[FB] Rozen Zulu Discussion: Psyco Jamma!

[Z-0010332536893]

Unit: YAMS-132 Rozen Zulu

HP: 600

Pilot: Angelo Sauper

Moveset

[A] Triple Mega Particle Gun

No out of angle effect, regardless of orientation. Standard BR, otherwise.

Ammo: 8

Dmg: 75

[CSa] Mega Beam Shield (Sweep)

Short-range beam. Input 4 to sweep from the left. Input 6 to sweep from the right.

Dmg: 40

[AB] INCOM Claws

Deploys INCOM Claws to chase target. Operates similarly to Zeong but fires up to 6 shots (3 per Claw). Input a direction during dispatch to control INCOM orientation. Input ab again to recall INCOM's.

Ammo: 12

Dmg: 65

[AC] Mega Beam Shield

Fires beam which knocks back opponents without filling down counter.

Ammo: 2

Dmg: 120

[bC] Psycho Jammer

Deploys octahedral Psycho-field, surrounding target. Stuns on hit. Forces Unicorn to shut down NT-D.

Ammo: 1

Dmg: 30

[ABC] Mega Beam Shield Cannon (Diffusion)

Fires gero which diffuses outward from line of fire then re-converges to single gero.

Dmg: 265 ~ 277 (A)

232 (B)

Brief Strategy and Tactics

Despite it's arsenal placing emphasis on long-range harassment, Rozen Zulu is capable of surviving and effectively zoning even the most notorious distance-closing tactics, and out-lasting other patient strategies. In my experience, his only problems are found in dealing with MS like Full Cloth and X1 which are protected by beams from every angle. (Thankfully, this is slightly relieved in some cases by RZ's 2b, a stunning melee attack. His claw fires forward to stun the target.) While I would have previously considered this MS to be nothing more than a support-type unit, I've recently learned that it's capable of running mid-field interference for a notable amount of time.

The general idea behind Rozen Zulu is to damage what your partner can't reach. In many cases, this will likely be a support unit that's zoning very well, keeping an appropriate distance between himself and his partner, and/or staying behind his leading partner at nearly all times. In nearly every match, you need to begin by harassing the support; however, even the INCOM claws won't cover enough distance and are noticeable enough to make it hard to hit your mark (A simple sidestep will cut the tracking on each shot from ab). This leaves ac and bc as your best openers. Whatever you choose to open with however should be guided by targeting the front unit that the support will follow; similar to leading gero shots to hit the target's partner and not necessarily the target. My personal preference is bc, given that it affects an area, but opening with ac>>ac can be just as useful/accurate.

Like with any match, the rest of the game can be situational. Although I prefer to slowly pick off the support from a distance, this is not always possible. For example, if Kshatriya is providing heavy support to a unit such as Reborns, then my situation forces me to target Reborns to disrupt the efficiency of their double-lock on my partner. In the case of being double locked myself, then my focus is forced to multi-tasking on obstructing their path to me around the time the front enters a mid-range distance. After which, it is best to attempt to disrupt the support's movement first, followed by downing the front. The trick to this is a careful use of ab, ac, and bc, each of which are good at crowd control. Additionally, the fire control on RZ's INCOM claws will continue to function after deployment while shielding, allowing you to take down a unit trying to land melee, so remembering this will be important in your choice of zoning a double-lock.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Z-0010332536893
Addition of strategy and tactics section.

[FatalDMG]

I truly see potential with Zulu, because his playstyle seems to be garnered around confusing his opponents with traps and throwing out the psycho jammer. I'm surprised no one has discussed him much, which is a tad unfortunate.

[brett_]

He's honestly really fun. he's pretty weird at first, but he's quite fun to play as.

[FatalDMG]

Yea he is extremely fun to use, and not that hard to really grasp as far as his gameplay is concerned. I agree with your post in the twitch chat about half bursts really having no potential outside of situations that grant it. I think with Zulu, full burst gives him more ability to keep himself at bay while still being able to annoy his opponents with Ab or A.

His burst super seems very lackluster imo. Seems to be used for like a last ditch effort to seal the match, more than using it mid battle as some sort of keep away tool. The damage isn't too great, but does cover a decent radius.

[Skillkill107]

It's fast at least even if it's just a Gerobi.

[Umareru]

This suit is tonnes of fun, but I'm having serious issues trying to make the ab incom claws hit. It seems really hard to hit with, unlike raphael's flying arms in docked mode. Is there a good timing to use the move or is it something you just throw out there, and hope that they force your opponent to move into a position where you can use AC?

Here are some other thoughts on the suit I'd like to share:

1) I see a lot of people using "Psycho JammaAAH" on wakeup, but this is terrible and will never hit. I find it's good to throw out to catch landings, or when 2 of the opponents are sticking very close together.

2) I don't think that his BR is a standard BR aside from never going out of angle. It's really as weird as a BR can get, because the claw doesn't move and sometimes I find that the unchanging angle makes me miss punishes or makes it difficult for me to get a chasing Epyon off my back. However, there was an instance where an opponent landed behind a building but my claw was in the right place to hit him which was nice.

3) More on the BR: is it just me or does it seem to undock when you input a direction upon firing? can't confirm nor deny because I'm at work.

Sorry if the opinions above are total rubbish, I'm still trying to get good with the suit. I do enjoy it a lot.

[Z-0010332536893]

This suit is tonnes of fun, but I'm having serious issues trying to make the ab incom claws hit. It seems really hard to hit with, unlike raphael's flying arms in docked mode. Is there a good timing to use the move or is it something you just throw out there, and hope that they force your opponent to move into a position where you can use AC?

Here are some other thoughts on the suit I'd like to share:

1) I see a lot of people using "Psycho JammaAAH" on wakeup, but this is terrible and will never hit. I find it's good to throw out to catch landings, or when 2 of the opponents are sticking very close together.

2) I don't think that his BR is a standard BR aside from never going out of angle. It's really as weird as a BR can get, because the claw doesn't move and sometimes I find that the unchanging angle makes me miss punishes or makes it difficult for me to get a chasing Epyon off my back. However, there was an instance where an opponent landed behind a building but my claw was in the right place to hit him which was nice.

3) More on the BR: is it just me or does it seem to undock when you input a direction upon firing? can't confirm nor deny because I'm at work.

The thing about the INCOM claws is that if your target steps to dodge any of its shots, the following attacks from the same deployment won't re-track to keep up with the target. Other than that, I don't have much trouble landing those shots. I think I usually deploy the INCOM's during my targets flight and fire as soon as I see them about to land. It only takes 4 shots to down and the reload is fast enough to make up for it imo. I don't think the INCOM's help in controlling a target's movement though, because they can just step and be done with it.

Psycho Jammer is pretty good for spam imo, but it does take some timing like you said, since there is a bit of a reload period. I think they release it as part of throwing out a lot of ammunition and hoping something sticks. Not exactly the best tactic, but it can prove useful sometimes.

I would say it is standard, just without the best tracking. It also seems a bit slow to me and does take a few extra frames to fire (but Zunda's come out pretty easily despite the time it takes the claw to detach and fire) It just makes the timing to punish landings tighter than it would be for suits with a BR with high tracking and speed.

RZ's main should undock regardless of whether you input a direction or not. I haven't observed inputs affecting the direction to which it undocks either, so I'd have to say it's just you... or I'm not paying enough attention.

[Umareru]

Good insights, thanks. I guess the incom claws are more for attacking from very far away. Wish I could find a way to consistently make them hit instead of just throwing them out and hoping something good happens, but I guess I'll just have to play the suit more.

Yeah I noticed that the beams seem pretty slow, but I guess they are thicker than the average BR shot.

One other thing: How do you guys deal with melee suits like Epyon or Master? I did pretty good online last night but got rekt'd by an Epyon. Psycho Jammer is not reliable unless you release it and then block. csA is great aside from the fact that it takes a long time to charge. Boost dashing backward and firing BR which is typically my go-to move doesn't work very well because the angle of the BR might get weird (you really want to be firing straight ahead of you to deal with incoming threats). I found AB totally unreliable so the best option seems to be AC, but you might not always have the ammo for it. What are you guys doing to keep really aggressive melee suits off your backs?

[Z-0010332536893]

About you boosting backwards... iirc, boosting backwards will cause your unit to have a higher boost consumption. (I think it causes your unit to travel slightly slower, too, but that might not be true.) Although, sometimes, it just can't be helped but to boost backwards.

I usually fire all of my ac ammo at once, so it'll go ahead and reload. Usually, by the time an opponent tries to rush me down, the reload will finish. I also start charging CSa whenever someone looks like they're about to enter it's range. I also mind which direction I input when I release CSa. If my target is to my right, then I'll be holding 6 as I fire the shot.

Another, somewhat riskier option is to input 2ab, guard, and fire main. The INCOM claws will fire, despite your guard action, but you're screwed over if the target steps after the first shot is fired. The 2 input is important, because it'll align the INCOM's in front of your target, making it setup faster and a little easier to hit.

2b can be a last ditch effort; it has some tracking, so it'll stun your target if it hits.

Edited February 8, 2014 by Z-0010332536893

[Umareru]

Good tips, thanks! I guess I have to be more mindful of when they are entering my range and start charging that csA. I'll give the 2AB tip a try.

[Eriksharp]

I have played few matches with Rozen Zulu and is pretty good, he is fast, with a lot of ammo, the INCOMU system is OP, and Psyco Jamma is really useful, he can shoot back, etc. For newbies (and not newbies) is really really good.

[Umareru]

I did some testing, when I held left when shooting the BR, the left hand fired, and when I held right the right hand fired. So you can control which of the two hands undocks to fire the BR. Shooting neutral, 8 or 2 didn't seem to make a difference though.

[dreamyrobot]

I feel you need to take a support role with the Rosen Zulu. The incoms will serve you better supporting your ally because if used properly they set up unblockable/Dodge-able scenarios. Same with psycho jammer. Never try to use it on someone you're dueling unless they have just burned out their boost, it takes too long to set up and they will dodge it.

Now getting hounded is where I need to work. I've tried spacing myself and using my dashes to set up an AC but it isn't the easiest thing. Honestly if you fore your incoms and start fleeing they can set themselves up for cross fire between the incoms and the AC shot.

I've yet to properly utilize the Ca but I could see its defensive applications.

[Sabator]

Does psycho jammer disable NT-D for both Unicorn units?

[Z-0010332536893]

It only affects Unicorn's NT-D. Banshee's is unaffected.

[FatalDMG]

I feel you need to take a support role with the Rosen Zulu. The incoms will serve you better supporting your ally because if used properly they set up unblockable/Dodge-able scenarios. Same with psycho jammer. Never try to use it on someone you're dueling unless they have just burned out their boost, it takes too long to set up and they will dodge it.

Now getting hounded is where I need to work. I've tried spacing myself and using my dashes to set up an AC but it isn't the easiest thing. Honestly if you fore your incoms and start fleeing they can set themselves up for cross fire between the incoms and the AC shot.

I've yet to properly utilize the Ca but I could see its defensive applications.

Yea Zulu is all support since his melee is very limited if not real bad. It's startup is very floaty and puts you in very bad positions. Best to play zulu back and just stay there the entire match. The only time zulu should be going in, is when your member is being bombarded and you can throw out Psycho Jammer or AB. If up close, its probably best to do A into AC if you feel confident that you will hit your opponent.

If anything just try to confuse your opponent by throwing out AB a lot.

[Sabator]

I've beaten out Nu side melee with zulu side melee in a direct clash before. Worth remembering for FFB scenarios. In most situations 2b is surprisingly fast for dealing with melee approaches but should only be considered a last ditch option when you have no ac and no meter. If you have half meter and no ac, I would rather burst and get ac back unless I was really low on hp than rely on 2b.

One thing I've been trying to work on is bc for the beginning of the round. Since bc has a maximum distance, if you have good distance judgement and yomi you can throw down a bc right in front of the enemy front if they're boosting towards you in greenlock.

[Irysa]

fyi nu side melee is really bad. it's not much of an accomplishment to beat it in a clash

[Sabator]

that makes you pretty bad for pressing it then badlord

[brett_]

random note: psycho jammer can be decent at calling out virsago's olba assist, since it will catch him even on the rise, and he basically stands in the same spot during it aside from flipping upwards.

[Irysa]

that makes you pretty bad for pressing it then badlord

you only really see nu side melee in step wars since in those situations the attack itself rarely matters and you just want to get your attack out of the step ASAP. I also dont trust myself to get 66 2b out fast enough on a spam basis, and don't use side melee aside from that. Its not like nu melees a lot anyway.

Edited March 6, 2014 by Irysa