Guilty Gear's resident baker armed with a pool cue; Venom is unique even within the world of Guilty Gear.
The pool cue is not only for style but also is an integral part of his gameplay. Venom has one of the most unique designs in fighting games. He has the ability to place pool balls on screen in various formations and hit the balls with his normals, specials, and even other balls. Although this does give Venom the ability to zone his strongest feature is his ability to set up pressure and mixups. Venom requires players to learn his unique play-style in order to succeed and also requires the player to have strong fundamental defence due to his lack of reversals. When one capitalizes on his strengths, Venom is a strong and versatile character with great room for creative expression.
Venom's kit enables him to make use of his balls to apply scary, chip-damage heavy pressure to the enemy player. In addition to his strong pressure, Venom has good tools for playing the neutral game. Venom works well at poking from a little bit closer than midscreen, and then scoring a knockdown so he can set up. Venom lacks any form of defensive tool outside of the universal game mechanics, and as such suffers greatly when the enemy gets past his neutral tools.
"I never miss a called shot."
Lore:
After being dealt a harsh defeat at the hands of Bedman, Venom re-examines the path of the Guild. He says he's sort of glad they were defeated, as it let him realize what it meant to "protect the organization". He battles both Millia and Slayer in order to prove the strength of his resolve, and soon he reveals his ultimate plan: Exposing the Guild's deeds to the public and show their role in the world's affairs. Venom feared for those who dedicated their lives to the Guild and didn't want their accomplishments to be lost to history. He's fully aware of the implications, and when Slayer offers his assistance to bring about this plan, Venom readily accepts.
Voice:
Jun'ichi Suwabe
Unique Mechanics
Ball Set
Venom has a special which places a ball on the screen and shifts other placed balls into one of many predefined formations.
The balls which Venom has placed on the screen do absolutely nothing on their own, but can be interacted with in a number of different ways. Balls can be hit with Venom's normals to launch the balls at varying speeds and angles. Balls can be hit by other balls, much like balls in real life pool, to cover yet more angles. And balls can be teleported to.
Charged Balls
Venom's balls can be one of 4 levels: 0, 1, 2, and 3.
Whenever venom manually sets a ball or fires a ball with Carcass Raid, the ball will be level 0. Venom's Stinger Aim and QV specials that "level up" when the button is held. These specials become active after the button is released. If two balls which were set manually collide, the balls will cause each other to move with a new trajectory, but the balls will not level up. If a ball is hit by a special move one the ball hit by the special move ball will be launched normally, and the special move ball will travel with either topspin or backspin.
Spin
Venom's Carcass Raid and Stinger Aim specials cause an effect known as "spin" when they make contact with an inactive ball.
Back-Spin is an alternate ball movement that places the resultant ball "backwards" towards Venom and works as follows:
To backspin a Stinger press down at approximately the time that the stringer ball is created.
To backspin a Carcass Raid press back instead.
When no Back-Spin is not performed, the default spin, Top-Spin, will occur.
5K is Venom's primary low crush normal. The reward for landing it outside of c.S range is small. 5K is especially useful for hitting balls when one needs the balls to travel faster than 5P but slower than f.S.
Venom's far slash is excellent for controlling space. Though Venom reaches his hurtbox forward during f.S it is pretty fast and covers a great distance. At max range it can be used to cancel into a ball set in order to get balls on screen when normally one would not have time to do so. f.S becomes especially useful when combined with a ball hit which improves the frame advantage.
Almost useless on its own when not shooting a ball or mid combo. In the corner it pushes the user back far enough to be used in crouching confirms like sQV.
Launches balls at a very high speed.
Staggers on counterhit.
Very strong starter against opponents who are crouching.
A standard 5D with a unique gimmick attached. When Venom's dust attack hits a ball the ball will travel until it either hits a target or touches the wall. If the ball launched by this attack touches the wall, it will bounce off the wall one time and travel in the opposite direction. This gimmick is rarely useful but can be used in specific setups.
2K is Venom's go-to low and is tied for his fastest button with c.S. 2K is most frequently used to open the enemy up before following up with c.S, tick-throw, or some other form of mixup.
Good speed, decent range, and fair recovery make it a decent low poke.
Note: 2K's hitbox is low enough and shallow enough that it will not hit uncharged balls in any of the standard formations. It requires non-standard situations such as charged carcass raid balls or BRO or something else in order to be used as a ball launcher.
The first of 2H's two level 3 hits is a low. These attributes makes 2H a solid filler move for blockstrings. The first hit will catch low profile moves such as Sol's Grand Viper, and the second hit can be a situational anti-air.
First hit launches balls low to the ground with high speed.
Second hit launches balls upwards at a 45° angle with high speed.
2D is a reliable way to get a knockdown when one is unable to combo into 6H or QV. 2D is also a great unprorated combo starter under niche circumstances, such as when one has charge stored for Carcass Raid in the corner, and in certain midscreen setups. 2D can also be used as one of Venom's better abare buttons due to its speed, low profile, and good reward on CH, however, the recovery is CH state and is therefore dangerous to whiff.
Generous low profile and upper body invulnerabilty.
Fast and 2 hits the second of which has additional range.
A 6P so good that it has become a meme. 6P is a reliable anti-air and occasional poke. Although 6P can gatling into many of his other buttons, it cannot combo into 6H on normal hit and must be jump canceled into an air combo. On counter hit 6P combos into 6H for a free knockdown. When combined with a ball hit, 6P has enough hitstun to combo into 6H. 6P is also useful to counter-poke a large variety of moves such as I-No's Chemical Love, and Johnny's Level 3 Mist Finer with varying °s of risk.
Generous upper body invicibility
Sends balls upwards at an angle with moderate speed.
6H is a move with many uses, and some drawbacks. 6H is very unsafe on block and needs to be special canceled to make it safer. 6H also does not cover directly next to Venom, and as such is not a very reliable way to hit approaching enemies.
Can be used as a decent anti-air near f.S range.
Is one of Venom's essential combo enders.
In the corner often combos into QV.
Hits balls with the greatest speed of all his buttons.
Has a very large hitbox allowing Venom to hit with it from very far away.
j.K is a very useful button for hitting balls due to its large number of active frames, and large hitbox. The hurtbox is much larger than the hitbox, and as such is not a strong air-to-ground button without balls to cover for it. The large number of active frames allows the Venom player to use j.K early in a jump, recover, and use another air normal afterwards.
j.S is Tied with j.P for Venom's fastest air normal and is also jump cancelable. Due to this, j.S is useful in a number of situations such as in air-block-strings, air combos, and hitting balls.
Has a generous hitbox below Venom that can crossup.
j.H is a potent air-to-ground button due to the deep hitbox relative to Venom's hurtbox. j.H has significant untech time allowing the player to delay their next button, or simply let j.H send the enemy down to the ground.
Venom's j.D covers 160 °s around him reaching past both of his knees, and far above his head. j.D has some use during oki after j.H knockdown, and in uncrouchable setups. j.D is a very useful combo tool because it keeps the enemies airborn with its long untech time.
Pops opponents up slightly into the air. Launches on counterhit.
Hits balls upward into the air quickly and the ball can then bounce off the ceiling and travel downward.
Venom gets immense corner carry from throws. The throw itself does very little damage, but the followup combo and oki makes this one of the most rewarding throws both in terms of meterless damage and oki. While in a corner, Venom's throw combo options change.
Although this cannot be combo'ed from when performed far above the ground it can lead to increasingly large combos the closer to the ground it is performed. Air throw is also very valuable as an anti-air under the right circumstances.
At normal jump height air throw can be hit with the 3rd hit of c.S leading into a simple air combo into knockdown.
Close to the ground air throw has many combo routes, especially when performed near the corner.
A very necessary move for Venom. This move is one of your most reliable ways to escape pressure and reset to neutral. If DAA gets baited successfully then you wasted 50 meter.
Ball Set is Venom's most iconic special. Ball Set places a ball on the stage relative to Venom's current position and shifts other placed balls into one of many predefined formations.
Ball Set can be canceled into another ball set (either by inputting the move or by simply holding another attack button) or teleport (hold the original button down). Knowing where and when to place these is absolutely essential.
Balls go into the shown formation when you summon a ball with the corresponding button.
For example, doing K summon, then S summon would go into S formation with only the K and S balls available.
YRC can be used in a pinch to make ball set more safe.
Balls travel with a speed and direction related to the move used to hit them. Balls can hit other balls setting them in motion as well. This will also change the direction of the original ball. When a ball is hit with Stinger Aim or Carcass Raid, the ball shot will become inert and move back/forward (backspin and topspin) a short distance based on the angel it was hit from as well as gain a level of charge.
Topspin occurs by default. To backspin a Stinger press down at approximately the time that the stringer ball is created. To backspin a Carcass Raid press back instead. This timing is fairly generous, but does take practice to learn.
Balls which have been leveled up by a collision with Singer Aim or Carcass Raid are not moved by Ball Set or QV, and will not move unless hit with another move or ball.
QV starts is a special that can have the button held to increase the "level" of the attack. During the charge time, QV negates projectiles passing through it, but does not interact with players. Upon releasing the button for QV, QV becomes an active hitbox of great size before settling as a ball of whatever level QV was charged to. After that the ball produced by QV behaves like a normal ball. QV gains an attack level for each level of charge, increasing its blockstun and thus, frame advantage.
Example uses for QV:
A combo ender which grants additional balls and damage.
A combo tool to pop the enemy up higher off of the ground.
Stinger Aim is Venom's fastest way to put a projectile on screen without any balls already set. Roman Cancels, especially YRC allow this move to be much safer than it otherwise would be, and allows the user to confirm into combos from farther away.
S Stinger Aim is at worst -2 on block at point blank range, and becomes much more advantageous on block the further Venom is from his enemy. S Stinger aim is also useful as an oki tool. One can charge stinger aim for a meaty multi-hit projectile, use sSA to hit other balls to make them meaty while producing a leveled up ball, or both.
H Stinger Aim is considerably less safe than S Stinger Aim on whiff or block, but launches a much faster projectile. This makes hSA one of the most potent space control tools in the game when Venom has meter to YRC the recovery in the case that it misses.
S Carcass Raid is one of Venom's most important specials. From close range sCR provides significant frame advantage which can be used as a pressure reset. sCR can also be used as a situational means to catch opponents who might otherwise low profile your other space control tools such as Stinger Aim and f.S. The further away sCR is used from, the easier it is for an opponent to avoid the hit and punish the user.
Example situations where sCR can be useful:
During oki with ball cover.
after 2K > c.S(2) as a pressure reset.
after another sCR.
In tandem with Pball in the corner for oki.
Midscreen throw combos.
after a poke with 2S or 2D or 2K.
H
40 frame charge time
H Carcass Raid is much more situational than S Carcass Raid. hCR's projectile disappears if Venom is hit while the projectile is active making it less safe than other options. hCR does have uses such as anti-airing enemies far above Venom, and hitting other balls. hCR is also able to give frame advantage when spaced properly.
H Carcass Raid can be especially useful as a way to call out jump outs which would normally go over S Carcass Raid's projectile path.
S Double Headed Morbid is rarely useful, but can come in handy in order to allow one to hit balls directly upwards.
Hits balls directly upward, which then bounce off the ceiling and floor.
Moves venom slightly forward.
H
H Double Headed Morbid is a situational means to convert a 2D into corner carry using Red Roman Cancel, and can be used to convert into a combo in the corner. Because DHM hits many times, it can be used as a poor man's guts crush in order to guarantee a kill. With 50% meter to RRC, HDHM becomes a viable, if unorthodox, approach tool, and combo starter due to the forced movement and multiple hits.
Hits balls directly upward, which then bounce off the ceiling and floor.
Moves Venom forward by nearly one screen's distance maximum.
Tiger Knee S Mad Struggle is one of Venom's most versatile overheads. The non-tiger-knee version of Mad Struggle can be used to change up landing times and mess up the opponent's anti-airs. Mad Struggle's multiple hits will build a good amount of R.I.S.C on block, but scale damage on hit. sMS can be thrown upon landing if the opponent Instant Blocks the last hit, or if the user is too high off the ground when the move finishes.
H
H Mad Struggle is unsafe on whiff and on block making it much more situational than S Mad Struggle. Also keep in mind that no matter how high up, is that it will only do 4 hits in the air. The flip has a few invulnerability frames and can catch enemies who are unprepared which gives venom the ability to score a knockdown.
Supplemental Frame Data:
1-7 Strike Invincible after landing.
Ball Formations
P Formation
P Formation
P ball is the formation which requires the least amount of commitment to use, and as such is the default ball for when you have not yet earned the space to use other setups. S+P balls is a strong oki tool. pQV can also be used with 5P to keep the enemy airborne for a substantial combo extension. P ball is especially strong in the corner because it can be hit with either 2S or sSA to generate charged balls on the opponent's wakeup. P formation is nor particularly strong for zoning.
K Formation
K formation
K Formation puts a ball high in front of Venom. K ball is frequently used in oki setups. Some combos also use K ball and K ball can enable 6P > 6H to combo without a counter hit. P+K is also a solid formation for zoning.
S Formation
S formation
S formation places a ball directly behind Venom's head. S formation has comparatively few uses compared to other formations, but is still useful. S ball on its own is useful with teleport cancel to help evade while putting a ball in motion. sQV is a potent combo tool because the S ball can be hit with 6P or 5P as it travels to its resting position.
H Formation
H formation
Places a ball far in front of Venom. H ball on its own can be used during oki with jS to create a safejump, and can be used as a far teleport point. H+S Ball is a common 2 ball setup for zoning because, when hit with 5P, one ball travels horizontally at head height, and the other splits off and travels at a roughly 45 degree angle upward. H ball is also useful in throw setups when combined with sSA to create safe chip damage scenarios. Finally, hQV is useful to place a ball above and behind a blocking enemy which you can use to teleport crossup as a reset.
Dark angel is a giant ball masking a more modest hitbox which accelerates as it travels horizontally. Dark Angel can force the opponent to block mixups, carry to the corner, and raise the RISC gauge. DA does not affect balls on the screen. It hits at most 34 times and deals chip damage. This overdrive is primarily used for guts crushes to kill, and chip damage+lockdown in an oki setup. It is important to note that the hitbox only extends down to roughly Venom's Knees and is therefore punishable by low profile moves such as Sol's Grand Viper.
Supplemental Frame Data:
Frame 7 Full Invulnerability; [8-15 Strike Invulnerable]
Shoots 8 balls diagonally towards the ground which can bounce off the ground one time. The only overdrive which Venom can use while airborne. This overdrive is almost never useful, but can be used in very specific circumstances to kill the enemy without returning to the ground.
Bishop Runout consumes the user's inactive balls on screen when it enters. Behaves like a normal ball, except it will bounce back after making contact with an enemy or the wall, can hit many times, and will return to its inactive state after hitting an enemy.
has a cooldown which starts after it hits an enemy before it can become active again.
Will level up balls which make contact with it.
Meter gain is significantly reduced while BRO is active.
To edit frame data, edit values in GGXRD-R2/Venom/Data. Be sure to update both the move and the move Full sections. One is shown on the character page, while the other is shown on the frame data page.