Kakimori

OK...thank you.

Well, the trouble is not that I don't yet have his combos down, it's that I'm not sure I'll ever get his combos down no matter how hard I work. I think I practiced that loop that you mentioned above for over 2 hours with ZERO signs of success...most of the time I can't even transform into human form in the air, and when I do it's more accident than anything else. My execution is just really, really bad. I guess I'll give it another shot, though.

I'm thinking about getting into Hazama...because...well, I really like snakes (too bad Mizuchi sucks now). But the thing is that I've always found him really awkward to play as. I love some things like his Ouroboros throw, his 214D~B, the frame advantage off a blocked LV2 214D~A, and the fact that he can shut down other characters' zoning attempts hard. But he can't run, and his dash/airdash is not nearly as good as Valkenhayn's (what I'm used to), which means that he is almost completely reliant on his chains to be mobile, and using THEM seems to be almost an art form that takes time to develop, plus if you use them too much you're stuck in terribad movement mode for a while. His normals also have NO range except for 3C and most of his combos require a lot of inputs in different directions (read: a lot of opportunities for me to mess up). There's always 236D (Jabaki) as a quick ranged poke, but you can't follow up very much off of it that I know of. I have trouble escaping from heavy pressure in the corner, and trouble following up after landing Jayoku Houtenjin. Anyway, if he feels awkward to me, does that mean that he's probably not right for me? Or does he feel awkward to everybody when they start out with him? I don't see very many Hazamas online and the ones I see are rarely very good, so I've sort of started to think he must be pretty hard to learn. Are there any useful tips people can give me, just basic and simple blockstrings, strategies, and mini-combos that you find yourself using to good effect in most of your matches?

I main Lambda, but play Valkenhayn pretty seriously too. Now that CS:EX is coming out, I'm planning on getting back into the game again, but I'm not sure if I should continue with Valk or not. I like his human form more than his wolf form (blasphemous, I know). I play him as a pretty defensive character and use the ridiculous hitboxes on his 5C and jC to zone a lot, mixing in blockstrings off 2C -> 6B when I get a chance. I have good yomi and spacing, but not the best execution, so I'm completely unable to do anything more than simple combos (i.e. jC -> 236B~B). Still, I'm pretty successful with him even as a more human-based Valk (I switch to wolf after knockdowns to get in quickly and apply mixups, but can't combo off of hitconfirms). It seems like most of his BnB's have 1-3 frame windows for changing from wolf into human in the air and continuing the combo, and I've never been able to do it at will. Is it worth continuing on with Valk even if I can't do his combos? Is there some trick to them that I'm missing, or are his BnB's just really, really hard? I love him a lot but I'm just not sure I'll be able to develop the character as much as he deserves to be developed.

So if someone's breathing down my neck at very close range, 2A, 2C, 6B would actually be safer than 2A, 6B? If they don't IB, does that make a revolver into 6B or 6C any safer? A frametrap is still pretty good in my book, even if it's not 100%.

Are 2A, 6B and 5C, 6C safe, uninterruptible blockstrings? 6B and 6C are really slow, but they can be revolver cancelled from the previous moves, and when I watch the block animation, it seems like there's only 3 or 4 frames of freedom at most between blockstuns. If they aren't, IS there any safe blockstring into 6B?

The problem with the combo thread is that it mostly lists the most efficient combos, which are more or less too hard for me right now. Thanks for the advice and letting the thread stay open for now, though! I didn't realise that [w]5B is a good anti-air as well as a launcher, and I'll definitely try to get some of those combos you mentioned down. [w]5B,j.D,j.B,dj.B,j.C might not be too bad for me...I mostly have trouble when I have to switch using C~D.

Hi, I'm a relative beginner to BlazBlue and a Valkenhayn user (my other character is Lambda, but I'm pretty terrible with her). I'm posting here because I'd really like to hear any basic combo tips or strategies people have for Valkenhayn, since mine is really not that great. I should say that although I'm not really new to fighting games, I find the combos in BlazBlue EXTREMELY difficult (it took me about 2 hours to be able to do the CH 5B,5C,236C~9D,j.AAA,j.236A,j.236B,j.214A combo in the challenge section, and I still can't do the last j.214A consistently). My two main talents for fighting games are spacing and reads. I don't have the best reaction time and I'm not good at really hard inputs, but I'm pretty good at using my reach with a long-range melee character (Nightmare in SC2) and telling what people are going to do. I like Valkenhayn for that reason: he has a lot of long-range, slow melee attacks that are relatively safe or even + on block, a good air dash, and the ability to become a rush-down character for a few seconds when needed (oddly enough, I hate Hakumen, though). -My main spacing tools with Valkenhayn are 5C and j.C, and I land them both a lot. -I try to use 6B as a meaty in the corner after knockdown, but I'm not very good at it yet. -I feel like 6B and 6C are some of his best moves if you can get them out there, and I want to use them more, but I don't find too many opportunities for them. -I try to use the guard point on 6A sometimes when I'm in the corner, but mostly you're not actually that close to anyone, and if you are, their 5A or 2A will usually outspeed and beat you out. I'm close to filing this move in the useless department. -If they are blocking my wolf AAA low, I can use 5C~5B for the instant overhead, which is really nice. -I almost never use 236C because it's really unsafe on block and I can rarely hit confirm off a 5C by itself, which is what I land the most. -I'm also a bit afraid of using 236B~236B because of how unsafe it is on block. -I love running in on someone as the wolf after a knockdown, then trolling them with 4C or 9C into pressure. -I never really use Mondlicht, but I think it might be nice if I could figure out a way to land it. -The main combos I actually land in matches are (don't laugh, I'm REALLY a beginner): 5C, 236A~D, wolf pressure 2C,6B,5C,236A~D, wolf pressure [w]236A,j.236B,j.236B,j.236B,j.214A (SO SCRUBBISH) 5B,5C,632146D j.C,236236C The. End. I win matches based on good spacing, good blocking, and the occasional throw, but I have to work really hard for it and I'd like to be able to at least do a basic 3000 damage combo or something. Does anybody have any suggestions? I find it next to impossible to do things like combo as a wolf in the air and then hit C~D with the right timing to transform back into a human and keep comboing, or land an aerial j.B as the wolf and then land, hit D, and hit 2C in time to combo. If somebody has a video that demonstrates the proper timing, I'd be willing to try, but it might be better if I started off with a slightly simpler combo that still does good damage (if any exist). Combos that follow up a 5C, j.C, 2C, [w]5B, or [w]236A would be especially useful. If you haven't noticed yet, I am REALLY a beginner, so any tips, strategies, or advice would be really really welcome!