0. Index 1. Introduction 1.1 What's happening on the screen 1.2 How to control your character 1.3 How to win the game 1.4 Abbreviations 2. Basic concepts 2.1 Rock, paper, scissors 2.2 Execution Speed & Recovery 2.3 Frames 2.4 Guard, Hit, Whiff 2.5 CounterHit & recovery CH 3. Movement 3.1 Walking 3.2 Dash & Crouchdash 3.3 Running 3.4 Evade 4.Throws 4.1 High Throws, Low Throws & Throw Escapes 4.2 12f & 0f throws 4.3 Throw clashing (and how to avoid it) 4.4 Catch throws 4.5 Ground Throws 5. Attacks 5.1 Strikes, strings & followups 5.2 Hit-Throws 5.3 High, mid & low attacks 5.4 Crouching & Jumping Attacks 5.5 Special high, mid & low attacks 5.6 Attack classes & Sabaki 5.7 Circular & semicircular attacks 5.8 Charge Attacks 5.9 Unblockable Attacks 6. Hit Effects 6.1 Frame advantage/disadvantage 6.2 Knockdown & Floats 6.3 Slam & (re)bounce combos 6.4 Crumple 6.5 Stagger 6.6 Wall Splat 6.7 Sideturn & Backturn 7. Defense 7.1 Guard (and how to beat it) 7.2 Fuzzy Guard, CD-fuzzy (and how to beat it) 7.3 TEG (and how to beat it) 7.4 Evade (and how to beat it) 7.5 ETEG (and how to beat it) 7.6 Reversals & Inashi (and how to beat them) 7.7 RTE 8. Advaned Techniques 8.1 Stepping 8.2 Offensive Move 8.3 Recovering from falls 8.4 Hit-checking 9. Character Specific Strategies 9.1 Beating Low Attacks from Medium Disadvantage 9.2 Backwalk (and how to beat it) 9.3 Fast un-sabakiable attacks 10. About this FAQ ---------------------------------------- 1. Introduction Virtua Fighter is a 3D fighting game made by SEGA, frequently abbreviated to VF5. The latest version available for console is VF5 ver. C for the Xbox 360. The objective of the game is to beat up your opponent. It is presumed that, since you are reading this FAQ you are interested in this type of games; thus the moral repercussions of beating up your fellow man/woman are not discussed here. Speaking of which, this FAQ sometimes uses the pronoun "he" for convenience's sake, no discrimination intended. 1.1 What's happening on the screen The screen is roughly divided in 2 parts: In the center we can see the 2 players beating each other up. SOMETIMES there's a small green or red thingy (an "arcade stick") twirling around but we'll explain what that means later on. The upper part of the screen contains some information presented according to the typical conventions of fighting games: * 2 big horizontal green bars, called health bars, which consequently empty whenever one player beats the other player up. * a clock counting down to zero * the names of the 2 characters beating each other up * the names of the 2 players beating each other up (only if player data is being used) * how many rounds must be won in order to win a game & how many rounds each player has won (grey & red circles, respectively) * how many games a player has won in a row (not displayed the first time 2 players face each other) 1.2 How to control your character The game is played by using 3 command buttons plus directional inputs. * The directional inputs can come form an arcade stick, a d-pad or even an analog joypad (XBOX 360 only) and serve to move a character around. * The command buttons are the punch button, the kick button and the guard button. * Pressing the above buttons in the same time alters their properties: pressing the punch and guard button together results in your character stretching his arms and grabbing the opponent; pressing punch and kick together usually results in a stronger kind of punch; pressing kick and guard together usually results in stronger kicks. * Additionally, giving a directional input and pressing a command button also alters the type of move your characters is going to perform. For example, pressing forward and punch at the same time usually results in a character performing a fast elbow attack, while hitting down and kick usually results in a low kick. 1.3 How to win the game A game of VF is won by the first player to win 3 (default setting) rounds. Like in previous Virtua Fighter games a player can win rounds by: * Knock Out * Ring Out * Time Out Although rare, rounds can end in a draw by way of: * Knock Out – both players hit and KO each other at the same time * Ring Out – both players are rung out at the same time * Time Out – both players have equal health remaining at the end of the round A draw will award both players with a win for that round. If one player was one round away from winning the match, then the draw will result in match victory. If both players were one round away from winning the match, then the game will enter Sudden Death. * Sudden Death If the final round ends in a draw then, in order to determine a winner the game creates an extra round, with a very short time limit, where the player who scores the first hit wins. If the game times out, the first player wins. If both players hit each other simultaneously the game really ends in a draw. 1.4 Abbreviations In order to avoid repeating "punch" and "kick" and "guard" each time we want to talk about VF it is customary to use abbreviations. Here are the button abbreviations: * P - the punch button * K - the kick button * G - the guard button * P+K - pressing P and K at the same time And here are the abbreviations for the directional inputs. Please note that these change from website to website and country to country. These are the "standard" (as opposed to "numeric") ones: * f - press the stick/pad/joystick forward * b - press the stick back * d - press the stick downwards * df - down and forward * db - down and back * u - up * uf – up and forward * ub - up and back Abbreviations to describe combinations of the above buttons and directional inputs are as follows: * + - as you might have guessed "+" represents pressing two buttons together eg. "f+k" means "move the stick towards the opponent and press kick at the same time" (usually results in a knee) * , - indicates a command that must be inputted directly after another eg. "f,f+k" means "press forward, then press forward again and press kick at the same time" (usually results in a far reaching kick attack) * F,B,D,U - using capital letters denotes that a directional input must be pressed and held eg. "F+k" means "press the kick button while your character is walking forwards" or "D,f+p+k" means "press forward and punch and kick while your character is crouched" * Stance Name - indicates that an move is only available if a character is in a particular stance eg. "koko k" means "press kick while Lei Fei is in his KokoShiki stance" (as you can see stance names are often themselves abbreviated) ---------------------------------------- 2. Basic concepts 2.1 Rock, paper, scissors Usually at a given moment you and your opponent are given 3 choices: * Throws beat defense but lose to attacks * Attacks beat throws but lose to defense * Defense beats attacks but loses to throws 2.2 Execution Speed & Recovery Just by watching the characters on the screen one can realize it takes them a fraction of a second to perform an attack. Not all moves are performed at the same speed. The time that passes between our press of button and our character’s actual attack is called "execution speed", "execution", or simply "exe". Obviously, the shorter the execution speed of a move the better. Your opponent will have less time to defend himself, to duck, to avoid the move altogether, etc. Respectively, after each attack, there's a small period of "recovery". This is an inconvenient position to find one's self because, while your character is in recovery, they are vulnerable to attacks and/or throws. 2.3 Frames A frame is the unit by which time in VF is measured. For example throws have an execution speed of "12 frames", sometimes abbreviated to "12f". Frames are important: A 14f attack is faster than a 16f attack. If both characters attack simultaneously, the one performing the 14f will hit. If one performing the 16f attack had, let's say, a 5-frame "advantage", he'd hit instead. Frames for each attack can be found at VFDC's "command list" section. Things get a bit complicated when moves require multiple inputs to be performed. Let's just say that moves that require f,f and b,b motions sometimes come out 1 (or more) frames slower than what's indicated in VFDC command list. 2.4 Guard, Hit, Whiff Once again, the purpose of the game is to beat your opponent. Of course your opponent is very unlikely to just sit there doing nothing. If he sees you attacking he'll probably want to "defend". In VF this is done by pressing G (the "guard" button). Don't be surprised if you encounter the term "block" though. If you're really fast (and here is where "execution speed" comes to play) your opponent might not have time to properly defend, resulting in your attacking scoring a "hit". However, if you fail to calculate the distance between the two characters your attack might "whiff". This unfortunately results in your character's prolonged "recovery". In order to understand this concept imagine that you're playing soccer, getting ready to kick the ball, going at it and completely missing it. You'll struggle to regain your footing, you might even tumble down. Or imagine you're playing tennis and you miss the ball, your arm will continue its forward momentum, whether you hit the ball or not. The same thing applies when getting ready to hit an opponent and "whiffing" your attack, your character might require a moment to "recover" so make sure your attacks "connect". 2.5 Counter Hit & recovery CH In the event you hit your opponent while he's also trying to attack you then your attack counts as a "Counter Hit", sometimes abbreviated to "CH". CH do more damage and sometimes even have different properties than their "normal" hit version, possibly knocking the opponent off his feet. In case you CH your opponent after he has performed an attack but before his character has finished the animation for his attack, then you'll score a "recovery CH". In game terms, your opponent must "whiff" an attack and you must "hit" him while he's in "recovery"! A "recovery CH" does more damage than a normal hit, less damage than a typical CH and sometimes shares a move's CH properties. ---------------------------------------- 3. Movement 3.1 Walking Moving around in VF is done with directional inputs. Holding the stick towards one direction results in your character walking in said direction. Official terminology for walking in VF is called ARM (All Range Movement). The name stems from the fact that once you start walking, you can freely change direction during the walk by moving the stick in the desired direction. 3.2 Dash & Crouch Dash Pressing ("tappping") the stick twice in rapid succession either towards or away from your opponent will result in your character performing a quick step in either direction, called a "dash". This covers more space than just walking around and is used for moving swiftly in space. Double tapping diagonally forward (df,df) or diagonally backwards (db,db) will results in a "crouch dash". This is a very important maneuver since it retains the speed of a dash while putting the character in a crouched state, offering extra evasion (e.g. ducking under high attacks or high throws). 3.3 Running By inputting f,F (ie. dash then hold the directional input) your character will start running towards your opponent. 3.4 Evade By tapping u or d, then returning to neutral, your character will perform a lateral step away towards the background or the foreground, respectively. This is called a "defensive move", "DM" or simply "evade". A DM can sometimes avoid an opponent's linear attack. We'll discuss evades in more detail in the "defensive techniques" chapter. ---------------------------------------- 4.Throws 4.1 High Throws, Low Throws & Throw Escapes High throws, usually referred to as "throws" for simplicity's sake, are moves that occurs by pressing P+G and some combination of directional input(s). By pressing P+G your character wills extend his arms and, if he manages to get a hold of the opponent, wrings the opponent's neck, pokes his eye out, does something painful in general. All characters have high throws. Low throws are executed by pressing P+K+G and some combination of directional input(s). Contrary to "regular" throws, not every character has low throws. In VF5, the following characters have low throws: Aoi, El Blaze, Goh, Jeffry, Pai, Vanessa, Wolf. If you find yourself on the receiving end of a throw don't despair: there's a way out! You just have to press the same buttons, and last directional input, as your opponent. For example, if your opponent threw you with b,f+P+G you have to press f+P+G. If your opponent used a low throw that had a "db,db+P+K+G" input you can escape by pressing db+P+K+G. This might sound easy but considering that a) we don't know which throw our opponent used b) there's a small window for us to input throw escapes, escaping throws requires practice. 4.2 12f & 0f throws Speaking of time windows; it takes 12f frames for a character to execute a throw. This is universal: throw animations might differ from character to character but they are all 12f. We've mentioned earlier that attacks beat throws. Combined with the fact that throws have 12f exe, in order to land a throw one of the following things must happen: * your opponent mentally "freezes" for at least 12f. Happens rather infrequently ;-) * your opponent's character has performed a move which leaves him "recovering" for 12f or more. This is why attacks that leave a character recovering for more than 12f on block are called "throw punishable" - if an opponent "guards" the attack then his throw is "guaranteed". Of course advanced players might attempt to "throw escape" after such "unsafe" attacks ;-) * your opponent is pressing the guard button. This is a feature that was introduced to the VF series with the advent of VF5. Whenever a player presses G his character can be thrown. In VF terms, the throw executes instantly, skipping the 12f arm-stretching animation, becoming instead a "0f" throw. When this happens it's virtually impossible to perform a throw escape since the (already small) throw escape window is diminished by the 12 missing frames. 4.3 Throw clashing (and how to avoid it) Not all throws are executed from "guaranteed" situations. An opponent with "frame advantage" (usually incurred after having successfully blocked an attack) might try to throw you. If you try to attack, ignoring the risk of being CH, then your attack will "clash" with the opponent's throw. In layman's terms the attack and throw both cancel each other out, leaving both you and your opponent in a "(frame) neutral" situation. Be warned though, some moves don't throw clash. This means that these attacks will always "beat" the throw attempt, resulting in a CH: * crouching moves * jumping moves * moves that leave the character with his back turned to the opponent This feature was also introduced to VF with VF5 (up to VF4 ALL attacks beat throws). 4.4 Catch throws This is a special type of high throw. They have the following properties: * a longer reach * more active frames * cannot be throw escaped * beat attacks that would normally clash against a regular throw * lose to regular throws Not all characters have catch throws in VF. In VF5 the following characters have catch throws: Akira, El Blaze, Eileen, Goh, Jeffry, Kage, Lei Fei, Lion, Sarah, Shun, Vanessa, Wolf. 4.5 Ground Throws These are throws that can only be performed if the opponent is lying on the floor. They are executed by pressing df+P+G or d+P+G. Not all character have ground throws in VF. In VF5 the following characters have ground throws: Aoi, Goh, Jeffry, Wolf. ---------------------------------------- 5. Attacks 5.1 Strikes, strings & followups When we were discussing about "recovery" we mentioned that the defending player has the opportunity to counterattack after blocking his opponent's attack, while the attacker is "recovering". This of course only applies for individual strikes. If the first attack has a "followup" things get a bit more compicated (for the player defending): the attacker can choose to continue with the "(canned) followup" or halt and pursue a different type of action. This makes it very hard for the defending player to judge when it's time to counterattack. In other words, the more "strings" (attacks that have possible followups) a character has, the more a player can apply pressure to his opponent. 5.2 Hit-Throws These are throws that can only be executed when an attack hits the opponent. Think of it as something between strings and strikes. Most hit-throws require an input within a small frame-window (although some of them can happen automatically). Sometimes the hit-throw requires a CH. Variations include: * Followup(s) on Hit - the followp attack(s) only works if the attack hits the opponent (eg. Brad's SB kicks) * Followup on Hit-or-Block - the followup works if the attack connects with the opponent, on hit or block (eg. Akira's SP > SDE) * Hit-Throw on Hit-or-Block - the throw works if an attack connects with the opponent, on hit or block (eg. Jeffry's Hellclaw) 5.3 High, mid & low attacks Even if we already discussed some attack classes already (while discussing throw clashing & hit-throws) this classification is considered to be the most important one in VF (and 3D fighting games in general). There are 3 major types of attacks: high attacks aim the opponent's head, mid attacks go for the torso, and low attacks his legs. * high attacks can be defended with high OR low guard * mid attacks have to be defended with high guard ONLY * low attacks have to be defended with low guard 5.4 Crouching & Jumping Attacks * Crouching attacks recover in a low position thus beating high attacks (including high throws). * Tech-crouching attacks recover high but can sometimes beat high attacks (including high throws). * Jumping High attacks jump over lows (and beat throws). * Jumping Mid attacks beat lows (and throws). 5.5 Special high, mid & low attacks There's of course some exceptions (otherwise it wouldn't be funny now, would it?): * Special mid attacks can be defended with high or low guard. * Special low attacks can be defended with high or low guard. * Special high attacks beat special low attacks (and some low/tech-crouching attacks, if you're lucky) 5.6 Attack classes & Sabaki VF doesn't treat all attacks the same way; it differentiates between punches and kicks, it differentiates between elbows and knees, it differentiates between a headbutt and a shoulder ram. While this usually is not of particular consequence... ...it does come into play when there are "sabaki" attacks involved. Sabaki are (somewhat) slow attacks that are capable of beating certain types of attacks during specific frame “windowsâ€￾ of their execution. They are powerful if you can outguess your opponent. Not all characters have sabaki attacks and those that do greatly very between them eg. Akira's df+P+K+G "sabakis" high and low punches; Vanessa's b,f+K sabakis high and mid punches, high and mid elbows and high kicks. Contrast to reversals and inashi, discussed below, which also work based on Attack Classes. 5.7 Circular & semicircular attacks Another attribute an attack might have is whether the opponent can "evade" it or not. "Semi-circular" attacks can only be evaded towards one side, while "(full-) circular" attacks cannot be evaded at all. More about evading attacks, below. 5.8 Charge Attacks Some attacks (usually one or two per character) can be "charged" by pressing and holding the command buttons used for their execution. This takes time (meaning their execution becomes longer) which means your opponent has the chance of counter hitting you while charging. Some moves change attack classes while charged. 5.9 Unblockable Attacks These attacks cannot be blocked. If you try to they will register as hits instead. Thankfully they are all slow and high, giving the defending player the chance to duck. ---------------------------------------- 6. Hit Effects This is the real meat and potatoes. Throws and attacks do damage, that much is obvious by looking at the health bar. There are however many side effects that are not obvious. 6.1 Frame advantage/disadvantage This is the simplest form of hit effect. If your opponent blocks your attack then you're in a disadvantageous position while recovering; in game terms this is called "negative frames on block". If your opponent doesn't block on time then you're probably at "positive frames on hit". Most attacks don't give that many positive frames on normal hit and some of them are even at a minor disadvantage (say -1 or -2) on normal hit. That said, practically all attacks give "positive frames on CH" (makes sense, your opponent was trying to hit you and then you smash him square on the jaw, he certainly loses moementum). There are SOME attacks that grant "positive frames on block" although they will always be either high (giving you the opportunity to duck them) or quite slow (giving you the opportunity to evade them). Some throws also grant frame advantage eg. db "replace" throws that cause a character to switch places with their opponent also grant frame advantage. More importantly, most throws cause frame disadvantage if they are escaped. 6.2 Knockdown & Floats Some moves hit the opponent so hard they manage to knock him off his feet. This is called a "knockdown". Sometimes the opponent flies so high up in the air (granted that's not very realistic) that you can manage to further inflict damage on him with further attacks before he hits the ground. Since the game displays the opponent sort of "floating" in mid-air this is called a "float". Once your opponent (finally) hits the ground he has various ways of getting up (see 8.3 recovering from falls). Throws usually deal their damage and result in a Knockdown, but a small number instead will allow for a float combo where the player must manually combo for the damage. 6.3 Slam & (re)bounce combos Some moves are more realistic and just knock, or slam, the opponent to the floor so hard that their legs usually flop upwards. In such cases the opponent can still be hit via the use of a "(re)bounce combo". If you don't know any such combo, often a simple u+P "pounce" will connect. 6.4 Crumple These are provoked by attacks targeting vital areas of the opponent's body eg. head, stomach, kidneys, @@ etc. The opponent is struck unconscious on his feet, and proceeds to crumple down like a ragdoll. This is a good opportunity for you to tag some extra damage. Sometimes you can low throw the opponent after a crumple, if your character possesses a low throw. 6.5 Stagger These attacks, well, stagger the opponent for a small period of time. This is represented in-game by a little arcade stick appearing on the screen (see 1.1 what's happening on the screen). While "staggered" the opponent can't block and any attack hits him will be considered a counterhit. Even worse, some attacks that normally didn't have any knockdown hit-effects might still be able to knockdown a staggered opponent. In order to escape this condition and regain control of his character a player has to quickly mash directional inputs and command buttons; the faster the better. Staggers can occur when some attacks counter hit. However staggers can also occur when some attacks connect and... * the attack caused the opponent to hit the wall (wall stagger) * the opponent was in a crouched position for any reason (crouch stagger) * the opponent was defending in a crouched position (crouch guard stagger) * the opponent was defending (guard break) Furthermore some (slow) attacks, including charged attacks, can stagger on block. Finally, there's a couple of throws that instead of knocking the opponent of his feet leave him standing but in a staggered state. As you can see it's very important to learn to unstagger fast when you see the wiggling arcade stick on the screen ;-) 6.6 Wall Splat This happens when some attacks send the opponent flying to the wall. Instead of falling to the ground, or getting wall-staggered, the opponent sort of pastes himself on the wall, allowing you to tag an extra attack or two. There's a tiny fraction of knockdown throws that can wall splat eg. Kage’s TFT, Pai's overhead toss, Wolf's giant swing etc. 6.7 Sideturn & Backturn Some attacks can leave the opponent turned to the side after hit. Given that it takes 3 frames for a sideturned character to realign this constitutes a minor frame disadvantage. However one must take into account that some attack's properties are altered when they hit from the side, sometimes even causing a "side crumple". Same goes for throws; performed from the side they usually hurt more and are more difficult to escape. Combined with whatever frame advantage the sideturning attack grants to the attacker, one can realize that a sideturned situation is a perilous one indeed. Some throws also leave the opponent sideturned so learn which of your attacks can cause a sidecrumple and try to mix up with a sidethrow. It takes 6 frames to turn around from a Backturned (BT) situation. Attacks that previously caused a sidecrumple now cause a backcrumple; additionally some attacks can cause a back stagger. At the same time back throws are even more damaging. Being backturned is a risky situation; however, contrary to a sideturned situation, characters that are back turned have access to BT moves so there are more possibilities to explore. ---------------------------------------- 7. Defense This is probably the most complicated part of VF. 7.1 Guard (and how to beat it) By holding the guard button a character can defend against high and mid attacks. Low attacks are defended with d+G, in other words with the guard button while holding down on the stick. * High guard loses to high throws, low attacks & unblockable attacks. * Low guard loses to low throws & mid attacks. 7.2 Fuzzy Guard, CD-fuzzy (and how to beat it) As mentioned above, pressing d+G results in our character performing a low guard. This counts as being in a crouched position. This means that high attacks & high throws will "whiff", fly over the character's head. Releasing d will result in the character standing up, which, as mentioned above, allows the character to block any mid attacks. In other words inputting d+G will (press down and guard, then release down while holding guard) allows your character to duck under throws and highs and still defend against mids! However, this defensive technique only works for attacks that leave your character at a -5f disadvantage or better (ie. -4, -3, -2; if you're at -1 attacking might be a better option though). This seemingly "arbitrary" -5f threshold happens due to the fact that ducking in VF also has execution frames. Speaking of execution frames, inputting df,df (or performing a "crouchdash" as we've called it in the movement section) will put a character in a crouching state 1f faster than a simple d+g motion. This might not sound like a big deal (1f is a really small time window afterall) but inputting df,df,g allows for fuzzy guarding throws & mids up to -6f! As you can see, fuzzy guard is something between a normal and a low guard (hence the term "fuzzy"). It's a strong defensive technique that's not that hard to pull off, particularly in its simplest (d+G) form and should be preferred over simple guarding whenever possible. Still, fuzzy guard can be beat by: * low attacks (at no point is the character blocking low) * low throws (since the character is considered to be in a crouching state at the beginning of the fuzzy guard motion) * delayed throws (if your opponent anticipates a fuzzy guard he might decide to postpone his throw a tiny bit and wait for you to stand up in order for his throw to work on you) 7.3 TEG (and how to beat it) This is a combination of guarding and throw escaping in order to escape a possible throw but still be able to guard a mid attack. It is accomplished by quickly entering throw escapes and then holding G (hence Throw Escape Guard, or TEG) during the recovery of your guarded or whiffed attack. It requires a certain amount of manual dexterity but it's quite useful, particularly when you manage to put your character in situations that are -7 or more. TEG is an intermediate defensive technique that loses to: * low attacks * unblockables * any throw direction you didn't manage to escape 7.4 Evade (and how to beat it) We saw earlier that an evade, also known as DM, is a lateral step to the side. If timed right, it can cause an opponent's attack to whiff. Having explained that attacks that whiff have longer "recovery" times, one can see that evading an attack is usually more beneficial than actually guarding it. Of course, in order to balance things out, evades have some vulnerabilities and can be beat by: * throws * circular attacks * semi-circular attacks towards the "tracking" direction * delayed attacks (this provokes a "failed evade" which causes all attacks to track) 7.5 ETEG (and how to beat it) This is a combination of (E)vade with the (T)hrow (E)scape (G)uard technique. This requires a high degree of manual dexterity and is considered the most advanced defensive technique in VF. ETEG only loses to: * circular attacks * semi-circular attacks towards the "tracking side" * any throw direction you didn't manage to escape 7.6 Reversals & Inashi (and how to beat them) Reversals and inashi are riskier defensive techniques because they only beat specific "attack classes". Any other attack will count as a CH. Furthermore, reversals and inashi (contrary to "sabaki" attacks, see above) don't count as attacks. This means that reversals/inashi lose to: * throws * any attack they are not designed to beat * delayed attacks Please note that reversals and inashi vary greatly from character to character, in number and in properties: Aoi has the most, with Akira and Pai coming far second; on the other end of the spectrum Lau and Jeffry have none. 7.7 RTE As you can guess, this defensive technique consists of inputting (T)hrow (E)scapes after a (R)eversal. That way your reversal will only lose to: * any attack they are not designed to beat * delayed attacks * any throw direction you didn't manage to escape ---------------------------------------- 8. Advanced Techniques 8.1 Stepping In VF it is possible to "cancel" a failed evade, either with a dash or crouchdash. This have the advantage of reducing the "recovery" frames of a "failed" evade. Repeated evade cancels maximise one's chances that his opponent will whiff. They are collectively known as "stepping" and they consist of one of the flashiest and more visually impressive VF techniques. The easiest pattern to perform would have to be the "boxstep", a repeated b,b,u,f,f,d,b,b,u,f,f,d motion. Try it! 8.2 Offensive Move Offensive Moves (OM) are performed by pressing P+K+G during an evade. Unlike DMs which are used when you’re disadvantaged, OMs should be used when you have an advantage since their evasive capabilities aren’t great. OMs are a good way to pressure your opponent from the side, and to sometimes avoid pesky little moves like P or d+P while you still have advantage. 8.3 Recovering from falls For all our talk of "guarding", "evading", and "stepping, it's very hard to play a game of VF without getting hit. And when that happens, there's a fair chance of having your character knocked off his feet. When he lands, you'll be given the choice of recovering from the fall by pressing P+K+G. This is often referred to as "techrolling" or simply "teching". The timing is not very hard (compared to, say, hit throws) once you get used to it. * P+K+G makes your character recover (tech) in place * d+P+K+G makes your character perform a roll towards the foreground (hence the term techROLLING) * u+P+K+G makes your character perform a roll towards the background * messing up the timing, pressing anything else or just choosing not to press anything will make your character stay on the floor Staying on the floor is risky since your opponent can capitalise on that in order to inflict extra damage via: * light down attacks ("stomp") * heavy down attacks ("pounce") * attacks that hit the opponent while he's on the ground ("floor hitting", "floor scraping" or just "scraping" attacks) * ground throws (for those characters equipped) That said techrolling is also dangerous, particularly when falling head-first: * when your character is falling in a "face down, head towards" the opponent position you should recover *in place* (with pkg, NOT with d/u+pkg) * when your character is falling "face down, feet towards" you should techroll (with d/u+pkg, NOT just with pkg) Regardless of the way you recover, you should be aware that your opponent will probably have the advantage while you are teching. So you might want to "play dead" from time to time, just to break his habits. Try alternating between d+P+K+G and u+P+K+G techrolls too, don't get predictable. Finally, when you do find yourself on the ground (make because of a slam move, or maybe because of a throw that left you there), try to also alternate the way you rise. Don't always get up by mashing K or d+K; the rising kicks are nice but a clever opponent can make you pay dearly if you whiff them. Try delaying them from time to time, or even better, try mashing P and G together in order to rise quickly without exposing yourself to danger. 8.4 Hit-checking Hit-checking is a fancy word that means "be attentive and visually check the result of your attack’s hit before your next move". This aspect of VF is frequently under-estimated but it becomes very important when the followup attack is "unsafe". A player with good hit-checking skills will recognize when their Punch has scored a Counter Hit, and then immediately follow up with a slow launcher that will beat any attack from the opponent. Contrast this with a player with poor hit-checking skills who will likely always follow their Punch with a launcher, regardless of how it hit, and be susceptible to a Counter Hit. ---------------------------------------- 9. Character Specific Strategies 9.1 Beating Low Attacks from Medium Disadvantage When at disadvantage it is usually safer to guard high and eventually guard any low attacks on reaction. However if you anticipate a low attack you can use an attack designed to beat the low. The move to use depends on your character though; here's an idea of move you might want to use in such cases: * Akira -- shoulder ram; f,f+k,k * Aoi -- f,f+k * Brad -- jumping kick (uf+k) * El Blaze -- u+p+k * Eileen -- shoulder ram; uf+k+g * Goh -- shoulder ram * Jacky -- somersault; u+k+g * Jeffry -- jumping kick; f+k (only from small disadvantage though) * Kage -- uf+k+g; uf+k; u+k+g * Lau -- u/uf+p; u/uf+k * Lei Fei -- u+k+g?? (but then again he's never at disadvantage) * Lion -- u+k; b,f+k+ge * Pai -- somersaults; uf+k * Sarah -- somersault; u+k * Shun -- mulekick; u+k * Vanessa -- DS db+p * Wolf -- uf+p+k 9.2 Backwalk (and how to beat it) Some characters (eileen, jacky, kage, vanessa) have a fast walking speed. Combined with moves that push the opponent back on block (eg. Vanessa's DS df+k) they can thus "backwalk" away from most fast retaliation attacks that usually suffer from poor range. The fact that backwalk can be instantly G cancelled makes any slow move a really poor choice. So here's a quick and dirty list for each character in order to beat this sort of play: * Akira -- SDE; f,f+p+k,p * Aoi -- f,f+p; f,f+k * Brad -- ?? (df,df,B+k maybe ??) * El Blaze -- f,f+k; rocket discharge mixups maybe ?? * Eileen -- f+k ?? qcf+p ?? * Goh -- f,f+k * Jacky -- f,f+k; walk forward! * Jeffry -- df+k; f,f+k * Kage -- f+k+g; f,f+k+g * Lau -- df+p string; uf+k * Lei -- hai p ?? (once again i'm clueless when it comes to lei fei) * Lion -- f+k+g; db+k+g; f+pkg mixups * Pai -- f,f+p+k * Sarah -- f,f+k; f,f+k+g; p+k * Shun -- head dive * Vanessa -- f,f+k * Wolf -- f,f+p+k Note: It would be best to find two far reaching moves per character, preferably moves that have different attack classes, just in case the backwalking player anticipates the counterattack and decides to mix it up with a sabaki/reversal. 9.3 Fast un-sabakiable attacks Speaking of sabaki attacks, here's a list of fast (18 frames or less) mid moves that beat them: * Akira: Shoulder Ram; Double Palm; f,f+p+k * Aoi: b,df+p * Brad: -- * Eileen: shoulder ram, uf+k+g * El Blaze: ub+k+g * Goh: Shoulder Ram * Jacky: somersault; b,f+k+g * Jeffry: b,df+p * Kage: uf+k * Lau: ub+k+g * Lei Fei: b,f+p; b,df+p+k * Lion: D,df+p+k * Pai: somersaults * Sarah: Somersault * Shun: u+k+g mulekick * Vanessa: -- * Wolf: Reverse Sledge Hammer; Quick Shoulder ---------------------------------------- 10. About this FAQ This document is based on a FAQ i wrote for fellow greek VF players. It was proof-read by Myke, veteran VF player and owner of VFDC, for major blunders. It is not complete. Nor 100% accurate on the mechanics. I'm working on it. Nevertheless i believe it has reached critical mass and deserved a 1.0 publication. For more VF info and news head over to VFDC http://virtuafighter.com/