Street Fighter Zero 3 Rose (V-ISM) Character Guide For the Arcade and Sega Saturn by TS Version 3.5 (Completed 10/26/00) Introduction- If you're gonna read about V-ISM Rose, then why not learn from the best V-Rose player on the planet!? How, you ask, did I become the best V-Rose on the planet? ...because I'm the only one on earth who plays as her... Anyway, In my attempts to make my Rose playing a little more well-rounded, I decided to tool around in V-ISM a few months back, and see if I couldn't find something. No infinites or 80% VCs here (I don't think), but if you're one of the 10 people on the planet who plays Rose in any ISM in SFA3 semi-regularly, then you might find this a little interesting. You all feel free to tell me if you can't get these to work, or have some suggestions... By the way, I'm using the SEGA Saturn version (the one that's most like the Arcade version out of the 3 available), on the default damage setting (2/4). tsdcs@hotmail.com, if you need to mail me... And just to make things clear... JP= Jab Punch (weak punch) SK= Short Kick (weak kick) SP= Strong Punch (medium punch) FK= Forward Kick (medium kick) FP= Fierce Punch (hard punch) RK= Roundhouse Kick (hard kick) d= down (direction you push to do a crouch) b= back (away from opponent) f= forward (towards opponent) d/f= the direction between down and forward d/b= the direction between down and back u= up (direction you press to jump) p= any punch button k= any kick button 360°= A move performed by rotating the joystick/directional pad in a circle qcf= quarter-circle forward- rolling the joystick/directional pad from down to forward in one motion- standard Ryu fireball motion (d, d/f, f) hcf= half-circle forward- rolling the joystick/directional pad from back to down, to forward in one motion (b, d/b, d, d/f, f) qcb= like "qcf," but starting from down and leads to back, instead of forward (d, d/b, b) VC= Variable Combination- Combo done while V-ISM shadows are active. OC= Original Combo- Pretty much the same as above. Technical name for VC. VC1= V-ISM combo activated by pressing JP and SK VC2= V-ISM combo activated by pressing SP and FK VC3= V-ISM combo activated by pressing FP and RK Table of Contents I. Important Legal Stuff II. Second-Level Basic Gameplay Info 1. Guard Protection 2. Air Blocking 3. Juggle System 4. Counter Hits 5. Recovery Rolling 6. Damage Reduction 7. Priority 8. Button Release Method III. About Rose 1. Character Data & Information 2. Misc. IV. Special Moves 1. Soul Spark 2. Soul Spiral 3. Soul Throw 4. Soul Reflect 5. Zero Counter 6. Chouhatsu (Taunt) V. Standard Moves and Ratings 1. Jab 2. Strong 3. Fierce 4. Short 5. Forward 6. Roundhouse 7. Throws VI. Combos VII. A Word on V-ISM VIII. Rose's VCs 1. Anywhere-To-Corner A. How To End This Combo B. Standing FP Variants 2. Corner Juggle Variants A. VC3 Jump-In B. VC2 Double SP Juggle C. VC1 Soul Spiral D. VC1 Soul Spiral Fierce Juggle 3. Works in Progress A. Soul Spark Corner VC B. Confusion VC IX. Basic Strategies X. Versus Tactics 1. Adon 2. Akuma 3. Balrog 4. Birdie 5. Blanka 6. Cammy 7. Charlie 8. Chun Li 9. Cody 10. Dan Hibiki 11. Dhalsim 12. Dee Jay 13. E. Honda 14. Evil Ryu 15. Gen 16. Guile 17. Guy 18. Juli & Juni 19. Karin 20. Ken 21. M. Bison 22. Rainbow Mika 23. Rolento 24. Rose 25. Ryu 26. Sagat 27. Sakura 28. Shin Akuma 29. Shin Bison 30. Sodom 31. T. Hawk 32. Vega 33. Zangief XI. Misc. VCs 1. General VCs 2. Scrub Torture VCs (Pseudo-Infinite Combos) XII. Closing and Thanks XIII. Revision History -------------------- I. Important Legal Stuff -------------------- Check this out. All the stuff in this document is protected by international copyright law. Seriously. So don't take credit for anything in this guide, because it isn't yours. Give credit where credit is due, and don't try to say you don't remember where you read it and therefore couldn't give credit, because this is seriously the only V-ISM Rose FAQ on the planet at the time of it's writing. It can't be published or distributed anywhere in any form, by anyone, other than on a freely accessible website, without the express written permission of myself, Tryce Sanders (tsdcs@hotmail.com) It can be found at GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com), and will soon be, or may be currently, at my webpage, http://anubis916.freeservers.com Street Fighter, and all characters and names associated with the game are trademarks of Capcom of Japan, and Capcom of America. -------------------- II. Second-Level Basic Gameplay Info -------------------- I'm assuming the reader all ready knows how to perform the basic actions of Street Fighter Zero 3, such as blocking, jumping, walking forward, and so on. The following are some of the slightly more advanced techniques available in the game. 1. Guard Protection- Guard Protection is similar to parrying in the SF3 games, though not nearly as useful. It protects the Guard Crush (GC) gauge from being drained as much when you block. It's done by tapping away, or diagonally down-away (same direction you would hold for a crouching block) from your opponent as their attack hits you. You'll not only block, as you would usually, but you'll flash blue for each hit that was successfully Guard-Protected. Can be done while airborne, and if you need to practice this, CPU Sagat's Tiger shots work very well for this purpose. You need to Guard Protect low (by tapping down/away on the controller or joystick) for low attacks, such as sweeps, low Tiger Shots, and pretty much anything that could still hit you if you were crouching. Also note that because different characters have different collision detections and blocking frames (basically meaning they block differently), Guard Protecting a fireball from Ryu for example would not have the same timing with Rose as it would with Zangief. V-Rose doesn't exactly take GC damage like X-T. Hawk, so you might want to take this up if you do decide to learn V-Rose. Every little bit helps... It should also be noted that there is partial auto-blocking in SFA3. For instance, let's say you block a Shin Psycho Crusher from Shin Bison. after you block the first hit, you can press any button or direction you want, and you'll still be blocking the others. So you could just wiggle the joystick, so to speak, and Guard Protect a lot of the hits from the move. 2. Air Blocking- To put it simply, ground based attacks can NOT be air blocked. Two characters are in the air. One throws out a Fierce punch, and the other blocks. Fine, happens all the time. But if one character is standing on the ground and tosses out a Fierce that touches the second character, the second character takes damage. Period. Ground-based moves can't be blocked, wich includes some specials, and any standing or crouching normal moves that will make contact with the opponent (ie. Ryu's standing Short Kick wouldn't work, but his Crouching FP would). Super Combos (or "Super Moves," if you prefer) can not be air blocked in SFZ3 either, with a few exceptions... The only ones I remember off of the top of my head are Charlie/Nash's Sonic Break (Sonic Boom super), and Gen's Shitenshuu (death touch super). 3. Juggle System- Whoo boy. If you want a ton of info. on SFA3's juggle system (basically when, and how you can be hit while in mid air) you might wanna go read James Chen's game guide for SFA3... It will give you a lot of information, and the whole game will make more sense after reading it. Anyway, here's the summary- a character can be juggled a pretty much infinite amount (air-recovery prevents this, of course), but a character can only be hit once after being knocked airborne in the corner. For example, Ryu and Akuma are fighting, and Akuma is in the corner. Ryu does a Jab Dragon Punch and it hits, knocking Akuma into the air. Ryu then hits Akuma with a crouching Jab, before Akuma could recover. That's it. He can't hit Akuma with another jab, or any attack. Normally. But another thing about the juggle system is that special move combo attacks only seem to count as one move. So if Ryu tried JP Dragon Punch, crouching JP, crouching JP, it wouldn't work, because the second crouching JP wouldn't hit. He COULD however, do: JP Dragon Punch, crouching JP, RK Hurricane Kick. The Crouching JP is two-in-oned into the Hurricane Kick, so it only counts as one move. That said, I'd like to point out that most of this doesn't really apply at all during a VC (Variable Combination- combo done with V-ISM shadows activated). But I'll explain that later...or at least try to... 4. Counter Hits- A Counter Hit, is when you hit someone while they're in the middle of doing a move. A Counter Hit does more damage than if you were to hit the person normally, and you also have more time to attack them. You know one happened because there will be a louder smack than usual when you hit them, the screen will flash white for a split second, and "Counter Hit" will appear on the screen. Akuma and Rose are in a match, for example. Akuma tosses out a fireball, which Rose jumps over. She hits him with a crouching SP, and is rewarded with a Counter Hit, because Akuma was still stuck in the fireball pose. But because a Counter Hit gives you more time to attack, she could now do a RK Soul Spiral, which would be to slow normally, and have it combo. The harder the hit, the longer the period of attack is lengthened, and a Counter Hit made with a RK or FP will knock the opponent into the air, where you can hit them again. Sweeps though (which I believe would be a crouching RK for every character but Gen in Ki Ryuu [kick style]), just do more damage though, and don't give you a chance to hit the enemy again. It's also important to note that regular attacks vs regular attacks can provide a Counter Hit, but hitting someone out of a special move doesn't always mean you'll get one. For instance, hitting Zangief out of his running bear grab thing, won't get you a Counter Hit. And some normals AND specials require you to them out of the move early to get one. Not as simple as it sounded before, is it? Counter Hits are Rose's FRIENDS. Crouching SP x2, SK Soul Spiral and b+FP, FP Soul Throw, etc are good things to have around, and both require Counter Hits. 5. Recovery Rolling- Also called "Ground Recovery." Done by pressing two kick buttons at the same time after someone makes contact with you in mid air. You roll along the ground when you land, instead of just lying there. You can roll behind the opponent by holding the directional pad/joystick toward them as you press KK/roll. Can't be done after throws/holds, and a few rare occasions; remember that you can pretty much always roll when an attack makes contact with you while airborne, but not always when an attack SENDS you airborne. But if you air block something, you can still do the Recovery Roll. Good move, if you know when to use it. Remember you can only do it AS YOU TOUCH THE GROUND, and not before- this is an escape/confusion/surprise technique. So if you're looking to get out of a juggle, just go with the standard Air-Recovery (press two punch buttons at the same time after being hit in the air) instead. Can get you into and out of a ton of trouble if you do it at the wrong time though. Also, for some reason the GC gauge will flash if you hit the ground, and don't either air-recover, or roll before you get up. Don't know why this is. 6. Damage Reduction- Damage Reduction is basically just mashing the buttons rapidly, and wiggling the hell out of the joystick/directional pad to reduce the damage you take. Can be done to any move, be it normal, special, super, or VC. You know you've done it because your character will flash red for a spit second for every hit you successfully damage reduce. Go for it. No reason not to do it, really, especially if it's a close match. It works best with supers that hit rapidly (Z/A-ISM Ken's Shinryuken, Juli+Juni's tag team super, Chun Li's rising kick super, etc), and can have a SIGNIFIGANT result on their damage. Impossible on some supers though, like Gen's Zan'ei, and all grab Super Combos. 7. Priority- Ken jumps at R. Mika with an FK. R. Mika does a crouching SP, Ken gets hit, and R. Mika doesn't. Why? PRIORITY. Some moves have a ton of it, and some have next to none. That's the best explanation I can give. 8. Button Release Method- Called "The Negative Edge." Ever since Super Street Fighter 2, Capcom has had an alternate method of performing special and super moves in their games. Ryu's fireball is the easiest example. Instead of doing qcf and pressing a punch button, you can do qcf and release a punch button. But since this could get in the way, if you wanted to do jump-in FP, crouching JP, FP fireball, you could just hold down the Jab button, and, and complete the fireball motion by pressing FP, so you don't accidentally get a JP fireball. I personally find this whole thing a little annoying, but it does help with doing some combos (though rarely, in my opinion). The button release method also works in V-ISM: You can just hold down a punch and kick button of the same strength (while doing something else, obviously), and release them at the same time to activate a VC. -------------------- III. About Rose -------------------- Firstly, I'd just like to say that you might want to learn how to use Rose in Z- ISM or X-ISM, before moving on to V-ISM. That said, here's some information about the character... 1. Character Data and Information- Rose Height: 178 cm Weight: 54 kg Blood Type: Unknown Character Story from SFA3: "Rose is a mysterious woman who wields the mystic 'Soul Power.' She feels that Doomsday is fast approaching. She must seal Bison's power, even at the cost of her life. What fate awaits her in the end...?" 2. Misc.- Win Quotes: -A life shrouded in darkness is spent searching for the light... -Every action has the potential to fill or empty one's heart. -Fate is fate, whether or not you choose to accept it! -I must continue on this path... Even if I must sacrifice myself! -If existence is a nightmare, one can only hope they are dreaming. -The twinkling of the stars speak of you future... -Win or lose, you only achieve victory if you keep your soul! -You may know your fists, but how well do you know your heart? Win Poses: You can determine win poses in SFA3 by holding certain buttons after winning JP: Rose crosses her legs, closes her eyes, stands waving her finger and says "Mada mada ne," meaning "You're too slow." I'm gonna go ahead and assume she means slow physically... SP: Rose stands with an outstretched arm and her scarf hanging from her hand while a sphere of energy dances around it, grins and says "Yaru Janai," meaning "Not bad." FP: Rose does the same finger wave from her JP pose, but with semi-transparent, illusory images of herself on either side of her. All three do the finger wave in unison, and Rose says "Soreja dame," meaning "That won't do." SK: Rose creates a double of herself, and both lean against the backs of each other. The original Rose turns her head towards her unconscious opponent and asks, "Daijobu?" meaning "Are you all right?" FK: Rose creates a tarot card even taller than herself out of seemingly nothing. The card spins around to show it's face, "The Fool," and hides Rose from view as it does so. It rotates again, and as it reaches it's side, disappears. Rose can now be seen in a fancy gown and is holding a tarot card in one hand, six in the other, and one in her cleavage. She says, "Ciao!" The character portrait by your health meter also changes a bit when you do this pose. RK: The wind begins to blow harder, and rustles Roses hair and scarf. She looks down at a tarot card she had pulled, and says "Nattenaiwa..." (meaning "I'm not sure...") as she lets it fall from her hand. Special: After either beating Shin Bison in Dramatic Battle with a partner, or after beating Shin Akuma in Final Battle mode on the Saturn version, Rose does a win pose similar to her FK one, except as the card obscures her, it simply blinks out of existence and she is nowhere to be seen. -------------------- IV. Special Moves -------------------- 1. Soul Spark (hcf+p)- Rose's only projectile. FP is pretty fast, SP is ok speed but slower, and of course JP is the slowest. FP Soul Sparks cannot be combo'd, and the SP ones can only be combo'd off of a standing/crouching FP. Interesting thing about this move is that it pushes the opponent back whether or not the actual spark hits them. There are short wind-up periods before the Spark is released, with the JP version having the shortest wind-up, and the FP one having the longest. So a crouching SK, followed by a JP Soul Spiral wouldn't combo, but it would push the opponent back a few steps if that's what you were looking for. The FP version pushes the opponent to the other side of the screen, but has the longest wind- up, so it can be seen coming and avoided if you're looking for it. The SP version pushes the opponent almost the same distance and has a shorter startup, and the JP version pushes them back to a little further than the middle of the screen, and has no significant delay on startup. The recovery time for after the move doesn't vary much between the three versions, but since your Spark is around a shorter time to "protect" you at varying speeds, depending on the strength of the punch button used, the JP version will appear to be the safest. Again, sans Counter Hits, the JP version can be combo'd off of any standing/crouching JP, crouching FK, or a Crouching/b+FP. The SP version will only combo off of a b+FP or crouching FP, and the FP Soul Spark can't be combo'd in to. 2. Soul Spiral (qcf+k)- The move where Rose drills the opponent with her shawl. SK version hits once, FK hits twice, and RK hits three times. Recovery time after you've finished the move is very evident here, as the RK version takes forever to recover. Not much difference in terms of damage between the three. sK version can be combo'd in the same ways as a JP Soul Spark, and the FK and RK version combos the same as the SP Soul Spark does. In my opinion the RK version is pretty much NEVER to be used outside of combos, and the SK version will pretty much always follow a hitting crouching SP. 3. Soul Throw (f, d, d/f+p)- Just a note- You will literally need psychic powers if you expect to successfully do this move more than 2 times a round, without hitting the opponent first. Rose's Soul Throw is a good move. Good damage, good range, good speed. But if you miss it, you can expect to take however much damage the opponent wants to dish out. Terrible recovery, on any version of the move. As far as vertical range, all versions go to the top of the screen. For horizontal, the FP version covers about half the screen, the SP does about a fourth, and the JP version goes almost straight up. Basically, you can use the Soul Throw whenever your opponent is in the air. Your opponent jumps, and you do a b+FP into a Soul Throw. It will work, Counter Hit FP or not. Pretty much any time they're in range, you can get them with the Soul Throw. ...Of course there's always an exception. You can NOT throw an opponent while your VC shadows are activated, but you can throw them directly after they end. For instance, you can juggle an opponent in the corner to a point where they can no longer be hit with a VC. But it doesn't matter, because if the last legal hit leaves them in the air, you can still grab them with a Soul Throw if they're in range. The Soul Throw doesn't technically count as a "hit," so it doesn't combo. 4. Soul Reflect- Not to be used unless against projectiles except for the FP version, and even then, only in combos. All versions of the move are fairly quick, and none really has any really bad recovery time to speak of. Though since the JP version is the least capable of attacking, I guess that would mean it's the most vulnerable. The JP version is a very useful move, an absorbed projectile boosts the meter quite a bit. The following (only one) Soul Spark you do after absorbing a projectile with the JP Soul Reflect will also do some extra damage, and I've also stopped E. Honda's FP head but with it, though it does take some timing. The SP version reflects the projectile horizontally. Interestingly enough, if two Roses reflect a Soul Spark back and forth, it will fly faster than it did originally. The FP version, in addition to being the only one suitable for a combo, reflects projectiles at a more upward angle. A projectile reflected with a FP Soul Reflect, followed by a jumping RK isn't a bad idea. Take note that with the exception of Dan's Shinkuu Gadouken, Rose's Soul Reflects will not work on ANY super projectiles and she WILL be hit- It will just do one less hit than normally. Also, Cody's Bad Stone can not be reflected or absorbed, it just falls to the ground. The all of the Soul Reflects can be combo'd off of a crouching/Standing/Standing b+SP, and crouching FK. They would in theory combo off of a standing b+FP or crouching FP, but the moves push the opponent back out of the range of the Soul Reflects. 5. Zero Counter (f+JP+SK or f+SP+FK, or f+RK+FP while blocking)- Use Zero-Counters with a lot of caution when playing as Rose, especially in V- ISM. To do Zero Counter, you need at least one spare block on your GC meter, and at least 50% of your OC gauge (V-ISM super meter), because this is what it takes away when you do one. Rose's Zero Counter (a.k.a. Alpha Counter) is a crouching RK in V-ISM. ZCs don't do much damage in general, and this one is no different. Good range though. The purpose of this move is usually to stop block-damage VCs and Super Combos. Or to just knock someone out of a VC, because once the character is hit, a VC will immediately stop. As your GC gauge is restored at the beginning of every round, you shouldn't be hesitant to use this if you really need to. There are VCs in the game that do 30% block damage, and also given the fact that 360° throws can be ticked into during a VC, be aware that you will have to learn it sooner or later. 6. Chouhatsu (Start on the Arcade version, your choice on the Saturn ver)- No practical use, whatsoever. Actually, that's not true- I DID dodge a Spinning Pile Driver from Zangief with it. He just did his missed throw animation... I'm sure there's some way to make in invincible like that, but I don't know how. Rose crosses her legs, closes her eyes, stands waving her finger and says "Mada mada ne," just like in her JP win pose. She steps to the side a little, but this is still not enough to dodge anything, sans glitch. Does zero points of damage. Still love it though. You can taunt once per round, and however many times you want during a VC. You can actually taunt after beating the opponent with a VC, for as long as the background is still that purple/blue color. It's a little slower than most taunts though, so you won't be able to use it often without getting clobbered. -------------------- V. Standard Moves and Ratings -------------------- 1. JP- Standing- Seems to work pretty well as anti-air, but not much use otherwise. Crouching- Quick, and a good poke. Can't really be combo'd off of, but it has good priority, so there's a chance you could follow it with a crouching SP and combo off of that. 3 or so crouching jabs isn't a bad attack for GC purposes, and if you don't get a counter hit, you really don't have much else you can do. One of Rose's better moves, and even goes through some super moves (Rolento's X- ISM/Z-ISM super, for example). Jumping- Not bad for jumping toward your opponent when you're both airborne. Quick and has nice priority, but you probably won't be using this as much as some other attacks. 2. SP- Standing- not a real great to use outside of combos. Priority isn't too good, and it's not all that fast. Not one of Rose's better moves, in my opinion. Standing b+SP- Pretty much the same as above, but quicker, with a touch more priority, and with less range. Crouching- Ah. Probably Rose's main attack. Pretty much the best move to throw in combos she has next to a crouching/b+FP, but this is much safer. Links into a JP Soul Spark, a SP or FP Soul Reflect, an SK Soul Spiral, or if the crouching SP is a counter hit, an FK or RK Soul Spiral. Very good poke, and whether or not it lands as a Counter Hit, you can combo off of it. Crouching SP (Counter Hit), crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral, should pretty much be getting used whenever you land one of these on a Counter Hit (and don't have your VC meter charged at the time). You could also substitute the second crouching SP and SK Soul Spiral, for a crouching RK. Even though it won't combo from any range other than point blank, it will push the enemy away (if that's what you want), and take a chunk of the enemy's Guard Crush meter. You can also follow the crouching SP with a crouching JP or SK without needing a Counter Hit. Works well as anti-air against SOME attacks (Cammy's jumping FP for example), thought not well at all against others. I sometimes, when far away from the opponent, just throw out repeated crouching SPs or SKs, just to charge the meter (she can toss them out faster than I initially thought, with the right timing). Jumping- Not too great a move. Not REALLY bad, but probably the least useful of all of Rose's jumping attacks. Pretty decent range, but priority isn't all that great, mostly because of it's angle. Nice for an air-to-air attack, but Rose has better. Misses crouching opponents completely. 3. FP- Standing- probably one of Rose's worst normals. Her standing FP in V-ISM should pretty much never be used. OK damage, but too slow, and doesn't combo into anything. Seems all right for keeping your opponent back, but she really has better ways of doing this. This is the move where she flings her shawl at you...not to be confused with... Standing b+FP- This is what would be, in any other ISM, Rose's close standing FP. But because standing normal moves are for the most part under your control in V-ISM, getting this move requires you to hold back when you press FP. Pretty good move. Works fairly well as anti-air, if you get the timing right, though like any standing attack, it works better against some jump-ins than others. Keep in mind that most characters can evade this move completely, by just doing a crouching block. So unless you start a combo where the opponent is standing, you should consider using a crouching SP instead. Also, if the opponent does a jump in, and you nail them with this move, you will be rewarded with a Counter Hit, and be able to grab them with a Soul Throw, which you can't do without the Counter Hit. As a matter of fact, any time you nail anyone with a Counter Hit FP, of either the b+FP, or crouching FP variety, you can catch them with a Soul Throw before they can recover. Important to know. Crouching- Bad range, speed is okay, and the priority is nice. But the range is really, really bad. You literally can't hit someone with it unless you're RIGHT next to them, or they're jumping at you. You can't even fit it in combos all of the time, because of the range. Fit it it where you can, as it DOES do more damage than the crouching SP, but is less safe if you miss. Jumping- Pretty nice for jump-ins, ok range too. Lacks a little priority, but still not a bad move. The timing is a little weird on it though. 4. SK- Standing- Not a great move. The only use I can think of for it would be to throw it into a confusion VC, because people would be unsure of whether or not they should block high or low. But since Rose really doesn't have any genuine overheads (meaning any attacks that have to be blocked high), this is still a fairly useless move. At least it looks cool... Crouching- It's a nice poke, and the fact that an attack has to be blocked low is always a plus. More a keep-out move (toss it out when your opponent get's too close), actually. A bit quicker than the crouching JP, though the range seems to be a little less. Unfortunately, it doesn't combo into anything without a Counter Hit, and it can't chain into itself. You could be crouching close to an opponent and do crouching JP x3 or 4, but that wouldn't work here. Upon Counter Hit, you might just want to toss out a crouching SP, into a SK Soul Spiral, or a crouching FK/RK if you're looking to push somebody away. Jumping- The angle of this move is what makes it good. Range is bad, but the vertical range is pretty excellent. Might want to use it for anti-wake up (stick it out so they are forced to block it instead of attacking immediately when they get up), though it's a little fast for that, meaning you'll have to have excellent timing to pull that off. Not always great as a jump-in per se, but something just to stick out to ward off attackers if you jump in their direction and do a tiny bit of GC damage. Not to be used exclusively (or even that often at all), but it can be worked in here and there, and in some matches more than others. 5. FK- Standing- A decent move. Can't combo into anything, but such an unorthodox move that it warrants use once every two hundred matches. Range isn't too great, but the priority is good, and it's quick. In my opinion it will always get you style points. Goes over sweeps. Standing b+FK- Not much use either, that I know of. Probably goes over sweeps, but doesn't combo into anything. A bit slow on start up (still faster than the standing FP), almost seems to be a decent poke (though more of a keep- out move) when used at the right range. Not bad as anti-wakeup. Style points here too. Crouching- Similar to Rose's crouching SP, but little quicker and keeps the opponent back better. Not as good as the crouching SP for combos, but can be tossed in them, if only for variety's sake. Quick, good priority, pretty good poke, and if it lands on a Counter Hit, you might want to just go with a crouching RK, though I suppose you could probably go with a Soul Spiral if you want. Crouching d/f+FK (slide)- Good range, but can get you both into and out of trouble pretty easily. Helps get past airborne overheads like Cammy's Hooligan Combination (the thing where she jumps at you and grabs you with her legs) and to a lesser extent, Akuma's Hyakki attacks (his qcf, u/f+P overhead moves with the palm/leg). Priority on this move is pretty good, but recovery time is BAD. Even if you HIT the opponent with it, they still have time to attack you before you recover. Interesting way to dodge some jump-ins though... Not a bad move for trying to get in close if you're far away, and goes under high Tiger Shots from Sagat. Jumping- One of Rose's best jumping attacks. Good range, pretty decent priority, not bad speed. Though only being medium kick, the damage is average, this is what you will probably want to use for jump-ins. So you're not hitting the opponent with a medium kick by itself, so the damage is less of an issue. Can also be used as sort of an aerial poke, and it's basically a more horizontal version of Rose's jumping SK, making it pretty easy to hit people with. 6. RK- Standing- Fairly good keep-out move. Excellent range (the best of any of Rose's normals, and has one of the longest horizontal ranges in the game), nice priority, but it's a little too slow on start up to be a truly great move. Also, you're vulnerable to jump-ins when you do it, so keep that in mind. Good move to do at the beginning of a round. If it lands on a counter hit and takes someone off of their feet, you might want to follow it up with a JP Soul Spark, which they'll have to block/dodge unless they activate a Super move of some sort. Either way, you get to keep them out. Standing b+RK- One of those moves that SHOULD be an overhead, but isn't. Pretty quick, and an okay move for anti-air, because it it's such a good move vertically that you can actually sometimes hit people out of their attacks before they press an attack button. For instance, Rose can't get past Sakura's jumping FP (well actually, Rose's crouching SP works, but just not reliably. So, lets pretend for a moment that it didn't work at all here). Once Sak has her FP thrown out, none of Rose's attacks will knock her out of it. But, if you hit her with a b+RK as soon as her jump is in your range, it will knock her out of the move, because she has either not completed, or started the attack yet. Not much use otherwise, except for tricking people into thinking you're gonna do the Soul Piette. Again, one of those moves that, in my opinion, warrants use just because it's so unorthodox. Nice range, pretty quick. Standing f+RK ("Soul Piette")- This move doesn't have a ton of use outside of VCs. Moves Rose towards the opponent a step, but her FK slide is pretty much always better for that anyway. Slow recovery time, and not to be done often as a normal move. Can dodge things rarely, but her FK slide is still better. Can often be done after winning a round though, if you wanna smack your K.O.-ed opponent in mid-air. Crouching- Very nice range, fair speed. Can't be used too often, do to the fact that the opponent will often be either too close or too far. Can be used after a Counter Hit made by any normal move (with the exception of a FP/RK) just to push the opponent back. Jumping- Has it's high and low points. Good range, okay speed, nice priority (due to it's angle), but misses most crouching opponents completely. Jumping straight up and doing this move is not a bad idea to keep opponents at bay, but realize that you are very vulnerable on your way down in some situations. Pretty good for air-to-air situations, but for jump-ins other than [Jump-in RK, crouching RK], you'd probably want to go with the FP or FK instead. Seems to have a little less priority than the jumping FK, but it has the most horizontal distance of any of Rose's jumping attacks, and there will be times that this will be the only jump-in that you can land because you are too far away. 7. Throws- Standard Ground Throw ("Soul Drain")- press f or b+PP while standing or crouching. Nice range, and being a throw, the speed and recovery time aren't too bad. If you think someone is going to throw you, you might want to attempt the throw just for the tech-hit. But you can pretty much always poke with a crouching SK/JP/JP/FK instead. Depending on what direction you press to initiate the throw, you can determine which side you land on, and is therefore not a bad move for getting out of the corner (though you could also start a VC if you had enough on your VC gauge). Nice Damage, but I don't know about priority, and seeing as how one person would just Tech. Hit the other's throw, it really doesn't seem to matter a ton. Air Throw ("Soul Fade")- press any direction other than u or d, +PP while airborne. Okay Range, and just looks cool. I like to toss this in the end of VCs whenever possible... Regardless of what direction you press, doing this move will always make you switch sides with the opponent. As with the Soul Drain, button mashing during the move won't increase the number of hits, but will make it harder for the opponent to button-mash to reduce the hits/damage. -------------------- VI. Combos -------------------- In this section, "/" means "or." For instance "Standing/Crouching SP" means "Standing SP, or Crouching SP." Also, "Crouching SP/FP" means "Crouching SP, or Crouching FP." -Crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral: Pretty simple. You poke someone with the crouching SP, and if it lands you go into a SK Soul Spiral. Not a ton of damage, but quick, and it will take the opponent off of their feet. -Crouching SP, crouching SK, JP/SP Soul Spark: Pseudo-combo. The JP or SP Soul Sparks don't really combo, but this is just to push the opponent back some. Fairly useful, and you can switch the crouching FK for the crouching SK, if you want some extra GC damage. -Crouching/Standing SP, FP Soul Reflect: Opponent has to be close for this to work, but it's a good way to both push them back, and take them off of their feet. Leaves them much farther away than the crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral -Crouching SP (Counter Hit), crouching SP/FK, SK Soul Spiral: Rose's crouching SP has good priority- so good, that there's a good chance that you'll be getting Counter Hits if you know when to stick it out. Wait until the Counter Hit crouching SP is over, toss out another, and follow it with an SK Soul Spiral. -Crouching SP (Counter Hit), Crouching RK: Another Pseudo-Combo, sorta. The two hits won't actually combo unless you're really close, but even if you're not, you can toss out the crouching RK for GC damage. Be careful though, because there's a little bit of recovery time after the crouching RK, and someone with a really quick super, or someone who knows what they're looking for can attack you afterward. -Crouching FK, JP Soul Spark: The crouching FK has a lot of distance on it, and it combos with a JP Soul Spark...not sure what else to say about it... -Crouching JPx3: I end up doing this combo at least once per match, blocked or not. Don't know why. It's quick, it's easy, and I dunno. Anyway, on to the next. -Crouching SK/JP (Counter Hit), crouching SP/FK, SK Soul Spiral: The crouching SK is quick and has good priority as well, so if it lands on a Counter Hit, the crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral is a good way to go. -Crouching SK, Crouching RK: I don't think this combos, even on a Counter Hit SK. But This is just for GC Damage, really. -Crouching FP (Counter Hit), FP Soul Throw: Basically the same as the combo above, but the opponent doesn't have to be done while your opponent is airborne. A Counter Hit crouching FP will take the opponent off of their feet, and allow you to Soul Throw them. -Jumping FK/RK/FP, crouching SP/FK, SK Soul Spiral: Basic jump-in combo for Rose. I personally use jumping FK, crouching SP, and SK Soul Spiral, because of the range and angle of the jumping FK. Using the juming FP, roughly 27 damage points, and 20% damage. -Jumping FP/RK/FK, b+FP, RK Soul Spiral: I like to go with a jumping FP. Be warned though, Roses b+FP misses crouching opponents entirely. Roughly 33 damage points, and 23% damage. -Jumping RK, crouching RK: Good because you can be far away when you do it. Not much else to say about it... -Opponent in air, standing JP/b+FP/Crouching SP/FP, JP/SP/FP Soul Throw: This combo is basically about hitting the opponent with something that can be cancelled into a Soul Throw, and then doing a Soul Throw. For instance, for Cammy's Jumping FP, you might want to use a crouching SP. But for say a missed FP Dragon Punch, where you were right under the opponent and they're still in the air, you'd probably want to go with a crouching FP, then a JP Soul Throw (a FP Soul throw would miss). Since Soul Throwing every time someone jumps would get you killed (mainly cause you'd miss, and they'd kill you), this combo is a good idea. -Opponent in air, jumping FP (Counter Hit), FP Soul Throw: If you hit your opponent with a Counter Hit (FP or RK especially) while you're both in the air, you'll have time to land and grab them with a Soul Throw. -Opponent in corner, jumping FP/FK/RK, crouching/standing SP, FP Soul Reflect, crouching/standing SP, RK Soul Spiral: Nice combo, good damage. The jump-in can't be too deep, or the FP Soul Reflect will miss. Also, because of that Button Release Method thing, I usually go with "jumping FP, d+SP, d, d/b, b+FP" instead of the normal 2-in-one method. Using the jumping FP, roughly 49 damage points, and 34% damage. -Opponent in corner, jumping FP/FK/RK, crouching SP, FP Soul Reflect, standing b+FP/crouching SP/FP, FP Soul Throw: The jump-in has to be sort of shallow, but still hit low enough to combo with the crouching SP. The last hit before the Soul Throw has to keep the opponent high, so it's important that it hit as quickly as possible. Not extremely difficult, but doing this combo with the b+FP is probably about as hard as any of Rose's combos get. The larger the character, the easier this combo is to do on them. Using a jump-in FP, and a b+FP before the FP Soul throw, this combo does roughly 56 damage points, and 40% damage. All percentage figures are taken from Sodom, who takes a little less damage per- hit than "average." For example the exact same combo above that I did on Sodom, would do 62 damage points, and 45% damage, if done on Juni, who takes below average damage. VII. A Word on V-ISM Complicated. No, seriously, for those of you who don't know, I'll go through some of the basic attributes of V-ISM. First of all, the invincibility. You are invulnerable for a small period of time when you start a VC. The time is significant on the arcade and Saturn versions of the game, but is greatly reduced on the Dreamcast and PlayStation versions. This is VERY important, and a large contributor to why V-ISM is the best mode for some characters. For instance, Dhalsim is in the corner, and Ryu (in V-ISM) is approaching. Dhalsim trys to hit Ryu with a close crouching FP when he gets in range. Ryu starts a VC, and Dhalsim's crouching FP goes right through Ryu and misses him completely. Dhalsim then eats a VC that does 70% damage, courtesy of Ryu. Ouch. The invulnerability also works through jump-ins, special moves, and Super moves. Another aspect of V-ISM, though this isn't particularly important to Rose, would be chains. While a VC is activated, you can link any move into any other move, though you or the opponent still gets pushed back afterward. Want to stick a Crouching RK right after a crouching FP? Sure. Want to do a crouching JP right after a standing SP? Useless, but go ahead. Any move, into any other move. And this is possible because of... Almost no recovery time. Most apparent with normal moves, but also works, to a limited degree, for specials. Once you complete a special move, you can immediately start another move, and you don't even have to complete the move if it's a normal one. You can, for instance, combo two Soul Piettes right after one another, even though the Soul Piette has a substantial recovery time outside of a VC. Extended juggles. You can juggle an opponent in the corner until the VC runs out, or with some characters, all the way across the screen. In theory, if the VC shadows lasted forever, you could juggle them until K.O. The "limit" rule for the juggle system doesn't apply when a VC is active. And finally, taunting and increased speed. You are significantly faster than normal while a VC is activated. Also you can't taunt as many times as you want, until the OC gauge is empty. VIII. Rose's VCs Just a note- you can start one of these after a lot of Rose's normal combos. For example, do the second-to-last combo in the Combo section, and instead of the Normal move + Soul Spiral at the end, activate a VC, and go into combo #2b listed here in the VCs section. This, however, is just a list of VCs, which is confusing enough as it is. Also, I would like to clarify that things in parenthesis are repeated the indicated number of times. For example, "(VC1) B+FP (SK Soul Spirals)x5," would mean activate a VC by pressing JP and SK, do a b+FP, followed by five SK Soul Spirals. 1. (VC2) Anywhere to Corner- This is assuming you're starting from a cornered position, but will work anywhere (hence the name). If you're opponent is close, activate VC2, and: Crouching strong, [SK Soul Spiral, Soul Piette (towards + RK)]x4, *X*. Roughly 60% damage, max, and I think 75 points of Damage. A. How to End This Combo First of all, *X*. When I do this VC, *X* is generally: Missed Soul Throw, and then [crouching FP, missed LK Soul Spiral] until the VC runs out. B+FP works also, instead of just the crouching FP. But, depending on where you start the VC, the move that lands them in the corner might be an SK Soul Spiral, and that is bad. In that situation, *X* would be: Soul Piette, missed Soul Trow, [Crouching FP, SK Soul Spark]x?? until VC ends. Another way to end the VC (there are many), would be to hit them with a crouching FP just as the meter runs out, do a jumping (straight up) RK, and then a FP Soul Throw. I also like to do it with the Soul Fade (regular air throw) in place of the jumping RK, just for style points. It should be noted, however, if you do the combo any way other than just using the Crouching FP, SK Soul Spiral until it ends, they can flip out. So in the way I listed above, with the crouching FP at the end, followed by a Soul Fade, the opponent could, in theory, air-recover before the Soul Fade. Chances are they wouldn't, but they could. Anyway, I'd like to point out that this combo isn't the easiest in the game at first. It takes a little timing (different timing on different characters, actually), and also a basic understanding of how things work for bot Rose and V- ISM in general (I highly suggest you read James Chen's SFA3 combo FAQ. A3 makes a lot more sense once you have). Though hopefully you either had enough all ready, of have learned a thing or two from reading this FAQ. The trick to it, by the way, is interrupting the last one or two frames of the Soul Spiral with the Piette, and the last frame of the Piette with the SK Soul Spiral. I'm sure it's not the most useful combo in the game, but I discovered it (I hope), so if nobody else chooses to use it, I'll still will. One of the best combos Rose has period, IMO, and especially in V-ISM. The timing, while pretty individual between characters, is more or less the same. There are some exceptions though, as doing it on Charlie and Balrog seems especially difficult, and doing it on Blanka and Chun Li seems easier than with other characters. Also, depending on how far away you are when you hit them with the last Soul Piette, you may need to do a FP Soul Throw...it all depends on distance. The Soul Throw just keeps the opponent from air-recovering, so it's important that you land just a little sooner than they do, so you can hit them and continue the VC. The point is, find a home version of the game, and practice the Soul Piette part of the VC in Training Mode. Takes a little getting used to. And you MUST get the first Soul Piette up right after the first Soul Spark, because some characters seem to fall to the ground faster than others (Zangief for example). Also, the reason I chose to start the combo with a crouching SP, was because A) it's Rose's best poke, and B) a crouching Feirce lacks range, and might actually get a counter hit and mess up the combo. One last thing about this combo though, is that a SK Soul Spirals (the ones at the beginning, that hit) are sometimes interchangeable with a Soul Piettes. For example, instead of: Crouching SP, LK Spiral, Soul-Piette, LK Spiral, ....etc., you could do: Crouching SP, LK Spiral, [Soul-Piette]x2, LK Spiral. Soul Piettes do 1 or 2 points more damage than a SK Soul Spiral, so I'm not sure many points this combo would do if done for absolute maximum damage. Just find whichever configuration works best for you. B. Standing FP Variants A variant of this combo is: (activate VC1/3) Crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral, Soul Piette, [standing/b+FP, SK Soul Spiral]x?? until VC is over. Doesn't leave them in the corner, but does about the same damage as the Anywhere-to-Corner I explained above. The b+FP/SK Soul Spiral version will push the opponent further than just the standing FP/SK Soul Spiral one. If you're going by which VC looks the coolest, I'd just have to go with the standard VC (the first one listed), but if you want to use these instead feel free. 2. Corner Juggle Variants- A. VC3 Jump-In (VC3) Jump in FP, crouching SP x2, SK Soul Spiral, crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral, [Standing back + FP OR crouching FP, JP Soul Spark (most will miss)]x??, until VC ends. Not sure about the damage, seems to be about 50%, give or take. I'm pretty sure you're able to do something after the VC, but like I said before, my fingers are kinda slow. Also, I'm not sure about character sizes, so you might have to replace the crouching SP x2 at the beginning with either a regular crouching SP, or a crouching JP, followed by a crouching SP. If you have to resort to just the crouching SP, then note that the combo can be done in VC2 and VC1 as well as VC3. B. Double SP Juggle (activate VC2) Crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral, repeat from beginning until VC ends. About 45%, max. Not a terribly damaging VC, but pretty useful, since Rose's best poke is (I'm pretty sure) her crouching SP, it has a pretty good chance of hitting the opponent. It's not exactly a crouch-cancel infinite, but 40% off of a crouching SP is better than nothing. The combo is really, REALLY simple. You just miss every Soul Spiral after the first, and concentrate your timing on hitting the opponent with the SP. It's important not to get overzealous, because you may do the Soul Spiral motion too quickly, and miss the opponent all together. It's also important to mention, that if you time your crouching SP late enough, you can hit the opponent with not only the crouching SP, but the VC shadow of the previous one as well, and every SP will score 2 hits instead of 1. Really good if you wanna either show off, or get you're score high. A shame though, this VC doesn't work on Ryu, Ken, Dan, or Akuma, so you'd have to switch to VC "D" listed in this section (does more damage, but just doesn't look as cool)... C. VC1 Soul Spiral (activate VC1) Crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral x2, [crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral]x??? until VC ends. About 30-35% damage. Pretty much the opposite of combo B. You focus on hitting the enemy with the Soul Spiral instead of the crouching SP. Pretty much all Rose VCs are ambigous though, so there are different ways of doing this. You could actually just do "(VC1) [Crouching SP, SK Soul Spiral x2]," from the beginning of the combo till the end of it. I couldn't get more than 21 hits from this combo, so if anyone knows a way to get more damage, let me know... Anyway, this combo is basically just for getting a flashy K.O., in my opinion. D. VC1/2/3 Soul Spiral Fierce Juggle (activate VC1/2/3)Crouching SP, FK Soul Spiral, [Away + FP and/or crouching FP, JP Soul Spark]x??, just before VC ends throw up Crouching FP, followed by an Air throw. The crouching FP, air throw isn't really necessary, but like I said, I like to end VCs and/or rounds with her air throw when I can. The opponent can air- recover before you can land the throw, but it's really dependant on the opponent, whether they will or not. You could also do a straight up jumping FP/RK, followed by a Soul Throw. 3. Works In Progress- A. Soul Spark Corner VC There's a V-ISM Rose combo against Dhalsim and Birdie, that goes like: (VC1) FK slide, JP Soul Spark, repeat. Well I could never do that, so I tried to find another way to work the Soul Spark into a combo. I think I've succeeded. The bad news? I can't do this one either. Anyhow, it goes (VC1) Crouching SK/JP, JP Soul Spark, Soul Piette, repeat. ??% damage. Seems to work, though because of my slow fingers, I've never been able to get it past 7 or so hits. Seems pretty good for Guard Crush (meaning to empty the opponent's GC gauge) purposes, though for that I really like to use VC2 instead of the JP/SK activation. Could someone tell me if this thing works, and if so, on who? Thanks. B. Confusion VC Ah yes, yet another Combo in Progress. I'm not the world's best Rose player (outside of V-ISM that is. Muwahahahahahahaheheheheheho), but I KNOW she can do something cool here. What I have so far is... Opponent in the middle of the screen(VC3), close crouching RK, Soul Piette, FK slide, [the part where the combo gets cool]. I seriously have no idea what to stuff in that last part. Or if I should change the order of the last 2 moves, or what...if anyone has an epiphany, feel free to chime in. -------------------- IX. Basic Strategies -------------------- Crouching SP. CROUCHING SP!! Seriously, this is a move I find myself using quite often. Fairly quick, good priority. Combos into a lot of things. Can be used as reliable anti-air against some attacks (Cammy/Charile's Juming FPs, I think Bison's head stomp, etc), and is important in VCs. If I know I'm gonna land a Counter Hit, for instance if M. Bison teleports right behind me, then I'll usually go with a crouching SP (Counter Hit), crouching SP, FK Soul Spark. Suppose I could start a VC, but come on. He's really not worth the trouble. It's also good for "zoning" purposes... For example David Sirlin, one of the top players in the country in SFA2, would get a certain distance from his opponent with Rose, and just sit there. If the opponent tried to stick out any normal move, he'd hit them with the crouching SP, because it's priority would be greater. And then he'd follow it with a Super...but that's not gonna work as well for V-Rose. Ah well. Anyway, you just sort of trap them like that, and if they jump, you Soul Throw, blah blah blah.... Like any character in a fighting game, there are 3 ways to play Rose. Turtle- Defense machine. Only making a move when your opponent makes a mistake. Of course, in V-ISM, attacking a character who is capable of starting a VC and going through your attack to land a VC, qualifies as "a mistake." I think this mode is actually pretty good for X-ISM Rose, though the lack of Zero Counters and air blocking hurt her turtling significantly. Turtling is good for any ISM Rose, but it really depends on your opponent whether turtling is the most effective way to beat them. Lots of jumping back and tossing out SK/SP/RKs in this style. Also a lot of anti-air moves into Soul Throws. Hyper Offensive- All out, bum rush ass whipping. NO. Not too good for Rose. Again, this depends on your opponent ('cause they could just not be good enough to defend against you), but if you're playing against someone who's good, you'd probably want to stay away from this. You'd be using a lot of jump-ins and high-risk stuff here, along with some poking. This mode isn't all bad- there are some REALLY damaging combos you could do here, and the VC blowout (that moment of invincibility you have when starting a VC) would let you get in and do some serious damage. And while Rose is more than capable of hurting someone, the fact is that too much offense can get you hurt, a lot. The opponent could to an anti-air move (dragon punch etc), anti-air super, or if in V-ISM, they could do a blowout, and your move would miss, landing you right in front of them. At their mercy. No. Of all the Roses, I'd have to say that V-ISM is the best for being offensive, if for no other reason than the VC blowout. But you still would want to stay away from this when faced with someone good. Moderate- This would be somewhere between total defense and total offense. Some poking, a little offense, a little turtling, and the RARE jump in. This is one of the best modes for Rose in general, I think. But of course, there are always exceptions, and I'll try to point those out later in the Versus Tactics section. There's risk involved in this style of play, but that's true of any. I'd say this one is the LEAST risky, because if you turtle too much, your opponent can get in your face and do some block damage/GC damage, and if you're too offense- minded...well I all ready went over that. I'd have to say that Z-ISM is generally the best for this style of play, with V and X tied for second place. Not to say I think Z-ISM Rose is necessarily better than V-ISM, it's just that any 3 levels of her Aura Soul Throw come in handy here. Not quite as easy in V- ISM, because the opponent's mistake has to be a bit more pronounced- and in X/Z- ISM, an simply jumping in any direction qualifies as a bad mistake on their part, if Rose is within about a half-screen's distance has a full meter. -------------------- X. Versus Tactics -------------------- In general: Don't forget the basics! You can do a VC blowout through most attacks in the game, don't block too much or you'll be Guard Crushed, and jump- ins, from ANYONE, yourself included, can lead to an incredible amount of damage. The Standing JP (or standing b+FP), FP Soul Throw combo will keep the opponent from jumping in too often, but beware that it will not work against ALL jumping attacks, and some character's moves have more priority than others. It's better to either just block when Sakura comes at you with a jump-in (assuming she's past the range of Rose's b+RK), or just blow through it by starting a VC, for example. You can be NAILED if you do a jump-in against the wrong character at the wrong time, and so can they if they do the same to you. Remember that X-ISM characters can NOT air block, EVER, and take advantage of it (I usually do this with a Soul Spark). Forget who's supposed to be bad according "character rankings," and who's not a "top tier" character, as any good player can beat you, with any character they happen to be good with. Good luck! 1. Adon- Adon will poke at you. Be prepared. Not quite sure what else to say... Hope you're not to dependant on your jump-ins, because his Rising Jaguar is the standard anti-air special that all characters have. You can turtle if you'd like, but be wary of tossing out too many Soul Sparks, as they leave you wide, wide open for a Jaguar Tooth (wall bounce move). You can start a VC after a blocked Jaguar Tooth (though a throw isn't a bad idea either), by just skipping the crouching SP, and doing the SK Soul Spiral right after you activate the VC. Suppose you could just do the VC blowout right through the Jaguar Tooth, but it's up to you. Same applies for the Jaguar Kick. Not an extremely difficult match, in my opinion. 2. Akuma- I personally would turtle here too, but it depends on the player. Beware of V- Akuma's, like anyone should. Akuma takes more damage than many characters, and is also easier to dizzy, so take advantage. If he starts to turtle too much, you might want to go on the offense, a little, and back him up into the corner. Always remember that a character in V-ISM can VC blowout too, so be careful what you use. The price for any missed special move can be very high against V-ISM characters, and this applies to just about anyone vs. anyone. Akuma's Dragon Punch is quick and high on priority, so you might want to wait until it's over before starting a VC, instead of trying to interrupt it. If he misses a fireball while in the corner and you do a jump-in, somebody better pray for him. Also keep in mind that there's a small period of vulnerability as his teleport is starting and a touch of recovery time as it is ending, so do what you can. 3. Balrog- Have yet to face a competent Balrog player, but despite what some people believe, this guy is dangerous. In X-ISM especially because of the sheer amount of damage he can do. If he lands a close JP, he can combo into an FP, and cancel it into a super move, so watch out. I believe a blocked Dash Straight leaves him open for a VC, as does crouching to avoid his Dash Upper. Not sure about this though, will have to check... Hell, you might just be able to do a VC blowout right through either move- but that wouldn't be nice... Not sure about the properties of his Turn Punch. 4. Birdie- If you want an easy way to beat CPU Birdie in any ISM, just sit back and fire off JP Soul Sparks the whole match... Anyway, Birdie's Bull Horn (the turn around headbutt) goes through jump-ins and most other moves, and he can psuedo- tick into his 360° throws with his jumping SK. His supers aren't bad, but I'd have to say his X-ISM "The Birdie" would have to be his best one. Hits hard, but his throw range is the worst of all of the grapplers. His standing FP goes through jump-ins pretty well, and if you want to get past it, I'd suggest you either use a jumping SK, or just stop doing jump-ins and turtle. If he's in Z- ISM you'll have to consider his Bull Revenger (leap and slam super) before deciding to do any laggy moves while turtling. A blocked Bull Head or Bull Horn (charging headbutt moves) leave him lagging for a significant amount of time, but don't wait too long, or he can either grab you or start a super. Not a really difficult fight, but it really depends on your experience with facing Birdie in general, and your ability to play without relying on jump-ins. One of his major disadvantages in general, by the way, is that his Bull Horn is only invulnerable during the turn-around part. So he can be swept, or even thrown after he turns around. 5. Blanka- Very, very cool character. Just had to say that. Anyhow, I've never really faced a good Blanka player in person (not to say I haven't seen one), but poking you, and then Guard Crushing you with a super seems to be a pretty good strategy for him. His Amazon River Run (crouching FP slide) will knock you off of your feet, and it covers a lot of distance, as do most of his crouching moves do. And his Surprise Forward and Surprise Back (leaping toward and away moves) afford him a brief period of invincibility. Also, his jumps are really, really good. Blanka can stay away well, but I really don't have any specific advice for fighting him...just remember which air-to-air attacks have the best priority, and the basic things you can do. Find myself jumping quite a bit in this match. 6. Cammy- Pretty dangerous, potentially, but I've never really been faced with a good Cammy player. Her Hooligan Combination (the overhead grab) is one of her best attacks, and rightfully so, considering the priority on it. I personally use the crouching FK Slide to get under this move. However, you can also get past it using a crouching FP if she's close enough overhead, or just jump back with an RK or something if she's too far. Her jumping FP is one of her best jump- ins, but remember that a crouching SP (which you should follow with a FP Soul Throw, by the way) beats Cammy's jumping FP, and easily. Don't try to do anything drastic if Cammy is knocked down, because a wakeup Cannon Spike will nail you just about every time. I play this match with pretty moderate offense, though I'd suspect you could turtle your way through it too. Should also be noted that Cammy's Killer Bee Assault super (Only has it in Z-ISM) can NOT be air blocked, so don't get too jumpy if you're unsure. 7. Charlie- Dangerous guy. Really dangerous. Standing JP works well as anti-air against some normals, but watch out for that far jumping RK. Also, keep in mind that good players might not even appear to be charging when they charge for his specials/supers- So don't expect him not to pop out with a Somersault Justice or Crossfire Blitz, just because you didn't see him go into a crouching block for an eternity. 8. Chun Li- Beware the X-ISM Chun Li. Always. That said, I personally would play defensively against X-Chun (remember her super goes through just about anything), and a bit more offensively against Z-Chun. Never played a good V- Chun Li. CL vs Rose is not an easy match for Rose, so you're gonna have to put in work here- depending on how good the opponent is, of course. Chun Li has that CROUCHING ROUNDHOUSE OF DOOM thing going on (which you can roll after, if hit by), so keep that in mind if you plan on doing jump-ins (not a good idea, IMO). Should also be noted that if you get caught blocking the Spinning Bird Kick from X-Chun, it does a ton of block damage, so stay away from that if at all possible. Good luck, and don't forget about the VC blowout. 9. Cody- I think you sort of have to be offensive here. Not too much, of course, but you can get close and poke him to death. And if he keeps dodging, nail him with a VC...Not sure what else to say... You can slide under the Bad Stone with the crouching FK slide. 10. Dan Hibiki- Ah. The Ruiner of "Perfect" rounds, but just BARELY. Anyway, never faced a good Dan, but his Hisshou Burai Ken (X-ISM Super, that Punch/Kick/DP super in Z- ISM) has good range, and excellent priority- especially considering it's one of DAN'S moves. Koryuken is the basic Dragon Punch move, so the priority is pretty good. Range is bad though. Fear not the Gadoken. Duck his Danku Kyaku (Flying kicks/Hurricane Kick type move), and nail him for it. The Shinkuu Gadokuen can be reflected/absorbed with the Soul Reflect, if you want to try it. No real advice on how to fight him... 11. Dhalsim- Your crouching SP/JP will beat Dhalsim's limbs if he sticks them out. Don't jump at an X/Z-Dhalsim often at all if he has a meter. If you block one of his foot/head drills, you can jump and air-throw him if he tries for a second. Don't let V-Dhalsim get you in the corner, ever. If he starts a VC with you in the corner, you might just want to Zero Counter if you block it. You can seriously turtle this match away, as he really can't do much of anything against you from a distance, priority wise... Don't forget about his teleport, but he also is at a disadvantage (in my opinion, at least) close up. Dhalsim is usually a good character, but he's at a disadvantage against Rose. Wouldn't call it an "easy" fight, but there's nothing he can do on the ground (without using a super) that you can't beat. This is not to say a Dhalsim who's better than you won't kick your ass, of course. 12. Dee Jay- Can't say I've fought any Dee Jay other than the CPU's. Not an especially difficult fight, but doesn't seem to be an easy one either. Feel free to throw him when possible. 13. E. Honda- You can time it so that the end of your JP Soul Reflect will knock Honda out of his Super Zutsuki (flying headbutt special move). Never seen a good Honda, so I don't know. If he does a jump-in, you might just want to block. Remember that the Level 2/3/X-ISM Headbutt super goes through projectiles. 14. Evil Ryu- Ryu. With a teleport. Ouch. In any event, you should always know what's what when facing a V-ISM Ryu, especially one with a teleport. Keep your guard up, and take your time. Don't under estimate this guy, in X-ISM either. All he has to do is hit you with a crouching jab while your anywhere close to the corner and follow it with 2 RK Hurricane Kicks. If he gets you dizzy, that' means you screwed. 15. Fei Long- Fei Long's Rekka Ken Super has a lot of priority, so keep that in mind when facing an X or Z-ISM version. That flaming dragon kick of his also seems to be invincible at start up, so watch what you do. Other than that, he doesn't seem to cause Rose too much of a problem... 16. Gen- Block. Don't do too many jump ins, and remember that if you're knocked down, and Gen is doing his SP of FP Hyakurenkou (blurry hand special), then there's nothing you can do but block. If he tries to hit you with that over head punch, you can hit him back (or VC him) whether you block it or not. Stay on guard. 17. Guile- Your crouching SP beats his jumping RK, and your standing JP beats his jumping FK. His standing FK (Standing neutral FK, in his V-ISM form) is a pretty good move to have, and works as anti-air against some attacks, as will his standing close FK in X/Z-ISM, his crouching FP, along with his Sonic Knee (f or b+FK in V-ISM, f or b+SK in Z/X-ISM). If he misses a flash kick, you get to either land a Soul Throw, or a VC, depending on the distance. Same things about charging apply with Guile as they do with Charlie, and neither of them has to do much to land a rather damaging VC. Have yet to fight a non-CPU Guile in A3. 18. Guy- Similar to Gen, in that one hit from this guy can land you into serious trouble. Fortunately, it's not as easy for Guy to capitalize on this as it is for Gen (You'll land Gen's crouching SK a lot more often than you will Guy's standing JP, for example). He has some moves that confuse and are unorthodox, so watch out. Hope your reflexes are good. 19. Juli & Juni 20. Karin 21. Ken 22. M. Bison 23. Rainbow Mika 24. Rolento 25. Rose 26. Ryu 27. Sagat 28. Sakura 29. Shin Akuma 30. Shin Bison 31. Sodom 32. T. Hawk 33. Vega 34. Zangief -------------------- XI. Misc. VCs -------------------- Just some other stuff I found... 1. General VCs- Adon: Shadow Revolver Stab- (VC2) Crouching FK, (crouching FP, SK Jaguar Kick)x8, Jaguar Throw. About 60% damage. There's a little half-second pause between the crouching FK and that first crouching FP, but after that, the whole thing moves pretty smoothly, and fairly quickly. The Jaguar Throw basically means you can end the combo with any of Adon's throws...they won't technically combo though. Several times when I've done this combo, the VC ends right before the last Jaguar Kick (Adon's b, d, d/b + K move), so it can be blocked. If this is so, you could go for a throw attempt if they do, but they could also do the same to you. For some mild illusion of saftey, you could replace the last crouch FP, SK Jag Kick and the Jag Throw, with an SK Jag Tooth (hcb + K wall poke move). You could also remove them and do a Roundhouse Rising Jaguar. Or to do it a simpler way, you could replace them with a crouching Roundhouse, and just jump back as the VC is ending. Adon's standing FP actually does a little bit more damage than his crouching one...but as standing FPs have a tendency to miss crouching opponents completely, I opted for the crouching FK/FP as opposed to the standing ones. Of course you can feel free to do it any way you want though... Rising Jaguar Assasin- (VC3) (RK Rising Jaguar, standing FP)x7. About 50% damage. Done with the opponent in the corner, like most VCs that do 50% or more. The standing FPs hit too, contributing considerably to the amount of damage this VC does. Unfortunately, this VC doesn't work on Cammy, Juli or Juni. You'd have to change it to VC1, and just do (RK Rising Jaguar, standing FK)x7. The standing FKs will miss, but this VC can't be flipped out of because of them. Only does 40% though. There's a fancy, but less damaging version of this VC that goes like (RK Rising Jaguar, standing FP, RK Jaguar Tooth, Standing FP, RK Jaguar Kick)x2 in VC3. Does like 48% damage, but really isn't worth the effort for me personally. Looks cool though. All sorts of things you can do with the Jaguar Kick/Tooth/Rising Jaguar to edit it. Birdie: Head Stomp- (VC1) Crouching SK, (JP Bull Head, standing RK)x8, Taunt, Bad Hammer. About 60% damage, and up to 65%. The Bad Hammer is a move Birdie gets when you press b+FP. The Bull Head is Birdie's charge b, f+p move. But of course, during a VC you don't have to charge. This VC can also be done in VC2, but I find the timing much easier here, and the damage is about the same. To do it in VC2, you'd need to replace the crouching SK at the beginning with crouching SP. The taunt I mentioned was the one you get by just pressing the chouhatsu button, and not a direction. He has 3 of them, total. Like always, you can replace the taunt with something more useful, for example a standing FP. With a certain timing, you can hit the opponent with all hits of both the Bull Head, and standing RK. Dee Jay: Fierce Maximum Jackknife Juggle- (VC3) Crouching JP, SK Jackknife Maximum, (Standing or Crouching FP, SK Jackknife Maximum)x?? repeat until VC ends, air throw and/or taunt. Does 60-65% damage. The Jackknife Maximum is Dee Jay's "charge down, up+k" move. But since you don't have to charge for charge moves during a VC, you just need to press d, u, SK during this one. The timing is a little strange, but it just takes a little getting used to. Easier to do on some people than on others... And if you make a mistake, and they do an air-recovery, just keep going. Chances are you can hit them with a standing FP before they can do much. The taunt obviously isn't necessary, and the air throw can be escaped...they just look cool... Speaking of the standing FP...you can do this combo using either a standing or crouching FP...but there is a catch. The standing FP does a bit more damage, but is harder to land. Likewise, there are some situations when doing the combo with just the crouching FP, where the standing FP would work better. So my suggestion would be that you mix up the crouching FPs and standing FPs... Takes some practice though. Finally, the big limitation on this VC- the opponent has to be standing for it to hit. If the opponent is crouching, or in a crouching hit stun, the Jackknife Maximum won't hit. This isn't a huge deal, though I do find it a bit inconvenient myself. It means you have to wait until someone either misses a move (by either doing a VC blowout, or just waiting), or just go low when they go high. Seems to work as anti-air (skipping the crouching JP if you want to), but not as well. Jackknife Sunrise- Roughly 60%. This is basically the same VC listed above, but it's done in the corner, and with crouching FPs. This combo can be flipped out of unless you hit the opponent with the crouching FP as soon as possible- or in other words, to juggle them as high as you can with the first crouching FP. Charlie seems to be able to flip out of it anyway. I hear he bounces higher than other characters when he's juggled, so maybe that's it. This one is easier to land than the other, because you can combo it easier... Jump Fp, stand SP, FP Air Slasher, activate VC and go... Guile: Fierce Flash Corner Juggle- (VC3) Crouching SP, SK Flash Kick, (Crouching FP, FK Flash kick)x5, Crouching FP, VC ends, back breaker (KK air throw) or taunt. About 58% damage without the back breaker. I know SOMEBODY else had to have come up with this VC before me (I've only been using it for around 2 months). So if somebody else claims discovery for this before that, let me know, because I wouldn't want to take credit for something that isn't mine. Like the vast majority of combos with taunts in them, it isn't necessary here. Looks cool though. Also, if the opponent does an air-recovery after the crouching FP, the back breaker can be avoided. Anywhere To Corner FP Juggle- (VC3) Crouching SP, SK Flash Kick, (standing FP, SK Flash Kick)x6, VC ends, crouching FP, standing RK. About 60% This combo can also be done with some FK flash kicks thrown in instead of some of the SK ones, but this is the basic VC. This is assuming your back is to the corner, by the way. The FPs hit twice, I believe. In place of the standing RK at the end, you could toss out a f+FP in place, or after it. If the opponent is in the corner when the VC ends, you can do a back breaker. Those things really do a lot of damage, but anything after the crouching FP can be escaped by either tech-hitting the throw, in the case of the back breaker, or performing an air- recovery immediately after the crouching FP. Sagat: Quadruple Roundhouse Tiger Beating- (VC1) JP Tiger Blow aka Tiger Uppercut, (RK Tiger Shot, Standing RK)x6, Standing RK, (FP Tiger Blow)x2. About 57% damage. Done in the corner. Timing on this VC takes some getting used to. You let both parts of the standing RK hit, for a total of 4 hits per each standing RK. None of the Tiger Shots HAVE to hit, they're just there to keep the opponent from moving (too complicated to explain right now). You may exchange the standing RK/FP Tiger Blow at the end for a standing FP, or whatever you want, basically. I personally go with Standing RK, FP Tiger Blow, FP Tiger blow. Sagat has a more damaging corner VC (repeated low RK Tiger Shots), so this is basically just for showing off and getting a high score. Zangief: Atomic Flat- (VC1/VC2) Cross up FP Body Press, crouching JP, standing SK, JP Banishing Flat, Atomic Suplex. Around 50% if all hits connect The Body Press is the flying splash Zangief does when he presses f or b or d+FP while jumping, the Banishing Flat is his f, d/f, f+P glowing hand move, and his Atomic Suplex is his 360° + k move from close Range. This VC works weather blocked or not, because you can do 360° throws during almost any circumstance and grab the opponent from close range, during a VC. This isn't a particularly useful VC, just thought it looked cool. 2. Scrub Torture VCs (Pseudo-Infinite Combos)- Two, rather important things- the pseudo infinites for Guile and Fei Long, only seem to work against Blanka and Sodom for some reason. Apparently, he has some sort of special juggle property going on, or something. Anyway, since you're chances of finding a scrubbish Sodom player outside of Japan are mightily slim, and just about Nobody plays Blanka, I guess these first two VCs are just for exhibition purposes. I've only tried these VCs on about two thirds of the cast, so if I find these first 2 work on anyone else, I'll be sure to update. Charlie: Somersault Buster- (VC2) RK Somersault Shell, Flying Buster Drop Started in the corner, though you can sort of bounce them in other directions. Flying Buster Drop is Charlie's PP air throw, and the Somersault Shell is his Flash Kick. Fei Long: Kyaku Toss- (VC1) SK Shien Kyaku, standing FP, KK air throw Pretty simple. You just keep jumping and throwing them after the standing FP. Which can be replaced by a b+FP, or b+RK, by the way. The throws don't combo in this VC. The opponent can air-recover after whatever you decide to toss after the Shien Kyaku. Performed with opponent in corner. Guile: Corner Break- Do the first VC listed above and do a crouching FP after/as the VC ends. Jump toward them as they fall, and grab them with his KK throw. After you grab them with it, they'll bounce off of your shoulder, and you can keep grabbing them over and over again. Considering that throws are what do a ton of damage in this combo, it can obviously be ended by just Tech. Hitting out of any of the throws. Also, doing an air-recovery after the crouching FP will make it impossible to be grabbed by Guile. I'd also like to note that I think I did this VC on Dhalsim once, but it was very difficult. Guy: Otoshi: Kage Sukui- (VC1) SK Bushin Senpuu Kyaku, Izuna Otoshi Simple, like all of the combos in this section. The Bushin Senpuu Kyaku is Guy's qcb+k move. From there you just jump and throw, again and again. Done in the corner. Opponent can air-recover after the Bushing Senpuu Kyaku. T. Hawk: Buster Typhoon- (VC3) Standing SK, standing FK, (FP Mexican Typhoon, FP Tomahawk Buster)x?? Scrub torture OF THE GODS. I don't know how to explain it better. Easily countered by any sort of wake-up move (Dragon Punch for example) that is done quickly. You can actually replace the T Busters with some sort of jumping attack. Or you can do both, and alternate between the Tomahawk Busters and jumping attacks, to further scare the opponent into blocking. This combo is basically 100% intimidation. ------------------- XII. Closing and Thanks -------------------- Thanks to the arcade I go to, The Game Room in Citrus Heights, CA. No money at the moment, but since nobody plays SFA3 there anymore (bastards!) I guess that's ok. And thanks for getting CvS, finally. To Capcom, for making fun games. To everyone who's ever written an FAQ for any game I've played, ever. That about covers it, right? Special thanks go out to Kao Megura, for the wealth of info in his SFA3 FAQs- got some of the more obscure move names from them, actually. And also to James Chen, for making his Combo Systems FAQ for SFA3. An interesting read... To everyone who attended and put together the B4 Street Fighter tournament on July 15 and 16, 2000. First tourney I've been to, and it was pretty nice. Took a thrashing in SFA3 (a combination of not being able to work the sticks, and just not being as good as I am now), but did surprisingly well in SSF2T, even though I didn't enter the tourney. Used to play Super SF2 all the time, but I'd actually never gotten to play SSF2T before the tournament. Not quite what I expected... Good game though. *ramble ramble ramble* To the two ladies who frequent the previously mentioned arcade I go to. The chances of either of them reading this are about nil (luckily), but I'd like to thank them anyway. Thanks for restoring my faith in the female species, by being both female, and at the same time good in fighting games. -------------------- XIII. Revision History -------------------- Version 1.0- Initial posting. Majority of the FAQ was up. (August 7, 2000) Version 2.0- First update. Added the first half of the character Vs strategies, made a few edits here and there, and added/finished the Generall VCs part of the Misc. VCs section. Version 3.0- Almost done!! All right, finished the Misc VCs section (probably), and made some minor edits here and there. Incorrectly mislabeled version 2.0. Version 3.5- Aaaalllllllmost done. Made some grammar edits and whatnot from the previous version, and also changed some of the damage percentages in the Misc. VCs section. Next Update: Gonna finish the VS character stragies, probably make some more minor edits, and that'll be all. School is killing me, so I don't know when it will be up... Probably about a month.