Abilities are the special attacks in MUA3 your character can use by holding R and pressing one of the controller’s face buttons. Different abilities do different things - some set enemies on fire, some bind enemies, some do a lot of damage, etc.

However, if you try to do an ability while holding ZR instead, you do a Synergy attack. You can also turn some of your AI teammates’ abilities into Synergy attacks by pressing A when prompted.

These attacks are important to master because they do serious damage. Not only that, but some of the Infinity Trials require you to use Synergy attacks to be able to do any sort of significant damage to your enemies at all. Lastly, they can also be used to break open doors, walls, etc. to find goodies like XP cubes.

Abilities have different traits that apply effects or affect the way damage is dealt when they are used as Synergy attacks.

Synergy refers to the resulting combination of the traits. Each character will have four abilities, thus four possibilities for Synergy attacks.

There are 15 traits in MUA3. They are:

Bash: Your character doles out mighty blows. Charge: Your character charges at their target. Beam: An energy beam that shoots out continuously. Slam: Slams your enemies down to the ground. Explosive: Releases multiple explosives at your enemies. Burst: Causes a powerful explosion. Barrage: A series of successive attacks against enemies. Rapid-Fire: A series of successive bullet or beam attacks. Launch: Causes enemies to go airborne. Burn: Adds Fire to your ability. Deals damage over time by burning a foe. Freeze: Adds Ice to your ability. Ice causes enemies to freeze. Shock: Adds Shock to your ability. Shock weakens and paralyzes enemies. Safeguard: Nullifies foes’ damage. Whirlwind: Tornado generating abilities. Area Assault: Attacks that spin in an area.

As mentioned before, Synergy is just the combination of two of the traits listed above. There are a variety of ways to combine these traits. Different combinations will achieve different results. Here are the Synergies that are explained in MUA3:

Element Barrage: Barrage OR Area Assault + Whirlwind OR Burn - Results in a tornado or elemental slashes that can seriously damage your enemies. Coalesce: Burn OR Freeze OR Shock + Whirlwind - Creates an elemental infused tornado. Catalyst: Bash (or another trait that blows enemies away) + Burn OR Freeze OR Shock - Expands the range of the attack. Shockwave: Bash (or another trait that blows enemies away) + Bash (or another trait that blows enemies away) - Creates a shockwave in the surrounding area. Mega Blast: Slam + Explosive - Tiny explosions combine to create a big one. Tremor: Slam + Slam - Creates an earthquake that causes enemies in the middle of your attack to take damage while other enemies affected by it will stumble. Resonant Blast: Beam + Beam - Turns the two energy beams into a damage dealing sphere. Reflect: Beam + Safeguard OR Area Assault - The Beam trait ability will deal damage while it scatters. Ricochet: Rapid Fire + Safeguard OR Area Assault OR Whirlwind - The Rapid-Fire ability will deal damage while it scatters. Shatter Shot: Rapid Fire + Rapid Fire - Each of the projectiles will explode and deal area damage. Surge: Launch + Launch - Throws the enemies in the area into the air. Eruption: Beam + Explosive - Creates an even stronger explosion. Crash: Barrage + Area Assault - Deals damage via multiple shockwaves. Calamity: Whirlwind + Whirlwind OR Bash - Creates an explosive tornado.

Different situations call for different Synergies. It is best to just practice them by playing through the game’s story mode or fooling around in Infinity Trials to find out which ones you think are best. You’re likely going to want to factor in having a diversity of Synergy attacks when you’re building your team as well as leveling up abilities for each character. Keep that in mind as you progress.

-

That’s it for our Synergy guide. If you found any Synergies not listed above or just want to tell us about your favorite one, leave a comment! Stay tuned for more Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order guides.