New Guilty Gear Player from Smash

[WayTooFoxy]

What's good guys? I'm not sure if this is the right part of the forum for these kinds of questions and I know how mad people get when stuff is in the wrong place. Just point me in the right direction if I'm in the wrong spot instead of getting all kinds of butthurt. Thanks.

Skip this next part if you're looking for the tl;dr version of my questions. It's just a little back story.

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I have played Smash religiously for the past few years and I'm just now picking up the stick for Guilty Gear. I have been picking up other fighting games in addition to this one, such as Marvel and AE, but this game is a far cry from either of those.

A couple of things first: I play on PS3 so I don't THINK I have access to GGXXACR. Is that correct?

Now on to my questions.

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1. I play Millia and I've literally been playing for ONE day. What kind of damage should I be looking at with a basic day 1 combo? I've been doing the standard 2H combo with the j. H ADF j. H. I think my max damage has been something like 195.

1.5. How should I approach my mid-screen combos? Can I use the same one I use in the corner with a different kind of spacing/timing or should I use something completely different?

2. On a similar note, I have a hard time doing the double tap to air dash between j. H'es. Any advice on the timing/spacing for this? Note that I do play stick. I haven't tightened it at all but maybe it's about time I do that.

3. I know most of the technical skills in this game such as FD, Slash Back, RC/FRC, and etc. But are there any intricacies not mentioned in the "READ BEFORE YOU POST" thread that I should be aware of? I know on our forums, we miss a lot of details.

4. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen much frame data on this forum. Is there any chance someone has Millia's frame data handy?

5. When are good times to RC/FRC? Particularly, which moves are good to end a string with and RC to optimize my pressure?

6. Millia seems like one of the harder characters in this game to play and doesn't immediately seem newb-friendly. Is this pretty accurate? If so, can you suggest any characters with distinctly similar rush-down honest playstyle that might be a little easier on me for now? Just until I pick up the execution to play this character.

7. I've been watching 2 particular Millia players and they have very different combo preferences. AKA somehow manages to hit with j. D after a launch. How does he do that? And is this better than the j. S to j. H I've been trying to learn? The other player was recommended to me and his name is Woshige. Are these good players to take notes from?

8. Bad Moon. What, exactly, dictates when I should/shouldn't use this move in my combos?

9. Secret Garden seems really useful for mix-ups but I have a really hard time getting all 4 inputs in for it before the stand-up animation is done. I can usually only get 3. Any advice on how I should decide which direction to go with this? I've been just going down, then left/right and then back.

10. I see a lot of combos start with moves that maybe counterhit or don't hit from the ground that aren't 2H. How will I know when I can initiate my BnB if I don't hit with 2H?

11. Is 214P FRC good at all?

again, thanks for being patient with me guys. I appreciate ANY advice for a new player and will take everything away that I possibly can.

Edit: Sorry for my bad notations. Today is my first day learning this way of conveying notations. My bad, guys.

Edited January 1, 2014 by WayTooFoxy

[Celerity]

Hi, welcome! You're definitely posting in the right place. As I don't play Millia, I won't be able to answer everything, but you can also try asking in her character forum if nobody helps you out here.

0. +R is available on JP PSN, which you can find out how to use from Kurushii's importing thread in this forum. If you don't want to do that, playing AC will still teach you everything you need to know about the game, so you could just wait until +R hits NA PSN sometime next century. By the way, the netcode is pretty sketchy, so it might be hard to get into if you don't have a local scene.

2. You just have to do it faster, there's no special trick. Don't wait for j.H to connect, just do 66 right after you hit the button.

3. That thread is pretty comprehensive for new players. If you're in need of more information, you can always ask here, or in your character's subforum!

4. The dustloop wiki is a really good resource. If you go to Millia's wiki page, there is a link to her frame data right under her description. The wiki should have full frame data for every character besides Kliff and Justice, but even they seem to be mostly fleshed out.

6. I would say Millia's execution is slightly harder than average, and her gameplan is fairly straightforward, but I'm guessing what you're struggling with the most is IAD combos. You could try Sol (either one) or Jam if you want to stick to that heavy rushdown style, though each of them also have their execution quirks. Almost every character in the game is capable of scary pressure and mixup under certain conditions, so keep that in mind if you want to try someone new.

Anyway, it seems like you're on the right track, as you are thinking very analytically about the game and seem eager to learn more. Keep at it!

Edited January 1, 2014 by Celerity

[TheRealBobMan]

1. Millia's damage output is not as high as other characters. In +R her j.D had it's startup time nerfed, but her j.D corner combos lead to high damage. Otherwise, you're looking at doing like 20% health combos most of the time, or 30-35% if you have a good set up and spend some meter. Your game revolves around her insane oki potential because of her great mixup, and she has good mobility which gives her a strong neutral game too. You'll need to do more combos than other characters, but you'll end your combos in knockdown and retain initiative for a long time, sometimes winning the game off of one good knockdown into oki into combos into more knockdowns. I don't know what her current combos are or what the damage is like, but check her character forum. They should have a topic for that stuff.

1.5. Millia can do poke > 2H launch > whatever > air dash cancel > whatever > repeat till in the corner and knocked down. In AC you had a lot of j.H/j.D > ADC > repeat, but in +R you'll use her j.2H (the hair helicopter) to drag people to the ground, then relaunch and do it again. It works a little differently, but the concept is the same. Drag them across the screen, knockdown in the corner. In the corner there are j.D loops that lead to more damage, but otherwise you'll use the same general combo no matter your screen position. From what I've seen at least.

2. Sorry, just gotta keep doing it till you get it down. It's a pain if you're just starting to learn stick (things like blocking and double tapping are easier on pad IMO), but you'll get it and it'll be worth it. At least you don't play I-No!

3. Check out the wiki, linked at the top of the page. There's a lot of great info in there on system mechanics. I suggest looking into how meter works and how the guard bar (that little pink bar under your hp) works, as they do a lot to set GG apart from other fighting games. Games like Marvel and SF only give you meter when you do a special move or connect with a normal, and you generally spend meter on supers and a few other actions. In GG you can get meter simply for walking/jumping forward, and the amount you get is affected by "how aggressive" you are. The guard bar affects damage scaling and gravity/hit-stun. Not required info to play the game, but it helps you figure things out and make good decisions as you get better.

4. Already mentioned, but there's frame data for everyone. It's not 100% complete in some cases, or it might have outdated info, so be cautious. If you click the asterisk next to a character name, you get it in chart format, which might have more information. The guide page might not mention that a move is upper body or throw invincible, or that it low profiles for X number of frames, etc.

5. RCing lets you be really flexible with everything you do, so you can RC to make unsafe moves safe (like uppercuts). You opponents can do the same, so watch their meter.

Sometimes using RC might lead to high damage, or it might let you confirm a hit that normally wouldn't get you anything into a full combo. Generally, your high damage options wont involve RCs, but there are some. FRCs can be done even on whiff, so while they tend to be used for high damage combos, they can also be used for weird mobility or other utility uses (FRC a projectile and run in behind it).

For Millia, you have FRC points on Haircar, Badmoon, S-Disc, Winger, I think Superfall, and some other stuff. S-Disk cancels on like frames 3-4, so you can do some silly stuff with whatever > S-Disc > cancel before startup > mixup/pressure. Haircar is a low and Badmoon is an overhead, both of which don't really lead to anything unless you FRC or have a FB-Disc out.

6. Her execution is pretty hard, but I don't think she has as many character specific combos in +R, so at least you don't have to memorize a whole lot. Jam might work for you, or Chipp, though I'd say Chipp is close to Millia in difficulty. Dizzy is another oki-based character and her difficulty is more strategic than execution based, though she has some rough FRCs to learn. Sol is fun even if you decide he's not for you. He's just so good at making stupid shit work if you put effort into him. Look up Kusoru.

7. Woshige is amazing. There are many other really good Millia players, but Woshige is one of those players like FAB or Kaqn or Ogawa that's really consistent and would probably be in most people's "top10 greatest player" lists. He's the equivalent to Isai's Cap Falcon from back in the day, or Ken's Marth, except he still plays. He's just THAT Millia.

8. I don't know about using it in combos, but that sort of thing can be experimented with. Again, check out the combo forum and learn about Millia's combo theory. It's a great mixup tool though. I think you can overhead with it on frame 16 or 18, which is super hard to react to. Haircar also sort of jumps a little, so it can be mistaken for Badmoon, so that helps your mixup further. I know I've seen some combos end in knockdown off of this move, and the multi hits can probably be useful for getting that little bit of extra damage when going for a kill. Or maybe for specific screen positioning, like if you didn't want to push someone all the way into the corner?

9. I can't help here, sorry. Check the forum. Down > Up > Down > Up works though. I know I've seen players use that formation in the corner to lock down Pot.

10. Well, 2H launches, so in a lot of cases you can just try to combo into it and go into your BnB. The discs also float the opponent. I think your only option to combo off of non CH 6K is to spend meter. You can have a disc set up before hand, or go into Lust Shaker into Longinus.

11. Haircar is sort of slow for a low at frame 19, but you hop so you might dodge lows, and I think you're throw invincible. The FRC is great since it's right when it goes active, so you can mixup with Haircar > FRC > landing j.K. Low into 4-frame overhead. You'd probably need a FB-Disc out while they're in the corner to make the most use of that, but it's a really hard to deal with mixup.

Aside from your questions, while you learn your different oki traps, figure out what is effective for baiting what. When spaced properly you can't throw 6K, and it's +5 on block. TK Badmoon can be used to bait a throw reversal since it's an aerial. Haircar FRC > j.K usually lets you land and block DP/Super reversals. You might be able to roll to cross up a DP or bait a Dead Angle, though that use might be character specific and wont work in the corner. Not only are you trying to be unpredictable so you can get a hit, but you have to emphasize keeping your initiative, which means not getting hit on oki. Millia is great at this, but you have to think beyond just doing mixups. Condition your opponent to want to respond to your mixup a certain way, then make it look like you're going to do the same trap and do something that beats whatever beats it.

Now my question: Who did you main in Smash? Fox?

[Essay]

Once you get your hands on +R, you're going to find this and this quite helpful, especially in showing you the details of solving question 10. Just brace yourself for the fact that almost all her combos will change when you upgrade from AC.

Also, regarding question 8, I believe Bad Moon gets used as an ender in +R to ensure knockdowns at moderately-low juggle heights when you can't/don't want to use the pin. In AC, however, you've got more consistent options, like multiple j.D's, to carry the opponent to the ground.