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Urichinan

[P4A] Shadow Labrys - Q&A/F.A.Q - Ask a question, get an answer here.

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Another really quick and basic question about S.Lab:

For her 236C/D attack, can you cross up the pillar of fire? i.e. using Evasive Action to go through your opponent right before the pillar explodes.

Yes, you can cross-up the opponent during any Persona attack.

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Another really quick and basic question about S.Lab:

For her 236C/D attack, can you cross up the pillar of fire? i.e. using Evasive Action to go through your opponent right before the pillar explodes.

Technically you can, although generally the opponent is going to stay in blockstun for the full duration of the move, unless they get pressed out of the last hit of the laser. It is going to be difficult to specifically have that move hit as a crossup. You can absolutely run mixup in the middle of the move but crossing up the pillar is very spacing-dependant.

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Ah, I was just wondering since it'd be pretty darn awesome if S.Lab had a way to conveniently cross up the pillar of fire while the opponent is blocking the laser lol.

Anyways, thanks for the responses. It's great to know that this forum isn't as dead as I thought it was. ; ; more people need to play S.Lab

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You will have to oki the laser when the opponent is past the halfpoint between Asterius and pillar, this will cause the laser to push the opponent range from the pillar launch.

You then have to push the opponent back into the pillar before it explodes and do some kind of cross-up mix-up. Any other way will cause the blockstun to give the opponent free any-guard or whatever it is called.

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Ah, I was just wondering since it'd be pretty darn awesome if S.Lab had a way to conveniently cross up the pillar of fire while the opponent is blocking the laser lol.

Anyways, thanks for the responses. It's great to know that this forum isn't as dead as I thought it was. ; ; more people need to play S.Lab

Unfortunately P4A is kinda dying, lol, so there's not much reason for people to post anymore... But I'm always watching the forum.

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Has anyone ever gone for her IK setups in tournament play, or do players even learn them to use in casuals? Seems silly that her minimum damage is probably the lowest, her max damage is tied with Akihiko at 0-death because of those set-ups, and somehow I haven't heard about anyone stomping around winning tournaments like that.

Hell, I've had people tell me that Kanji has the best IK "because he has setups for it", and when I reply that Slab can combo into hers, they look at me like I'm stupid. *Shrug*

I'm pretty sure she can still go for them even after whatever the latest patch is, right?

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... what? Shadow Labrys's strength isn't in her damage or 0-death potential. Her combo damage is crap due to high prorate in nearly every factor (character and attack) despite her raw damage being decently high. The reason no one bothers to go for IK set-ups is because the ones that go seamlessly (that is, from hit 1 to IK without a single drop/reset) require 150 meter, possibly even a 1MB for the easier one. So the cost factor is high, and unless you are doing the 1MB version, the difficulty to do the Titanomachia into IK is extremely difficult.

For the cost of 100 meters, I'd rather use the opportunity to get free hits off the opponent because they're scared of me trying to IK them than actually trying to IK them. The start-up for the grab is so slow and it requires Asterius being free of any action that you would have really have to condition an opponent not to be doing something stupid when you're in their face; this is a large part of my argument because let's face it, Shadow Labrys does a lot better when the opponent is doing something stupid most of the time.

Can Shadow Labrys actually combo into her IK? Yes. Is it viable that you try to? Hell no. Akihiko and Kanji has the best IK because combined with their abilities (i.e., paralysis), it's stupidly easy to get their IK.

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Quick question! Does Shabrys have any decent OMB combos outside of awakening, or would it just be better to hold onto that burst?

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Quick question! Does Shabrys have any decent OMB combos outside of awakening, or would it just be better to hold onto that burst?

Hold onto that burst. Unless you can get a kill with random combo -> OMB -> Challenge Authority D, you are better off holding the burst as insurance for the opponent potentially making a comeback. Outside of awakening, I don't think OMB adds much more than 1.5k to Shadow Labrys combos.

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Quick question! Does Shabrys have any decent OMB combos outside of awakening, or would it just be better to hold onto that burst?

OMB is more useful for making conversions than for adding extra damage. OMBing off of sweep or overhead can be useful. But it's best when you have have awakening, and can do a Titanomachia combo off of any random thing with OMB... In general it's not worth it unless you'd kill them though. Probably not worth it in general. When in doubt, save it.

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I want to ask how do any of you place your hand on the arcade stick face buttons while playing S.Labs. My fingers are kinda long so it feels awkward laying a thumb/ring/middle finger on the D.

Am I just using a wrong technique, like you only need to hold it down while on the defence, then be more free while on the offence?

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*Actually has to pause to look at how I place my hand on the stick*

It might be because I have rather thin fingers since I am comfortable with the AC on the top and BD on the bottom. Just keep in mind the button combinations:

A+C = Evasive move and short hop and air turn. Having A and C comfortably close because you will need to buffer Asterius attacks while you are doing strings to continue pressure and protect yourself. Air turn is good with mixups as J.A and J.B can cross up (not) based on timing and air turn.

A+B = AoA and Physical EX's and Sweep. Only having two physical EX's, ground axe guillotine and air axe guillotine, EX's aren't involved in most of her strings and bnb's. AoA (All out Attack) the milage can vary since S.Lab doesn't get as much from it but test it depending on your style. Sweep is valuable but space it properly as point blank it is very unsafe without Asterius covering you.

B+D = Furious Action. Have this be easy to do but not an accidental input. You will need to do this so make it be a goto move on strings you can punish.

C+D = Throw and Persona EX's. BE VERY MINDFUL OF THIS, you cannot negative edge D to do a throw. If you want to throw or throw break you must release D and then press C+D. This is one of the vices of S.Lab where throws will catch you off-guard because you need to let go of a button and then press both buttons. Persona EX's can be of great use in some matchups so take time to see how you like using them.

A+B+C = One More Cancel. Sadly S.Lab can't OMC challenge authority or brutal impact but sweep and guillotine axe can help with mixups and pressure. One issue with this input though is that if you are not holding D as well when you do OMC Asterius will do an attack based on whatever input you do.

A+C+D = One More Burst. Due to her poor scaling this should be used just as a combo breaker since without a certain setup it won't add much to a combo.

Test out different layouts and practice bnb's, bnb's with supers, bnb's with OMC / OMB, and how natural it feels to to Furious Action and Throws. I know this doesn't really answer your question well but the right technique is the one that you feel is comfortable. A good way to test how comfortable you feel with a layout is this IK setup that uses multiple button inputs, set meter to 100, counter-hit state for dummy:

222AB (Instant Kill Mode) > 2A > 5B (5C slightly after) > 2AB (Sweep) > 5C hits and causes slide > IAD (Instant air dash) > J.BB > J214A > OMB > 222AB (Instant Kill Grab)

I think I have the right inputs...its a good warmup to test how easily certain inputs are.

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I used to switch holding D using my ring finger and pinky finger. Usually, I'd stick to ring, and if I needed to coordinate something like persona block+roll, I'd switch to my pinky. After like thousands of matches though, my ring finger is strong/dextrous enough that I can do almost everything without my ring finger feeling like it'll break in half. Now that I look at it, if I hold D with my ring finger and press A+C with my index/middle fingers, the first ring finger joint bends inward and the second joint bends outward um.

And the combo input test is good advice; I'll chip in with:

in the corner: 5AAA A+B [D] RC 222A+B, 2A+B OMB 222A+B

to get that to work, you'll need to hold/press D through the RC while buffering 222A+B; I think I still need to switch to my pinky for this one.

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OMB is more useful for making conversions than for adding extra damage. OMBing off of sweep or overhead can be useful. But it's best when you have have awakening, and can do a Titanomachia combo off of any random thing with OMB... In general it's not worth it unless you'd kill them though. Probably not worth it in general. When in doubt, save it.

There's always OMB into instant kill to end grand finals. Too much fun

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Hey guys, is the groundbounce effect from airturn j.214B character-specific? Anyone have any clues as to why?

The groundbounce seems to work on characters like Chie, Liz, and Labrys but when I tried doing the combo in the video below with Kanji as a training dummy, he'd never bounce off the ground.

reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rhnmFiziXo&t=1m44s

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Hey everyone, I'm a new Persona 4 player and I really want to main Shadow Labrys as I'm a large Carl Blazblue player. Anyways, I was having a hard time playing and learning her without getting persona broken and without doing adaquete combos. My main combos tend to consist of small damage and consist of Asterius' doing a simple his simple punch and comboing into a guillotine axe afterward.

Basically, I have somewhat of a grasp on the game, but I have a hard time mounting an offense that isn't braindead. My offense consists of just air dashing with her j.B while asterius does his C move or while I charge my laser.

What I'm asking is simply two things that I would really appreciate.

1) How do I launch an offense while keeping Asterius reletively safe, and how do I keep that momentum once I get it?

2) How do I keep asterius from getting persona broken? Is his D his only defense?

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1) How do I launch an offense while keeping Asterius reletively safe, and how do I keep that momentum once I get it?

Shadow Labrys has arguably the strongest and safest neutral game in the game. Most of your attempts at an offense should be short and concise, consisting of maneuvering with Shadow Labrys with fast attacks such as j.A, j.B, 5B, 5A, 2A, etc., as well as covering yourself with Asterius's attacks such as 8C, 5C, 2C, 236C/D, 214C/D, etc. Basically, you want to juke and jive a distance away from the opponent and force them where they are their weakest and can easily exploit them. For example, you will want to play an almost exclusive rushdown on characters like Yukiko, yet against characters like Kanji or Akihiko, zoning and keepaway is also "offensive." I think one of the problems most new players have with Shadow Labrys is that they try to let Asterius exclusively do all the neutral-offensive work, when you should actually be looking to move around in tandem, sometimes even throwing Asterius to the dogs to get the opponent to open up yourself.

Once you get the momentum rolling through nearly any kind of knockdown, you set-up whatever varieties of Asterius oki you can, 5C being a simple choice and 236C/D (laser) being a very common pick. If you know how to confirm hits off these, the combos will lead into more set-ups. From there, it's just you trying to force the opponent to guess wrong on your oki.

2) How do I keep asterius from getting persona broken? Is his D his only defense?

D is the only defense. However, you can "hide" Asterius with 8C, but be aware once he pops back up, he is extremely vulnerable because the recovery is huge and he is even bigger in the recovery.

Or just never let the opponent hit him for free and every time he breaks, it will be worth it because you're getting health off them while they're just breaking Persona cards.

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Thanks for the quick answer! I seem to have been using Slab's j.B exclusively in tandem with the same Asterius moves. It seems to be in my best intrest to diversify my movement.

the 8C is something I definitely didn't look out for. THanks!

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Yo, NYC Slabs represent.

Anyway, just to add to Nihiru's answers also keep in mind that EX moves are completely armoured except against supers so that's another way to force an offense; EX laser basically drills a hole for you to run through to the other side of the screen.

And persona block is pretty nifty to opening people up too; if Asterious is in front of you or behind the opponent even, he'll stay in that position for as long as you hold D which can allow for ~unique gambits like an off-screen 5C can be useful; a mid-screen 2C + iAD j.B could catch them trying to crouch under 2C or punish them if they are breaking your 2C, or even using 236236C to snipe them trying to move around/hit Asterious. Your milage may vary of course, some characters have little reason not to RTSD when Asterious isn't between you and them or other characters like Liz/Chie can easily break Asterious on reaction but it's something to play around with.

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Thanks for the quick answer! I seem to have been using Slab's j.B exclusively in tandem with the same Asterius moves. It seems to be in my best intrest to diversify my movement.

the 8C is something I definitely didn't look out for. THanks!

At some point, you'll really stop wanting to do air dash j.B because it's the easiest-to-counter approach of Shadow Labrys. It's simply asking to get 2B'd out of the air.

j.B itself isn't bad and you'll still get a lot of use out of it because it's such a damn good aerial attack, but only air dash is a really bad approach unless you have Asterius covering you well (e.g., with a well-timed 8C).

Air dash j.B is useful to quickly approach opponents when they're committing to something long-ranged, like Yu's Zio or Yukiko's fans. Outside of that, easily countered.

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I've been using a lot of 8C more to protect Asterius and also for nicely timed oki too; thanks once again.

Another question, about how much damage should I be getting off certain confirms? Such as a regular 5A confirm?

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I've been using a lot of 8C more to protect Asterius and also for nicely timed oki too; thanks once again.

Another question, about how much damage should I be getting off certain confirms? Such as a regular 5A confirm?

Pretty low, especially 5A. Don't feel bad if your combos only get 1k~2k, that's about average for Shadow Labrys. Your most damaging combos will be confirming hits from Asterius such as a 5C or 236C/D into aerial combos, which are around upper-2k~3k. What you mainly need to worry about is getting into a clean knockdown so you can set-up for another combo, a couple of 2k combos will stack up.

However, it is important you try to optimize combos and maximize damage when possible. For example, a clean punish with a fatal counter 5B should net you a very easy 3k meterless if you have Asterius up.

I don't do anything necessarily complicated, so my damage and set-up potential is probably lower than higher level Shadow Labrys. I stick to autocombo and 2A 5B sweep and rely on Asterius oki for my 2k+ damage.

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