As a lifelong gaming enthusiast and comic book fanatic, unlocking the iconic Hulk in Marvel‘s Midnight Suns was a landmark moment. While most heroes offer conventional hack-and-slash gameplay, the Green Goliath brings an entirely unique style centered around his signature Rage mechanic. Once I grasped the intricacies around building and unleashing the Hulk‘s fury, he quickly became my favorite playable character – an unstoppable juggernaut laying waste to all foolish enough to stand in his way!
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share my insights into mastering the Incredible Hulk from the perspective of a devoted gamer. You‘ll discover how to unlock him, intricacies around his Rage resource, powerful card abilities, and dominating team strategies to fully embrace Hulk‘s famous catchphrase: "Hulk smash!"
Unleashing the Green Goliath
While most Marvel heroes join your squad early on, the game wisely reserves unlocking the Hulk to build suspense and epic anticipation. My first glimpses of his towering corrupted Lilin form emerge during intense clashes around the 20-hour mark. Over the next 30 hours, several more pumped-up battles erupt before finally purifying and recruiting Bruce Banner‘s explosive alter-ego!
To unleash Hulk, players must:
- Progress 50-55 hours into Marvel‘s Midnight Suns
- Complete the main campaign up until the critical "Witch on Wundagore Mountain" mission
- Defeat Corrupted Hulk with Scarlet Witch‘s aid
- Use Scarlet Witch‘s abilities to overcome the empowered Lilin
- Activate the special Purify Hulk card
- Restores Hulk to his heroic form after defeating him in battle
- Speak with Bruce Banner at Abbey HQ
- Dialogue unlocks Hulk as a playable character the next in-game day
Based on my experience, expect to invest around 50 hours before the Green Goliath joins your roster. But the climactic showdowns building up to finally unleashing Hulk make battling through the main campaign missions more than worthwhile!
Hulk‘s Rage Mechanic – Unleash Destruction!
Hulk‘s entire combat style revolves around his Rage meter – a unique resource displayed as a green bar underneath his health. This singular game mechanic encapsulates Dr. Banner‘s inner torment that unleashes the uncontrollable force of nature known worldwide as the Incredible Hulk!
As a passionate Marvel fan, I adore how this simple yet elegant resource system personifies the very essence of Hulk gameplay. Rage passively builds by:
- Receiving damage from enemies
- Using Smash abilities
- Possessing certain card effects
In turn, accumulating Rage sends Hulk into an escalating frenzy – vividly depicted through visual outbursts of rocks and debris exploding around him! This enhanced fury state boosts ALL his offensive damage output – from card abilities to basic attacks.
As Rage builds, savvy players judiciously unleash the Hulk‘s strengthened powers upon foes before it depletes. Most card abilities expend Rage, forcing you to aggressively maintain higher stacks through renewed damage absorption.
This creates an intensely dynamic loop of damage-dealing:
Take Hits → Build Rage → Unload Abilities → Deplete Rage → RepeatFluidly balancing Rage generation versus expenditure epitomizes mastery over the Hulk. Carefully rotate high threat moves like Crush and Thunderclap before topping back up through Smashes and Taunting strikes.
Hulk essentially functions akin to a steam engine – absorb enough heat under pressure and spectacular explosions of unbridled power result! Manipulating this unique Rage resource remains intrinsic to dominating as the jade giant.
Hulk‘s Offensive Abilities
When it comes to dishing out punishment, Hulk‘s abilities inflict damage almost as limitless as his strength levels! Across 10 cards clustered into Attack, Heroic, and Skill types, mastering and upgrading key moves unlocks the Green Goliath‘s maximum potential.
Smash – Building Rage
The aptly named Smash serves as Hulk‘s essential Rage builder while providing solid single target damage. Rather than expending Rage, this 67-damage (136 to full health enemies) punch increases his meter by 1 stack upon use. It also disorients targets, stunning them during their next turn for tactical advantage.
Upgrading to Smash+ (via two Smash card duplicates) nudges base damage up to 68, further improving threat output. Despite its common rarity, no Hulk deck feels complete without Smash slotted in – it‘s the move enabling his whole damage rotation by rapidly escalating Rage.
Crushing Strikes
When it comes to raw area-of-effect damage, Crush dominates as Hulk‘s premier Attack card. A thunderous strike pummeling all adjacent enemies for 134 damage (201 on Stunned targets), its only limitation is a Rage point consumed per use.
However, Crush boasts one killer advantage: any knockout blows refund its Rage cost – enabling sustained frenzied assaults once your meter builds momentum! Upgrading to Crush+ respectively nudges damage to 136 and 204, cementing its position as my go-to card for decimating groups once Rage hits mid-tier levels.
Gamma Kick
With most abilities tailored towards enhancing Hulk‘s offense, the rare Gamma Kick card offers a vital strategic debuff: it applies Weak status on struck enemies. This hampers their damage output by 50% for a short duration – great for mitigating threats while focusing fire elsewhere.
Better yet, upgrading to Gamma Kick+ grants a bonus Heroism point towards playing expensive Heroic moves, adding welcome versatility. While its damage pales compared to the raw force of Smash and Crush, Gamma Kick‘s utility makes it invaluable for bolstering Hulk‘s tank role.
Seismic Slams & Thunderclaps
While I initially undervalued Hulk‘s common area attacks Thunderclap and Seismic Slam, upgrading them proved eye-opening. When boosted to Thunderclap+, its knockback effect gains an added Stun – magnifying Crush‘s damage potential against clumped targets.
Similarly, Seismic Slam+ extends its area reach, allowing bigger pulls for group disruption. Their costs of 4 Heroism and 1 Rage respectively feel trivial by the late game as Hulk‘s meter rapidly spikes against overwhelming foes. Now I gladly utilize them as supplementary attacks between signature hits, controlling battlefields so more dangerous crushing blows land.
Hulk Attack Damage Output
| Attack Card | Base | Upgraded | Vs Stunned Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smash | 67 | 68 | 134 |
| Crush | 134 | 136 | 204 |
| Seismic Slam | 129 | 129 | N/A |
| Thunderclap | 44 | 44 | N/A |
Hulking Out with Heroics
Unleashing Hulk‘s true damage potential relies on Heroic cards – specialized moves unlocked through accumulating Heroism points. Their exponentially growing power combined with selective upgrading offers frightening efficiency against all comers.
Rampaging Through Hordes
A key tactic I leverage during large engagements is the common Rampage Heroic. Already respectable at 107 damage to a single target, its upgrades open up game-changing additions:
- Chain attacks hitting up to 3 seperate enemies
- Taunt to feed Hulk‘s Rage meter
- Bonus Heroism from full attack combinations on targets
Patching these expanded capabilities onto a spammable card with reasonable 3 Heroism cost offers fantastic value. I regularly rack up 300+ damage across waves while rapidly juicing back up on Rage and Heroism alike!
Signature Moves: Mighty Blow & Worldbreaker
When it comes to Hulk‘s signature Heroic finishers, both Mighty Blow and Worldbreaker stand head and shoulders above their peers. Either serves as the culmination of his whole combat flow – a punctuation mark signaling incoming devastation.
While Mighty Blow offers gargantuan single target damage, nothing elicits quite the same joy as hitting Worldbreaker‘s activation button:
This jaw-dropping Legendary card brutally slams ALL surrounding enemies for 201 damage, forcefully ejecting them backwards through any obstacles in cinematic fashion. The sight of seeing five foes helplessly ragdolling through the air never grows old!
And should Worldbreaker‘s carnage result in any knockout blows, Hulk‘s Rage refunds by 1 point per kill – enabling sustained mayhem as bodies pile up around him!
Both signature moves cost a hefty 6 Heroism, demanding intelligent play until their perfect release. But after systematically building up Hulk‘s Rage and upgrading key Support cards to accelerate Heroism generation, chaining Worldbreaker and Mighty Blow together for collective destruction offers ultimate catharsis.
The battlefieldsmoke clears to reveal Hulk standing alone atop a pile of vanquished hunters or demons – a fitting exclamation point after masterfully manipulating his Rage!
Supporting the Green Goliath
Lone wolf players may excel using solo hyper-offensive Hulk builds to steamroll content. But congested endgame challenges filled with elites and bosses shine brightest when pairing Hulk with Support heroes capable of healing, drawing aggro and enabling his card combos.
Doctor Strange – Redrawing Smash
The Master of Mystic Arts offers ideal offensive pacing for Hulk by amplified card draw speeds. Agamotto‘s Gaze, Astral Meditation and Blessing of Vishanti all allow redrawing copies of cards played that turn – fantastic for recycling Smash to aggressively build Rage.
Strange‘s upgrades increasing card draw directly feed into this gameplan, allowing seemingly infinite Smash chains to establish Hulk‘s meter quickly. This sets up brutal Crush disengages once Rage plateaus, while Strange‘s buffs supercharge every hit.
Wong – Group Taunting
While Hulk loves receiving damage to drive Rage, competing threats can quickly overwhelm even his sturdiness. Here, Wong‘s abilities excel by redistributing enemies‘ attention, protecting the team until Hulk establishes crush momentum.
Both Sanctum Shield and Taunt Bubble force surrounding foes into targeting Wong instead of allies – crucial for manipulating AI aggression mid-fight. Having Wong "spotter" Hulk by drawing initial blows allows safely maxing Rage before devastating reprisals. And with Sanctums and heal orbs peppered around the arena, Wong offers sustained longevity so Hulk can cut loose!
Morbius – Redirection Through Blood
An unlikely Synergy hero, Morbius‘ affinity for manipulating his own vitae helps accelerate Hulk‘s Rage generation in clever fashion. His Blood Curse Signature card applies a unique debuff on enemies causing them to absorb a percentage of damage received back as Health loss.
This allows "softening up" tough targets by unloading Seismic Slams and Thunderclaps to nibble away Health. Once cursed adversaries engage Hulk, all returned damage gets converted directly into Rage through Blood Curse – letting him rapidly Hulk out! Morbius also wields Frenzy and Lifesteal buffs to further enable mas rampages.
Conclusion – Let the Carnage Commence
Unlocking the Green Goliath‘s rage-fueled power fantasy remains among my most memorable Marvel gaming moments. I‘ll never tire of seeing Hulk thunderously stomp hunters into the ground or send demons flying through the air with savage abandon after tactically manipulating his Rage!
By integrating the following key ideas into your gameplay, you too can transform into an unstoppable force of destruction:
- Manipulate Rage through damage absorption to unleash amplified abilities
- Propel combos with Smash and upgraded Support card redraws
- Dominate battlefields using area attacks before devastating Heroic finishers
- Team up with healers and Taunt tanks to enable optimal card cycling
Now get out there, absorb those blows and let fists fly with earth-shattering consequence. Just be careful not to make Hulk angry – you wouldn‘t like him when he‘s angry!
