In Rocket Arena, the hero Topnotch is often overlooked as an elder statesmen, but the old guy has a couple of championship trophies under his belt, and if you’ve played even a few rounds in the arena, you’ll understand why. When everything else is said and done, his jetpack helps to stand him apart from the competition in a significant way, able to rain down misery on his foes, and it doesn’t even count as one of his abilities. If the game continues to gain popularity, it is sure to be nerfed, however, for the time being, it works great, and is dreadfully frustrating when the other side has him on their team.
Topnotch’s other abilities aren’t lacking in firepower either. His primary attack is the Bouncing Beauty bouncing grenade. It is easy to forget they bounce, and even easier to forget the trigger can be held down to manage detonation. His secondary attack is the Artillery Salute, cascading a line of artillery in on foes, an especially dreadful attack when his jetpack has given him extra altitude. Finally, his Zephyr Strike special move provides a devastating attack where most players get a movement special. We’ll focus on three builds here that will make him incredibly effective in the arena, including a jump boost build, a recharge build, and a dodge build.
Jump Boost Build
Topnotch has one of the most unique advantages in the game with his insane jetpack jumping ability. What happens if we take one of his core strengths, and enhance it? A terrifically high altitude blast. Like most jump builds, we would start this build with the Axial Fan and Berno’s Belt to increase jump strength and ground jump height. To squeeze out a little bit more here, we can go for the Jumping Jukebox as long as we can remember to keep moving in the same direction.
First Artifact - Axial Fan - Jump strength increased by 30%
Second Artifact - Berno’s Belt - Ground jump height increased by 30%
Third Artifact - Juking Jukebox - Jump strength increased 10% when moving same direction
Fast Recharge Build
Topnotch has some impressive artillery in his arsenal, quite literally. Enjoying that Zephyr strike? Why not spam those huge nukes to your heart’s content? Here, equip first the Reef Buoy - If foes do manage to land an up high hit on our hero, it will be their own undoing. From his high vantage point, Topnotch is sure to have many KOs, so equipping the Supercavitator ensures each KO achieved reduces all ability cooldowns, so an obvious choice here. Finally, the Crystal Crown will keep that artillery line firing in follow up to your Zephyr Strike’s, a devastating combo.
First Artifact - Reef Buoy - Taking damage reduces special ability cooldown up to 15%
Second Artifact - Supercavitator - KOs reduce all active ability cooldowns
Third Artifact - Crystal Crown - Using your special ability reduces your secondary cooldown 30%
Dodge Build
With a character like Topnotch, players have the ability to remain high above the fight for much of the round. Player’s hoping to topple his reign must look up, often at the expense of other enemies who are in their face ready to strike. By staying not only high in the air, but also, increasing dodge chances, Topnotch becomes an increasingly menacing foe. Incoming damage reduction is always a good plan for dodge builds, thus Hunter’s Idol is a strong choice. The Coldsnap Locket provides and expanded dodge radius, and the Bastion Bell gets health regeneration started rapidly after each KO, a necessary aspect to this build.
First Artifact - Hunter’s Idol - Decreases damage and impulse received by 10%
Second Artifact - Coldsnap Locket - Dodge radius increased by 100%
Third Artifact - Bastion Bell - KOs reduce the time until health regen starts by 40%
If you ever wondered what it was like to fly around with a jetpack and shoot artillery at people, Topnotch may help scratch that itch.
Source: EA
