9:02 PM

We would have to know more about that starter to really form an opinion either way. For a point blank 5B/5C (which that seemed to be) it's just slightly above average, especially since the DP ender which seems to be her big damage move leaves them midscreen AND causes an air tech, which is like the worst situation for a combo ender. ~3500 meterless off a 5C midscreen is bread and butter with Ragna in 1.1 if you're close enough for a 6A after, and his comes with almost full screen corner carry, a knockdown, and a safe jump, which is way more valuable than an extra 200 damage. Noel is also in the 3000+ range off a midscreen normal starter, and even she gets a knockdown.

My little suicide bomber can't be this cute. Good luck man. You have my sword/scalpel.

Dial J for Jiyuna.

6P is her dedicated anti-air. It's the one where she turns around and the teeth on her coat quill out like a porcupine.

If you have a choice off a midscreen confirm where the opponent is between Carl and Nirvana, should you go for a combo that leaves them standing to limit their tech options or just take the damage and go for a launcher into an air combo? In the same vein, a lot of the combo videos I've seen will get a standing confirm, like 5b, 2b, 5c, tenerezza, and instead of doing airdash j. B, j. 2c, j. B, j. C, they'll a sequence with like four or five j. A's in it. Is there a reason for the j. A mash over normals that scale less and still allow a 3D after?

Played the game quite a bit at EVO this weekend. Add me to the list of people who think the game speed is right where it should be.

I got to play quite a bit of Ramlethal this weekend, she feels exactly the way you would want her to. Also the game speed felt fine to me. And of course the game is stunning in person.

I don't remember the exact animation, but you can combo after for good damage, especially with the dog out. The bnb one of the play testers showed me seemed solid. Almost none of his normals were jump cancellable, but a few were hop cancellable. His game seems less mix up heavy and more like just super pressure heavy. The range on his normals and the hop cancels combined with the dog seems like he'll be able to stay on offense for an extremely long time once he gets the right opportunity. That with throws and jump/roll cross ups seems like his game. He only has like 5 ground normals, his c and D buttons are all persona/dog. He has an air command normal j. 2B that spikes them down which should make for easier air to air confirms. His other specials were a persona attack mainly used for combos, and a persona move that heals the dog, looks like yukiko's dp. I'll check the jump cancel thing today at the booth to make sure. I also forgot to see if he has any SB dog moves. What would you like to know?

No, that's system-wide. If you hop cancel into an air normal, it's no longer overhead.

Yeah it has a great horizontal hit box. His 5B is really good, and his j. B has a good cross up hit box. The guy who play tested said his average damage with dog out is high too, like 2500 off 5a/2a confirms. His 2B is a little slow, but has a big hit box. It's actually two hits, and the first one hits low. His 2AB is hop cancellable too. The reduction in recovery on hops is really noticeable.

Just got done playing ken at EVO. The dog has infinite actions without much cool down between; no highs or lows, can be de - summoned while in block stun, tag crashes when re-summoned and has a head charge, a rising tackle 2c thing, and two specials. One he spins around on the ground for lock down, the other he jumps up and falls down in a big wheel attack that also locks down and looks really good for oki. He can't attack out of block stun like zappa. Kens only grounded overhead is AOA which doesn't look very fast. He looks like he still has a lot of mixup potential with dog oki and falling/airdash mixup, and also left/right with dog attack into roll. Also dog attacks to cover up whiffed throws. Not sure how much of this was already known.

What say you ElvenShadow, any water cooler talk in the Arcades about Ramlethal’s strength or lack thereof? Have you fought any good ones?

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One of the super desperation radio guys who went to E3 said the arcsys rep at the booth was claiming there would be an adjustment in game speed for the console release. You heard anything like that?

If you stop quoting/replying to him, maybe he'll go away.

Not very. Persona didn't have one the year it came out, and the killer instinct side tournament they had last year was announced pretty early. Honestly a side tournament would probably do more harm than good unless it was an exhibition with certain players; nothing kills hype for a game faster than watching people who don't know what they're doing try to play.

Thanks. Also for those interested, if you click on the nico link in the video description there's an evernote document with the notation and timestamps attached.

It looks like he's playing the same game for the most part, though with the very strong addition of f. S, which seems miles better than any normal he had in AC. His mix-up looks pretty much the same, drill cancel j. K/mettakiri. The biggest change in his gameplay seems to be the new items. In AC basically all of his items were either a moving hit box, or a health item. The spring board, oil drum, and black hole represent some new stuff. The attraction on the black hole negates some pushback, so extended tick throw stuff with mettakiri or really long blockstrings/mixup attempts are probably possible in addition to the elongated combos people have been doing.

As of 6/7 further updated with the sword set strategy and okizeme snippits from the article. Unfortunately they didn't go into too much detail on oki setups, but they did give some basic information and setups. Will add the last two paragraphs soon, and will be making changes and corrections over the coming days. Let me know if you have any questions or corrections. One cool thing they mention in the combo footnotes is 2S, 2H, RC 2S, 2H being a legit combo pathway in terms of damage, and it also baits bursts. 2S/2H look rad, so that made me happy. Also sometimes she days pikachu on wakeup. Sword set does indeed track horizontally, both the S and H versions.

The downward sword is j. H, and the article makes note of the fact that it does not hit high, in fact it mentions crouching as a counter to early j. 2H if the ramlethal player is trying to bait an anti-air. J. H has the largest vertical hitbox for any air normal in the game and causes a ton of hit stun on counter so it's very good at doing just that. It doesn't say whether or not j. 2D hits overhead, but I would assume it does not. Even if it does it wouldn't be a very attractive alternative to j. K in any situation where you would want to mix up, all of her j. D variants seem to have a good amount of pushback.

I finished most of the translation today but I'm just going to wait and post the whole thing tomorow. There's no mention of any requirement for Calvados, but Toranshi does require that both swords be deployed. I haven't read much of this thread so I don't know to what detail people are informed about her gameplay, but a few details in the article that made me happy: j. D is directional, there's a j. 8D, j. 5D, and j. 2D, and they all do different stuff, her sword sets track horizontally, her tension gain or lack thereof is based on sword set, and Shield Detruo (the overhead special) is apparently plus on block and frame one low invuln though I haven't seen it used once on video.

You'll have to cut me some slack here since this is a long article, and they get into the technical aspects of her gameplay. Some of her mechanics are unique, especially the dial-a-combo system, so I'm not really familiar with some of the terms they're using to try and describe the chain mechanics. I'll try to complete it over the next few days. If anyone can confirm whether 始動技 refers specifically to a combination attack starter that would help. I'll also be referring to what they call the "combination attacks" as dial-a-combo, since combination and chain are ambiguous in English. There's also a good amount of fluff in the article that's either meant for people who are new to fighting games or are just there to fulfill a word count, I'll mostly be trying to translate the stuff that's relevant to her gameplay and how she fits in the engine. Character traits Ramlethal when equpped with her two greatswords has a simple fighting style, but when detatched, they act separately, giving her a more technical play style, allowing her to have a multi-faceted playstyle. When equipped with her swords, her S and HS attacks are far reaching and powerful. When her swords are deployed, S and HS become bare handed attacks, but she’s able to move and mount an offense in tandem with her swords, and is able to act freely while the swords attack. Another aspect of her gameplay is her ability to input unique combinations or P or K to unleash different combination attacks. As of the second attack, the chains gain unique properties, and she can even continue/cancel the combination chains on whiff. Moreover, on the third hit, some chains get overhead or low hitting properties, making them extremely useful for opening up your opponent. Each route is different, but you don’t necessarily have to learn every route from every starter. More about her combination attacks If you cancel any of the combination attack staters into a chain, you cannot then cancel into specials moves. You can, however, continue to cancel into subsequent chain moves on whiff. The first part of the combination route, the first or second hit only, you can cancel into a sword set or retrieval [if you get a hit with your swords deployed, you can retrieve them mid-combo]. If after you do a combination starter and you don’t want to enter one of the combination attack routes, You can hold back plus P or K, and it will be a combination starter instead of going into the combination attack. P, P, P - knocks down on air hit, wall sticks in the corner. All hits combo standing or crouching. P, P, K - Floats, Wall sticks in corner. First and sceond hits combo, third hit combos only on crouchers. P, K - Staggers, combos standing and crouching. P, 4K - Floats on hit. Does not combo standing or crouching. K, P, P - Third hit is overhead, Groundbounces. Second hit combos only on crouchers, third hit does not combo. K, P, K - Floats, wall sticks in corner. All hits only combo on crouchers. K, K, K, - I think causes slide, wall sticks in corner. All hits combo on standing or crouching. K, K, 4K - floats on hit. Third hit does not combo. K, 4K - floats, hits do not combo 2P, P, K - Hits low, floats, third hit does not combo. 2P, K - Low, combos standing and crouching 2K, P, P, overhead, ground bounce, third hit does not combo 2K, P, K, Low, knocks down. All hits connect on crouching or standing opponens. 2K, K, - Low, combos on standing or crouching. Knocks down. PPP Triple talon attack. Knocks down or wallsticks on air hit depending on screen position. KPP Third hit is an overhead. The KP part will combo on crouchers, the third hit ( the overhead) does not combo by itself, but it causes a ground bounce, and can be followed up with close S or 5P. 2KPP Third hit is an overhead. It’s a little bit slow, but is best used in conjunction with 2KPK (the low option) to break your opponent’s guard. I think they’re trying to convey that the tell in the animation comes really late. 2KPK Third hit is a low, but it’s quite vulnerable on block, so you’ll probably get punished, but the hard knockdown makes it worthwhile as a sometimes option. Still, you’ll probably want to RC 2KPK on hit or block and proceed accordingly. 2KK 3 hits (all 3 hits are low). The third hit causes hard knockdown, but is punishable on block. During 2KK, Valentine’s posture gets low, so during the first part you can low profile high attaks, I guess to catch people trying to mash out of the mixup. 2PPK The third hit is similar to 2KPK, it’s also a low, but floats instead of causing a hard knockdown. On hit, c. S, j. K, j.S, jc, j. S, j. D is a possible followup. As with 2KPK, it is punishable on block, so don’t overuse it. More about her basic attacks 5P 5P has the fastest startup of any of her attacks. If you’re mixing it up with your opponent, or are in a sramble situation, 5P is very useful as a counterattack. From there, you can follow up with the PPP combination. 2K 2K is a low, so it’s useful for opening up your opponent in mix-up situations. During the animation, her model lowers somewhat, so it can be used to avoid incoming high attacks ( though it doesn’t specifically say it low profiles). From here, you can go into 2KK, or 2KPP 6P 6P is her designated anti-air. The reach is relatively small, but it comes out extremely quickly, and her whole upper body is invincible, so it’s actually a very useful anti-air. After an anti-air hit, j. K, j. S, jc, j. S, j. D is a basic but damaging follow-up.This is the one where the uses her cape like a porcupine. It’s fast enough that it can be used to get a hit after an air to air exchange where you get them to block j. P mash. If you land first and 6P it will anti-air them. 6K A heel drop attack that hits overhead, and is relatively fast, or at least difficult to block on reaction. If you hit them crouching, you can link 5P afterward on everyone but potemkin. 3K A sliding low. Has some low profile/projectile avoiding properties but is apparently specific to certain moves rather than a universal hitbox thing, f. S Horizontal swipe with one of her swords.Good for stopping an enemy’s approach at mid-range. On crouchers or on counterhit combos into Dauro. Spammable with just inputting c. S and the Dauro cancel afterwards given the properties of Dauro on block. 2S This is the big swiping attack that goes from front to back. Has a lot of startup, but the huge hitbox makes it worthwhile. High priority and difficult to beat, use the move’s hitbox as a way to cut of the area in the midrange where you think your opponent might be headed. If followed up with the 2HS continuation you get big damage. Bad on block. 2H Crouching swipe attack that goes from back to front. Better on block than 2S, but still best used as a follow up to 2S. Sweep/2D Her sweep isn’t very far reaching, but is still useful due to it being a jump cancellable low. From sweep, you can go into Dauro, making it a high reward mix up option. Useful for forcing a 50/50 high low mixup in some situations. (This is the one where her cape teeth spin on the ground) j. K A downward diagonal kick that starts up fast. Good for approaching from the air due to its angle. A good normal for to use out of an airdash. j. S Sword sweeps next to her horizontally. Has a long reach, best used as a predictive air to air. Jump cancellable on hit, can be followed up with j. S, j. D. j. H Downward flying sword attack. Very strong downward hitting properties, and will beat a lot of anti-airs if done high enough. Unfortunately it doesn’t hit overhead, so in some cases it can be safely avoided by crouching which is a weakness. j. D Ram’s cape sends a shockwave flying. Can be directed up, down, or forward by jumping with 8D, 2D, or 5D . Jumping with 8D powers up her cape attack; launching on hit, allowing for an air combo or a wall combo if you’re near the corner. j. 5D hits lower, and knocks down. Useful as an ender for air combos if you want to get a knockdown to set up for oki. The downward angled reach on j. 2D is quite long, and can be used well as a way to stop your opponent from approaching you when you’re in the air. I’m not sure what the last sentence means, but it’s some weak point about j . 2D’s range and that you shouldn’t get over-reliant on it. More about her sword set mechanic Ramlethal can control her swords remotely. The lucifero of your choice finds your enemy’s position on the X axis, warps there, and then performs a spinning sword attack. If a sword is already out (deployed) and near your opponent,, the Lucifero will forego warping and just attack instead. You can put them out one at a time with the S and HS versions respectively, and can even set them from the air. The 6S version cuts horizontally, and is strong for controlling an opponent on the ground. The 6HS version makes a vertical cut, better for controlling vertical space. On counterhit, the 6S and 6HS attacks will stagger. Unfotrunately, Ramlethal is in counterhit state while setting the swords, so using sword set too much can be dangerous.It’s best to try and set safely, when your opponent doesn’t seem to be in range or in a position to punish you. After using a sword attack (when it’s set), the corresponding lucifero won’t be able to attack again until it starts glowing, so be mindful of that. 2S/2HS in sword set Your great sword performs a 360 attack. The startup is very slow, but the huge hitbox is the selling point. In neutral, your opponent can make it difficult ofr you to set up shop with these, so it’s best used on their wake-up. (picture captions) Top: The little demon balls are your luciferos! The lower one is the horizontal set/S version, the high one is the vertical set, the H version. Top left: 6S is the horizontal attack Top right: 6H is the vertical attack. Bottom left: Sword set 6S is a 360 hitbox attack. Slow to start up, but ground bounces on hit. Bottom right: Sword set 6H is a vertical 360 spin attack. Again slow to start up, but floats high on hit. Sword set HS Creates a circular energy aura attack. Has a pretty short reach, but good for keeping your opponent’s movement in check. If hit confirmed can be cancelled into Dauro. Sword set j. H Sword set j. H. Has the same hitbox as sword set 5HS (the hit box is vertical/downward), but the fact that you can use it in the air and attack from above makes it useful (presumably for mixup purposes with empty jump low or airdash j. K). More about her specials Dauro - Ramlethal advances and claws at her enemy with her talons. If you press P at the same time as you input the 3 in the 623 motion, she’ll glow green, and the “fastest dauro” will come out. There’s not much recovery on “fastest dauro” so unless they instant block it, they won’t be able to punish from the right range. (There are clearly two version of this move, I’m guessing the “fastest dauro” where she glows green is a just frame. Fram Cargo Command grab that ends with an explosion.. Slowish to start up, but floats on hit allowing for a c. S follow up, which means big damage. Not a whole lot of range, but it’s not really a dash up and do it kind of thing. Deploy the swords in a way that limits their movement and attack options in order to properly set up the command grab. If used in conjunction with sword set, can be made safer by inputting an option select 6H or 6S at the right time to cover up the whiff animation if it misses. Cassius Glowing projectile that moves upward (similar to Mu’s projectile). Starts up slow, but is very difficult to punish once it’s out, even if it’s blocked up close. High mobility characters can make it difficult to get Cassius out, but against characters with less mobility it can really limit their options. From far away, use in combination with sword set moves to control a lot of space. Also has a YRC point on startup which allows you to get the projectile out and cancel the recovery. Shield Detruo The jumping overhead attack. I guess there’s a grounded version and an air version; the ground one hits upon landing, and the air one angles down and forward. Don’t quote me on this because it seems really good, but it’s apparently plus on block, and on hit you can link a 5P afterward. If the ground one is blocked, you can go try f. S as a long distance surprise attack (frame trap?). I think the last part is saying that it puts her in the air immediately, so you can avoid some oki by using it on wakeup. In videos I’ve seen it both punished and not punished on instant block, but it may have only been punished because the ram player went to hit a button assuming he would be plus. Calvados Ram’s swords shoot a big ass laser, has a hit box behind her. Must have both swords equipped (not set). The write-up makes it sound really good as a super, so I’m not even going to bother translating it. The author either hasn’t played with it enough or they know something we don’t. Toranshi The big rotating blade super, can ONLY BE DONE WITH BOTH SWORDS ALREADY DEPLOYED. If both swords are deployed, you can cancel any actions they’re already doing with Toranshi. Toranshi is a little sluggish on startup, but you can do it while already attacking to make up for it. On your opponent’s wakeup, you can force them to block Toranshi, and then chase them down to mix them up with 6K or sweep. I think it’s interesting that they suggest Sweep rather than 2K, so I guess that’s just overall a better starter and mixup option for her. When used, causes a glowing effect where it hits, which makes ensuing mixups VERY difficult to see. If used out of the corner, moves horizontally, so you have to chase it down. If used in the corner allows more time for mix-ups. Explode Invincible super, causes a big explosion. Probably pretty fast since it's meant to be used as a reversal super but the article doesn't mention any frame data. Good as a counter-attack or on wakeup, but has a lot of recovery, so don’t fuck this one up. Tension gain system RamRam's tension gain rules are a little different than everyone else's. She doesn’t get tension for most attacks or forward movement options like other characters do, only from her sword attacks, so it’s important to always be mixing it up and throwing in sword attacks. The tension gain on her sword moves is extremely high, so it’s important for Ramlethal players to find a balance between using them at the right time, and using them to get tension in conjunction with the rest of her moveset. Basic strategy If you want to play Ramlethal, you have to first understand how to use and fight with both facets of her sword mechanic properly. When she has her swords equipped, she has a more simple moveset, with far reaching pokes that do good damage, a lot of firepower with her specials and cassius, and high tension gain with her sword moves. f. S is very strong for controlling space in the midrange due to it’s horizontal reach. If it looks like it’s going to hit, you can cancel into just frame Dauro, and on crouching opponents or counterhit, you have a number of options to continue the combo. Just frame Dauro can also be used in the midrange to try and read dashes or other movements. While at mid range, 2S is a very high reward poke, so if it looks like they’re going to try and move, throwing out 2S is a strong option. If hit confirmed, you can continue into 2H. If you wan to stop an opponent’s dash, 2KK is also a useful low profile option for avoiding their incoming dash attacks. As anti-airs, 6P fits the bill very well. On hit, can be jump cancelled into j. K, j. S, jc, j. S, j. D for a very damaging simple combo. If you predict a jump, sometimes an early j. P air to air or an ait throw is safer though. Although the risk is somewhat higher, if you read an opponent’s jump early, 2S anti-air is higher reward, so it’s more recommended as a predictive anti-air. When it’s Ramlethal’s turn to go in from the air, j. H is very good for coming in from high up as it’s hard to anti-air, and will often beat an opponent’s attempt to shoot her down. If you come in with a low airdash though, j. K is more recommended. When you get in close, 2KPP’s overhead property is good for mixup, and is difficult to punish on block. 2KPK’s third hit is low, so you can use it to mix up your opponent. However, 2KPK is much less safe on block, so it’s actually better to go for the overhead more, and use the low (2KPK) as your mix up option. On hit, 2KPK can be followed with Dauro, so if you can, it’s best to hit confirm the chain after the 2KP part given the last hit’s unsafe properties on block. If you want to try and interrupt an opponent’s offense or blockstrings, 5P’s speed is actually very good at doing so. If you can hit confirm your attempt to mash out, you can easily go into 5PPP for an easy hit confirm Sword set strategy Your strategy with Ramlethal will change according to whether you have your swords equipped or set, and depending on your opponent’s characer choice and the situation in-game, and you can switch modes on the fly to make life easier for you and more difficult for your opponent. Things you want to consider in a general sense would be the other character’s mobility, how much tension they have, and their zone or space control ability. First, if your opponent is playing a high mobility character who can get in quickly, your ability to control space with your swords deployed can be nullified rarther easily.It’s better to stay equipped and use the range and damage on your normals to keep them in check. Conversely, if your opponent’s character has poor movement abilities, or poor horizontal screen control, it’s easy to use your sword set moves freely and keep them even more limited. In this way, it’s important to change your play style to counter the other character, In neutral, if your’e using her deployed sword moves, it’s best to use the HS (vertical) version. The S version’s ability to control your opponent’s movement like a projectile is strong, but when your S sword is set, your far slash attack becomes a very short reaching move, so her ability to control horizontal space is substantially decreased, so it’s better to not use the S sword set and play it safe and take advantage of equipped f. S. When you do manage to get your swords set safely and it’s Ramlethal’s turn to attack, your greatswords will intercept any incoming attacks automatically (I’m assuming the implication is that even if Ramlethal is hit during the sword set attacks’ startup, the attacks will continue). If it doesn’t seem like an attack from your opponent is incoming, you can double jump and play safely/evasively until lt looks like they’re going to try something to get out and still get pressure. Set Play and Okizeme With the S greatsword equipped, after a midscreen throw, immediately jump, and while rising, set 6S. You’re free to act on the way down after the sword set, and go between a high mixup with low airdash j. KPK, landing and doing 2KPP, 2KPK, etc. During 2KPP, if sword set 6S hits, you can continue with a combo of your choice. If the air dash j. KPK hits, close S -> Dauro will combo as well. In the corner after a combo or sweep knockdown, you want to immediately cancel in to 6S and 6H sword set and forward jump. During your sword’s ensuing attacks, you can jump freely, and ust before landing, airdash j. K -> j. HS, or landing and going into 2D -> just frame dauro is a very tricky 50/50 mixup. There’s an extra character specific note about 6S versus slayer and I-no, but I’m not entirely sure what it is.

Does anyone know why sometimes when you activate j. 236 D after 6. D or 9. D in an air combo they will tech out immediately as opposed to getting put in that spinning air state and taking the full hit stun time?

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself, but it sure does. 13:24 it hits Faust crouching and gives the little exclamation mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcz7m_mLSsc

It looks like the black bat's sword is always on a vertical plane, the white one horizontal. Also now we know she has to go through an animation both to place them and activate them. The super with the spinning swords looks like a 'free mixup whenever you want' super, which is always strong. I'd like to know more about that first move where her cloak looks like a bell.