Glad I Could Help (Sly Cooper)

Classic Fighting Games Playstation All Stars
1

Looking for a collection of info on Sly Cooper because right now it seems he’s a bit undervalued. Personally he’s my favorite character, and I play him more than any character. I’m not going to go over a full move-list, but rather somethings that I’ve been trying out and that I have found are consistently effective. Here’s what I’ve worked out so far:

Meter Levels
Lv1: 150
Lv2: 175 (325)
Lv3: 350 (675)

First of all, Sly isn’t a very combo-oriented character, much unlike Raiden/Dante/Kratos/etc. This does not deem him useless however. His playstyle is far different from the aforementioned characters and does take some getting used to. Since Sly isn’t a combo character, he’s used for his mobility and disruption. Instead of trying to get the hardest hitting combo with the most AP gain, you’re looking to take opponents by surprise, or confuse them. For the minimal combos he has however, a good opener is his :d:Square. It offers decent knock up for a few follow-up abilities like :f:Triangle, or :u:Square. Your overall goal, however, is to use the element of surprise, whether it be in 1v1, 2v2, or FFA. This is achieved by Sly’s use of invisibility.

It’s no secret that Sly can’t block/dodge. Instead, pressing and holding R1 renders Sly invisible. This is way cool. I won’t go too in depth with this because, let’s be honest, the mechanics are pretty obvious. Some good things to note, however, is that Sly can remain invisible while using his NSquare combo, and his Level 1 can be activated while in stealth. This makes for some wonderful opportunities to take your opponents by surprise. (I find it fun in 2v2’s to go invisible for a little while once you have level 1, and when the other team forgets about you and goes for your teammate, that’s when Murray unleashes hell).

Another MAJORLY important component of Sly is his backstab mechanic. NSquare combo is used to steal AP from your enemy and take it for yourself, but you must be behind your opponent. The AP is leeched on the second hit so make sure to do the full combo. Not only does this give you the AP that you leech, but the AP from the first hit as well (25 total [steals 20] for unstealthed, 45 total [steals 40] if stealthed). This also has AWESOME synergy with his counter (NCircle). Immediately after countering, use the backstab combo for the most effectiveness from these two unique mechanics. (This technique is especially good for shutting down Col. Radecs, and preventing them from building too much AP. You can counter his :f:Triangle (Snipe) and appear immediately behind him no matter how far away he hit you from, then take some of his AP for yourself).

Speaking of his counter, it’s also pretty damn good. It’s the only counter in the game that teleports your character behind your opponent for free combos. The two most effective uses I have found for Sly’s counter so far:
[LIST=1]
[]Utilizing the backstab combo (mentioned above)
[]Free combo into Level 1 - To do this, you have to get your Level 1 out as soon you confirm the counter. Otherwise they get their invincibility frames if you delay it too long. This is yet another extremely effective way to take somebody off-guard.
[/LIST]
The last thing I want to touch on is how you’re going to build AP. Save the best for last, I suppose. The two highest AP-builders are your Air-:d:Square and your :f:Triangle. They both build 30 AP (nothing impressive, I know). Since Sly needs 150 AP for his level one, his AP gain can be quite grueling, but it is manageable. A basic combo for building a quick 50 AP would be :d:Square followed by :f:Triangle. Other than that, Sly is very situational. Utilize the vast array of mechanics he has to keep your opponents on their toes.

Random Stuff:
[LIST]
[]Sly’s :u:Circle (barrel) deflects projectiles. Not all of them, however, so be wary.
[]His :u:Triangle is EXTREMELY AMAZING. Use it all the time. Thanks to this ability, you won’t find yourself missing dodge-rolling. Just make sure to input a direction after using it, or by inputting diagonals (.:uf:Triangle/:ub:Triangle) and it will give you some awesome lateral movement.
[LIST]
[]Another really neat thing that was pointed out by wrrza is that when using :u:Triangle while facing an enemy, if you are in range you will automatically teleport directly behind your enemy. This has no buffer time, so you can use it the moment you look at the opponent. Also handy for the NSquare-NSquare backstab combo.
[/LIST]
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[]:f:Circle is delayed, so it can be used if you know someone is going to try and drop onto you. Use :f:Circle to get away and stun your opponent when they hit the ground.
[]Always try and keep your cap ( :d:Circle) somewhere on the map. That’s free AP when somebody runs over it.
[LIST]
[]THIS IS AWESOME: A point blank :d:Circle followed IMMEDIATELY with a level 1 combos. There’s a very specific timing to it, but this works midscreen or against a wall. I figured this out about a day ago and I’ve been using it for any opponents who try and stick to the corners.
[/LIST]
[]Holding :u: while jumping performs a super-jump. It is cast exclusive, and is an extremely effective way for getting the hell out of someplace you don’t want to be.
[/LIST]
Bugs I’ve Found:
[LIST]
[]While messing around in training mode, I discovered that if your NTriangle (clock) stuns the opponent while the clock is still airborne, if you *immediately *follow with a Level 1 (like, mash it out), Murray will go nowhere and simply fall on his face. In the training stages, it’s about 3-4 squares away from your opponent from when you throw the clock.
[/LIST]
And that’s not all! Read through the replies for even more info on Sly Cooper!

Make sure to post any information you have on Sly Cooper as a response! Good luck, and practice up! :slight_smile:

2

Reserve

3

Thanks for this! I never knew he had a backstab mechanic or that he could stay invis with his neutral square combo. I was only using grabs and items to steal AP :confused: Sly Cooper is gonna become even more fun to use now.

4

GLAD I COULD HELP.

Sly’s d3 3 is great imo and should be used more

Who would everyone say his best partner is? I’d say Drake.

5

Dunno if anyone has mentioned this but i realised this today. Sly Coopers :u:+Circle (the move where he jumps into a barrel of and walk around in) Actually reflects projectiles. It really helps Vs zoners like Drake because it reflects stuff like his AK47 bullets and barrel back at him.

6

I’d say combo characters like Dante/Raiden/Kratos work REALLY well with Sly. Only from personal experience. My friend and I play Sly/Raiden and have about a 10:1 win/loss ratio.

7

Sly’s u2 is awesome. For easier input for where you want to teleport would be to activate it with up+diagonals. also, it’s useful for avoiding some of your opponent’s moves if you do teleport neutral (stay where you are instead of left or right), I used it a lot on a drake player to avoid his highly telegraphed d2; I’d time the teleport and avoid it and punish accordingly.

Also, Sly’s u3 (barrel move) when you explode it you can cancel the (air)recovery into certain moves. I haven’t tested it all so there may be more moves but I know for sure you can go into his u2 teleport or f2 attack. It’s a low-level bait tactic but something to know.

Had this happen to me mid-match :confused:

8

Found something interesting with Sly’s :u:2 (teleport), it may be common knowledge or it may not but here it is anyway.If you’re looking at a character and perform :u:2 (without :f: or :b: input after to dictate where you tele, or not use :uf:2 or :ub:2) you will teleport behind the player you were looking at. Which would mean free 1, 1 combo for AP stealing Backstab.

Not sure how long you need to “look” at your opponent for it to register as a destination for your teleport. You can see this in practice mode 1v1. Would be hard to control in a FFA situation or perhaps not? since you can stay stealth to try and register someone you want to teleport behind.

Else if you have no one “registered” or you’re facing no one, you’ll just teleport in-place.

Anyone else would like to confirm this?

9

I never noticed this before! Awesome, thank you for pointing this out. Just added it to the appropriate section

10

Not major things to know but I think it is important to list that pressing up and jump makes him do a Super Jump that is unique to the cast as far as I know.

And do we know how many regular combos are whiffed on Sly Cooper on account of his very small vertical hitbox while standing? I know that the second kick in Heihachi’s S.22 whiffs no matter where he is in the combo, so I would not be surprised if Sly gets out of a few other important moves.

11

Yeah, the super jump is super crucial esp when you want to go stealth and GTFO

12

Added some things to a Reddit thread, So i’ll add it here as well.

Sly Cooper:
On Successful Neutral-O Counter, Neutral-Triangle (clock bomb) you can Level 1 on reaction and (for the Clock Bomb, especially) if you are within range.

Forward-O (no directional autocorrect needed after hitting) will connect with a Level 1 if hitting an opponent that is LOOKING TOWARDS SLY. This weird requirement is because if Sly Hit’s an opponent that is facing him they are flown backwards for some distance then they are able to recover out of it.This shouldn’t work in the corner as Forward-O is hard to hit on your opponent if THEY are in the corner. Even if you hit it somehow while they are in the corner I wouldn’t go for it.

Air+Forward-O will connect with a level 1 super if done low enough to the ground (Tiger-Knee’d; Immediately after jumping). Not Reliable in the Corner; Easier Mid-screen or in a clear area. Players are also flown backwards, similar to his grounded forward-O mentioned above, some distance before they are able to Recover.

P.S. that auto teleport-behind is SO GOOD for avoiding supers.

13

A few tidbits I’ve found with Sly so far that may be worth mentioning:

[LIST]
[]This is an obvious one, but some may have missed it. Note that his level 3, unlike similar supers belonging to characters like Radec and Rachet, has limited ammo in addition to a timer. Spamming missed shots will end up wasting your super. You have 7 shots to work with before the super will end prematurely.
[]Make sure you’re holding your stealth button if you plan on linking counter into your 1, 1. You drain more AP that way.
[]j.s2 comes out quickly, has surprising range, builds good meter (for Sly’s standards), sends opponents flying, and offers some mid-air mobility. I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about it.
[]Stationary projectiles - Sackboy cakes, Sackboy Shock Traps, Sweet Tooth Mines, etc. can be jumped into and countered, albeit with very precise timing. Even better, flame pools like the ones left by Sweet Tooth’s molotovs or Daniel’s fire breath can be walked into and countered with no difficulty at all, at the expense of giving the attacking character 5-10 AP first.
[]Generally speaking, when any character is a bit above level 2, a throw will drain more meter than a 1, 1. Meter drain on a throw is relative to how much total AP they have, not the % of their bar filled, so throwing Sackboy (who currently requires 600 AP for a level 3, this is being written pre-nerf) at level 3 will drain 60 AP, while throwing a level 3 Radec (who requires 750 AP) will drain 112. Basically what I’m saying here is, if your goal is to drain meter to hamper a particular person from reaching level 3, you’re better off using the 1, 1 combo until they get a bit ahead of level 2. Some characters that have really expensive supers, like Kratos, are more effective to throw at around halfway before level 2. Usually you will want to use the 1, 1 regardless because, unlike a throw, you can follow a counter with it, but if you’re reduced to trying to naked 1, 1 someone out of stealth, which is a desperate situation, you’re better off just sneaking up for a throw.
[]If you connect toward the end of his s3, starting with the opponent facing you, you can combo it into j.2, which suspends them in the air and gives you a few options. 1) Combo into a level 2. 2) Follow up with a j.u1, 1. This full combo builds 60 AP, the most meter I’ve managed to gain in a Sly combo. It ends with them directly below you. If you’d rather send them flying to give yourself some breathing room, follow up with a j.s2, which will only net 50 AP instead. You can also replace the j.2 with a j.d2 to net a measly 20 AP and wonk out their controls for a few seconds, possibly opening up more AP opportunities like a d1, s2. The timing and spacing on this combo are very specific, but far from an unrealistic 1v1 scenario. Let me know if you find any more followups to the j.2.
[*]Connecting with his s3 starting with the opponent facing away can be followed up with j.s2. Not a fantastic combo, but better than no followup.
[/LIST]
**Edit: **I have a capture card and a youtube channel, so I figured why not make a video of the combo I was talking about. The video is unlisted (because it’s not something most of my regular subscribers would be interested in) so you can only access it via the link. It won’t appear on my channel normally.
[media=youtube]im93Li3NMOI[/media]

14

Good stuff! Thanks BLA for sharing.

15

Yet another important combo for a character misses on Sly’s “standing” hitbox: the second hit of Jak’s Jet Board Dash combo when short-hopped >_>
As a Jak player this really pees me off because this would be really the only thing Jak would have going for him in this matchup.
On the flip side a lot of people think Sly’s S.2 is totally safe but I’ve caught it with a few things (course they may have been pressing buttons) including Jak’s S.1

16

Yes yes yes. I’m glad somebody posted these three in particular. Jump:f:Triangle comes out faster than :f:Triangle and to my knowledge is safer. Cakes and Mines are very hard to counter because of how Sly counters in mid air (he floats very slowly down while the counter is taking place, so it becomes very difficult to time) but I cannot stress enough how perfect countering flame pools is. Use it. All the time. As a Sweet Tooth player myself, I never use cocktails with a Sly in the game because if they know what they’re doing, they can mess me up. This technique is great for taking people off guard though. As for the Square,Sqaure vs Grabbing, this is some interesting information that definitely helped, thank you!

17

So I just discovered that Sly’s :d:Circle (The cap mine) can actually combo into his S1. If you drop it at point blank range and then immediately mash out the S1, it works. It has tricky timing though so you’ve gotta be fast. Just added this to the Random Stuff section.

18

So I just discovered that Sly’s :d:Circle (The cap mine) can actually combo into his S1. If you drop it at point blank range and then immediately mash out the S1, it works. It has tricky timing though so you’ve gotta be fast. Just added this to the Random Stuff section.

19

I’m having a blast using Sly. He’s my main with Dante being my sub. What are your strategies during tech chase? I can’t seem to capitalize during these situations.

Also, I’m having a hard time getting the last part of d.1+u.1+1 to land consistently. Any tips?

20

I dunno if it’s been discussed or already public knowledge (and correct me if I’m wrong), but if you have an opponent in the corner:

↑Th > j n2 > Lv2 for one guaranteed kill.