Special Techniques are the rechargeable moves in Marvel's Wolverine, assigned to shortcut slots and unleashed on demand. Insomniac's own wording is that players can learn new Techniques for enhanced combat moves or unleash rechargeable Special Techniques, and that four Special Techniques can be equipped at once for seamless combat integration.
Two tiers of move
The move set has two layers and they are not the same thing.
Layer | What it is |
|---|---|
Techniques | Learned combat moves that permanently widen what Logan can do |
Special Techniques | Rechargeable moves assigned to shortcut slots. Four equipped at a time |
Both are bought and improved through the progression menus rather than found in the world. Insomniac's own settings list refers to suit and technique purchases as menu actions, and a UI Holds setting controls whether those purchases need a button hold or a toggle. Technique Points are the currency; see Progression and Upgrades.
Every one named so far
Technique | What it does | Source |
|---|---|---|
Tornado Spin | A spinning claw attack used to reclaim territory in a crowd. Upgrading it lengthens the spin, breaks guard and interrupts most attacks | Named in official material |
Knee Breaker | A low strike that staggers a target and interrupts an attack already in progress. Official material points it at Reavers specifically | Named in official material |
Spiral Strike | A drilling attack that bores into a single enemy | Named in official material |
Bull Rush | A charging attack that drives into enemies | Named in official material |
Claw projectile | Logan slashes his claws together to throw a ranged projectile. No official name has been published for it | Preview coverage of an official trailer |
Four of the five are named by Insomniac itself. Tornado Spin, Knee Breaker and Spiral Strike appear in the studio's English-language announcement of the features trailer; Bull Rush appears alongside Tornado Spin in the Japanese-language edition of the same official material, which is the only first-party surface that names it. The claw projectile is the one entry with no published name at all.
Tornado Spin is used enough that the game tracks kills with it as a trophy in its own right. See Trophies.
Two further names appeared in earlier hands-on sessions and have not been repeated since, so treat them as provisional: Savage Sprinter, a slash performed while running through a group, and Sprint Block, which deflects small-arms fire while sprinting.
Controls and settings
A Special Techniques Mode setting switches activation between hold and toggle, and the shortcut system maps an action to each of the four d-pad buttons, with a shortcut available for every technique slot. See Accessibility Options.
Where the points come from
Technique Points are earned as you play. Any pre-order grants one up front, and the Digital Deluxe Edition adds three more, so a Deluxe pre-order starts with four. See Editions and Pre-Order Bonuses.
Adaptations are the other half of the build: passive perks equipped against a limited allowance, several of which key directly off Special Technique recharge. A New Game Plus run adds exclusive Techniques that a first run cannot reach.