[P4A] Chie Beginners Guide

[ZomB]

Purpose:

This is a a guide for beginners to Chie. If you are a seasoned player you probably won't be able to learn much from this, but for players looking for somewhere to start -- this should offer everything you need.

What are the advantages to playing Chie?

• Incredibly Fast
  
• High Damage
  
• Great Knockdown Game
  
• Excellent Awakening Super
  
  
  What are the disadvantages to playing Chie?
  
  • Mediocre Footsies
    
  • No Fullscreen Options (without awakening)
    

  General Gameplan:

  At neutral use your movement options to get in on your opponent and land a hit. Find a way to convert this hit to a knockdown. Lay down Tomoe for okizeme and run a mixup. If it succeeds, knock the opponent down again until they are low enough to finish with meter.

  When executed correctly, Chie will generally kill most of the cast before they can enter Awakening mode.

  This guide will cover the combos and pressure strings necessary to do the above, but the method of scoring your first hit will vary greatly from match to match.

  Converting Hits to Knockdowns

  Chie has two moves which you will be looking to end your combos with. 2AB and 5AB. If you're comboing your opponent on the ground you'll want to end your combo with 2AB, if you're juggling them look for an opportunity to land 5AB. Listed below are some incredibly common combos that I find myself using multiple times per match.

Midscreen

2A 5AA 5B 2B 2AB

j.BB 5AA 5B 2B 2AB

air-to-air j.B(ch) 5B 5C j.C dj.BB 8D (land) 5AB

low air-to-air j.B 5A 5C j.C dj.BB 8D (land) 5AB


Corner

2A 5AA 5B 5C 2B 2C 5B 2AB

j.BB 5AA 5B 5C 2B 2C 5B 2AB

j.BB 5B 5C 2B 236A 236A 5B 5C 5AB (this combo doesn't work off of a 2a)

Setting Up The Mixup Now that you've knocked your opponent down you need to setup Tomoe to cover your mixup, how you do this depends on the type of knockdown as well as the character you are playing against. Off of 5AB knockdown, the best setup is to dash forward and use 2DD to get a meaty Tomoe, this is safe in most situations. Off of a 2AB knockdown, the best setup is 5DD, but characters with 5f jabs are able to escape this by jabbing Tomoe(Yu, Chie, Akihiko, Aigis, Yosuke?) and Mitsuru can avoid this with the invuln on 2B. Against these characters I recommend using j.2D to prepare your mixup. In the corner you're able to use 2DD which will hit them meaty. Assuming you set this up properly, you force your opponent to block. Performing the Mixup The most basic mixup you can perform here looks like this: Jump forward(hold back to block any DPs), then before you land you have two options: 1. High - low airdash j.BB 2. Low - land 2A If performed properly, the high and low in this mixup have the same timing - it's very difficult to block properly. Here are the pros and cons to each oki setup: 5DD : By far the cleanest setup. If they late tech, you may not want to perform the mixup since they'll be able to DP it. If they late tech and don't DP, they should still be in blockstun for you to get pressure. 2DD : Should always hit meaty. Some late techs may be able to avoid this entirely. Be careful of that. Mostly effective off of 5AB and corner knockdowns. j2D : Because you start this oki in the air, your mixup is impossible to perform on late techers. If you're unsure just wait for the last hit to put your opponent in blockstun before pressuring. If your opponent late techs a lot start airdashing over them. They'll wakeup in to a crossup and you can perform 5B 5C 2B 2C 5B 2AB even midscreen. My Opponent Blocked It! So your opponent managed to block your mixup and now you have the advantage of pressure, but not a combo. Let's talk about some of the tools Chie uses to pressure. 5A: This is a fantastic move. Hits on the 5th frame and is +1 on block. Against many characters you can perform 5A dash 5A and they are unable to perform anything inbetween outside of their furious action/roll. Just be wary of instant blocking since it both gives the opponent meter, and makes this +1 move in to a -1 move. 2A: Hits low. Can low profile a lot of moves. Chain in to this off 5A if you're concerned about your opponent moving in between jabs. You can chain out of this back into 5A. 5AB: Overhead. Use sparingly, since it's unsafe on block. 5C: High range and can be dash canceled on block. Lots of block stun. You can use this to catch your opponent's movement on a stagger. You can backdash this and cancel into 2DD for a mix-up if your opponent is blocking too much. These are your main pressure tools. The other moves do have some uses, but these are the ones I recommend for it. If you hit 5AB you can use these combos:

Midscreen

5AB-C(fatal) j.D (land, dash) 5B 5C 5AB

5AB-C(fatal) j.D (land, dash) 5B 5C 236B 236B 214C 236236D


Corner

5AB-D(fatal) 5B 5C 2D j.5D 5AB

5AB-D(fatal) 5B 5C 2D j.5D 236B 236B 214D 236236D

They keep DPing, help! The simplest answer is to bait a DP out and hit them with this punish, they'll be a lot less likely to DP in the future:

(counterhit combo)

5B(ch)2D dash 5B 5C j.C dj.BB j.8D 236B 236B 214C 236236D

Most characters can cancel their furious actions in to supers if you block them. I'll be making a video showing the best way to punish these in the near future. Great! Let's Finish Him! Now your opponent is low and you're ready to spend your meter to kill them. Use these combos to finish him off!

High Mixup, Corner:

j.BB 5B 5C 236A 236A 5B 5C 236B 236B 214D 236236D

Low Mixup, Corner:

2A 5B 5C 236A 236A 5B 5C 236B 236B 5B 5C 214C 236236D


Corner, Crouching(This combo is much easier than the above two. Watch out for crouchers in the corner!):

2A/j.BB -> 5B 5C 236B 236B 5C 236B 236B 214D 236236D


Midscreen, 50 Meter:

2A/j.BB -> 5B 2B 5C 236A 236A 214C 236236D


Midscreen, 50 Meter, Crouching + Awakening

2A/j.BB -> 5B 2B 5C 236A 236B 236D 214214C


Midscreen, 100 Meter

2A/j.BB -> 5B 2B 236A 236A 236236A dash 5C 236B 236B dash 5C dash 5A 5C 214C 236236D


Corner or Midscreen, Crouching, Burst, 50 meter)

2A/j.BB -> 5B 2B 236A 236B 214D OMB -> 5C 236B 236B 214C 236236D

 

I'm going to try to create and uploade video guides to go along with most of this content as well.

[ZomB]

Reserved.

[rivals]

Cool thread, thanks. I have a really bad habit of chaining into 2B during blockstrings which isn't that bad to do sparingly since you can jc into j.C and go from there, but I fall back on it a lot. The pressure section helps remind me that I need to work on keeping up safer pressure strings in general

[Dusk Thanatos]

A) Your combo section isn't really a beginner's combo section. Also, why no j.BB crouching hit combo in your corner combos? That 3k is insanely important, and even though it has a 5A link in it, it's not that hard to do.

B) Your pressure section isn't really that good. A very large amount of the time, Chie's pressure is about using 5A, and then doing something to beat your opponent's disrespect of choice. (For example, 5A 2DD beats people who try to A+C out of your stagger pressure, as does 5A throw. That's /really/ good knowledge to have, but I only got it from playing my friend and figuring it out; I didn't read it online anywhere.) You didn't explain how to actually -input- 5A stagger, which isn't very intuitive, since you need to input it as 4A (to stop autocombo from coming out) and use advanced input a fairly large amount of the time. You also didn't explain how 5A works as a DP bait, which is a very large part of why it's so scary.

Basically, you explain what the moves do, but not why they're important or how you use them.

Also, I know a large problem I had when I started doing stagger pressure with Chie was that I couldn't /get/ to the stagger pressure. If I was poking with 2A, 2A 5AA wasn't exactly my confirm of choice, since you hit with 2A at a range that's far greater than 5A's a lot of the time. As a result, a lot of my blockstrings would start with 2A 5B (autoconfirm string), and then, it'd be hard to get back to a point when I could do 5A staggers. That's when I really started to get the importance of dash cancel and jump cancel strings as Chie, since they let me reset from my weaker pressure into my bnb pressure. But you don't cover dash cancel or jump cancel strings at all, despite the fact that they're really important to Chie.

Overall, your problem is just that you're not explaining enough.

[Errol]

You don't have to input it as 4a, and I wouldn't be surprised if you are doing it too slow if you are. Anyway.

Neutral is the hardest part of playing, and the hardest part to explain.

[Amadeous]

Wow ZomB, nice work. Let me know what you plan on fleshing out, and we can talk about maybe stickying this as the official thread. Send me a PM whenever.

[OceanBlue]

Is there a trick to moving forward between the 4AA or is that just timing your 5As?

[Amadeous]

5A 66 5A. You jab, let the jab recover, input the dash, then jab again. The momentum of your dash carries you forward as you jab. Done correctly, you should barely see your dash at all, and you should never autocombo from it.

[OceanBlue]

In this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY6VHOoub6M

Kaicho does Black Spot and dashes in to 5A. Stunedge never tries mashing out. At least in what I've seen so far, Stunedge really only blocks or does more invincible things like DP or roll. Is that a frame trap? Does 214C really do enough blockstun to allow you to dash and 5A? Or does Yukiko have a slow 5A or something?

[ZomB]

214D is really +, I'm not sure about 214C, but it is probably + a few frames. Yukiko's 5A is 10f and Chie's is 5f though too, so it'd be a really poor choice for her to mash 5A.

[Errol]

what, no, 214C is negative on block. Yukiko has a 7f 2a so that's what she would use.

[Killerwatt]

Hey guys, just got this game and I'm making Chie my main, but I'm having trouble on what I should focus on in training mode. Can anyone give me something like a checklist of things to master first before I move on to harder stuff?

[Celerity]

Hey guys, just got this game and I'm making Chie my main, but I'm having trouble on what I should focus on in training mode. Can anyone give me something like a checklist of things to master first before I move on to harder stuff?

-Get a feel for your normals.

-Learn your pressure strings; if you want, you can set Yu to spam his B+D or his 5A while blocking.

-Get a feel for your movement options, mostly air turn. Set dummy to crouch block and practice 5D > 66 > D(followup to 5D) > 9 > A+C > 44 > j.B until it feels natural. In case the notation isn't clear, what you're trying to do is jump over your opponent's head with Tomoe protection, turn into an airdash, then either j.B overhead or land and 2A. Other characters have similar mixups.

-Combos: All of her combos are practical, but mostly focus on learning how to gatling anything into 2AB, and learn a few simple 50% meter combos. Avoid the habit of ending in 236C/D.

Most of learning the character is going to come from matchup experience, but that should get you started.

[LunaKage]

Very, very nice.

[Killerwatt]

For some reason, when I'm hitting an opponent with Rampage into Skull Cracker, they are able to counterattack with their reversal action. Is this supposed to happen or do I have to input the moves faster or something?

[TheSeltsamOne]

If your opponent blocks rampage they can DP before your skull cracker hits them. Really you should only rampage in the middle of a combo unless you're baiting a DP.

[Killerwatt]

If your opponent blocks rampage they can DP before your skull cracker hits them. Really you should only rampage in the middle of a combo unless you're baiting a DP.

That's the thing; I'm in the middle of comboing them, and they are able to use their reversal actions on me (Mitsuru and Yosuke especially). Can they hit Chie out of it while getting hit with it during a combo?

[Dusk Thanatos]

Make sure you're not yellow-beating your combo; it's only valid if the combo counter is red.

[TheSeltsamOne]

If you're using 236B and they hit you out of it then you may be too high for it to hit. Are you like, doing it out of the air?

[Killerwatt]

If you're using 236B and they hit you out of it then you may be too high for it to hit. Are you like, doing it out of the air?

I'm not sure I'm using 236B; and I'm doing it on the ground. Maybe I have to input the moves faster? How can I test in training mode?

[ZomB]

What combo in specific are you trying to perform? 236A~236B doesn't combo on standing opponents. 5C - 236B also won't combo on standing opponents.

If you're doing one of the juggles with 236B~236B and the skullcracker is dropping, you're probably mistiming the rampage(or the normals before it)

[Killerwatt]

What combo in specific are you trying to perform? 236A~236B doesn't combo on standing opponents. 5C - 236B also won't combo on standing opponents.

If you're doing one of the juggles with 236B~236B and the skullcracker is dropping, you're probably mistiming the rampage(or the normals before it)

I think the former is my problem; trying to combo them on standing opponents. Going to have to wean that bad habit out. Which combos work on standing then? The combo thread doesn't really say.

[ZomB]

The main things to know about crouchers:

5C combos in to 236B (when you're close) -- this combos in to 5A or ~236B

236A~236B works

On standing opponents only 236A~236A works.

Edit:

All of the combos in the OP of this thread work on standing opponents unless otherwise specified. I haven't updated the combo thread yet though.

[Killerwatt]

The main things to know about crouchers:

5C combos in to 236B (when you're close) -- this combos in to 5A or ~236B

236A~236B works

On standing opponents only 236A~236A works.

Edit:

All of the combos in the OP of this thread work on standing opponents unless otherwise specified. I haven't updated the combo thread yet though.

Excellent, thanks for your help!

Also, I have some footage of my gameplay; could you look at them and critique? I need a ton of work on my game and I think a good critique would hasten my progress.

[ZomB]

I'll make a Chie critique thread later on today, you can post videos there. It might get a little more discussion going.