Jdietz43

Thanks for the work in the past Skye. I don't think anyone would hold it against anyone else for dropping Arakune this time around. I know sadly I will be. He'll always be the funnest character to me, but in this version he just isn't competitive at all. For what it's worth for anyone here (or passing by and wondering how Arakune changed), here's the changes I could confirm from my hands on time in the final console release so far: Pros: More "regular" conversion routes off curse hits overall due to bug timing changes 4B > 6A is a combo route now (makes 4B useful pre-curse as a standing low) C Bug has Gaurd Crush property Overdrive with curse meter is "anytime curse" starting with whatever meter you have F of G activates on whiff, bees are curse building hitboxes similar to rain of nails. 6D Special/Jump cancellable, bell bug does not appear if you cancel into something before it would normally appear Neutral: Air teleports have changed slightly Bug timings for in curse combos have tightened 6B no longer Fatal (never gave any actual combo benefits) 6D now Fatal (no real benefits I could see other than choosing to go into j.D instead of letting the bug hit; F of G not a combo) Cons: Curse overall is harder to achieve, D moves only do 1/4th curse meter build, Cloud 35% and Spiders 40% F of G no longer 100% curse (except in certain cases on aerial opponents where you hit them midway through, or after j.C) F of G has massive postflash startup (~25f. Enough time for Jin to complete a 5C or backdash entirely from the hitbox area) More curse meter used for C and D bug, max 3 reps possible (realistically only if one C bug is omitted to begin combo) Curse combo ends at 5k in optimal scenarios and doesn't leave room for oki anymore Overdrive at no curse is "double" regular curse instead of instant curse on curse building hit (still okay for recurse at end of curse combos if done properly, but overall a nerf there) 6B untech time has been reduced. Double j.D combo is no longer possible, and in some cases normal combos are no longer possible. 2D no longer hits while traveling to the ground 2C no longer wallsplats (100% curse in corner is still possible off certain hits due to 2D now being able to hit beyond corner, but it is less simple with that change) 2A > 2C no longer combos on non CH Rising j.C actively pushes Arakune to the top of his jump height, instant overhead no longer possible Spiders now telegraph before descending Overall a nerf of considerable size.

Don't we all? ( ' . ' )*

I'd be interested if signups are still going. PSN: Kokonoes_Lolly Central timezone.

I'm alive and in Milwaukee, and looking to take my game from "Netplay" to "Actual". How is the scene in general? I assume we're mostly piggybacking off of Chicago-area events, but I'm trying to get connected to whatever I can and need to know about most everything. Anything I can get directed to is good by me.

I noticed you ended most 5A confirms with 2C > 6D instead of 6B > j.6D wheel/double j.6D Is that a vs. Azreal strat personal preference? I know it's an easier confirm and wheel ender isn't ideal if you want to keep distance, but the allure of that 66% bar from double j.6D is so nice. I guess basically what I'm asking is: is there a setup reason you're ending the confirms this way in particular over trying for a higher curse combo or is it just a comfortable confirm thing?

Touching on this: I've found a useful technique to corner carry into unblockable setup after midscreen F of G, thanks to a combo video made at the end of 1.0, though I cleaned up the unnecessary bits.(still a great vid period) j.C > F of G > 5AA > 6A > (2B) > B Bug > j.6B > j.6B > 236[CD] > ]CD[ > C Bug > D Bug 1 > 2C 4 Hits > 6D > Unblock It does no extra damage whatsoever after F of G, but it carries from midscreen to corner and leaves you with some curse meter left to work with once the unblockable setup is out (or you can burn it like in the video, but I found that 5.6k into 6A > 6D was totally reasonable to do off the remaining meter as long as the unblock was a success). No real good way to turn it around as of yet, but I'll keep looking at it to see if B Bug can't be dashed to etc.

Looks like a good start, I'm happy to see some love being shown to the OP. Do you think you'll touch on the joys that are 22B/C and 6D to round out a curse combo here or will you save it for the realm of section 4? (I'm eagerly awaiting that resets and unblockable section since that's where I'm at in my game development right now lol)

I would yeah, for at least awhile. Get an understanding of what neutral hit-confirms can lead into what curse-granting combos until you feel comfortable converting random hits into tangible amounts of curse. Then do your absolute best to get comfortable with his neutral game in some real matches. You probably won't win many without any real understanding of what to do once they're cursed, but you have to start at the part you can always work on and will always be relevant before you slowly push the envelope forward deeper into his game.

Try doing j.C7 (that is, choosing to bounce back after j.C) to give yourself a more standardized alignment, then dive according to which floorbounce direction he gave you (which will depend largely on how deep you jumped in before the j.C) You have a surprising amount of breathing room before needing to dive after fatal counter, so play around with it until it's comfortable clicking to the A or B version on intuition of bounce direction. You can usually get away with generalizing all forward bounces to j.2A and all back bounces to j.2B. Sorry, looking back on it my notation wasn't as clear as it probably could've been. It's important to return to neutral after 874 for the j.4A+B that follows so you get the dash. I forgot the most logical thing for most to do after seeing j.4A+B after a 4 in notation would be to just hold it and truncated the string :U So all told it's: 874~[4] > j.4A+B They key is to get the second 4 at a similar timing to a standard air-backdash's 44, that way you're inputting the dash at near the exact same moment you're inputting barrier as well as cutting out some of the potential for error/ slight delay that 7~4~4 raw might have when you're under pressure. If it's still giving you trouble I'd practice the input in neutral just doing the 874~4 IAD and barriering to the ground a bunch to get a feel for it before you throw in the slight pause that waiting for 6B to finish throws in the mix.

CH j.C > j.2B/C > (DC) > 6B > j.4A+B > j.6D > j.6D works. You don't even have to dive cancel if you don't want to because of fatal counter.

Super super long time on-and-off lurker, but I feel solid enough on overall mechanics and Arakune experience to have some info to contribute now, specifically I've got a tidbit I think may help some people with double j.D combos as I've come to master their execution these last few weeks. I've found treating the IAD neccessary for j.4A+B's input as something like: 6B > 874 > 4A+B ~ j.6Dx2 helps immensely with keeping the IAD consistent for those who don't wish to break their wrists mashing out raw IAD with the full 7-4-4 input, at least for me. Slight pause before 874 while 6B recovers to neutral. In CS it felt like there was more time to buffer the dash for 6A 100% combos after 5D's longer recovery animation, but with 6B > IAD I've found this shortcut helps, as well as in neutral situations where I'd like to j.4A+B back quickly. (also if you're trying to get grounded double j.D you're in for a bad time, it's technically possible but ridiculously strict compared to air-hit 6B, I frustrated my own understanding of the timing needed in the combo that way for awhile) I've yet to try implementing the S starter 100% curse, but I'm imagining the same sort of method could be applied to that combo path if people found it helpful.

If the blade that started this thread is the same Blade as on the map, then I live right next to him. Funny.