For my first character I chose solo sho! Ive completed two thirds of trials so i understand basic combo pathways, but which combos are best optimized for damage? Are there any good high speed movement setups every sho player should know? Also what is the purpose for survival knife?
I do not know the answers to all these questions but I will put as much information as I know about how to play sho.
Any input is valued. Let’s make this a go to source of information for all solo shos!
I going to put up some combos (not auto combos) i found (or stole from challenges)
Heres the key for pad players
A: x
B: a
C: y
D: b
One more cancel: x, y and a OR right stick
Cr. : crouching
Fjump, bjump, jump: forward jump, back jump, neutral jump
Fup: followup attack
Specials-----
Flash fang: / > A or B
Soaring Fang: / < A or B
Destructive fang: / > A or B (mid air)
High speed movement: / > C or D ( can also be done in the air)
Supers-----
Blazing moon barrage: / > / > A or B
Moon smasher: / < / < A or B
Notable normals—
Cr.A: Hits low, goes relatively far and can start out lots of combos.
Cr.B: Anti-Air attack, goes mostly above the head, like Dhalsim’s < MP in SF4.
Cr.C: Overhead (I think), if you can get a fatal counter it can lead to 4k+ damage.
D:Dodges things!
///Basic combo—
Fjump B-- A, A, B, cr. B, C, B Flash Fang,( B fup, Cfup,) A soaring fang, (A fup), 2727 dmg
(Notes on the combo)
A simple chain into fang followups. AABBC chain canceling into Flash fang. The B followup is an additional slash, the C followup after is a high speed movement towards the ground which can be cancelled into the Soaring Fang. Soaring Fang’s A followup is just a final slash.
*You can substitute EX skills for additional damage if you want, but I’ve never used them.
*Make sure not to mash the Cr.B, B part of the combo because those two normals hit twice. Cancelling them early will give you less damage.
*Sho’s jump in B is very touchy-- getting it to connect with a combo requires good spacing and timing of both the initial hit and the rest of the combo.
*If you put Cr.B before B it does 40 more damage, yipee.
///Basic Super combo----
A, A, cr. B, B, sweep (cr. AB), either A super or B moon smasher
Blazing moon barrage: 2418
Moon smasher: 2509/2730
(Notes on the combo)
*If you get used to this chain, try to switch out the ‘Cr. B, B, Sweep’ string for ‘Cr.B, C, B, sweep’. This gives you a bit more damage.
///Infinite-----
I may have found an infinite for sho. It does not seem to be too optimal for damage and it only works on most of the cast. It has been tested on yousuke, yu, and elizabeth. It does not work on Akihiko, and most likely not on Teddie. I still need to test on all of the cast… but it is fun to pull off.
B, C, (fjump cancel) fjump B, fjump C.
(Notes on the combo)
*This loop does require some timing for the hits to be consistent.
*If you want you can combo the basic AABBC chain in the corner instead of B, C.
*You can also play with the chain to get a sweep in to combo into a super.
***I dont know for a fact wether it can be repeated forever, however. The longest ive been able to do it is 20 hits. 2667 dmg.
The loop itself is six hits, so I did it three times in a row, messing up on the fourth.
Strategy—
I do not have xbox live, so I do not know how well Sho plays against other players and I’ve been only able to play against AI. However, from going through his challenge it is evident that Sho can be a very powerful mixup character, and also a very tricky one. You can cancel blockstrings that go to C into jump ins for a heavy 50/50 mixup, or cancel into ‘high speed movement xx flash fang’ for a left-right mixup. Standing D can be a very useful tool in clutch situations as it avoids many attacks.
And then there’s survival knife… other than to attack opponents from a distance and make them try to invade your space, I’m not sure if survival knife has a real purpose… I’ve been able to use the EX version to keep AI opponents and my brother in place so I can run in at them, but it can be easily jumped over or X+Y evaded.
Challenge mode—
Overall I got through most of Sho’s challenges without too much of a problem, I’m stuck on the all out rush and fatal counter missions. I’m guessing the final 70 hit 7000 damage mission requires a fatal counter, maybe a one more cancel, and a super at the end?