Characters and Playstyles

[Viper Excess]

Hey guys. I recently got DOA5U and I've been trying out the characters. It seems that this game is more offense-oriented than DOA4 (higher launches from low-threshold stuns, more normal hit launchers, more damaging throw damage, longer recovery frames from holds in stun), which is great.

I've gone through command lists, combo trials, and such. I'm interested in knowing more about the characters and the playstyles they can incorporate. Examples of playstyles include stun-to-launch, stun extension, spacing, focus on grabs, etc. I know I will be told to just play the game, but I want to know how the community plays the characters, and what they are capable of (just in a general sense) for myself and others to read and comment on. I'm sure this will also help people who are having trouble picking a main/2nd, as it is obvious that I'm going through this, lol.

I know a lot of posts about characters are on the boards (some dead, some not), but I want to generate some characters discussion in one place for people to easily see, without it being hard to find. If ppl also want to talk about general playstyles in the game independent of characters, go right ahead.

 

[Saber]

Awesome topic idea. I'll list down the general playstyles for the characters.

Momiji - Stun-to-launch all the way. She gets great damage off of minimal launch height for all weight classes. She can also be considered a stun extender because it's a 4-way guess between a high launch (8P, 8K), a mid punch deep stun (3P, +28), a mid K deep stun (6K, +24) and 2K (low kick, +12, +19 if no SE). On a side note, she shuts down sidestepping completely and she has a plethora of good crushes and jumping moves which make her near invincible to OHs. And she's very safe (has a safe NH launcher, say what). She can also play like the VF characters (poke, poke, poke) with her jab being neutral on block, 2P being neutral on hit, 6P with mixups.

Hitomi - Knockback, whiff punishment, spacing, wall pressure. Hitomi's strongest point would probably be her excellent whiff punishment with a boatload of long range moves (46P, 236P, 3H+K, 236K, 6H+K, 2P+K, 66K, etc). As such, she has an excellent spacing game with plenty of medium-long to long range pokes (3H+K, 236K, 3K, 6H+K, 2P+K, 1K, 66K). She has a throw (6T, +10) and a punch parry (9H, +7) which grant frame advantage and leads to a 50/50 mixup between a strike and a throw, which you can use to condition your opponent. Almost every string can lead to a knockback attack, and use that opportunity to get your opponent's back to the wall where Hitomi can go very aggressive on you and you make them eat some insane damage. She has so many moves that can wall splat even from neutral. However, she's not someone you want to play the stun game because she doesn't have the tools to play it properly (very few deep stuns, most easily SE-able, slow launchers). Side note, she has 2P which is +1 on hit and shuts down sidestepping almost completely.

Kasumi - An in-your-face pure rushdown, speed and all around aggresive character. She sucks at long range (but is good at spacing), has weak damage output and is even worse if the opponent blocks her moves as she's highly unsafe. So, you have to string delay to fish for a CH or a Hi-CH which finally opens up your opponent allows her to pressure you with free cancels and in-string mixups. 8K is one of her few saving graces as it is a 12-frame high kick that launches on CH. She can space with 7P, and can close the gap with 3P+K which leads to Hoshinpo mixups. She also has a strong anti-wakeup kick game with evasion tools like 9P or 9P+K which allows you to jump over your opponents and avoid the WUK. Her speed is the fastest in the game (only Pai and Sarah rival her in that aspect - 9/11/12) and you use that to continue your pressure even more. And feel free to spam H+K. It's a high kick that jumps over lows , unholdable and causes a back-turned stagger stun in stun or on CH which itself cannot be held for the stun duration. It guarantees some good shit like 9K and 66P.

 

[Brute]

Ryu Hayabusa - Hayabusa is a very technical character and should be used by those who are familiar with and are accustomed to using the plethora of options made available in the game (expert holds, stances, combo throws, offensive holds, crushes, etc.). Precise reads net great rewards, but his options do not generally "blanket" well, meaning one option will not beat out many options that your opponent can select between. Thus, getting into the mind of your opponent is essential to winning with Hayabusa. Doing so will put you in situations that will regularly give you admirable, guaranteed damage. One such example is his expert punch holds, which are the highest hold damage in the game. Most exceptional, however, is his stun game. He has deep stuns (including a sit-down stun that guarantees a Critical Burst even with stagger escaping) and Critical Bursts net him great damage with the Shoho Izuna (which can also be done from a Power Launcher for added damage). He is heavily mid punch reliant, however. Luckily, if your opponent tries to hold out of your stuns, you have great HiC throw punishes. Hayabusa also relies greatly on environmental factors. He capitalizes more than almost any other character on ceilings, cliffs, and breakable auto-techs. The Home stage is his domain, through-and-through. Hayabusa's weakness lies in his mix-up potential for strikes, which is horrible. He has some of the worst lows in the game, especially from string "mix-ups." His Guard Breaks have been nerfed heavily, and he's not very fast (13 frame mid). Thus, getting in is a huge obstacle for him (again, his options do not blanket well). Once the opponent is stunned, they're in trouble, but getting them there is difficult since his best punishes do not permit his best options as follow-ups. Thus, you must read your opponent very accurately and regularly. Doing so will serve you very well, as his Izunas and guaranteed damage options are quite intimidating.

 

[Yegar]

Anyone care to tackle a rundown of Lei Fang and Helena for me?

 

[Argentus]

I'll try, but i tend to summarize so don't expect a paragraph.

Mila -

Leon - the quintessential power character, Leon is focused on overwhelming and overpowering the opponent through guard breaks, delayed power attacks, grapples and counters. Unlike other characters, Leon on single to three strikes at most, rather than strings or juggles. And unlike other power characters, Leon is more balanced, with his moveset being good at all areas, rather than most of his damage coming from grapples, as he can match or exceed his grapples in two to three strikes.
The downside to him is that he is very slow and predictable so you focus on simply overpowering the opponent more than anything else.

Mila - the quintessential balanced character. She is able to both a brawler like Leon, or a striker like Hitomi. With new feints and combos, she is an effective boxer, but her ability to go into her takedown from virtually anything, from.counters to grabs to strings to feints, makes her a dangerous grappler as well, and thanks to certain overhead attacks and charged attacks, she can even be an effective power character as well. Though to offset this versatility, she doesn't Excel in those fields like characters who specialize in them.

With both however, mindgames and timing is key, due to thwir relatively straightforward movesets. With the exception of milas new feints, there's virtually no tricks, gimmicks or frills, leaving their movesets as very simple, but also very practical

 

[Bushido]

I'll give a general and quick overview. If you want me to elaborate, just ask.

Kokoro - A rushdown character with high damage output, safeness, great mixups, can easily open people up, has a powerful bait throw, and a good mid range game. She's pretty easy to pick up and learn, but can be quite difficult to play at a competitive level. She has a very nice damage output, getting 90-100 damage from a launch at lvl 2 threshold. She's also pretty versatile with the way you can play her. You can play all out aggression, more of a spacing game, or just keep calm and play safely. Her main weakness is her lack of tracking, which is what makes it a little bit more difficult to play her competitively.

 

[David Gregg]

Eliot: Spacing, rushdown, and stun-to-launch. Against good players, I don't care what anyone says, attempting long mixup combos (including his 3KP sitdown) is fruitless so this is the strategy that has worked best for me. With the exception of his H+K and his 7P (which no longer stuns anyway), competitively speaking, Eliot doesn't do so great against opponents who are in his face. He either needs his opponent in a stun, in the air, or there needs to be some space. Thankfully he's got some very useful (and might I add decent damaging) stuns and knockbacks at mid and long range (examples include 2H+K, 46P, 236P, 66K, 214P (added benefit of being a sabaki), special wakeup "punch" P+K, 6H+K, 236K). In addition, a properly timed cartwheel (7K) can also create some space for him with the added benefit of damage if the opponent is too close. Unfortunately, he lacks tracking and can be predictable so once you close in you need a plan in mind and more often times than not if you're not throwing (and if you are you should be using his launcher 236T to get maximal damage) or using a move to knock back the opponent, you'll want to stun and launch as quickly as possible before you're sidestepped or countered even if the damage output is less than ideal (usually on average between 60-75 on NH which varies depending on the opponent's weight). His instant 3P is vital to extend combos and launches on high counter so always keep that move in the front of your mind and "spam" it frequently.

 

[Shiro madoushi]

Lei fang - defense oriented
On defense lei fang is extremely strong. Her parries, sabakis and unshu stance hold two types of striking moves. This limits the amount of guess work needed to utilize these holds. More over the true focus is understanding which defensive option covers what, as this will be keep in limiting your opponents offense. If the opponents strongest moves strike mid, you must utilize the corrects (she has plenty) to shut the opponents options downs and begin you offense. When transitioning to offensive it is important to take you time. Lei fang does does not have many guaranteed sets up from her strikes so it is important to use your strikes the same way you use her holds, predictively. Strike the opponent, notice their response and move on. If they like to guard, use her throws etc. the key to her offense and defense is controlling sweep range. Lei fang has very few moves that are effective at long range so it's best practice not to turtle. At sweep range all of her parries and holds are available to you and you have enough time to see the opponent coming. When playing offense. It is good to know if the char is faster or slower that you. If slower feel free to close distance and play the high low mix up game. If the opponent is faster stay at sweep range and hold/counter then with evasive moves and the like, transitioning into the many defense to offense set ups that lei fang has to reach her critical burst for decent damage.

If you want more help than that I suggest sending me a friend request at s_rilla on ps3 labeling the message help. I would be glad to give you specific examples of all the stuff Mentioned and even some stuff I didn't.

But the best advise is to stay within sweep to close range. I cannot stress enough how much she sucks from long range. If you can do that, everything else should come naturally as you are forced to use her defensive tools when you are near the opponent. Whether I am predicting well or taking a beating I cannot be in control of the fight if I am not in it lol

 

[Dr.Bhup]

I love these synopsis' you've made! Any love for Sarah, please? I'm a noob. Need her gameplan, strenght and weaknesses. Thanks in advance!

 

[Viper Excess]

Man, this thread is probably my greatest idea ever! You guys are fucking awesome; I appreciate all of the work in these posts so far. Too bad no one's touched on my faves yet, but this thread does give me ideas on what to look for in characters when I try them out.

After looking in this thread (http://freestepdodge.com/threads/br...training-suggestion-for-aspiring-players.166/) and seeing the various character breakdown threads coming up, it's like this topic becomes a synopsis/culmination off all that info.

I do have some questions, but I think I need to wait until there are more synopses posted. I do hope to contribute at some point.

 

[KasumiLover]

~ Naotora is a keep out character, she's somewhat slow up close but makes up for it with great range attacks such as 4H+K and 6K to keep the opponent out and cautious when approaching her. She's 11/14/14 In punches making her pretty vulnerable to faster characters but she makes up for it with her neutral kick being 11i and her 4K is 12i meaning it'll beat out 12i 2Ps(one of her weaknesses when it comes to 5K) and it out priotorizes most 12i mid jabs. Is perfect for defensive players since she relies on good reads and solid defense and spacing to be effective and is a good zoner character. Although she's linear and has alot of mid kicks, her biggest mix up is not finishing her kick strings and mixing up or using her 66T throw throw which takes away 1/4 of health on hi counter which should intimidate opponents not to be too quick to hold against her, but even still she's not much of a character who should play the stun game since she's predictable.

She has her IFC stance as a way to to sort of threaten opponents due to the follow ups from the stance although this should be used more at a distance. She also has 236K which although unsafe has amazing range and is a good way to close in in the opponent and it has a follow up. Certain moves have GBs such as PP2K2K and 9KK which don't grant advantage but allows her to back away to reassess her approach. Has 9P which can hop over lows and WUKs if timed right and her K follow up is safe and can be used to score a stun, while 2K grants advantage, is a mid and can't be ducked and is a heavy Force tech with only it not tracking being it's big trade off from the K follow up. Is overall a zoner, keep out, whiff punish type character who can be a threat if used precisely


~A pretty versatile character, can be played offensive since she's one of the fastest in the game being 9/11/13 and 12/13/14 In kicks, is relatively safe, has alot of options and good mix up and has excellent range. Benefits from counter hits and good spacing and can basically do it all. Has a 236P high projectile that doesn't track and can be crouched and doesn't really let you start a combo but it can be used at a distance to waste the time on the clock when you have the life lead. Her holds are great and can interact with the environment and her throws are good too: 5T interacts with the environment, 66T has good reach and can send opponents over ledges and 236T is an amazing punish throw and does nasty damage on hi counter. Has a flip 7P that can help you retreat and can be used to go on walls to do the follow ups that come from 9P or you can just feint and not jump from the wall to bait a reaction. 9P allows a safe P follow up to start a high jab stun, K can be used to stun too and has a semi safe follow up which can deter hold happy foes, and P+K can be used to push back advancing foes and can punish whiffed wake up kicks. Also has great launchers including one that can't be directly held and has an air throw that can be used as a lazy way to get damage and interact with breakable floors as well as milk danger zone damage. Also can cancel into a special from set attacks such as KKK, 6PP, 4P, 66KK, and BT 4PP and K.

Overall she's well versed in any playstyle, and she's still somewhat new and many players are unfamiliar with how she plays which can also make fights against her unfavorable.

That's how I would sum them up, I can't really say much more although I have beginner guides where I broke down all their attacks for anyone wanting to know what a set string does