KwRIOT

6B, 2C, 3C, and j.C hit twice and all can be canceled into something else on the first hit. Probably useful if you're trying to aim for a specific hit count / unlock. I believe his 5D can gatling into 6D, 2D, and 4D so it's easy to unlock a skill with 5D and go right back to highlighting the first skill (236A). Edit: psycofang2, The first skill is the dash (236A). The splash kick is the third skill (214A).

You cannot use Sonia in Story Mode.

Nice guide. Some things I wanted to mention mostly dealing with terminology: 5B+C: Rejection Guard. Blocks high/low and in left and right directions, meaning it's effective against cross-ups as well. Successful RG puts you at an advantage. However the opponent is invulnerable all the way until he lands. You won't be able to convert and can only go for meaties. 6B+C: Reversal Strike. Fully invulnerable while charging (can beat out Supers). Can still be thrown. Support Link Attack (Strong): C+D in neutral or just D during a Force Action (Special move). Pressing D during a normal attack will just call out the Medium supporting attack. I feel you should also make a distinction between "Support Link Attack (Strong)" and "Support Interrupt". SI's deal no damage, and crumples the opponent so no follow ups can be done. The assist supers are called "Link Force Action". Like you said, the Support Link Gauge fills up when you block or get hit. I just feel your other sentence is unnecessary or too simplistic: "This makes sense because it's primarily used to break combos." It's very useful for breaking combos, but you also use the gauge for offensive purposes. Depending on the supporting character you can use it for high/low mixups, (Xiaomei's Medium SLA is awesome for this), projectiles, combo continuation, and timed buffs among other things. The words "this makes sense" just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Really good job overall. Thanks!

Yup.

Awesome! This is the first time in this thread anyone's suggested such a workaround for netplay. Don't think there's any matchmaking going on simply because nobody's thought of this yet. I'm willing to give this a try. Hey DL, how many of you have or are planning to get the PS4 version? Let's see if there's any online potential here. Be sure to include your location if it's not already displayed.

Thank you. I appreciate your videos.

@Keo-bas I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive in the mail. In the meanwhile, I just want to know how you're coming to these conclusions? You say Altina gets decent damage and meter from combos, but what are you basing this on? How much damage/meter build do the rest of the characters do in comparison? Who can do more/less? In regards to her faults: You say she lacks a meterless reversal, but so do Rage, Roselinde, and Urayukihime (UYH) and I've see way more footage of those three being played. Not having a reversal doesn't automatically make a character bad to the point of no one playing her. As far as I know, the only way to confirm after throws and overheads is by spending meter on Offensive Force. Roselinde, Rage, Fenrir, Melty (and probably a bunch others) has to OF afterwards in order to combo. How can you consider that a fault of Altina when that seems to be pretty universal? Also, what corner loops are you talking about? A bunch (all?) of her C normals lost a lot of hitstun in Ver.2.00. If the loop consists of a 5C or j.C, I'm sure it's gone now. Sorry, I just don't think your information on Altina's strengths and weaknesses are based off of anything substantial. Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, it looks like Altina's page was last updated in February and is obsolete.

What changes happened to Altina between Ver.1.01 and Ver.2.00? She completely dropped off the map after. How much damage do her combos do? What are some BnBs and oki options of her? Can you link me to some match videos of people playing her?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvFgrWPF0jc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3XepG_6KN0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aXrEGiH2Bg New gameplay videos from Famitsu on Sonia. This one is a basic Sonia tutorial. Here's my rough translation attempt. Force Actions (Special Moves) Million Thrust - Lunges with consecutive sharp pokes. Additional input for a finishing strike. Sword Blast - Draws back to evade the opponent's attack and has three various followups. Sword "Asucarento" - Jumping attack from the air. Can cross up. You can hold and release the buttons during the EX version to alter the distance she travels. Aerial version's timing can also be altered by holding/releasing the button. Force Charge - Rapidly charges the Force Gauge. Super Force Actions (Super Moves) Aura Blade - Continuously slashes at the opponent. Has invincibility during startup. Use more meter to increase damage. Spend three meters and Sonia will awaken the "Golden Lightning-Strike Princess". "The Speed of God" Lightning - Charges at opponent covered in lightning. Travels to the edge of the screen and is a powerful tool*. Like Aura Blade, can spend meter to strengthen it. (*I think they're referring to the Lvl3 version. Lvl1 doesn't go far at all. Name of the attack (神速の雷光) just means some really fast Lightning)

I do not believe a tier-list has come out or been agreed upon yet by the player base. I have found random early (pre-November) Ver.2.01 impressions saying Sakuya, Roselinde, Rage, and Urayukihime were strong, with Sakuya being the best. The lack of Altina suggests she is still a bad character. http://shining-world.jp/kakutou/taikai/02/ Qualifiers are currently being held for the 2nd Official BAFS National Tournament as part of the APM D-1 FIGHTING FESTIVAL being held on Dec 26th. It should give us a better look at which characters the player base are using.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqiksTeXN3k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irPSy74rTOE See for yourself.

Sonia Blanche gameplay video. Spends meter to power up attacks. Blew three bars on that super towards the end. Special move where she plays the violin increases meter.

Wanted to post this earlier but the forums were down. https://www.bladearcus.com/info_event_list.php#id14 Anyways, Version 2.01 patch is out! https://www.bladearcus.com/inf/ver2.01popA4_roq.pdf Various balance changes and slight adjustments to mechanics. No mention of the addition of new characters (Misty, Sonia). Let's hope SEGA is kind enough to release the patch on consoles.

This news made me very sad.

You're right. The A.I. does a jump cancel after 2DD, going 2DD > 2369D > 214A to return to a neutral state and reset the Drive counter.

Thanks for the reply! That explains it. I got the idea from her Challenge 20 sample solution. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm26237962 It should go: 236[D] > 5D > 2D > 6D > 2DD > j.2D > j.6DD > j.214D~C > j.C > 2DD > 5D > 6D > 2DD > 236D > 214A > 5D > 2D > .... Knowing what I know now, the A.I. returns to neutral inbetween the 2DD and 236D, aka a pain in the butt to do.

So I'm messing around in Training Mode with Nu even though I don't use her. Doing raw 236D > 214A > 5D is simple enough. But for the life of me, I can't get the last 5D to come out in this corner combo: 236[D] > 2DD > 5D > 6D > 2DD > 236D > 214A > 5D The timing seems completely different and I don't get it. Help?

http://www.twitch.tv/doctornk/v/11154333 Me netplaying. No need to critique this video. Posting it mainly for me to look back on once BBCF releases. Take a look if you're interested. Carl matches are from 48:10 to 2:09:30. For a good laugh, check out my Arakune from 16:40 to 48:00.

Yes. Is your problem the ~2D? See below.

Just got the game a couple of days ago so I know diddlysquat about her optimized combos, but since there's a section for it, here are the ones from Challenge Mode. Mission #01 2D~5D~6D [2054] Mission #02 2B > 3C > 2D~2D~2D [1759] Mission #03 2B > 5B > 5C > 214C [1577] Mission #04 5B > 6B > 2C > 632146C [2748] Mission #05 [CO] j.B > 2A > 5C > 6C > 632146B [2280] Mission #06 [AA] 6B > jc > j.B > j.C > j.214A [1413] Mission #07 5D~5D~2D > 2A > 5D~5D~5D [3159] Mission #08 [CO] 214 > 6B > jc > j.B > j.C > jc > j.C > j.214A [2688] Mission #09 (corner) Throw > 214[C] > 6C > 214[C] > 5D~5D~6D [3637] Mission #10 Use an Astral Heat in your Combo! 214[C] > 222A Mission #11 [CO] (corner) 6A > 2A > 5B > 6B > 5C > 3C > 2D~5D~6D [2282] Mission #12 (corner) 2B > 3C > 2D~6D~6D > 5B > 6B > jc > j.B > j.C > jc > j.C > j.214A [2988] Mission #13 6D~6D~2D > 66 > 2A > 5C(1) > 3C > 2D~6D~6D [2860] Mission #14 [CO] 5B > 2B > 6B > 2C > 6C > 214 > 66 > 5B > 6B > 5C > 3C > 2D~6D~6D > 632146C [4716] Mission #15 Deal over 4,000 Damage! OD > CT (guard crush) > CT > 5D~5D~2D > 632146C Mission #16 [HP<30%] (corner) 2C (FC) > jc > OD > 5C > 6C > 214[C] > (2D~6D > 214[C])x2 > 2D~5D~6D > 632146C [8173] Mission #17 2D~6D > RC > 214[C] > 5C > 214C > 66 > 6C > 214[C] > 3C > 2D~5D~5D [5688] Mission #18 (back to corner) j.D~5D~(delayed)2D > 66 > 2A > 5C(1) > 3C > 2D~6D~6D > 5B > 6B > 5D~5D~5D [3298] Mission #19 [HP<10%] [AA] 6B > 5C > 6D~2D~(delayed)2D > 66 > 2A > 5C(1) > 3C > cOD > 66 > 3C > 2D~6D > 214[C] > 6C > 214[C] > 66 > 6B > 5D~5D > 632146C [4800] Mission #20 Deal over 9,500 damage in a single combo! (corner) OD 6C > 214[C] > RC > 214[C] > (2C~6D >214[C])x2 > 2D~5D(4) > CT > 66B > 5D~5D(2) > Casque Veloute Source: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/index.php/topic/9582-cpex-celica-a-mercury-gameplay-discussion-thread/page-6 In-game solution: (corner) OD > 6C > CT > 214C > (2D~6D > 214[C])x2 > 2D~5D~6D > RC > 66 > 6D~5D > 632146C [9503]

You mean challenge 28. Bishop Runout absorbs all balls that are set, improving the super ball's damage, duration, and also its hitbox (it looks like). The challenge wants you to absorb a total of seven set balls. Normally, you can only set up to four balls. However, when a [4]6S/H or [2]8S/H hits a set ball, it remains on screen, allowing you to have five or more balls set at once. The inputs for that challenge are: 214H > [4]6H > 214H > [2]8S > 214H > [4]6S > four ball set (using 214P last) > Bishop Runout

Yes. Will also take one hit off a charged shot, and can be absorbed while charging QV.

Beach ball does not go away on block. Can be popped with his balls.

If you're talking about the match against Goro, it looked more like Goro was mashing Burst and Ryuusei's OD ended just before he could kill.

Nirvana can followup a Counter Assault with 6D, 8D, Brio, Volante, and Tenerezza. Add in 4D and 3D on counterhit. Unfortunately, the CA seriously prorates damage and hitstun so that additional followups after Nirvana are limited. Now I don't know which video you're specifically talking about, but in my mind, I'm thinking something short and simple like: CA > Volante > j.2C > j.C