| Rarity | Base Stats | Price | Obtained From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metal | 2,700/2,900 | N/A | Phantom Zone, Nth Metal Pack, Nth Metal Pro Pack, Nth Metal Ultimate Pack |
 Strength of War: Once The Merciless lands (12-7) consecutive hits in a row without being hit, his next Special will be unblockable. The Merciless & teammates gain (5%-10%) armor on tag-in.
[Evolve] For every DARK POWER bar used The Merciless & teammates gain (5%-15%) armor. |
The Merciless is essentially an Ares card - although he is actually an evil version of Batman from the Dark Multiverse - introduced in the 3.0 update.
He is one of the first two Metal characters along with The Batman Who Laughs. His armor on tag-in makes him a useful support character whose contribution becomes quite significant when he is fully evolved and teamed up with beefy characters, but he can still hit like a freight train with Unblockable special attacks when going on the offensive.
He cannot be unlocked and can only be obtained through the Nth Metal Pack, the Nth Metal Pro Pack, and the Nth Metal Ultimate Pack which can only be bought by using the new currency, Nth Metal, obtained from the new game mode, Phantom Zone and from Online Battles as of update 3.1. He also has a very small chance of being given as a reward upon completion of the Phantom Zone event, however, this will still not unlock him for direct promotions. Additionally, as a Metal character, it takes 25 total copies for him to get to EVII. As such, promoting him would take a long time or a large amount of real money.
Despite his base stats being double that of the best gold cards, that difference becomes less significant once he gains elite levels.
Strategy[]
Basic Attacks[]
| Basic Combo | Damage Pattern (% of damage stat) | Total (including Combo Ender) |
|---|---|---|
| Light (Combo Ender) | 2% - 2% - 2% - (4% - 4%) | 14% |
| Heavy | 4% - 4% - 4% | 12% |
The combo ender is The Merciless performing a knee kick, then an uppercut - wherein a yellow trail can be seen - which knocks the opponent in the air slightly far away.
Passive[]
Unblockable[]
The Merciless' red aura
On every hit of his basic attacks, The Merciless gains a red aura, which glows brighter with every attack landed until his passive activates, which makes his next Special Attack UNBLOCKABLE. This is denoted by the name of his passive appearing, and the red aura gaining a fiery appearance. The Master's Death Cart's 10-hit tag-in damage no longer counts towards it. Special Attack hits do not count towards his passive and will not use it up until it activates. His passive will gain stacks even if he is hitting an opponent taking no damage with Invulnerability. Once his passive is activated, it cannot be reset by being hit. If The Merciless is hit by an unblocked attack before his passive activates, the red aura disappears. Therefore, it would be wise to block conservatively to prevent resetting his passive. Tagging out The Merciless will reset his passive, regardless of whether he is hit or not and whether it is activated or not.
Strength of War triggered
This aura appears even when he is being controlled by The Joker/Unhinged Suicide Squad, and when fully charged, "Strength of War" is displayed like normal, but this does not actually grant an unblockable special attack.
Unlike other unblockable specials, the "block breaker" text pops up not just when it breaks block, but also on initiation of special. The latter occurs even when facing Superman/Blackest Night (and his Blackest Night teammates), despite that they are immune to unblockable attacks and this is not an exception.
Currently, there is a bug that makes him release block randomly for unknown reason. The bug also seems to be present in his Prime variant, though it is harder to notice. Players can compensate by releasing block and blocking again quickly between hits, especially between punches in I2 Superman’s blocked S2 animation, and between the first 2 batarangs thrown by any Batman who has a 7-hit S1.
Armor[]
Every time he or another teammate tags in, Armor equivalent to 5%-10% of max health would be added over the main health bar. If The Merciless uses a Dark Power Special, he and his teammates gain 5%-15% armor for SP1, 10%-30% for SP2.
The Merciless' armor DOES stack with Killer Croc/Arkham's armor. The Merciless' armor on Killer Croc would be visually converted to Croc's own green-brown color. However, the total armor on Killer Croc is still capped at 100% of his max health. If The Merciless or a teammate has the Power Shield from the Astro-Harness active, the armor granted by The Merciless to that character will be converted to Power Shield (which is also now capped at 100% total).
When The Merciless is KO'ed, all accumulated "grey" armor on his teammates immediately disappear and they can no longer generate any armor. Armor that has already been converted to "green" armor or Power Shield is not removed.
Evolve[]
You can evolve him and any other Metal character by fully upgrading his special attacks and reaching Elite III. After he evolves, you can upgrade his passive. These upgrades decrease the number of consecutive hits needed from 12 to 7, increases his armor on tag-in from 5% to 10% and increases his armor per Dark Power bar from 5% to 15%.
You can also upgrade his special attacks a second time. This time, however, you will not increase the damage dealt but the DARK POWER CHARGE PER SECOND which can be maxed to 14% for SP1 and 7% for his SP2. This is also true for The Batman Who Laughs and other Nth Metal characters.
Gear[]
To make triggering Strength of War easier, gears which make basic attacks unblockable are recommended. Massive Sharpened Teeth also provides stun on combo ender, allow The Merciless to unleash another 3-hit basic combo. Astro-Harness' Invulnerability can protect him for a few seconds, granting him opportunities to perform some basic attack hit without being interrupted.
His SP2 is very powerful, and such, any SP2 gear is great for him. His signature gear, Blade of The War God can empower his basic attacks and deal Area Effect damage on SP2. His 4-hit SP2 can benefit well from crit boost gears, such as Demonic Cloak. Power boost gears also allow him to trigger his SP2 more frequently, gaining more armor, especially Tantu Totem, which is also great with any other special attack users.
Interactions[]
Please note that battles are highly situational: this section only mentions cards that have mechanics that, for any reason, are particularly effective with/against, or particularly ineffective against Ares. Having a card that "counters" Ares does not mean it is always a good choice.
Good With[]
- Aquaman/Prime: While summoning the Atlantean Hero does not grant armor for the Hero himself, after doing so you can immediately tag in Aquaman with no cooldown to generate armor. If Aquaman has the Tantu Totem, he can do this indefinitely, generating a whole bar of armor while his opponent can do little.
- Batman/Gaslight: Gaslight Batman's passive allows for basic attacks to miss The Merciless on tag-in thanks to the swarm of bats. This can then allow The Merciless to continue hitting the enemy without his passive having to reset from being hit.
- Hawkgirl/Prime: Faster tagging allows for more armor generation.
- Green Lantern/Hal Jordan Red Lantern: Armor can also be used to offset Hal Jordan's health costs, as Hal Jordan is unable to heal himself by most means.
- The Flash/Regime: Despite being a silver character, he allows The Merciless to attack faster. By using his knock-back light combo 3-4 times and by attacking earlier than the enemy, it guarantees an unblockable special attack.
- Solomon Grundy/Boss: His passive allows Grundy to gain more armor without losing the damage boost, since armor does not count as health.
Good Against[]
- Killer Frost/Regime, Batman/Flashpoint: Armor gain is not considered a heal and is therefore unaffected by their passives, thus it increases The Merciless and his teammates' survival chance.
- Static/Prime and Nightwing/Batman Ninja: His unblockable special attacks can prevent their passives from giving them power from blocked special attacks.
Countered By[]
- Superman/Blackest Night: Even if he builds up his Unblockable special attacks, Superman's immunity to unblockable attacks will negate them anyway.
- Any characters or gear that can do unblockable damage to reset his passive:
- Batman/Blackest Night: He has a 10% unblockable chance on all attacks which increases up to 30% with other Blackest Night teammates.
- Soultaker Sword, Massive Sharpened Teeth and Custom Rifle: They grant 30%, 20% and 11% unblockable chance on basic attacks respectively.
- The Flash/Metahuman: If Flash activates any special attack, it activates his passive, which has a chance to be unblockable, resetting Ares' passive.
- Ares/Prime, Killer Frost/Prime, Superman/Godfall, Superman/Regime and Harley Quinn (All Versions): They have unblockable SP2s.
- Harley Quinn/Arkham: In addition to her unblockable bomb, she also provides Arkham teammates with a chance to have unblockable SP2s as well.
- Black Adam/Regime, Black Adam/Prime: The reflect damage from their passives will reset Ares' passive counter, even if they cannot hit Ares directly.
- Superman/Injustice 2, Batman/Dawn of Justice, Reverse Flash , Wally West/Rebirth, Riddler's Staff, Mother Box & Astro-Harness: They can evade all damage done by his unblockable special attacks.
- Batman/Gaslight: Batman's teammates can disrupt The Merciless from landing basic hits with the bat swarm, which will prevent him from getting enough hits to utilize his passive.
- The Flash/Blackest Night: Same to the above, Flash can evade basic attacks and counter him, resetting The Merciless' hit count.
- Sinestro/Antimatter: Even if The Merciless's next special attack will be unblockable, Sinestro can reset it by tagging him out. This also denies him power to fuel his Dark Specials.
Abilities[]
Here are Ares's abilities.
| Ability | Classification | Description | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapons of War | First Special | The Merciless summons his favorite weapons to strike at his opponents. | Meter Burn, Target |
| Decimate | Second Special | The Merciless launches his opponents into the air, then slams them to the earth. | Rapid Tap (5%) (x2) |
| Annihilator | Super Move | The Merciless summons an ancient undead army and brings down the full force of his powers as the God of War. UNBLOCKABLE. | Tap |
Support Cards and Gear[]
Here are Ares's support cards and gear.
| Card | Classification | Description | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Son of Hera | Health | 10% HEALTH BOOST. | 6,000 |
| Son of Zeus | Damage | 10% DAMAGE BOOST. | 8,000 |
| Master of Weapons | Energy | 10% ENERGY REGENERATION. | 10,000 |
| Bloody Sword (Blade of The War God) | Gear |
50% - 70% DAMAGE BOOST to basic attacks [Ares] 100% AREA EFFECT: opponent's team takes X% - 20% damage from Special 2 [EVOLVED] 35% - 45% CRIT chance on basic attacks |
25,000 - 1,000,000 (upgrading) |
Stats[]
These stats are the final damage and health levels at level 50, per Elite rank, with ALL support cards, and without any augmentations. With the 2.13 update, Elite 8, 9, and 10 have been added. The Elite 10 damage and health levels are for level 60 characters. Numbers with a * after them may not be accurate, please allow for a discrepancy of '+1/-1' damage or health due to rounding inconsistencies in game code. Note that Metal characters cannot undergo Breakthrough.
| Tier | Damage | Health |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 17,226 | 34,452 |
| Elite I | 25,369 | 50,738 |
| Elite II | 31,712 | 63,423 |
| Elite III | 46,299 | 92,598 |
| Elite IV | 50,950 | 101,900 |
| Elite V | 57,081 | 114,161 |
| Elite VI | 65,114 | 130,229 |
| Elite VII | 75,473 | 150,947 |
Trivia[]
- He is the only character in the new batch of characters from 2.18 onwards to have a multi-KO SP2.
- It appears his tag in sound effect (a metallic noise presumably to represent the armor he gains upon tag in) is not considered part of the SFX sound effect, or any other category either. It can be heard even if all Injustice mobile sounds are turned off as long as your phone's volume is still on, similar to the "gunfire" sound effect upon the cards of a new enemy team appearing in Online Battle.
| Preceded by | Title | Succeeded by |
| Batman/Flashpoint and The Joker/Batman Ninja | Highest base Damage | The Joker/The Batman Who Laughs Metal |