Character Guides - Cook - Abilities, Body - May 30, 2020

Pushback

Pros

Like all characters in Story Mode and Endless Dungeon, Cook starts with Pushback. Cook, through his Pummel tree, can gain Steel Pushback, which makes Cook invincible for 3 seconds on successful Pushback. Thanks to Pushback's low cooldown, Cook can apply frequent invincibility during Provoke and/or the Body Field Effect.

Cons

Cook's Steel Pushback has little downsides to it -- a frequent use ability that keeps Cook from taking damage often.

Knockdown

Pros

Like all characters in Story Mode and Endless Dungeon, Cook starts with Knockdown, and is useful for making an enemy unable to fight back for 2 seconds while they receive 50% more damage.

Cons

Knockdown is nice for what it is, but it does not do anything beyond its status ailment. Its 15 second cooldown for its simplicity is also rather high.

Stun Strike

Pros

Stun Strike, when maxed out, deals Attack x 3.6 (Attack x 5.4 while holding ranged weapon) and 4 seconds of Stun. It is also useful as the first part of a combo involving all of Cook's Body abilities in the form of Stun Strike -> Pummel -> Viper Cudgel. The Stun is also long enough that Cook can use Pushback to gain invincibility if needs be and then continue this Body ability combo.

Cons

Stun Strike, for its damage output, has a very long cooldown of 20 seconds. Missing with it, especially with the Stun that Cook and his party can make use of, can be quite a setback.

Pummel

Pros

Pummel throws out 5 hits that at maximum deal Attack x 1.6 each (Attack x 2.4 while holding ranged weapon), with the final hit dealing Knockdown.

Cons

Pummel, like Stun Strike has a long cooldown of 20 seconds. It is also reliant on Stun Strike to land, as Pummel's final hit of Knockdown will likely be dodged by the enemy if they do not have a status ailment or other ability holding them in place.

Viper Cudgel

Pros

Viper Cudgel is an extremely powerful Body ability, dealing up to Attack x 9 damage while Cook is holding his ranged weapon, and an additional 4x damage during the Body Field Effect. Combined with Pummel's Knockdown and his Strength ability to boost damage higher, Cook can deal massive damage with one hit.

Cons

Viper Cudgel has a whopping 30 second cooldown, meaning that any miss with its short range is costly, regardless of how much power Cook can put behind it.