Ronove

Don't forget this is just the second loke test. Although some of these nerfs are pretty harsh, I think not all of them will make it. Anyway, the fact any kind of aerial D won't connect with CAT2 removes a huge chunk of damage out of her combos. If they're going to decrease her damage output they have to either buff her health and defense, or just change the other moves and still maintain a reasonable damage. Of course there are other ways to end a combo with CAT2 without having to use an aerial drive, however that was the most popular ender. I also wonder how much damage is the former CAT2 going to deal now, considering that become her new (actually old) ender in BBCSII One thing we can safely confirm is that AB2 combos are definitively gone. +2K damage on any combo was really good on top of her already nice meterless damage. Pity because they could just find a way to decrease the damage by tweaking proration and still allow AB2 to be used like that.

Yeah, the author in his blog is a little vague regarding the changes to Tao's jump Ds. I hope to have more detailed infos later.

Post containing changes edited again.

I translated the infos regarding Platinum that are listed here: http://generalnantoka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-387.html NOTE: I've only translated any gameplay-related info Drive - Pressing the D button will randomly select one among 6 types of equipment/modes for her staff. After selecting, various techniques corresponding to the staff mode can be used (with certain restrictions). - The following staff mode is notified at the bottom through the symbol next to the word NEXT - At the beginning of the match she doesn't carry any staff with her (probably meaning that you have to press D to make it appear) - Everytime you push D with the equipped staff the number of times you can use the associated technique will decrease until the staff disappears becoming unequipped. - Pressing the D button again once the staff has disappeared will make it appear again with the next type of equipment. The type of magic equipment are: - Bomb (6 times) - Neko (5 times) - Bin (4 times) - Hammer (3 times) - Missiles (3 times) - Frying Pan (4 times) Character's Features: - Good speed, good airdash - Her airdash covers a lot of range, giving her the possibility of comfortably attacking in the air without falling easily on the ground - Since her attacks with her staff don't have a long reach, her special projectile moves do the job of covering long range fighting instead. - Since her special moves are controlled randomly, she is a character that heavily depends on the situation she's in (TLnote: I guess it's referring to what power she has equipped, position, situation etc) Special Moves - Dream Sally (214A/B/C) - Swallow Moon (j.236C) - Mami Circular (236B) - Air Persia (236A - also executable in air) - followups A/B/C (up to three times) - tramples down the opponent from above with her pogo stick; the followups change the landing place, while the C followup is an aerial ender that earns more damage and okizeme. - Dramatic Sammy (41236D) - command grab: searches for the opponent while ground-dashing; grabs and imprisons the opponent inside a "heart" and blows it off. 1500 Damage. - Mystique Momo (214D, when weapons are equipped) - Foreign Melody (22C on knocked down opponent); it might be possible to push the opponent towards the corner from the slide down Distortion Drives - Miracle Jeanne (236236D)- install super, the staff is equipped with "enhanched magic", can only be used once and when it wears off the staff is unequipped - Cure Dot Typhoon (632146C) Astral Heat - 236236C (looks like Nanoha's Starlight Breaker)

Look at the post above yours, I edited it. Most of them are listed as nerfs.

[EDIT] I'm translating all of Tao's changes reported here: http://generalnantoka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-387.html Buffs: - 6B > 5B now connects on all crouching characters - CAT2 slides down (? I suppose it's talking about knockdown?) Nerfs: - j.B can be blocked low (animation changed, it's not considered an overhead anymore) . No changes to j.2B - can't cancel j.D (I wonder if it's referring to ANY aerial drive or just j.5D) into CAT2 anymore - 6C slides down(?), making it impossible to combo off it unless done at the corner (NOTE, it seems like fatal 2C > 6C with wallbounce is still possible) - because of the changes to 6C, AB2 combos are not possible anymore - j.2D trajectory changed, harder to combo. - unless you change the type of aerial Drive during your combo (switching from one to an other) Tao will stall and fall down (this probably means you can't use the same type of aerial drive consecutively) ------- ugh, what the hell? what's the point in changing j.2D? That's going to affect her no-taunt combos as well. I don't get it, it's not like Tao needed such nerf. Just remove the TL and she would have been perfectly fine. And lol@6B, it was already bloody slow, even if you can combo off it (which was already possible anyway) it's hardly going to be used if you make it even slower.

It'd be interesting to check out if Valk can "safely" make use of triangle jump in wolf form, or do a similar diagonal jump/crossup like Tao's 2D~B

Yeah, which is why I said you'll net less damage. However it's way easier to execute, so in case people still haven't got confident with the other string they can use that one and still deal reasonable damage. Knowing a few more practical combos doesn't hurt.

For those still having issues with 7C > [w]j.B > [w]j.B > land > D > 5B, you can instead do 4C > [w]j.B > [w]j.B > [w]5B > [w]j.AAA > j.DC it will net a little less damage but it's easier to execute. Example: antiair CH 2C > 5C > j.B > j.214B > 5D > 236A > 236B > C > [w]j.B > [w]j.B > [w]5B > [w]j.AAA > j.DC nets 4.3k meterless, 37% meter gained

It's still too early to be able to give a solid opinion on this matchup. Right now I'd say this matchup is slightly in Tao's favor, because her mobility is simply better (even against Valk's wolf form) she can bait a lot of Valk's pokes and get in on their whiff. Watchout for Valk's frame traps (6B, 6C, 3C all set up frametraps) and fakeouts (his 4D when wolf canceling). His blockstrings are pretty good and have a lot of high-lows, but they're also easy to IB. If Valk is approaching from midscreen by doing j.D > C > D he is likely going to j.B or barrier block, in both cases Tao's 6A should be good enough, and of course airthrow. As for air vs air when he's in human form, his j.B is only good at horizontal range, don't forget Tao can use three jumps, and you want to be above him rather than below him (he has j.214B for that but it's too slow) Besides that, he's not that great upclose so RTSD once you get in.

That's a general rule actually, if you are not on the opponents face it's better to go for 2A/5A and skip 5B else you're going to get pushed out of range to continue your combo. Anyway, I've been messing around with this combo 5B > 5C > 236C > 9D > [w]j.AAA > [w]j.236A > [w]j.236B > 7C > [w]j.B > [w]j.B > D > 5B > 5C > j.B > j.214B > 9DD > j.B > j.BC but I'm encoutering a few problems when doing 7C > [w]j.B > [w]j.B > D > 5B Like, despite managing to hit twice with [w]j.B it looks like there's not enough time to D > land > 5B as the opponent has already recovered, which probably means the first part of that bit has to probably be executed earlier although it's not possible to buffer [w]j.B at all..

That niconico vid with the Valk mirror has some really awesome stuff. First off it finally shows some really good use of wolf form outside combos: j.D > C > D is freaking good to close distance on the opponent using the momentum given by the C command dash while turning into human form, being able to barrier block. Add a j.B at the end of it you gain some really cool approaching manouver. [w]j.B crosses up the opponent, can be used on ground if you wolf cancel 236A (good reset) and it looks like you can keep the pressure with a second j.B or do stuff like (on block) 236A > "ground" j.B > j.3CB human form j.C works really well as instant overhead, it's freaking good because on hitconfirm you can start his 5B > 5C combos that may leady up to 4k damage and more with meter without using any RC at all. I'm loving this character because there's still a lot of hidden potential (unlike Makoto which seems to be kind of stale in terms of depth).

[w] j.B is pretty godlike, also useful to setup resets o_o

Requesting a little help/advice from others who already have Valk: sometimes when I do his bnbs and the ender reches the corner, I find it hard to connect the last bit that goes C > D > j.B > j.BC. Like the opponent (or the training dummy) recovers before the first j.B lands. I tried to anticipate the C > D input but Valk is stuck in 236B's animation and it doesn't look like it's "C-cancelable" at all... I'm sure there's a way around this because I've seen other players executing the last bit without experiencing this issue. :\ [edit] nevermind I figured it out. It's better to to C > D before Valk gets pushed too away from the opponent, even though C makes him dash for a fraction of a second it would give the opponent enough time to recovery. It's a quick C > D button press.

6B works like a meaty AA, but it's really too damn slow, although if it does hit it leads to nasty damage. But if the opponent is out of 2C's range then a meaty 5C could be a better option as it covers more horizontal space. Anyway despite being out only for two days there's already interesting stuff on NicoNico. As I also personally figured out right now Valk plays more with really short strings into resets, until he either has meter for a RC combo or in case he lands a 2C. No 5B > 3C combos to be actually used as I suspected because of the pushback.

This combo 5B > 2C > 6B > 5B> 5C> 236C > 9D >j.Ax3 > 236B > 236A >236B > CD > j.C does 3.8k damage and gains 43% meter However it's worth to note that it will work only if the opponent is hit while crouching, or if you get in really deep, like you dash in and start the combo if you just "poke" 5B then when doing 2C > 6B then 6B will whiff because you'll be pushed too far away. It's a similar issue as the 5B > 3C combos, due to the fact all of Valk's normal have a lot of pushback if you're hitting a standing opponent it has to be in their freaking damn face, or crouching. If not, it's safer to just 5B > 5C > 236A to close distance and reset, imo

It's not possible to gold burst while in wolf form.

Well, it requires landing a CH 6B, considering how bloody slow that move is unless the opponent is mashing it is likely that such specific setup won't occur that often (and it'll most likely force the opponent to burst). Oh well, I'm gonna test all this stuff after I get some sleep and report it here. [edit] screw that I'm going to try this stuff now, that vid was too nice I guess I'll sleep less

Thanks for the link Jais, too bad I already had my practice session and didn't look at this thread earlier else I would have tried a couple of these combos (especially the 5B > 5C and the 2C and FC 6C ones) in match, I guess I'll be trying them tomorrow in training :X Some pretty nice stuff in that clip, we needed solid alternatives other than the 5B > 3C combos since they can easily whiff unless you are on the opponent's face, being able to combo off 5B > 5C is definetely better. The FC combos are pretty insane and it's also worth to point out that a lot of these combos gain a lot of meter, meaning that at the second hitconfirm you can already use a super as combo ender or rapid.

I had a long session (offline) today with my sparring partners and had the chance to try Valk's BnBs and other things First off, the combo that start from 5B > 3C > 2B > 5C > etc when done midscreen is only possible if you land a 5B really close (or supposedly if you hitconfirm off a jump C). If you use 2A to hitconfirm that string you'll be pushed back far enough that the part 3C > 2B won't link, unless you hit the opponent REALLY DEEP. At the corner it works fine. Now, considering that Valk's 5B is a good poke from distance but not exactly optimal in close range (depending on situation of course), hitconfirming safely that BnB seems to be possible only through a jump in or if you go 2A > 3C and skip 5B. It's a bit of a bummer that 5B > 5C > 236C only combos on CH, with normal hit it becomes a sort of a gimmick (a risky gimmick considering that it's not that hard to IB 5C after 5B).

Thank you Spark! 5B at -1 is pretty damn sweet. Even 3C at -3, considering how far Valk gets pushed at the end of a blockstring. I'm going to test 236A this afternoon, if it really has +frames on block it would be really useful in a variety of situations (resetting pressure, closing distance, etc) [edit] Tested this while playing against my sparring partner who plays litchi. 236A is surely safe on block, you can at the very least block after that.

The moment Valk switches sides in wolf form you obviously have to mirror and switch the notation

huh? And in what situation did your anti-air 2C lose? I think 2C is a pretty damn good antiair, it even stuffs crossups

236A staggers the opponent, that's where you reset and go for mixup. :3 An example of it is at minute 2:58 of http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm12194504 As for [w]j.AAA, I think I figured out what I was doing wrong, I was rushing the input while I just need Valk to be aligned at the same height as the opponent. As for midscreen 3C right know I can only think of the standard BnB minus the 5B starter. I was trying to see if it was possible to 2B/2C and 236C juggle but the opponent needs to be pushed slightly farther for that and you can't really chain a lot of stuff unless you RC I guess (but I imagine you were asking for midscreen 3C meterless combos right?)