As part of our Invincible VS cover story, we got to spend exclusive hands-on time with Dupli-Kate, the latest addition to the roster. Arguably, the most unique fighter in the game, her ability to spawn clones of herself during battle makes her a particularly fearsome opponent.
If you’re new to the world of Invincible, Dupli-Kate (real name Katherine Cha) is a member of the young superhero group Teen Team (and later the Guardians of the Globe) who possesses the power to create duplicates of herself. Her clones can think, feel, and perform independently, and they are also telepathically linked to the original Kate. Dupli-Kate can absorb her copies back into herself, and the duplicates can also be killed during battle – and often do.
According to developer Quarter Up, bringing the self-replicating hero to life presented the biggest technical challenge of any character in the game. “Once we put her on the roster, we’re like, ‘Okay, how are we going to do this?’” says game director Dave Hall. “It’s a lot of R&D on something like that. You don’t see characters duplicating, right? This is not a very kind of normal thing to see in a game, especially in the style that we’re doing.”
“No one’s ever scared of me. They should be.” – Dupli-Kate
Dupli-Kate’s playstyle relies on overwhelming and confusing opponents with her clones, which automatically spawn during certain combos and special moves. The clone sticks around long enough to perform a quick hit or two, making battling Dupli-Kate a disorienting endeavor, since she can attack from multiple angles. A clone may nail ground attacks while Kate leaps to the air to deliver an aerial follow-up. She can send clones to rush the enemy in front of her, potentially eating a hit intended for her.
Adding constantly spawning characters to bouts already featuring six fighters leaping in and out while maintaining a consistent 60 FPS took no small amount of technical wizardry. One big help was setting a limit on how many clones appear; I only saw one or two at once, which isn’t much less than the three or four she typically relies on in the comics/show.
Her Ultimate fittingly sees her summon a gang of clones that basically mug the opponent, stomping them into the dirt while she follows up with a devastating final attack I won’t spoil. Faithful to the source materials, killing clones causes them to explode into a shower of fleshy chunks.
While it’s very fun to pummel foes with these copies, a small twist adds a nice layer of strategy to her abilities. When Dupli-Kate summons a clone, she sacrifices a tiny portion of her health. When the clone is killed, which usually takes a single hit, she loses that health permanently. However, if the clone is reabsorbed, Dupli-Kate regains that health. “It’s this mind game of, ‘I want to maintain this sweet spot where I can set up my [duplicate], follow it up to make sure that it can get back to me, reabsorb my health, but then use that pressure to open up the opponent and stuff too,’” explains lead combat designer Bau Batista.
While this mechanic can make Dupli-Kate a bit of a glass cannon depending on how often her clones get destroyed – I lost her quickly in some fights – she’s a blast to play, and her high-risk, high-reward style feels unlike anyone else in the game.
“She’s an incredible character,” says Hall. “Everybody [who] plays her [has] just kind of fallen in love with her. […] She was probably the most unique character we’ve worked on, mostly because of that mechanic of the duplicates. It’s really interesting, and I think people are going to love that one.”
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