Vampire Savior/Controls

Notation

7 8 9

4 5 6    LP MP HP
         LK MK HK
1 2 3

LP = Low Punch / Jab
MP = Medium Punch / Strong
HP = High Punch / Fierce
LK = Low Kick / Short
MK = Medium Kick / Forward
HK = High Kick / Round House

The 9-point numerical direction system refers to the directions in which your pad or stick can be moved, with 7 8 9 being up left, up, and up right, 4 5 6 being left, neutral, and right, and 1 2 3 being down left, down, and down right. Thus 236 is qcf (quarter circle forward).

• f.LP- far LP
• n.LP- near LP
• d.LP- dashing LP
• c.LP- crouching LP
• j.LP- jumping LP
• oc.LP- offensive crouching LP (3LP).
• +c.LP- The plus sign denotes a link rather than a chain. If it's not noted you can assume it's a chain.
• c.LP xx - Indicates a special cancel.
• c.LP > - Indicates a optional combo or a branch/tree of possible combo ender variants.
• [c.LP]xN- Indicates that the action inside the brackets can be repeated for the number of times listed outside the brackets. If N is noted rather than an actual number then it can be repeated either indefinitely or until time runs out (game time or Dark Force time).
• PP- two punches simultaneously.
• PPP- all three punches simultaneously.
• KK- two kicks simultaneously.
• KKK- all three kicks simultaneously.
• P~L- a sliding (kara) or piano input where you press the second attack a frame or two after the first attack rather than simultaneously.

• GC- Guard Cancel (Guard Reversal).
• Tech- Either a pushblock or throw tech or ground tech, depending on the context.
• DF#- Dark Force. The number listed indicates which strength (1 = LP+LK, 2 = MP+MK, 3 = HP++HK). If no number is indicated then any strength is applicable.
• BD- Back Dash.
• IAD- Instant Air Dash.
• IABD- Instant Air Back Dash.
• TK- Tiger Knee motion (typically 2369x). But can also refer to any instant air special move or while-rising air special move.

• ES- Extra Special. Powered up version of a special move that costs one stock.
• EX- Super. Usually a unique move that isn't associated with a special move. Costs one stock.

• Suki- Literally "gap". Refers to any sort of recovery or state where you are unable to act for the amount of frames listed. A 4F landing suki would therefor mean a 4F recovery once your character touches the ground.

• LI- Luminous Illusion. One of Lilith's EX supers.
• DI- Darkness Illusion. One of Morrigan's EX Supers.

Universal Commands

• Dark Force

Activated by pressing a punch and kick of the same strength at the same time, costs 1 super stock. All Dark Forces behave differently and have varying durations. Some characters gain new moves, some are granted flight, and some gain super armor. Generally there is a brief invulnerability window upon activation which can help escape unblockables and other traps. The recovery period when time runs out is character-specific, some characters like Jedah have no recovery at all while characters like Lei-Lei have a very long deactivation pose.

• Tech Hit (push block).

Done by pianoing inputs (sliding/mashing) during block-stop. Anakaris can not push block. This technique is pseudo-random in the since that it is a % chance to occur based on how many inputs you do. It starts at 0% chance for the first two inputs, three inputs becomes 25% chance, and increases by 25% per additional input, becoming 100% chance at six inputs. Simultaneous inputs do not count as multiple inputs, so hitting three buttons at the same time only counts as a single input, thus it's necessary to piano properly. The strength of the attack used when the pushblock activates will be the strength of the push itself, meaning light attacks will push the opponent a very short distance and heavy attacks will push them much further. If the player pushblocks against a cornered opponent it will negate pushblock and neither player will move. Tech hits also cause the blockstun duration to be modified, making it possible to sometimes punish moves that normally aren't punishable.

• Throw Tech (throw softening).

Throw teching is performed by inputting a throw command. Any direction except 8 and 2 plus a punch, or a kick if your character has a kick throw. The window for throw teching is from simultaneous to the catch-frame up to the sixth frame (so a 6f input window). If performed correctly the announcer will call a tech, and the HUD will also display a tech, and the throw will usually not cause a knockdown and do significantly less damage. There are some exceptions to this, such as Lei-Lei's airthrow which will cause knockdown whether it's tech'd or not. It is only possible to tech normal throws, not cmd throws or supers.

• Ground Tech (ground roll).

When knocked down, press a direction and any button. You will slide along the floor in the direction pressed. The timing is extremely lenient so simply mashing will result in a roll. The roll has no punishable recovery, but you are on the ground longer which makes you vulnerable to OTGs for longer, and you are also susceptible to advanced mixups. On the other hand, rolling can also avoid certain OTGs that require special aim. It should be noted that there are a few special moves that cause untechable knockdowns, such as Bishamon's runpast move (fireball followup).

• Guard Reversal (Guard Cancel).

Done by inputting a DP plus either punch or kick depending on your character during block-stop. Your character will have a very brief invulnerability window and then perform their character-specific attack. Anakaris does not have a normal version, only an ES version.

DP+P characters: Anakaris (ES only), Bishamon, Demitri, Gallon, Jedah, Lei-Lei, Lilith, Morrigan

DP+K Characters: Aulbath, Bulleta, Felicia, Q-Bee, Sasquatch, Victor, Zabel

• Pursuit (OTG Stomp).

When a character is knocked down by normal means you can push any up direction and any attack button simultaneously. Connecting pursuits are not possible if the opponent was burned, but you can still whiff them. The same apply to most regular throws. Pursuits cause very little actual damage, but rather some of recoverable damage instead. Pursuits auto-target the opponent and can hit when the opponent stops bouncing from the knockdown, or while the opponent is tech rolling, though if the opponent is rolling they have a high chance of missing. Despite doing hardly any actual damage there's still a few reasons to use them--

• Obviously, if it will kill them with the recoverable damage.
• If you're across the screen you can intentionally whiff a late pursuit in order to get across the screen very quickly (except Victor).
• If you predict they will not tech roll and you intentionally whiff the pursuit in order to go for a quick mixup.
• If your back is to the wall and your pursuit would put you on the other side (Felicia, Lillith, Aulbath, Sasquatch).

• Airblocking.

Any backwards direction while in the air. It is not possible to tech push or guard cancel in the air, but you have free-action after blockstun ends. Meaning, you are able to block and then perform a normal or special or super, or anything else. You can not airblock ground normals.

• Normal chains (ground and air).

Normal attacks can be chained (canceled) into a higher strength normal move. The order to priority is: LP, LK, MP, MK, HP, HK. Any attack strength can be optionally omitted, so it's possible to chain from LP directly to HK. It's also possible to alternate from standing and crouching normals at any time.

• Normal throws (ground and air).

4 or 6 plus MP or HP, or MK/HK if your character also has a kick throw (character specific). This can also be done in the air. It should be noted however that Anakaris does not have normal throws, he is able to tech throws though.

• Command throw(s).

All characters have a command throw, some have two. The motion is character specific though so refer to the character sections for more information.

• ES moves.

All characters can perform an upgraded version of their special moves at the cost of one stock. This is done by pressing two punches or two kicks (depending on which the special move calls for). Your character will flash blue during the ES move. The results vary, not all ES moves gain damage, hits, speed, invulnerability, range, special properties, etc, but many do gain the aforementioned attributes. Although most moves are ES-able, including most command throws, some command throws are not (for example: Lei-Lei, Jedah).

• EX moves.

These differ from ES moves in that they require a different command input entirely and they may or may not mimic a special move at all. Your character will flash multiple colors (rainbow color) during these types of supers. The inputs for these are character-specific so refer to the character sections for more information.

• Dashing.

All characters have a forwards and backwards dash which is input by pressing 66 or 44 respectively. The results vary from character to character, though dashes/backdashes contain no invulnerability frames, except Demitri and Lei-Lei when they disappear during theirs. There are a few characters with an airdash as well: Jedah, Lei-Lei, Q-Bee, and Zabel. It should also be noted that Anakaris and Bulleta have double jumps and Felicia has a wall-cling and head-sit move, Lilith is also the only character with a super-jump. Everyone in the cast is also able to attack while dashing forwards or backwards, and in some cases this results in a special dash-only attack such as in the case of Bulleta. In these cases the while-dashing moves can not be normal chained, except Lei-Lei's forward dash which does not result in while-dashing attacks.