Jump to content
Dustloop Forums
Forums Officially Relaunched!

[CF] Hibiki Neutral Tips and Tricks Guide

RurouniLoneWolf

By RurouniLoneWolf
in Hibiki Kohaku

 Share

Recommended Posts

RurouniLoneWolf

RurouniLoneWolf

Posted
Posted
BBCF_Header_Gameplay_Discussion.png
 
Evernote link for easy passing around
 
Overview
 
Hibiki is a somewhat of a tricky character to play in neutral because most of his normals aren't well suited for poking and playing footsies. However, the reach and utility on his j.C makes up for the shortcomings of the rest of his normals when you combine it with good movement. In addition, Hibiki's double chase drive has a lot of good utility to give him some tricky ways to play neutral. 
 
j.C, the solution to all of your problems 
 
 
j.C is pretty much the heart of Hibiki's neutral game. Where a lot of his other normals don't have much reach, j.C has amazing reach in both directions and as a C normal has lots of blockstun/hitstun. So while a lot of Hibiki's other normals won't be of much use, j.C can handle a lot of stuff on its own when you combine it with good movement.
 
Jump Ins
 
When well spaced, j.C is great as a jump in against grounded opponents. It's different from your typical jump in though in the sense that j.C doesn't have the vertical reach you'd usually expect and want from a jump in. Instead, you'll have to aim to space your j.C to take advantage of it's huge horizontal reach.
 
Well spaced air dash Jump in j.C
 
Alternatively, well spaced falling j.C can also be great when you're doing less committal movement in neutral like jumping forward, double jumping forward, jump forward then double jump back, etc.
 
Well spaced falling j.C 
 
Air to Airs

Against airborne opponents, j.C is great as an air to air poke because of its reach. If you counter hit an opponent low enough, there'll be more than enough untech time to land and convert into a full combo by using 2C to juggle them.
 
 
Whiff Punishing
 
Another key tactic with j.C is to use it for whiff punishes. As mentioned earlier, Hibiki's ground normals don't really have much reach so trying to outpoke an opponent up close is out of the question. Instead, you should aim to make them whiff ground pokes by doing stuff like forward or neutral jump barrier and then punish their whiffed normal or special with j.C on the way back down. 
 
 
Covering a retreat

If you need to retreat, doing stuff like jump back j.C or IABD j.C can catch people trying to chase after you.
 
 
3C
 
 
Other than his amazing j.C, Hibiki's 3C can also be a great poking tool. While it's range isn't as great as j.C, it's ability to convert into some pretty damaging combos when combined with OD or RC is very noteworthy and will definitely make the opponent very cautious of getting hit by it. 
 
 
 
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! - Hibiki's Double Chase Drive
 
Like a good chunk of characters in Blazblue, Hibiki's drive is also a key part of helping him play the neutral game. 
 
Ground Drives
 
On the ground, 5D is a great option to use sometimes as if it were a typical fireball. It'll hinder approaches from the ground against rushdown characters and zone out characters with less mobility. Just be careful not to get too predictable with it and to space it well. It isn't particularly hard to jump over 5D and punish it at closer ranges. 
 
In a somewhat special case, 5D zoning can be a good option against dolls like Nirvana and Ignis to chip away at their doll specific health
 
After using 5D and 2D to control space a few times and you've made the opponent somewhat cautious, you can start trying to slip in a 6D or 3D while they're cautious. This will allow you to close the gap between you and your opponent and get pressure started.
 
Air Drives
 
In the air, Hibiki's drives are also good at controlling space. In particular, j.2D can be good at preventing approaches from the ground when you space it out right. When you've spaced it especially good, you can still j.C on the way down to protect yourself from an opponent trying to approach after the clone from j.2D is gone.
Covering yourself with j.C Example - https://youtu.be/dWkM62DwQxM?t=4138
 
As an added bonus, j.2/3D can be great at dealing with anti-airs because of the way it halts your falling momentum in the case of j.2D. In the case of j.3D, it can delay or speed up your fall to mess up your opponent's timing for their Anti Air.  
 
Alternatively, in situaitons where you are directly above an opponent where j.2D and j.3D won't hit, you can use j.6/3D to attempt to escape getting anti-aired.
j.3D Video Example 1 - https://youtu.be/1g55m4PS5Hk?t=1654
j.3D Video Example 2 - https://youtu.be/jjgzZsz_mBU?t=190
j.6D Video Example 3 - https://youtu.be/cdLSHJvU2Rc?t=3779
 
214A, 214B, 214A~D
 
Similar to using 5D to control space but this is much more about scare tactics than actually controlling the space with something that'll hit. You mostly use 214A~D to create the illusion that you might be coming forward with an overhead or a low and make the opponent cautious of approaching. After a few bluffs, you can try and slip in an actual 214A and 214B to catch them not respecting the possibility that you aren't bluffing. While a good tactic, it shouldn't be used as much as the above tactics mostly because on whiff, 214A and 214B leaves you wide open. Not sure what it leaves you at on block yet though. 
 
 
Dealing with Air Approaches
 
 
2C
Hibiki's anti air. It doesn't have much vertical reach but it does shrink Hibiki's hurtbox down below its hitbox.  
 
Jump forward j.A
Jump up j.A can be a good way to deal with air approaches in situations where 2C just won't reach or the opponent just doesn't have to commit to his jump in and can bait Anti-airs
 
 
Dealing with Zoning
 
 
Much like his fellow ninja Bang Shishigami, Hibiki has a few pretty good options against zoning beyond the usual method of just having good movement.
 
3D
 
Hibiki's 3D is great against zoning because it can dodge projectiles since you go underground and come back up next to the opponent, effectively "teleporting" past the projectile
 
Be careful though, opponents can hit you out of it as you're popping out of the ground for the slash though.
 
Another thing you need to be careful of is whiffing. Where you'll pop back out of the ground after 3D is decided fairly early so it's possible for things like your opponent backdashing or dashing forward a little to cause you to whiff entirely
 
Oboro Otomi (632146C)
 
While more limited in range compared to 3D and Nue, Oboro Otomi can be quite useful at closer ranges for punishing uses of  projectiles, mostly in situations where zoners use a meaty projectile for oki or a projectile to reset pressure from what would normally be a safe spacing. A good example of this is Lambda Sickle Storm (236D) oki.
 
Nue (632146D)
 
A great super for dodging projectiles because it teleports Hibiki above the opponent, which will dodge projectiles, before doing a downward strike, which will punish the recovery of firing said projectile. 

 
Round Start
 
 
Walk Back/Stand Still/walk a step forward/Dash barrier brake > Observe
Because of Hibiki's lack of good ground pokes, choosing to be passive at round start can be a safe default round start option that doesn't risk you getting outpoked by your opponent and puts you in a good position to react to jump ins.
 
 
Microdash 3C
As mentioned earlier in the guide, 3C is Hibiki's next best ground poke because of the damage it can lead to when you have resources. Similarly, microdash 3C can be a great round start option if you have your burst to overdrive cancel it into a big damage combo that'll put at a big life lead from the start.
 
6D
Not a very common round start option but it is good for catching people trying to backdash at round start or just being passive in general. 
 
Jump Forwad Barrier > j.C
As you might've suspected from reading the j.C section earlier, this round start option aims to whiff punish attempts to poke Hibiki at round start. 
 
Jump Forward Barrier > Jump Back
A slight variation on the above round start option. When you jump forward barrier, take this time to confirm the situation. If the opponent decided to be passive, consider jumping back to escape getting anti-aired. If your opponent tried to poke, proceed with the above tactic. 
 
Jump Up j.A
A good way to stuff air approaches at round start. 
 
IABD > falling j.C
Tactical retreat. The j.C is to hit people trying to chase after you. 
 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Upcoming Events

    No upcoming events found
×
×
  • Create New...