Z Broly towers over other fighters as an impressive mountain of muscles. You might recognize his archetype from the very first glance — yep, this is a grappler, but also, he possesses very strong zoning tools.
Broly has many advantages in DBFZ matches. His neutrals are strong; he literally destroys opponents in the corner; the mixup options are quite versatile; the comeback potential is excellent. The downsides of playing Broly in Dragon Ball FighterZ include his huge hurtboxes, so it’s easy for opponents to land a hit, and high demand for resources to use the strongest moves.
Learning how to play a fighting game character is more than just understanding his pros and cons. You need to know many tricks — and who might be better to teach such stuff than an esports professional? Boost up your Z Broly skills with this character guide by KnowKami.
Broly’s Best Buttons
KnowKami mentions these attacks as the best for Z Broly:
- 5L — it’s a really great tool for beginning engagements in neutral. The attack is very strong versus Super Dash from a stationary point and moving. With 5L, Broly can easily enter the opponent’s space. It has 7 frames of startup. You can start many different offenses just by whiffing it because the second hit of auto combo is also a disjointed hitbox.
- 2H — along with Broly’s other normals, medium and heavy, this one comes with extra armor. It becomes a strong tool in many different situations, such as Vegito’s j.S or ki blast mixes from other characters. You need to feel the right scenarios of 2H. Another place to use this attack is in the corner as an oki. It’s part of Broly’s mixup scenarios on waking up opponents.
- 5H — it’s another armored heavy normal of Broly. Not only is it good offensively, but also, 5H is a nice defensive option. If an opponent tries to rush you down, you can say “stop” by using this normal. KnowKami says it’s kind of a risky tool if the victim overextends their lookout for it. 5H is good to end strings with. It might be connected with 5S as this ki blast always hits on block when opponents are crouching. Ending with 5H+5S presents the mind game of command grab vs ki blast reset.
Medium buttons are also important, but KnowKami states their less significance in the neutral game.
- 2M — it goes far; it’s low and safe on block.
- 5M also has a pretty good range. It’s unsafe on block, but you can set up a lot of command grab scenarios because it puts you right next to your opponent.
According to KnowKami, it is 5S that makes Broly really crazy.
- 5S — it’s one of the best neutral control tools in the game. No matter where the opponent is, Broly can affect them on the screen. It has 22 frames of startup, and this is incredible compared to other DBFZ characters. It’s an excellent tool for many scenarios where a zoner/grappler would struggle in neutral. 5S is a hallmark of Z Broly. If you use it in conjunction with assists, you can create lots of scenarios where Z Broly starts dominating.
- j.S is also very strong. It might be overlooked a lot because whenever this attack is blocked and super dashed, you can cancel into his air grab. You need to be precise to connect this and block Super Dash or use air grab. It’s another very powerful tool for Broly.
Neutral Game
Once again, KnowKami emphasizes the importance of 5S for the neutral game of Broly. Any time you use it with an assist, you are getting in.
Also, Lariat Express is an important tool for neutral. This move can end all engagements. It goes through things, becoming a good offensive and neutral ending tool. In combination with assists, you can use it anytime when something is too much for you. It’s a super armored move, and you can make it plus.
DBFZ is a game where many characters predominantly play in the air. Broly can immediately command and grab such air opponents and cause big damage. In the neutral, this air command grab has minimal recovery. It’s not very easy to get a punishment for this.
At all times, you should be aware of Broly’s 5S, his armored normals, and an incredible fast air command grab. These tools are really powerful.
Broly’s 236S
KnowKami emphasizes the importance of this Special Move.
Broly can’t pressure opponents with 5S without an assist. 236S gives him a lot more plus, and it goes through Super Dash. It’s a fantastic tool to get in.
Powered Shell
This ability allows Broly to ignore projectiles completely. After the recent patch, it also ignores all assists, even physical.
This incredible tool makes Broly an Anchor monster in DBFZ. Even if an opponent has three characters against one Broly, Powered Shell turns the battle into 1v1 as all the assists lose their power. In such a situation, Broly enjoys the advantages of good 1v1 matchups against most of the characters in the game.
KnowKami calls Powered Shells one of the best Special Moves in the entire game.
Blockstrings
Z Broly has excellent frame data for a grappler.
2L Auto Combo, 5L — all are -2. It’s very strong for restarting pressure.
2M is also good; it’s only -5. It spaces Broly in a place where he can begin pressure right in the opponent’s face really quick. If you use 2M in conjunction with an assist, Z Broly can easily start mixup scenarios from untypical places.
Sometimes, ending with 5H is ok too. You can go into Eraser Blow. KnowKami prefers ending with 5S this season. This attack places Broly in a position where he can command grab the opponent, who still cannot use their normals.
Whenever you use 5S with an assist, you can approach the opponent and use 5L. Or you can use j.S, covered by the assist. Also, Eraser Blow + an assist is also a strong option.
The goal in general is to keep Broly massively plus and do this from a long range — and that will be a good blockstring starter for this character.
BnB Combos
In this section, KnowKami demonstrates the most important combos for this character. He says that Broly’s rejump combo is essential.
Another assist on the video finishes with no assist but with a slight knockdown, Powered Shelled into M. It’s really strong, one of the best combos finishers you can have in Dragon Ball FighterZ.
Broly’s corner combo is also very important to know.
In the end, KnowKami shows a combo with the basic confirm from ki blast using Vanish to go in an assist, get a corner, and have a slight knockdown.
Assists
- A Assist is a horizontal beam. It’s a bit slow, but this assist is invulnerable to ki blasts as soon as the beam is on the screen. It’s important for the gameplan when you play against certain characters who want to shoot their ki blast at your fighter — you can activate this assist, and it’s difficult to snipe it. The active character can move behind this assist. After the August 2021 patch, Broly’s A Assist has 30 frames of blockstun. It’s amazing for Super Dash Assists scenarios; it’s great for characters like Zamazu and others who need high blockstun.
- B Assist of Broly is similar to Vegeta’s A. It’s not bad and has some use in the matches. Not many players chose it over A Assist because Vegeta is doing that better. KnowKami thinks that this assist is exceptional for Broly’s combos.
- C Assist gives Super Armor and will combo from anywhere. It has good horizontal tracking. Opponents should jump to avoid this; they cannot interact with it because of the armor.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Z Broly excellently combines the power of a grappler and effective zoning tools. He can become a good part of any team because of the dexterity of his assists combined with the might he has as a Point.
KnowKami says that if you are looking to pick up a character in Dragon Ball FighterZ, Z Broly should be on your list.
T8
MK1
SF6
GBVSR
Project L
SSBU
T7
DBFZ
BH
GGST
SC6
SG2E
KI
MVS
KoFXV
MBTL
SF5
MK11
