an enemy to countplay by simply dropping frogs of their own.
Boomerang: Not quite as versatile as the Frog, but a very solid weapon all the same. With a quick startup animation, solid range, and good stunning ability, the Boomerang is an excellent harassment tool. It is also one of the most effective anti-air weapons, as it can knock an enemy out of their jump and send them plummeting. It will also return to you if it isn’t knocked out of the air, allowing you to catch an enemy with the return flight if you’re clever. The boomerang is also rather large, making it decently hard to dodge.
The boomerang’s main weaknesses are that it has a fairly slow velocity, and it can potentially be sent back at you and end up stunning you. If used it extremely close range, it can also bounce back and stun you both. As a whole, though, it’s my go-to weapon for ranged harassment.
B tier (Usually useful):
Grenade: This would honestly be A tier if it wasn’t able to be kicked back at you with a slide kick. It has an enormous blast radius, a solid range, a low startup, and solid spammability. If you’re solo, this is generally a solid choice. I’ll often run Grenade and Frogs together to play a zoning game and keep my opponent too far away to score on me.
Main weaknesses are the fact that its radius can often knock you back or even kill you along with your opponent, and that it’s very easy to reflect with a fan or a kick.
Acid Bubble: One of the stronger ranged harassment options, with an extremely useful instant kill if touched from the sides or below. Has a quick startup, decent spammability, and the bubbles hang around for a while, providing lasting zoning.
Main weaknesses are that they are completely harmless when touched from the top, making them nearly useless on enemies coming down from a jump. They are also easily reflected and can just as easily kill you as they can kill an opponent.
Fan: Probably the best defensive weapon in the game. Almost instant startup, and it can reflect almost all other weapons. The knockback is really just icing.
Main downsides are that it inflicts no damage whatsoever on its own, not even a stun. It can push an enemy into a hazard on a gimmicky stage, but even then, there are better choices. Really only useful because of the projectile reflection.
C tier (Sometimes useful):
Airplane: Another strong contender for ranged harassment. The main reason it’s not higher on the list is the detonation delay: it requires extremely specific timing to get a kill on a mobile target. Getting a knockback is a bit easier.
Downsides are, as previously said, the detonation time, the somewhat wavy trajectory, and the somewhat slow animation. You can also only have a single plane at a time.
Disc: Not bad, not great. The disc has a decent knockdown if it hits an enemy directly. The explosion has a huge delay on it though, making it extremely dodgeable. The fast flight and quick animation are really its only saving graces, making it a decent, but not particularly spectacular choice.
D tier (Rarely useful):
Dart Gun: A decent long-ranged knockdown. Okay startup time, okay projectile speed.
The darts have a decent chance to either miss the target entirely or just bounce back and knock you down too, making the boomerang a better choice in almost all circumstances.
Forceball: A fairly unreliable, large radius knockback. The odd trajectory and huge explosion radius combined with the lack of a stun or lethality make this weapon rather meh in general. It will often knock you back along with your enemy, usually ruining any momentum you had.
E tier (Almost never useful):
Ice Cannon: With a very strange, unpredictable angular lobbing velocity, this weapon has a pretty high chance of backfiring you and hitting you. If you actually manage to hit an enemy, the effect is extremely useful, setting enemies up for easy kills. Sadly, the random trajectory and slow animation make this one barely usable.
Dodgeball: No stun, wimpy knockback, no lethality. Generally more annoying than anything else. I’ve yet to see a competitive use for it.
Fireball: Truly the cream of the crap. While it has an excellent velocity and an okay startup, the fact that an enemy you hit with it only has to touch you to kill you ruins any potential it had. Unless you’re extremely good at keeping enemies away or you’re using a fan, give the fireball a pass.