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cstrike

A guide to playing Heritage For The Future on Fightcade

cstrike
Dec 18th, 2014
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  1. TABLE OF CONTENTS
  2.  
  3. 1 - INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS/ROMs INFORMATION
  4. 2 - F.A.Q./TROUBLESHOOTING
  5. 3 - EXTERNAL LINKS
  6. 4 - ABOUT
  7. 5 - TIERS
  8. 6 - CHARACTER GUIDE
  9. 7 - COMBO/TUTORIAL/MISC. VIDEOS
  10. 8 - CREDITS
  11.  
  12. LAST UPDATED 02/16/2017 - Minor changes in the characters' descriptions, updated a few of the difficulty levels. In the process of 'overhauling' some of the characters
  13.  
  14. Pastebin in construction. Aside from adding new content, I'll be making spell-checks every once in a while, along with correcting/removing innacurate information.
  15.  
  16. -------------------------------------------
  17.  
  18. 1.
  19.  
  20.  
  21. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS - FIGHTCADE & ROM (PLEASE DON'T IGNORE ANY OF THE STEPS)
  22.  
  23.  
  24. Step 1 - Go to http://www.fightcade.com/
  25.  
  26. Step 2 - Register
  27.  
  28. Step 3 - Download the client
  29.  
  30. Step 4 - Download the ROM. You only need jojoban.zip. You can find it here:
  31.  
  32. https://mega.co.nz/#!EVlXFTgK!9Qx9XNeTP6kpHUgl7Vu6c0CovdtA5pT58dHn1wMsEtE
  33.  
  34. If for whatever reason it's down, try this one (remember, only ONE of these; you don't need both at the same time):
  35.  
  36. http://ja.nitroroms.com/show/file-info/8092/Mame/jojoban.zip.htm
  37.  
  38. Step 5 - In order to install the ROM, paste jojoban.zip (the zipped file itself, NOT ITS CONTENTS) into your ROMs folder (usually FightCade/ROMs). So what needs to be put into your ROMs folder is jojoban.zip, not the bunch of random files that are inside the compressed folder itself
  39.  
  40. Step 6 - You're set! Join the room and play some matches. Remember to always be polite, have fun and most importantly: git gud 👌
  41.  
  42.  
  43. Tips:
  44.  
  45. - In order to test if the ROM is working, you can try offline play first. Log into FC, get on the JoJo'S room and type /play in the chat. If you've installed everything correctly, you should be able to play against the CPU. This is so you won't need to keep guessing if your ROM is malfunctioning or if your connection is messed up.
  46.  
  47. If something isn't working, scroll down to the F.A.Q/Troubleshooting section.
  48.  
  49.  
  50. ---
  51.  
  52. 1.1
  53.  
  54. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS - TRAINING EMULATOR + ROMS (OPTIONAL - YOU DON'T NEED ANY OF THIS TO PLAY ON FIGHTCADE)
  55.  
  56.  
  57. Step 1 - Download this - http://www.mediafire.com/download/4ts35fsd3336k3f/Jojo+Cheats.rar (it's on the Stand Crash main page if you're paranoid about viruses; just scroll down)
  58. Step 2 - Extract it to anywhere you wish
  59. Step 3 - Open the folder that you just downloaded and inspect it; there should be several folders inside, including 'cheats', 'config' and 'recordings'
  60. Step 4 - Download jojobane.zip and jojoba.zip - http://fightanvidya.com/games (jojobane.zip is right at the top and jojoba.zip is at the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure cover at the bottom of the 'Capcom' part)
  61. Step 5 - Place jojobane.zip and jojoba.zip into new folder/ROMs (or whatever you named the folder)
  62. Step 6 - Launch the emulator with fba.exe
  63. Step 7 - Press F6 and look for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
  64. Step 8 - Double-click the ROM or press 'play'
  65.  
  66.  
  67. STOP HERE IF YOU JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW TO DOWNLOAD/INSTALL FIGHTCADE, THE TRAINING EMULATOR AND THE NECESSARY ROMs. KEEP SCROLLING IF YOU WANT TO LEARN A THING OR TWO ABOUT THE CHARACTERS, THE BASICS OF THE GAME, A LIST OF F.A.Q., EXTERNAL LINKS REGARDING COMBOS AND OTHER MECHANICS, AND OTHERS.
  68.  
  69. CTRL+F is your friend here.
  70.  
  71. -------------------------------------------
  72.  
  73. 2.
  74.  
  75.  
  76. F.A.Q./TROUBLESHOOTING
  77.  
  78. Q: I'm getting issues with the ROM itself (i.e. when I try to play the game, it says the ROM is missing, even though I'm sure I have installed it correctly).
  79.  
  80. A: If for whatever reason you made SURE that you installed everything correctly and the game is still not functioning, maybe FightCade isn't finding your ROMs folders. In order to check, boot up FightCade, look top left, click 'Settings', 'Locate ROMs folder', then select the folder where your ROMs are stored.
  81.  
  82. Should you have followed the steps above throughly, have tried to reinstall the ROMs, checked if FC is pointing out at the right folder, etc., and it still says the ROM is missing, you can try something as a last resort. I recommended this to several people on FC and all of them reported back saying it worked, so it's definitely worth trying. What you're gonna do is delete your entire FightCade folder and everything related to it (obviously backing up any ROMs and edited savestates you might have before), then re-downloading and re-installing FC, then re-downloading and re-installing jojoban.zip.
  83.  
  84. Q: How do I play someone?
  85. A: Click the icon right next to their name, or double-click the names themselves to challenge them.
  86.  
  87. Q: Once a match ends, how do I start a new one?
  88. A: Press 1 or 2 (on the keyboard), or start.
  89.  
  90. Q: How do I spectate a match?
  91. A: Click on the small 'eye' right next to a match.
  92.  
  93. Q: What the hell is 236 A/B/C, 214 AA, 66 2C, etc?
  94. A: Look at your keyboard's numpad. 4 = back, 6 = forward, 2 = down, 8 = up and so on. A = Light punch, B = medium punch, C = strong punch, S = light kick. Proprierties may change (for instance, 236 A may make the character do a specific special move that's faster but does less damage, whereas 236 C is slower but does more damage). So 236 A/B/C means you need to do in order 236, then A, B or C.
  95.  
  96. By default on the keyboard:
  97.  
  98. A = A
  99. B = S
  100. C = D
  101. S = Z
  102.  
  103. Up arrow = Jump
  104. Left arrow = Left
  105. Right arrow = Right
  106. Down arrow = Crouch
  107.  
  108. Q: Is there a way to play without spectators?
  109. A: Type "/direct <name of the player you want to challenge goes here>" without the quotations and the brackets on the chat and press enter. The person being challenged also has to "/direct <your name goes here>" you. For instance, say you wanna play xXxCr4wL1nGInMySk1NxXx, it would be: /direct xXxCr4wL1nGInMySk1NxXx. The other person has to /direct you as well, so say your name is xXxFuRrY4LyFxXx; the opposite person would need to do /direct xXxFuRrY4LyFxXx on the chat.
  110.  
  111. Q: Why do I keep getting errors about some gurus medidating or some weird mystical shit?
  112. A: It means two things. First, you're making Buddha angry for disturbing his inner peace. Second, it's a common error that can be fixed by simply re-challenging someone (if it happens when you try to play that person) or closing the window and re-opening it (if trying to spectate a match).
  113.  
  114. Q: How do I change it to FT5?
  115. A: (in construction)
  116.  
  117. Q: How do I remap my keys?
  118. A: Easiest way to do it is starting a match with yourself (with the /play command) and pressing F5. If for whatever reason your F5 key isn't working, on the window that opens once you type /play, look top left, click 'Game', Map Game Inputs.
  119.  
  120. If that doesn't work, go to your FightCade's folder and launch 'ggpofba'. Follow the same steps as above.
  121.  
  122. CONTROLLER USERS: FBA might not recognize your controller. If that's the case, you need a software to circumvent that.
  123.  
  124. Q: My game crashes as soon as the match is supposed to start. Watdo?
  125. A: It means you can't fucking read. You're missing the ROM. Paste the zipped files themselves into your ROM folder, NOT THE CONTENTS THEMSELVES.
  126.  
  127. Q: Why do I keep getting stunned when my stand 'dies'?
  128. A: That's called a stand crash. When your stand takes too much damage, it crashes, and you remain vulnerable for a few seconds. Keep an eye out on your stand health bar and try disabling your stand whenever it's about to crash. Note that this is not a bug but a game mechanic.
  129.  
  130. Q: What's a "BnB"?
  131. A: It's a term used in lots of other games, specially fighting games. In JoJo's, it's usually meant to describe combos that are both somewhat simple to perform, but still do decent damage.
  132.  
  133. From Urban Dictionary:
  134.  
  135. "Bread and butter. (n)
  136.  
  137. Often used in terms of fighting games to describe a standard combo that is efficient in terms of damage and difficulty to perform."
  138.  
  139. Q: How do I throw?
  140. A: Heavy punch + forward or heavy punch + backwards when at melee range. 4C/6C.
  141.  
  142. Q: How do I super?
  143. A: Depends on the character. Most characters super with either 236 AA or 214 AA. Some characters have special inputs for certain supers.
  144.  
  145. Q: What is a 'tandem'?
  146. A: 'Tandem attack' is the official name for it. Only characters that have active stands can use it. It's triggered by 214 S. When you press it, you get a brief amount of time to input any normals/specials that your stand can use. When the timer runs out, your stand will obey your inputs and use them in the order you inputted them, while the character is able to move freely and attack its opponent at the same time. This is used mainly for combos that wouldn't normally be possible.
  147.  
  148. For instance, you can do a tandem of ABCx3 and your stand will ABC as soon as he reaches its opponent or the opposite edge of the screen. Normally, a tandem won't combo in itself, so a character that uses it also has hit their opponent (normally from the opposite side). You can also input most supers and specials into tandems.
  149.  
  150. Q: How do I unlock characters such as Shadow DIO or Young Joseph?
  151. A: On multiplayer, you don't need to unlock them. Just keep scrolling right (if selecting DIO) or left (if selecting Jotaro). They're hidden.
  152. In solo play, with '/play', check this video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPdrwrkbs84
  153.  
  154. Q: Is this playable on a keyboard?
  155. A: Yes, but it’s obviously not optimal. There is only one character that uses a 720Âș move. There are a couple other characters that use 360Âș but on the keyboard, pressing all the directional keys in the right order once suffices. You don't need, for instance, to do up right down left and then up again, just up right down left, or left down right up, etc.
  156.  
  157. Q: Why does the match crash if I pick Hol and try to change the direction of his S too many times?
  158. A: It's a known glitch (which only actually happens on the keyboard). Don't do it or the match will crash.
  159.  
  160. Q: Why is the screen all black/super and HP meters are missing/characters are missing when I try to spectate someone?
  161. A: That is normal. It means it's loading. Have patience. It usually takes a few mere seconds. If that doesn't work, close the window and try reopening it.
  162.  
  163. Q: When's Mahvel?
  164. A: Shit, I don't know.
  165.  
  166. Q: Where do I get framedata, matchup list, command/input list and so on?
  167. A: Right below, in the 'External Links' section. More specifically, eventhubs for commands/inputs, hardedge for general info, SRK/hardedge for general info about the game (use Google Translate if you don't speak english), and StandCrash for more specific info (specially matchups). If you speak portuguese, check out jjpobrasil for misc. info/combo videos. Finally, for the weeaboos, check out the last link. It's the most accurate as well.
  168.  
  169. Q: Are there any simple and tidy guides about the characters that you can read within a few minutes right before hopping into the game?
  170. A: Well, you're in luck! Keep scrolling down to find out.
  171.  
  172. -------------------------------------------
  173.  
  174. 3.
  175.  
  176.  
  177. EXTERNAL LINKS
  178.  
  179.  
  180. (EN) http://www.eventhubs.com/guides/2012/aug/20/jojos-bizarre-adventure-moves-characters-combos-and-strategy-guides/
  181.  
  182. (GER) http://wiki.hardedge.org/index.php?title=JoJo%27s_Bizarre_Adventure:_Heritage_for_the_Future
  183.  
  184. (EN) http://wiki.shoryuken.com/JoJo's_Bizarre_Adventure
  185.  
  186. (EN) http://wiki.standcrash.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
  187.  
  188. (PT-BR) http://jjpobrasil.blogspot.com.br/
  189.  
  190. (EN) http://www.facebook.com/groups/jojosba/
  191.  
  192. (JP) http://www14.atwiki.jp/acjojo/
  193.  
  194. -------------------------------------------
  195.  
  196. 4.
  197.  
  198.  
  199. ABOUT
  200.  
  201.  
  202. About the room itself: it's a relatively small and neat dedicated community of players, some of which are veterans, some of which are new. GGPO is pretty much dead, so don't bother with that. It's dead for a reason. The great majority of players are polite and helpful; you won't see MvC/SSF amount of toxicity and general unpleasantry here. There are players from all over the world, from all continents, ranging from North America to Europe, and from countries all over the world, ranging from the Philippines to Morocco. New players pop into the room nearly every day (specially since Fightcade is new-ish), so don't be shy.
  203.  
  204. This is a very tl;dr guide on the game and its characters. Definitely not for experienced players, and there are better guides out there for novice players as well.
  205.  
  206. JoJo's is a very unique fighting game, although it shares some similarities with other more popular fighting games. This is because due to the nature of the game, good footsies and neutral are crucial. Combos in this game tend to be very long and flashy the higher the skill ceiling, so learning to control your spacing is essential to be a good player. Don't be intimidated by this, however; some characters are much easier and forgiving on the combos (as opposed to 1f links), and some characters require very short combos (or no combos at all) in order to play them. Every character is unique, so don't be mistaken by the physical appearance of some characters in the roster. In practical terms, what this means is that knowning your character's weak and strong points are more important than simply skipping everything and learning long combos, which some players mistakingly do.
  207.  
  208. Each character has their own stand (with the exception of a certain secret character from Part 2); some are active and some are passive. There are quite a few differences between these. For one, you need to hit a key in order to turn on a stand for the active stand characters. A passive stand character never needs to turn on their stand. You can only do tandem attacks with a character that can turn on their stand. Furthermore, active stand characters are almost always more combo-intensive, whereas passive stand characters tend to rely on zoning, gimmicks, unblockable setups and others. Finally, passive stand characters (with the exception of Petshop) will always have a hard time against zoners, because they cannot use a tandem attack (which gives the player using it tons of tasty invincibility frames) and they also cannot turn on their stands in order to protect themselves against chip damage (which, by the way, isn't lethal in JoJo's).
  209.  
  210. This section shall be expanded further in the future.
  211.  
  212. DON'T BE STUBBORN. If you refuse to learn, the game and the players themselves will refuse to teach you.
  213.  
  214. Other than that, have fun!
  215.  
  216. -------------------------------------------
  217.  
  218. 5.
  219.  
  220.  
  221. TIERS
  222.  
  223.  
  224. This is the 'official unofficial' tier list, in order, taken from one of the japanese wikis:
  225.  
  226. SS (God) Tier: Petshop
  227. S (Top) Tier: Kakyoin, Polnareff, Abdul, Vanilla Ice
  228. A (High) Tier: Jotaro Kujo, DIO, Shadow DIO, Blind Kakyoin, Alessi
  229. B (Average) Tier: Iggy, Chaca, Midler, Hol Horse, Devo
  230. C (Low) Tier: Hol Horse & Boingo, Young Joseph, Old Joseph, Anubis/Black Polnareff, Rubber Soul
  231. D (Very Low) Tier: Khan
  232. E (Mariah's) Tier: Mariah
  233.  
  234. Remember, tiers aren't as nearly as important as most people make of them. I won't be listing combos or anything of that sort, with a few exceptions. Check the External Links section and use Google to find these.
  235.  
  236. -------------------------------------------
  237.  
  238. 6.
  239.  
  240.  
  241. CHARACTER GUIDE
  242.  
  243.  
  244. Down below, I'll give a brief description of each character, their main weaknesses and their main strong points, along with a couple of tips of how to play each, and a few hints of how to deal with them. This is nowhere near definitive, this is just my view as an experienced player. I'll try to be as unbiased as possible, since I don't really have 'mains'. Some of the info here was taken from Stand Crash. As already said there, 'difficulty' is subjective and very rough. This is obviously very brief and superficial, as every character would require an entire wiki page just to describe all its strategies, combos and others. Besides, I don’t play every single character in the game (not even close), so most of this is what I’ve observed watching jp matches (and therefore, pure conjecture). You're better off watching videos on Youtube.
  245.  
  246. First, though, I'll name a few characters new players should PROBABLY pick or avoid. Notice how I wrote 'probably'; you should try every character until you find those you feel comfortable playing. This is highly subjective, as most what's written in this Paste.
  247.  
  248. YOU SHOULD PROBABLY PICK ME IF YOU'RE NEW: Chaca, Jotaro, Abdul, DIO*, Polnareff, Young Joseph, Khan, Anubis Polnareff, Mariah, Shadow DIO*
  249. YOU SHOULD PROBABLY AVOID ME IF YOU'RE NEW: Alessi, Midler, Rubber Soul, Hoingo, Shadow DIO*, DIO*
  250. YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY AVOID ME IF YOU'RE NEW: Kakyoin, New Kakyoin, Hol Horse, Old Joseph, Iggy, Vanilla Ice
  251. YOU SHOULD PROBABLY NOT PLAY ME AT ALL: Petshop
  252.  
  253. *Although DIO is (in)famous for how difficult he is to both be efficient with and master (in other words, he has a high skill ceiling and floor), he is actually quite convenient for beginners due to how strong his s.ON normals are, his various tools/gimmicks (such as the eye beam and the teleportation), all of his supers (most notably s.214AA). All of these should suffice in order to beat most average opponents; should you however ever git gud enough to reach a higher level of play, you should either learn his BnBs/tandems or switch characters
  254.  
  255. *As for Shadow DIO, most people recommend him for beginners due to how simplistic he is and how strong his normals are, and how his playstyle revolves around a single combo and his crossups, but I really have to disagree for a few simple reasons: firstly, his only combo requires the player to know crouch/dash cancelling; secondly, due to how stands in this game works, whenever S. DIO uses his stand to attack, he remains vulnerable until his stand comes back to him, which is a mechanic most newbies know nothing about; finally, due to having a slow roll and a passive stand, most new players should have a really hard time being on the defense, specially against zoners (although in JoJo's it's generally recommended to always stay on the offense)
  256.  
  257. Before heading below, a few suggestions of which character you should play, depending on your playstyle.
  258.  
  259. I WANNA THROW MY OPPONENTS NON-STOP: Rubber Soul, Shadow DIO, Midler
  260.  
  261. I LOVE LONG-ASS COMBOS JUST LIKE THE ONES IN THOSE YOUTUBE VIDEOS: DIO, Jotaro, Polnareff, Kakyoin, New Kakyoin, Vanilla Ice, Devo, Chaca, Old Joseph, and pretty much everyone else in the right hands
  262.  
  263. FUCK COMBOS AND THE PEOPLE ABOVE ME: Hol Horse, Hol & Boingo, Mariah, Rubber Soul, Abdul (somewhat), Midler (somewhat)
  264.  
  265. I JUST WANNA ZONE ALL DAY ERRY' DAY: Hol Horse, Hol & Boingo, Mariah, Kakyoin (somewhat), Midler
  266.  
  267. I’M A HIPSTER: New Kakyoin
  268.  
  269. *FLEX*: Young Joseph
  270.  
  271. I WANT TO STOP TIME AND GROPE PEOPLE: Shadow DIO, Jotaro, DIO
  272.  
  273. I'M A SADISTIC PAEDOPHILE: Alessi
  274.  
  275. I HAVE A VORE FETISH: Midler
  276.  
  277. I'M A FURRY: Iggy, Petshop
  278.  
  279. I <3 2 SRK: Khan
  280.  
  281. ---
  282.  
  283. PETSHOP: One of the most (in)famous animals in all fighting games, this little fella does not fuck around. When not banned in tournaments, this guy essentially defines an entire meta. The only character without a ‘true’ hard counter (excluding Shadow DIO, whose only combo outright kills Petshop, as opposed to bringing his HP down to around 10% when used against anyone else in the roster). Expect high levels of sodium when this character is involved.
  284.  
  285. THE GOOD: Once you get the grasp of how to dash/normal cancel effectively and how to properly use his icicles, he has easy infinite. Because of those, he doesn't have to commit ANYTHING in order to set up unblockable/fiftyfifty combos that can easily lead to 100%, unlike characters with similar mechanics (Polnareff, Vanilla Ice, etc). Flying means most characters can't combo you like they normally would on a 'regular' character. Absurdly strong normals, specials and supers in general. Unblockable and unavoidable links/overheads. Small as fug hitboxes. Essentially the strongest buttons in the entire game.
  286.  
  287. THE BAD: Horrible air recover. Least HP in the entire roster.
  288.  
  289. DIFFICULTY: HARD TO PLAY; HARD TO MASTER
  290.  
  291. HOW TO PLAY: Learn his combos. Don't just stand still in the air spamming projectiles; you WILL be punished. Remember that if you pick him, players will be MORALLY ALLOWED to do whatever it takes to win, including telling mediocre jokes on the chat, expecting you to simply leave. For your own sake, learn other characters first if you plan on picking up this little guy.
  292.  
  293. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Quit the match. Or pick one of his hard counters, one of them being himself. Yes, Petshop’s worst bane is himself, mostly because of how his icicles work. If you’re not willing to play the character, however (understandably so), he also has another hard counter most people don’t know about: Shadow DIO. As mentioned above, Shadow DIO has one of the strongest combos in the entire game (which can also be easily looped). Normally, the anti-infinite system in the game would prevent that combo from killing the opponent, bringing him down to about 10%. However, because of how damage scaling works in this game, Petshop takes about twice as much damage from anything the opponent throws at them which, in practical terms, means a single Shadow DIO loop can kill him. Also, barely anyone on FC knows how to play him, so chances are you'll never run into a good/great Petshop player. Against bad ones, avoid being overly aggressive, even though Petshop has low HP; his supers and specials do wonders even at the hands of a bad player. If he starts flying, force him into the ground by using whatever tools your character has (whether if normals or specials, or even supers). If he's flying high up in the sky he can't combo you, so just hit him and defend/roll over his projectiles.
  294.  
  295. PICK ME: If you wanna be THAT KID. You know, the one who claimed you could unlock Master Chief is SSBB? The guy who told you he had a PS4, just back in 2005? Yeah, that kid.
  296. Seriously, though. Pick him if you like long and damaging combos that involve overheads/unblockables. Just remember that if you pick him, you'll face a lot of ragequits/insults.
  297.  
  298. BASIC PETSHOP COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t19Cvckujcw
  299.  
  300. -------------------------------------------
  301.  
  302. KAKYOIN: Fashionable, epic, glorious. Kakatte Koi! When Petshop is banned, he is by far the best character in the entire roster. He excels at essentially EVERYTHING the more you approach his skill ceiling. Basically the most versatile character in the game; good at both being in the opponent’s face and also keeping him away. He has debatably the best defense in the game, along with debatably the best offense. “Debatably” simply because he does have his counters, and there are characters with really strong buttons that can shut down Kakyoin.
  303.  
  304. THE GOOD: Excels at everything. Superb ability to both zone out his opponent and be in your face. Tied with Petshop in terms of mobility, a character which can literally fly, thanks to his air dashes, ridiculously fast ground dash, etc. Has the best tandem game in the entire roster. Tandems can be easily looped (with good execution) thanks to your traps. Has one of the best (if not the best) specials in the game: his net traps. They're amazing for both zoning and setting up tandems, as well as setting up 50/50s and pressuring his opponents. All of his supers do solid damage and are reliable, and all of these can be linked into tandems thanks to his traps. He actually outclasses characters whose primary roles are zoning, i.e. Hol Horse, Young Joseph, etc. His Emerald Splash special (236 A/B/C) blocks any projectiles, including Hol's 236 A/B/C. Finally, he has debatably the best throw in the game game, due to the fact that it simply launches the opponent at the opposite side of the stage, allowing him to do whatever the fuck he wants until the opponent gets back up, ranging from building meter to setting up traps.
  305.  
  306. THE BAD: One of the slowest rolls in the game. Slow wake-up, which gives more time for oki. The character with both the highest skill floor and ceiling in the game, so even in a basic level, you need to have an above average understanding of the game’s system to be proficient at him; don't expect to pick him, spam his zoning projectiles and win free matches.
  307.  
  308. DIFFICULTY: VERY HARD TO PLAY; EXTREMELY HARD TO MASTER
  309.  
  310. HOW TO PLAY: Overall, there’s no ‘jack of all trades’ guide on how to play Kak. At first, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with how the character works in general. Learn to use your trap (214 A/B/C). It is an amazing zoning tool, and also great for setting up tandems. Avoid spamming Emerald Splash; it’s punishable (as with any projectile move) and good players will just poop all over you. Learn his unblockable super to punish those nasty players who like to spam throws. Learn to use his air dashes; they're AMAZING in general, not just for mobility. And, finally, learn his tandems. Obviously, the last tip might as well be “just be yourself :^)”, but as mentioned above, his true potential comes from his BnBs/tandems. If you’re not willing to learn these, you’ll certainly end up with a heartache.
  311.  
  312. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Again, there are MAYBE a couple good Kakyoins on FC, so chances are, you'll probably won't have to deal with Kakyoin at his maximum potential ever (unless you travel to Japan). Still, even at the hands of someone who hasn't even nearly mastered him, he can be a nuisance. In a nutshell, against Kakyoin what you'll want to do is always keep moving and chasing him. If you give him a chance to comfortably sit at the corner of the arena and spam emerald splash along with setting up traps, you'll almost definitely lose the match. Turn on your stand to avoid chip damage from his 236AA or 236A/B/C. Remember that all characters have normals and specials to cut his traps from a safe distance. Most Kakyoin characters on FC won't be able to deal with opponents at melee range anyway, so get into their face and hit them until your thumbs bleed. Most of his s.ON normals have long as fuck animations, so punish that cunt with supers or tandems if he starts spamming s.2A 2A 2B 2C.
  313.  
  314. PICK ME: If you want to want a very versatile and fun character who both excels at performing long combos and zoning out his opponents. Just remember that he is VERY hard to master. Not that easy to play either. In the meantime, he has one of the best stand-on s.ABCs in the game, so keep that in mind.
  315.  
  316. BASIC KAKYOIN COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpDdRTgnC10
  317.  
  318. -------------------------------------------
  319.  
  320.  
  321. JOTARO: One of the most iconic figures both inside and outside the JoJo’s universe, he is essentially the main character in this game. Good for new players and seasoned veterans, as he has both easy and very hard combos, which makes him flexible in regards to his skill ceiling/floor. An all-around well rounded character; if you choose him to be your main, he’ll carry you to the higher brackets of FightCade so long as you’re willing to learn his BnBs.
  322.  
  323. THE GOOD: Hits like a truck, much like in the manga. He also has one of the fastest normal in the game, which also happen to be useful to start his BnBs. If these weren’t enough, he also has one particular s.on normal (s.5a) which causes a stand crash on the great majority of the cast. In practical terms, what this means is that should you get hit but once by that same normal (and so long as the opponent knows what he’s doing), you’ll watch a small combo which will send you into the Stand Crash state, which means that your character will be stunned for a couple while Jotaro watches as you helplessly stand around waiting for him to assfuck you. This makes it so he has debatably one of the easiest BnB setups in the game, with a normal that has one (ONE) (UNO) (1) (!!!!!!!!!!!) frame start up animation. If the Jotaro player chooses so, he can also simply knock the opponent down at the end of that combo, which leads us to his oki game: he has one of the best oki 50/50 setups in the entire game. Should you get caught on those, expect to get hit by another BnB once again, which will also lead you to knockdown, which will then lead you to another 50/50
 you get the idea.
  324. Finally, he has one of the best supers in the entire game: Star Breaker (214AA). In a nutshell, it’s essentially a long-ranged punch that does amazing damage, has a pretty good range and, generally speaking, is pretty safe (although in s.on mode, it is punishable should you whiff it) since it has an almost null start up time and fast recovery time.
  325.  
  326. THE BAD: As amazing as Jotaro is, he does have his weaknesses. For one, he has a bad matchup against almost everyone in the top tier (Petshop included, obviously). That is because is essentially a ‘brawler’ type of character; generally speaking, he NEEDS to get up close in order to start his BnBs. Also, by being such an archetype of character, he somewhat struggles against characters who can set up BnBs from a safe distance, such as characters with instant air dashes, traps, projectiles and so on.
  327.  
  328. DIFFICULTY: AVERAGE TO PLAY; HARD TO MASTER
  329.  
  330. HOW TO PLAY: Learn his BnBs. He does punch very hard (and very fast), but he really starts to shine once you learn his tandems. When you’re new with him, you’ll most likely want to be in your opponent’s face not letting him get comfortable with setting up tandems/spamming projectiles. You can even get away with being very active with his Stand until you face tougher opponents. Though, don’t expect to get away with mashing normals against more experienced opponents. Star Breaker is also excellent to punish people’s shenanigans since it has a pretty good range.
  331.  
  332. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Be careful if you have your stand turned on around Jotaro. That's because as mentioned above Jotaro a specific s.ON combo (s.5a 5a 5b 236a 214a 214a) that deals stand crash to most characters, which leaves you vulnerable to whatever the fuck Jotaro wants to do with you, ranging from supering to setting up a tandem. Learn to deal with his s.5a and be consistent when pushblocking/GCing him. Watch out for his rushdown attacks; most normals when linked in this way can connect to a super, so buckle up your defense and be careful when advancing against him. He's very strong with both his stand turned on and off, as he can set up tandems and both ways, so you should be careful with both ways equally. Try to master your footsies against this guy.
  333.  
  334. PICK ME: If you want a character that is both very strong and not hard to pick up. Strong normals and solid tandems. An excellent character to learn the basics of tandem.
  335.  
  336. BASIC JOTARO COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA6HiodJodk
  337.  
  338. -------------------------------------------
  339.  
  340. ABDUL/AVDOL: Abdul, everyone's favorite tanned stand user. A valuable ally in the manga, he is so awesome that he comes back from the dead TWICE. This character has nearly no combos so to speak. So why is his tier so high? Well, read below to find out. Easy to play, and not hard to master. Has the strongest super in the game (which is also literally broken - as in, it wasn't intended to be this way).
  341.  
  342. THE GOOD: Although high tier, doesn't have lenghty combos. Mostly because he doesn't need them. His normals do a lot of damage, and he has many good gimmicks/tools. Fantastic GC, although should be use sparingly in s.on mode, as it CAN be punished. One of the best anti-air games in the entire roster; he can wreck any jump happy character with both normals, special AND supers. By the way, he has two of the best supers in the game, even if you disregard his 623 super. Decent at zoning out his opponents, although not exactly a zoner. Has the best ground sweep in the game. One of those characters that can be used just by doing nothing but ABC and ground sweeps. Although not long, his combos/tandems are strong, and can be started in a variety of ways. Also worth mentioning is that he has the fastest wake up in the ENTIRE GAME. It just screams “PICK ME AGAINST JOTARO/VANILLA/KAKYOIN SHITTERS!!”. His broken super works the following; you can set it up much like Kakyoin’s traps, except it does not spend meter until you let go of the button (and, in turn, trigger the Ankh explosion). That wouldn’t be such an issue if, in stand on mode, that super had about a thousand invincibility frames, which means you can keep setting up these ‘traps’ with A/B/C over and over and be literally invincible; the opponent can’t even throw you.
  343.  
  344. THE BAD: To get the most of him, you need to be skilled at this game. He is just an average character if you don't know how to use him, because he relies mostly on normals and on his gimmicks, which means you need to excel at the neutral game along with having good footsies in order to win against players using characters with lenghty tandems/combos.
  345.  
  346. DIFFICULTY: EASY TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  347.  
  348. HOW TO PLAY: Abdul is a very relaxing character to play, because you can literally just press buttons, and you don’t even have to press buttons in a timely fashion (although he does have his 1f/2f links in his more complex combos). Nearly all of his buttons are fantastic; great damage, great speed and great range. If you’re not willing to spend weeks/months grinding for those degenerate techniques such as Negative Edge and such, I highly recommend Abdul. He has one of the best sweeps in the game. He also has a fantastic command throw (63214+A). Finally, on wake up, although he lacks those juicy 50/50s, he does have a ‘pseudo-50/50’ with 214AA. It’s a super that does the most damage at point blank and you’ll generally want to use it when the opponent is knocked down, along with either doing 8A or 2A/2B/s.2A.
  349.  
  350. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Abdul is simply great all around; at long, medium, close and melee range. His supers guarantee that he can punish nearly anything with ease. Assuming your opponent isn't using the broken super (which is very likely because nearly no one on FC knows how to use it), be careful with these. They both deal a ridiculous amount of damage each. Be careful with both his air and ground game as he excels at these; he has the best ground sweep in the game, and any good Abdul player won't hesitate to use it a lot. As mentioned, he also has great air moves; one special in particular that makes his stand dive at you with nearly no risks or commitment. Also, avoid trying to hit him after rolling through his 236AA; the hitboxes are gigantic and you'll most likely get hit, even if the fireball is already across the screen.
  351.  
  352. PICK ME: If you want an easy but very strong character to play that doesn't require memorization of long combos/tandems, who has a great and spammable ground sweep and also great anti-air. Just remember that if you love flashy long combos, this guy probably isn't for you.
  353.  
  354. BASIC ABDUL/AVDOL COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDG3-i8qJVA
  355.  
  356. -------------------------------------------
  357.  
  358. POLNAREFF: The smug frenchie that everyone loves. He wouldn't be disappointed by his spot at the unofficial rank, mostly because he's great against Kakyoin. Very damaging normals, great tandems, great and flashy overhead attacks. Has a few interesting gimmicks too.
  359.  
  360. THE GOOD: Polnareff simply rapes anyone that is not aware of his powers in this game. A lot of of his normals have a ridiculous amount of range, and he has one particular normal that covers about 1/3 of the screen. Great overhead attacks, great supers that are easy to pull off and not very punishable. His tandems are too great, because of his overhead attack, combined with his 66C (dash low C). One of the characters that don't require lenghty tandems to win matches, even against more experienced players. Also has a secret super from the manga, which makes your opponent sleep for a few seconds, leaving it completely vulnerable, much like The World (except you can't actually The World out of it, as if you were playing Jotaro/DIO, Jotaro/Jotaro or DIO/DIO). Great guard-cancel.
  361.  
  362. THE BAD: Has one of the worst specials in the game, which triggers if you mash A, B or C. Tandems require exact timing, or these moves come off and ruin them. Being charge-based can be a hindrance to some players. A lot of his specials are somewhat easily punishable due to the fact that they leave Polnareff vulnerable while his stand is 'out' (following to the manga logic), i.e. the charge-based 28 A/B/C special.
  363.  
  364. DIFFICULTY: AVERAGE TO PLAY; HARD TO MASTER
  365.  
  366. HOW TO PLAY: Learn the range of your normals. Your s. ON 4B has a ridiculous range, like mentioned above. He has a solid 50/50 game because of his overhead attack, so starting tandems isn't hard. His 8B and 2C are also particularly GREAT normals/pokes.
  367.  
  368. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Avoid staying on the defensive against Polnareff. If you leave him comfortable enough to set up his 50/50 tandems without punishing him he can become a huge threat. Much like Abdul, Polnareff has both great ground and air games; although lacking a sweep, his 2C is almost as great as Abdul's; it even has more range. If you're not careful enough, he'll stand crash you before you can even realize it with 66 2C and you'll be open for anything he wants to throw at you, whether tandems, supers or basic s.ON combos. Try to punish him when he's setting up the typical 50/50 28C tandem setup; so long as his stand is flying, he'll be vulnerable. Avoid leaving your defense open if he has his stand turned on; he has one basic s.ON combo (j.C 2A 2B 2C 46C) that deals a TON of damage. Don't try to outrange Polnareff, EVEN AS KAKYOIN. You won't manage to. Polnareff outranges ANYONE in this game (except maybe Petshop). His normals, specials tandems make sure that any funny gunny who tries to zone his way out of a match against Pol suffer his stand's wrath.
  369.  
  370. PICK ME: If you want to play a charge-based character, this guy is definitely for you. If you want to outrange your opponents and still do lots of damages to them, this guy should be your priority. Great pokes, great range, just an overall great charge-based fighter.
  371.  
  372. BASIC POLNAREFF COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6qeVV0viIU
  373.  
  374. -------------------------------------------
  375.  
  376. ICED/VANILLA ICE: The most delicious character in all of fighting games history, in all meanings possible (seriously, have you seen those bulging muscles?). Better than the rapper. Oh, right, the character.
  377. So, I'll start off by saying that although Vanilla Ice isn't at the very least SS tier, he might as well be SSS. Simply because his normals do an absurd amount of damage (one of the, if not the most damaging normals in the game, specially in stand-on mode), and his tandems. Oh, his tandems. To sum it up, his normals already do TOO MUCH DAMAGE. Combined with the fact that his tandems are VERY simple to start, the amount of damage you'll do with it essentially sums up to how many times you can ABC. You can literally kill your opponent with a single tandem if you mash ABC fast enough.
  378.  
  379. THE GOOD: His tandems, as mentioned above. Normals that do a lot of damage. One of the fastest rolls in the game, which means you can literally roll out of moves that have lenghtly animations and punish your opponent with tandems. Has the infamous 'massive big-ass energy spheres of destruction' which have high priority and destroy nearly anything in its path. Yes, those moves you see on the manga/anime? You can do them here too, and they're just as good. Also has great anti-zoning tools, particularly one that makes him penetrate the ground in his stand-on form and appear in any three specific spots of the arena, including at the other side of it (where your opponent is too busy spamming projectiles to block). He is the only character that can do air combos due to a minor glitch that makes the dashing animation shorter than the normal animations (or something like that). He can also 'glide'. Great mobility thanks to his gliding ability and both his s.421 A/B/C and s.236 A/B/C.
  380.  
  381. THE BAD: His 'massive energy spheres/balls of ultimate chaos and destruction' are relatively easy to block and punish. One of his supers is also very easy to punish if your opponent manages to block it. Tandems require fast fingers (or turbo, if you're a cheating scrub) to get the most out of it. Also, he has a 'situationally bad' guard cancel. Large as fug hitboxes when in stand-on mode. He 'glides' while in mid-air in s.ON which means some characters with good anti-air can abuse that fact and take down large chunks of your health at a time whenever you airdash. More complex tandems/combos require knowledge of advance techniques such as the usage of negative edge and dash/crouch cancelling.
  382.  
  383. DIFFICULTY: HARD TO PLAY; VERY HARD TO MASTER
  384.  
  385. HOW TO PLAY: Do I even need to say it? Tandems! Learning his setups isn't difficult at all, since he does not have that many. Train your fingers to hit ABC more often in each tandem.
  386.  
  387. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Vanilla is a very tough opponent for those unaware of his tandem game. A single safe normal can lead to a huge chain of hits that can take away half of your HP in a single tandem. Buckle up your defense because even a single low jab can lead to a tandem. Be careful with his rolls; Vanilla Ice has one of the fastest rolls in the entire game. He can threaten to pressure you with his dashing normals/specials and then bam, he dashes instead and starts a tandem. If he's spamming his s.236 A/B/C (the spheres/balls), punish him with long-ranged moves or supers. As above, there are barely any good/great vanillas in the room as he's both hard to learn and master; if you however come across a Vanilla who knows how to set up tandems with 214 A/B/C on wakeup, try to punish him with tandems or supers.
  388.  
  389. PICK ME: If you like short but powerful tandems and have fast fingers, and if you like ABCing your opponents to death.
  390.  
  391. BASIC ICED/VANILLA ICECOMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk6hz8v4D6c
  392.  
  393. -------------------------------------------
  394.  
  395. DIO: The guy who steals your waifu and fucks her in front of you. The guy who is one of the only characters in fiction that can pull of the 'edgy' look and still look good. The guy who pisses off anyone with his get-out-of-jail knife super. IT'S HIM, DIO!
  396. Along with Jotaro, he is the face of Heritage for The Future. He has a lot of moves from the manga, since the game is very faithful when it comes to fanservice. Laser beams, teleportation (well, technically just stopping time momentarily), command throws, steamroller super, The World, and one of the strongest supers in the game.
  397.  
  398. THE GOOD: Laser beams, teleportation, Za Warudo, command throws, great tandems, great normals, one of the strongest offensives in the game, steamroller super, a ridiculous, get-out-of-jail-card super; he has it all. Although having flashy long combos, his normals do so much damage that you might as well just do short tandems every once in a while, since it's a perfectly viable way of winning. The super in particular I keep mentioning is the stand-on knife super (236AB); it is possibly the easiest super to do in the entire game, and is still tied with the strongest super in the game. What makes it so strong is that not only it is a great super all-around (great priorities, great damage, huge AoE, etc), is that it gives you a shit ton invincibility frames. In practical terms, that means you can punish virtually anything in the game with this super, and at the same time, you can simply pull off this super for your own shortcomings.
  399.  
  400. THE BAD: The more complex tandems are very hard to link. Has an abysmal GC, and combined with the fact that his stand is almost as tall as Cream (Vanilla Ice's stand), it can potentially mean he has to rest on gimmicks to get out of sticky situations, assuming he doesn't have at least one charge of meter. His stand off throw isn't that wonderful either; not only that, but he has the WORST stand on throw in the entire game. Also, although seemingly menacing, his gimmicks aren't that great. You can throw DIO as soon as he teleports. His beams have a lenghty animation, and can be punished, if you're playing someone like Hol Horse, or simply rolled out of. His roadroller super is super easy to dodge/block (unless you're stand broken) and can EASILY be punished.
  401.  
  402. DIFFICULTY: HARD TO PLAY; VERY HARD TO MASTER
  403.  
  404. HOW TO PLAY: Don't bother picking this guy if you're just gonna turtle and wait for your opponent to make a mistake. DIO has one of the best offensive game in the entire roster (if not the best), so it to your advantage. Tandems, knife super, etc., aside from your teleports to dodge those pesty projectiles.
  405.  
  406. HOW TO DEAL WITH: DIO has a tremendous 'pushing' power and you'll find yourself constantly defending even against average-ish DIOs. That's because his s.236 A/B/C has a decent range and his 236AA makes sure to make anyone cower and run for their moms when DIO is on the offensive. His 214A214A/B/C is also enough to scare most folks since it pushes his opponents away ricocheting on the wall. Pretty much the same as the characters above; DIO is hard to master so most players on FC will just spam MudaMuda, his teleportation move, his knife super and the eventual s.5A5B214A214A. Be careful with long-ranged moves because usually these have long animations and will leave you vulnerable for his s.236AA. If the DIO player is constantly on your shit pressuring you non-stop, try using tandems. They aren't hard to do but they are somewhat finnicky to time against DIO. Basically what you're going to do is when he's spamming his s.ON moves against you, just do a basic tandem (214S ABC x3). Just be careful because if timed incorrectly he can punish you with the knife super. Also, if your character has a good GC, make sure to use it. If it doesn't, don't bother; he can punish you with either tandems or the knife super. Make sure to also pushblock to create some space. At last, don't be defensive against DIO unless you're playing a character with a superb defense like Alessi; push his shit in like he pushes yours. DIO somewhat lacks a good defense and defensive options.
  407.  
  408. PICK ME: If you have a super-aggressive game and can manage all of the tools DIO has at his disposal. If you don't mind having to learn tiny links in order to connect more complex tandems. Or if you just want to feel powerful because you have a tiny weiner.
  409.  
  410. BASIC DIO COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pm-g0xRVGU
  411.  
  412. -------------------------------------------
  413.  
  414. IGGY/IGGI: Does a dog really need a description? He's a dog. He does what he is expected to. Jumps on your face, farts on it; pisses on your leg. Annoys you by having the smallest hitboxes in the game. Throws you nonstop, because of how easy it is to do. GLIDES. You know, the usual.
  415.  
  416. THE GOOD: Let me start off by mentioning the biggest complaint about Iggy; his short stature. Lowest standing hitboxes in the entire cast. Like Petshop, that makes pulling off some combos you normally would on taller characters impossible. That already gives him a gigantic edge. Has an excellent command grab, and also an amazing super that is unblockable. His grabs don't do much damage but looping them is very easy due to the fact that it throws off your opponent at a very short distance. He has only a few combos without his tandem attack that are solid and deal a decent amount of damage. His overhead attacks CAN be comboed with lower normals, which makes him a huge menace to characters without proper anti-air. The only character that can 'properly' glide so to speak.
  417.  
  418. THE BAD: His s.OFF normals don't do that much damage, and quite frankly, he has one good super. The other one sucks major dicks. It is easy to miss, does a very small amount of damage and is easily punishable. He is also a charge-based character, which adds an extra layer of difficulty, even if minimal. Flying can be used against you if your opponent has good anti-air/superior air game.
  419.  
  420. DIFFICULTY: AVERAGE TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  421.  
  422. HOW TO PLAY: Abuse your tiny hitboxes and your air game to confuse your opponents with small combos, grabs and tandems. Just don't overextend with your gliding ability; enemies with good anti-air are your greatest opponents.
  423.  
  424. HOW TO DEAL WITH: 2C. Seriously. If your character has a good sweep, don't be afraid to use it against Iggy, specially if his stand is turned off. GCing his s.88 623 is not advised unless your character has a great GC like Abdul's. Be extra careful when he's teleporting around: he can tandem or super you should you try to punish his teleport, assuming he has meter. He has an excellent unblockable grab super, so avoid just holding back when defending against Iggy. His 236AA super is easy to punish should it be blocked, but you generally want to just turn on your stand and defend, jump over it or GC. Sometimes it'll hit you even if you roll over it. Also don't be afraid to spam anti-air moves against Iggy, if he's constantly flying. Just be aware that due to how his sand balls work, you probably won't even be able to touch him, unless your character has a normal with a long range, or a super that can punish his flight (although Iggy doesn't have to commit anythig in order to spam the sand balls; he can defend even after releasing several sand balls and still in the air).
  425.  
  426. PICK ME: If you like being a cheap turbonerd who likes charge-based characters that can dash most of the opponents' moves simply because your tiny hitboxes. If you like confusing the shit out of your opponents with your powerful air projectiles followed by gliding down and beating them into submission.
  427.  
  428. BASIC IGGY COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj4_Jn6HMBw
  429.  
  430. -------------------------------------------
  431.  
  432. BLIND KAKYOIN/NEW KAKYOIN: Don't be fooled. Although seemingly just a pallete change, New Kakyoin (or Blind Kakyoin) plays differently from the regular Kakyoin. Although objectively inferior than the regular Kakyoin, he still has a few tricks up his sleeves to make up for the things he lost in the process of becoming a new character.
  433.  
  434. THE GOOD: Somewhat simpler to play than regular Kakyoin, due to the fact that his 214 A/B/C is replaced by a move that hits low and if it connects, it traps the opponent in place for a few seconds. Has a s.ON fullscreen super that does decent damage and is pretty good for punishing people, since the effect is nearly instant. His s.ON dash brings you onto the air, which makes setting up air traps and whatnot easier.
  435.  
  436. THE BAD: He suffers greatly when it comes to tandems due to the fact that there is a 'glitch' where the tandem randomly drops, depending on the animation that plays. Not being able to do his s.OFF traps is also a huge disadvantage. His Emerald Splash also has a much smaller range. Loses the unblockable grab super. Basically the reason almost no one plays him. Why? Because New Kakyoin is as hard to play as the regular Kakyoin and terrible when compared to him. His s.ON normals do roughly half the damage, he lacks good anti-air, he loses a tool essential both to setting up tandems and zoning, along with controlling the arena, only to be replaced by a special that is easily punishable/dodged. His s.236AA also randomly misses sometimes for no apparent reason if you do it while your opponent is caught in a trap.
  437.  
  438. DIFFICULTY: HARD TO PLAY; HARD TO MASTER
  439.  
  440. HOW TO PLAY: Forget what you learned about Kakyoin: no more s.ON traps means you cannot zone/set up tandems as good. You need to rely more on your normals, your s.ON nets and your s.ON 2A 2A 2B 2C. Feel free to abuse your s.ON 236AB on opponents which moves can be punished by fast supers; just remember they can block it and if you do it in the air, you'll be vulnerable all the way to the ground.
  441.  
  442. HOW TO DEAL WITH: There are literally at most a couple of N. Kakyoin players in the room, and that's a stretch. Basically, take what I wrote about how to deal with Kakyoin and apply it here. Remember that every character has normals/specials to cut his traps. New Kakyoin isn't so much of a zoner due to losing his fullscreen emerald splash special (236 A/B/C) and his 214 A/B/C (traps), so don't worry that much about going after him. He can still be a threat if you let him comfortable set up traps and control the arena, but not nearly as much as the regular Kakyoin. Still, his s.66 (dash) is an automatic air dash which can lead to overheads (and eventually to tandems), so be careful on oki. Most of his s.ON normals/specials have long animations, so consider that as well.
  443.  
  444. PICK ME: If you want to try out Kakyoin but don't mind the crutches and prefer relying on gimmicks/normals/short combos rather than tandems, longo combos or s.OFF traps.
  445.  
  446. BASIC BLIND KAKYOIN/NEW KAKYOIN COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHR6Urng-b4
  447.  
  448. -------------------------------------------
  449.  
  450. HOL HORSE: Ah, Hol Horse. The official scrub destroyer. The first character of the newb-killing triumvirate. The character that makes people ragequit not only from matches but from the game itself. "ABLOOBLOO, WHY IS THIS GUY CHIPPING ME SO MUCH?" is a common phrase you'll often read and hear everywhere.
  451. Both infamous and famous for his zoning capabilities, this guy has the ability to not only zone out your opponents so that they can literally never do a proper combo on you, he can also end the round within a few seconds with a very handy 'super combo'. Also has the infamous 'aerial wall of death', which involves jumping and shooting down glass from the ceiling, essentially forming an almost impenetrable wall from right in front of Hol Horse, which means he can slowly advance to your position while jump-glassing (the 'official' term) or zone you out for good.
  452.  
  453. THE GOOD: Numerous unblockables, 50/50s, fastest roll in the entire roster, unavoidable chain of supers that can range from doing a great amount of damage to you to literally winning the round, setups that make it so his opponent either eats a super or a special, great 'sweep', numerous other setups that can be looped and can only be escaped with a very lucky roll or a tandem/super because of their invincibility frames. Has one of the best supers in the game; the slow bullet super. In it, when the inputs are pressed, Hol Horse fires a single bullet and the entire game becomes slow-mo; it's COMPLETELY unblockable. Not only that, because the game becomes slow-mo, it's natural that even the most talented players mess up their inputs (tandem, super, or whatever else they're trying to use in order to punish you).
  454.  
  455. Sounds like the ultimate zoner, right?
  456.  
  457. THE BAD: Hol Horse excels at three and three things only: setups to make his opponent eat chip damage or unavoidable super setups, his fast roll, and his amazing slow bullet super. Everything else about him lacks. Being a zoner, he has little to no combos that don't involve super setups. He has a terrible grab, which means people can just dodge their way into his side of the screen, and there isn't that much he can do about it. His S is already not THAT great, and combined with the fact that there is a glitch on the emulator version that makes it so you cannot change the direction of the bullet that many times or the match crashes, it makes it pretty bad. Having to rely on gimmicks and slightly difficult setups on a game which roster is full of characters that can hit you once and take away half of your HP with long combos is a big crutch. He also gets outzoned by a character which zoning isn't even its main ability, Kakyoin. His GC is also not that good, which makes dealing with characters with strong offenses like Vanilla, Kakyoin, Jotaro or DIO difficult.
  458.  
  459. DIFFICULTY: AVERAGE TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  460.  
  461. HOW TO: Against opponents with no good anti-air, feel free to jump a lot. 8C followed by glass is very powerful. Learn to use your unblockables and unavoidable super setups; they're your most powerful tools. I'm not gonna teach these here, just give an example of one. Get your opponent caught by a 214A when he's near you, and do 214AB. When he's about to hit the ground near the other side of the screen, do 214C. 214AB again. Rinse and repeat. Your slow bullet super is an AMAZING anti-air move (one of the best anti-air moves in the entire game, as a matter of fact). If you're dealing with a character that's constantly jumping, trying to connect a j.C in order to start a tandem, save your meter for these situations. Otherwise, it's pretty darned good on wake up; on most situations, the opponent will HAVE to eat one, two or even three bullets.
  462.  
  463. HOW TO DEAL WITH PLAY: Hol Horse pretty much relies on chip damage and unblockables, aside from his super setups. To deal with his chip damage, simply turn on your stand (if your character has an active stand), jump or roll. You can punish unblockable setups (such as glass + sweep on wakeup, 623A + 2C) with either supers or tandems. You just need to time it correctly. Super setups cannot be avoided once you're caught by the first super, however, you can try avoiding the first super itself, and then you won't have to eat it. Be VERY careful when advancing against Hol Horse. A single mistake can cost you the entire round, and possibly the match. Also avoid falling against him; he has an amazing oki game, and if you don't know how to counter it (with supers or tandems), you can eat the slow bullet super several times and lose the round (and again, possibly the match). Finally, you can punish jump glass (j.623 A/B/C) with EVERY character. You just need to find out what works. With most characters, you can simply dash forward to avoid the chip damage, or even super/tandem. Remember that tandems have invincibility frames even if you don't actually input any inputs (heh).
  464.  
  465. PICK ME: If you like zoning out your opponent and you prefer to learn unblockable/unavoidable setups rather than big combos or complicated links.
  466.  
  467. BASIC HOL HORSE COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlt2XXkPAbE
  468.  
  469. -------------------------------------------
  470.  
  471. YOUNG JOSEPH: CRACKA VOLLEY! The only character not from Part 3 to make into HFTF (rightfully so), he plays as a zoner who can also pressure his opponents at medium range. Has one of the most interesting gimmicks in the game (admittedly, in my opinion), that is the most damaging super in the entire game, which also happens to be based on his final fight in the manga against Kars.
  472.  
  473. THE GOOD: One of the simplest characters to learn and also to master, Y. Joseph zones out most opponents with ease, considering everything he has at his disposal. His 214 S is enough to keep most people at bay, considering two projectiles are launched at once, meaning your opponent has to deal with two projectiles at the same time. Young Joseph is a very strong zoner if you play him by following his personality in the manga; turn shenanigans into strategies. Run, turn back, sweep your opponents, then jump, 214S, run some more, 214 S again, etc.; it pays off. Young Joseph is really over the top as a character. Agile, it is one of those characters that can be all over the place. Fastest dash in the game (IIRC). Most damaging super in the game; although hard to pull off, there are a few setups to make it unavoidable. Sweep > Hyper Hop > 214 AB. Only works against characters that cannot crouch over it, like DIO or Polnareff. Lastly, he has an amazing move which is j.S; what makes it so amazing is that he swings his bolas at the opponent at an angle which covers most of his body, and the fact that the bolas themselves aren't his body but rather an extension of it, which means opponents can't hit them.
  474.  
  475. THE BAD: Possibly the worst GC in the game, making dealing with infinites and other shenanigans very hard (i.e. Hol 326 A/B/C into 2C on wakeup). Aside from the 'secret' super, he only has one other super, which is average at best; melee range (although the hitboxes are slightly larger than the fist itself) and average damage. Much like Hol, depends more on zoning out his opponent rather than relying on combos and whatnot; however, he's not even that good at zoning. Kakyoin's Emerald Splash completely block his 214S, along with all of his other projectiles. Struggles against short characters, or characters that simply can dodge/jump over his projectiles (somewhat like Hol). Horrible throw.
  476.  
  477. DIFFICULTY: VERY EASY TO PLAY; EASY TO MASTER
  478.  
  479. HOW TO PLAY: Using all the tools given to you is the key. Running back, 66Cing and throwing 214S only goes so far (unless you're playing against someone who is either bad or mentally challenged). A simple but good way to damage your opponents is with 2A 2A 236A. 8C 5S is also pretty decent to keep folks at bay.
  480.  
  481. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Young Joseph can be very annoying to deal with, even more so than a good Hol horse or a good Mariah. His projectiles are quite good, SPECIALLY against folks who cannot crouch under them. They deal quite a decent amount of damage to stand, so watch out if you're playing one of those characters; should you be stand crashed, you'll most likely be hit by his 214AA super. Young Joseph is a zoner, but does not excel at long range; instead, he excels at making shit fly ALL OVER the screen while attacking you at close/melee range at the same time. A good GC goes a long way when dealing with Young Joseph's shenanigans. Also, all of his projectiles have long animations, so you can simply sweep him if you're within range, or simply super him. BE CAREFUL WHEN JUMPING AROUND. If you get caught jumping and Young Joseph starts to spam his projectiles (most notably 214S), you run the risk of being literally trapped in mid-air, which leaves you open for his 214AA.
  482.  
  483. PICK ME: If you want a zoner that is easier to play than Hol, and is also good, but in a different way. If you like very short and damaging combos along along with being able to zone, you should consider Y. Joseph.
  484.  
  485. BASIC YOUNG JOSEPH COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4uhJKWQYAY
  486.  
  487. -------------------------------------------
  488.  
  489. ALESSY/ALESSI: That character which isn't even high-tier but will piss you off as much as playing against a Vanilla with fast fingers or a Hol who knows his setups. If you don't know how to counter him, this guy will not only beat you, but BULLY you down into submission. It is very simple: take the fact that he has one of the fastest sweeps in the game, and add the fact that he has one of the best (if not the best) j.C in the entire cast. Dealing with an Alessy who knows just when to pushblock is a huge pain in the arse. Forget about your tandems; you'll probably have to rely more on normals/specials against this guy, simply because there is essentially no way to approach an Alessy if he keeps pushblocking into 2Cing you. Jump over it, you say? LOLNO! Alessy also has a variety of anti-air tools, all of which are good. How about outzone him? Well, good luck with that. He is the only character in the entire cast that can extend the range of his own stand by holding down the S key for a brief period of time. At full range, your 5C has roughly the same range (if not more) than Pol's 6B. He also has a pistol triggered by 632 A/B/C which can hit anywhere in the arena, repeatedly.
  490.  
  491. THE GOOD: One of the best (if not the best) 2C in the entire cast, great anti-air/air game, great GC, great against short characters, 632 A/B/C to punish zoners, great throwing game (although the grab itself isn't spectacular), doesn't rely on any sort of combos but has a neat tandem. Supers are both good and bad. The good about them is that they both deal tons of damage (and one in particular is a great anti-air tool), considering they both turn his opponent into children/egg/etc for a few seconds, meaning you can get a few seconds after those supers to deal practically free damage to your opponents. Second lowest standing hitboxes in the cast. Short stature.
  492.  
  493. THE BAD: Very simplistic. Normals do moderate damage at most. Almost all of his specials are easy to punish. The same goes for his supers: he stays completely vulnerable for a short duration right after each super, assuming they don't hit.
  494.  
  495. DIFFICULTY: AVERAGE TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  496.  
  497. HOW TO PLAY: 2C, with the eventual j.B/j.C once in a while.
  498.  
  499. HOW TO DEAL WITH: As weird as this might sound, there is no 'right' way to deal with Alessi. He has both a great offense and a great defense. A great sweep AND great anti-air. You cannot outrange him either, thanks to the gigantic range of his stand and the pistol. First of all, you should learn to punish him should he miss his specials/supers. They're great, but they're all easily punishable/have long as fuck animations. That also applies to a few of his normals, namely his s.5C/66 5C. You can punish both of them with supers/tandem. Other than that, be careful. Alessi has great pokes and although seemingly otherwise, he actually has a great tandem game. He can start tandems with very safe pokes, much like Vanilla, so be extra careful with defending low. AVOID ROLLING AGAINST ALESSY. Like mentioned above, the throw itself isn't THAT great, but the throwing game is superb, specially when he has his stand turned on.
  500.  
  501. PICK ME: If you want a character that can stop shitters who pick aggressive characters such as DIO and Jotaro by pushblocking and 2Cing them into Oblivion. His short stature, superior range and good GC make him a great defensive character. So, play him if you're getting your shit pushed in by overly-aggressive players, and just like being defensive in general.
  502.  
  503. BASIC ALESSY/ALESSI COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNW5UR3A4pI
  504.  
  505. -------------------------------------------
  506.  
  507. HOL HORSE & BOINGO/HOINGO: Hol Horse again? Isn't it enough you had to deal with this little shit once? Yes, it is him again! This time, with Boingo, his 'faithful' partner in crime.
  508. Hoingo differs from Hol is a few ways; slower in most ways, more sluggish, loses a lot of moves, gains a few, aside from being somewhat harder to play. Just to name a few different things, he loses slow bullet super, 214AB super, is much slower (not just dashing; his normals/supers have much longer animations and recoveries), but gains a couple of interesting supers, along with a much faster S that doesn't fucking crash the match (or he would be literally the worst character in the cast), that is roughly twice as fast as the regular Hol's S.
  509.  
  510. THE GOOD: Much faster S; this IS relevant, because a fast S is VITAL for Hoingo. This is his main zoning tool now. And not a bad one at that. It does the same amount of damage as regular Hol's S (which is high) and you can change its direction at your heart's content. He also gains two superb supers; one command grab super that does a decent amount of damage, and one 'gimmick' super that actually turns out to be a great way to pressure your opponent; in a nutshell, in it, an animation plays where Hoingo shoots a pipe on the ground for about four seconds, and then goes back to his regular state, where you can control him. After a few seconds (around four, I think), another pipe will appear at the other side of the stage at roughly 45Âș and all those bullets he poured into the first pipe will come out (the amount is automatic; you can't pour more or less bullets). They are COMPLETELY UNBLOCKABLE. Along with 236AB, you can chip away half of your opponent's HP in instants. However, this super requires two bars, so it's not THAT strong. A couple of normals are faster too. However...
  511.  
  512. THE BAD: That's it. Everything else about Hoingo (aside from one or two normals) is much, much slower. He is extremely sluggish to play as if you're not used to him, more so than Old Joseph. He loses three ESSENTIAL tools in the process of becoming a new character; his 214 A/B/C (Hanged Man, that comes from the ground and traps the opponent), his slow bullet super (326AB) and finally his 214AB. Hol had to rely mostly on setups and gimmicks before; now he has to rely purely on gimmicks. He has no 'unblockables' anymore, without Hanged Man. At most what he has is glass along with 4C on wakeup; that's as much of an 'unblockable' you'll get. His S does not hit low or high, much like Mariah's 4B, so you cannot use it to change the bullet's direction to come from upwards on wake up along with a 2C, for instance.
  513.  
  514. DIFFICULTY: AVERAGE TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  515.  
  516. HOW TO PLAY: Not much to say here. Glassing and j.C into glass are your best friends here. Try to keep your distance, because your roll isn't as fast. Remember that your 421AA actually damages and knocks the opponent down even without actually spending meter and before the flash itself. Learn his grab super; it's also great. Avoid using his 2A; it's slow as hell.
  517.  
  518. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Only some of the things from Hol Horse apply here. Hoingo no longer has the loopable glass super (214AA) or Hanged Man, so you shouldn't worry so much about getting trapped and losing the round because you accidentally pressed forward instead of back. He also loses the unblockable bullet super, so Hoingo's oki isn't nearly as great. You shouldn't worry that much about getting knocked down. What you SHOULD be wary about now are setups that can lead to his amazing unblockable 360Âș grab super, such as j.623 into it, or on wake up. His 421AA, although risky, is the only super in the entire game that deals damage and knocks down before actually spending meter. Although more of a gimmick than an actual tool, it's something you should be aware of. Other than that, if your character has an active stand, make sure to turn it on to avoid the chip damage from his S, which is huge. If your character has a passive stand, use rolls/jumps.
  519.  
  520. PICK ME: If you ever wondered how Hol Horse would play if his S were a match to his other zoning tools by being much faster, except that everything is butchered and you have to actually use nothing but S and glass to zone out your opponent.
  521.  
  522. BASIC HOL HORSE & BOINGO/HOINGO COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfoYK3r_u2c
  523.  
  524. -------------------------------------------
  525.  
  526. DEVO/D'BO: It took long, but we've reached him. The second of the newb-killing triumvirate. Devo is an unique fighter in a game about unique characters. That should say a lot about him.
  527. One of the reasons he's so unique is that his stand is completely remote at all times. Once you turn it on, Devo turns vulnerable, much like any other character that can control their stand remotely, i.e. Polnareff. Devo himself has no specials whatsoever. 236 A/B/C, 214 A/B/C, 326 A/B/C and so on are completely meaningless when it comes to him. However, these trigger specials from the stand itself, which means Devo AND the stand can attack his opponent both AT THE SAME TIME. As you might be imagining, Devo has a variety of ways to start tandems/combos because of this.
  528.  
  529. THE GOOD: It goes without saying: Devo probably has one the best offensive games in the entire cast, either tied with DIO or right below him. For the unwary, Devo can pressure his opponents NONSTOP from both sides by attacking with both his own body (with normals) and the stand itself (with specials). His stand has an overhead attack which can be combined with a 2C, which means if your character has no good means to deal with it, you're in a LOT of trouble. As you might also be imagining, because it is possible to attack from both sides at the same time, and both high and low also at the same time, yes, Devo has a couple of combos that he can loop indefinitely. Go look these up on YT. His 8C is also great; it has priority over the great majority of moves in the entire game, of all characters. Good GC, meaning you don't actually have to commit to be super aggressive or lose. Great tandems.
  530.  
  531. THE BAD: If he can loop combos and do tandems so easily thanks to the fact that both him and his stand can attack at the same time, why isn't he at the very least S? Well, for starters, doing specials with his stand leaves him vulnerable. Both him and the stand can be hit when the stand is doing a special. Not only that, although it sounds hard, defending against Devo really isn't. Characters with good GCs can kill off the pressure pretty quickly (i.e. S. Dio). He has the advantages of having a stand that is completely remote, but also the disadvantages. Zoners can eat his ass with chip damage if he's not good enough to punish his zoning opponent with his stand. His tandems ARE great, but the links to loop them are very tight. ABCing in tandem itself without looping isn't amazing, much like Midler's tandem. His 8C, although really great and having priority over many moves in the game, isn't something that is impossible to deal with. You just need someone with good anti-air or superior air game. Oh, yes. Devo struggles greatly against air opponents, because he'll be crawling around the arena constantly looking for an opportunity to tandem, mostly because he needs to. Also, characters with good sweeps absolutely shut down Devo (i.e. Alessi's, Abdul's, etc).
  532.  
  533. DIFFICULTY: HARD TO PLAY; VERY HARD TO MASTER
  534.  
  535. HOW TO PLAY: Against most players, just keep the pressure on with 236 A/B/C followed by 8C/2C and 214 A/B/C on wakeup followed by 2C. Honestly, most players suck at GCing, so this works against them. Note how I said most. Good players will just pick someone who can shut off your pressure, sweep you and completely kill most of your game. Against these, you'll want to learn Devo's tandems/loops.
  536.  
  537. HOW TO DEAL WITH: First of all, avoid standing between him and the puppet. That's where Devo is the strongest: trapping you and attacking from both sides. Jump or roll over him/the puppet and turn on your stand to avoid chip damage and you should be fine as long as defending goes. To deal with his gimmick 'loop' (as most people incorrectly call it) which is 214A/B/C + 2C on wakeup, either tandem or super. If your character has no tandem and crappy supers, then avoid falling at all. Remember that hitting the puppet deals damage to Devo as well. Also remember that when the puppet is attacking, Devo is vulnerable (as is the puppet itself, although it's preferable to try and attack Devo).
  538.  
  539. PICK ME: If you want an unique character that can apply tons of pressure to his opponents with a certain ease, and at the same time, if you want to learn tandems/loops with difficult/very tight links.
  540.  
  541. BASIC DEVO COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epZelyziOXI
  542.  
  543. -------------------------------------------
  544.  
  545. CHAKA/CHACA: The first person to use Anubis in this entire list. Chaca is one of the most fun characters to play with, mostly because he can do some combos very easily. He also has a great tandem. The best GC in the entire cast makes Chaca is a very balanced character with a decent offense and defense.
  546.  
  547. THE GOOD: Flashy/stylish combos/specials, that although not long (without his tandem, at least), do a decent amount of damage. Good supers, all of which can easily be linked right after those short combos or even tandems (with the exception of one, which is more of a gimmick than anything). Very easy to pick up, and not hard to master. Best GC in the ENTIRE CAST.
  548.  
  549. THE BAD: Very simplistic, lacks options in the long-term. Does not have long moves/combos outside of tandems.
  550.  
  551. DIFFICULTY: EASY TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  552.  
  553. HOW TO PLAY: First, focus on being able to pull off his short combos, mixing normals with specials, finishing with supers. THEN move onto tandems.
  554.  
  555. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Be careful with his pokes. Also be careful with his air game. His j.C is fantastic and can often be used to start a tandem/BnB.
  556.  
  557. PICK ME: If you want a combo-based character that is very easy to pick up, but still very stylish and viable.
  558.  
  559. BASIC CHAKA/CHACA COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgmilm4LFgk
  560.  
  561. -------------------------------------------
  562.  
  563. ANUBIS POLNAREFF/BLACK POLNAREFF: The second character to use Anubis. A strong candidate for the newb-killing triumvirate, but I left him out because I felt like another character deserves that spot. Still, he's (in)famous for one of the most annoying supers in the entire game. It isn't just annoying: it's one of THE best supers in the entire game. Best taunt in the entire cast, by far.
  564.  
  565. THE GOOD: Zettai Ni Maken No da - his signature move, along with his taunt. This super WILL fuck you up if you're not careful. It has a slow start-up, but B. Pol is invulnerable during its entirety. Furthermore, the invincibility frames start BEFORE the actual 'flash' (unlike it normally happens with other supers). This super CANNOT be air-blocked. As if it's not enough, it covers about 3/4 of the screen. Phew. Other than that, B. Pol has a few long-ranged specials, along with some effective mix-ups here and there. He also has one of the easiest infinites in the entire game. Shh, you didn't hear it from me.
  566.  
  567. 236+B/C, 236+A/B/C, 236+S, jump B, A, A, cc, B, 236+B/C, 236+A/B/C, 236+S, jump B, A, A, cc, B, 236+B/C, rise and repeat.
  568.  
  569. THE BAD: Lacks tools to make up for his lack of combos/tandems/active stand. Bad GC. Most of his specials can easily be punished if your opponent knows just when to pushblock.
  570.  
  571. DIFFICULTY: EASY TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  572.  
  573. HOW TO PLAY: Don't overthink this character - your short combos along with your corner infinites are pretty much all you have when it comes to staying on the offense. Don't turtle, as you'll eat any chip damage due to your passive stand, plus the fact that you don't have a very good GC.
  574.  
  575. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Anubis Pol is fairly easy to deal with; he has only a couple of good combos, and all of them are easy to punish should B. Pol miss. Pushblocking is your friend against this guy. Against his 214AA (Zettai Ni Maken No Da), avoid jumping unnecesarily, since it cannot be air blocked. Also avoid just being overly aggressive against Black Pol period, since this is his leverage; he can simply pushblock you and deal tons of damage for just one meter.
  576.  
  577. PICK ME: If you want a character with short but effective combos that does not require any memorization whatsoever.
  578.  
  579. BASIC ANUBIS POLNAREFF COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFRf3r1qWgE
  580.  
  581. -------------------------------------------
  582.  
  583. MIDLER: Finally, a female character in this sausage fest. Midler is one of the female villains in Part 3, responsible for spawning one of the best scenes in the entire manga (Kakyoin and Polnareff high-five).
  584. She plays as a zoner that, much like Young Joseph, can also pressure their opponent at medium range. Probably the character with the best anti-air tools in the entire game, aside from Hol's slow bullet. Just don't pick her if you ever play me; I tend to get uncontrollable boners when looking at her sprites. I'm completely serious, and not proud of it.
  585.  
  586. THE GOOD: One of the best anti-air game in the entire cast, period. She has normals, specials AND supers that can stop any funny dude who tries to win the match by jumping non-stop on his tracks. Has the second most-damaging super in the entire game that, much like Y. Joseph's, isn't that easy to land, but has a few setups that make it hard to escape or unavoidable. Unlike Young Joseph's, it isn't merely a gimmick that you pull off when you're feeling bored; it is actually a very good tool against characters which moves have long animations, or against zoners. A huge gaping mouth opens up from the ground and after a brief delay, it swallows her opponent, chewing it, then spitting it out. Decent throwing game, although much like Alessi, the throw itself isn't spectacular.
  587.  
  588. THE BAD: Her tandem is pretty bad (either that, or no one has figured out how to use it properly yet). Most of her supers are easy to dodge/punish, assuming her opponent blocks/rolls out of it. Doesn't have that many tools at her disposal and can get predictable very easily. Most of her specials leave her vulnerable.
  589.  
  590. DIFFICULTY: AVERAGE TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  591.  
  592. HOW TO PLAY: Your anti-air is superb. Your 214 A/B/C and 214AB cannot be air-blocked, so use it at your heart's content. Your 623AB is excellent for punishing people with lenghty attack animations, or just zoners in general. Your 8B/8C are also both amazing. Use them along with 214A/B/C to and 214AA to annoy your opponents like no tomorrow. Remember the gaping mouth super; it's actually great on wake-up if you're playing against someone who loves to throw.
  593.  
  594. HOW TO DEAL WITH: It goes without saying: avoid jumping at all against Midler. Both her 214A/B/C and 214AA are air-unblockable. Both are spammable as well, seeing as Midler has very safe pokes that can get her opponent off guard. Also avoid spamming normals/specials that have long animations, (i.e. Hol's 214A/B/C, Kakyoin's 214A/B/C, Mariah's 623A/B/C, etc etc), as a good Midler will punish you guaranteedly should you try to win by spamming these moves.
  595.  
  596. PICK ME: If you want a zoner that fucks up air opponents, while also being great against opponents at medium/melee range.
  597.  
  598. BASIC MIDLER COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8ZnxrlJBAU&list=PLC01A24D358FA3898
  599.  
  600. -------------------------------------------
  601.  
  602. SHADOW DIO: It's him, AGAIN. DIO, still in his purely vampiric form, before finding out about his Stand powers.
  603. Shadow DIO plays COMPLETELY different from DIO. He's not merely a simple pallete change with a few different moves here and there in comparison about the differences between Kakyoin and N. Kakyoin. The only thing that plays much about the same is that he has a great offensive game, much like DIO himself. In fact, his entire game pretty much relies on rushing down his opponents and hitting like a truck with his few, short combos.
  604.  
  605. THE GOOD: Much like DIO, who has great offensive game, few opponents can defend properly against his rush-down attacks. Watch out of your character has a slow roll or bad GC: S. DIO will fuck you in the ass in any way imaginable. Although not having an active stand, having the ability to constantly pressure the opponent makes up for it. Has one of the best throws in the entire cast. Even though it does not deal that much damage, there are so many setups that can lead to a throw, S. DIO might as well be considered a grappler (ok, not really). Probably has the best oki game in the entire cast as well. His grab throws the opponent to a very short distance, meaning you can throw with him over and over. Then, when you get bored with it, you can do pretty much the only combo S. DIO has, which is a 3-move loop that deals up to 90% HP damage to your opponent. You read that correctly; three loopable moves that can take out a 90% chunk of his opponent's HP in a single instance, and once you get caught by it, your only hope is that S. DIO drops it. He also has a few anti-zoning tools, such as the eye beam, the knives or a new move that works similarly to DIO's 'teleport'; he opens up a book, turns his back to the opponent, and should the opponent ever try hitting him while the animation is playing, S. DIO automatically teleports to behind him, where the opponent remains vulnerable for a few brief moments. Also has a superb GC.
  606.  
  607. THE BAD: Very simplistic, much like B. POL/Chaca. Outside of his loops, he does not have any other real combo. Looping it isn't hard; in fact it is MUCH easier than linking loops with Devo or linking normals into tandems with the regular DIO. However, pulling it off when your opponent is not cornered isn't that easy. Has the worst super in the entire game, by far. Although having a superb GC, tools such as knives and eye beam, and his pseudo-teleport/trap move, along with the super 'The World', his defense isn't very good. He has the slowest roll in the entire cast. Much like he can easily punish rolling opponents with his grab, you can easily throw S. DIO if your reaction time is decent. Most of his specials are also punishable; even if S. DIO is defending, if his 'pseudo-stand' still hasn't fully come back to his body, he is completely vulnerable.
  608.  
  609. DIFFICULTY: EASY TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  610.  
  611. HOW TO PLAY: Learn his loop. It's his best (and only real) combo, in case you haven't been paying attention. Don't be afraid to spam throws your opponent can't deal with it; however, be careful: characters with active stands can easily punish you with tandems. Even those without active stands can punish you with regular supers. Avoid rolling; if your opponent is good, he'll throw you as much as you throw him.
  612.  
  613. HOW TO DEAL WITH: This goes for every single character in the game but for S. DIO specially: BUCKLE THAT DEFENSE THE FUCK UP. Shadow DIO has the infamous loop of death that can be started with a very safe/fast poke and can kill most of the cast within a few loops. This is specially true for characters with low HP. Be very careful with his crossups/mix ups, SPECIALLY on wake up. S. DIO has one of the best oki games in the game (along with characters like Kakyoin and Hol) due to his crossups/mix-ups/throws/unblockable supers/Za Warudo, etc etc. Whenever his pseudo-stand is out (read: whenever he uses his S), he's vulnerable. Use that to your advantage.
  614.  
  615. PICK ME: If you want a character with a great offense that relies on rushing down his opponent, and does not rely on memorizing numerous combos/complex links/tandems.
  616.  
  617. BASIC SHADOW DIO COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBvD_TcyMVE
  618.  
  619. -------------------------------------------
  620.  
  621. RUBBER SOUL: Rubber Soul, although seemingly just yet another pallete change, plays absolutely nothing like Kakyoin or even N. Kakyoin, even though he still has a few normals and specials from these characters; after all, he's a completely different character. Passive stand, lacks any real combos, does not have tandem (due to not having an active stand). However, don't be fooled; although his tier is low and despite what I said above, he still has many tricks up his sleeve to make up for his flaws.
  622.  
  623. THE GOOD: His traits are MANY. Fast roll (faster than about 3/4 of the entire cast), essentially the best throw in the entire cast (due to the fact the it deals a lot of damage and ALSO builds meter), two superb reliable supers, a GREAT GC and a great oki game. It goes without saying that Rubber Soul does not require overly complex links or memorizing dozens of inputs; he is one of those characters that you can pick up and still crap all over characters with active stands and those fancy tandems without needing any real combos. An actual reliable counter.
  624.  
  625. THE BAD: Again, very simplistic. Most of his normals/specials can be punished due to the fact that somewhat like S. DIO, if his stand is still 'out' after a move, he remains vulnerable until it disappears. Although having a decent GC, a fast roll and a great counter, he still has a passive stand, and somewhat suffers against zoners, due to the fact that his counter doesn't trigger the great majority of projectiles.
  626.  
  627. DIFFICULTY: AVERAGE TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  628.  
  629. HOW TO PLAY: Be aggressive, but not as aggressive as if you were playing DIO or S. DIO. For the love of God, don't spam 214 A/B/C or your counter (214 S); it is the easiest thing to punish. Remember that your 236AB deals a shit ton of chip damage, so if you're facing characters with passive stands (or even characters with active stands, since it deals A LOT of damage to them and makes stand-breaking easy), don't be afraid to use it; although it is preferable to do so in setups where your opponent cannot avoid the full damage at all.
  630.  
  631. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Avoid being overly-aggressive against this character. He has a superb defense with a GC that instantly stand breaks characters, an amazing counter, aside from a command throw super. Don't be on the defense either; Rubber Soul's major weakness is that whenever he uses a special (which are the majority of his moves, as he has a passive stand), he stays vulnerable still the stand 'disappears' from the screen. Although usually to be avoided, learn to roll against Rubber Soul; his 214AA is what I consider to be one of the best supers in the game, not only because of the proprierties and the overall damage, but because it can used to stand break most active stand characters should two be used in a row. Finally, although generally hard to deal with (since you only have 2 frames to tech a throw in HFTF), learn to deal with his throw. It's the best one in the entire game for several reasons, but mainly because it deals tons of damage and builds meter (which allows Rubber Soul to spam supers as he wishes to).
  632.  
  633. PICK ME: Again, if you like the idea of a character that does not require memorization of long and overly complex tandems or complicated links, and do not mind the 'crutch' of not having an active stand. Maybe you don't like how S. DIO plays because of how aggressive you have to be with him, then check out this character.
  634.  
  635. BASIC RUBBER SOUL VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB0eaxtlLSw&list=PLC01A24D358FA3898
  636.  
  637. -------------------------------------------
  638.  
  639. JOSEPH/OLD JOSEPH: Missed someone? Here he is. The final member of the 'good guys crew' in part 3. Granny Joseph does not fail to deliver; although lacking in many areas, he is still a somewhat decent character. Has decent normals, specials and a good tandem. Has a pretty good command grab and a not-so-good grab super.
  640.  
  641. THE GOOD: Good pokes. A great counter move that isn't as punishable as Rubber Soul's (although isn't quite as good). The only character that can roll with his stand turned on (which is very important, considering how sluggish and slow Oldeph is). Has a superb command grab move. Also has a few good specials that can bring those pesky zoners close to him, which means he actually has a chance against these.
  642.  
  643. THE BAD: Sluggish. Second slowest roll in the stare cast. His command grab super is 'ok' at best. Lacks good anti-air.
  644.  
  645. DIFFICULTY: HARD TO PLAY; HARD TO MASTER
  646.  
  647. HOW TO PLAY: Learn his tandems. Although sharing some of the specials/normals, Oldeph plays differently from Young Joseph. He really needs those tandems to keep up with the rest of the cast. Because he loses his zoning tools, he REALLY cannot rely on normals/specials to defeat most opponents.
  648.  
  649. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Old Joseph isn't hard to deal with it due to the fact that he's slow and sluggish, but still, he has a fearsome poking-into-tandem-into-command-throw game which you should be aware of. His command throw is pretty good, and his command throw super is OK should he use it when ending a tandem.
  650.  
  651. PICK ME: If you don't mind playing an old fart that struggles to keep up with the rest of the cast because of his and old age.
  652.  
  653. BASIC JOSEPH COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnmyplNSt48
  654.  
  655. -------------------------------------------
  656.  
  657. KHAN/KAN: The third and final Anubis user. Fairly limited and very straightforward, Khan is a charge-based character that loves to poke, throw and do crazy mix-ups. Passive stand. Has a few decent pokes and low standing hitboxes. Also has an excellent backdash.
  658.  
  659. THE GOOD: Good pokes. Great mix-up strategies. Great 8C. Has two supers that are actually very good, although one of them is easily punishable, should it be blocked. Third lowest standing hitboxes, right after Alessi. Has a great gap-closing super. Great 2A.
  660.  
  661. THE BAD: His S is, quite frankly, mostly useless. It does minor damage and has no other proprierties, aside from the fact that Khan turns vulnerable for a short period of time if he holds the key for too long. One of his super is fairly easy to punish, should it be blocked or rolled out of. Very simplistic; much like Chaca and Anubis Pol, lacks options in the long run.
  662.  
  663. DIFFICULTY: EASY TO PLAY; EASY TO MASTER
  664.  
  665. HOW TO PLAY: Learn his mix-ups. His throw does decent damage. Use it to confuse your opponent. Much like Anubis Pol. and Chaca, you have a counter, which can be triggered by 214 A/B/C. This isn't merely a gimmick in Khan's case; it is pretty good, actually. Mix it up with your other normals/specials.
  666.  
  667. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Much like Old Joseph, Kan isn't hard to deal with. Just avoid his pokes which can be linked into his supers and you should generally be fine. Be aggressive; he can be extremely annoying with his 8C/9C into 2A (which in turn can be linked with 214AA) should you turtle.
  668.  
  669. PICK ME: If you want a very simple and straightforward character that much like other passive stand characters, can deal a decent amount of damage with crossups/mix-ups; in Khan's case, he does not rely at all on long combos/tandems. Consider him if you love poking with 2A.
  670.  
  671. BASIC KHAN COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHRR6R5vEqM
  672.  
  673. -------------------------------------------
  674.  
  675. MARIAH/MARIAHA: The final member of the newb-killing triumvirate. Beware: her place in the rank has bothered a few, fooled a many, and enraged a ton. Mariah IS objectively worse than the entire cast of this game. That means that, in order to play her and actually beat good/great players using characters such as DIO, Polnareff, Jotaro, Kakyoin, Hol and others, the player using her REALLY HAS TO KNOW THEIR SHIT. Finding such rarity is, well, rare. However, once you find one of these players, you better buckle up for the ride. Your ass will attract more magnets than the ICP can handle. How do they work?
  676.  
  677. THE GOOD: Keep away/zoning game does not require learning complicated setups. Projectiles that follow her opponent, and are therefore relatively safe and spammable. Decent zoning strategies that are feasible even at melee/point blank range. Very fast roll. Grab that throws her opponent across the screen. At level 7 of her plug, the amounts of pressure she can put on her opponent is almost mindnumbing. Numerous setups to make her opponents stunned for a few seconds, which means she can safely and easily do her supers, both of which do MASSIVE damage when her plug level is 7. Oh, and she can LOOP one of these supers. Yes, you read it correctly. The only character in the entire game that can loop a super. The one I'm talking about is 214AB; it isn't that easy to loop, but once you get the grasp of it, there is quite literally nothing your opponent can do, until you either run out of bars or drop it. Whether this was intended or a glitch is unknown.
  678.  
  679. THE BAD: Very simplistic. Passive stand. The power of some of her normals/supers/specials depend on her plug's level; leveling it up is the hard part. When your opponent grabs you, you lose a level. The rope of her 623 A/B/C can be cut by most specials and a few normals. The problem here is that her 623 A/B/C is pretty much the only tool she has for zoning, aside from 236 A/B/C and her plug. Also, on wake-up, if the opponent Mariah is facing has a fast wake-up, they can easily punish her by simply cutting the rope before if it even hits them. Most specials she has also have lenghty animations, SPECIALLY 236 A/B/C. Both of her supers are also easily punishable, should they be blocked/rolled out of (specially 236AB). She literally has no combos other than very short ones like 2A 2A 2A, 2A 2A 5C and so on. No reliable way to zone out her opponents as you might have noticed so far; something as simple as throwing can quickly kill off her game. Good GCs also deny most oki shenanigans and 623A on wakeup. Good ground sweeps are also her bane. She doesn't have that much of a great anti-air either. In sum, she's defenseless against characters with both good air and ground/sweep games. And also against superior zoners such as Hol and Kakyoin. And characters with active stands. And characters with supers that can punish characters with lenghty animations on their normals/specials/supers. And all of the cast. And Akuma. And Ryu, Karnov, Ken, and Terry Bogard.
  680.  
  681. DIFFICULTY: VERY EASY TO PLAY; AVERAGE TO MASTER
  682.  
  683. HOW TO PLAY: To use the plug properly, using 5C or 8C before is probably the optimal way to do so. 4B is an ok anti-air, SPECIALLY against characters like Devo (but then again, so is your 623 A/B/C). 2A 2A 2A is a safe and sound way to bring your opponents down. What happens next depends. If they get up fast or even fast-ish, 632A will probably not work, so use your normals/throw as a way around it. Also, your 214AB can be looped; right after the final car hits the ground, do 214AB again. 5C/6C is actually a great anti-air due to its range and the fact that it's air-unblockable, so make sure to abuse the shit outta it against opponents that jump a lot.
  684.  
  685. HOW TO DEAL WITH: Press buttons.
  686.  
  687. Seriously, though. Mariah can actually be a fearsome character in the right hands. Her plug ensures that her opponent not only has to think about dealing with the projectiles/normals/throws but also giving her levels and taking damage. Generally speaking, turn on your stand to avoid chip damage, avoid her 2A pokes, avoid giving her levels, and learn to throw/sweep her. You can GC against the wire, although it's usually not recommended, because should you miss her, you'll be open to another knockdown or whatever else she wants to do. Beware her throwing game; although the damage is about average, setting up the plug behind you or even just next to you can make dealing with throws rather annoying, because Mariah can bait a tech and have you eat a plug and give her a level.
  688.  
  689. PICK ME: If you want a zoner that relies more on zoning out her opponents at short/medium range, and also on wake-up pressure rather than keeping away opponents at all times.
  690.  
  691. BASIC MARIAH COMBOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh1OUmyqS6o
  692.  
  693. -------------------------------------------
  694.  
  695. 7.
  696.  
  697.  
  698. COMBO/TUTORIAL/MISC. VIDEOS
  699.  
  700.  
  701. Tutorial showing the basics of the game in japanese (it has subtitles, so make sure to turn them on if you're not a weeb):
  702.  
  703. Pt 1.
  704.  
  705. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IQGH_0FdtI
  706.  
  707. Pt 2.
  708.  
  709. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=budW6tDc_Sg
  710.  
  711. Rubber Soul Shenanigans
  712.  
  713. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7iBYSWgiu0
  714.  
  715. -------------------------------------------
  716.  
  717. 8.
  718.  
  719. CREDITS
  720.  
  721. - Lungberg for some of the trivia
  722. - Atari for pointing out how the Hol bug works
  723. - 3xcl4m4t10n for trimming and uploading the ROM
  724. - KiraQueen for helping me test the glitched/bugged characters
  725. - Frutlz for showing me some new dank glitches
  726. - My mom for not aborting me
  727. - Crapcom for making such an amazing game
  728. - Bane for being such a big guy
  729. - <insert typical statement about having a bad memory and forgetting to mention other people here>
  730.  
  731. ---
  732.  
  733. What? Why are you still scrolling? This paste is done. Go re-read it, or go do something else.
  734.  
  735.  
  736.  
  737.  
  738.  
  739. No, stop scrolling down.
  740.  
  741.  
  742.  
  743.  
  744.  
  745. Ok, fine. If you scrolled this far, I guess you deserve a little something.
  746.  
  747. Here are a few trivia about the game few people know about:
  748.  
  749. Did you know that...
  750.  
  751. - Alessi cannot be hit by Mariah's 214 A/B/C?
  752. - Invincibility frames also protect the character from certain moves that don't do any damage, such as Rubber Soul's 214S?
  753. - All characters have infinite loopable combos?
  754. - Not all human characters turn into children when hit by one of Alessy's supers/specials?
  755. - There is an 'alpha' version of this game that is also on Fightcade called 'JoJo's Venture'?
  756. - Midler is not canonically a belly dancer?
  757. - One of the characters has a 'Ryona' kind of ending to their campaign?
  758. - Billy Herrington was born in July 14, 1969?
  759. - Rubber Soul can command grab super certain characters while they're still in the air?
  760. - You can kill your opponent with nothing other than a 'The World' super (if used by DIO or Jotaro) if timed properly?
  761. - A matchup of Mariah and Rubber Soul can have some shenanigans that can make Mariah to figuratively grow wings?
  762. - Several characters have supers that can be looped indefinitely?
  763. - Four or more additional characters were supposed to be part of the roster but were left out due to lack of development time? You can even use these characters if you want to! Sorta. Barely. You can use the pixelated messes that were supposed to represent them. How? Well, it's a secret. Shh.
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