[CSE] Hakumen Q & A: New players check here first

[psycofang2]

vs smaller hit boxes like his or the noel series use 5B vs larger hitboxes use 2C

[RoKn]

The 5B did make things easier, I don't feel so rushed anymore. I still can't get the BnB down consistently on Hazama though. I conclude that his hitbox is god damn stupid, because I find it far easier to execute it on Carl of all characters, than Hazama. If I could have a list of what characters to 5B/2C, that'd be great, thanks.

On a side note, if anything, this BnB will make me cave for a fightstick (Yes, I use the 360 analog, don't hurt me). The bit from the 2C sjc j.2A 66 j.2A has to be the most annoying shit to do. Shifting the analog from 2 to 66 will usually get me a 63 or 36 because I need to go back to a 2 for the j.2A again quickly, which makes the air dash fail.

[Wander]

Is wake up tk hotaru practicable? Or is it too slow, I always get poked out of it.

[psycofang2]

depends on which wake up.

on neut tech and quick tech 2147B is practical to get out of heavy situations, but do not rely on it.

if they back dash on your tech to avoid a predicted hotaru then run back in to pressure 66214B works quite well vs such a situation. though as i said, dont rely on it.

[Mr. Kimura]

So I've been playing Hakumen a bit and messing with combos and stuff, but what are some good blockstrings/confirm strings into combos with him? I can figure some out but I'm kinda curious as to the tightest strings possible.

And being a Bang player and having combo tools off of everything, what good is Hakumen's 6B? How is it used to my advantage?

[zreb]

You can do just about nothing with 6B. No gatlings, can't be special or rapid cancelled. They buffed its damage a little in CS2, but it's still a gimmick (as far as I know). The only thing it cancels into are ground parries, but that doesn't help on hit and should probably be used sparingly on block since it's very unsafe.

[mAc Chaos]

Use it to make people afraid to autoblock low and to beat out 2A mashing and such. Alas, it did the same job in CT, but you got a combo for your effort.

[Ronin Jinobi]

If(really big if) you get CH off of the second hit of 6B you can follow up with a combo, however this is very unlikely to happen unless they're hit box becomes super close to the ground. Other than that basically what mac and zreb said.

[Mr. Kimura]

Makes sense. I also need work on hitconfirming, but that is something I got to work on my own.

[rawrrawr45]

On a side note, if anything, this BnB will make me cave for a fightstick (Yes, I use the 360 analog, don't hurt me). The bit from the 2C sjc j.2A 66 j.2A has to be the most annoying shit to do. Shifting the analog from 2 to 66 will usually get me a 63 or 36 because I need to go back to a 2 for the j.2A again quickly, which makes the air dash fail.

I had trouble with the IAD after the j.2A when I first started off as well. If it helps, I find that I actually have enough time during the j.2A's recovery to return to neutral and then put in the IAD. In other words, I find it more effective to not roll the input so that it gives you 2A>366, but more like 2A>5>(delay)>66.

Also, IIRC the IAD needs to be delayed by a significant amount of time after the j.2A; the IAD might not be failing from the 63/36 input so much as the timing of the IAD?

Hope that helps.

[Rudi]

You can do just about nothing with 6B. No gatlings, can't be special or rapid cancelled. They buffed its damage a little in CS2, but it's still a gimmick (as far as I know). The only thing it cancels into are ground parries, but that doesn't help on hit and should probably be used sparingly on block since it's very unsafe.

It can be rapid canceled. As mAc Chaos said, you could use it to make them block high more so you could get more lows in. It's not really a gimmick, it just simply increases the amount of options you have just by using it once or twice.

[zreb]

it wasn't RCable at the time of my posting that. :p

After being more acquainted with CS2 now, yes, I realize it isn't nearly as gimmicky as I first believed.

[TSHKN]

I had questions about Yukikaze i wanted to know if this was glitch or not if P1 does Yukikaze P2 get hit by Yukikaze then RCs and keep his meter.

tested it on CT and CS2

[zreb]

They can't actually RC it. I don't know if it qualifies as a glitch or not, but even if they hit RC they aren't actually able to do anything because there are no frames for P2 between Yukikaze activating and Hakumen striking (or something of that nature).

I suppose it probably shouldn't do the rapid anim or whatever, but then you wouldn't get the satisfaction that they tried :p

[Isuna]

Hello, everyone!

BlazBlue is really the first fighting game I have every played (at least seriously) and playing it on the 360's d-pad does not make it easier. But last night I trained some at the dustloop, but there is still a long way to go.

I can make the individual steps in it, but cannot connect them as of yet.

I really like Zanshin, so I wonder, is there any easy combos that doesn't include too many dashes, steps or normals for ↓D or →D?

(Step and Dash is quite hard to do on the d-pad, and also messes up my poor timing. I can't even complete that challenge with ↓B ↓A A B Guren ↘C as my timing between these quick A's and B's are still a problem for me)

Standing D ⇒ Standing C ⇒ Guren ⇒ →C is 2123 for 1 metre and only contains specials and C's.

If I have three metres I usually go for Zantetsu for more damage (I suppose Renka is ment to be special cancelled?).

But there are no obvious way except for air combos on ↓D and →D. I suppose you can hit late with standing C after ↓D, but what to follow up with? I usually follow up →D with →C for som 1.8k damage, which still is not too bad at my level, but it feels unsatisfactionary.

So until I learn the dustloop, what kind of ground combos for Zanshin are there?

[zreb]

It's fully understandable for dashing to be a barrier on xbox dpad.

For ↓D and →D, you can do basically standard combos for it while skipping the air dash between the two ↓As and go straight to C. It's not optimal and has way less carry, but there's nothing stopping you really.

For Renka, you are supposed to cancel it with something before the 2nd hit because the 2nd hit has bad combo proration. Gurren in most cases midscreen, Kishuu in the corner for the BNB there.

For →D: →D ⇒ walk a little ⇒ forward jump ⇒ falling ↓C ⇒ Either ↓C or C ⇒ whatever. Gurren into more stuff for C, standard air finisher for ↓C.

There isn't a whole lot of room for variation in combos without dustloop. It is very much a staple for Hakumen's combos. If you want to cut those things from gameplay so that you can actually play the game it's fine, but you aren't going to get anything that really compares in most cases. If dashing and timing feels too difficult, I'd recommend you grind those things in training mode until it feels more intuitive. If the 360 pad just feels too bad, you might want to try the stick instead. I knew people who played on the analog stick--though I never personally was any good at it.

Practice practice practice! You'll get better with time.

[SansProtocol]

For 6D (→D):

• 6D > Hop (His Dash) > 5C > Gurren > 6C [2123]
  
• 6D > step and jump forward > falling j.2C > 5C > Gurren > 6C [2336]
  
• 6D > Hop > 5C > Zantetsu > 3C [2634]
  

For 2D (↓D), you're going to have to bite the bullet.

I use the 360 pad and the dashing does take a bit of time to get used to. However, I can do everything I need to just fine now on it so just keep practicing.

[Isuna]

I am not giving up the d-pad. : p

(I do have that new controller with a proper cross, so it is some 1% better than the usual 360's)

I tried my friends stick but it did not feel right, well probably one just need to get used to it, but I am casual gamer so it feels a little too much for me. I would rather do a port with a better d-pad than invest in a stick. :3

In fact I started out on the 360 stick but switched to the d-pad for more precision. I like that I only need to move the thumb and that it can rest upon the d-pad.

Thanks, so I guess it is just a matter of moving forward before starting the other combos. ;3

I will keep on training though! Like I said I can do the individual parts (at least facing right), but I need to learn it to do, like you said, inuitively.

[MAdBater]

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox360-Fighting-Stick-VX-Xbox-360/dp/B0057WDE8Q/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1313264561&sr=8-7 this is only 70 bucks save you hands from the pain of extended play in fgs. But if you really prefer carpaltunnel that is up to you.

[NeoArtisan]

Hey just picked up the game a couple of days ago so im a bit new to this, just have a few questions.

Does hakumen have any good mixups? i couldnt come up with anything other than mixing in the usual 6B or doing double overheads using tsubaki, and even those i cant follow up outside the corner.

What are some good follow ups to hotaru midscreen?

Any good combos that dont use any magatama or only use 1?

How does yukizake work exactly? does it counter everything or are there certain attacks that can knock you out of it.

[mAc Chaos]

Yukikaze counters all attacks, but not throws. I wouldn't rely on it though. 4 stars is a lot.

Hakumen isn't really a mix up character. All of his attacks are slow and cumbersome. You can still do mixups, indirectly, by using frame traps, which is the best way to get your opponent confused with Hakumen. Basically you can link your moves together when they're blocking in such a way that there's just enough of a gap for the opponent to think they have a chance to use an attack, but the gap is small enough that they won't have time to actually land it. Instead they'll end up not blocking and get hit, letting you do your combo. You can also mix in throws, and the ocassional overhead; Tsubaki is very strong. Basically Hakumen's best mixup is to make your opponent think it's safe to throw out a move and then hit them over the head because they were wrong. You have to learn where the gaps are in your moves to use that effectively though.

Hotaru has two different followups, based on whether or not its a counter hit. A counter hit is when you hit them out of a move; usually if you do that they get stunned longer.

Non-counter: all you can do is IAD after them and j.2A > j.C usually, but if you're close enough to the corner you can do Hotaru > land > IAD j.C > land > Gurren > 2C > j.2A > falling j.2C > j.2A > IAD j.2A > j.2A > j.C > 5C > 3C. I'm not quite sure if that's 100% correct so you should look at the combo thread.

And for counter hit: Hotaru > land > IAD j.2C > 2C > j.2A > IAD j.2A > falling j.2A > 2C > j.2A > IAD j.2A > j.2A > j.C > 5C > 3C.

Both of those are execution intensive.

As for 1 star combos or combos that are cheap, those you can get off a 3C counter hit (CH), counters, or any anti air.

You should go look at some combo videos in the video thread, or watch some videos of JP Hakumens playing and take your combos from them.

Edited August 25, 2011 by mAc Chaos

[zreb]

Hakumen's mixup is not very good compared to a more traditional character like Ragna or Makoto. You may or may not get more mileage off strike/throw than high/low type mixup since Hakumen's overheads are so costly (though they are very much worth it if you can land a hit with them!) View this post for some basic ideas. Note that anything involving Kishuu (Hakumen's command dash) tends to be even more effective now because it is significantly faster than the time of the writing of that post.

What you can do midscreen with Hotaru depends on your height and if it's a counterhit or not.

Hotaru -> IAD j.2A -> j.C (-> 5C -> 3C if in corner) is one that will work for all TK or hop hotarus. If you nailed a Fatal with it, use:

Hotaru -> IAD j.2C -> 2C -> j.2A -> AD j.2A -> j.C

This one requires stricter timing.

If you did a hotaru high enough off the ground, you can just do an air dash instead of IAD into j.2C, 2c, etc. This theoretically works without counterhit, but the spacing is very sensitive and difficult to work with without it being combo'd into.

Anti-airing with 2C will net you about 2000 damage meterless.

Pretty much all of Hakumen's parries lead to meterless damage (except j.D).

3c counterhit (or if they failed to emergency tech for non counterhit) -> 2b -> Gurren -> etc. is a 1 star combo that works midscreen.

Throws can be combo'd meterless in the corner.

Check out this thread for a plethora of (mostly) optimal CS2 combos.

Yukikaze will counter all attacks (high, low, mid, and projectiles) from frames 1 to 27. It does not stop unblockables (such as Tsubaki's 22D) and it does not stop throws. If it counters a projectile, the opponent will be able to avoid it.

oh no slow typan games

Edited August 25, 2011 by zreb

[NeoArtisan]

sigh guess i need to start practicing IADs, can hardly do them at all without button dashes like mvc3.

Anyway thx guys il start trying this stuff out.

[mAc Chaos]

Focus on his falling j.2C combos first. Stuff like 5C > 623AA > falling j.2C > 2C > j2A > IAD j.2A > j.C. That's the core of his combos.

[NeoArtisan]

im feeling a little helpless with hakumen atm, how exactly are you supposed to use him? i mean from what i understand he's supposed to be used defensively especially when you're low on meter and i do try to do that using AAs and 4C but that doesnt always work because of his slow attacks and its surprising how often my 4C gets interrupted. Once a good rushdown characters gets in i usually cant do anything, i sometimes try to use a counter but these seem rly risky since they're active for a very short time but still not fast enough to be hard to punish. His counters seem a bit high risk - low reward, if it fails you get counter hit and can end up taking a lot of damage and if it works you get a limited combo.

Also isnt hakuman supposed to be a high damage character? because outside the corner his damage is average at best, i know he can do good damage in the corner but cant a lot of characters already do that? maybe not to the same level as hakuman but a lot of them have better midscreen combos as well. It's like outside of spending 3+ stars the optimal damage seems to be 2-2.5k. The reason this rly bothers me is that AFAIK hakumen suffers from all the disadvantages that heavy hitters usually have like bad mobility, very slow, bad hit confirms which are all supposed to be balanced out by being able to do good damage when you manage to get a hit in.