How to play the game

[TRI Mike]

Well everyone, the game is (officially) just days away and now we're sure that many characters play much differently from what they did in DOA4, a game that, good or bad, lasted seven years and it's gonna make it really difficult to many players to get used to the new mechanics and play-style they should be applying in DOA5. So I'm creating this thread for the veterans, people who go to tournaments, have spent a lot of time with different builds and just people with experience in general. What should they do¿ How should they play other than building the stun threshold¿ That's what this thread is about.

In my personal case, I come from maining Hele and Busa in DOA4 and to be honest, I just played them exactly the same. Stun>Threshold>Launch>Juggle with only minor differences like going for BKO throw with Hele and farming Izuna holds with Busa. In DOA5, I'm interested in many characters, including those two but the ones who take priority this time are Jann Lee and Tina. From what I see, they will play extremely different this time, with Lee trying to push opponents to the walls for long Dragon Gunner and Dragon Stance guaranteed set-ups and Tina trying to land strong guard breaks, normal throws, OHs, ground grabs, air throws, etc.

So on with it. Let the strategies and recommendations for gameplay begin.

 

[DontForkWitMe]

As an eliot player in 4 his gameplan doesn't seem different at all in 5. he still lacks mixups, doesn't have many sitdown stuns(only seen one so far) or easy access to critical burst and needs to play the stun game but now he just has much better tools to take advantage of playing that game like the i9 attack which you better believe will be a huge part of my offense AND defense. eliot now being able to outpoke the likes of kasumi and christie will be a beautiful thing and im taking full advantage of it.

236H+P will also be my go-to throw when counter baiting and throw punishing them, his damage output buff along with his extended juggle properties from multiple 's will provide a hefty amount of damage especially on hi-counter throw.

last but not least dem parries. eliot gets +20 from them and seems to be the only parry character that can get guaranteed launchers off em and like i mentioned above his buffed juggle properties mixed with his higher damage output over 4 will put some hurt on all those who get hit by em. overall he seems like a sold character with great tools for various situations which SLIGHTLY makes up for losing my real main...

pours one out for leon

 

[Stikku]

The obvious big game changer here that's going to stand out are Critical Bursts and Power Blows.

Each character has at least one Critical Burst attack which, if it connects, puts the opponent in an unholdable crumple state (Think kind of like the "Focus Attack" from Street Fighter 4).
This unholdable crumple state both resets and fills the stun threshold indicator, meaning the Critical Burst itself will not do anything else to a standing opponent other than Critical Stun them, and that the next attack against a Critical Stunned opponent will not allow them to hold, but will instead launch them for juggle potential or knock them down.

Of course since this crumple state means the opponent can do nothing for a little bit of time, Power Blows can be charged and assured to connect for a one-time maximum damage attack with even further potential for a followup combo if playing on one of the many dynamic dangerzone stages.

An obvious question comes to mind regarding just how useful Critical Bursts will be in the arsenal of a player's tactics. Since many characters only have one Critical Burst attack with a few characters that have two Critical Bursts- a knowledgeable opponent will obviously know what exact Critical Burst attack to look out for and perform a Counter against.
It's important to keep in mind that Critical Bursts are not required to launch an opponent for an air juggle, but rather they perform as an attack with unique Critical Stun properties that would potentially increase damage dealt on your opponent. The use of the Critical Burst will likely boil down to the player choosing whether or not they will use an available Critical Burst in a combo. Simply put, mind games!

As it stands, the only guaranteed way to connect a Power Blow attack on your opponent without first using a Critical Burst on them involves a ceiling combination using one of a few character's throws that involve a launch. You can fire a Power Blow attack off at anytime (and only one time upon a successful hit) after your character's health meter has dropped below 50%, but the only surefire way to make sure it does hit is to use the Critical Burst before using the Power Blow, or any

Overall, Critical Bursts and Power Blows do not change the face of DOA, but rather work with the existing Dead or Alive mechanics to bring more options for both an attacker to use, as well as a defender to watch out for.

 

[TRI Mike]

I've been thinking about how to work around the "unsafeness" or a character. In Tina's case I think that trying to bait the opponent to block and hold a specific move to free cancel and throw is a viable option. This is normal for pretty much everyone in DOA4 but I don't think they will all benefit from that strategy now but grapplers could since they seem to be the only ones with actually-good throws now.

 

[Stikku]

I've been thinking about how to work around the "unsafeness" or a character. In Tina's case I think that trying to bait the opponent to block and hold a specific move to free cancel and throw is a viable option. This is normal for pretty much everyone in DOA4 but I don't think they will all benefit from that strategy now but grapplers could since they seem to be the only ones with actually-good throws now.

watch out for that izuna!

 

[Matt Ponton]

As it stands, there is no guaranteed way to connect a Power Blow attack on your opponent without first using a Critical Burst on them. You can fire a Power Blow attack off at anytime (and only one time upon a successful hit) after your character's health meter has dropped below 50%, but the only surefire way to make sure it does hit is to use the Critical Burst before using the Power Blow, else you're just relying on faith.

Their also guaranteed off ceiling attacks.

 

[Stikku]

Their also guaranteed off ceiling attacks.

If this is what I think it is, tossing someone into the ceiling like with an unfinished Izuna or Gen-Fu's or even one of Rig's throws, then that's kinda goofy. As if the Izuna wasn't a strong enough combination throw for a character who isn't a grappler, getting a Power Blow from a throw? They'll probably nuke that in DOA6.

 

[Berzerk!]

I don't see why they would remove them, you're implying these moves are a problem, but I don't agree. The throw moves do next to no damage and are built for juggl opportunities. If you're on a stage with ceiling you just have to be aware of this extra danger - completely valid part of gameplay. All of those grows have slow start up and are avoidable or can be attacked out of