Omegan Eckhart
Well-Known Member
Helena: Breakdown
Okay I said I would write down as much information about DOA5 Helena as I could, I'm true to my word so here goes. Will update after DOA5U is released in September.
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Pros:
is still useful, goes under high's and some mid's but it doesn't crush instantly like it did in DOA4.- 3in1 transitions into Bokuho are -4 on block meaning you cannot be throw punished.
- Bokuho grab still hurts real bad so we still have a solid deterrent to stop people countering.
- Lots of new ways to enter Bokuho.
- Still has a multitude of easy to use launchers.
- Her side step is great and her side step cause a sit down stun on CH giving us +15 on Fastest SE meaning we get a free .
- Has a strong pseudo force tech game with her 3in1's.
- Still has an 11 frame jab.
- Damage output is somewhat underwhelming.
- Outside of her 3in1's I only counted ONE safe string in her arsenal, she has a few -5 strings but these are punishable by characters with i4 grabs. .
- Has lost her Bokuho throw trap.
- Has only one non chargeable attack that gives frame advantage.
So what is Helena's gameplan then? She is designed to knock you down, eliminate your wake up options and keep pressuring you. She does this through what is called Pseudo Force Teching.
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Best Moves:
These are just a few of Helena's moves that you as a player may want to focus on.
- Great high/mid crush.
- Side Step high crushing side step attack offers good stun and ability for mix up.
- Side Step +23 on hit, enough frame advantage to do whatever you please within reason.
- Great get in move, can be cancelled into Back Turned or Bokuho after first hit.
- Great poke string, can be highly delayed.
- Completely safe from throws and gets you close to CB by itself.
- Bokuho Feels like the recovery is slightly longer than previously but still a great tool that Helena players will need to make use of.
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and BKO are the attacks Helena uses to initiate Critical Burst.These are two examples of Critical Burst combo's, these two use sit down stuns to guarantee
.(Bare in mind these brief examples do not factor in slow escaping)
- > > > /
- >
- > BKO
These are just examples of what you could do when landing CB, as long as you use a one hit launcher it doesn't matter too much.
- (BKO) > + >
- >
- > >
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Whiff Punishment:
I've found myself writing about this a lot recently so I figured I would add what I wrote here as well. Which attack you use for whiff punishment depends on how much space is left between you and your opponent when they miss their attack.
- Is the most commonly used, although it's pay off is minimal unless you are good at dealing with your opponents wake up game. If not you lose momentum having to space away from their wake up kicks.
- This does cover a nice range but the first hit doesn't stun on NH so the follow up's may be blocked, leaving you open to throw punishment.
- This can work, but it is slow and is generally only good when trying to catch people off guard at range. Again the first hit doesn't stun on NH but you opponent has to respect the second low hit that does stun, and this is where your mind games come in.
- BKO You automatically eliminate high's, mid's if you want and this sweep has great range. Not only that but the stun is deep and leaves you in a great position to follow up.
- / Without question her best whiff punisher, possibly her best move period. As with the previous move this sweep has great range, causes a deep stun and leaves you in BKO. Not only that instead of relying on you opponent to make a mistake and whiff their attack you can side step and force them to whiff their attack. 99% of moves do not track so this is extremely abusable.
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Wall Game:
Dead or Alive 5's wall game is much more simplistic than Dead or Alive 4, in exchange for gaining the ability to have guaranteed juggles against opponents who hit the wall the opponent instantly becomes airborne so only short juggles can connect. Here I will list the most damaging ways to combo opponents on the wall.
When her 3in1's are used to wall splat the opponent you will be offered the opportunity to land the most guaranteed damage, I'll use BKO as an example:
(This combo was tested on Depth with Danger Zones on)
> > > Does 153 points of damage. This is the most powerful combo I could find in a short period of lab time.
As long as you can land her 3in1's on an opponent who is grounded you can use BKO to raise them up whilst airborne to land .
If you use the 3in1 I am using in my example you can land one stun hit without causing them to becomes airborne and losing the opportunity to land a wall combo. So only the is exchangeable in that particular combo. If you use any of the other 3in1's then you can use a maximum of two stuns hits before they become airborne.
Outside of her 3in1's you want to aim to use after a wall splat for combo's as it does the most damage. It will land off of anything that leaves her in forward facing stance with the exception of these attacks:
If you happen to land these attacks for the wall splat just use as your follow up combo.
Dead or Alive 5's wall game is much more simplistic than Dead or Alive 4, in exchange for gaining the ability to have guaranteed juggles against opponents who hit the wall the opponent instantly becomes airborne so only short juggles can connect. Here I will list the most damaging ways to combo opponents on the wall.
When her 3in1's are used to wall splat the opponent you will be offered the opportunity to land the most guaranteed damage, I'll use BKO
as an example:(This combo was tested on Depth with Danger Zones on)
> > > Does 153 points of damage. This is the most powerful combo I could find in a short period of lab time.As long as you can land her 3in1's on an opponent who is grounded you can use BKO
to raise them up whilst airborne to land .If you use the 3in1 I am using in my example you can land one stun hit without causing them to becomes airborne and losing the opportunity to land a wall combo. So only the
is exchangeable in that particular combo. If you use any of the other 3in1's then you can use a maximum of two stuns hits before they become airborne.Outside of her 3in1's you want to aim to use
after a wall splat for combo's as it does the most damage. It will land off of anything that leaves her in forward facing stance with the exception of these attacks:If you happen to land these attacks for the wall splat just use
as your follow up combo.
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Combo Extensions with the use of Collapsible Objects:
When hitting someone into an arena object such as a chair or block of ice you are granted +62, when the opponent is slow escaping at the fastest possible speed you still get +52 to play with.
When you land one of these stuns you best option is to do:
(Using to land the stun)
BKO > > > This will net you 119 points of damage.
This is an example of a combo that once the unholdable stun hits is guaranteed. You can add stun before launching as long as you are okay with risking being countered. Personally I'd just take the unholdable launcher though.
When hitting someone into an arena object such as a chair or block of ice you are granted +62, when the opponent is slow escaping at the fastest possible speed you still get +52 to play with.
When you land one of these stuns you best option is to do:
(Using
to land the stun)BKO
> > > This will net you 119 points of damage.This is an example of a combo that once the unholdable stun hits is guaranteed. You can add stun before launching as long as you are okay with risking being countered. Personally I'd just take the unholdable launcher though.
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Pseudo Force Teching:
Helena is able to eliminate the opponents ability to use wake up kicks on knock down. She does this by doing either:
BKO
BKO
BT
BT
These attacks will force the opponent up off the floor and if timed right will leave Helena with frame advantage whether it forces them up or they tech to avoid being force tech'd and it whiff's. Here's a few examples of how combo's:
Helena is able to eliminate the opponents ability to use wake up kicks on knock down. She does this by doing either:
BKO
BKO
BT
BT
These attacks will force the opponent up off the floor and if timed right will leave Helena with frame advantage whether it forces them up or they tech to avoid being force tech'd and it whiff's. Here's a few examples of how combo's:
- > >
- > >
- BKO >
Using combo's like these it doesn't matter whether the opponent tech's or is force tech'd, Helena is at frame advantage varying between +4 and +7. Because of this Helena can maintain constant pressure on her opponent. In high level play this style of game play becomes pretty necessary as her initial pokes aren't that great and her ranged tools are pretty poor.
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Version 1.03a Patch Notes:
Helena got a few minor buff's but no real nerf's in the patch, I'll list them below.
/ / / BT / & BT are now -5 on block instead of -9. Making them safe to non grappler characters.BKO
is i11 instead of i12 now, meaning her BKO jab is the same speed as her standing jab. is +1 on block instead of 0. This is not particularly useful seeing this move is almost impossible to land on a blocking opponent. / BT / BKO The final low attacks now do half damage when connecting at maximum range.
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Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate
New Moves:Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate
- 6P+KP: This move is an i15/i18 mid punch string and the second hit causes a bound state. The second hit can be delayed by 14 frames.
- 66F+K: This move is an i26 high kick that is airborne part way through and leaves her in BKO. It causes a feint stun but the only allowed follow ups are P or 6P. It can also be used as a re launcher.
- 214P+K: This is Helena's only new sit down stun. It grants +21 on slow SE, +21 on fast SE and +16 on fastest SE.
- 44P+K: This is Helena's new power launcher. Uncharged it comes out in 25 frames and can be combo'd from with 66KP(P). Fully charged it comes out at i40. Unlike the power blow it does not guard crush when fully charged, it is -15 on block.
- 8PP4: She can enter BT from this move now. On block it is -6 and +13 on CH.
- 3PP4: This cancel is -8 on block, -7 on NH and +12 on CH.
- 6P4: This cancel is -8 on block, -7 on NH and +12 on CH.
- 4P: This move now tracks. This is now her fastest tracking move at i15, previously 1P was at i17.
- BT 7P: This was an i23 sit down stun in Vanilla and now it also works as a CB. It grants +18 on slow SE, +16 on fast SE and +13 on fastest SE.
- BKO 66P: Now works as a re launcher.
- BKO P+K: Also works as a re launcher now.
- 66P, BT 6P, PPP, PP4PP, 9PP, 9P4PP, 4PPP, BT PP4PPP: Are now unsafe going from -5 in Vanilla to -9 in Ultimate. In Vanilla they caused a knock down but now they cause a light stun on CH giving +20 on slow SE, +17 on fast SE and +15 on fastest SE.
- F+K: Previously granted +7 on block but now only offers +2. You can now also cancel into BKO from this move but it leaves you at -1.
- 3in1's: Every one of them now interacts with the wall which gives her a damage buff and seeing as her PFT no longer works it doesn't make much of a difference.
- All of her SDS's: Now cause a bound state when landed at maximum stun threshold. The one exception being BT 7P as it is now a CB. P(P) and 7P also cause a bound under the same circumstances.
As most people now know 33P4P > 6P now longer works. This is a pretty hefty nerf seeing as her entire play style was built around it. Feel free to do it even if they don't tech as the 6P will still hit them and push them away from you which should mean you won't have to be in range of their wake up attack.
The only option you have here is to do 33P4P > 2K. This will force tech but if they tech and it whiff's you will be left at -6 in a stance where it takes Helena 10 frames to be able to block. If the opponent isn't teching use this but if they are teching make use of the massive frame advantage that you get by doing nothing after knock down.
That's all I can think of for now. I'll add more as it is discovered. Overall she is the same character with awful sit down stuns and newly nerfed guard crushes. The new transitions will make her fun to play and her PFT is still there but you have to make a 50/50 guess to capitalise on it.
TBC
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