[Other: Q&A] Rachel Alucard Gameplay Questions and Answers

[ざわ…ざわ]

Head of the infamous Alucard vampire family, Rachel has spent countless years watching as the world repeated the same 100 years over and over. However, the world has finally broken free of the bonds that held it for so long, and Rachel is determined to put an end to Terumi with her own hands.

 

In the BlazBlue universe, Rachel is an extremely powerful individual, controlling wind and lightning. While she will rarely directly interfere with the events that surround Kagutsuchi, her primary goal is as an observer, and gently (or less so) nudges the pieces into their places. She has several servants under her command; Nago, a cat familiar, and Gii, a bat familiar, which serve as her weapons, furniture, and anger relief. Her butler, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing, is also notable for being a werewolf, as well as one of the Six Heroes.

 

Height: 4'7"

Weight: 68 lbs

Blood Type: Unknown

Birthday: October 31

Birthplace: Transylvania

 

Hobby: Teatime

Likes: Sweet things

Dislikes: Being bored, bell peppers, tomato juice

 

 

Contents

 

• Gameplay Summary
• Move List
• Tips
• Further Reading
  
  
  Gameplay Summary
  
  Health: 11000
  Guard Primers: 4
  
  Rachel is a very unique character who specializes in keeping her opponent at a distance with a variety of projectiles and traps that make it difficult for opponents to approach her safely. She is also extremely effective at keeping the opponent in the corner, and has very intimidating corner mix-up. Her Drive, Sylpheed, makes her one of the most mobile characters in the game.
  
  On the flip side, Rachel has very few ways to escape pressure, a very fat OTG hitbox, and most of her normals have fairly short range. She is definitely not a beginner level character and her play style may prove difficult to learn for people new to fighting games.
  
  However, her unique play style and charm cannot be found anywhere else in BlazBlue. With a little patience and perseverance, she can be one of the most exciting and fun characters to play.
  
  
  Move List
  
  Sylpheed: Any Direction+
  Rachel's Drive summons a gust of wind that pushes in the direction pressed. Wind is held in the Sylpheed Gauge above Rachel's heat bar. There are 4 Wind Stocks; using her Drive will consume 1 stock. Consumed wind will regenerate slowly while Rachel is on the ground.
  
  This wind does a variety of things:
  • Affects Rachel's movement greatly.
  • Affects opponent's movement slightly.
  • Affects the movement of Tiny Lobelia, Impish Gypsophilia, and George the XIII.

   

  You can use the wind at any time that Rachel is not being hit or blocking.

   

   

  Special Moves

  Tiny Lobelia - +:abt:/:bbt:/:cbt: (can be used mid-air)

  Rachel launches a seed projectile, which will turn into a rod upon hitting the ground/opponent. The trajectory depends on the button pressed; A fires the lowest, B fires somewhat upwards, C fires even higher. In the air, this is reversed; A fires the highest, and C fires the lowest.

   

  A maximum of 3 rods can be placed at once, with the oldest disappearing if more are placed.

   

  Sword Iris - + (can be used mid-air)

  The rods placed by Tiny Lobelia are struck by lightning, damaging the opponent and shocking them on hit. Extends to the entire height of the screen. Seeds that have hit the opponent but not turned into visual rods yet will also be struck.

   

  Impish Gypsophilia - + (can be used mid-air)

  Summons a flying pumpkin in front of Rachel. The pumpkin is inactive until pushed by Sylpheed, at which point it becomes a flying projectile that will hit the opponent. Will disappear after it's hit the opponent 3 times, if Rachel blocks or takes a hit, or after 3 seconds have passed without being winded.

   

  This is used mostly to approach the opponent safely or pressure them at a distance, usually in conjunction with George. In CS2, pumpkin travels much faster and farther.

   

  George the XIII - + (can be used mid-air)

  Summons a frog in front of Rachel. George will slowly crawl towards the direction of the opponent, and can be pushed towards the enemy with Sylpheed. Upon contact, George will start shocking the opponent (8 hits total). George will disappear if Rachel is hit by an attack, if it takes 700+ damage, or after 9 seconds have passed. If George becomes active, when he disappears Rachel must wait 2 seconds before she can summon George again (indicated by a Frog gauge that appears).

   

  George is one of Rachel's most important tools. An opponent blocking or getting hit by George is one ripe for mix-up/combos. On the defensive, if George is active, Rachel can wind him towards her to escape block strings and punish overzealous opponents. He's also great to throw out after a knockdown, and contributes heavily to Rachel's corner game.

   

  Beelze Lotus - :d:+ (can be used mid-air)

  Transforms Rachel's rods into bats that track to the opponent. If they touch the opponent (hit or block), all wind effects will be increased against the opponent. Useful for combos and controlling space.

   

  Barrel Lotus - :d:+ (can be used mid-air)

  Transforms Rachel's rods into bats that track to the opponent. If they touch the opponent (hit or block), Rachel's 5D will home in on the opponent. Allows Rachel to move with wind in directions that are normally not available to her.

   

   

  Distortion Drives & Astral Heat

  Baden Baden Lily - + (can be used mid-air)

  A bigger, badder, stronger version of Sword Iris. In addition to striking all Lobelia rods, lightning also surrounds Rachel, essentially turning herself into one.

   

  Corner combos in CP often involve setting up multiple rods before comboing the opponent into a Baden Baden Lily for large amounts of damage.

   

  Tempest Dahlia - + (can be used mid-air)

  On use, Rachel summons gigantic projectiles from behind her that gust towards the opponent. The number and type of projectiles depend on how many winds Rachel had when she used the move; there are a total of five levels.

   

  Tempest Dahlia is used as a defensive DD. It is mainly used to stall for time or regain a lot of wind (ground version only). It can be used to punish opponents who are recklessly jumping or air dashing in, but (due to heavy proration on the last projectile) Rachel cannot get much damage from it.

   

  The closer Rachel's back is to the corner, the faster the projectiles will appear on screen. Also, once a projectile appears on screen, it's active frames are guaranteed.

   

  All versions are plus on block and Rachel is able to move while the super is still in progress. Thus, she can get in mix ups where both she and her opponent are obscured by King George or King Pumpkin.

   

  Clownish Calendula -

  Rachel's Astral Heat. She pulls down her umbrella and summons a giant pillar of red. Any contact the opponent makes with this pillar is game over for them. Guard point from the freeze until the end of the move. Wind can be used to the draw the opponent into the pillar. In CP, this move was made blockable, however it can now be combo'd into from a number of moves.

   

   

  Normals

  - Rachel slaps the opponent. Hits twice. Jump cancellable.

  - Rachel jabs with Nago's tail.

  - Rachel's cat uppercut. Has a short upper body guard point, and is a solid anti-air. Air unblockable.

  j. - Mid-air cat paw. Very fast and sneaky overhead.

   

  - Rachel summons a small vortex of wind in front of her. Air unblockable. Jump cancellable.

  - Similar to above. Must be blocked low.

  - Rachel swings back and stabs the opponent with a bat wing. Must be blocked high. Air unblockable.

  - Rachel stabs forward with a fork and knife. Longest normal, blows back on counter hit. Blow back is very useful for getting a safe summon. On normal hit can be used for mix up. Invaluable against Sledge happy Tagers. Jump cancellable. Air unblockable.

  j. - Rachel stabs with part of her dress. Must be blocked high. Part of her mix-up.

   

  - Short swordbrella stab. Fatal Counter. Air unblockable.

  * - Follow up to C (press C again). Second hit blows back opponent. Used in corner combos or to hit the opponent into the corner. Corner bounds. Air unblockable.

  - Rachel spins around in mid-air, hitting the opponent many times. Used with Sylpheed to push Rachel forward. With wind, can be cancelled into a super low to the ground j.2C. Rachel's only plus normal (+4).

  - Rachel spins on the ground. Sweep that hits 3 times. Must be blocked low. You can hold C for additional hits. Mostly used for a knockdown to set up Pumpkin or George, but is also used in mix up to combo into a BnB. Can be combo'd with wind.

  - Rachel's cat chair. Guard point for about half a second. Very important, very risky, very necessary at times. Can be used to escape pressure sometimes. Air unblockable.

  j. - Rachel's umbrella spikes. Must be blocked high. Pretty good air to air. If held, transitions into j.[]

  j.[] - Rachel sits upon a swing and slowly floats down. Slows descent, freely pushed by Sylpheed.

  j. - Rachel crashes down to the ground on a spiked platform. There are three different levels of this move:

   

  Level 1 - Standard hit.

  Level 2 - Bounces on hit.

  Level 3 - Bounces higher, fatal counter even on normal hit.

   

  The level is determined by Rachel's momentum and the opponent's momentum. You can increase this with 2D when coming down, with 8D while jumping upwards, or both. Due to being able to chain into normals on landing, j.2C is now used for a lot of things.

   

   

  Tips

   

   

  Further Reading

   

   

  [*][CP] Rachel Combo Thread

  [*][CP] Rachel Alucard Frame Data

  [*][CP] Rachel Video Thread

  [*][CP] Rachel International Videos + Critiques

   

   

[Kuuhaku]

Since I couldn't figure a way to juggle the beginner thread and the general discussion thread, that kind of discussion goes here now. Any general questions and advice to Rachel game play can be discussed here.

[shishiwawa]

Is it possible to TK Tiny lobelia? I tried to use 2369 motion but it doesn't work.

I want to do it really low like how you do a TK Iris.

[fatjoe400]

Is it possible to TK Tiny lobelia? I tried to use 2369 motion but it doesn't work.

I want to do it really low like how you do a TK Iris.

Not possible to TK the Tiny lobelia close to the ground (can with the pumpkin), but you can do something else with that input. A236 combined with 9D can send the lobelia in a nice horizontal trajectory.

[shishiwawa]

Not possible to TK the Tiny lobelia close to the ground (can with the pumpkin), but you can do something else with that input. A236 combined with 9D can send the lobelia in a nice horizontal trajectory.

I wanted to try a TK lobelia C if it can make low pokes whiff then punish with the counter hit lobelia to BBL.

too bad I can't. Thanks anyway

[calendula]

Lobelia has this height restriction I assume so its impossible, even if you wind yourself downwards.

Some interesting fact is when you fire a lobelia mid-air using © or (B) version, then you cant alter Rachel's course using wind. The shot automatically lock you on that position.

Only (A) version can be winded.

[fatjoe400]

Found a useful gimmick in one of the Mazo vs. Kaqn matches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPzSUFb8Xfc)

Around 00:40 Mazo uses 5D during a neutral tech (grabbing Kaqn in the process). Decided to test this out in some of my matches today, and it seems to work pretty good. Help out a lot in my Hazama and Hakuman matchups.

[calendula]

Tech + Wind has its own benefits, though like most trick it should be use with moderation. There are times that your opponent might adapt to you strategy and throw you instead.

I find this trick useful against lamda, if they manage to blow you full screen and began to summon spike chaser then with the right timing you can use this trick to immediently jump into their faces.

Also if someone burst juring your combo or pressure then just tech mid-air then airdash +wind. Though the timing can be a lot stricter.

[fatjoe400]

Only fought one Rachel (since game release) that used that tactic on me. Crazy that something so simple can make someone second guess your wakeup options. After fighting I immediately started playing around with it in training mode. Feels like every new Rachel technic I learn is a levelup. New possibilities and more ways to annoy your opponent:yaaay:

[calendula]

Then you should add TK iris to your list. It's may not look that impressive but it works like a charm as a pressure tool on corner.

[fatjoe400]

I've been using that ever since the release of CS, and its one of my favorite pressure tools in the corner. The air lightning would probably be one of my favorite buffs Rachel received in the CS. Tried to play CT Rachel again, but found her too stiff compared to CS Rachel. Also found that playing CS Rachel made my average CT Rachel godly. Seems that nerfs forces you to either get better or switch mains.

[Zork787]

Well as a BB and Rachel beginner any its, tricks and general help with learning both game as well as Rachels moves, combos, ect is greatly welcome.

[blakmaphia]

Go to challenge mode to learn the basics of how Rachel plays and what comboes with what.

[calendula]

Well as a BB and Rachel beginner any its, tricks and general help with learning both game as well as Rachels moves, combos, ect is greatly welcome.

Like blackmaphia said, try the -Challenge Mode- . Most of them are useful for begginers.

Much better if you tried the -Tutorial Section- about Rachel, you'll learn her basic combo path there. Most of what said on that section is true, except for the part that they mention that cat punch is a good anti-air tool something about 5cc. For further reading, you better check Rachel's Frame data here on Dustloop. You can find her Gatling chart there. This is importatnt since you'll know which attacks connects to which so that can avoid making gaps during your blockstring.

After that try what you learned out, you'll find it much easy to learn when you're actually playing.

Remember

5a and 2a are really good pokes, you'll gonna suffer from alot of proration but scoring a hit and dealing damage is your goal. Deal with it.

Never summon anything if you're within enemy range

Learn Rachel Pro-strat Time up game, sj.8 > (8d x wind) > 236c,

That's for all now, Rachel is a complex character to begin with, try to take everything slow and move on othere parts as you become confident with your skills.

[Kirnupiima]

Learn Rachel Pro-strat Time up game, sj.8 > (8d x wind) > 236c,

Would you explain this please?

I'm also starting out as Rachel, finished challenge 6 today after a nice struggle. Is the 5A-dash->B.. and so on useful to master if you keep network play in mind? Seems like a risky thing to try if you have any sorts of lag, because at least for me the timing had to be pretty spot on to hit with B.

[calendula]

sj.8 > (8d x wind) > 236c

It's a viable strategy to pull when you have enough life lead, has enough wind stock and time is almost out.

If you just want to play safe rather than beating the living daylight out of your opponent then when you have the opportunity, simpy do a super jump and wind your self upward sj.8 > (8d x wind). If you ran out of wind then spam as many lobelia© as you can. Do it as fast and precise as possible since your life depended on it. This strategy will keep you out of harms way for quite some time. Depending on your wind stock and how fast you shoot those lobelias

Though this isn't fool proof, some attacks can still reach you.

Arakune's lazers, if you're still off screen then the lazers wont hit you, but as you decend then it will.

Litchi's tsubame, it will definitely hit you

Carl's fermata, like Arakune, it will hit at some point if you decended low enough. I recall seeing an old vid were matsu was hit by it while performing this mamouver and lost thye match.

Rachel's Sword Iris and BBL,

Bang's nail super, the umbrella will follow you even if you're off screen.

I believe there are some other attacks that can be used against this, but this is what I know and what I have confirmed.

As for 5A-dash->B online, I'm not so sure. I haven't played online for quite some time now because of the lag. But since 4b hits when playing online then I guess it's viable.

Though I won't recommend it, since 5b is a little slow, your opponent can simply out poke you if they react accordingly. Also doing 5a means you've got to be close so peroforming a dash and 5b is somewhat a giveaway. You can try substituting 5a with 2a since it has longer range and still comes out pretty fast.

[Zork787]

ok I don't know what the heck I'm doing wrong, but I've decided to go back to Rachel mission 3 to practise her combos with my Madkatz SF4 Tourney Edition fightstick, whenever I do the superjump Bang CONSTANTLY dodge rolls out of it and its Rage INDUCING to no end, though as soon as do the superjump I input b a b c as soon as I can (aka button mash the combo in) am I maybe imputing the buttons too soon or something, cos its driving me nuts and even when i try to input the buttons a bit slower, my natural reaction kicks in and I button mash like a loony, I'm just hoping that goes away with practise =/

[Hoshi no Kaabii]

Okay, I have a question. When bursting with Rachel, I know the gold uses a wind, but is there anyway to stop it otherwise? I find myself dry of wind after attempting to burst. I know you're not supposed to be able to wind while being hit but despite this it still happens randomly. Sometimes I wind, sometimes I don't. Is there any way to tell when I will wind so I can attempt to conserve my slypheed?

[gli]

There is no way to stop consuming one wind while bursting. You just have to compensate by holding a direction while you burst. Most of the time you want to hold up so you can combo easier if Gold Burst connects. Otherwise neutral burst works fine for blowing away your opponent.

[Hoshi no Kaabii]

Alright, thanks Glirandly. I guess I'll just have to make the best of it. I was also wondering about the autocorrect in the air when using specials. Whether I crossed them up mid-combo or they run under me, it will take my inputs in reverse despite how long I wait. I'll go to shoot a lobelia and end up throwing George instead. Is there a trick or reason, or am just going to need to adjust?

[gli]

That particular issue is a bug that exists in CS. That problem is fixed in CS2.

[snipingsnipe]

Using one wind to burst never really bugged me, carl goes through the same thing, he just gets damage off his

[Kuuhaku]

Considering updating this stuff with CS2 information since (as far as I'm concerned) CS1 died today. Any objections?

[tofurr]

Nope.

[Alex073088]

i need help with the spike/sweet spot combos with rachel. is it better to super jump j.c then do it or normal jump?

edit: yes its better to super jump c, then double jump wind, j.2c