Bag-o-Tricks is the name for all versions of Harley Quinn's SP2. It is a very unique special due to not only the effects offered, but also the mechanics involved.
Function[]
Bag-o-Tricks has three effects available: A Damage boost, an Unblockable bomb (the only option that deals direct damage), and a Heal Team effect. Each effect is represented by a visual cue: the damage boost is represented by a picture of The Joker, the bomb is shown as dynamite, and the heal is a rose.
The three options always rotates in the same order, e.g. Bomb – Flower – Picture – Bomb – Flower – Picture – Bomb, but the first item is random. Since the first and last item is always the same, you can opt to not tap at all if it's the item you want.
The bomb does not require extra swiping or tapping, and has the same minimum and maximum damage. Its base damage is equivalent to 60% of Harley's damage stat, upgradable to up to 99%, which is same as the typical minimum damage dealt by a SP2. Meanwhile, the rose heals all of her teammates by 25% of their max Health, and the picture increases most forms of damage by 50% until the end of a match (hearts will swirl around the character when active for 5 seconds, which is not a time limit); they are unique and mimicked by no other special. They are also the same for almost all versions of Harley, which can make even bronze Harley Quinn/Prime an excellent support character for golds due to her %-based damage boost and heal.
Harley's signature gear, the Dual .357 Revolvers, has excellent synergy with Bag-o-Tricks, and therefore all versions of Harley Quinn. It offers a large team heal on her SP2, which stacks additively with the heal from Bag-o-Tricks, allowing for as much as a 50% heal (scaled to the recipients' individual max health) from her SP2 to her entire team.
Gear that increases special damage (e.g. The Ibistick) will still increase the damage of her bomb.
The Enchantress Companion Card EVOLVED will fire skulls at the opponent after using her SP2, but only if she picked the bomb. Effects that negates a special, such as Superman/Injustice 2 or Batman/Dawn of Justice's passives, will cause Enchantress to not activate, regardless of her choice.
If she tags in with The Master's Death Cart and immediately use Bag-o-Tricks, it can apply gear DOT (The Ibistick, League of Assassins Adept Blade, LexCorp Helmet V2) several times, but it will no longer count as dealing no damage for Tantu Totem's power refund.
Mechanics[]
Harley Quinn's Special 2 is particularly effective when paired with Tantu Totem. If you select her team damage boost or team health gain, the power will be returned, allowing for infinite team healing. Additionally, since her dynamite is unblockable, she can remove Superman/Injustice 2's passive shield on block and have the power refunded. Harley Quinn/Suicide Squad can utilize Tantu Totem even more effectively as her team power gain will also return power. This allows her entire team to quickly gain full power, regardless of power generation dampening effects such as the passives of Killer Frost/Prime and Solomon Grundy/Earth 2. This also allows Harley to use infinite specials by using her SP1 between uses of her SP2.
Harley's bomb has a longer range than meets the eye. Even though the bomb visibly drops through the floor, its trajectory of damage travels forward to potentially hit even faraway opponents (particularly noticeable with Tantu Totem against an opponent with 100% damage reduction, as Harley can throw unlimited bombs that do no damage).
Harley Quinn's Special 2 in general also has a significant mechanic difference compared to other specials: it runs in real time, while most other specials (including Zatanna's Special 2 despite similar option-choosing) take place in bullet time. There are a few noticeable effects: in-universe timers, such as Ares' block disable, will continue to tick down during her SP2; damage over time effects, while normally will continue to hit during a special, since specials take a short in-universe time (a much longer time in the real world while you tap/swipe) the damage is not as much, but Harley's SP2 runs in a long time in-universe so damage over time can have a much more significant effect.
Suicide Squad[]
Harley Quinn/Suicide Squad has a modified version of Bag-o-Tricks. Due to her passive, she has a fourth trick: the ability to give herself and both of her teammates 1 bar of Power immediately. This is visually represented by 3 red diamonds, Harley's logo. The effects also cycle quicker than the 5 other versions of Harley, making it more difficult to select the buff that you want. The order always goes Bomb – Flower – Picture – Diamonds, so one possible full rotation is Bomb – Flower – Picture – Diamonds – Bomb – Flower – Picture – Diamonds – Bomb, but the first item and thus exact sequence is still random.
Additionally, when combined with Deadshot, her bomb is transformed into C4. This does the same damage as the normal bomb, but also deals 20% of the C4's damage to the rest of the opponent's team. When combined with The Joker/Suicide Squad or The Joker Unhinged/Suicide Squad, the damage boost is converted into a surprise attack. The typical Joker photo is changed to a photo of Suicide Squad's Joker. The Joker (either version) will be called in when Harley selects this option, and will shoot his pistol once at her enemy, dealing exactly 100% of HIS damage stat (the damage is not based in any way on Harley). The damage from this option does not count as Special Damage (its damage is displayed by a white text instead of yellow), and therefore negates Superman/Injustice 2's passive. If either Deadshot or Joker dies before Harley, their respective options will no longer be available.
Trivia[]
- Bag-o-Tricks is the only special who could potentially never deal damage to the enemy (Aquaman/Prime's SP2 could still be able to deal damage) without the enemy either blinking or having a special-negating passive.
- It is also the only special who could ever directly affect a teammate without use of a passive or any Gear.
- Bag-o-Tricks is based on Harley Quinn's Character Power (equivalent of a passive) from the console game, as both have the same name and offer the same effects.
- It is spelled slightly differently, as the console version is named "Bag O' Tricks".
- The picture is obviously a reference to Harley's love, The Joker, also evidenced by the fact that she kisses it. The rose is also likely a reference to Poison Ivy, a plant-themed villain who is always a very close friend to Harley (and also one of her support cards).
- Previously, the bomb can be blocked, and the heal and damage boost only affected herself. Her popularity greatly increased after the bomb was made unblockable and the heal and damage boost affect her entire team.
- It states that it gives a "random effect" despite that the player can choose any of the three as they rotate in the same order.
- Harley's bomb has a screen shake effect that is likely meant to simulate it exploding. However, the effect is timed to go off right after it is thrown, likely because most of the time, it would immediately explode on impact. However, if Harley throw the bomb at a long range, it can be several seconds before it explodes, long after the screen shake.
- The team damage boost effect had an unusual invulnerability mechanic: right after using the damage boost, she goes into the immune to flinching state first (damage can be done, specials can deal damage and be initiated, she cannot block but cannot be knocked out) for a short time before briefly turning full invulnerable and then back to normal. This means that uniquely it is possible, when immediately used after, for faster specials (e.g. Wonder Woman's Shield Toss) to deal full damage in the first stage without her being able to block, slower specials (e.g. Shazam's Bolt of Zeus) will hit her in her full invulnerable phase and do no damage and very slow specials (e.g. Batman's Explosive Batarang) can be initiated during this period but only hit when she has completely returned to normal. Multi-hit attacks can hit her in different stages; Darkseid/Prime's Omega Blast will have its first hit in the first stage (full unblockable damage), while the second and third hits will be in the second stage (no damage dealt). This delayed invulnerability is excellent when you can predict dangerous enemy specials and negate some of their damage. A good example is when it is used against Killer Frost/Prime's infamous Black Ice: when Killer Frost tags in with 2 bars of power, immediately use Harley's damage boost; Killer Frost would almost certainly use Black Ice, and the block breaking hit will be negated by this invulnerability. This no longer seems to be possible as enemy specials cannot be activated so quickly after she uses Bag-o-Tricks.