Position - Mid, Fake Anchor

Very much likes having an assist to help play matches at her own pace, and Hatred Install is one of the strongest DHCs in the game for both damage and escaping hairy situations. As a fake anchor, the goal is to let another character play neutral, then tag or DHC in Painwheel before she’s left as the last character on the team. Good option if you have characters who can actually make good usage of Painwheel's assists, or if playing a character who has great neutral but poor damage output.

Not related to team synergy, but it is worth noting that Painwheel can call assists while flying, letting her call assists at super-jump height.

Pinion Dash (22K) - 

Pressure, Zoning (M, H), Combo Tool

Painwheel comes out and drives into the opponent. The hitboxes on Pinion Dash make them hard to contest, as you risk trading or outright losing to the move. Deals a good amount of blockstun and hitstop to keep opponents in place for a decent amount of time for both blockstrings and combos.

• L Pinion - Close-range and the fastest. Best option for use in blockstrings and getting combo conversions off of mid-range confirms. Can be used for some funky crossups.

• M Pinion - Painwheel charges up a bit before shooting forward. Pushes the opponent back far on block, and fullscreen on hit making it great for keepout. Also nice for funky crossups like L Pinion.

• H Pinion - Has the longest charge up time. Sends the opponents a fair distance on block, but sends them in the opposite direction on hit for combos from fullscreen. Quite nice for the characters with strong long-range tools such as Big Band.

Gae Bolga Stinger/"Nails" (236P) -

Projectile 

Can cover gaps in zoning for zoning characters, while rushdown characters can use it to approach.

• L version is less of a projectile and more of a jab with a LOT of hitstop to use for combos. Useless for neutral.

• M version travels forward just like a standard fireball. Moves at a speed that some characters can easily run behind and use as a shield to eat an opposing projectile or keep the opponent from trying to check with a button. Most commonly seen version.

• H version travels upwards in an arc.

Cruel Lily (2MP) - 

Lockdown 

It doesn’t at all stand out among the more popular lockdown assists, but it does its job. On Alpha Counter, Painwheel can go into Hatred Guard from this move for the armor and potentially cancel into Fly.

Big Band

Recommended Assists: 

H Brass Knuckles, L/M Beat Extend, H Take the 'A' Train

• Brass Knuckles - Armored Neutral, Anti-Zoning

  • Helps Painwheel control the match's pace as Brass has such a commanding presence

  • Either play aggressively and force your way in with Brass, force the opponent to do something while you reposition, or just wait and use Brass as a counter to the opponent committing to something such as assist calls

• Beat Extend - Anti-Air DP

  • Top level DP assist and a generally good check for people trying to contest Painwheel in the air

  • L Version if you want Beat Extend to hit higher (anti-airs), M version if you want it to hit wider (stopping crossups, combo conversions)

• H Train - Anti-Air, Combo Tool

  • Similar to Beat Extend in controlling the air space in front of Painwheel, but trade in DP invincibility for big combo damage

  • Pick if you just really want to explode your opponent's health bar more than anything else

Pros:

• H Pinion is great for Band's neutral, and helps with SSJ and Giant Step conversions like no other assist can

• Band's assists are top class in controlling screen space for Painwheel

• Hatred Install is a safe DHC for situations where your reversal Super-Sonic Jazz is blocked (!!!), on top of leading to a combo that explodes your opponent's health bar when you do hit

• No problems getting a combo into Painwheel's tag-in to get Big Band out meterlessly

Cons:

• N/A

Synergy:

• Favorite for Painwheel, Favorite for Big Band

• A strong duo, but you will very much want Painwheel to die first so she's not fighting alone.

• Easy to work in any third character

Double

Recommended Assists: 

M Hornet Bomber, Cilia Slide

• M Bomber - Neutral, Lockdown

  • Great assist for ground coverage and giving Painwheel time to fly in when it makes contact

  • Easy conversions if you make the right call throwing out M/H Buer in neutral, protects Painwheel if the opponent blocks

  • L Bomber is also great if you want the DP function, but M Bomber is the more popular pick

• Cilia Slide - Sweep

  • Travels far and fast making it another great assist for neutral

  • Added addition of helping out with mixups as it hits low

  • Trade in M Bomber's lockdown for armor-breaking properties and better combo damage

Pros:

• Painwheel gains some nice neutral assistance from Double

• Double gets good mileage out of any version of Pinion Dash for zoning and mixups

• Easy to combo into Painwheel's tag-in for damage, or to get out Double if she's bleeding

• Safe DHCs that also work as combo extensions

Cons:

• N/A

Synergy:

• Favorite for Painwheel, Good for Double

• A good duo as Double is a great partner for Painwheel, and both characters can easily tag into the other meterlessly if you need to fix your order or heal up.

• Any third wheels are appreciated when making a trio

• Softie's team (fukua/double/pw) combos - YouTube 

Filia

Recommended Assists: 

H Updo, H Hairball

• Updo - Anti-Air DP

  • Good defensive measure for Painwheel both for flight neutral and situations where she's being pressured

• Hairball - Lockdown, Neutral, Anti-Armor

  • Travels far along the ground and locks the opponent down for a while, encouraging the opponent to either jump toward Painwheel's air-space, or away while cornering themselves

  • Excellent for pressure overall

  • Easy conversions with M Buer + assist

Pros:

• Filia provides overall good assist support for Painwheel

• Good combo DHCs both ways, and Hatred Install DHC for safety

• With Filia's low damage, she very much likes having Painwheel tag-in during a combo to up the output without spending meter

• Canonically friends

Cons:

• Painwheel's assists aren't exactly bad for Filia, but they're pretty mediocre overall

Synergy:

• Good for Painwheel, Good for Filia

• A bit lacking as a duo as Painwheel does not want to be anchor, and Filia is not the most threatening anchor character. Painwheel gets nice assistance from Filia, but Filia's benefit in the relationship mainly comes from the ability to bring Painwheel in during a combo.

• A good anchor to support both characters is highly suggested, though a good point character is still a fine choice

Fukua

Recommended Assists: 

H Platonic Drillationship, L Love Dart

• H Drill - Lockdown, Neutral, Anti-Armor

  • Good threat in the mid-range and provides nice lockdown

  • Conversions with Buer + assist on hit, protects Painwheel on block

  • Good Alpha Counter option as Drill regains its invulnerability

• L Dart - Persistent Projectile

  • A lingering ground threat that the opponent is forced to block, shoot, or jump over if you hide behind it, or can cover your approach and act as a combo breaker if you get ahead of the bomb. You can still call another L Dart while one is still on the screen.

  • If Painwheel flies high enough, L Dart isn't visible during the lower point of its arc, and not at all if the opponent jumps to let Painwheel fly even higher

  • Good choice if on a trio and you already have your lockdown/combo needs fulfilled

Pros:

• Fukua grants Painwheel good assists for neutral play

• Fukua herself doesn't do a lot of damage, but she can easily tag into Painwheel to make up for this weakness, while also regaining the red life she accumulated from using her clone specials

  • small lights only fukua/pw 2 bar start 1 air throw reset kill 3v3 - YouTube 

  • fukua/pw hch 3 bar 3v3 midscreen TOD tag route - YouTube 

  • fukua/pw midscreen 9k tag combo - YouTube 

Cons:

• None

Synergy:

• Good for Painwheel, Favorite for Fukua

• Very strong as a shell, but as a duo you run the risk of Fukua dying first and leaving Painwheel to fend off on her own, which is not what you want. That said, it is easy to fix your order once you land a hit with Fukua.

• Any character will fit nicely for a trio

• Softie's team (fukua/double/pw) combos - YouTube

Peacock

Recommended Assists: 

George's Day Out (L George)

• L George - Persistent Projectile

  • A lingering ground threat that the opponent is forced to block, shoot, or jump over if you hide behind it, or can cover your approach and act as a combo breaker if you get ahead of the bomb. If you have a second partner, you can still call them while George is out.

  • Especially silly with Painwheel as the bomb can't be seen if Painwheel is flying at the right height

Pros:

• L George assist really holds it down for Painwheel

• H Pinion is a good addition to Peacock's zoning

• Hatred Install DHC already provides a lot of damage, but Painwheel can also take advantage of Hatred Guard and Lonesome Lenny's explosion to... explode both her own and your opponent's health bar

Cons:

• N/A

Synergy:

• Good for Painwheel, Good for Peacock

• A weird, but fine duo combination. Peacock builds a lot of meter, and you have safe DHCs in both directions which is very nice to have as both characters hate being rushed down.

• The most bang for your buck in a trio would be to look for a good anchor character, as your point and middle slots are pretty much taken with this shell

Squigly

Recommended Assists: 

Drag 'n' Bite, Cremation (2HP)

• DnB - Lockdown, Neutral

  • The opponent absolutely does not want to block DnB, so they'll be pressed to either retreat, jump into Painwheel's air-space, or counter-call with their own assist

  • Long time to convert with M Buer + assists

  • Very lengthy lockdown to run pressure

  • Possible to combo after Deathcrawl super with DnB

• Cremation - Low, Lockdown

  • Does not have as much range as DnB, but good for a 50/50 mixup

Pros:

• Painwheel receives good offensive assist support from Squigly

• Safe, combo extending DHCs in both directions

• Two excellent mid characters who can also play point

Cons:

• Painwheel's assists just don't do much for Squigly at all

• Both Squigly and Painwheel have strong, safe DHCs, but neither are good meter builders

Synergy:

• Decent for Painwheel, Decent for Squigly

• A duo with poor defensive options meterless, great options with meter thanks to their safe DHCs, but low meter build overall from both characters. Add on that while the order of Painwheel/Squigly is pretty good, the order of Squigly/Painwheel leaves Squigly with very little neutral support, and potentially not the greatest stores of meter to fuel her utility supers if Painwheel started on point. Not a very strong duo.

• Trio teams with this shell will likely want to run the order of [Meter Building Point]/Painwheel/Squigly, or Painwheel/Squigly/[Good Anchor]. You already have some of the best characters to put in the mid position, and as mentioned above there isn't much reason to run Squigly ahead of Painwheel.

Annie

Recommended Assists: 

H North Knuckle, H Destruction Pillar, H Crescent Cut

• H Knuckle - Neutral, Lockdown

  • Threatens the ground space, and the lockdown helps Painwheel to get in

  • High damage assist, making it useful for combos

• Destruction Pillar - Anti-Air DP

  • High reaching DP assist, good for protecting Painwheel and covering additional air space

• H Cut - Projectile

  • Covers the ground well, forcing the opponent to block, jump, or find some way to erase the projectile while Painwheel gets into a better position

  • Unfortunately, the knockback effect of Crescent Cut may mess up air-to-air confirms

Pros:

• Annie's assist support for Painwheel is nice for protection or approaching

• This team dishes out a load of damage through high damage assists, combo-tags, and DHCs

  • annie l pinion 1 bar 2 touch jhk reset point - YouTube 

  • annie l pinion ch jlk 2 bar start TOD - YouTube 

  • annie l pinion jlk air to air 10k - YouTube 

Cons:

• Painwheel's assist kit is pretty meh for Annie

• While Annie can be played without being a meter hog, and Painwheel is more than just Hatred Install, meter usage issues may occasionally arise

Synergy:

• Good for Painwheel, Decent for Annie

• A team of two damage engines. Neutral is a struggle on Annie's side, but Painwheel gets some good support. Not really a duo I would recommend as Painwheel is not a good anchor, and Annie may not get the meter she needs to mount a comeback.

• An anchor character with a strong neutral assist would make for a very strong team with this shell. Big Band, Double, Fukua, Eliza, and Parasoul are all strong picks. Annie and Painwheel already make for amazing mids.

black dahlia

Recommended Assists: 

Medici Mousetrap (2MK), L/M/H Order Up! (X Shot)

• Mousetrap - Ground Space Control, Low

  • Painwheel can fly at a height where the beartrap is offscreen, so opponents have to be especially wary of where it is

  • Safe left/right resets with flight

• X Shot - Projectile, Multipurpose*

  • *Slow projectile (all but shotgun and beam), combo (shotgun, ice, electric), lockdown (ice, electric, fire), long-range (beam, electric)

  • Normal bullets are ok for Painwheel, special bullets can be magical

Pros:

• Painwheel gets very good mileage out of beartrap assist

• Barrel DHCs

• Dahlia loves tag combos with Painwheel, this duo gets 9k for one bar off a low (see video below)

• Dahlia/Painwheel Combo Routes

Cons:

• Painwheel's assists are pretty meh for Dahlia

• Both characters can be fairly hungry for meter

• No Last Call DHCs

Synergy:

• Good for Painwheel, Good for Dahlia

• Neither character is a great anchor, and this shell lacks a good neutral assist outside of Dahlia special bullets (which cost meter... which Painwheel wants). Not a recommended duo.

• An anchor character with a good neutral assist is highly recommended