This post got huge, fast, so I'll add some formatting, so maybe some of it will get read!
Conventions
somepunk wrote:I don't know if there is a proper format to display these moves, I've seen multiple, but let me know if there is!
I try to follow something similar to these standards compiled by Scott R.:
http://auburnvo.org/content/faqs-txt/voinputschema.txt
Though for crouch I just use "c" instead of "Cr", and "j" instead of "J" for jump. Also I say "standing" to refer to the VR not moving (I could also write "stationary", but it is too long
).
Half-Cancel
somepunk wrote:I believe the technical term is selective fire, a few CW on other VR (such as Cypher's LTCW) can use it as well.
I've always called it "half-cancelling". This is
critical for Grys-Vok usage. For most styles, various CW attacks are used heavily, and you can half-cancel things with interesting results. I'm so used to it, I do it without even thinking, mainly only noticeable if I use another VR... for any CW attack, I let go of the right trigger slightly before the left.
Half-cancelling some Grys-Vok CW attacks (most of the useful ones) actually has no effect other than reducing the gauge usage! So for example, doing it with cLTCW will result in the exact same missiles being launched, just with less gauge usage. You can actually throw out a ton of half-cancelled cLTCW in short succession by cancelling the delay time by rotating... so like cLTCW -> rotate slightly -> cLTCW -> rotate... etc. Doing it 10 times in a row is useless in a real match since you would never want to be stationary that long, but sometimes I'll do two in a row. cCW can work similar to this one.
In VER.5.4/5.45, you can even half-cancel jRTCW, so if timed correctly you can do it twice in a row. This was changed for VER.5.66.
Walking -> Crouch "Combo"
somepunk wrote:So menthol, how bout some double napalm?
Man, you just had to go and get me started, didn't you? Here's a sample video of some napalm technique:
http://www.oratan.com/videos/tech_0-napalm/
Double napalm is a staple of most Grys-Vok strategies. It is based on a standard "combo", if you want to call it that, that works with many VRs and attacks (for example, Bal can do double mines).
With Grys-Vok, double napalm is done by walking LW followed immediately by walking cLW. The result is obviously an LW followed by a cLW, but less obvious is that the gauge usage is
only the LW! So the cLW is "free". With this combo, things get particularly interesting with Grys-Vok. You can do walking RW followed by
three walking cCWs, with one of the cCWs being free. Without the combo you can only do two walking cCWs. This one is pretty useful in combination with other harassment attacks to get a few hits, like when you opponent is low on health and you just need a few more hits. So for example, I'll do a standing cRTLW, then jRTCW, then the triple walking cCW. It can be hard to avoid at least getting hit by something!
Or at least, it's hard not to be distracted enough while I go in for the kill with some dashing cRW.
You can also do walking RW followed by cLW, and guess what? The gauge usage is
only the RW, so you get a free cLW. This is known as 0-napalm. Obviously this would be a bit too useful, so it was toned down by the developers. You can only get the free cLW if the LW gauge is within a certain range (around 50-65%, but I don't know exactly since I go by the color... kind of purple-bluish
), and the timing is particularly strict. I'm unable to consistently do 0-napalm with a 100% success rate yet. Though I have my timing down, I can be engulfed in napalm for a long time. Combined with careful usage of obstacles and the lock on information (remember, with napalm you cannot see your opponent, only the lock on), this is pretty powerful in some cases. So it is something like, double-napalm -> 0-napalm -> double-napalm -> some other attack and/or reorientate to opponent -> 0-napalm -> double-napalm -> attack/reorientate -> 0-napalm -> double-napalm -> attack/reorientate -> etc.
Crouch chaining
For Grys-Vok, and probably some other VRs, some of these crouching attacks can be chained into others. For example, do a double-napalm or 0-napalm followed immediately by cCW once or twice, and while you are still slide-crouching from the walking cLW, you will throw out one or two cCW. You can also throw out cRW.
It works for other standard moves, e.g. just do a walking or standing cLW, then cRW. Or do a standing cLW, then cLTRW, or cLTLW. Or do standing cRW, then cLTRW. There are a lot of variations.
Animation frame cancelling
somepunk wrote:During the opening frames when the CW dual lasers begin
Another technique that can be useful in this situation (and of course others) is the instant lasers, which is a variation of the "weapon animation frame cancel" (I'm not sure of the official name). With Raiden, do an RW followed
immediately by CW (or RTCW)... and I mean immediately, as in before the RW even comes out! The result is lasers that come out nearly instantly... basically you see the start of the RW animation, then lasers come out with almost no animation (or "instantly"). You can't half-cancel this (I guess you could try it, just press the CW and then release one of the triggers within 1/60th of a second
), and I'm not sure if you can dash out of it. Another Raiden variation that comes to mind is LW -> RW (or similar, maybe LW -> RTRW, or something).
This of course works with other VRs, and doesn't necessary have to be that fast. For example, with Grys-Vok you can do a standing RW followed by RTCW, and the RTCW will start sooner. Or you can do it with more basic attacks... with Grys-Vok, try standing LW -> CW, or standing RW -> CW. You can do this fast, and only have the latter attack come out, or do it slightly slower, and have both come out, with the first attack's animation eliminated. I do the slower LW -> CW occasionally as a round opens... it will actually stop Raiden's CW, in which case I might then be able to chase Raiden immediately without fear of lasers.
Freeze cancelling
This is not necessarily an advanced technique, but it can be in certain ways. If you're not cancelling all of your freezes, you better start now. Freeze cancelling is just doing certain attacks when your VR would otherwise be frozen, such as at the end of a dash or dash attack, or landing from a jump, then dash or walk out of it. Any quick attack will actually work, but as you know the duration of certain attacks is shorter than others, and thus you will normally want to use those quick attacks. This typically means cLT weapon variations.
How does this get advanced? Well, there is a variation with very strict timing. Basically I think it is semi-random, and probably requires nearly single frame precision. So, I can't tell you how to do it consistently, other than sometimes, occasionally, you will just
feel it and pull off a difficult/dangerous variation. However, I have seen some videos of people who could do it with a high success rate. I've seen it to cancel the freeze after standing up from a knockdown. This variation is probably useless and just too hard to be worth learning. I'm not sure about it working for jump freeze cancelling. Where it is useful is with the dash freeze.
Okay, so what is it? I don't know what it's called, I'll just call it the "bugged freeze cancel", since it straight up looks like a bug. Basically, at the right time during the freeze, you do an attack, literally
any attack, and it comes out "instantly", then followed by some kind of animation (for example, the animation that should have been shown before the attack coming out) or even another attack.
The most known and useful variation of this bugged variation is Raiden's V-Lasers. At the end of a dash, do a cCW. If you get the timing right, instead of Raiden going into the cCW animation, the lasers will come out immediately, usually
in a V-shaped pattern instead of parallel, with one going straight as normal, and the other going
straight towards the opponent, then followed by the cCW animation that "should" have come first. I've seen videos and replays of people who could apparently do this based on sound... they would do a forward dash cRW timed to have the gauge at a certain percentage such that the dashing cRW would be cut short and would have an audible "gauge empty" warning sound, then followed by the V-Lasers freeze cancel.
This bugged cancel works with every standing (stationary) attack. The ones with Grys-Vok are pretty cool and useful, but not "V-Laser cool". The cLTCW variation will end up being an instant standing LTCW followed by a regular cLTCW... so six missiles comes out instead of four... I see this variation regularly since I use the cLTCW a lot for freeze cancelling. The cRTCW variation is super-cool, too, and maybe my personal favorite... the result is the first pair of standing RTCW missiles come out instantly, then followed by a cRTCW (ICBM) that fails due to lack of gauge (I don't see this much because I normally would never do a cRTCW for freeze cancelling purposes). cRTLW is cool also, it will be an instant RTLW followed by a gauge-insufficient-cancelled cRTLW. Others are less dramatic... cRTRW will be one instant missile from standing RTRW, followed by a few cRTRW. I do see the cLTLW variation pretty often, but it's not dramatic... just a single instant standing LTLW "blue bullet" followed by a single cLTLW (only a single one since I will always dash or walk cancel it).
Nice MM! Thanks!