Arya Stark is an assassin character in MultiVersus. She specializes in being mobile and juggling opponents in the air but is very fragile herself and quite easy to kill. She boasts the expert tag which can be intimidating but this guide will have you stealing faces and taking names in no time.
Arya excels in the air and has strong specials that can help start combos and inflict heavy damage. Her backstab mechanic helps deal additional damage by hitting opponents in the back. Just make sure to stick them with the pointy end.
Moves And What They Do
Specials
Face Stealer (Neutral Special)
- Arya grabs for an opponent and steals the face of whoever she hits.
- Pressing Neutral Special again with a face does a taunt after a brief channel that stuns opponents that get caught in the area around Arya.
- Overrides some of Arya’s moves with whoever’s face she has
- She can grab an ally face on a cooldown. She only gets one charge off them
Knife-Thrower (Side Ground Special)
- Arya throws a knife that she can dash to.
- Sticks to allies and opponents alike
- Can be dashed to even if missed and if allies or opponents walk over it on the ground it will attach.
- When the knife is on cooldown Arya instead drills forward which has lots of knockback power but can be easily interrupted
Dagger Slash (Up Ground Special)
- A very strong move that sends opponents upward. Arya dashes up to follow
- Helpful for following enemies up to finish off closer to the top of the screen or even as an opener
Blade-Sharpener (Down Ground Special)
- Arya dashes to her ally and applies Turn Attack to herself and her ally
- Turn Attacks turn opponents the opposite way after being hit guaranteeing backstabs
Neutral Attacks
Sharp Edges (Neutral Ground Attack)
- Arya steps back and charges a rapier stab
- Good attack to close space as she goes further with more charge
- If you have a face and don’t charge the move it will be overridden by the stolen fighter’s Neutral Ground attack
Knife Flourish (Neutral Air Attack)
- Can be overridden by face stealer
- Arya twirls her dagger below her
- Has armor breaking making it an effective opener against armor
Needle Strike (Side Ground Attack)
- Arya slashes with a rapier and follows up with a dagger slash
- The dagger slash has lots of recovery frames so missing it can be easily punished
- Dagger slash has good knockback
Aerial Slash (Side Air Attack)
- A chargeable slash to either side that can be good for edge guarding
- Good ariel opener to keep the opponents off the stage
- Comes out fast and can do devastating backstabs
Upward Slash (Up Ground Attack)
- Arya slashes upwards in an arc in front of her
- Can begin a juggle chain
Whirling Stab (Up Air Attack)
- Bread and butter move
- A powerful follow-up to Up Special
- Kill move high when high up
- Effective at guarding against opponents above you
Rolling Slash (Down Ground Attack)
- Arya rolls forward then slashes behind her
- Good for dodging easily readable moves or throwing opponents off
- Often backstab as she rolls behind enemies
- Keeps Arya slippery on the ground
Stinger (Down Air Attack)
- A spike that can be charged
- Arya stabs below her
Perks
Arya has an aerial/upward-focused playstyle since her easiest kills are upwards juggles or spikes
- Up, UP, and A-Slay or Lumpy Space Punch: Arya’s best moves are aerial attacks like Up Special and Up Air which makes this perk an excellent choice for securing kills. Lumpy Space Punch is a flat damage buff to aerial attacks which essentially does the same thing but doesn’t buff any ground attacks.
- Triple Jump: Arya relies on following up attacks higher and higher up. More jumps are key to staying on your target
- Leg Day Champ: Higher jumps help follow enemies up the screen and with getting back on stage
Signature Perks
- Betrayal: When Arya’s Knife Thrower hits an ally that ally becomes enraged. When Arya dashes to the knife she becomes enraged. Good for when you have allies like Iron Giant and can’t hit anything else, or for when you have an ally that is also aerial focused as weakened gives you both kill power. A useless perk in 1v1
- Trophy: Arya gets the face of anyone she kills. The only real choice in 1v1 matches or if you prefer to hit opponents with the knife
Tips
- Up Special can be used effectively on the ground to start chains
- Use Up Special to pressure fighters in the air as chaining two together can bring opponents high enough to kill even below 100 damage
- Knife Thrower can be used to recover as well as confirm kills
- Try to save knife dashes for a follow-up rather than as an initiation
- Arya can deal a lot of damage but can struggle to kill without precise play. In 2v2s allies like Shaggy, Superman, or other characters that have powerful kill moves at high damage have the best synergy
- Arya is very easy to kill around 80 damage so make sure to DI everything you can or you might get killed when you don’t expect to
- Arya’s passive gives her Turn Attack off of successful spot dodges
Arya Combos
Here are some ways to rack up some damage. There is plenty of room for self-expression in Arya’s kit and these are not all the possibilities.
- Combo Starter: Down Air Attack, Up Air Attack
- Bread and Butter: Up Special(on the ground or in the air), Up Air Attack, Up Special, Up Air Attack (can be mixed up with Down Air Attack, or Neutral Special)
- And Riposte: Side Special, Down Ground Attack, Side Special, Up Special, Up Air Attack
- Fancy Feet: Side Ground Attack x1, Down Ground Attack, Up Special, option select