Arcana Heart 3/AH3/Petra Johanna Lagerkvist
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Introduction
You've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk? Petra is an extremely versatile character that can be played quite effectively in many styles. Thanks to her long range, both on the ground and in the air, she can pressure the opponent and make them weary of committing to careless attacks. Thanks to her command dodge and her quick pokes, her close range game is quite strong as well. Add full screen reflecting bullets for zoning, and you've yourself a flexible character that can cover many angles.
Starting Out
1 - Homing Approach
For Petra, her JB is her strongest air to air move. Even in clash situations, her JB usually wins without requiring a cancel into a faster move like many other moves, thanks to it's amazing hitbox and good start up. Homing into JB, and trying to hit from max range is very strong air to air. JB has longer range than man other air spacing moves in AH3, so it can easily counter hit other characters if they try to be aggressive, or it can force them to block, helping you to grasp the advantage. When the opponent is on the ground, however, JA is the stronger choice by far. It's very quick and has quite a good hitbox, allowing you to confuse the opponent with quick overheads and cross ups. Homing into JE is good from max range, as JE has a gigantic hitbox and sends the opponent flying to the ground on hit.J.E also has a nice clash hitbox, so you can cancel that into homing, or another air attack depending on positioning. In addition, homing into J236C is very strong as well. The range on the move is very large, the damage is quite hefty, and it's very quick, so if the opponent tries anything, it'll nail them.
2 - Neutral Spacing
Thanks to Petra's long range, from far away, your opponent always has to worry about 4Petra's β shots. When you manage to get up close, you can use Petra's quick, long range 2A poke to keep the opponent at bay. Her 3B is also low, and even longer range than her 2A and 2B. You can use this to your advantage by hitting an opponent with 3B from a spot that they're unable to hit you at. A quick j.236X move is also strong for keeping the opponent at bay.
3 - Hit Confirms
JB on counter hit against another air opponent is very easy to hit confirm off of. The stun lasts a long time, so you can generally either land, rejump and finish off the air combo, or simply double jump into another JB (and possibly JC) into a combo. 2A cancels into itself 2-3 times before the timing becomes too tight. However, thanks to the versatility of her ground normals, 2A 2A 2B should give you enough time to react to see if it hit or was blocked. From there, you can do a variety of things, including jump cancel, longer block strings, β shots, etc.
4 - Defense
Petra has something unique in Arcana Heart that no other character has that makes her defensive game particularly threatening. That of course, is the dodge. Dodge will punish even really fast 2A pokes, as well as hitting opponents who are homing in on you. Not only that, but you can homing or EFC out of it on both hit and without even doing an attack. You can dodge into 6D and throw the opponent without even throwing out a dodge attack. It's an extremely versatile and deadly defensive tool when used correctly. There are 3 main weaknesses to dodge though. The first being that you can be thrown out of the move. Not just regular throws, but attack throws, such as Lilica's J214 command throw, Flip Through. The second being that Petra loses her collision hitbox during dodge. If the opponent ends up behind you, then you're in trouble because Petra's Counter Fire only hits in front of her (barring opponents that are practically hugging her, which is extremely rare). Your best bet is to EFC into neutral block, though sometimes you can escape if you use 6D. However, since the opponent is now behind Petra, you have to 6D toward the opponent, but she will end up 6Ding in the direction she's facing. It gets confusing, and you might end up 4Ding, which will actually send her hopping right at the opponent! The third weakness is that the recovery on whiff is quite brutal, so it's very easy to punish if the opponent baits it out and you do it. If you have a bar, cancel into L.G.A charge-3 to help cut the recovery and preserve some momentum. As far as other defensive options go, β shots can actually be used for defense. If the opponent doesn't understand their trajectory, 421 and 623C could tag the opponent as they are trying to open you up, have the opponent rush in to try to hit while you look open, only to be tagged by a counter hit bullet and lead into a combo for Petra. As far as anti-air's go, 2A can sometimes be good thanks to Petra's small hitbox when she does that move. If the opponent doesn't do a deep hitting jumping move, then you can actually go under a lot of moves by anti airing with 2A. Counter Fire A is also a good anti air as it is air unblockable. It has a nice big hitbox and doesn't clash with moves, rather, straight out beats moves. As far as clashing air moves go, 6C is your best bet, although it's not always reliable, and might end up getting you counter hit instead! Aside from that, take advantage of Petra's quick JA, and use that when you find the opponent trying to air dash or do some other tricky jumping move.
Arcana Selection
Petra has innate zoning tools and great spacing moves, as well as a good tools for defense. So Petra's choices in arcana end up being more of a supplementary tool than a necessity. This means that in general, you can really use any arcana with this character and find some way to make it effective. Here are several popular choices.
Love
Love is just overall a strong arcana. Having love balls out gives Petra time to reload, and a full screen laser gives her a fast projectile at the one range she's unable to reach by herself. Since she doesn't really need love for combos, it can help on wakeup to either let her retreat safely, or to get on the offensive. The versatility of Love, and the versatility of Petra makes this a very easy, solid combination.
Tyr
The EFC effect from Tyr is very strong, and since Petra doesn't quite need the actual attacks, the EFC effects alone are enough to make Tyr worth using for Petra. Using EFC both in combo, and just activating it and then pressuring means that you'll definitely be using it quite often, which in turn boosts the effects.
Strategy
Keep them scared of being shot when they're far away, and keep them scared of being shot when they're close.
Combos
Target Combos
- 2A 2B 5C 3α
- 2A 2B 6B 5C 1α [NHC] JB [land][step] 5A JA J2B JB [jc] J2B JC Airα
- 2A 2B 5C 1α [EFC] [step]6B 5C 3C [jc] J2B JC Airα
- 2A 2B 2C [EFC] 6C 214C C 5B [jc] JB JC JB [jc] J2B JC Airα
- 2A 2B 5C [EFC][step] 2B 5C 1α [6HC] 5B 5C 236AB
- 2A 2B 5C [EFC][step] 2B 5C 3C 3α [NHC] JB [land] 5A JA JB [jc] J2B JE
- 2A 2B 5C 22AB [step] 3B 5C [EFC] 3C 3α [NHC] JB [land]
- 2A 2B 6C Air3α [NHC] JB [land] 5B JB J2B JB [jc] JB J2B JB
- 2A 2B 2C 421X [step] 5B JA J2B JB [jc] J2B JC Airα
- 2A 2B 6C 214C C JB [land] 5A JA J2B JB airα
- 2A 2B 6C 214C [delay] C J2B [land][step] 5A JA J2B JB [jc] J2B JC Airα
- 2A 2B 6B 5C 1α [EFC][ステ] 6B 3C [jc] J2B JB Airα → Arcana Blaze or so
- 2A 2B 5C 0α [EFC] [step] 6C 22C [step] JB J2B JB [jc] > JE or JB JC Airα
Dodge Counter Fire Combos
- C→ 5A JA [delay] J2B [land] 5A JA J2B JB [jc] JB JE
- C→ 5A 5C 3C [jc][delay] J2B [land] 5B JB J2B JB [jc] JB JC Airα
- C→ 5A 5C 3C [jc] [j66] J2B [land] 5A JB J2B JB [jc] JB JC Airα
- C→ 5A 5B→JB→J2B→JB→jc→JB→JC→Airα
- C→ 5A J2B [jc] 5D JA J2B [land] JA J2B [jc] 5D JA J2B [land] 5A JB [jc] JB JC Airα
- C→ [EFC] C→ Any arcana blaze
- A→ [EFC]5D JB J2B JB [jc] JB JC Airα
- A→ [EFC]5D JB JE JA JB [jc] J2B JC JB Airα
- B→ [EFC] 3α or 623AB
- B→ [EFC]6B 5C 3C [jc][delay] J2B JC Airα
High Jump Install L.G.A Assault Combos
- B JB [land] 5B JB J2B JB [jc] JB JC Airα
Other
- 3C [land] 623AB
- JC Air3α [9HC] JB [land] 5A JA JB [jc] J2B JC Airα
- [CH]214AB 6C
Critical Heart Combos
- 2A 2B 5C XH
- C→ [EFC] C→ EFXH
- 2A 2B 2C EFC [step] 5A 5C EFXH
- 2A 2B 6C 214C C J2B [step] 6B 5C [EFC] 5B 5C EFXH
- 2A 2B 5C [EFC] [step] 6C 214C C J2B 5B (6B) 5C EFXH
Intense Reject Tech Punish Combos
- 5C 1α [EFC]/[6HC] 5A 5B 214B [...] IR
- 5C 1α [EFC] [step] 6B 3C [jc] J2B JB [land] 214B [...] IR
Intense Reject Follow Combos
- IR→ [NHC] JB [jc] J2B JC Airα
- IR→ XH
- IR→ 623AB (corner only)
Arcana Combos
Love
- 2A 2B 5C 3α 236236E
- 2A 2B 5C 3α 22AB 623E
- Midscreen only
Fire
- 3C [land] 5A 6C J2B JB [jc] JB JC Airα
- During EF
Earth
- 6C 236E [step]6C [jc] JB JC 3α [NHC] JB [land] 623AB
- C→ 5A 5C 236E [NHC] JC 236E JB [jc] J2B JB JC Airα
- Near corner
Evil
- B→ [EFC] 214214E 5B 5C Arcana Blaze
- Midscreen
Time
- 2A 2B 5C 1α [6HC] 5B 5C 3C [jc] J2B JC Airα
- 2A 2B 5C 1α [6HC] 5B 5C 6C 623AB
- BC B [6HC] 5A 5C 3C [jc] 5D j2B 5A 5B [jc] jB j2B jB [jc] j2B jC Airα
- Does not work with opponent in the corner
- 2A 2B 5C [EFC] 2C 6C 214C C [delay] 5A 5B [jc] jA jC 236236E [dj] jE
- Use 214B if opponent reaches the corner
Plant
- 2A 2B 5C 236E 5A 5B JA J2B JB [jc] JB JC Airα
Tone
- 2A 2B 5C 1α [EFC] [step] 5C 3C [jc] 2B 5C 623E 623AB
- 3C 623E [land] 623AB
- 2A 2B 6C 214C C J2B [land][step] 6B [EFC][step] 5A×3C JA 623E [land] 623AB
- 3C 623E [land] 623AB
- (picking up air combo)~5A 5C [EF][step] JA J2B [jc] J2B 623E [land] 623AB
- (picking up air combo)~6B [EF][step]5A×2 5B JA JB 623E [land] 623AB
Move List
Normal Moves
2A
Petra does a small kick across the floor. This 2A is a bit slower compared to other characters but the range is very good and is it cancellable into itself. Right next to the opponent you could throw about 5 of these in before moving too far away from the opponent. Also, during the move, Petra has a really low profile so you could slide under moves with high hitboxes. |
5A
A jab at the opponent with Petra's elbow. This move is a short as it looks, so you'll mainly use it for picking up air combos, as well as punishing low techs. This move does NOT cancel into itself so be careful about whiffing it. |
2B
A crouching shot at the opponent knees. Like 5B, the start up for this move as a B type is kind of long but the reach is good and it does not prorate that much. In fact as a starter it has very lenient proration (91%) so you can use this move for spacing, combo starters and long range confirms. One thing though, is that this move is not a low. This move is jump cancellable on block. |
3B
A crouching shot at the opponent ankles.This move is a bit slower than 2B but this move is even longer and a low so this move is extremely good for coming in with. |
5B
Petra crosses her arms and shoots at the opponent chest. This move is a bit slow, and the range isn't as good as 2B, so you won't be using this move much outside of combos. |
6B
A standing shot at the opponent waist.The start up and scope of the clash frames and the duration of the move is much less now compared to AH2.6, so there is not much use to this move besides it's reach. |
2C
Petra crouches and sweeps the opponent with her entire leg. The reach is not too much different from 2B, so you might even whiff it after a longer range 2B hit. You'll be OK if you are up close though. When you are trying to save meter or up close to the opponent, you want this move. |
3C
Petra jumps forward a bit and shoots downwards at the opponent. This move is an overhead and is special, super and arcana cancellable. You can also jump cancel this move. This move is a bit slower normally, but during EF it is rather quick and a great overhead. |
5C
Petra turns towards the opponents and pops on in their chest. Aside from 5[E] and 3C, out of Petra's normals this has some of the best reach. The mains use for this move is to link combos that require such reach. Compared to AH2.6, the start up is better, but the recovery is longer. The whole duration of the move is the same though. |
6C
A twin shot at the opponent with both guns. This move is now quicker compared to AH2.6, but in exchange the recovery is a frame longer. Note that this move is not air unblockable. The main uses for this move is to make use of the clash frames, and for combos that need 6C as combo filler from B moves. This move is jump cancellable on block. |
2E
This move is a twin shot much 6C in the upward, diagonal direction. This hitbox is much like what the move looks like and can be used as an anti air. However, you need to be aware of moves that have cross up hitboxes because 2E doesn't have an attack box directly above it or behind. Your profile is low for this move as well, so you can go under and counter a bunch of attacks. |
5E
This move is like a buffed version of 5C but since the recoil on the move is particularly heavy, it doesn't reach as long as it looks. The start up is decent as you can link this move from any B move, so you could use it for zoning and spacing. |
JA
A flying knee at the opponent. This move is very fast (3F) and has a great hit box as well, making it great of your air to air footsies or when the opponent closes in on you. you can even cross up with this move depending on your angle of approach making this a very useful move. |
JB
A jumping shot at the opponent. This move as great horizontal reach, and excellent for your spacing. Also, around frame 2~4, you have a clash box that covers almost your entire upper half, giving you almost like an iron wall to go with your spacing, depending on your position to the opponent. you can go right into a combo on hit with this move as well, making this move one of Petra's strongest. |
J2B
A shot like JB, but angled downwards. The start up is faster compared to SH2.6 and is like a jumping 6B. You don't have many other moves that point down like this, so you'll be using it a lot for your jump ins. |
JC
A jumping twin shot with a VERY slight downward angle. This moves moves you back a bit upon release so its good for adjusting your position and your gap between your opponent. This move has a very good horizontal hitbox so it is go for your spacing. Just remember that you cannot chain your JC to your JE now. That recoil that was mention actually makes combos somewhat hard to do with this move, but during EF that problem is eliminated. |
JE
Petra fires a large blast diagonally downwards. This move ignores all the inertia that you had to that point and moves you backwards quite a bit. The hitbox is pretty good in the direction of the blast. JE also does nice raw damage (3500dmg) and is good for air unblocks and just leaving a move out and is not techable on the ground. Whats more is that it has the nerve to have clash from frames 3~10 on your upper body. With that said, the move is still relatively slow, so keep in mind that you need to put it out really early, and that the opponent could hit you from the bottom while it is coming out. The recover is longer from AH2.6 and the time until you can move again in the air is longer so be careful of those points. |
Special Moves
L.G.A Fire Type - α - 236ABC
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L.G.A Fire Type - α [Air] - J236ABC
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L.G.A Fire Type - β/β´ - 623 or 421ABC
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L.G.A Fire Type - β´´ - 28ABC
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L.G.A Assault - 214ABC
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L.G.A Strike Fire - ABC [During Assault]
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L.G.A Intense Reject - AD [During Assault]
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L.G.A Dodge - BC
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L.G.A Counter Fire - ABC [During Dodge]
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L.G.A Charge - 1 - 22ABC
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Super Moves
L.G.A Combination Fire - 623AB
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L.G.A Charge - 3 - 22AB
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My, What Have I Done... 「あら、私としたことが…」 - 214AB/J214AB
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Critical Heart
L.G.A Superior Fire - 641236AB
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Palettes
3. Tousaka Rin as "Kaleido-Ruby" (Fate Stay Night)
5. Rhi'a Dragunel (Sands of Destruction)
7. Poison Ivy (Batman)
8. Rachel Alucard
16. Mami Tomoe (Madoka Magica)