Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga/Estelle

“

A young member of the Bracer Guild who fought to save the Liberl kingdom when it was thrown into chaos during the Liber Ark incident. While she canbe reckless and shortsighted, the conflicts she has overcome have helped her become a trustworthy, capable young woman.

”

Estelle
Playstyle	Midrange
Preferred Range	Mid
Tankiness Rating	Average (1.07%)
Difficulty	Hard
Stats
HP	10926
AP	25
STR	922
DEF	841
BRK	572
DUR	2600
SPD	91
AGL	98
SP Gain	213

Introduction

At first glance, one would think Estelle is the easiest character in the game. And they would be correct to an extent. Her gameplan is one of the simplest there is: poke her opponents with a stick until they die. To that end, she has access to a plethora of long projectiles and fast pokes that lets her dictate the pace of the match. Hard Break comes to mind as one of the best pokes in the game. It's cheap (10 SP), pretty fast, has projectile properties which makes it always win during trades and has some super armor. Comet and Fire Bolt EX are also quite good for ranged encounters, especially the latter since they're homing projectiles. This excellent neutral makes her quite easy to approach as a beginner. However, this comes at the expense of her offense. Since most of her Skills are neutral-oriented, Estelle finds herself forced to use a lot of highly technical tricks (also known as "jank") in order to match the rest of the cast in terms of damage. This lack of offense-oriented Skills also makes her pressure and offense virtually non-existent. While she does have a naturally armored pseudo-unblockable projectile in the form of Plasma Wave, it is extremely easy to just dodge it on reaction thanks to its awfully slow startup. As a result, Estelle finds herself having to work much harder than her opponent in order to win.

Estelle is highly recommended for both beginners wanting a simple gameplan and players who loves having to work for their damage.

Playstyle

Estelle is a very technical yet beginner friendly character who specializes in mid-ranged neutral.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Great Neutral: Estelle has access to a plethora of long-range pokes and projectiles that lets her dictate the pace of neutral. Excellent Pokes: Estelle's pokes are some of the best in the game, making her very hard to contest in the midrange. Great Anti-Airs: Estelle's grounded normals and Hurricane are very good at catching aerial approaches.

Poor Offense: Most of Estelle's Skills are designed to be used in neutral. As such, her offensive capabilities are somewhat limited compared to other melee characters. High Execution: In order to deal decent damage, Estelle needs to use several technical tricks, making her combos quite hard to learn and land. Bad Air Fighter: Estelle's toolkit is noticeably weaker in the air than on the ground. As such, she is often forced to stay grounded most of the time. Extra Hitstun: For some reason, hitting Estelle on her right side puts her in more hitstun than usual, making punishes potentially more damaging on her.

All damage values below were tested on Estelle (841 DEF). No stats-altering accessory was equipped. Also the values are averaged (see System page)

Movelist

Normal attacks

ABCD A A B B C C D D

Version Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties A 98 4 - - - B 98 8+4 - - - C 98 17+4 - - - D 98, 19 25+6, 13 - - - Estelle's grounded normals have good horizontal range and are basically impossible to punish if block cancelled. This makes them excellent pokes. A and B also works as quick anti-airs if needed. Even though Estelle's grounded string usually doesn't combo, she can still force the first two attacks to combo into each other by steering to her left. While this may seem useless, she can dash cancel these two attacks and combo into j.A, giving it some sort of combo niche.

Charge Attack [A]	Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 117 7 - - Soft Armor Estelle's best meterless poke, as well as her best way of quickly gaining SP. Doesn't give much reward on hit, though. Gives 23 SP on contact

j.A

Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 98 3 - - - A very unique air normal, which you would usually find on ranged characters. Its speed makes it a surprisingly good burst option at longer range, although it mostly shines in combos. When used normally, it doesn't lead to much on hit, as Estelle can barely combo after Hard Break. However, if Estelle cancels j.A into Hard Break fast enough while dashing, the ground version of Hard Break will come out, instead of the air version. This requires some practice, but mastering this technique is the key to optimize Estelle's damage. Reaches surprisingly far below Estelle

Falling Attack j.B	Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 98 6 - - - A fairly generic diving attack. Knocks down on hit. Impact frames obtained while as low to the ground as possible

Rising Attack	Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 98 9 1 AP - Soft Armor 1-10 "Universal" Rising Attack. It's a basic launcher that has the merit of being armored all the way through. Can be jump or dash cancelled in order to combo

Skills

Comet S1 Ground version Ground version Air version Air version

Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 240 (point blank), 15x3 (projectile) 10 12 / 11 / 11 / 10 / 9 - Soft Armor, Projectile Pretty basic forward-moving projectile. Its speed makes it more suited as a long poke in the midrange. It can also knock down opponents at point blank, although she can't really exploit that property for combos unless Scherazard is active Air version shoots the projectile at a downwards angle. Because it makes her stall in the air, it can be used to bait anti-airs.

Hard Break S2	Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 270, 35 9 10 / 9 / 9 / 8 / 8 - Soft Armor, Projectile Estelle's best move. An incredible poke that's cheap and almost impossible to contest due to its projectile properties. If close enough, it'll launch opponents, allowing her to start or continue a combo. Damage is doubled if done in the air

Hurricane S3	Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 180x3, 80 14 20 / 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 - Hard Armor 1-4, Soft Armor Estelle's best anti-air, as well as her main launcher. The ground version can be jump cancelled in order to start or continue a combo Estelle can move during the move's duration

Fire Bolt EX S4

Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 122x4 15 25 / 23 / 22 / 20 / 19 - Hard Armor 1-4, Soft Armor Projectile, Homing Although slightly slower than Comet (and twice as expensive), it shoots 4 homing fireballs that each have a chance of inflicting Burn. This greatly helps Estelle at long range, although its slow speed (and somewhat high SP cost) makes Comet more suited at closer ranges. Can inflict Burn on hit Frame data assumes point blank

Plasma Wave S5 "We have unblockables at home" "We have unblockables at home"

Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 1026 8+20 45 / 41 / 39 / 36 / 34 - Hard Armor, Projectile Pretty gimmicky projectile. While it seems unassuming at first glance, this projectile's main appeal is that it does enough stamina damage to stun most characters in one hit. This trait can make it useful as a high risk/high reward callout, giving Estelle a big damage opportunity if they block it. However, the reward on hit isn't great at all, only giving big damage and a knockdown. Plus, the projectile is easily reactable and avoidable due to its long startup and slow travel speed. Overall a pretty niche tool in Estelle's kit, but not entirely worthless. Adol, Dogi, Cruxie, Agate, Loewe and Lloyd will be able to block Plasma Wave without being stunned Has a small chance of causing Paralysis 8 frames of freeze upon use. The opponent can still cast Skills or use their assist during the freeze

Barrage S6	Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 70x5, 110x4, 210x2 8+3 50 / 45 / 43 / 40 / 38 - Hard Armor 1-90, Drain Estelle's combo finisher of choice. Can also be used as a reversal thanks to its speed and armor properties The final hit heals Estelle 10% of it's damage 8 frames of freeze upon use. The opponent can still cast Skills or use their assist during the freeze

Wheel of Time EXTRA Skill Initial hit Initial hit Followup Followup	Damage Impact SP Cost Cooldown Properties 100, 115, 19x84~90 9 (Catch), 20 (Launcher) 100 EXTRA - Invincible Estelle can freely move during the first part of the move. Once she hits the ground, she becomes unable to move The opponent can still cast Skills or use their assist during the freeze

Builds

Note: These builds are mostly here in order to guide new players into how to exploit Estelle's potential to its fullest. Don't be afraid to experiment!

Recommended accessories

• Good accessories for Estelle goes here. Explain why this build is good for her

Recommended Skills

• Hard Break - One of the best pokes in the game, which just so happens to be Estelle's specialty
• Hurricane - Wide launcher that lets her do actual damage at close range
• Barrage - Estelle's best combo ender, although quite expensive
• Comet - Good, quick projectile that makes for yet another great poke in Estelle's arsenal. Interchangeable with Fire Bolt EX
• Fire Bolt EX - Slow, damaging homing projectiles that greatly helps Estelle when out of poking range. Interchangeable with Comet

Recommended Support

• Mustafa - Greatly increases Estelle's reward on hit (her BnB goes from 1.4k damage to 2k damage).
• Anelace - Allows Estelle to stay at her preferred range for 40 seconds.
• Scherazard - Very beginner-friendly assist, as it gives Estelle tons of much easier routes for roughly the same damage as her advanced combos.
• Jurio & Chris - Makes Estelle's pokes and projectiles much scarier in neutral.

General Strategy

Neutral

• Explain how Estelle is played in neutral at a fundamental level

Pressure

• Explain how Estelle's pressure works fundamentally

Defense

• List what Estelle's unique defensive options are (outside of system mechanics). This can be either a reversal or a stupidly fast attack

General Counterplay

• List some general Estelle counterplay. This includes, but isn't limited to, knowledge checks or gimmicks

Combos

Combo Terminology Table

Symbol	Meaning
>	Cancel from the previous move to the following move.
,	Link from the previous move to the following move.
dl./delay	Delay before using the following move.
X(w)/whiff	Whiff the following move (do not hit).
jc	Jump Cancel.
d./dash	Dash air attacks. Done by pressing the dodge button while standing still
(X)	Optional input.
{X}*N	Repeat (sequence) N number of times.

Solo

• A > d.A > j.S2 (700 damage)

Very simple combo that works at all ranges. More than good enough for starting out, especially if you can't pull off the following route.

• AB > d.A > j.S2 (800 daamge)

More advanced variant of the previous combo, that only works at closer ranges but is more easily hitconfirmable. For AB to connect, Estelle needs to steer to her left while attacking.

• A > d.A > S2, j.A > dash j.S6 (1.4k damage)

Estelle's BnB. Somewhat difficult to land since a grounded S2 is required to land, but the reward is very much worth the effort, as it doubles her damage output. A microwalk may be necessary if the combo started at close range.

• AB > d.A > S2, walk j.A > dash j.S6 (1.6k damage)

Optimal BnB. Microwalking is required, otherwise j.A won't connect.

With accessories

• Combo (damage)

Specify which accessories are required for this combo to work

Combo description

With assists

• ABC > S3 jc > j.[A] > j.S2 (1.1k damage)

Scherazard

Max range combo. Fire Bolt doesn't combo at this range, forcing Estelle to go straight into Hurricane. Replace j.S2 with j.S6 for 2.2k damage.

• ABC > S4 > S3 jc > j.[A] (1.3k damage)

Scherazard

Estelle BnB with Schera. Offer the same reward as her regular combos, while being much easier to pull off than said regular combos.

With accessories and assists

• Combo (damage)

Specify which equippable items are required for this combo to work

Combo description

Colors

Color 1

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Default color

Color 2

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Reference (if there's one)

Color 3

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Reference (if there's one)

Color 4

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Reference (if there's one)