Arcknight

I have a couple of questions about this. First, how the heck do you know when to put in 6A? Second, how do you know when it is best to do a BC whiff? Last, are all of those small steps forward into 6C small dash cancels or are they regular? I only ask because I am having massive problems with this and to ME it seems like it's CT difficult (IE completely never going to happen for me). Which is pretty ironic seeing as how some people pointed out the fact that this is the easiest variant so far. Don't you love irony too? If someone could shine some light on that I would be very appreciative. I'll continue to practice. Maybe something will "click" one day.

Unfortunately both of those last two videos you linked Zreb have been removed.

Another option if cornered and he starts with 6D you have enough time to grab him out of it and put him in the corner. This also obviously works outside the corner as well.

I can also confirm that Runis. Since OB is a lot faster it's harder to react to. It's also nice to knock her out of Spike Chaser start-up.

I made some amendments. Thanks for the feedback.

I can confirm that 5D will still go right through Act Parser Zwei: Cavalier for a nice counter-hit. I don't think the timing is necessarily very strict either. Gravity Seed may not be a "DP" any more but it does give a fatal counter. Something that shouldn't necessarily be totally ignored.

That is a very good point Sky thank you. I did completely forget about that.

Matchup Ranking: 5.5-4.5 Noel's Favor(some argue 5-5). Logic: Noel can run over Hakumen if he does not play smart. Limited use of defensive-counters(while being pressured) and slow early game put Hakumen at a disadvantage. However, Noel's gatlings are rather predictable with some careful studying, and this allows Haku to swing momentum back to Neutral if Noel continues to play sloppy. His later power, especially in the corner, keep this match from being a complete blow-out. (any objections should be discussed below) Recommended Playstyle: Aggressive and deliberate. Do not be sloppy. Tread carefully with staggered pressure. General Strategy: RTSD: Hakumen will usually try and keep Noel out for a little bit to gain meter before going on the offensive. It is best to avoid such traps and put the heat on as soon as possible. Noel is fast. Use that to your advantage. 4C looks more intimidating than it actually is. It also has a very narrow horizontal hitbox. In fact, you can counter-hit Hakumen in the start-up frames since his arm's hurtbox extends before the sword. Note: It is hard to give a definite strategy for playing against Hakumen simply because of counters. Their use and frequency can very greatly between players. You just have to use your head and not become transparent. Also, try and maximize your combo damage as much as possible. It is entirely possible to have a one-sided match turn around because of missed opportunities. Your Best Tools(For This Matchup): Creativity and spontaneity. Solid pressure. Do not be afraid to use throws during your mix-ups(sensibly). Throws cannot be countered. Optic Barrel can be of some use to force a block here and there. Try not to let him cut it for a void though! 6A his attempts at aerial dashing in. With his movement somewhat limited on the ground his best method of closing distance is in the air. Has A DP?: No Has A DP With Heat?: TK Hotaru is a very powerful wake-up attack and could be considered a reversal with frames 1-14 of invincibility. It is also a fatal- counter and can lead to very big damage. It should be noted that this can also be canceled mid-dash, since Hakumen is considered airborne during his hop. Tsubaki can also be canceled in this same way. Things To Look Out For: Being Pressured: Many normal attacks can be drive-canceled and are usable in this way to bait sloppy mashing. Counters give Hakumen a definite advantage and do so with a good chunk of damage, meter, and possible follow-up combo. It should be noted that counters pro-rate damage terribly and a burst should not necessarily be used unless death is imminent. Be careful of close-range command-dashes(Kishuu). They can be very unexpected and are great for closing in for a throw. If you are cornered, watch out for a TK Hotaru/Tsubaki after a neutral tech. Both can completely ruin you if you are caught mashing. The damage that follows these attacks can be tremendous and it might be wise to use a Burst to escape. Also note that Tsubaki is an overhead and causes ground slide. Also, watch out for Renka(Lotus) as it is a 2-strike attack. The 1st-hit strikes low and happens rather quickly and generally leaves Hakumen in better neutral position than Noel. Zantetsu is a 2-strike attack where the 1st-hit strikes overhead and the 2nd sweeps low for a knockdown. Note that both Renka and Zantetsu can be special-canceled after the first hit for more combo options. Gurren(Hilt Thrust) and Renka are both +1 on block as well as being special cancelable for continued pressure. Trying to mash out of these attacks is ill advised. Pressuring: Although the risk of drives appearing in the middle of a block string has been greatly reduced due to the change to Instant Block, it still represents a viable threat. Staggering pressure and leaving gaps can be very dangerous. Although, it is also a good way to bait counters as, aside from 5D, the active frames are short and recovery is long and punishable. Noel's overhead(6B) can be countered on reaction so be careful using it too often. Be VERY wary about doing a wake-up distortion. The start-up animations(super flash) are more than enough time to input a counter and make Noel eat the floor and lose 50 heat. Watch out for voids. Hakumen can cut many of Noels attacks. Optic Barrel, 5C, and almost all drive attacks (minus 6D, d.6B, Assault Through, and Spring Raid) can be cut for a void. As mentioned above try not to forget about throws and well-placed Optic Barrels! Counters:5D/6D only counter mids/highs/aerials but lose to lows. 5D is active on frames 5-16. 6D is active on frames 1-9. Follow-ups possible. j.D is low invulnerable and counters mids/highs/aerials. j.D is active on frames 1-7. Follow-up not possible without a Rapid Cancel. 2D counters lows and mids but loses to overheads. 2D is active on frames 1-8. Follow-up possible. Yukikaze on wake-up is an easy counter to predictable rush-down behavior. Be wary of this and do not mash when Hakumen has 4 or more stars. Yukikaze is active on frames 1-27. This does BIG damage so beware of going auto-pilot when of questionable health. Air Unblockables: Hakumen has MANY air-unblockable attacks. 5A, 6A, 5B, 6B, 2B, 4C, 6C, 2C, 3C, Enma, Renka, and Hotaru. These may not all be practical, however, they nonetheless have that property. So beware of reckless jump-ins/outs. Unfamiliar Terms? TK(Tiger Knee, see Street Fighter Sagat), IB(Instant Block), IAD(Air-Dash/Instant Air-Dash), Mags/Stars(Magatama/Hakumen's Meter), DD(Distortion Drive), Tech(Character recovering from a knockdown.)

Wow these new strings look a lot harder than anything I've been doing up until now. The timing on that stuff just seems ridiculous! Killing Carl outright with counters would have been the most hilarious thing in the world too.

All right I had thought of that possibility but I wasn't sure if that was exactly it or not. Thank you for that information. I will have to practice that a lot I guess. I also agree everyone should try and bait bursts but since I play Noel the most it's pretty hard if half the time I'm in drive and can't stop. ><; Oh well.

At the risk of looking newbish here I have a question. How exactly do you do that IAD after the TK Hotaru or jc the hop? I have seen that mentioned and looked around for an answer but I was unsuccessful. This is probably obvious but I also wanted to mention that due to lower mag charge speed Hakumen players should definitely try and anticipate/bait bursts more often. I have wasted many a star on an attack that was bursted out of resulting in waste. Now this will only hurt more. If that was stated elsewhere I apologize!

It seems everyone has trouble doing the haida loop on certain characters. I have trouble with doing it on Hakumen in CS1 and I can't EVER do it on Jin. I know this has been said repeatedly, but I really wouldn't put so much stock into that unless it's literally the only thing you have left to learn. I don't ever bother with it in CS1 online since it's very particular and easily breaks down (for me). I will have to see how it is in CS2 tomorrow.

Hey! NVG is nothing but on-topic, and totally 100% professional discussion about Noel. I mean every 5th post is about the Noel bikini fan art! How much more dedicated could anyone possibly hope to become?! This isn't Gamefaqs! It's serious business. Also, Platinum the General just has an absolutely awesome sound to it. I definitely like it. I will end my traveling to other random boards for now. Hasta luego.

The recent PSN outage has prompted me to put out my feelers and see if I am indeed the only Blazblue player in my area or not. I am just curious if there are any interested parties out there that might have a desire to play. Amendment: This is for Blazblue (and possibly Arcana Heart, when I can actually buy it) mostly. I have never in my life played Guilty Gear, although I am open to just such a prospect. Anything else that is interesting can surely be discussed as well. Sorry in advance. It appears I am the only person in my area that plays. This is saddening.

I think it's funny how Noel was supposed to be a more newby friendly character. Yet almost all of her damage is (currently) coming off of capitalizing on hit-confirmed CHs (which Ragna, Litchi, and Bang have no problems in this area). I am looking forward to this being more to the inverse in CS2. Where WE can capitalize off of random hit-confirms for once. IMO I do not think any character should be able to yield more than adequate results off of almost any hit. Counter or otherwise. Edit: Was it Noel's 5B that was air-unblockable? If so was that hitbox actually improved upon?

Does Noel run faster or are attacks just more lenient on when you can dash to connect links? It just seems like Noel has much improved combo-ability. She is able to hit-confirm more things into some form of damage.

I understand that. Maybe I'll look on Youtube later for some video confirmation just in case. And yes Revolver Blast is basically relegated to pointless just like j.4D used to be in CS1.

I wanted to note that 5C being jump cancel-able on block isn't listed in the buffs section at all. Unless I am completely blind. Also why the decrease in Revolver Blasts damage? That seems completely pointless.

I was still under the impression that Ragna couldn't follow up after 6a any more but I see that is no longer the case. Seemed like a dumb change to Ragna at any rate (I know this isn't about him though). Does Fenrir in the corner push back less allowing for the double or was that always possible? Some things I just haven't ever tried in training. Also ya that Ragna played it too safe instead of counter assaulting or what have you. A win is a win though haha.

At the end of that Noel vs. Ragna video it actually looked like Noel was able to keep pressure on Ragna pretty well. That is something that has been non-existent for far too long. I find it sad though that he can still stick Inferno Divider in there after a blocked d.6c though.

@Hexanoid: Can't you just do Fenrir after the d.6d instead of doing it after the j.d for a little more damage? As far as I know that hits a fair amount of the cast (I know for sure it won't connect on Tager because for some ridiculous reason he flies off the ground much higher than the rest of the cast). If that prorates the damage more then disregard this. I have finished opponents off with a random d.6d into Fenrir by themselves. I'm not at home right now so I can't test one way or the other.

Challenge 4 was also pretty bad and it's nearly as obnoxious as Challenge 3. It and 3 last were the last ones I finished with Noel. You just have to get the feel of the dash into 5b (I always hit 4b so I didn't accidently do 6b as a result of the dash, which is exactly why I couldn't do Rachel's Challenges at all). I'm still at a loss as to why anyone should use bullet rain in an air combo though. I always seem to max out at an extra 500 damage maybe. For 50 heat I think that is a rather paltry reward. Edit: It's actually around 500 damage not 200. Not sure what I was thinking. 500 is still a bit on the low side though. Also Miracle you are correct about that but those situations aren't the most regular for me (especially having 100 heat). Also didn't know you could Fenrir after Thor. That's interesting haha.

In regards to Noel's Challenge 3, that was one of the last ones I finished with her. If you force Bang into the corner it's a bit easier. Also, you can buffer the super jump during 5c (standing C). I had a lot of problems with that one so you aren't the only one. Her other challenges were much easier to me but I had some background knowledge to fall back on. Keep trying!

Is there any chance that 5c > jc(9) > j.4d would work as a valid cross up now? I've messed around with it in training and it's far too slow right now but with improved speed it might be neat.

Well I certainly appreciate the feedback thank you. I suppose I will try and shuffle the inputs around and see if that helps. Also I will try out the other combo suggestions if they don't end up being too difficult. It just seems frustrating when you try something out on a few different characters in training mode and have it work awesome, then find out one character's hitbox is too gimmicky for it. Well live and learn right? I just wish Noel wasn't such a hard core gambler with many of her attacks haha.