Vampire Savior/Felicia
Introduction
Felicia (フェリシア), the Catwoman (Nekomata). Felicia is a fast character that comes equipped with a wide variety of good normal moves both in the air and on the ground. Felicia is generally regarded as one of the less technical yet solid characters in the game, since she can hold her own while relying on the basics. Many of her attacks are "all-purpose", have good range and speed, and very good hitboxes. If you enjoy jumping around a lot and using normal pokes to beat the opponent out of their own attacks then Felicia might be the character for you. To play Felicia you will need some sense of footsies and dash mixups, though simply learning her move properties can take you a long way.
Primary objective: Spam j.MK/j.HP/j.HK, dash in mixups into Buckler/cmd-grab.
Normal Moves
LP: Tail slap. Very good range and speed for a jab, however this whiffs most crouching characters which limits it's uses. Even worse, it's neutral on hit and -1f on block. The main point of this move is to knock some one out of a jump attack or after an airblock since it reaches fairly high and far very quickly.
MP: Claw smack. Cancelable. Whiffs most crouching characters, use sparingly.
HP: Double slash. This attack has deceptive range, and an incredibly good hitbox, and is safe on block (advantageous, actually). But being a 3-hit move makes it GC/Tech bait, as the opponent has plenty of time to react. Mainly this is good for poking since the hitbox is just outstanding and hits just about everywhere, but to avoid GC/Techs it's a good idea to chain to c.HK
LK: Upper kick. The upwards angle of this move makes it seem worthless at first, but it's one of her better anti-air options due to it's high reach and extremely fast speed. It does whiff crouching characters though, so about the only time you'll ever want to use it is when the opponent is in the air.
MK: Front kick. This move has slightly more range than HP and it's also safe on block so it's quite good as a poke. Unfortunately it's not cancelable so it's main use is simply as a poke. Fortunately it covers the main area you'd be worried about in regards to ground dashes and hop/rise dashes, so this is a fairly solid move for keeping people out when you know they will try to advance.
HK: Toe stab. This move it pretty ridiculous and one of Felicia's main gimmicks. The range is quite outstanding and it has lower-body invulnerability (allowing it to go over lows) once Felicia gets up on her tail. This is great for stuffing pokes and for using during staggers to beat mashing. In general this is a beat-all move that you can throw out when you have advantage and you know your opponent won't jump over it.
n.LP: Left claw. Unlike the far version, this one will hit most crouching characters. Even better, it's highly advantageous on hit/block, being her most advantageous move at +9/+8 (it gains one extra renda bonus frame).
n.MP: Right claw. Cancelable, advantageous, good hitbox. Decent move. Good for OS'ing punch throw.
n.HP: Uppercut. This move has kind of a wonky hitbox, it's good for OS'ing normal throw because it's a two hit move. Both hits connect fairly low so it can hit most crouching characters, though the second hit also hits very high in the air and is able to tag jumpouts. However, it's disadvantageous on block, and being two-hit it's tech/GC bait. Use this for normal throw OS'ing and chain into n.HK or c.HK of you don't grab or anti-air with it.
n.LK: Shin kick. Unlike the far version this hits pretty low to the ground and can hit crouchers. Decent move overall but not nearly as advantageous as n.LP.
n.MK: Kneebutt. Cancelable, advantageous, good hitbox. Decent move. Good for OS'ing kick throws.
n.HK: Upper kick. In terms of throw OS'ing this one isn't nearly as useful as n.HP because it whiffs crouching opponents and you can't chain cancel it into anything since it's a HK, but it can be used for OS'ing her command grab since it's a good anti-jump. This is also one of Felicia's moves that causes a knockup/reset ("launches") on hit, so if you manage to hit a standing/tall-croucher with it you'll get a good reset into mixup. Still, kara-cancelling her close HP into her cmd grab input is probably a better OS and you can still chain to HK on failed attempts.
c.LP: Low scratch. Links into c.MP, which allows you to combo rolls or scratches. Not as good range as c.LK but more advantage on hit/block, so this will be your main tick/stagger/link move.
c.MP: Low lunge. Hits mid, like all of Felicia's mids and heavies (except c.HK). However, the main use of this is for either defensive or combos. It hits all over the place in front of her and cancels into rolls or scratches. You can link into it from c.LP (two frame link). The hitbox is surprisingly good, great for tagging dash-ins (hops or floats) and general poking. It can even sometimes also be used as an anti-air. This is her basic go-to move.
c.HP: Blender. Takes her off the ground part-way through the animation, but not instantly. Once off the ground she's in an airborne state, so she can go over lows, can't be thrown, and will be reset if she's hit. This is also her other move that causes knockup/reset (launches) on hit. The hitbox is mostly vertical so it whiffs crouching characters, but it's a pretty decent anti-air or anti-crossup. This can also be used as a panic button when the opponent is rushing down, but it's not fail-safe so use sparingly.
c.LK: Low toe. Decent low short. More range but less advantage than c.LP.
c.MK: Similar in nature to her c.MP, however the c.MK is not advantageous on hit/block unlike c.MP. It's also a frame slower in startup speed, so it's not as linkable. Still, it is cancelable and has roughly the same hitbox so it has similar uses in terms of poking and defense.
c.HK: Sweep. Good range for a sweep, and since Felicia's mids don't hit low, this is her only option for hitting low outside of c.LP/c.LK.
j.LP: One claw. Standard jumping jab.
j.MP: Two claws. Because this hits twice it has some pretty good uses as a dash attack or normal jump attack. Mostly for hitconfirming but also in air battles. Good hitbox on it, too.
j.HP: Down swipe. Awesome jumping attack. A total bastard move and easy to abuse. Not as useful as a dashing attack, but really great for just normal jumping and wallbouncing. Good for airbattles due to range and possibility of OS'ing into airthrow.
j.LK: Heel. Standard jumping short.
j.MK: Kungfu Kick. Really great hitbox on this, possibly better than her heavy attacks. Beats a lot of anti-airs and it's quite speedy. Good for just about anything.
j.HK: Arch kick. Similar to her j.HP, but not as good for air battles due to lack of potential of OS airthrow and because you can't chain after it. Not as useful as a dash attack as her mids. In general you'd use this rather sparingly.
Command Normal Moves
P Throw: Cat scratch. Mashable, forces reset. Not particularly good for a throw since the opponent can wiggle out, and the damage is negligible. But you may end up using it a lot because close MP and close HP are good option selects for throw/anti-jump.
K Throw: Rolling toss. Good damage and tosses them really far, great throw in general. You can sometimes
Air Throw: Air toss. Really great airthrow. Exceptional range and vertical reach. Decent damage. Easy to pursuit or OTG scratch after. If teched it sets the opponent backwards which makes it difficult/impossible to reversal after, giving you a free oki.
Pursuit: Bounce. Sets Felicia on the opposite side of the opponent on hit, so it's not particularly good if you knock the opponent into the corner, or else you'll end up in the corner. On the other hand, if your back was to the corner you can get out of the corner using this. ES version does more hits and a bit more recoverable damage, no actual damage. Generally speaking this isn't really as useful as her scratch OTG.
Movement
Walk: Good walk speed and average height.
Dash: Hop. Good for high/low mixups. Her mids are more useful than her heavies when using this dash. At the end of the dash Felicia has a 7F recovery window, but the latter 6 frames are special cancelable. Therefor it's possible (albeit difficult) to do things like deep d.MK 236LP. This dash is also short-stoppable. Tapping or holding back during the forward dash will end the dash sooner and maker her drop faster. This also makes links/cancels off of it much easier, though it's rather difficult to time a dashing attack after quickstoping the dash because she falls so quickly after the quickstop, but it is possible.
Jump: Great jump arc. Very fast and highly obnoxious.
Headsit: Jumping on a standing opponent will cause this move to activate, there's no real input for it. The headsit is cancelable into anything, a jump or air attack. While headsitting the opponent can also cancel it by doing anything, which will cause Felicia to rejump. However, the headsit activation will also cancel an opponent's attack regardless of what kind of attack it was, so long as it was considered standing at the time. For example, if the opponent tries an anti-air MP and you activate the headsit it will cancel their MP entirely.
Wall Cling: Pressing towards the wall when near the wall makes Felicia cling to it momentarily. If the direction is held she will eventually start to gradually slide down the wall, and at a certain height from the ground she will automatically dismount. Releasing the button dismounts her. Felicia has freeaction after the dismount and can attack/airblock/headsit just as a normal jump. However, the dismount causes her to jump much further and faster than a normal jump, making it quite good for getting in on the opponent when alternated between normaljump and walljump.
Specials
Meter Charge (sp-taunt) - 22KK: Holdable taunt. Felicia will constantly build meter while charging the taunt. Ironically though, it's not quite as good at building meter as her other options, such as air whiff chaining or ground kara-cancelling.
Rolling Bunkler - 236P, P: A two part roll attack. First part is a one hit ball roll that goes under fireballs and high hitting attacks. Pressing P again will cause a followup uppercut scratch that can hit twice. The followup uppercut can be performed during the roll or even after the roll hits the opponent, allowing the roll and uppercut to combo with each other for three hits or allowing you to cancel the roll early. This is her basic combo move as it's fast and causes knockdown, plus decent damage. However, neither the roll nor the uppercut are safe on block with any version, so use with caution.
- (L Version) Short slow roll, very low and fast uppercut.
- (M Version) Medium range and speed, medium uppercut height.
- (H Version) Long range and fast speed, high uppercut height.
- (ES Version) Very long range and fast speed. ball roll can hit up to four times. Uppercut is very high, hits three times.
Cat Spike - 623P: Ball pop move. This move is safe on block/hit for all normal versions. The ball itself doesn't actually do anything for the normal versions, but rather the scratch itself is the attack. Because this moves Felicia forward and is advantageous on hit/block it's a pretty decent move to use during pressure or to set up tickthrow OS'ing.
- (L Version) Short quick scratch. Combos off her mids. Good for tick throwing or pressure.
- (M Version) Jumping scratch.
- (H Version) Bigger jumping scratch.
- (ES Version) The ball itself is the attack in this version. Felicia spikes the ball like a volley ball (hence the name), and once spiked it becomes a projectile attack.
Delta Kick - 623K: An upperkick followed by a divekick. This move actually doesn't have much use outside of GC. It has no INV and isn't particularly comboable, nor is it safe on block. Use sparingly, if at all.
- (L Version) Low upperkick. The knee will combo with the dive if point blank, but can sometimes also fail.
- (M Version) Medium upperkick. This version can sometimes combo with the dive against cornered opponents at point blank, but will sometimes fail.
- (H Version) High upperkick. The divekick almost never combos with the knee, making this version really worthless.
- (ES Version) This version will cause Felicia to do five rapid kicks during her divekick rather than just two, which makes it slightly more useful for chipping. However, it's fairly easy tech/GC bait so even this version doesn't get used much.
- (GC Version) This version gains 12F startup inv, which is good because the first hit is 7F startup. Not a particularly bad GC, but the followup divekick makes it counter-GC or DP bait if the first hit whiffs. Still, because of the inv and fast startup it has it's uses, just make sure the first hit connects.
Hell Cat (throw) - 624K (close): Felicia spins on the opponent like a scratch post for several scratch hits before tossing.
- (M Version) 2F startup makes this pretty useful off a dash-in, jump-in, or whatever other tick setup. It does pretty good damage so use it plenty.
- (H Version) Same as M version.
- (ES Version) Despite how it looks, this version only does slightly more damage and slightly more recoverable damage. Thus, is probably not worth the meter.
Supers
Dancing Flash - 426PP: A super version of her Rolling Buckler. However, the roll itself can't be canceled once started. But rather, there is an auto-combo followup if the ball hits. This has 13F startup which is slower than any of her other Rolling Bucklers, but the ball itself also moves about as fast and as far as the ES version, making it pretty speedy. However, on block this move has quite a lot of recovery, making it easily punishable. Therefor it's best to combo it off a dashin or medium strength attack. Generally: d.MK, or d.MP, or c.MP into super. It may be tempting to some beginner players to just toss this out randomly rather than hitconfirming it, but it will definitely get you killed against most good players, so never use this outside of a combo.
Please Help Me - 426KK: There's actually three versions of this move, depending on what button combination you used to activate it. Regardless, all three versions are stupidly risky and not comboable unless Felicia's back is to the corner and the opponent is point blank. That means this move is almost worthless. Felicia will not end the "tasukete" pose until the cat either hits or leaves the screen, which is why this move is so punishable and risky. If the opponent blocks the cat and it will take the cat a long time to exit the screen then Felicia is pretty bunch screwed. It may be tempting to some beginner players to just toss this out randomly, but it will definitely get you killed against most good players, so never use this. Unless you are going to die anyway and you feel like throwing away the round/match on a gamble.
- (LK+MK Version) The cat runs across the ground. On block the cat will backflip her way off the screen in the opposite direction she came from (back towards Felicia's corner). On whiff the cat will exit the screen.
- (LK+HK Version) The cat drops down from Felicia's corner in the upper part of the screen and falls to about midscreen. On block she will bounce off the opponent then run back towards Felicia's corner. On whiff the cat will land and start running for Felicia's corner.
- (MK+HK Version) The cat jumps across the screen with a long jump arc, starting from just behind Felicia's head to almost the other end of the screen. On block the cat will bounce off the opponent and then run back toward's Felicia's corner. In rare cases if the opponent moves the screen while the cat is still bouncing it can "fall off" the far edge of the screen, ending the move. On whiff the cat lands and runs back towards Felicia's corner.
Dark Force
Cat Helper: Kitty the Helper - Same strength P + K
- (Any Version) A little cat will follow Felicia around and attack after Felicia does. The jump arc of the little cat is based on the strength of attack you use. Jab is narrow and low, Fierce is wide and high. It is possible to create combo loops by using the delayed hit from the helper to link another attack string.
Strategies
Combos
Note: "+" means you must link the move from the preceding one.
- c.lp, +c.mp xx ES roll: her most damaging combo. not too damaging but it does make the opponent feel uncomfortable.
- dash mp, +ES roll: time to time the ES roll while she's still in the air, then press the punches as soon as you se her recover on land.
- after reset or opponent's wake up, meaty late dash mk, +c.mp xx ES roll.
- c.lp c.mp s.mk c.hk: her most damaging normal chain combo that reaches far. if you're too far after a few ticks just go with c.lp c.mp c.hk.
- c.lp c.lk, +c.lk c.hk: two chains here connected. this is for smaller crouch characters that whiff the other chain combo. like gallon, q-bee.
- c.mp s.mk c.hk: simple meaty chain if you're having trouble with wakeup timings.
- jump in or neutral jump punish with (j.lp) j.mk, land c.mp xx ES roll: use this if you jumped with a neutral for mixup or are jumping in and know you will land a hit.
-d.fp, +c.mp, lp hopslash/mp rollingbuckler
-d.mp, +c.mkXXES rolling buckler
-c.lp, c.lk, +c.mpXXDancing flash
-c.mkXXplease help me(lk+mk)
- make sure you know how PHM works w/ the distancing of the buttons you press.
- works only w/ your back to the corner
-DF, [s.mkXXlp hopslash<catmidget hits>]xN, rolling buckler
-DF, [+c.lp, c.lk,<cat midget hits>, walk forward]xN, Dancing flash near end
-DF, [c.lkXXmp hopslash]xN, Finisher
- the cat midget is suppose to combo after the lk… doesn’t work for me… I’ll haflta practice on the dc to make sure it works.
- someone test this: for both DF combos, close ES delta kicks can be thrown in when close(close so that you hit them on the way up)
Matchups
Frame Data
Notable Players
P
Orecom (俺こん)
Nekohashi (ねこはし)
