Arakune |
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Overview
A Sector Seven scientist turned insane blob after exposure to the Boundary. Now with thousands of insects inside of him, he haunts the city of Kagutsuchi in search of the Azure. In terms of gameplay, Arakune is a very awkward character with awkward attacks, awkward movement, and an awkward playstyle. The main goal is to put your opponent in a "Cursed" State and deal big damage along with extremely safe block strings, cross-ups, mix-ups and even an unblocklable here and there. This is the offset to a very weak character without curse with lackluster pressure and mix-up, and mediocre and predictable defensive options.
Drive: Crimson
Crimson is the system that calculates curse meter: how much is needed to curse an opponent, what attacks inflict how much curse meter (more details on this below), and how long curse lasts. During curse, Arakune can summon a variety of bugs that help his pressure, combo ability, and damage.
The Curse Meter is 6000F (10 Seconds) and each mode that adds curse will add to this meter on hit or block (for half the normal amount) and will automatically start draining if it hits the maximum, commencing curse mode. During curse mode, releasing any of the buttons will summon a bug specific to that button. During curse mode Each bug has a cooldown before it can be summoned again (more details on this below) and Arakune cannot summon bugs when he is taking damage, in blockstun, teching, or activating Overdrive or Exceed Accel. Once the curse gauge depletes any further attempts to rebuild curse meter will be prevented until all summoned bugs are off-screen and any ongoing combos have concluded.
Overdrive: Crimson Depths
Upon activation the opponent will be cursed immediately with any existing curse meter, starting the curse gauge's depletion. While overdrive is active the curse gauge depletes at half the usual rate (even if curse started before going overdrive), extending the time the opponent spends cursed. Arakune's Distortion Drives will also apply more hits and do more damage. Outside of curse all Drive moves add double the usual amount of curse on hit and on block. Additionally, Zero Vector's curse clouds each build curse at double the normal rate.
Strengths/Weaknesses
Strengths | Weaknesses |
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Normal Moves
5A
5A |
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Your bread and butter grounded confirm and overall fastest normal. Your go-to move to escape pressure and start pre-curse combos. |
5B
5B |
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A good move to confirm hits against airborne opponents. Occasionally useful for its large active frame window. Otherwise almost strictly combo filler. |
5C
5C |
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A solid anti-air button. A little too slow to catch most instant air dashes on reaction but makes up for it by being almost completely Head invulnerable for the duration. A great callout to specific moves or to prevent standard jump ins. |
2A
2A |
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Your farthest reaching low and a good poke. Tied for slowest 2A in the game however, so don't go mashing it in pressure. |
2B
2B |
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A short reaching but fast low. Useful as a low profile to catch some aerial aproaches. A quicker but riskier anti-air than 5C as it has no invul. |
2C
2C |
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A far traveling but unsafe low approach. Good for whiff punishes and scooping people up during curse confirms. Gets significantly safer if the opponent blocks only the very end of the move. Only leads to 6D without Rapid pre-curse. |
6A
6A |
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Arakune's standard overhead. Links nicely into 2B for an airtight high to low mixup, and can be canceled into jump for some fuzzy block double overheads. Also frequently used to force resets in curse combos. |
6B
6B |
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Grounded pre-curse combo staple, knocks opponents away. Useful for its guard point vs Body attribute attacks when used alone, but risky as it can't be jump cancelled on block. |
4B
4B |
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One more mixup tool in a character bristling with mixups, this is extra rude to anyone who watches your model too closely. CF added quite a few gatlings and vacuum for this move making it viable as a pre-curse starter, good combo filler. |
6C
6C | Template:AttackDataHeader-BBCF |
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3C
3C |
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A teleporting low that tracks to the opponent. Max range roughly 1/3rd screen. Be careful when using it as a punish as it will lose to anything with an active hitbox. This move interacts strangely with crossups, allowing for some unexpected sideswap setups. As a starter combos into 214B. Massively unsafe on block but can be special canceled into 214X teleports. |
j.A
j.A |
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Your primary air to air confirm. Good for keeping the opponent locked down and blocking. |
j.B
j.B |
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Arakune's primary air to ground starter and all around best move. Extremely effective for pinning down an opponent for pressure or to punish an unsafe move from the air for a combo. You can fall onto opponents directly from an instant air dash by holding 4 while doing j.B for a very difficult to anti-air approach, or to cover your retreat from an airdash back. |
j.C
j.C |
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Spikes the opponent to the ground for hard knockdown. A staple of nearly every pre-curse combo for its ability to combo into j.D and loop. Propels Arakune upwards before hitting, so no longer an instant overhead option (except for on Tager and Hakumen). IAD j.C can still be an effective cross-up when used sparingly however. |
j.6A/B/C
j.6A/B/C |
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Great for closing distance air to air and for mixing up your approach and fall timing. Versions differentiate only in length traveled, A being the shortest, and C being the longest. Additionally a great way to dissuade your opponent from jumping. |
j.2A/B/C
j.2A/B/C | Template:AttackDataHeader-BBCF |
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Drive Moves
Arakune is one of the characters who rely heavily on their Drive effects. Arakune's play is set into two different phases, pre-Curse and Curse. During pre-Curse, the goal is to curse the opponent, so it is essential to include or end your combos with a D attack (or a special attack that can serve as an equivalent) to gain curse meter. The curse gauge is set at 0 at the start of every round and has a maximum capacity of 60000.
5D
5D |
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Difficult to use in pre-curse combos these days, it functions best when abusing its wallsplat properties for corner setups and as a relatively safe way to tax a blocking opponent with curse meter. On hit can lead to 3C for combo continuation. |
1/2/3D
1/2/3D | Template:AttackDataHeader-BBCF |
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6D
6D | Template:AttackDataHeader-BBCF |
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j.D
j.xD |
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Can be aimed in any of 5 different locations on the ground relative to Arakune's position based on input (j.4or1/2/3/6/5D), making it great for both combo extension and sniping the opponent. On hit, knocks the opponent up into the air for a combo. When used as a starter can combo into itself at different ranges with good timing. |
Curse Bugs
Once the curse gauge reaches 100%, it's time to summon bugs, these bugs change the entire scope of Arakune's combo potential, creating a variety of options off of the simplest hits. Although powerful, in curse you are not invincible. All bugs vanish if Arakune takes a hit, and there is a cool down between summoning of the same bug. The fun stops when the Curse gauge depletes. Uninterrupted curse expires after 10 seconds. Do what you can during that time, with good execution, you'll be happy about the outcome.
Each bug is summoned by releasing it's corresponding button (A, B, C, D). Hold left or right during release to alter the bugs horizontal summoning position/trajectory. (See individual bug sections below for alternate trajectories.)
Tip: Bug trajectory is independent of distance to Arakune, use screen landmarks such as lifebars and heat gauges to keep track of bug paths while moving.
A Bug
A Bug |
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A small bug that drops in an arc from the top of the screen before bouncing once and disappearing. The fastest to summon of all the curse bugs, A bug can be re-summoned as soon as it bounces or hits the opponent, allowing for there to be up to 2 on the screen simultaneously. It's best used to lock down an opponent who gets away during curse, or to set up an airtight blockstring on a stationary opponent in order to start curse mixup. 5A>5A>"A Bug" hit is an infinite, airtight, curse blockstring. |
B Bug
B Bug |
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A fast traveling bug that shoots up from the ground and away from Arakune at a 45 degree angle. Great for controlling air space and punishing opponents who attempt to retreat or roll during curse. Its multiple hits make it ideal for confirming a hit before moving into curse combos. Re-summonable roughly one second after leaving the top of the screen. |
C Bug
C Bug |
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A large bell bug sprouts from the ground in front of Arakune before breaching the surface and jumping in a wide arc towards him. Slow startup but impossible to avoid in most curse mixup situations. This bug forces you to barrier block Arakune correctly or be guard crushed and immediately put in a curse combo. Enables very mean invisible teleport crossups, and is a staple in curse combos for its ability to freeze the opponent in hitstop to allow for further combos with D Bug and Arakune's normals. Re-summonable roughly one second after disappearing. Note that C Bug will always jump towards the direction that Arakune was in when it was originally summoned, not the direction Arakune is when it finishes burrowing and jumps. However, it will always move the opponent towards Arakune on hit or block regardless of which direction it jumps. |
D Bug
D Bug |
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A wriggling larvae tumbles down from the ceiling and momentarily buries itself in the ground before bursting upwards as a mighty moth. Curves and slows very slightly as it falls. The falling portion of the attack (generally called "D Bug 1") is multihit and the main source of combo damage inside of curse. The rising portion of the attack (generally called "D Bug 2") launches and is air unblockable. Technically re-summonable almost instantly after leaving the screen, but as it travels the full height of the field it has a functional cooldown of about one second. |
Universal Mechanics
Ground Throw
Ground Throw | Template:AttackDataHeader-BBCF |
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Air Throw
Air Throw | Template:AttackDataHeader-BBCF |
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Counter Assault
Counter Assault | Template:AttackDataHeader-BBCF |
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Crush Trigger
Crush Trigger | Template:AttackDataHeader-BBCF |
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Special Moves
Equals Zero
Equals Zero 236B |
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Invisibility on demand (sort of)! This move is often overlooked, but it's hard to understate its usefulness when used properly. Makes blocking an already difficult to block character a nightmare that few escape from when in curse. Out of curse it's an effective way to play keepaway while keeping the opponent somewhat uncertain of your exact positioning and so less able to strike back with precision. Invisibility's duration is INFINITE, and only expires when:
Arakune's projectiles do not count for the sake of dispelling invisibility, which means that the following attacks do not break stealth:
Being hit by or blocking enemy projectiles will get rid of your invisibility however. |
Zero Vector
Zero Vector 236D (Air OK) |
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Y-Two Dash
Y-Two Dash j.236C |
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An enormous multihit aerial move that travels in an arc, Y-Two Dash is a combo staple during curse. It makes for consistent conversion from the air into C and D Bug as well as a continuation from the launch of D Bug's 2nd hit, allowing combos to flow from Y-Two Dash to bugs and from bugs back to Y-Two Dash. Outside of curse it's a good way to end an air combo if you can't confirm into a curse building combo in time as it gives emergency tech knockdown for oki. It's technically a quite large overhead, though it's seldom seen used as one. There is a high, medium, and low arc possible when doing this move. The version you get depends on whether Arakune is travelling up, down, or relatively stationary when performed. |
Permutation, N, R
Permutation, N, R 22A/B/C, air OK |
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a±b
a±b 236D during Curse (Air OK) |
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If p then q
If p then q 214A/B/C, air OK |
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P Reject
Negating "p" Near opponent during the startup of If p then q |
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A strike grabbing spider that appears after teleports if the opponent is close enough to Arakune's departure. If the spider hits, the opponent is cocooned and hoisted up to the top of the screen. Equally useful as a combo tool and as a free punish for those who get too eager to rush you while teleporting. This moves properties are identical no matter which teleport was used to create it, but some teleports are able to use it much better than others (Ground and air 214B are especially good for it). No matter how close to teching the opponent is the cocoon will always finish reaching the top of the screen before they are allowed to airtech. They will always be able to tech once it reaches the top, even on a Fatal Counter, so tag a curse building spider on the end of it if you can't follow up with a proper combo before they reach the apex of the stage. Alternatively, you can take the time they're in the cocoon to position yourself, set up clouds, or turn invisible; sometimes a better use of time if you weren't able to follow with a combo to build full curse meter. |
Wall Teleport
Wall Teleport j.44 When backed to a wall |
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Arakune's primary getaway option when under pressure. Lets you teleport from one side of the screen to the other as long as you can jump into one edge of the screen (does not have to be the full on corner of the stage, just the full stretch of the screen at the time). This often puts opponents in a pickle, as if they get too close to you without locking you down, you escape; and if they hover near the middle of the screen to try and cover your exit, you're free to zone them. Savvy opponents won't let you get away with this for too long however, as teleport has a fairly lengthy duration, not including the time spent jumping back to reach the wall. |
Distortion Drives
F-Inverse
F-Inverse 236236C |
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F of G
F of G j.214214D |
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Arakune summons a massive swarm of bees from the ground, stinging and cursing anything and anyone on their way up off the top of the screen. The amount of hits this move does is somewhat variable, but it hits the most (24 hits) right in the very center of the move. Further towards the edges the opponent will be hit by less and less bees, often in multiples of 4, down to a typical range of 12-16 hits. Each hit gives 500F curse meter, so while it's rare to see someone be hit for less than 12 hits, it is not impossible to get caught in F of G and escape uncursed. On block the bees do significantly less, typically 1/3rd curse meter in the very center and a little less than 1/4th around the edges. In neutral this super is a very poor choice, as 35 frames after superflash is plenty of time for your opponent to dash out of the super's radius and punish you for the attempt. Instead, this super is best used as a fullscreen 100% curse punish and way to start pressure. Catch a Tsubaki charging stocks or a Mai winding up a spear at fullscreen? Curse them for it from a range they thought was safe. If they block it, they still take a sizeable amount of curse and let you close the gap for some pressure. Additionally this super shines as a re-curse option. Pop this in corner after your curse combo ends and the opponent will have to start their new lease on life at a sizeable curse meter deficit right off the bat. Do it right with a cloud on the field or catch them trying to mash something and you might just get a free re-curse for your trouble. In Overdrive this Distortion changes very little, gaining only 4 extra hits (and so barely any difference in curse potential). However the edges of the move in overdrive seem to have more generous hitboxes, leading to it being more common to be hit for a 16+ hit combo even at the very edge of its range. |
F equals
F equals 236236D during Curse (Air OK) |
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Exceed Accel
n Factorial ABCD during Overdrive |
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Astral Heat
N-Infinity 64641236D |
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External References
- Japanese Name: アラクネ
- Japanese Wiki
- Japanese BBS
- Arcade Profile Dan Rankings
move
and the move Full
sections. One is shown on the character page, while the other is shown on the frame data page.- Amane Nishiki [★]
- Arakune [★]
- Azrael [★]
- Bang Shishigami [★]
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- Carl Clover [★]
- Celica A. Mercury [★]
- Es [★]
- Hakumen [★]
- Hazama [★]
- Hibiki Kohaku [★]
- Iron Tager [★]
- Izanami [★]
- Izayoi [★]
- Jin Kisaragi [★]
- Jubei [★]
- Kagura Mutsuki [★]
- Kokonoe [★]
- Lambda-11 [★]
- Litchi Faye Ling [★]
- Mai Natsume [★]
- Makoto Nanaya [★]
- Mu-12[★]
- Naoto Kurogane [★]
- Nine the Phantom [★]
- Noel Vermillion [★]
- Nu-13 [★]
- Platinum the Trinity [★]
- Rachel Alucard [★]
- Ragna the Bloodedge [★]
- Relius Clover [★]
- Susano'o [★]
- Taokaka [★]
- Tsubaki Yayoi[★]
- Valkenhayn R. Hellsing [★]
- Yuuki Terumi [★]
Click [★] for character's full frame data
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Frame Data & System Data •
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