Batman using his Super Move while equipped with an evolved Militarized Batmobile, which adds a 20% damage area effect. The main target takes 90,979 damage, while all other characters take 18,195 (20%) damage each.
Area Effect is a unique effect found on many gear pieces, and passives of several characters. It is also an inherent effect on some specials. The affected special or super move will deal a stated percentage of the primary damage dealt to the main target to both tagged-out characters.
If multiple sources of Area Effect are activated, only one part of the damage will show as a number pop up, but the actual damage stacks. If multiple hits trigger the same Area Effect in rapid succession, the hits would be displayed in the cumulative manner (e.g. if the tagged out opponent takes 50 and immediately afterwards 100 damage, the hits would be displayed as 50 followed by 150).
Characters
- The Arkham Knight's passive causes his SP2 to deal additional Area Effect damage upon hitting 200% (equivalent to 40% of his damage stat, prior to upgrades; this is additional damage dealt all three enemies, not the usual damage-derived-from-main-target-damage form).
- The first half of Reverse Flash's SP2 deals 50% Area Effect damage.
- Darkseid/Apokolips's SP2 also deals ~23% Area Effect damage.
- Aquaman/Regime's Super Move drains all power from the whole enemy team, which displays a small amount of Power Drain damage that is not actually dealt.
- Harley Quinn/Suicide Squad's SP2 can deal 20% Area Effect damage (when choosing C4) if paired with Deadshot/Suicide Squad
- Lord Joker/Batman Ninja's passive allows himself and Gunner teammates (The Joker, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Deathstroke and Lobo) to deal Area Effect damage with their Special Attack.
- Deadshot/Arkham Origins is able to deal Area Effect damage with both his light combo & his specials.
Gear
- Characters with signature gear that add an Area Effect on special 1 include Aquaman, Shazam, Zatanna and Zod.
- Characters with signature gear that add an Area Effect on special 2 include Ares, Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Lobo and Static.
- Batman's Militarized Batmobile is the only piece of gear that offers Area Effect on a Super Move.
- League Of Assassins Adept Knives allows any character to do Area Effect damage on special 1.
- Fourth World Godly Mace allows any character to do Area Effect damage on special 2.
- The Master's Death Cart allows any character to do Area Effect damage on all special attacks and combo enders.
Mechanics
Area Effect damage cannot knock out tagged-out characters, it will always leave them with 1 health left. However, the damage pop up will still show full damage. Overkill damage from a knock-out blow on the main target will inflict full area effect damage on tagged-out characters.
Area effect does not apply for status effects, (e.g. damage over time will not be dealt to tagged-out characters even if the special does area effect damage), with the exception of Aquaman/Regime's super move, which drains all power from the whole enemy team.
Area Effect damage will not trigger Raven/Prime's passive. Previously, it did, but it only reduced the health of the character that used the Area Effect attack without healing Raven. It will also not trigger The Flash/Elseworld's passive. However, Area Effect damage will trigger Green Lantern/John Stewart's Emergency Barrier and Bane/Arkham Origins's Vengeance.
Area Effect damage dealt completely depends on the character who took the special itself, and any damage increase (e.g. bleed) or decrease (e.g. Green Lantern/Red Son's passive) will also affect the damage the rest of the team takes proportionally. A notable exception is block gear that further decreases damage taken when blocking (e.g. Charged Disc); if one of the tagged-out teammates has such gear, and the active fighter is blocking against a passive-based Area Effect attack, the teammate with block gear will received reduced damage compared to the other tagged-out teammate. However, for gear-based Area Effect, this does not occur.
Area Effect from gear will hit for 0 damage if the main target has Invulnerability, KO immunity, or them using a special themselves. However, characters with inherent (passive or special based) Area Effect damage will damage secondary targets at the normal damage even if the main target is invulnerable; if this happens for the whole special, the Tantu Totem will consider this as no damage has been done by the special and refund power (despite it actually doing Area Effect damage). The Joker/Batman Ninja and Harley Quinn/Suicide Squad are exceptions: their passives' Area Effect is not applied if the special is blocked by those effects.
Area Effect damage of the same attack stacks with other sources. For example, a gunner character teamed with Lord Joker/Batman Ninja and equipped with League of Assassins Adept Knives can deal up to 70% Area Effect Damage. Nevertheless, Area Effect damage cannot be greater than the original damage dealt.
Area Effect damage cannot apply Life Drain.
If a tagged-out character has Armor or the Astro-Harness's Power Shield and they take Area Effect damage, the damage will go straight to their health instead of deducting from those effects.
Strategy
The effect of focusing your damage.
Offense
Area Effect may seem to significantly increase your damage, but due to the impact of "piling", it is less valuable than direct damage boosts. As you can see in the graphic, it is more effective to focus your damage rather than spreading it out, making Area Effect less powerful than it seems. However, League Of Assassins Adept Knives's up to 50% area effect is huge; it is particularly strong on one-hit special 1s when paired with Cloak of Destiny (examples include Bane/Luchador; and Batgirl/Prime who's SP1 is also essentially one-hit for this purpose as the majority of its damage is on the second hit). Overkill damage on your primary target is still counted in the calculation for area effect damage, so with enough augments and fully evolved gears, it is possible to knock out one character and bring the other two characters to 1 health with a single SP1, which is what makes Luchador Bane feared in Online Battles.
Less explosively efficient area effect damage can also be a counter to strong self-regeneration effects (a prime example being Fourth World Set's full set effect), as it allows you to continuously whittle down the health of tagged out opponents even if the main target is healing too rapidly to defeat. This helps with characters who regenerate health while tagged out.
Defense
Brandished Ninjato can absorb and weaken area effect damage and convert it into power. Evading the attack (e.g. Batman/Dawn of Justice) will also negate its area effect damage on teammates. Damage reduction applied on the main attack will also weaken its area effect. Disable Special and Power Drain are also great ways to avoiding area effect attacks.
Trivia
- Area Effect damage does not show up in the after-match damage count.
- The full LexCorp Set's damage effect can occasionally cause an Area Effect animation if the characters tag at the right moment, but it is not truly an Area Effect attack. The same applies for Solomon Grundy/Earth 2's passive.
- Catwoman/Arkham Knight's unrinsable DOT also displays the same animation as Area Effect.
- The Master's Death Cart has different area effect mechanic from the others.