Zeta Gundam

Model Number: MSZ-006	Pilot: Kamille Bidan
Cost: 2500 Hp: 620 Transform: O Form Change: X

A transformable MS developed by Anaheim Electronics and the AEUG. It is a suit that allows for a wider range of tactics thanks to its ability to shift into its ‘Waverider’ form.

MS Mode Ability Summary

Ranged	Armament	Ammo	DMG	Notes
Main	Beam Rifle	6	70	Possible to repeatedly fire up to 3 times. Manual reload when empty.
Charged Main	Dummy Balloon	–	73	Forces enemy assists to target the balloon
Charged Melee	Methuss Summon	1	–	Can only be used once per life. Refills ammo. Neutral input refills ammo for yourself, directional input for your partner
Sub	Grenade Launcher	2	76-128	Fires two grenades per input
Special Shooting	Hyper Mega Launcher	1 (2)	150	Fires a large beam that knocks down on hit
2AC	Beam Confuse	1	70 ~ 133	Throws a beam saber and shoots it, causing it to explode. Stuns on hit
Special Melee	Hyaku Shiki Summon(Dodai Launch)	2	101	5BC: Hyaku Shiki launches his Dodai at the enemy.
	Hyaku Shiki Summon(Slashthrough)		84	*BC: Hyaku Shiki rides the Dodai and slashes at the enemy.
Special Melee from specific moves	Emergency Transformation	–	–	Transforms into Waverider form in the input direction. When cancelling into Special Melee from CSA, CSB, AC, BC, and all melee, you will get this move instead of the Hyaku Shiki summon. – 8+Special Melee(8BC), transforms Zeta on the same flight level – Special Melee(5BC), transforms Zeta with an upward motion – 2+Special Melee(2BC), transforms Zeta with a downward motion
Burst Attack	Giant Beam Saber Slash	–	273(F)/260(E & S)	Zeta slashes an enemy with a giant beam saber. Downs on hit, high tracking

Melee	Input	DMG	Notes
5B	5BBB	174
	5BB8BB	221	Links to Sub on first hit of 8B
	5B(B)~AC	149~189	Launches upwards
8B	8BB	134	Untechable bounce down
4/6B	4/6BB	129	Links to Sub on second hit
	4/6B~A	155	Shares ammo with main.
	4/6B~AC	149	Launches upwards
2B	2B	85	Stuns the opponent on hit
	2B~AC	169	Launches upwards
CC8B	CC8B	74	Strong melee priority, fast startup
	CC8BB	138	Opponents can’t tech out upon last hit
	CC8B~AC	158	Launches upwards

*All derivatives for this melee input can be performed on all melee inputs except 5B and 8B

Cancel Routes:

A: AB, 2B

BC: AB

5AC,BC,CSA,CSB,all melee: BC

5B,5BB,4/6B,CC8B,MA 5B: 2B

4B and 5B~8B on hit: AB

MA Mode Ability Summary

Ranged	Armament	Ammo	DMG	Notes
Main	Beam Rifle	6	70	Fires up to 6 times consecutively. Shares ammo with the MS form.
Sub	Beam Gun	5	30~60	Hold to fire all 5 ammo
Special Shooting	Hyper Mega Launcher	1 (2)	150	Shares ammo with the MS form.

Melee	Input	DMG	Notes
5B	5B	100	Long Beam Saber: Zeta transforms back into MS form and does a wide slash attack, opponents can’t tech out upon hit.
	5B~AC	184	Follows up the Long Beam Saber slash with Hyper Mega Launcher Upward Slash
BC (Waverider Crash)	BC	50	Zeta rams into an enemy. If no command is input, the opponent will receive a short stun effect.
	BC~AC	126	Fires High Mega Cannon, downs. Consumes mega launcher ammo.
	BC~A	104	Fires 1 shot of Beam Rifle. Consume main ammo.
	BC~AB	158	Fires 1 shot of Beam Gun. Consume MA AB ammo
	BC (during Burst)	261(F)/249(E & S)	Zeta rams into the enemy and then drills into them for massive damage.

Cancel Routes(Waverider):

AB, AC: BC

Overview

Zeta Gundam is an all-rounder suit with decent mobility, a simple playstyle, and potential to deal massive damage when it enters Burst. Zeta’s beam rifle is very unique in that it allows for repeated firing without the need to boost dash to Zunda, giving you a big boost advantage over other units in a shooting battle. Zeta also does not suffer from ammunition issues. Equipped with a reloadable beam rifle, you will never find yourself in a situation where the lack of ammunition costs you a crucial hit. Additionally, Zeta’s melee damage is nothing to scoff at, and it has a few good moves that gives it the edge over even dedicated melee units.

Zeta has access to an MA mode which gives it additional tools to work with in both its neutral and attacking game. While tricky to learn at first, a player who masters the use of this form will find access to options such as firing off-angle shots to catch moving enemies and effective use of the Waverider Crash’s moving melee properties.

During Burst, Zeta becomes an immediate top-level threat, as it gains super armor on all its moves, and also gets one of the most powerful and easy to hit burst attacks in the game. This is the very definition of a strong comeback factor, so using your burst effectively is doubly-important when playing Zeta.

While Zeta in GVS suffered from a glaring weakness of having very linear weapons with poor tracking capabilities, his Hyaku Shiki assist in MBON covers that weakness, and then some. It’s a move that tracks extremely well, forcing opponents to pay attention to you.

Overall, Zeta is a good all-rounder unit that allows you to put constant pressure on the enemy, and turn the tables if necessary. If you want to be firing something at all times and don’t want to give your opponents any breathing room, this is the unit for you. 

MS Mode Ability Details

Ranged Weapons

Main: Beam Rifle

Can be fired 3 times in succession, and can be manually reloaded on empty. With 6 ammo, this means you can fire two three-shot volleys before reloading. Shares ammo with MA mode A.

There is a bit more startup on this beam rifle and it’s quite easy to fire out of angle compared to other beam rifles, but this can be nullified through the cancel route to sub which allows you to freefall. Take note that in shooting burst you will not freefall if firing out of angle, so you should sidestep the shots or use your sub to freefall.

It’s not good to rely solely on your BR in the close range, due to the poor muzzle correction between shots and a slightly slower startup. Use your sub and BC assists to cover for these weaknesses, and try to create space where you can fire your BR freely in the mid to long ranges. 

Charged Main: Dummy Balloon

If you have a Dummy Balloon on the field, enemy assists will attack the dummy instead of you or your partner. While this move isn’t recommended in every single matchup, it can be very potent in matchups where your opponent relies heavily on assists, such as with Forbidden, X1 Kai, Throne Drei, etc.

This most also acts like an active mine. Any foe (or friend) that touches the balloon detonates it, doing damage.

Charged Melee: Methuss Summon

Now you know why Methuss was a playable unit in GVS- it was a model they were already using as a Zeta assist. This assist reloads either you or your teammate’s ammo, but not all moves are reloaded, such as DX’s Satellite Cannon, and power-up forms.

Zeta has a reloadable main and most of its moves reload relatively quickly, so unless you want to quickly reload your BC this is best used on your teammate. This is of course most effective if you’re communicating via voice, as they can tell you when they’re empty and need a top up. 

Sub: Grenade Launcher

Fires two grenades. Allows for a freefall from your BR when it is fired out of angle. Good muzzle correction (unlike your main) makes this the top candidate for self defense against melee attacks, especially since they beat out shooting guard. 

Special Shooting: Hyper Mega Launcher

Fires a large beam that knocks down on hit. Very high damage for a single shot, with a very fast travel speed, good tracking, and a huge hitbox. In particular the muzzle correction is excellent. This is great for saving your partner, as a combo ender, and pretty much anywhere where you want a single powerful shot. You can also cancel this into BC to be relatively safe.

This can be used in self defense against melee attacks, but you need to shoot it point blank and account for the startup. It beats out super armor, so coupled with your sub you can beat out every type of special melee attack. 

2AC: Beam Confuse

Throws a spinning beam saber and shoots it, causing it to explode in a cloud of pink. Anyone within the AOE gets stunned.  

Special Melee 1: Hyaku Shiki Summon

You get two versions of the Hyaku Shiki and his Dodai:

5BC: Hyaku Shiki sends out the Dodai to hit the enemy. Large hitbox, but almost no tracking. Best used in the close range.

Directional BC: Hyaku Shiki rides dirty on the Dodai, and slashes at enemies that come too close. This move has a big hitbox and great tracking, making it great for catching enemies who don’t respect it. Yet another great move for self defense. 

Special Melee 2: Emergency Transformation

Transforms into Waverider form. You get this move instead of the Hyaku Shiki summon when cancelling from certain attacks (check the cancel routes section). Good for general mobility.

Melee

5B: Three-hit combo

A very orthodox melee sequence. There is nothing outstanding about this combo in any aspect other than having better damage proration than other melee combos. This is best used in the middle of a combo string rather than as a starter given its average priority. But if you do land this raw, you can expect big damage.

5B~8B: Launcher

Hits the enemy upwards, putting them in the ideal position for a shot from your mega launcher, or even your burst attack. Has good damage proration. The problems with this move is that the actual DPS is quite poor, and you’re forced into a fixed camera angle. You can cancel into sub after this move.

8B: Stab

Stabs at the enemy with a beam saber. Has a forced camera angle change on the second hit. This move has really fast startup and a great hitbox, but doesn’t travel very far. The second hit bounces the enemy on hit, making it easy to follow up on. However, it doesn’t bounce the opponent very high, so you might have difficulty continuing the combo if the enemy is on a slope. 

4/6B: Shield Strike

Tackles the enemy with the affixed shield. Does not travel very far. The second hit of this move puts the enemy in an awkward position, making following-up with another attack near impossible. 

This move is actually pretty bad in all aspects, including startup, hitbox, and tracking. If you hit this move, you’re best off cancelling directly into sub. This causes you to freefall even in overheat. Overall, not your best melee option, but if you need to end your combo quick you can use this as a combo part to freefall. 

4/6B~A: Beam Rifle Shot

You can repeatedly press A to fire up to three shots from your beam rifle. This is a terrible move, and it is best that you seal it off.

2B: Slash-through

Can be cancelled into from your Main. Similar to Nu Gundam’s 2B. Overall, this move is really great on Zeta, especially because you can rapid fire your Main. This puts you in an advantage over other 2.5k or lower cost units when fighting it out in the close range, as no other unit in the 2.5k cost bracket is capable of doing this. 

This move has pretty good cut resistance, and does pretty good damage, stuns on hit, and has good proration too, so it’s even good as a combo part. 

This move faces stiff competition from CC8B~AC as the go-to melee combo. Both have their own pros and cons, and in actuality 2B often beats out the former in damage output, so it’s really a matter of picking whichever works best for you.

CC8B: Shield Tackle

4/6B also attacks with the shield, but the difference in performance between that and CC8B is like hell and heaven. Fast startup, a big hitbox and excellent rushing speed makes this Zeta’s signature melee attack.

This is not the kind of melee attack you would expect from an all-rounder unit. This move even allows it to go toe-to-toe with dedicated melee suits. The only problem with this move is its poor distance, so be sure to use it in the right range. 

You can follow-up on this move by stepping forward during the first phase of the attack (before the kick). You can also cancel this into 2B or AC during the first phase, but again be careful using this move on slopes. 

AC after 4/6B | CC8B | 2B: Hyper Mega Launcher Rising Slash

Uses the saber from the hyper mega launcher and slash upwards, still consumes boost while in animation, the animation is quite long and has multiple hits. Therefore on areas like Side-7’s slope, this combo will not work (Especially following up from the CC8B and behind the opponent is a slope). It has however excellent damage/correction and is used in a combo.

Burst Attack

Giant Beam Saber Slash

[Zeta slashes an enemy with a giant beam saber]

Downs on hit, high tracking and a big hitbox. Usually best to combo into this. Really nice damage, your best comeback move. 

MA Mode Ability Details

Ranged Weapons

Main: Beam Rifle

Able to fire all 6 shots in quick succession however, Zeta is unable to reload in MA mode. It’s best used after pointing the MA mode forward and firing all 6 shots before returning back to MS mode, it’s rarely used as there’s the risk factor of flying straight forward while shooting beam rifle shots in MA mode manually.

However in Fighting Burst, it could be used to extend the Super Armor frame as each shot of the beam rifle in MA mode counts as Zeta having Super Armor, this comes in handy as Zeta can link the MA beam rifle to a melee in Fighting Burst allowing it to resist hits on the go and get up close to opponents.

Sub: Beam Gun

Fires 2 shots from the side of the Waverider form. The Beam Gun, unlike the Beam Rifle is unable to fire shots rapidly and the accuracy is also considered slightly worse than the beam rifle, therefore it’s almost never used at all.

Special Shooting: Hyper Mega Launcher

Fires 1 shot of Hyper Mega Launcher that knocks down on hit. Has the same damage, travel speed and tracking as when it’s fired in MS mode, the muzzle correction on the other hand isn’t there anymore and requires the Waverider form to adjust it’s angle before firing it.

It’s best used as a quick shot in Waverider mode before immediately returning to MS mode to apply pressure in MS mode as opponents will need to look out for the huge hitbox, however it will depend on the user whether to do so in Waverider form or preserve it to fire in MS mode for self defense or end combo sake.

Melee 

5B: Long Beam Saber

Zeta transforms back to it’s MS mode and does a slash with the Long Beam Saber from it’s Beam Rifle, this move has really good chasing speed, it moves even faster than Zeta’s CC8B in MS mode. However it’s melee priority still loses to CC8B, therefore it’s best used to either surprise unsuspecting opponents or to close up the space between Zeta and the opponent to allow a close range burst gameplay where Zeta can utilize the Super Armor to its fullest. 

BC: Waverider Crash

Zeta crashes into the opponent in its Waverider form. Without burst, the waverider crash travels slowly to the enemy, upon crashing, the player can decide whether to fire AC(Hyper Mega Launcher), A(Beam Rifle), AB(Beam Gun) or B(Drill motion), While A and AB do not offer much in damage and is rarely used, it is recommended to fire the AC as it’s a one hit down.

It’s good to note that while B offers a drill motion that opponents can’t tech out from. It has really low cut resistance and offers only average damage, thus it’s best to avoid using Waverider Crash outside of AC when not in burst.

During burst, Zeta’s Waverider Crash becomes a move that drags the opponent away upon connecting with the crash, dealing massive damage at the same time. Waverider Crash in burst while really powerful comes with some risk factors in that the opponent might shoot Zeta out of his Super Armor state while Zeta is trying to Waverider Crash, or opponents might side step it and punish Zeta immediately. Therefore it’s a move that shouldn’t be used unless the player is certain that it will connect.

Strategies

• Noting that Zeta is an all-rounder type, Zeta has enough firepower to play as a full support role but also has some tools to work with as a front suit, namely the assist, Hyper Mega Launcher and strong melee priority of CC8B which gives Zeta some front pressure that not many other 2.5k suits have.
• If Zeta’s partner is a 3k front, it’s good to get into a position slightly behind the line of the 3k to support with Zeta’s heavy firepower, the player can choose to fire the main with two three-shot volleys or shoot in unorthodox manners like 2x Beam Rifle,pause,3x Beam Rifle. Reasoning for doing that is so the shots fired will track in different timings rather than 3x Beam Rifle, Boost Dash, 3x Beam Rifle where one side step from the opponent will cancel all 6 shot’s tracking.
• If Zeta is forced to front for reasons such as Overcost, tagging with a 2k support suit, 3k support suit or even a 1.5k suit, Zeta can head out in the front line and use the rapid fire Beam Rifle to match up in firepower. Zeta’s cancel routes will become extremely important for this case as the player will need to use every free falls to land well without getting punished by the opponents. 
• When firing the Beam Rifle out of angle and it caused a vernier shot, always use sub regardless of ammo as Zeta free falls from this even if sub has no ammo.
• Side step, BC>sub is extremely useful as the Hyaku Shiki assist has really strong tracking and Zeta also free falls from this. (The side step at the start cuts enemy tracking before initiating the free fall)
• Depending on partner’s suit, sometimes the Methuss Summon (csB) is better off used for Zeta itself than for the partner as Zeta will be able to reload the Hyper Mega Launcher and Hyaku Shiki assist which allow Zeta to play more aggressively.
• When challenged by a melee suit, the go-to melee will always be CC8B as it has high melee priority, it has shown to beat dedicated melee suit’s priorities like Master Gundam’s 4/6b, Astray Red Frame’s 8b, and even 00Quanta’s Buster Sword 8b if timed right, however timing is crucial as those melee suits will be able to side step Zeta’s CC8B if it’s used too early, it’s also good to remember a huge number of melee suits can always counter Zeta’s CC8B so sometimes it’s better to use CC8B as a feint attack before firing a Beam Rifle>Sub at close range.