In Pokémon Unite, some players have come across a hidden mechanic that they call the “Zapdos Debuff”. We at MeinMMO explain what it’s all about and what you can do about it.
What is the “Zapdos Debuff“? If you kill the Drednaw (Kamalm) just before Zapdos appears, it lowers your entire team’s attack by about 55%. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Drednaw from the beginning of the game, the second, or the third. What matters is when it is killed, as the team’s debuff lasts for 90 seconds afterward. Additionally, only the damage to Zapdos is reduced, not to wild or opposing Pokémon.
Pokémon Unite is known for not being very transparent with exact numbers or mechanics. The game still doesn’t provide exact values for Pokémon, battle items, or attacks. It also does not clarify on their site or in-game whether a Pokémon is a physical or special attacker. The question arises whether this mechanic is indeed real or just a bug.
However, players are sure: This must be a secret mechanic that harms the game.
In this video, you can see the player getting the Drednaw and testing the damage, with and without the debuff, on Zapdos:
Solutions for the “Zapdos Debuff“
What can you do best against the debuff? In the current meta, it’s common to win as many Drednaws as possible for your own team to gain the level advantage against the opposing team. Since the debuff lasts for 90 seconds, it is important to defeat the last Drednaw long before Zapdos appears.
Zapdos appears when there are only two minutes left in the game. Therefore, it is safest for your team to have defeated Drednaw by 3:30 minutes at the latest to ensure you deal normal damage at Zapdos.
You can also heal the debuff. You can do this by either taking the battle item “Full Heal“ with you or by playing Blissey (Heiteira) or Wigglytuff (Knuddeluff). Blissey’s attack “Safeguard” can free your teammates from the debuff and also it itself, due to its passive ability, is immune to it when not on cooldown.
Wigglytuff can remove the debuff with its Unite Move. This is also shown again by the user Skythrix (via reddit) in a short video.
How can you act in the end-game? Completely skipping Drednaw and leaving it to the opponents is not an option, especially if you have scored fewer goals than your opponents and must rely on Zapdos. Try to keep the opponents away from Drednaw as soon as you notice the timer is so low that you would have the debuff for Zapdos for too long.
The downside of the debuff is mainly that it takes you twice as long to get Zapdos. During this time, you might take down the opponents one by one to attack the boss undisturbed, but you take so much time that the kill cooldown of the opponents has expired before you can even defeat Zapdos. The opponents then have an increased chance to steal Zapdos and decide the game in their favor.
Be sure to pay attention to your timing with Drednaw. Alternatively, a supporter can take “Fluffy Tail” as an item to temporarily increase the damage to Drednaw, Rotom, and Zapdos for all members of your team. By the way, Rotom does not cause a debuff to your team.
Did you know about the “Zapdos Debuff“? What do you think about this mechanic, and do you think it ruins the end-game? Feel free to share in the comments.
Pokémon Unite: Blastoise release next week – Trailer shows attacks
