Fuses Explained – Mechanics, Strengths & Weaknesses

Understanding the capabilities of each Fuse will help you to pick the best one for your team.

Every Fuse comes with its own set of benefits and limitations. Depending on your playstyle and individual strengths, any one of these could be the best one for you to play with.

In this guide, we'll break down the unique mechanics, powers, and drawbacks of every Fuse, and provide a few examples of champions and teams who excel at showing off the potential of each one.

• Check out our Champion Guides for a full discussion on how each character pairs with the different Fuses.

A HandshakeTag is where you call an assist, and while that champ is still on screen, you press Tag to swap to them. Freestyle allows you to swap back to your original point champ, before they leave the screen.

Using Two Handshake Tags

To get value out of Freestyle, you'll need to learn how to get both of your champs on screen and mix up your opponents when they are trying to block and defend.

The primary reason to run Freestyle is to set up a sandwich and use both HandshakeTags to confuse your opponent and trick them into an incorrect defensive option. This is done by changing their blocking direction and making opponents guess between blocking high/low or left/right. Alternatively, the pressure is also effective for landing throws because the opponent has to add guessing between strikes/throws to the mental stack.

Freestyle Combos

Freestyle also has good combo potential since you can swap to your assist, get in a few attacks, then swap back to the point champ to finish the combo. You also still have access to Tag launcher, so it doesn't limit your normal combos.

As you get more advanced in your block pressure and combos with Freestyle, it is really important to learn how to puppet control your characters after swapping off of them.

A universal example is to H AttackHold, then Tag, while still holding down the H Attack.

Your previous point champ won't unleash the H AttackHold until you let H Attack go, or until it reaches max charge.

The reason this technique of puppet-controlling your characters is so strong is that it locks the opponent in block for longer than would be possible without it.

• The most dominant example of a Freestyle comp is Yasuo + Ekko

When to Use 2x Assist

The first thing you want to have before you consider using 2X Assist is at least one champ with an assist attack that is so good, you want to use it twice in a row.

Common examples of 2X Assist use are Illaoi for her BackTag, and Ekko for his ForwardTag. Ideally you'll want to have both champs with strong assist attacks, such as either one of these champs paired with Jinx for her rocket assist.

Benefits of Double Assist

To be clear, you can use any combination of two assists from the same champ with 2X Assist. Doesn't matter if it's two Back assist, two Forward assists, or one Forward and one Back.

The main benefit of using 2X Assist is to greatly extend block pressure on to the opponent by forcing them to defend against two assist attacks while your point champ is closing in, or attacking simultaneously.

Assist Conversions

As a top priority, you should learn how to convert a landed assist attack into a full combo by either juggling with your point champ or using Handshake Tag into the assist to continue the combo themselves.

Reminder: When using 2X Assist, you must input ForwardTag to perform a 2nd neutral/forward Assist, as inputting a neutral Tag will perform a handshakeTag.

• A 2X Assist team you'll likely run into is Illaoi + Darius, because they both have great assists, and can set up deadly bleed and tentacle pressure.

When you want to maximize your damage potential from a single combo, Double Down is the best Fuse for the job.

You cannot Double Down Super combo out of any champ's ultimate, but you can cancel out of every S1 Special and S2 Special Super. Also, you can HandshakeTag during all Supers.

Super Handshake Tag

Some Supers, such as Warwick's S2 Special Super, allow you to keep attacking the opponent while the Super is still going. Others such as Braum's S2 Special do not allow you to hurt the opponent during the Super, even though you are free to move and attack as usual.

Champs who can continue combos after their own supers, such as Teemo with his Super mushroom, are the best to pair with Double Down.

• One of the deadliest Double Down teams is Teemo + becauseAhri they can both get out multiple Supers in a single combo.

Sidekick feels similar to using Double Down except that you are giving up the ability to swap to your assist champ. In exchange, you gain more defense for your Point, and three new abilities for your assist champ.

Assist Buffs

First off, you can always Super assist, granted you have the meter for it. Also, you can Super cancel your Point champ's level one Supers into your assist champ's S1 Special or S2 Special Super. Lastly, you are able to TagHold and make your assist champ run across the screen before unleashing their attack.

Damage Reduction

Another unique mechanic of Sidekick is that you can reduce the damage your point champ takes by pressing L Attack, M Attack, or H Attack, timed to match when you get hit. The devs have stated this was designed to make Sidekick more enjoyable for two-player teams to use.

When using Sidekick, your character also gains a 20% max HP increase, and also a 25% damage reduction at 500 HP or below.

• Blitzcrank as an assist champ is a great choice since he is a weaker point champ, but his assist pulls the opponent in and forces them into a standing potion.

If you're feeling that controlling two champs a bit too complicated, or you still want the feel of a traditional fighter inside of 2XKO, you can opt to pick Juggernaut and give up all assist actions.

Increased Health

In exchange, your solo champ is empowered with bolstered defense, and their solo combos are deadlier than normal. When using Juggernaut, your character gains a 20% max HP increase, and also a 25% damage reduction at 500 HP or below.

Also, you lose the normal Push Assist that normally uses an Assist cooldown. Instead, Juggernaut enables Push Blocking (same basic function) but it costs 1 bar of Super meter to perform.

Increased Damage Potential

The primary way of increasing the lethality of your one champ is by incorporating Fury cancel combos into your arsenal. Juggernaut starts every round with Fury Break immediately available.

Additionally, your solo champ can self-combo one Super into the other, or into their Ultimate out of their Super.

Eject Launcher

One mechanic that is completely unique to Juggernaut is the ability to eject the opponent using DownTag. Instead of Tag Lauchner, you will knock the opponent's point champ out and force their assist to take point. This is best used when your opponent is trying to heal up their assist gray bar health.

Downsides

The major drawback of JuggernautThe major drawback of it is that without any assist actions, it becomes considerably harder to play neutral and mix up your opponent.

You are unable to cover your approach with an assist, make your blockstrings safe by chaining an assist attack, and you can't Handshake Tag to confuse your opponent.

• Champs that are naturally strong on point like Yasuo are common users of Juggernaut.