Kjorteo

AC+ Wii has this problem too, but with not even a fraction of that kind of regularity. It'll sometimes freeze and take more than one attempt. Not a lot, though.

GG and GGX mode approximates what the general engine/gameplay/balance was like in Guilty Gear/Guilty Gear X, before all the changes in XX and beyond. Like...you can't Faultless/Fortress/however we're Romanizing it today in GG mode because that hadn't been invented yet, I think. And, uh, other things. I don't really remember what the GGX-specific changes are, though.

Millia is pretty accessible without particularly tough technical demands. She's one of the few characters you can actually play well without any ability to FRC at all (as she's one of the few who doesn't have an absolutely mandatory FRC point in one of her basic combos or something) and probably the only character in the cast (except maybe Slayer) you can play without FRCs or the ability to do a dragon punch motion. Testament, on the other hand, is pretty advanced.

I'm not sure what the actual frame advantage is since it's not listed in the frame data (probably N/A because it's a separate projectile and all,) but Millia's ground Pretty Maze (FB disc) is pretty substantial on hit or block.

Hey, so the Robo-Ky guide thread ( http://dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3130 ) used to have a hilarious picture of Robo sitting there looking all badass while four of the girls are off to either side basically fawning over him. (It's attachment 244, apparently..?) Like an idiot, I forgot to save it and now the thread appears not to have it anymore. Can anyone hook me up?

Johnny has a long ponytail that he wears under his trenchcoat, simply putting the trenchcoat on over it and leaving it tucked in like that. As someone who actually has a long ponytail in real life, I can tell you that this is a catastrophically bad idea as far as comfort and such and Johnny should have been driven crazy about four seconds after he decided to do that, but whatever, rule of cool I guess. Buri is an affectionate nickname for Bridget.

Actually, I think Effenhoog is right in that Faust has even fewer commonly-used FRCs than Millia, but that's a minor technicality as neither have any that I would consider mandatory. (Again, Iron Savior and S Disc are the only ones that come immediately to mind for Millia, and neither are even close to "you can't win a match unless you use these" status. Faust has the pose after a blocked scalpel super, and that one is fairly important, but I'm not sure if that even counts due to the window on that being the entire pose and all. That's more just a 25% tension tax to not die if your opponent blocks than anything else.) Personally, Millia is a better match for me in enough other ways to make up for that, anyway--her mobility is awesome, less randomness and having to adapt on the fly because of items, she doesn't have to over-commit to moves as much because of just about everything being special cancelable, roll and ground Pretty Maze are godly, etc.

For low-level play, probably Potemkin. If you want to ascend higher while still being averse to excessive dexterity, characters who don't need to FRC everything they do suddenly become appealing because, let's face it, FRCs are hard if you're the type to not like excessive dexterity. Suddenly, Potemkin drops a few notches, because Hammerfall FRC, Heat Knuckle FRC, and Potemkin Buster FRC combos are everywhere and you can't do much without them once you hit a certain level. Just about everyone FRCs something, but in my experience, it's the least mandatory for, say, Millia (Iron Savior and S Disc FRCs can be handy but you can get by without them) and the most for Baiken (don't play Baiken if you don't want to FRC, just don't.) Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this.

All figures obtained by doing Training mode in AC+ with damage display on and simply copying what it says. Attacking character is Millia. Defending character is Sol. Everything done at 100% health and as a singular dry it (ie no comboing into it, etc.) 6H Expected damage (according to frame data): 60 Damage at guard gauge -50: 25 Damage at guard gauge +0 (neutral): 60 Damage at guard gauge +25: 60 Damage at guard gauge +50: 60 Damage at guard gauge +128 (max, CH): 60 Ground Throw Expected damage (according to frame data): 55 Damage at guard gauge -50: 19 Damage at guard gauge +0 (neutral): 46 Damage at guard gauge +25: 50 Damage at guard gauge +50: 50 Damage at guard gauge +128 (max, CH): 50 Conclusions: * Increased guard gauge does not increase damage * CH doesn't either, but we knew that already * Throw does lower guard gauge first before doing damage, thus doing less than standard damage when done on someone with guard gauge +0 (neutral) * Frame data is wrong regarding damage of Millia's throw

They changed it a bit for AC. They still correspond to her various kick moves, but now they're used when you use them in the air. For example, without symbols, you can still do Ryujin once from the ground, but that's about it. With two Ryujin symbols, you can do Ryujin xx Ryujin xx Ryujin and oh my God I hate that combo for how brain-dead doing it is versus the absolutely insane damage it does and how little I can do about it.

Really? Well. I learned something today.

Counter hits are not the same as being unable to block. A counter hit is a clean (non-blocked) hit delivered either in special timing-related circumstances (such as being poked out of the startup of another move) or while the guard gauge is flashing, and has various benefits like longer untechable time and certain property changes. For example, Slayer's pilebunker ground-slides on a normal hit, and wall-sticks on a counter hit. This should be fairly easy to test by going into training mode and setting the guard gauge high enough to be stuck in the flashing range without having them block. Also: Counter hits do not do more damage, just the secondary benefits like untechability and property changes. Hitting someone while their guard gauge is high does more damage, though. The flashing range is a special penalty where they take more damage and all hits are counter hits.

Does Millia have a sort of "lowest common denominator" combo this time around? By that, I mean something that doesn't rely on particular cast members or particular positioning to maximize hits/damage. At my level of play, I find remembering all of the specialized combos for cast/situations is a little too complex for me, and most of the longer and more insane combos are a bit hard to input anyway. In #R, 2H -> j.S-H wasn't exactly going to go on anyone's combo video or anything, but it was a good quick easy-to-do universal knockdown. So, in AC, does Millia have any air combo that A) starts with 2H B) works on literally the entire cast C) works in any position all the way from one corner to the other D) ends in a plummet/knockdown? How weak it is is sort of a side-issue--remember, I was using 2H -> j.S-H in #R, and I'd probably still be using that if j.H wasn't changed to no longer be the copter and no longer plummet/knockdown, so it's not like it needs to do 50% health or more damage to impress me. And it's not like I'm giving up on ever learning real combos--I'm just thinking that if I can get something extremely basic like that down first, then I can slowly expand and add to it from there. (By contrast, most of the combos I see on Dustloop start out maxed out like that and sort of have to be reverse-engineered for my level--I remember seeing one in the Potemkin thread, for example, where you can 5D > [9] j.H jc.H jc.APB, and my friend and I worked on it for a while before coming to the conclusion that 5D > [9] j.H jc.APB without the second j.H works too and is actually easier to do, and that the second j.H was probably just thrown in for more damage if you're cool enough to pull it off. I can mostly figure out which parts of a full combo are basic and which are icing, but it'd be nice to hear it from you guys if possible.)

The answer to whether #R would improve your AC game is comlicated--it sort of depends on the person. I've moved on from #R and would personally consider it to be too different (no forcebreaks/throw breaks/wall stick/ground slide alone does it for me, really,) but that's just me. I would say the difference between #R and AC is about as severe as the difference between regular and EX characters in AC, especially since a lot of EX characters' changes revolve around getting back the things they used to have in #R but were taken away, such as Millia's spinning hair copter version of her j.H and Anji's beastly five-hit version of his 6H. (I never realized how much I truly missed that move until EX Anji started using it on me in Survival....) Which isn't to say that AC EX is identical to #R, of course. Far from it. Just...AC EX and AC are about the same distance from each other as #R and AC. Also, here's hoping your main in AC isn't A.B.A. or Order-Sol.

Conversation I just had with a friend of mine: "By the way, I thought you said that when blocking in the air, you had to FD moves from the ground, and normal block moves from the air. Did I misunderstand?" "As a general rule, that is correct. Here, Potemkin's frame data: http://www.dustloop.com/data/ac/potemkin.html The Guard column lists which types of blocking will actually work, H=High, L=Low, A=Air (normal,) F=Air (Faultless). Thus, as an example, something that says HLF can be blocked high, low, or FD'd in air, but -not- air normal blocked." "[A different friend] said I was wrong about this yesterday. I told him to jump and FD, and I tried to j.P him with Chipp, and he blocked it just fine, green spinning thing and all. That move is listed as HA. Now I am confused." "That...that is confusing. Maybe the listed frame data is wrong?" "Hard to believe. Further testing is required." That or I'll just ask you guys before we all go insane. Clearly I'm missing something here. My current theory is that I am a colossal moron who is interpreting the Guard column of the frame data page wrong (though, in my defense, I didn't see a legend or anything to make me not just have to figure out the meaning through reverse-engineering and context,) but confirmation would be nice.

Looks like Chipp just teched out towards the wall, double-jumped, did his special wall jump move (46 while against the wall, I think?) then threw a shuriken (j.236k) on his way down.

There's no way to get gold powers without the gold color unless you count the characters with gold powers you fight against in Story mode. (Gold Slayer disguised as Normal Slayer is on the prowl in a lot of people's stories, which makes them really freaking hard. But anyway.) Just pick the gold color (which should be Slash - Dust if it's unlocked for that character) and enjoy the gold powers.

Every time I think about SF4, it just reminds me why I like Guilty Gear instead. On several levels. The balance issue (I haven't played, but I've heard stories in regards to Sagat anyway) is just one of them.

I'm still at the relative level of skill in which I frequently biff the input for quarter-circle motions and accidentally 6H when I meant to Fuujin (and yet, note the in my signature...God, I'm a masochist) and yet here I am posting on Dustloop. I would be more understanding than offended if someone were to call my skill into question, believe me. (Actually, it's just a matter of input for me--I actually understand all the high-level concepts, read the frame data, and know what some of the good combos are in theory, so I could theoretically get good if I were somehow able to make the characters do what I actually want them to do...but alas.) I didn't that that as even indirectly insulting anyway, so don't worry. :D I was actually unaware that Anji/May was considered notorious, since I'm just too used to losing with Anji because I suck with him to notice when I'm losing because it's a poor matchup.

I said the round, not the match. Also, keep in mind that this is extremely low-level play compared to what you guys are used to, I'm sure, so some of the specific character matchup rules don't apply anyway. (Some of them still do, though. My Slayer still can't touch my friend's Potemkin any more than whatever big-name Slayer players can touch ABEGEN. Possibly even exaggerated even moreso sometimes--you guys tend to rate the particularly unbalanced matches as 6-4, wheras my little circle is apparently unafraid to go all the way to 9-1 if we have to and if Potemkin is involved.)

Off topic, but.. I autoguarded the whale with Rin and countered with FB Kou to win the round once. It was glorious.

I feel dumb asking this because it's probably been covered somewhere else before by now (because you guys always import and know everything about each game at least six years before I actually get to play around with my American copy) but I did a bit of searching and didn't immediately see it, so.... Are Kliff and Justice still broken in AC+? I know they have FBs and stuff now so clearly some work has been done on their movesets, but that doesn't mean they've actually been brought in line with the rest of the cast, does it? (Then again, at the super-low-end newbie level me and my friends play, Potemkin is all but broken, so what do I know.) Edit: Also, any chance on getting Kliff/Justice added to the frame data page?

Yes, but if I'm understanding the question correctly, he was asking about story mode paths, not a general storyline information guide. Things like "if you instant kill Slayer in this fight you get ending #2, but defeat him normally for ending #3." I would be completely stunned if that still applied in AC+.

Without having actually played it, I'm going to guess that GGXX story mode guides are useless because this is an entirely new storyline. (I'd be highly interested in what any alleged GGXX story mode guide has to say about A.B.A.'s story mode...and even the original characters still get all-new stories, too.) Whether a specific GGXXAC+ story mode guide is out is a different question, and one about which I have absolutely no idea. I haven't exactly gone looking, because I'm not quite fanatic enough to import and wade through a Japanese story (I'm waiting for the US version on Wii, which is almost-but-not-quite out yet) and therefore haven't played it yet and therefore haven't felt the need to search for a guide.

Because that's not a standard Guilty Gear song. It's just Isuka.