Running only 1 gem set up currently. Ex meter gain + 20% + 10% damage boost that takes up 2 slots, and meter gem that has + 40%. Both activate after 4 specials
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I’m not sure why you would equip the gems which activate on performing of a launcher when they’re just going to deplete while the character is inactive. Or am I missing something?
With some characters, one might want to tag cancel right back!
I like to use #205 and #003 together on offense/okizeme-oriented characters. If you hit with 2 combos, #003 activates, ensuring a 3rd combo will KO. If the opponent blocks, #205 activates, giving you a lot of extra meter if needed.
Is there any chance of updating the first post with the paid dlc boost gems? Some of them appear quite interesting. Maybe keep them separate from the default and free?
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Gem question: does a % bonus in this game mean a character strong in that area will become disproportionally stronger? For instance, does a speed gem on chun li have a higher marginal increase than on Zangief?
Yes it does, since yo are taking that % of the character’s speed or strength. That is why speed gems on the likes of Paul are pretty useless, but on someone with super fast jump speed like Bob, you can create new safe jumps and even combo jumping heavies together.
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I’ll update with the free ones when I get home. I’m not sure if anybody is really buying these gems packs…
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I use Rolento and Lili. I give Lili strength, defense, and meter boosts when Rolento does 1 launcher. For Rolento, I give strength boosts that activate upon launch, and when 3 special moves have connected.
Is your Rolento launch gem on his launch or his partner’s?
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When Rolento launches Lili, yeah. Rolento sucks at damage after being tagged in so I give everything to Lili.
Wait, how does giving rolento a strength boost when launching into lili help lili’s damage?
I wonder if speed gems may not be the best with Rolento, and maybe some meter. Meter is always welcome, and he can evade faster/jab more times with speed ones.
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I give Rolento and Lili the boost when Rolento launches, since his normals are fantastic and quite safe. I don’t use meter gems since Rolento already builds it fast, and I figure he needs damage more than anything. I haven’t considered speed gems, that could work.
This isn’t true…Heihachi has a terrible walk speed but 15% is noticeably different…Speed Gems with him are Effective… o_O
Updated gem list.
Jack-X combined with a +20% damage on a super-art and +20% damage when partner connects with 2 launchers is downright scary.
You are not a true Bison player if you do not have the “perform 1 reversal to increase meter gain” gem on him!
Warp all day get a boost. I would assume it would work for Akuma too.
Nearly anyone can be. I use the two on one of my King setups and it spells checkmate more often than not.
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After looking over all the gems, I’m starting to come to the conclusion that the life restore gems are the best overall. It all comes down to a simple cost-benefit analysis. It’s very rare for a 10-20% attack increase to make a huge difference when it is usually activated at the end of a highly scaled combo. Take the attack gems that activate after partner launch for example. Launcher combos scale horrendously and by the time your 2nd character comes in with a boosted gem, the 10% boost you get is more than negated by the 50-30% damage reduction from scaling. Most of the time you end up with an extra 10-20 damage. Sure, the boost lasts longer than that, but even if you land another combo the percentage is too small to make a real difference. Using the partner launch attack gem as the example, you would get 30 extra damage from a 300 damage combo. That’s like an extra light punch. If you have a 20% boost active, that’s 60 damage. Wow, that’s a whole medium attack. If you don’t land anything in the 10 second period then the whole gem is wasted.
The meter gain gems are even worse. Meter gain in this game is relatively on the slow side. It takes about 27 whiffed uppercuts to build 1 block of meter. With a 20% meter boost, it would take approximately 22 whiffed uppercuts. Of course, actually connecting with attacks or making your opponent block is the main way to actually build meter. Even then, a blocked jump-in attack, followed by two mediums canceled into a special only yields about 25% of a meter. An activated 20% meter gem would boost that up by 5%, but you would have to land a jump-in attack to get it. Some characters can force the opponent to block a lot and thus gain a greater amount of meter, but I would argue that a tiny meter boost is a waste compared to having 260-300 extra life on each character. Lastly, if you’re making the opponent block enough times to make the onslaught gem build some significant meter, I would argue you probably didn’t need it to win that match.
That brings me to the biggest advantage that life gain gems have: They generally activate when you’re getting your ass kicked, and they make a significant difference. Most of the other gems make a marginal difference when you’re already doing things that indicate you are winning (e.g. connecting with special moves, making the opponent block, cross canceling, activating supers, or landing 2 launchers). The life gems activate when you threw a fireball at the wrong time, about to eat a jump-in combo, and lose the entire round without tagging in your 2nd character. They can buy you extra time to regroup, adapt, and retreat. None of the other gems can do anything close to that.
Last point: Look at a game like MK9. It had two game mechanics that illustrate my point very well: ex moves and breakers. Generally speaking, you could use meter to either inflict an extra 20%+ damage on the opponent (ex moves) or mitigate 20%+ damage to yourself (combo breakers). I suggest we take the same approach when assessing the value of gems. In general, 1 block of meter buys you 100 extra damage in SFxT, so with that in mind lets look at what the gems offer:
- Harmonize lvl. 2 - When Vitality is at 50% you receive +80 life instantly.
- Immense Power lvl. 1- Your partner connects with 1 Launcher, you get +10% damage for 20 seconds.
- Onslaught lvl. 1 - Your partner connects with 1 Launcher, you get +20% meter gain for 20 seconds.
The harmonize gem is worth almost an entire meter. If we consider 1,000 health the average (although it’s actually closer to 900), then it’s worth approximately 8% of a life bar. It should be noted that this gem is guaranteed to go off if you should ever need it. The only way it doesn’t go off is if your life never drops to 50%, in which case you won.
The immense power gem will activate after a launch. There is no guarantee you will land a launcher on your opponent, but if you do then you will get about 10-30 extra damage. This is worth 3% of an “average” character’s life bar. Keep in mind that the damage you get from this gem is always subject to the scaling on the combo. The life gem, on the other hand, is consistently the same value. This means that if your opponent activates your harmonize gem mid combo, you will receive the 80 extra life instantly. The opponent will have to spend an additional meter to mitigate it. This gem, on the other hand, is almost always activated heavily scaled unless it is done from a raw launcher. Considering risk and reward, I believe the harmonize gem is clearly on top.
Next let’s look at the onslaught gem. While 20% meter gain sounds good on paper, it is unlikely you will get 20% of a single block of meter from this gem. A full blocked jump-in combo will give you about 25% and you will receive 20% of that 25% percent. In essence, it is worth 5% of a meter every time you land a full block string on your opponent. Again, I’ll repeat that if you’re gaining that much meter from this gem, you were probably going to win anyway.
Agreed. The gems I view with manual trigger conditions and absolutely possible per round conditions are the best.