Theatre of Light/Vanguard

Archetype:	Rushdown
Health Defense Multiplier:	Melee: x1.0 Ranged: x1.0
Stagger Defense Multiplier:	Melee: x1.0 Ranged: x1.0
Walk Speed:	14
Max Light:	3

Overview

Vanguard is a straightforward rushdown character who builds up her special "Matchlight" resource at the cost of her own health to inflict massive amounts of Burn on the opponent. She sports fast and wide sword attacks and good combos for many situations.

Playstyle

Vanguard sacrifices her own health to build up Matchlight, rush down the opponent, and light them ablaze.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Gluttony: This Abnormality Page singlehandedly alleviates Vanguard's most prominent weakness, that being her self-damage, once she reaches Emotion Level 2. With this page, she can comfortably snowball rounds and gain stock leads with the net neutral or even positive health she gains from her many-hit combos. Burn: Most of Vanguard's damage is heavily backloaded in the form of the Burn debuff, which, while unaffected by defense multipliers, can carry over into subsequent turns, ensuring they always take damage even if they hit you at some point. Light Generation: Using SP in neutral, aside from stacking Matchlight, restores 1 Light to Vanguard. Using this Vanguard can easily stock up on Light without having to commit to hitting the opponent to end turns. EZ-Bake Combos: Vanguard does not require tight execution or spacing to deal good damage to the opponent, and can confirm off of most hits through SP cancelling. Insane Mobility: The usage of SP cancelling S1 carrying momentum means that applications of bind do not affect you in any way, along with making it so you can effectively "jumpscare" opponents with options such as S1 SP and having a fast moving S2.

Self-damage: Without Gluttony or before reaching Emotion Level 2, having multiple stacks of Matchlight can cause a hefty amount of self-damage to yourself when you hit the opponent. If you choose against running Gluttony, Vanguard may have difficulty maintaining health or stock leads due to this. Reliant on Matchlight: While Vanguard can stack Matchlight during combos, she generally needs preexisting Matchlight stacks in order to truly cash out on damage and Burn stacks. Running out on Matchlight in situations where you do not have the space to safely stack it back up will significantly decrease your ability to stay ahead in damage.

Move List

Unique Mechanic

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Matchlight

Matchlight is a unique resource built by using SP. Matchlight has the following properties:

• While you have at least 1 stack of Matchlight, all your attacks inflict 1 stack of Burn on hit.
• While you possess Matchlight, you have a chance to damage yourself for a small amount each time you hit the opponent. This chance increases with each stack of Matchlight.
• Certain moves are only accessible if you have a certain amount of Matchlight stacks, or gain enhanced properties with your Matchlight stacks.

Normal moves

Light Up SP	Base damage P1 Scaling Value P2 Scaling Value Light cost Emo level Hit type Properties Startup Active Recovery - - - 0 0 - - 0 0 0 Vanguard's only way to restore matchlight. Restore 1 light outside of combos Allows the user to cancel anything into this move allowing for combo extend and it keeps the monument of S1 for "jumpscare" value

Law And Order ATK Grounded Grounded	Version Base damage P1 Scaling Value P2 Scaling Value Light cost Emo level Hit type Properties Startup Active Recovery Grounded 6 0.9 0.8 0 0 Melee - 21 3 13 Restores 1 light on hit. Air 8 0.9 0.8 0 0 Melee - 16 1 21 Slash straight downwards. Has high startup and poor range, but can be thankfully used during Gleaming Step, allowing you to extend off of it.

Slay ATK~ATK Inconsistent my ass Inconsistent my ass	Base damage P1 Scaling Value P2 Scaling Value Light cost Emo level Hit type Properties Startup Active Recovery 4 - 0.8 1 0 Melee - 16 3 21 Cannot be done after air ATK. Gives Samurai 2 strength next turn. Usually a combo ender after S1 ATK, if not enough light is available for S2.

Overthrow S1 IIIII SEE THE CIIIRCLE IIIII SEE THE CIIIRCLE	Base damage P1 Scaling Value P2 Scaling Value Light cost Emo level Hit type Properties Startup Active Recovery 7 (normal) 8 (sweetspot) 1 0.85 1 0 Melee - 21 1 (normal) 3 (sweetspot) 18 Has a sweetspot at the farthest point of the move that does a bit more damage, and more importantly, has more hitstun.

Deflect S1 (hold)	Base damage P1 Scaling Value P2 Scaling Value Light cost Emo level Hit type Properties Startup Active Recovery 0 - - 1 0 - Block 11 27 33 Parry Landing this refunds 2 light and cancels the recovery of the move. Cooldown only starts if it's whiffed

Rising Blade S2	Base damage P1 Scaling Value P2 Scaling Value Light cost Emo level Hit type Properties Startup Active Recovery 10 1.1 .9 2 0 Melee Evade 36 30 10

Psyches

To Claim Their Bones S1~ATK Yield My Flesh to Claim Their Bones Yield My Flesh to Claim Their Bones	Base damage P1 Scaling Value P2 Scaling Value Light cost Emo level Hit type Properties Startup Active Recovery 10 + (damage reflected*2) 0.5 0.5 2 2 Melee - 11 27 53 (whiff) 60 (successful) Counter Psyche. Restores all light when landed. Damage is based on damage taken times two, resistances unaccounted for. Use this against strong, single-hit classes such as Charger and Assassin.

Wrathful Rave S2 (hold), ATK>S2>ATK>S1>ATK>S1>S1 File:TOL SamuraiRave.png "How do I input Wrathful Rave?" "How do I input Wrathful Rave?"	Base damage P1 Scaling Value P2 Scaling Value Light cost Emo level Hit type Properties Startup Active Recovery 50 1 0.95 3 3 Melee Evade 11 27 57 (whiff) 38 (successful) 150 (failed) Deadly Rave.

Strategy

Recommended Decks

Standard Issue Vanguard
EL1: Cocoon.
EL2: Gluttony.
EL3: N/A
The primary vanguard deck, makes up for the health loss of matchlight by barely gaining back all the health lost and more with Gluttony. Can't go wrong with it.

"Get a Job."
EL1: Violence
EL2: Chained Wrath
EL3: N/A
Due to vanguard having insane mobility in SP cancelling S1 instead of traditional movement, going for a high roll and ditching all combos for a burst combo such as ATKATK Blazing Strike, it can actually alleviate some of the self damage by not doing a long form combo and instead cashing out early. However, by going for huge cashouts constantly, there will be large periods of downtime between combos, allowing characters such as Gunner to have a higher chance of winning against you.