I’d go through the character specific tutorial sections for the characters who seem like fun (or maybe all of them. There aren’t really THAT many and the tutorials are short.). They’ll give you a brief overview of how the character is ‘supposed’ to play, along with an infodump of some basic techniques (that, if you’re anything like me when I started playing this game, will go in one ear and right out the other the first time you go through this stuff) and then give you a chance to screw around against a really easy opponent. But most importantly is the brief writeup on how the character is supposed to play, so that you can judge on what sounds like fun. Of course, since I have copious free time, I shall write my own brief synopses…though there’s also the Dustloop Wiki entry for each character, though that doesn’t always have a useful synopsis.
Arakune: One of the most nonstandard characters in the game, still. His gameplan depends on stalling for time and applying enough pressure to land moves that curse his opponent, rather than really worrying about doing any meaningful amount of damage. Once he curses his opponent, he’s quite capable of ending the round in a single big combo if his opponent can’t hold him off long enough.
Bang: A high mobility, close range character with some deceptive tricks. Bang has pretty good mixup with high/low, a command throw, and crossups, and he has a limited supply of nails that he can use to apply pressure/control space/set up mixups.
Carl: Another thoroughly nonstandard character, Carl is almost two characters in one, since the player controls his robotic ‘sister’ as well as well as Carl himself. Carl has low health and iffy pressure on his own, but if he can get an opponent trapped between himself and Nirvana, he has extremely punishing mixup (verging on the unblockable with the right setups) and brutal resets that can end a match quickly.
Hakumen: A character for the patient, Hakumen consumes his ‘heat’ (‘super’) gauge with all his special moves, though it fills on its own over time. His normals control a lot of space and his drive is a counterattack mechanic that can be used to turn things around if you can predict your opponent. He’s somewhat lacking in mobility, however.
Hazama: A pretty unique character, with an unusual style of mobility; He’s bad at moving around via ‘normal’ methods, and his normals lack range, but he has extremely strong mobility and space control capabilities using his chains. He’s also an explosive character, because while his ‘general’ midscreen (and even corner) damage is forgettable, certain starters lead into a LOT of damage, and he can use 50 meter to turn almost any hit into a large combo.
Jin: Jin is well rounded and maybe the closest thing the game has to a ‘standard’ style character. He controls space very well at a number of different ranges and has a mean air game, but his mixup is a little weak, and he has to compensate by being tricky. Easy to play, hard to master.
Lambda-11: The one really dedicated zoning character in the game; Lambda can potentially hit almost anywhere on the screen at neutral, but you’ll need good reflexes and smart reads to make sure that your attacks go where your opponent does. Played well, she can keep most opponents from ever getting near enough to threaten her, closing in only for combo damage, and then backing away before they can recover.
Litchi: While a relative ‘standard’ character, Litchi switches between, essentially, two ‘stances’ depending on whether she is holding her staff or not, and her gameplay is dependant on being able to switch fluidly between them, and use the projectile properties of her staff to create openings. She also has some of the strongest corner ‘oki’ in the game, which can make it very hard for opponents to escape once she pins them down in the corner.
Makoto: A fairly straightforward rushdown character, with quick movement short range normals, and fairly strong mixup. Currently considered a little bit weak due to not really having anything on par with Bang’s mobility and nails.
Mu-12: A sort of half-zoning character, with long range normals and a variety of projectiles that work in unusual ways and can be used to apply pressure or set up approaches. Has huge damage potential, but relatively weak mixup.
Noel: Another relatively short ranged character, Noel has a number of attacks with strange invulnerability properties on them and applying those attacks to counter your opponent’s options is key to her game.
Platinum: A close to mid-range character whose playstyle changes based on what random item she has at any given time. Each item gives her a strong option, and being able adjust on the fly to take advantage of each one is crucial for her game.
Rachel: A weird combination of pressure and zoning, Rachel has the ability to put a lot of different…stuff on the screen to either keep her opponent out, or create an opening for herself to go in and do damage. She has the ability to enhance her mobility through the use of her drive as well, but using too much of her wind gauge moving around seriously decreases her ability to do damage, since many of her combos require wind.
Ragna: Ragna is a pretty basic character with good mid-range attacks, and strong defensive and mixup options. He gets a lot of damage off just about everything, and is pretty much the ‘flavor of the month’ for folks who want the best results for the least work.
Relius: Sortof a “character and a half” compared to Carl’s two. His ‘partner’ Ignis, moves around independantly of him as a result of many of his moves, and can be used to create a sort of tag-team pressure. Not as devastating as Carl, but a bit more consistant.
Tager: Tager is a grappler, so he’s got low mobility, and big damage. Very strong against some opponents, but struggles against characters that can ‘lame him out’ by getting a life lead and running away. Still pretty solid this time around though.
Taokaka: If Bang is “highly mobile” Tao takes it up to 11. Plays like pretty much no character ever, anywhere, with her ability to zoom around the screen and attack from all sorts of crazy angles. Not an easy character for most people to learn, but capable of really blowing people up in the right hands.
Tsubaki: Another relatively close range character, who charges a special guage to get access to ‘powered up’ versions of her special moves. Her mixup is kindof weak, however, and without charge her damage potential is kindof low. Needs to outplay her opponent to get the win and currently overshadowed by other ‘rushdown’ characters that don’t require as much resource management to be effective.
Valkenhayn: A high mobility/low mobility character - low mobility in human form, high mobility and strong mixup in a gauge-limited wolf form. Potentially very strong, but requires a good understanding of how to move around in wolf form and when to revert back to human to reach anything like his max potential.
