Arcana Heart

[Koozebanian Fazoob]

I liked that Meifang combo where she wallslams and then does like 4-5 more wall slams, it's just like HnK.

[Master Chibi]

Can you tell me if the system is identical or similar to that of HNK Dan? I swear it looks like it is. IE the three 'blocks' of meter for homing canceling, dashing / mobility, and guard cancels. And then the meter for super. :P

[Koozebanian Fazoob]

It's very similar at a high level but the internal mechanics are all very different. HnK you have the 3 boost bars but they fill up more like traditional meters. The way they drain is also pretty complicated... a standard boost uses up a fraction of bar, but causes the rest of the bar to begin draining. So you can actually boost 2 or 3 times for the cost of 1 boost meter if you have a full bar to begin with. There are also lots of other little things like you will get a free full bar if you have less than 1 and you connect with a CD attack. So in HnK you are building up bar, where as in Arcana you are spending and waiting for it to return. You also get a LOT more bar in Arcana, as it is constantly refilling and doing so quite quickly Both games are similar in that the bars will take a while to refill after you use one. I believe in Arcana, however, your bars will not naturally refill while in a combo. Also, the HnK boost can be applied to any part of a move. You can boost the startup of a move to extend the range of it, you can boost the active frames, or you can boost the recovery to cancel the move. Some moves also gain different properties when they are boosted (like Kenshiro's 623C when boosted during the active frames of the 3rd hit will allow you to do ground moves in the air). Boosting also is strange in that it can cancel hitpause. It's kind of like moving during Super Flash in guilty gear... you are basically moving while the other person is frozen. Because of this, is becomes possible to connect certain moves from other moves where it would normally not be possible. Easy example of this is Souther comboing 236C into CD. To make up some numbers, 236C might put on 15F of hit stun, but CD has 20F of start. If the game has 8F of hitpause, you can boost during hitpause to make up this difference and connect the move. What this means is that boosting can become very timing sensitive, since you no longer have the luxury of hitpause to give you a massive buffer zone like you have in GG or almost any other fighting game. Boost also doesn't let you 'home' on people like you can in Arcana. The direction of the boost is always 'Forward' on the ground. In the air, the boost direction depends on your current velocity. If you are moving upwards, Boost tends to send you upwards or forwards. If you are moving downwards or standing still, the boost will send you down toward the ground rapidly. In contrast, Evasive techniques are not done with Boost in HnK. Boost is used entirely for boosting, and that's it. The Aura bar (super meter) is used for Aura Guard (faultless defense) and for the guard cancel. Personally I think Arcana's meters are a little smarter, although I vastly prefer the way Boosting works in comparison to Homing Cancel. I also don't like the back-hop guard cancel mechanic in Arcana although I like the idea of having a quickly refilling bar for defensive options. For other comparisons, Arcana I believe has similar unblockable strikes as HnK, although I won't comment because I don't know exactly how they work (feel free to fill me in). In Hokuto, there is the AB unblockable strike which is strickly unblockable and you must shake out of it to avoid further hits (inescapable if the attacker boosts). There is also the blowback CD attack which has too modes... the normal version is fast and will knock the other person into a wall-bounce state on hit, but is blockable. Charging CD will make the move cause a 'ground slide' effect on hit, which is also possible to shake out of (again, if the attacker boosts this is effectively inescapable). Both versions will only knock off a star if you hit the wall, and each is considered a separate move for star counting purposes. Wallbounce in Hokuto is also a lot different. When you bounce someone, they enter a wallbounce 'state' where any hits will continue to bounce them. Each hit will increase the speed at which they fall and the distance you are pushed back, however there is a cap on both (leading to lots of infinites). I don't believe you can ever tech a wallbounce. There are also lots of glitches regarding de-bouncing and re-bouncing. I'm fairly sure that Arcana just has a standard Wall Slam effect where you receive extra hitstun because you were slammed, no wacky extra physics involved.

[Mr. Mamation]

yah, and i dont beleive AH has the same gravity... if AH had moon gravity and upercut infintes i would so play it

[CrimsonDisaster]

Wallslam effect works kinda like Accent Core wallstick, with more untechable time afterwards? Plus you can tap D to tech off walls. Timing is kinda hard sometimes. Otherwise, you just kinda bounce off and can be hit again. Multi wall slam combos are "fake" in the sense that people can tech the wall slam with good timing, but it can be hard if your spacing to the wall is weird. 6C is more or less like HnK CD attacks. Wallstick on hit, charged version is unblockable- however if you "block" it you still get a chance to try to wriggle out. Far more feasible if they're hitting you like across the entire field, otherwise you might just want to try to wall tech. Charge 3Cs are unblockable (3C is un-airblockable as well) and do the whole Dust style launcher, 8[D] to follow up and combo. Tirian: Pick whoever, really. Everybody except Maori has like 40-60% combos for like 1 homing cancel and no super, so it really comes down to how well you move, block, and use your homing bar. This game is really intense, like SFA2 intense- you need to be constantly ready to guard cancel/be aware of guard cancels against your pressure/setups. Once you get to the baseline execution level where you're hitting the B&B combos consistently, the biggest thing in this game seems to be proper guard cancel tactics.

[HeartBuri XD]

Multi wall slam combos are "fake" in the sense that people can tech the wall slam with good timing, but it can be hard if your spacing to the wall is weird.

Actually you cant ground or wall tech if your out of dash meter, or for the sake of HnK, boost =P. Which is why in alot of high level vids you always see players only expend two bars max, that third is your "safety" if you will if you just happen to fuck up. So you just fucked around GC/HCing and your out of meter, ggpo 50%+ life.

Unless your Kamui. THEN ITS ALL GOOD.

I should write up my Lieselotte report/FAQ one of these days.

US's first and only Liese player ;_;.

[Master Chibi]

US's first and only Liese player ;_;.

When and if Saiyd ever decides to play this game he'll join you, I'm sure of that.

;p

[CrimsonDisaster]

HOMING BAR NOT DASH METER DUuuuuHHhhhhhhhh Master Chibi I am clean-hitting fools with Fiona. Okay I only did it twice in a row and then never got it again =(

[axel]

If you want to wall tech or ground tech, you don't need to tap D. Just hold D.

[sibladeko]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPmuiS5g1pY

Guess Lilica can loop more than 5 times.

Holy shit Lilica on ice is crazy fast.

Ice is looking pretty damn good (absorbs hits, makes crack Lilicas)

[woof]

that is my favorite lilica player ever dudes doing 3 standing b's between a rep, even doing it without the extra hits is extremely tough.

[r0b0t]

ill see you and stone at FR, you will be afraid of my konoha

[Zinac]

Yo, there's an advertisement for the AH mook in this month's Arcadia magazine. To be released March 29th. If this is not new, please ignore.

[HeartBuri XD]

News to me. I'll most likely be buying it also.

[Zinac]

Also, there are strats for AH in arcadia. Anyone interested in scans? Otherwise I won't use up the time to do so.

[Master Chibi]

What's being released March 29th?

[Zinac]

What's being released March 29th?

The Arcana Hearts strat guide/encyclopedia. Kinda like the GGXX Beat Encyclopedia. With frame data/strats + more.

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/1073/arcanamookcm3.jpg

I'm not sure if mook is always a strat guide though, someone would have to confirm this.

Also here's a sample page from the magazine.

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1818/arcanarandomscannl6.jpg

If this is going too far again the rules, I'll remove it, but otherwise I think it's fair since none of you probally get to read Arcadia otherwise.

[CrimsonDisaster]

Also, there are strats for AH in arcadia. Anyone interested in scans? Otherwise I won't use up the time to do so.

fubarduck is already translating this and posting on GC!

[Tirian]

I hope he finishes those soon.

[JOFan]

can anyone update the first page with the tier list.. combos for characters? i am kinda picking up this game and wish to learn a bit more before AC comes out. my char is ninja loli konoha. how does she fair against the rest of the cast? i have seemed some stuff on youtube but she doesnt seem to have a dmging loop like sword girl or pudding girl. ohh and also what arcana would u guys recommend for her? and lastly, any word on console port? thanks in advance,

[HeartBuri XD]

Second best char in the game lololololok.

www.guardcrush.net

[CrimsonDisaster]

Konoha is the best or 2nd best character in the game! Most people think she's 2nd, I think they're kinda stupid ;( She does good damage, just not quite as good as Kamui. Still good enough. Generally accepted tiers: SS - Kamui S - Konoha, Kira A+ - Lilica A - Saki, Mei-Feng... Heart? B - everybody else D: B-/C - Maori, Liesolette

[Zaido]

i still luv you Maori !!! :O

[zer0kage]

Set the timer to unlimited if you see Zaido.

[CrimsonDisaster]

shrug I played against a pretty good Maori in Houston. Maori is a pain but she randomly gets hit and then loses =(