I still don’t believe raw tagging unscales the combo. It seems like an urban legend to me in terms of Ultimate.
Net trap is awesome. In fact, it’s my main tool aside from MH. Using it while close up is when you shouldn’t do it imo.
Most capture states will be unscaled if a different character than the one initiated the capture state does the combo. If you wanted proof, do She hulk command grabs or Nova air throws + hard tags and watch the difference. That said, even if they didn’t you’d almost always get more damage/meter with a different character doing the combo unless you were in a position to do/can reliably land boulder loop.
As for the risk of net, I’d say it’s a matter of where you use it. Up close I’d certainly rather use shrapnel, but with space I don’t see why not put out a net.
Any advice on playing RR? Like, how should he be played? (passive/aggressive/defensive)
Sometimes I get lucky with a hit, but I am having a hard time with him.
I personally use RR on point with Doom’s Plasma Beam and Strider’s Vajra assists. I have been using him pretty much since the game came out, so I know a thing or two about using him correctly. I’m no expert though, so keep in mind that there are many other methods of playing RR.
Anyway, RR needs an assist with some good durability. In the horizontal department, he’s not that strong. Sure there’s Spitfire and Log Trap, but they can only take you so far because of their low durability. Plasma Beam has proved to be an excellent tool for getting in and setting up quick, left-right mixups. Other assists I can think of are Magneto’s EMP Disruptor, Storm’s Whirlwind, Vergil’s Swords assist (the full screen one), Frank’s Shopping Cart, Sentinel’s Drones, Chris’s Gunfire, and Dante’s Weasel Shot. Basically, any full screen, beam or beam like assist works great with point RR. Vajra works very, very well with RR because it covers another weakness: airborne opponents and “upbackers” as I like to call them. I call Vajra and use RR’s 
Burrow/teleport at the same time. It’s an incredibly fast and hard to block left-right mixup that I have used to catch even some of the best players. If they’re hit out of the air, it’s a hard knockdown, allowing for you to use Bear Trap to otg and do a little combo.
RR is best played defensively in my experience. His low health and sub-par damage output should give that away at the very start. He has an arsenal of traps, the tiniest size of the cast, and exceptional mobility, so I think he was intended to be defensive and tricky. However, with some careful thinking and the right assists, he can be played in an aggressive manner.
Tools and abilities
Spoiler
Shrapnel Trap: Arguably the most useful of the traps. Forward + :h: (Wild Ripper) canceled into Shrapnel Trap is a very good way to use it. If the opponent touches it, they will be in hitstun long enough to hit confirm into the combo of your choice. If they block it, they’ll be in block stun long enough for you to cancel RR’s float ability into air , :s:, and rapid crouching :l: for an pretty much unblockable set up (it’s really a high/low mixup, but it’s so fast that it’s usually not fully blocked). Shrapnel Trap can also absorb one hit attacks.
Net Trap: Because of it’s somewhat length recovery period, Net Trap can be a little dangerous to use when up close. But far away, it is an excellent tool. As the name suggests, it places your opponent in a net for a good while before dropping them on the floor for a hard knockdown. With RR’s awesome mobility, you should always have plenty of time to get over to your trapped enemy and convert for some damage. What I like to do is lay a Net Trap and camp on top of it. This way, when enemies try rushing me down, I’ll block their attack, and they’ll wind up captured by the trap. Since it’s considered a grab though, Net Trap scales damage at the start of a combo. Resets help counter this during your combo.
Boulder** Trap**: If your opponent steps on this trap, a boulder will come crashing down. It must be blocked standing, so you can perform an unblockable if you attack low right as the boulder hits. This trap has the fastest startup time, but I only use it during block strings.
Oil Ball: Oil Ball has two states. First, RR throws the ball onto the floor to create a puddle of oil. This does nothing other than sit. The second state, which causes a small, otg capable inferno to appear, can only be triggered by shooting the oil with standing :h:. The flame pool adds to the obstacle course you can create on the screen, causes a decent amount of blockstun, and can be used to defend yourself by standing in the flames. Since it requires some setting up, it’s best used when you have a lot of breathing room.
Mad Hopper: Since it requires one bar of meter, many may say that using MH as a regular tool is impractical and should only be used in emergencies. I agree. But if you’re ever up against a relentless attacker who frequently calls assists, an unsafe teleporter, or (my favorite) a dive kick crazy Wolverine, MH can really give you some control over the match. If they are hit by it, you can confirm into a combo. Usually though, your opponent won’t want to be anywhere near you if it’s out. You can annoy them by camping on the MH, shooting them with crouching :h:, and hitting them with a Log Trap if they decide to get close or try to jump over you. Drives ‘em crazy. MH serves as a good super to DHC into or out of. It can even make raw tagging easier.
Zoning tools: The Log Trap, crouching :h:, air :s:, and Spitfire Twice are RR’s zoning tools. Log Trap has average durability and swoops across the screen pretty fast. It’s a great tool for picking up assists and pushing your opponent away from you. It causes a wall bounce, so it can also be handy in combos. When you are a little farther away, crouching :h: shoots a nearly fullscreen laser across the screen at an angle. Tall characters can have a hard time against this. Air :s: causes RR to throw a grenade that counts as an overhead and has a pretty big hit box. You can use it like Viewtiful Joe’s Voomerangs to approach your opponent or to cover your tracks during a retreat. Spitfire Twice shoots up to two slow moving projectiles with average durability. They can be fired horizontally, at an angle towards the sky, and at an angle towards the ground (otg capable). They can also be fired in the air.
Mobility: In my opinion, RR has some of the best mobility options out of the entire cast. His ground dash is really quick, allowing for multiple dashes back or forward. His :l: teleport puts him in front of enemies, his teleport puts him behind, and his :h: teleport keeps him underground safe from harm as long as you hold down the button. :h: is highly useful for dodging attacks and escaping the corner. Another option is his float. Like Storm, this gives RR the ability to perform almost instant overheads by float canceling close to the ground. His most useful mobility option is rocket skating. Rocket skates go all 8 ways of dashing and take RR considerable distances. The move can cancel into itself into another direction twice. A single rocket skate can leave you open for a second, so make sure you cancel into another rocket skate. This move is pretty useful for closing in or your opponent or making a quick escape.
Team Positions
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As far as team positions, I personally think that RR is best on point, but he can also be played well in the second spot. You just have to worry about blocking the incoming mixup if your point character is killed. Although his mobility becomes almost as good as that of Dark Wesker after activating level 3 X-Factor, RR’s slightly increased damage output doesn’t really make him a suitable anchor. Sure, Log Trap is an amazing assist to have, but I don’t think it’s worth putting him all the way in the back. Anchors are generally supposed to be heavy hitters with superb speed and have the ability kill in pretty much one combo without a super, in my opinon.[/details]
Assists
[details=Spoiler]
His assists include the powerful Log Trap, Spitfire Twice (horizontal), and Shrapnel Trap. The Log Trap has proved to be a very good assist with it’s coverage of the screen, causing a wall bounce, and how it almost can’t be punished because of RR’s small size. It’s the most chosen assist. Spitfire Twice shoots two slow moving projectiles across the screen just like on point. As an assist though, the projectiles have slightly increased durability, which makes them even more useful than on point. They are similar to Sentinel’s Drones assist, except they don’t disappear if RR is hit. This is my favorite assist for RR. Shrapnel Trap is just like on point as well. You don’t really see it too much since it gets overshadowed by the other two assists, but it’s still effective in space control and lockdown.[/details]
So I’ve been trying to learn RR, and since he’s such a troll-y character I’ve been trying to make a unique/annoying team. So i’m thinking hawkeye/logtrap/sentinel BOMBS!!
I use sent on my main team but obv with drones. however i wanna start using bombs cus theyre good (maybe not as universally good as drones, but they are good in their own way).
Anyway, i like to call bombs and burrow with RR and advance forward. Its hilarious to me. also when the bombs go off on the ground its hard to see RR amidst all the explosions. also RR with hawkeye arrows allows for teleport mixups.
so yeah, ive been trying to make this keepway team and use log trap for easy hit confirm with hawkeyes slide. I have a lot of work to do if i actually wanna make this work, but this team works in my head, so now i gotta see if it works in practice.
I have been inspired by Valdi to put my RR on point.
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I have picked up on the movement, watching how Valdi moves using rocket skates, I have started to do it as well. I rocket backwards, call strange or shuma, rocket forward, if I get in a corner I port out and rocket away, lay traps, call, rocket in and try and mix up. I have honestly done a ton better with RR this way and have had favorable results with my team.
Strange on anchor is working fine for me as well.
“Log Trap, but they can only take you so far because of their low durability.”
Log trap can’t take you far because it’s just not as good as people think all around. Its durability is good for a projectile like it that covers multiple parts of the screen, but its holes are so huge and people don’t realize it. Basic cart shape that swoops. Just jump. For zoning teams this is different, but log itself isn’t great.
The problem with log is people think it’s an antiair. It’s the epitome of anti-ground. Which is why I’m rethinking my usage of log trap in both positions, I stopped using log as much as I did in the past and I rarely call it as an assist over something that isn’t easily avoidable, and it’s definitely not as good against teleports as people might think.
But right now there isn’t a single person who really puts RR to the amount of work he has in him imo, so none of this truly matters just yet. Once that time (hopefully) comes, though, people will learn and log won’t be so fearsome.
As an assist, I use it when the other character is either airborne or on the other side of the screen, or on my half of the screen.
On point, against someone who flies, I’ll dash under and hit them with a log since it hits so high up. If none of these apply, the only other time I’ll use log is when they’re on the other side of the screen. People stop blocking when it comes out for some reason.
People need to be afraid of RR’s other tools. f.H, c.H, shrapnel, three of his best tools that he can even use all game against some characters and win easily. Then you include skates and it’s even more fun.
Personally, i believe rocket raccoon should just use everything he has. i don’t see many legitimately bad moves in his arsenal besides net trap, and his pressure and mixups can be stupidly safe. Camp it up till you don’t have to or are forced not to, then go crazy, but try to never be put on the defensive, one hit and you’re done with this character.
PLAY CHEAP AND STUPID <—
a few dumb things i’ve found and use all the time:
some generic tools i spam to control space are:
c.h -> log trap, or bear trap, or plasma, or traps - keeps way too much stuff on screen, and controls way too much space, now the opponent has to always be wary of pressing buttons.
c.h -> f.h -> confirm, or boulder trap to safety - now they have to worry about approaching you from the front, or calling assists in your face
rocket skate backwards and immediately log trap. People love to chase you and hit buttons when you retreat, this can make them hesitate throughout the match with good reason.
shrapnel trap - its good, and is your main space controlling trap, its not too bad to place, and goes into a lovely combo. There’s no need to panic and put mad hoppers everywhere, that super isn’t actually that special, its just big and feels threatening, and should only be randomly placed against teleporters.
if someone does a sj and will land in a dangerous spot with you near the corner, tri skate to the other side and set a shrapnel trap, at least thats what i often do, other options are great here, but do not get caught in the corner, you will probably die.
plasma forward then up from ground always. two forwards gains you little to no space.
keep two bars and an instant or invincible super behind you (i use spencer), and you won’t have to worry about most random supers. Going for teleporter mixups from full screen with a beam every once in awhile also discourages that practice.
cheap stuff:
call beam assist -> bear trap, This setup is dumb. Its a low, you can confirm from about quarter screen. (correction, its not low, its just fast)
beam assist -> burrow - speaks for itself
on any character that isn’t small, j.lmhs works, instant overhead, and its fast. Even if it gets blocked you often can get a low afterwords anyway, or just do it again.
j.m j.h crossup. It’s hard to do and the timing is different on every character, if it even works on whatever character you’re fighting, but when its there its amazing.
I haven’t slept for like 28 hours so thats all that comes to my head atm.
…bear trap does not hit low.
lol oops, my mistake
So, RR’s amazing incoming setups…
Who uses them.
I like to put out a net trap and set up an oil ball in the corner. They won’t want to go foward out of fear of being caught, so they mostly just come in without pushin buttons. That’s when I lock em down with the flame pool and do a quick instant overhead. People don’t seem to hit advancing guard and just eat the mix up. Doesn’t always work on chars with good air mobility, though.
Instead, shrapnel underneath where they’ll land, boulder if you like, c.H them as they come out so there’s no escape + assist + teleport. Much more reliable, potent, doesn’t let them simply jump or airdash away and is a crossup or fake crossup as they land into another one, two or three 50/50 mixups.
It’s pretty dirty.
That sounds filthy and disgusting. I’ll take it. Btw, what do you usually do when RR himself is coming in from a snap/death of a character?
Block. skates away if its safe (rare). Rocket doesn’t have good options for this incoming.
;___________________;
Sad raccoon.
If I’m playing against an air dasher, I like to put a boulder in front of me on their in coming, and hit them with a log trap. More often then not they’ll try to air dash and get hit by it. If they don’t they’ll land into the boulder trap. Though, I think c.H is safer. I will have to mess with this.
On RR incoming, there’s not much you can do. Just guess which way to block, or you can get ballsy and rocket skates up or downwards, depending on your opponent’s character. Down and Down forwards rocketskates have the least amount of start up compared to the others. I don’t think you can float on the way in, can you?