Digital Watches

If you mean TK FB Bomber, it's quite a bit easier than it was in Reload or Slash. I can hit almost any character standing with FB bomber no problem. Are you sure you're doing it the same as you did before? If you want an even easier way to do it, do a regular TK DP. That DIDN'T work in Slash/Reload but will now.

No worries. Every new player's got to find out the information SOMEhow, right?

When you successfully instant block, your character's entire sprite (the depiction of the character on the screen) will turn white temporarily. To instant block, you have to go back to neutral and reblock within a certain window of when the oppenent's move actually connects. I'm not sure exactly what the window is, but it's less strict than the similar window for inputting a slashback, and one can usually get a sense for it by trying it in various situations. As far as I know, you CANNOT instant block if you try to faultless. The advantages of instant blocking are decreased blockstun (you're stuck in your character's blocking animation for a shorter time before you can do something else) and a decrease in the distance your opponent is pushed back when you block their attack. The practical upshoot of this is that it makes it easier to retaliate against an attack by reducing or eliminating the opponent's frame advantage or increasing yours (depending on who is at frame advantage after the move is blocked.) That's hard to call, but generally, if you're inputting the IAD correctly (754 or 956) and quickly, and get an airdash fairly shortly after leaving the ground, you're likely to be doing it right. The game takes you out of Faint (and stagger) status based solely on your directional inputs. The more directions you input, the faster you'll get out of stun. Many players advocate alternating quickly between 7 and 3 or 1 and 9, since this involves inputting both horizontal and vertical directions simultaneously, and is therefore feeding the game more inputs in a shorter amount of time. Most players also play on arcade sticks, however, and this method may be catered more to that control style. If you have a general sense of when you'll get out of the stagger, mashing out a reversal type move is something some players also do, but it's usually safest to end the inputs with an appropriate block if possible. Button inputs do nothing to get you out of stun/stagger state.

Yep, though since you have to do it after the third hit, I'm not sure if it's a link or a really late cancel.

I think what's documented so far is: Sol: Super Dragon install Ky: Lightning thing Chipp: Wall jump Dizzy: IK but worse Jam: Retarded super As far as secret moves go. It's not the same for every character, if I recall correctly. For some it's something like 3 frames before the character is in the air, for others (Like Johnny and Robo-Ky especially, I think) it's more. Yeah, there's a minimum height, I'm almost certain of it.

Um. Interesting? What exactly makes Millia a worse matchup than Jam?

Frame data: Millia: Backdash Time: 11F Backdash Velocity: 14 Backdash Invulnerability: 7F Zappa: Backdash Time: 11F Backdash Velocity: 14 Backdash Invulnerability: 10F So while they cover the exact same distance and last for the same time, it's one vulnerable frame vs. four vulnerable frames. Actually, here are some more numbers: Mean Vulnerable Backdash frames: 6.3* (Backdash Time-Invulnerability) Mean Total Distance Covered: 136.23*^ (Backdash Time*Backdash Velocity) (ABA is counted into the averages only once, in Moroha Mode, as her backdash differs. Slayer is omitted from the second average, as the frame data gives him a velocity of 0, which would not would not work in the calculation.) 14 is the highest velocity figure, and therefore Millia and Zappa tie for distance covered in the same amount of time backdashing. They also tie with Johnny for shortest actual backdash time. Millia ties for second-least backdash vulnerability with May, Johnny, and Robo-Ky (Being beat out by Zappa and Potemkin). She ties for lowest invincibility frame count with Johnny, Jam, Eddie, Faust, and Venom, but covers more distance in one backdash than any of them. In one backdash, she ties with Zappa for third most distance covered (154), beat out by Chipp (178.5) and May (156), unless you count Goku Moroha ABA, who would take first with 194 (Whatever the units are). Millia probably one of the better backdashes in the game, but considering that Zappa's has three frames of invulnerability on hers and is otherwise identical (No, Millia does not travel farther), it's definitely better. Potemkin's backdash covers, far and away, the least distance in the game, but since it's so invincible and he benefits so much from being close, that's a good thing, not to mention backdash->pot buster.

OH, and as long as I'm posting here, one more Axl thing -Axl has a difficult time gaining meter in some cases (Though it varies between matchups). Defensive play doesn't have him moving forward much, and while on the offensive, Axl tends to be using FRCs and the like, meaning his meter gain will be severely limited.

Er... Not really. Zappa's backdash velocity is 14, compared to Potemkin's 3.5. I'm not arguing that Zappa's backdash is better (Backdash+Pot buster is too good), but it definitely covers more distance in the same amount of time, and also leaves him the option of doing something else after one backdash of 11 frames instead of 21. This majority being comprised of 12 characters, exactly one more character than has an equal or lesser guts rating than Sol (Including Sol), and therefore the smallest possible majority. I'm not saying it's not a SLIGHT disadvantage statistically, but it doesn't seem significant enough to mention as one.

Also, the fact that Zappa's backdash only has one frame of recovery, combined with being quicker than Pot's, means that he can backdash multiple times quickly with minimal vulnerability and good distance coverage.

You'd think that, but it really seems like it would matter is averages. The "default" is arbitrary. However, the mean is 1.04 (Closest to Ky, whose defence modifier is 1.03), which makes Sol's modifier better than the majority of characters in the game. Technically, he's tied for 6th best defense in the game, along with Faust, Johnny, Testament, and Zappa. So really, it should be a plus (Relatively speaking.) He falls in the top ten of twenty-three characters for defense modifier. His guts rating of one... well... the mean is 1.91. The majority of characters have better guts. Sol is ahead of only six characters, and tied with four (Axl, I-No, Dizzy, and Venom). This puts him ever-so-slightly on the low end of the guts scale (In the bottom eleven of 23 characters)... buuuut not really significantly enough to be a con in my opinion.

A few more things for Axl: +Completely fucks up several characters' zoning games, making for good matchups against Dizzy and Testament especially, but also makes his range advantage more pronounced. +Has several tools for getting a knockdown, and decent enough oki options for this to matter. -Can get stuffed by a lot of things even at optimal range, due to hittable chains, which can mean getting knocked down, and then having to deal with Oki (Any close-range defensive situation is hard for Axl) (Shoto already mentioned this as "Priority problem on long range attacks, but I felt the need to elaborate a bit.) Also: Contrary to something Shoto said: This is comparing only to characters like Testament, Jam, and May, who can get something like 1/2 life tensionless midscreen. Axl does fairly decent midscreen damage compared to the majority of the cast, and the ability to do this off of nearly anything one would typically use more than makes up for the tiny disparity with top abare characters. His only real problem in this area is the fact that he needs meter to do it. For the most part, everything else has already been said.

How long do you have to run, and do you need an FRC? I can't seem to get it, although I'm having a hard time with all my execution right now, and I suspect that my stick is in its death throes (I really need to find that mirror-top)

Or FRC the 2H occasionally. The FRC makes it a lot more viable for pressure games.

Alright. I wasn't going to post this until I figured out exactly how it happened, but it's just too awesome not to share. Three or four times in matches, I've been able to get a decent combo from the sliding property of Raeisageki (S). This would not seem unusual until I tell you that this was not in the corner. I think it has something to do with momentum properties, but apparently under certain conditions, Raeisageki will hit the opponent on one side and have Axl land on the other side, the practical upshoot of which is that the opponent actually slides towards Axl, making combos afterwards not only possible, but easy. Of course, I don't yet know exactly what circumstances cause it. I am myself working on trying to recreate the effect under controlled conditions (training mode) but would appreciate it if other people tried to figure this out as well. This is so cool and impractical that I feel like making a combo movie!

I'm gonna go ahead and say I doubt it, but I'll test this when I get home tonight. EDIT: Nope. Gatling, not link.

No, you're right. 3P-6H is a gatling.

Hm... Actually, howabout this? -KDX-! I challenge you! Prove that you can hit confirm it reliably (IE do it and combo from it. If you try to combo when it's not a counterhit, I take it as a sign that you were fishing on the hopes that it would CH, and not actually hitconfirming) while also winning a match against me, and I'll pay you... I'm not sure how much yet. Probably something like $5. Sound good?

Yeah, I don't think anyone can hitconfirm well enough to rely on this combo. It's pretty much a Combo Movie thing.

Yeah, it's seeming quite impractical. I wouldn't doubt that it's hit-confirmable to the extent that one could get a 5P out in time to do a combo, since that's easy, but unless there's something I'm missing, 3P-->6H with orange beat on reaction to counterhit would be next to impossible, even for the japan-good. But then again, if it's part of a blockstring, (Anything with non-meaty 6H is really risky, however.) you could probably CH confirm by the time the 6H connects pretty easily, thus deciding whether to continue blockstring (if blocked), adapt to non-CH situation (if not a CH) or continue the CH combo (if CH).

And like I said, I don't have access to training mode at the moment. That would be really cool if you could, but if it's an immediate chain, then I'm going to doubt that a counterhit is confirmable in any realistic sense (now PREDICTING something and ensuring a counterhit by prediction is a different story...)

I imagine that much like in slash, the counterhit is terribly difficult to confirm if you have to cancel it right away, but if it were any character but Pot, I'd say the risk wasn't too bad. The problem is that if he blocks the 3P and you do the 6H still (because it sounds like it's too tight to counterhit confirm) you've gotten Pot bustered, or wasted 50% meter RCing it. (after which you'll STILL have to get back quite a bit to avoid being PB'd) It is, however, a very cool combo if it really works (Though I've never seen anything with non CH-6H connect. Are you sure it's untechable? I don't have access to training mode at the moment =/)

Eh. Doesn't seem that hard to me. For one thing, if he truly can duck under bomber, I'd just return to the old days of meaty 6H for an overhead. His low crouching hitbox makes it easy to combo from. I'd even say faust is one of the easier characters to play keepaway with. Every long-range option he has besides items is easily countered on reaction with Tenhouseki. He eats next to everything Axl can do in terms of AA game, due to having a huge aerial hitbox. Really, Faust isn't that scary, he's just different to fight.

6K after 2S is just... bad. Since 6K doesn't really have the hitstun to do combos from, and the preferred combo is 2S --> Air stuff because it actually... works. If you go from 2S to 6K, you have ended the combo, unless it's something wacky like potemkin, and even then I'd rather go for standard BnB than random followups (however cool they may look) with 6K. Better combo, more damage, there's just no reason to.