GGACR/I-No/Coming From Strive

Intro

Strive is a very different game. You're used to some of the Guilty Gear mechanics and you have an idea of how to play I-No, but pacing & rhythm will be different, neutral will be different, combos will be different...

This is going to take some work!

Everyone's damage is pretty explosive in Strive, so while I-No wont feel amazing in this regard she's quite strong relative to the other oki-centric characters.
Everyone moves faster in the air.
Most of Strive's hitboxes are inside the character's hurtboxes across the cast, with the exception of specific moves. In +R there's a lot more variety and it significantly changes how neutral is played.

System Mechanics

Instead of YRC, the Alpha Counter in this game is called Dead Angle. It's an attack with full invul, but is safer on block than YRC and incurs less of a meter penalty.
RC does not slow down time (no cancel does), can only be used after strikes, and only if said strike made contact.
FRC exists. If you try to cancel your moves during specific windows, you can do it regardless of whether or not it made contact, and the meter cost is only 25%.
- Typically the windows are short (like 2-3f).
- As there is no time slow, there is also no prorate on the damage.
Instant Block actually reduces blockstun and pushback, instead of leaving blockstun the same and negating pushback. The window for Instant Block is 8f wide.
There is a mechanic called Slash Back that has a small (2f) window, but reduces blockstun to 3-4 frames, and has a lot of the benefits of both Instant Block and Faultless defense. It is done with the S+H button combo while blocking, similar to how Blitz Shield was input. Click the link to read all the specifics.
RISC is called Guard Bar and you can see the neutral position, which means you can see how scaled your combos are.
You cannot airthrow an OTG blue burst in this game, but otherwise you can airthrow a burst. Bursts cannot be thrown in Strive (which is why UpBall_Ean will never play it).

I-No Differences

I-No's mixup options are stronger, though everyone has stronger options. I-No is among the best in this category.
I-No is more free-form in this game in terms of her routes and cancels, though this also applies to most characters.
I-No has two airdashes, and her airdash angle is plainly horizontal without any ability to influence it.
I-No's normals are pretty different:
1. f.S has much slower startup and a 60% forced prorate, but it's + on block normally (very + when it hits late) and launches on hit.
2. 2S is an unprorated low, and it has more range!
3. 5H, 2H and 2D feel like they have more range.
4. 5D Is slower but active for longer, and you cannot cancel it prior to startup to make it a projectile.
I-No's special moves are pretty different:
1. I-No's dives are very different:
  - She has a dive on every button. PKS are all overheads.
  - I-No cannot cancel her dives into that hop to extend combos.
  - Pdive bounces and can be airdash or special move canceled after a certain period, giving her corner dive-loop combos. Has about a 15 degree angle.
  - Kdive is unprorated and floorslides on CH. On regular hit it's a knockdown tool. Travels at a 30 degree angle.
  - Sdive has prorate 80 but has a float property, so it starts combos meterless without CH. Has a 45 degree angle.
  - Hdive has some neutral use in some matchups, and is a way to build meter in combos from prorated starters. Travels parallel to the ground.
  - Forcebreak Dive (uses the D button and costs 25%) travels upwards at a 45 degree angle w/ 5 hits, causes about 60 frames of untech time, can be canceled at any time after frame 6 by pressing a button, and restores jump options. It also has strike invul on frames 6-9 and a massive disjointed hitbox.
2. None of her dives get extra properties when you charge them for an extended period of time (but you can still charge them to vary your timing to make adjustments for combos, or to mess with your opponent).
3. Two meterless versions of Note: P note starts slow and picks up speed, and H note starts fast and slows down over time. You have far more vertical control of the note too!
4. Force Break Note fires two notes at the same time, they start with 3 hits instead of 1 (max of 7 over time), and crank the guard bar significantly on block. You can control how they spread with up/down inputs like you can control regular notes.
5. Vertical Chemical Love is a thing and it's used mostly in combos, but has some situational use in neutral.
6. Horizontal Chemical Love has a hitbox on I-No's body that also reaches behind her a little, the hitbox travels much farther (like 2/3 screen with the camera backed up all the way), and the "early" part of the hitbox extends a little farther, making it easier to combo with at longer range.
7. Both HCL and VCL can be input with a dash, causing them to carry forward the intial dash momentum.
8. No Megalomania command grab super. But your high/low is so much stronger that you wont care, and you can FRC your throw to tack on a little extra damage too if you really want to open people up with throw.
9. Fortissimo is air-only.

I'll just warn you now: If you get good at I-No in this game, you wont want to play her in Strive. Even if she's strong relative to her competition in Strive, she feels like a better character in +R due to all the options she has available. You'll probably decide to pick up a new Strive character rather than make your +R I-No worse.

What's the same?

STBT still goes under stuff, TK dive can still be used to jump over and punish stuff, 6P is still anti-air, etc.

What's new?

Throw is on 4/6 H, not D. It's also "zero frame" in that the game checks to resolve throws before strikes, so you can wakeup reversal throw and beat a meaty that isn't spaced correctly or throw invul.
You don't have the ability to spend burst to dash cancel or whatever that mechanic is.
There is no positive bonus that passively gives you a ton of meter.
There is no wall break.
HCL 6FRC6 will let you convert for 25% when/where you couldn't before.
FB dive is an anti-air with an amazing hitbox and some invul frames, and the meterless cancel window can help you bait bursts. You also get to corner-to-corner anyone for 25% and the combo is easier than the HCL 6FRC6 route (for less damage).
Jump cancel on STBT-H helps your mixup when blocked, and it helps your meterless combos from counterhit 5H/2H, making the reward for using them way better. They're now among your highest damage combo starters if you fish for CH, and the combos will typically take them to the corner too.
f.S has a totally different purpose that adds a lot of utility to I-No's neutral game. You can control space with it well to force an opponent to go over/under, so that you can snipe them with AAs or crush them with 5H/2H into huge damage.
Two different notes give you some utility. Your opponent will have to make an effort to recognize which note you used in neutral if you mix things up appropriately. Since you can influence the note's movement a lot more, there are matchups where you can actually zone with note and only go in when your opponent got hit or is blocking.
Force break note is an incredible tool that you can use to get someone to burn meter on FD (or let their guard bar crank to flashing and take 80% damage), and helps in some matchups where it's really difficult to pin your opponent down.

As a whole, characters are way more wild in terms of what they can do.
- Baiken can meterless Alpha Counter during blockstop while you're unable to act.
- Testament has incredible neutral tools but also gets high damage on demand due to poison.
- And there are characters you haven't dealt with before like Kliff, who can TOD you off of a gold burst due to his ability to remove OTG state and combo into a guaranteed dizzy.

What should I do first?

Here's how I would prioritize:

Practice moving around because it feels really different.
Practice your note control. Tapping a direction to influence movement results in far more movement than holding a direction. You can snipe people out of the air or lock down the ground to prevent low-profile moves from going under note. But you can also tap a direction 2-3 times, then mash the other direction to juke your opponent and get them to run head first into the note.
Test your moves against other character's moves to get a sense of what works at different spacing and with different timings. Neutral is a totally different ballgame since some moves extend hurtboxes before active and some don't. Some linger after active and some don't.
Ok, now you can work on advanced combos like HCL 6FRC6.