A recent Pokémon Unite update appears to have ruined Gengar’s Hex move, often leaving the ghostly speedster unable to perform his strongest combo.
Gengar has been an absolute terror in Pokémon Unite matches since the simplistic MOBA launched for Nintendo Switch on July 21. Although the game has only been out for a few weeks, Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studio Group released a Pokémon Unite update earlier this week to address balance.
The patch notes were predictably light on details, but dedicated players have since filled the gaps with hard numbers. Gengar’s Hex (a swift teleport strike) was among the moves affected, seeing a decrease in overall damage and invulnerability.
The change was meant to address an arguably overpowered combo. Previously, by combining Sludge Bomb—which poisons opponents—and Hex—which has a reduced cooldown after damaging status-affected enemies—the Ghost-type Pokémon could make health bars practically disappear in a short amount of time and with very little effort.
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But over the last few days, Pokémon Unite players have been vocal on social media about a bug that makes Hex deal zero damage, rather than decreased damage. Some are even providing video proof that a popular Gengar strategy reliant on the move’s unique properties has been ruined. The developers vaguely acknowledged the existence of the issue both in-game and on Twitter, but as of now the move remains broken. Many assume the patch tweaks are responsible for the attack’s current bugged state.
Since the Hex bug reduces its damage to zero, the move can’t be used repeatedly, greatly reducing the damage Gengar is able to deal. A few players have also mentioned being locked out of the move entirely thanks to a stuck cooldown timer. The issue apparently clears up for some folks when Hex is upgraded to Hex+ at level 13, but it’s not guaranteed.
There’s no arguing that Gengar is one of the strongest characters in Pokémon Unite when he works properly. But as it stands, the big purple boy has been reduced to a simple Magikarp, only capable of flopping around until being put out of his misery. Here’s hoping he gets back on his stubby little feet soon.
