Arrow Discussion

[Smoothjazz101]

Hey guys, I started a thread a while back in the Rocket Raccoon forum, and was really impressed with the people who came out of the woodwork to give their advice and thoughts.

What I would like to do here is discuss Hawkeye’s arrows in the game, what his best one’s are, etc. I’m going to try and list these in order of which I use the most, and then work downwards.

Currently, I’m running the team of Hawkeye/Storm/Doom, so I’ll be using that as a frame of reference.

Also worth noting I’ll be mostly calling the arrows what Clint calls them himself, not the other two names they’re given in the command list.

And finally, this will hopefully be something of a rudimentary guide, but I’m also looking for better players to call me out on my own shortcomings and correct some of the - stupid shit I do in games.

“Shot” (Standing C)
Hawkeye’s standing C, which causes him to fire one or several arrows depending on whether or not it is charged. It can also be aimed up or down.

I usually use this to cover any assists I’m using close to the start of the match or when my zoning is reset for whatever reason; I’ll follow it up with Triple Arrow, or other arrows (Scatter Shot in particular). Doesn’t seem to have a lot of durability, but the quick startup helps start up zoning pressure very quickly.

It’s also useful to quickly catch characters (super)jumping, and also for hitting smaller characters crouching such as Firebrand, but there are generally better options at Hawkeye’s disposable that do more damage and lead to better situations.

Triple Arrow; (qcf A)

For me, this is one of Hawkeye’s easiest arrows to use. Decent startup and easy to put out when used after standing C, covers a lot of horizontal space quickly, and hit confirms into Gimlet easily. Great recovery when used in the air very close to the ground, and can then be followed up by more Triple Arrows and other arrows once you land; doing air triple arrow, standing c ground triple arrow covers the entire normal jump range of the screen with arrows for very easy zoning.

Freeze Shot (B, after Trick Manuever)
Primarily used as a combo extender after the standard launch combo, I usually use Trick Shot C, and superjump backwards when I have the opponent in the corner so that it doesn’t whiff.

Has quick recovery from all three jumps, so it can also be used to pressure the opponent. Landing this OTG or on an airbourne opponent leads to ground bounce. Landing this on a standing opponent just does a fair amount of hitstun.

Can be used as a pressure tool, but doesn’t do that much damage and the poison in my opinion is negligible damage; three poison arrows will drain all of Phoenix’s health however, and the fast recovery makes it a good annoyance tool.

Very useful to OTG into Gimlet, however.

Scatter Shot; (srk B)

Shoots what looks like a single arrow up into the superjump height of the screen above Hawkeye’s head, which then explodes and disintegrates into many arrows. The distance it covers is just short of full screen; some of the arrows clip Sentinel at maximum distance.

These arrows are good for covering above Hawkeye’s head, and discouraging superjumps. The horizontal space they cover when they land is on the poor side, but is effective if you can pin them down with a horizontal assist. Startup is okay, recovery is just okay as well, so you should make sure to cover this something.

Hitting an airbourne opponent causes a soft knockdown, which then leads into a combo of your choice from Slide.

Exploding Arrow (qcf A)

An odd one. The range that this is fired is the shortest of all Hawkeye’s arrows, landing right in front of him. It explodes after a short amount of time.

It can be used as a pseudo-anti-air against people jumping in on you and pressing buttons, but it doesn’t seem to lead to anything in the air except for Gimlet.

It’s main use is to cover a small area of the screen in which the opponent will struggle to attack you without getting tossed into the air. It’s possible to fire one, let your opponent attack you, then pushblock them into the explosion.

When the explosion hits a grounded opponent, it’s easy to get a combo from slide into a regular ABC BBCS poison tip gimlet combo, but not a lot more because of hitstun deterioration caused by the explosion.

[Smoothjazz101]

Reserved

[Smoothjazz101]

Reserved

[stryder1587]

You brought up something that sparked an idea. If you hit someone with poison then xfc, does the poison damage increase too?

[Shift]

I think the poison damage stays the same, it’s just the hit that the arrow does that increases.

[jak_d_ripr]

So what about trick shot and the rusty nail trick shot? What uses do you guys have for those two moves? I use trick shot against characters who can duck his regular arrows, but Im yet to find any use for rusty nail so far. Apparently it can be used in his x-factor loop, but Im yet to find a use for it outside of x-factor unfortunately. What bout y’all?

[Shift]

In x-factor level 3 and 2 you can relaunch with trick shot H. If you want to use it without x-factor you can use it to end a combo. For example, L-M-3H-S sj. M-M-H-S qcf H-H qcf PP. Though the poison arrow is more effective since it poisons your opponent, the trick shot H will cause more damage on impact. Another use could just be shooting full screen with trick maneuver M-H.

[Smoothjazz101]

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So what about trick shot and the rusty nail trick shot? What uses do you guys have for those two moves? I use trick shot against characters who can duck his regular arrows, but Im yet to find any use for rusty nail so far. Apparently it can be used in his x-factor loop, but Im yet to find a use for it outside of x-factor unfortunately. What bout y’all?

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Spider Dan wrote a great post about Rusty Nail in the Discussion Thread;

Trick Shot M->H is one of Hawkeye’s best moves. It has high durability, extreme speed, pierces through enemies, and is not duckable. In fact, even though it doesn’t have the highest durability, it’s so fast that it beats everything but Chris’ magnum, Viper’s optic blast, and Gold Arthur (and Hawkeye’s Spritzer). Even the aforementioned moves frequently get hit out of startup.

I also use the medium trick shot any time I want to move forward and chip/fish for gimlet. I feel when I play Hawkeye I often corner myself because of constantly spraying Triple Arrows jumping backwards, so it’s a good way to reverse that backwards momentum.

Check out this video of Yipes’ Hawkeye, starting at 5.09;
[media=youtube]X7w73WnOwfA[/media]

You can see he uses the various rolls to maintain his position. Also, look at how he sits on the Exploding Arrow, just daring PR Rog to attack him.

[BladeOfJustice]

Wesker v.s Hawkeye is like a cat and mouse game lol.

[ES_Curse]

I don’t know if this is common knowledge or not, but I found out today that Hawkeye can aim is St.H (“SHOT!”) while it is charging. This can be aimed down to hit short charatcters and up to hit jumping characters. While Hawkeye can’t aim straight up, he can aim about 45 degrees higher or lower. While you can charge it fully while aiming, you can press H, tap up, then release to shoot one arrow upward. With timing, you can also spread the shots out to where they fire about one in each direction by tapping down as you release an upward shot or up as you release a downward shot.

[OnlyWingedAngel]

I don’t know if this is common knowledge or not, but I found out today that Hawkeye can aim is St.H (“SHOT!”) while it is charging. This can be aimed down to hit short charatcters and up to hit jumping characters. While Hawkeye can’t aim straight up, he can aim about 45 degrees higher or lower. While you can charge it fully while aiming, you can press H, tap up, then release to shoot one arrow upward. With timing, you can also spread the shots out to where they fire about one in each direction by tapping down as you release an upward shot or up as you release a downward shot.

I’m pretty sure its common knowledge, though if I was going to hit short characters I’d rather to Trick Shot M into Rusty Nail or some other. Though canceling the s.H slightly downwards into Trick Shot M works though a minor detail.

[Smoothjazz101]

Yeah I’ve actually experimented with “spreading out” the H arrows recently. It can be cool for covering the space in front of you, I guess.

[ShogunFlow]

I use exploding arrow as a welcome mixup tool. It usually ends up making the incoming character sit behind it and wait for it to explode and allows me to begin my zoning game.

I dont know how many of you use Hawkeye with Doom, but Hawkeye on point backed by Missiles is pretty godlike.

[Smoothjazz101]

I use exploding arrow as a welcome mixup tool. It usually ends up making the incoming character sit behind it and wait for it to explode and allows me to begin my zoning game.

I dont know how many of you use Hawkeye with Doom, but Hawkeye on point backed by Missiles is pretty godlike.

I use Hawkeye/Storm/Doom and Hawkeye/Doom/Akuma, and yes, missiles are godlike.

[Crimeslunk]

I was just messing around with the trap arrow and if you cancel the trap arrow into a gimlet or scattered shot then let trap arrow hit then DHC into another hyper, as soon Hawkeye exits the screen the net disappears and the opponent goes airborne spin animation.

Not of much use but a special property non the less. Although you could probably find a good use for this with another hyper after super scatter.

Another way to use it is after a S into sj trap arrow then wait for opponent to drop to appropriate height and gimlet into DHC connect. You can basically choose what height you want an opponent to be at for a DHC.

[TheCape]

I was just messing around with the trap arrow and if you cancel the trap arrow into a gimlet or scattered shot then let trap arrow hit then DHC into another hyper, as soon Hawkeye exits the screen the net disappears and the opponent goes airborne spin animation.

Not of much use but a special property non the less. Although you could probably find a good use for this with another hyper after super scatter.

Another way to use it is after a S into sj trap arrow then wait for opponent to drop to appropriate height and gimlet into DHC connect. You can basically choose what height you want an opponent to be at for a DHC.

Also looks like it would be good for Frank West level ups or really good with power up DHCs.

[Hellsynge]

Wesker v.s Hawkeye is like a cat and mouse game lol.

I lose this match-up all the time and I wish I could learn how to fight Wesker. I have the WORST time with Wesker with ANY of my characters. I try to stay grounded and use s. M or a cancelled slide. I seem to get hit one time, then I am dead.

[BladeOfJustice]

I lose this match-up all the time and I wish I could learn how to fight Wesker. I have the WORST time with Wesker with ANY of my characters. I try to stay grounded and use s. M or a cancelled slide. I seem to get hit one time, then I am dead.

The trick si to stay mobile, Wesker controls the ground game. And you must know hawkeyes arrows and how they all work, what can beat what where and how.