Effenhoog

I feel it's a tie between AC and +R, depending on which character you play and how they fare in each version. I would love a version that lets you choose the AC or +R version of your character as you see fit, keeping the system mechanics of +R. +R is my personal favorite since it has the most enjoyable version of Dizzy, but some characters like Baiken got a bunch of weird changes in that version and I understand why players would not prefer it. I don't care for Xrd much personally.

It's a bad habit. I used to do this a long time ago but fortunately I ironed it out early on before it became too much of a long term habit. There are specific uses for controlled mashing of buttons or intentionally pressing a button multiple times in a row but 99% of the time you should only be pressing buttons the minimum amount of times it takes to execute the commands you want.

I've been getting a glitch with the P fish quite frequently, both intentionally and otherwise. Basically it seems to trigger when you grab the opponent right before P fish is about to bite the opponent for the third? time. All it does is make the fish freeze in place instead of disappear, and it seems to last until you summon another fish. The previous fish will then animate the same way as the new one but seems to have no hitboxes or anything. I can't replicate it with any consistency at all but I've seen it happen dozens of times from both trying to force it to happen and just playing normally. Probably doesn't have any real gameplay affect but I found it strange how often and easily I have been seeing it, I'm surprised it wasn't caught before release. I really don't understand the P and K fish summons in this game, they have so many huge gaps and feel really awkward to use effectively. The timing on H fish feels pretty bad too but it at least works off 2D knockdowns so I understand it more than the others.

You have to tiger knee the K dandy step during the homing dash after the 5D. So, 5D 6 2147K To get both K pilebunkers after the 5D, you have to hit with the first one before they start sliding down the wall at all. If you see them slide even a tiny little bit before the first K pilebunker hits, do not try to go for the second one. Do a P pilebunker, 5H 2H, 5H 2D, 2D, or whatever else instead.

Azrael keeps me playing BB. I've played since CT but I was kind of lukewarm towards every game after it, until CP. Azrael has a much more tolerable combo duration and just the pure fun factor that I was looking for.

has anyone been able to get 5D > K pilebunker to connect? I've seen it done but I have not been able to get it to work even once

You can also roll through the orb safely. If you are paralyzed and he tries to IK you rolling back and forth through the orb until it ends is the best way to avoid it also

*reserved* still a work in progress obviously. I based this thread on the format being used on other character subforums, i have some stuff typed up already but i am still working on the formatting to make it match obviously I am not a mod and am not attempting to pretend to be one so the stuff about infractions and whatnot is just the basic site rules statement copied from another thread if you have any combos that you think should be included above feel free to post them and I will try to add them in when I can. Please do me a favor and try to format them appropriately to make it easier on me if you can

Midscreen Collapsed: ] 5AAAAAA => 8A => 4B => 8B => 4D => 2C (character specific) 5AAAAAA => 8A => 4B => 8B => 4D => 6C => 6B (character specific) 5AA > 5B > 2B > 236A => 8A => 4A => 6A/B 5AA > 5B > 2B > 236A+B => 4B => 8B => 4A => 8A => 6B > 236236B *you have to input the super facing the same direction you started, and wait a moment for them to bounce back closer to you 5B[FC: > 236B => 4B => 8B => 4A => 8A => 6B > 236236B easymode 5B fatal counter combo, only do this if you autopilot into 236B or if you know that it will be enough to kill and you want a virtually undroppable combo 5B[FC] > 236C => 4B => 6C => B+D => 2B > j.B > 5B > 2B > sj.B(1 hit) > j.214B => 6C => 8B => 4C => 4A => 8A => 2C => 236236B 5B FC [AA] > j.B > 2B > j.B > 5B > 2B > sj.B(1 hit) > j.214B => 6C => 8B => 4C => 4A => 8A => 2C => 236236B hook (any strength or cyclone level) FC => 6C => B+D => 2B > j.B > 5B > 2B > sj.B(1 hit) > j.214B => 6C => 8B => 4C => 4A => 8A => 2C => 236236B 5C [OMC] 2A > 5B > j.B > 5B > j.B > 2A > 236A => 6B 5c CH > dash > (2A) 5B > j.B > 5B > j.B > 2A > 236A => 6B 5c CH > dash > (2A) 5B > j.B > 5B > j.B > 2A > 236A => 6B j.C CH > 236C => 6A/B j.C CH > 236A+B => 6A/B 2B CH > jump back > airdash j.B > 5B > j.B > 5B > j.B > 2A > 236A => 6B j.A CH jc > j.A > j.B > j.214A j.A CH land > 5A > 2B > sjc j.A > j.B > j.214A j.A CH counterhit airdash j.B > 5B > j.B > 5B > j.B > 2A > 236A => 6B AoA > C launcher > j.A > j.B > j.215A Corner Collapsed: ] 5AA > 5B > 2B > 236A => 8A => 4A => 8A => (4A) => 6A/B 5B > 2A+B > 236A => delay 8A => 4B => 8B => 4D => 6B [??: 214C 6B (this works off of 5A but you have to input exactly 5A 5B sweep, no 5AA 5B, no 5A 5B 2B, etc. Timing is harder on some characters.) 5C [OMC] > 2A > 5B > j.B > 2A > 236A => 8B => 4C => 4A => 8A => 2C > 236236B 5C counterhit > dash (2A) > 5B > j.B > 2A > 236A => 4B => 8B => 6C => 4A => 8A => 2C > 236236B j.C counterhit > dash (2A) > 5B > j.B > 2A > 236A => 4B => 8B => 6C => 4A => 8A => 2C > 236236B j.A counterhit > 5B > j.B > 5B > j.B > 2A > 236A => 4B => 8B => 6C => 4A => 8A => 2C => 236236B AoA non-fatal D ender 236A 8A 2C AoA fatal D ender 236B 4B 8B 6C 4A 8A 2C 236236B

***WORK IN PROGRESS*** *Note* - When browsing the Akihiko forums please follow the rules of the site, failure to do so will result in an Infraction. If you do not know the rules you can check them here -> Site Rules. Information If you'd like to contribute, please feel free to do so! Just post the combos you created, but please write them properly. If you are unsure on how to write combos properly, then read the wiki page here. Make sure to read the Notation Used section in this post so that you understand the specific notations used for CHARACTER. Also refrain from using move names and abbreviations. Please refrain from going off topic in this thread. This thread is for posting of combos only. Only the most optimal combos will be listed in this thread. Collapsed: General Notations Used: [table] >Gatling/cancel the previous move into the following move. ,Link the previous move into the following move. |>After landing. jJump sjSuper Jump hHop hcHop Cancel adAir Dash iadInstant Air Dash jcJump Cancel sjcSuper Jump Cancel dcDash Cancel OMCOne More! Cancel AoA~CAll Out Attack into C ender AoA~DAll Out Attack into D ender CHCounter Hit FCFatal Counter [ ]Hold Input (N)Attack must deal N amount of hits. [???] xNRepeat ??? N amount of times.[/table] Collapsed: Guide Specific Notations Used: Notations in red are for prefixes only. Notations in blue are for suffixes only. [table] c.The attack must be used as close to the opponent as possible. f.The attack must be used as far away from the opponent as possible. [sS]Side Swap combo [CO]Crouching Opponent [AA]Anti-air or Air-to-Air [RP]Roll Punish [sD]Shadow Only Combo [N%]Player SP % required before combo start. [N/N%]Damage/SP Gain %[/table] Challenge Mode Combos [COLLAPSE=] Mission #01 - Mission #02 - Mission #03 - Mission #04 - Mission #05 - Mission #06 - Mission #07 - Mission #08 - Mission #09 - Mission #10 - Mission #11 - Mission #12 - Mission #13 - Mission #14 - Mission #15 - Mission #16 - Mission #17 - Mission #18 - Mission #19 - Mission #20 - Mission #21 - Mission #22 - Mission #23 - Mission #24 - Mission #25 - Mission #26 - Mission #27 - Mission #28 - Mission #29 - Mission #30 - [/COLLAPSE]

Quoting myself because laziness

Way back at the start of P4A I mained Elizabeth and Akihiko was the only matchup I actually felt good about. Unlike many other characters Akihiko actually has to respect a lot of her stuff and his mixup isn't the best so once he is in she isn't that scared of getting hit and killed in 2 combos. One important thing to remember is that both her DP and ghastly wail are grabs so jumping or hopping during pressure are safer than they would be against most other characters (this is also somewhat true for Margaret since her DP is also a grab). You just have to be careful on the approach like with any annoying long range/poke character like Margaret, Ken, Sho, Yu, Mitsuru, etc. Make careful use of SB kill rush and SB corkscrew, and don't forget 5D exists.

Don't we already have that color? I think it comes in the old BGM/stage DLC packs

Losing midscreen IAD combos hurts a lot, they were the most fun part of the character. I hope something else fun is discovered, Azrael seems fine overall in 2.0 but removing fun things is not a good way to keep people playing your game

Lack of moderator involvement basically. I've been considering making a thread myself at least temporarily

if you are referring to the autocombo starter at the beginning of that video, it is character specific. I have made a few big posts with some combos earlier in this thread: here and here, which include most of what you were asking about there is also this video which I have only sort of skimmed because its super long but it probably has some useful stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qej5LA3fTE Akihiko is more complex in both gameplay and combos this time around, but the only combo I have found to be particularly hard to execute is the corner combos with sweep 236A delay 8A 4B stuff. learning the new routes and general rules for starters was awkward initially but remembering what you can/have to do off various hits at various cyclone levels is a lot harder than actually executing most of the combos IMO.

Akihiko's 2B is not the best, you may have to wait longer until their jumpin is fairly deep which leaves you at risk for timing errors. Parry is risky and potentially low reward but if it works for you then no reason not to. You can also try pre-emptive j.A air to air, it's real quick but you have to space it right and get it out before their active frames start. Sometimes it is better to just block, I see this with Japanese players a lot where they often just block the opponent's jumpins/IADs instead of trying to beat them. I should probably do this more myself, I am always challenging my opponent's moves with my own j.A/2B and it often does not work out. You can always try rolling if you see them IAD at you, I don't think most characters have a punish that turns them around and reaches that far from the air and works on reaction. it doesn't really help that much since you're still out at neutral but at least you didn't get hit or put into pressure

Going back and forth like that is more typical of players who are learning stick but haven't fully adjusted/committed to it yet. Persona is also less likely to be singled out for pad use as its multiple button macro combinations and the challenge of mashing all out attack to maximum hits (especially now that it is harder to do so in ultimax) give stick several obvious advantages for this particular game. If your awkwardness comes from the button layout using the LP MP LK MK buttons, similar to most king of fighters control layouts, then just reassign them to something more comfortable. Some people move D to the HP button, especially Shadow Labrys players who don't like constantly holding down the most awkward button on the stick (MK). The only game I have really seen established stick players sometimes go back to pad for are 3D fighters like Tekken. I do not know why that is and usually they can play the game fine on stick as well so that choice is a bit of a mystery to me.

I'll mash out some basic notes real quick Once Akihiko commits to kill rush (236A/B) he is stuck in the loop of kill rush moves and universal system tools. Basically, he can do everything other than his A and B normals. During this time he has two main attack followups, hook and sonic punch, which both have A and B versions, and SB of course. Hook looks like kind of a gut punch and sonic punch is more of an uppercut. A typical kill rush blockstring begins with something like 236A > A sonic punch > A hook, at which point Akihiko is pushed too far back (unless in the corner and he can do another A sonic punch usually) and he has to commit to doing something else to keep the pressure going. This might include just stopping there and then dashing in to reset pressure with 5A or grab, or doing his command dash (duck) to get in and either reset pressure or grab. He can also use B sonic punch which has an animation where it looks like he is using duck but instead he moves forward and then punches you, which can fatal counter and also moves him in close so he can use A hook and keep doing kill rush blockstring stuff. To stop Akihiko from just doing pressure stuff to you, you'll want to look for the places where he uses ducking or B sonic punch to move forward when he gets pushed away too far to just keep doing A hook/sonic punch strings. Of course, he can also just stop earlier when you aren't expecting it and try to reset pressure with a dash 5A or duck to try and grab or reset pressure. He can also stop before even going into kill rush stuff and do something like 5A dash 5A, 5A 5B duck into more pressure, 5AA grab, etc for basic blockstrings and tick throws. If Akihiko knows you are going to try and mash or DP or roll or something he has ways to call it out and punish. he can use his SB weave to be invincible for a moment and slide backward to dodge your DP. He can use SB hook to armor through attacks, although depending on what you did you may be able to just cancel into DP to beat the armor. He can also just use D weave which will slide him back, he won't be invincible but it can dodge jabs or other attacks and if you tried to roll out he will slide back and be in perfect position to 5B fatal counter your roll recovery. And since he can use system mechanics during these kill rush strings he can also hop, which will jump over throw techs and maybe some 2As (or Margaret's DP). Hop j.B 5B is a frame trap and will reset pressure, and he can use duck to make him run forward like he's going to grab you and then cancel it into hop to punish if you tried to throw tech. If you let Akihiko do something like A sonic punch A hook B sonic punch he will raise his cyclone gauge enough that he can start doing A hook B sonic punch as basically an infinite blockstring because the B sonic punch moves him far enough forward to reset positioning and the higher cyclone gauge levels give him enough extra blockstun on A hook that you can't just mash out of it. If this happens you have to either DP or roll during the B sonic punch startup, or maybe try some kind of instant block shenanigans, I have not tested this thoroughly. Guarding against akihiko is not that difficult aside from his SB duck crossups. His main mixup is just throw, all out attack, and sweep, and only the all out attack and sweep outside of kill rush (where his all out attack will be slowest) lead to any significant damage. Throw with meter can get like 4k but he needs to have his cyclone gauge up first or get a CH grab. However, escaping his pressure entirely requires taking risks, and if he reads you right you will take a lot more damage for trying to get out than if you had just kept blocking and ate a grab. Your best option is to just win the neutral game because Akihiko is really bad at it, but if you mess up and he gets in you'll have to play the "when do I disrespect his pressure" guessing game. Fortunately for you this is a two-player game instead of just you blocking mixups so he has to read you pretty hard to deal any major damage, and even if you just reset back to neutral you have successfully regained the advantage. I recommend going into training mode as Akihiko and playing around with his blockstrings to see for yourself what they look like

j.B (fatal) 5B(1) 236B 4B 8B 4A 8A 6B (fatal) 236236B -you probably won't get j.B fatal counters a lot but I got a few due to Margaret's DP losing to hop j.B and being fatal counter recovery so I went and found a combo off of it corner 5B (fatal) 236B 4AB 6C B+D 2A 236A 4B 4B 4C 4A 8A 2C 236236B (4458, 6100) -sometimes I still instinctively go into 236B after a fatal, especially if I wasn't expecting a fatal counter to happen at all. I have been unable to find a way to get better damage than the standard 4B 8B 4A 8A 6B combo to still get the super at the end, but this is an option if you have the meter. unfortunately the SB hook will kill your meter gain for the duration of the combo so you pretty much need to have 75 meter from the beginning Adachi

Generally you do have enough time after corkscrew to run up and continue pressure. Depending on distance or your own timing you might not have time to run up for a perfect meaty so watch out for some players that like to roll through your 2A/5A or whatever and be ready to punish the roll. Also I personally try to pay a lot of attention to screen positioning when I choose between A and B corkscrew, no reason to knock the other player out of the corner just because B corkscrew does like 200 more damage or something. As for defense, it is true that other characters can pressure you from outside your range, but generally they cannot do much mixup from that range and if they keep just pressuring you they will either push themselves out of range or have to stop at some point and try to reset pressure by running up or doing some slow move that brings them forward. You need to be willing to block a good amount with Akihiko and watch for your chance to turn the match around, you have the fastest 5A in the game and a pretty fast and majorly threatening fatal counter 5B so other characters have to be careful when they reset pressure on you. Generally speaking, if you're going to play Akihiko, you have to be prepared for some/lots of frustration. Akihiko doesn't really have the kind of tools that most of the really good characters have to force his way in and get hits, and he is not overly threatening at neutral vs anyone. That said, Akihiko is not a garbage character, he has exactly enough tools to deal with just about anything, he just doesn't make it easy for you. You have to constantly make good reads and play pretty intense grounded footsies for an anime game character, because even ranged characters like Yukiko and Yukari will beat out your 5A (or low profile it with their 2A) if you aren't exactly within your 5A range. The way I feel about Akihiko is basically this: there is no real reason to play Akihiko unless you really like playing him. He offers very little as a character in terms of major gameplay advantages, and if you want a rushdown/pressure character there are a variety of other choices: Chie, Sho, Aigis, etc., whose strengths are clear and are,proven to be effective. IMO Akihiko offers the most fun gameplay of all the P4A characters, but if I really just cared about winning I would probably pick someone else. With Akihiko, you have to make good reads constantly or you can get completely shut down, but when you get it right and are rewarded with big damage it feels very satisfying.

depending on whether you want to side swap or what kind of knockdown you want, you can usually do either 5AA 2B superjump j.B j.214A or just autocombo into B corkscrew.

Has there been any information on that machine Elphelt comes out of in her intro? Kind of makes her seem like a crazy person that someone (the senate?) keeps locked away for special missions or something

I'm really baffled by how much complaining there has been about game balance lately. Some characters are better, sure. There's always room for improvement just like every other game ever made, but comparatively speaking CP balance seems pretty fantastic. Maybe I'm just getting old but average game balance these days seems pretty spectacular, especially compared to 5-10 years ago. If P4A Elizabeth/Labrys and CP Makoto are the least playable characters around I would say ASW game balance is in a really good spot. Pre-patch Kokonoe may have slipped through due to lack of testing but it was a short-lived console-only issue and was dealt with.

Is there any way to stop people from DPing you after they block 66C/3C? Fireball makes it safe but since it's not a true blockstring they can DP you out of it. if you don't do the fireball it's unsafe so you get DPed anyway. Is it just not a usable move vs characters with a DP?