Guilty Gear for Scrubs
Things to Know When Learning the Game.
Guilty Gear -Strive- is officially live on Steam and PS4/5, and people around the world are playing the most hype fighting game of 2021. The Guilty Gear franchise is more than 20 years old, and with this new game, it is attracting the attention of veteran players and new players alike! For new players, this game can be really scary starting off since many of its mechanic are unique to Guilty Gear. So, we have compiled some of the best tips for new players getting into the Guilty Gear franchise.
Playing With Friends
One of the hardest things at the moment about the game right now is matchmaking a private lobby with friends. Unfortunately, this was not implemented well at all, where we've had difficulties searching for a friend's lobby, even inviting on Steam wouldn't connect the players to the lobbies. However, there is a work around.
- Go to Network > Go to online match.
- Make sure you and your friends are in the same server region and meet up in a "Park" lobby.
- Once you are all in the park and together, interact with your friend's lobby sprite and "View their R-Card".
- Once you've opened the menu after obtaining the data, "Follow" your friend.
- Once you and your friends have all followed each other, go to the main menu.
- One person will create a public room, and all of the other people will search for a public room.
Note: when searching for your friend's room, please make sure that the search parameters match the rules that your friend created when creating the lobby. - Search down the public list for your friend's username, the game will prioritize the individuals you follow and you can all join a lobby together!
Hopefully, Arcsys will develop a B-patch to help the matchmaking issues, but as of right now, this is the only work around.
Basic Buttons
| Basic Input | Short Hand | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Punch | P | Fast start-up time, but low damage. Combos only into itself or command normals without Roman Cancels. |
| Kick | K | Fast start-up time, but low damage. Combos only into itself or command normals without Roman Cancels. |
| Slash | S | Basic combo starter for most characters; there are two variations close and far range. This is also known as proximity normals. It can combo into many different buttons and moves. |
| Heavy Slash | HS | High damage move with slow start-up time; it cannot combo into anything but special moves and Overdrives |
| Dust | D | Dust has three different uses. The generic dust attack is 5D. This move will hit on crouch-blocking opponents. When held down this move will launch opponents into the air, allowing for air combo extensions. The inputs 4D and 6D are the universal back throw and forward throw respectively for every character. The universal sweep input is 2D. |
Tension
Each player has a tension gauge, and this is simply your super meter. The tension gauge increases as you walk forward, attack, block, and/or get hit. You can spend 50% of the Tension Gauge, notated by a flaming gear, to do Roman Cancels and Overdrive moves. We will explain how you can lose Tension in the "How To Play Neutral" section below.
Overdrives
Overdrives are your character's super moves. Overdrives can be used by entering the special inputs half-circle back to forward or double quarter-circle forward. These moves cost 50% tension, and they have to be used in relation to your specific characters needs. For example, Giovanna has an overdrive move that can be only used in the air.
Burst
There are two types of bursts in Guilty Gear -Strive-: Blue Psych Burst and Gold Psych Burst. Bursts are managed by the burst meter under a character’s health bar. The input for a burst is 2 attack buttons or an attack with the Dust button.
Players can use a Blue Psych Burst when on the defensive. Using this maneuver while blocking or being damaged will push away the opponent. However, if used at the wrong time the recovery animation will leave players wide open to a counter hit.
Gold Psych Burst also requires a full burst meter. When an opponent whiffs an attack press the burst button to do a Gold Psych Burst. If the burst connects it will completely fill the Tension Gauge.
Roman Cancels
Roman cancels are the backbone of the Guilty Gear game. This is the core mechanic of Guilty Gear -Strive- There are four main roman cancels in the game Red, Yellow, Purple, and Blue. Each are triggered by pressing 3 attack buttons, but not pressing Dust. The color appears around your character followed by a winding clock based on the situation that is occurring on screen during the activation.
- Red Roman Cancel – The Red Roman Cancel is used when players attack either hits or is blocked. This allows for players to combo moves that may have been impossible before.
- Yellow Roman Cancel – The Yellow Roman Cancel is utilized when blocking. It will interrupt an opponent’s attack and push them back.
- Purple Roman Cancel – The Purple Roman Cancel is used to cover a whiff. If players whiff an attack that has a long recovery and will leave themselves vulnerable, a Purple Roman Cancel will slow the opponent down, allowing a safe recover.
- Blue Roman Cancel – The Blue Roman Cancel is used when players are freely moving. This will slows the opponent down and allow players to put themselves in the advantage.
Don't be stingy with Roman Cancels! Use them well and the game will be in your favor. Understanding Roman Cancels will turn any new player into a strong intermediate player, but mastering Roman Cancels will turn an intermediate player into an expert player.
How To Play Neutral
Guilty Gear rewards players for playing aggressively! If you play aggressively, you will gain tension meter faster than the defending player because the game rewards you for hitting (very simple) and being safe during your blockstrings (very difficult). Having more tension equates to having more resources than your opponent is a simple numerical advantage to your opponent, where you can do more Roman Cancels and Supers than your opponent.
To put it simply, if you had $100 dollars and your friend had $10; what can you buy compared to your friend when you go to the store?
For players, who are less offensive the game will actually punish you for by entering you in Danger then Negative State.
Danger is the warning sign that you are about to enter Negative State, and the announcer will announce "Danger" in that time. This simply means you are walking back too often in neutral.
Negative State is where things get worse for you. Once you have entered Negative State, you will quickly lose any Tension Meter you have gained, meaning you have less resources to Roman Cancel and do Overdrives.
The work around is simple you need to move forward on the screen every once in a while in neutral, so you can balance between walking backwards 60% of the time and forward 40% and not be within the penalty parameters.
Wall Break System
The wall break system is unique to Guilty Gear -Strive-. If you are a veteran fighting game player, you know that fighting against an opponent with your back touching the wall is the worst. Many good players will often force the opposing player to spend the entire match sitting in the corner blocking or getting hit. This new system is a workaround that rewards players for doing high-damage combos, but also gives some wiggle room for players who feel like they are trapped.
After hitting the opponent 3-5 times against the wall, the cracks will become bigger and bigger until a character gets stuck and both players are stuck in lag for a split second. The next hit will trigger a wall break and the screen will transition setting both players to neutral.
After a wall break occurs, the player who initiated the wall break will gain Positive Bonus. Positive Bonus allows players to fill the Tension Gauge faster during a short period of time.
Combo Systems (Gatling Combinations)
The combo system for GG -Strive- is a little difficult to beginner players. However, there are some golden rules that will help you understand the process.
- Most combos will utilize a variation of slash moves, heavy slash moves, and special moves.
- Moves can generally string into each other, but these are move specific and do not transfer between characters.
- At the end of your combo, you can use an Overdrive! Using an Overdrive will force a hard knockdown situation where the opponent cannot tech out and must wait for the character to stand.
- Roman Cancels are the backbone of your combo structure. Beginner combos will be short, brief, and deal moderate damage. When you Roman Cancel, you can continue your combo strings from the short beginner combos into higher more damage, potentially 80% of the health bar.
Thank you everyone for tuning into this weeks post, since Guilty Gear -Strive- is out we will be posting a lot of content throughout the week!