Dragon Ball Budokai top ten-kaichi.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is not a balanced game. If you jump into a ranked battle with a Frieza Force Soldier and you run into someone playing Beerus, you’re going to get absolutely cooked. A degree of skill can tip the scales in your favour, but ultimately some matchups are going to be too much of an uphill battle.
Now let me clarify something: none of what I just said is a complaint. I love that Sparking! Zero, just like the Budokai Tenkaichi games before it, is deliberately unbalanced. Characters like Ultra Instinct Goku, Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta and Whis are busted by design, so that dorks like me and powerscalers in Reddit threads will feel satisfied.
However, while a few of the canonically strongest characters do feature in this list, some of the weakest characters in Dragon Ball history have also somehow managed to sneak their way in too. Exactly how they’ve found their way on is best explained on a case-by-case basis.
Before you jump in, keep in mind that this list is taking DP costs into consideration. Essentially you should only consider these characters the “strongest” in the context of Team DP Battle mode. Measuring character strength for Single Battles would be pretty boring and straightforward anyway. Pick a fusion character with Afterimage Strike or a 10 DP cost character and, congrats, you’ve won ranked.Krillin
Krillin is a character that’s a sum of his parts. His skills are great, as he has access to both Solar Flare and the much-maligned Afterimage Strike. Although basically any character with Afterimage Strike could qualify for a spot on this list, it’s actually Krillin’s super attacks that make him stand out from the crowd.
Having a beam super like Kamehameha is always great for utility, but his Spread Energy Wave is easily one of the best super attacks in the game. The tracking on this move is nuts and will seemingly always perfectly course correct. I’ve used this move and somehow managed to hit opponents who have teleported behind me.
His ultimate, Chain Destructo Disc, might be one of the best ultimates in the game too. It’s an unblockable, multi-hitting projectile move. You have to dodge it, but good luck dodging several projectiles in quick succession. All of this on a 3 DP cost character makes him one of the best cheap characters in the game.
3 DP
35,000 Health
Skills: Afterimage Strike/Solar FlareTapion/Future Trunks/Trunks (Sword)
Here’s a bit of a three-for-one deal for you: Future Trunks, Trunks (Sword), and Tapion. I know putting all three of these characters in the same slot on the list might seem a bit odd, but they’re here for the same reason—they can all take advantage of a very specific, somewhat unexplored bug.
When any of these characters get into a vanish war, you can actually slip out of the neverending chain of vanishes and dodge through your opponent’s attack. Being able to immediately counterattack like this is great, but it also means that all three of these characters don’t have to worry about how much ki they have whenever a chain of vanishes begins
This is almost definitely not an intended mechanic and seems to be directly tied to how the animations for characters with swords seem to work, so keep in mind that this will probably be patched at some point in the future. Until then though, have fun taking advantage of it so you can catch people off guard in ranked. If you’re curious about how to replicate it, check out this guide from Cloud805.
Bardock
Bardock is a 4 DP character that most would probably consider an all-round good character. He has good rush attack strings, heavy ki-blast loops, and he can dish out solid damage.
There is one specific skill that sets Bardock apart from the rest of the crowd though; Shockwave of Rebellion. This skill is actually two skills for the price of one, as it’s essentially just Explosive Wave plus insta-spark.
Being able to forcibly throw your opponent off you and instantly enter sparking with the press of a single button is ridiculously powerful. At any point, Bardock can turn the tables and force you to go on the defensive. No other character in the game has access to a skill like Shockwave of Rebellion and it’s so powerful it earns him a spot here by itself.
