WWE Champions gives us a macho take on Match-3 games for wrestling fanatics. At a glance, it’s a peculiar combo – two super-buffed men (or women) walloping one another with brutality in the ring, while the player, well… plays some good-old Bejeweled. Is it cute? Is it X-TREME? We’re not sure. We will say one thing, though: it absolutely works.

Unfortunately, the game doesn’t exactly hold the player’s hand when it comes to introducing mechanics. We suppose that’s how it should be: hardcore WWE fans need NO tutorials! But just in case you’re not sure why you’re winning/losing in matches, we’ve got you covered.

Elsewhere, we’ve tackled the basics of everything that goes down in the ring, so this time, let’s focus on Superstars and how you can get them ready for their most savage SmackDowns yet.

An In-Depth Look at Superstar Classes and Styles

In WWE Champions, Superstars are divided into 6 classes. We’ve covered these briefly in our tips and tricks guide, but in order to have a better understanding of why your opponent is using your face to mop the floor, we’ll need to go deeper.

In short, each class is vulnerable to something and strong against something else. Remember them like this:

Showboat (Yellow) > Striker (Black) > Trickster (Purple) > Technician (Green) > Powerhouse (Red) > Acrobat (Blue) > Showboat

You should always select your champion according to this rule. For example, if we’re up against Triple H “The Authority” (a Striker), we’re likely going to pick John Cena or The Rock (Showboats) to throw into the ring. There’s more than this to it, though.

Each class has a unique playstyle and seems to prefer certain gems over others. You don’t have to follow these patterns, but you absolutely should if you want better results. Showboats, for instance, will often use Yellow gems to charge their finishers. They do not deal tremendous amounts of damage, but they are fairly sturdy and can therefore be used in spectacular comebacks.

Powerhouses are even more aggressive, with particular focus on high gem and ability damage in the detriment of defense. Similarly, Tricksters favor an playstyle focused on offense and compensate for their low to medium damage by swapping the board and creating chaos.

Strikers, on the other hand, do low damage on hits, but can smack an opponent off the planet if they combine multiple gem breaks and get their abilities charged. Finally, Technicians and Acrobats both do low gem damage, but boast higher than average ability charging speeds, which allows them to use their signature moves more often.

Furthermore, each Superstar sports not only a Class, but a Style as well. The latter can be Defensive or Aggressive, which are fairly self-explanatory, but also Focused or Chaotic. These styles affect the types of gems that Superstars thrive on, as well as the rate of occurrence for some special gems. For example, Defensive characters can employ healing gems to stay in the game, while Chaotic ones will often get to use area explosions for extra damage.

To cover all bases, you’ll ideally want one upgraded Superstar for each Class-Style combo. When you start the game as an F2P player, though, this can be only a distant dream, so try to focus on obtaining one good character for each class, instead.

Boost a Superstar’s Level and Talent

One of the ways to predict whether your next match will be a success or a miserable failure is to compare your champion’s total Talent score with that of your opponent. Sometimes, you’ll notice that your Superstar is just a bit under, which is not much of a problem. If you play your gems and abilities right, you can easily pull off a 3-star victory against an opponent who is less than 100 Talent higher than your own wrestler.

If, however, the difference is steeper than that, you’re better off cancelling the match and saving your Superstar the shameful embarrassment. Or not, you know, if you’re that way inclined. If you want to win, though, one quick way to increase a Superstar’s talent is by boosting his level. This costs nothing but gold and can be done straight from the “Information” tab on the character screen under “Roster”.

Get More Kickass Moves

Each Superstar starts with 3 moves at 1-Star. Initially, these can only be upgraded to level 2 by using either specific character shards (not recommended) or Training Point posters. The latter come in 6 colors that are specific to the classes in WWE Champions. However, it is not a given that a Superstar of a certain class will only need one type of Training Point posters. On the contrary, their three abilities will likely range across three different classes.

Roman Reigns “The Juggernaut”, for example, has a Red signature move (his finisher), but also a black and a yellow one. In addition, with each new Star we add to his build, he gains a new ability that can be used in the ring.

From Bronze (or Nothing) to Silver and Gold

Another great way to boost a Superstar’s Talent score is to upgrade their quality from Bronze to Silver and then to Gold. This can only be done when the character has reached max level and has maxed out his or her signature moves, though. If conditions are fulfilled, the “Enhance” button becomes available in the “Information” tab on the character screen.

In addition to gold, you need a few items to enhance Superstars. These are specific to each Class, so, in order to improve a Showboat from Bronze to Silver, for example, we need 2 BOSS blings and 5 Microphones. If you’re wondering where you can find the ingredients to brew up even tougher champions, don’t worry. From the upgrade screen, you can click on any item you don’t have already and the game will tell you everything you need to know.

Fuse Shards for More Stars

Last, but not least, no matter how puny your Superstar is when you get him or her, you can still turn them into a veritable hardcore wrestler by adding more stars to their rank. As an F2P player, this is not an easy feat since it requires an increasing number of specific shards for each boost. However, with the right amount of patience, you can do it even without buying shards with real currency.

You just have to recognize a brilliant wrestler when you see one, which is why we’ve selected the most impressive characters in each Class in our guide to the best Superstars in WWE Champions. Check it out now!