Arcana Heart 3/AH3LMSS/Elsa La Conti

Elsa la Conti

Profile

After losing her entire family to a celestial event triggered by demons, Elsa immediately joined the European branch of the Celestial Union. She can come across as somewhat indifferent to strangers, but she is known to be very caring towards her friends. However, she has a one-track mind and will frequently lose track of anything not related to her current tasks. She can be very serious at times, and is her own worst critic, which occasionally leads to radical mood swings.

In a desperate attempt to stay alive after her battle with the demon Clarice, she entered into a contract with Koshmar, the Arcana of Punishment. As a result of the agreement, Elsa was burdened not only with immortality, but with “Sin and Punishment” as well. She moved to Japan in order to help Rosenberg eliminate the Drexler Institute once and for all.

Overview

Elsa is a straightforward character with good tools who converts hard off of knockdowns. Though her normals don't have the greatest range and she can be considered somewhat meter hungry, she has a versatile move set including both zoning and rushdown attributes, as well as one of the best DPs in the game.

You might be interested in Elsa if you don't mind working to get in, but love running strong mixups that lead to high damage.

Normal Moves

5A

5A

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 600 All - 5 3 11 -2 A Elsa throws a jab. This is slower than the average 5A and as such, it's primarily only used as a combo filler for one of her EFC and HC combos. It is jump-cancellable but it cannot chain into itself. This move hit really high up, it will actually whiff over most crouching opponents and small characters even if they are standing. You cannot really use this to anti air or to space, so use this for combos only.

5B

5B

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 1500 All - 7 7 13 -2 B Elsa thrusts the tip of her cross at the opponent's midsection. This move comes out relatively quick but it doesn't have much range. Though the range is a bit lacking the hitbox is strong for what it is. You could use it to respond to IADs and low homing, places where 4C would be too slow. This move is jump cancellable and useful for your pressure and hit confirms. Use this as a combo starter when you have the chance.

5C

5C

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 2400 All - 11 4 19 -2 C A downward swipe with Crux while moving forward slightly. It isn't jump-cancellable but it does chain into her 2C and it can slam airborne opponents into the ground. This move comes out relatively fast and has more range than 5B. In fact, the range is pretty good on this and it does a lot of damage. There are very specific times where you could use this as an anti air. Think of kinds of situations where you might burst on the ground, and your opponent tries to move back you with slow direction homing. When your opponent is in that kind of zone, 5C will slap them right out of the air. The only problem is you won't get much out of it because of the ground slam. Still, this move is good for combos and ground spacing.

5E

5E

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level Normal 2300 Mid - 10 3 21 -1 D Charged 2700 Unb - 30 4 28 - E A powerful thrust. Looks very similar to her 5B but with more startup and range. This is your typical 5E attack. It depends on your arcana but this move can charge relatively fast for an E move, when you have the opponent pressured in the corner you can throw this move in at times.

2A

2A	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 500 Low/Air - 4 2 14 -4 A A fast low kick. It's not jump-cancellable but it can chain into itself. This move has more range than 5A and due to its fast startup, it is Elsa's primary combo and string starter. The hitbox is thicker than it looks so you can actually pick up some JC ground slams with this in certain combos.

2B

2B

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 1400 Low/Air - 7 4 13 -1 B Elsa pokes at the opponent's feet with the tip of her cross. Quite possibly one of Elsa's best normals. This move has pretty good range, comes out relatively fast, and it's jump cancellable. This is a great move for pressure and you primary use this to confirm into the rest of your string. Use this move to hit confirm into 236A+B.

2C

2C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 2200 Low/Air - 13 1 21 -1 C Elsa 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.

2E

2E

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level Normal 2200 Mid - 16 2 25 -4 D Charged 2500 Unb - 37 2 26 - E Elsa swings her cross upward while crouching. Pretty standard 2E attack - it launches and it's air unblockable. This is not a recommended anti air. Your own hitbox fills the space before the attack box, so you mostly just get counter hit out of it. The duration is also short so its hard to use as a tech punish. Still, this is an important combo route and does a ton of damage if you can use it as a starter.

6B

6B

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 1600 All - 11 4 11 +1 B Elsa performs a hopping roundhouse kick. This move useful for staggered strings to throw off the opponent's guard cancel timing and it allows you to stay close to the opponent due to its forward momentum. It is +1 on block so you can almost do whatever you want from it. When midscreen, you can IAD cancel it into an ambiguous JC cross up. 6B has some lower body invincibility so you could use it avoid and counter some moves low hitting moves. This move can reflect projectiles as well. You can cancel this straight into her Es but not Cs normally. During Extend though, you can cancel this into any C move.

4C

4C

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 2300 All - 14 2 18 +1 C Elsa swings her cross upward like a bat. This is quite possibly Elsa's best normal hands down. It has a decent hitbox, is air unblockable and has great upper body invincibility, making it a very good anti-air which leads into solid damage with the use of a homing cancel. If you hit with this in the corner, you can follow up with just 66 -> JB. It can also be used to force a clash or deflect projectiles. It will even pass through a 623E love laser! The difficult part of using this move is the fact that there is some noticeable startup. So it will take some time to get used to but the follow ups are very rewarding. Use this often.

j.A

j.A	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 500 High/Air - 4 4 17 - A Elsa performs a kick angled downward. Pretty decent air-to-air attack and jump-in due to its angle but it doesn't have a lot of hit stun. This move is jump-cancellable and can chain into all her other air normals.

j.B

j.B	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 1500 High/Air - 6 4 22 - B Looks very similar to her 2B except performed in the air. Has more range than JA but it's angled a little higher. One of her better air normals due to its horizontal reach.

j.C

j.C

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 2200 High/Air - 11 2 21 - C A quick downward swipe with Crux. This move has as a ton of downward reach and a long amount of hitstun. Elsa's collision box also gets tucked under her so it becomes this amazing crossup tool that is easy to combo off of. This will ground slam opponents in the air (techable) but you can pick it up with 2A at certain heights.

j.E

j.E

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 2300 High/Air - 10 3 21 - D Elsa spins around while holding her cross outward. This move will always knock the opponent down on hit. It has slightly more horizontal reach but less vertical reach than her JC. This can be used as a substitute for JC at the end of air combos for a little extra damage. This is also the best move to use to combo into communio with the max number of hits in your air combo.

j.4B

j.4B

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 1500 High/Air - 7 4 14 - B Looks very similar to her 6B except performed in the air, it has a lot of untechable time attached to it. This move can be used to hit opponents that are slightly above you, but the hitbox is narrow and it's primarily just for extending combos or keeping you opponent under control during mid air block strings. Like 6B it can reflect projectiles.

Throws

Neutral Throw

Throw	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 2200 Throw - 5 1 23 - - Leaves opponent airborne.

Lever Throw

Lever Throw	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 2500 Throw - 3 1 23 - - Sideswaps and knocks down the opponent

Air Throw

Air Throw	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 2200 Throw - 3 1 23 - - Knocks opponent down.

Special Moves

Sanctus

Sanctus 236X (air OK)

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level Ground 500 All - 20 - 46F total -7 A "Holy." Elsa throws a bottle of holy water that breaks on impact, leaving a purple glow on the point of impact for a while. The button defines the angle at which the bottle is thrown. You can have 5 marks of light out at one time. When detonated with Benedictus, each area of light explodes for a total of 4 hits each. A and B normals will knock the bottle around, while moves that use the cross will break it on the spot. Air 500 All - 18 - Till L +11 - A Like the grounded version, except the buttons used give vastly different trajectories. Don’t throw this out constantly, as there is significant recovery attached.

Credo

Credo 623X (air OK)

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level A 500, 1800 All - 3 5(1)2 21+8L -9 C B 600, 2000 All - 9 4(1)2 24+8L -12 C C 700, 1000, 2000 All - 11 4(3)2(14)2 49 -67 C j.A 1600 All - 9 2 Till L+8 - C j.B 1800 All - 9 2 Till L+8 - C j.C 2000 All - 11 2 Till L+8 - C "I believe." Elsa does an upward jumping slash that looks similar to Ky's Vapor Thrust from the GG series. The button pressed determines the number of hits and the height at which she travels. The C version does the most hits, has quite a bit of invincibility. However, all versions are air blockable. All versions are throw-invulnerable until activation. You can 8HC all versions on hit to extend your combo and HC it on block to make you safe. You cannot do anything if it whiffs though, so be careful. In the air, every version of this move does one hit.

Gloria

Gloria 214X

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level A 2000 All - 19 3 17 +3 D B 2400 High/Air - 29 3 20 ±0 D C 2800 High/Air - 40 3 20 ±0 D "Glory." A leap-and-slash attack. All versions of this move have some lower-body invincibility and are throw invincible. In the A version, Elsa slams the end of Crux down right in front of her and in the B and C versions she leaps forward. The B and C versions massive amounts of clash as soon as the move starts up and are overheads. The A version will connect from 5C and is useful for combos and pressure. If your opponent blocks it, you'll be at +3 in terms of frame advantage. All versions of this move are super cancellable. The C version moves quite a bit and ground slams so you could use it as a surprise attack everyone in a while. The C version has some invincibility to physical attacks. The A and B versions can combo from 4C.

Kyrie

Kyrie 421X

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 700 All - 8 10 17 -15 A "Lord." This is a quick whip attack the brings the opponent close to you, it is used a lot in combos after 2C to start an aerial combo. You can also use this to reflect projectiles or launch a Sanctus bottle farther. The B version will blow bottles forward and C version breaks the bottle on spot. Don't worry about which one to use for combos. Besides their differences in terms of what they do to Sanctus, they are all exactly the same.

Benedictus

Benedictus 22X (air OK)

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 1000*4 All - 7 4*4 Ground: 29F Total Air: 39F Total - B "Blessed one." Elsa opens a bible and chants. If there are any glowing areas made by a Sanctus bottle or Communio stake, they are activated and can hit multiple times. All versions are the same. This has CH frames all over so be careful about using it. Setting off the holy water is risky at neutral but really nice when the opponent is pressure or afraid to move. Not only do you get great frames off the activated water, it does a ton of damage. Especially when there are 2 or more spots of water around. You can also homing cancel this to increase the water's function as a pressure tool.

Agnus

Agnus 28X	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 200 All - 5 15 45F Total -21 A "Lamb." Throws a bullet upwards. Hits the opponent if close enough but it does minimal damage. Primarily used to activate her Critical Heart. All versions are the same.

Communio

Communio j.214X

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level Stake 1000, 100 All - 9 - 45 - B Wave 500 All - 1 3 - - B "I share." Elsa's new move in AH3 that made her 2 tiers higher. In the air, Elsa throws a stake diagonally down at the opponent. The button used changes the trajectory of the move. When it hits an opponent on the ground, it enforces a lot of hitstun. When you use it as an air combo ender, you could use a charge move or A.Blaze after or IAD into a two way mix up. This move is a great addition to Elsa's game.

Super Moves

Gladius

Gladius 623AB (air OK)

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level Ground 2000, 4000 All - 0+6 2(12)4 29+8L -34 C, E Air 2000, 4000 All - 0+5 2(12)4 Till L+8 - C, E Crux becomes a sword and slashes through your opponent. This is like a super version of Credo. If the first hit connects, the second hit can't be canceled using a homing bar. This move is a pretty good reversal against certain meaty attacks because the first hit comes out really fast and automatically causes the 2nd hit to connect. You could even use it to break the Earth's Arcana hyper armor. Be very careful using this against opponents who are very low to the ground because it will whiff and you can't homing cancel to make it safe.

Gladius II

Gladius II 623AB after Gladius	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 4000 - - 0 - - - - The follow slams the opponent to the ground and you can follow up after it.

Securis

Securis 214AB	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 8000　 High - 0+21 2 70 -47 E Elsa draws a sacred axe and strikes downward. This is almost like a super version of Gloria. This move is an overhead but it is very telegraphed and easily blocked. So, you should only use it for combos where it would hit or a follow up to Gier slime and so forth.

Securis II

Securis II 214AB after Securis	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 6000　 - - 0+21 - - - - The follow up picks up your opponent and ground slams them behind you for an untechable down. Useful if you need that extra damage to finish them off.

Lanceola

Lanceola 236AB	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 700*11, 1000 All - 0+6 2*11, 2 26 -3 A*11, E Crux takes on the form of a halberd while Elsa dashes forward striking the opponent multiple times. It is rather quick so you could aim for your opponents recovery at times and a very good super to use after a short combo when you're not within range to land a full BnB.

Lanceola II

Lanceola II 236AB after Lanceola	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level 5000 - - - - - - - By inputting the same motion again afterward, Elsa blows the blows the opponent away for one more bar of meter. They cannot tech so if you do this in the corner, you can follow up.

Critical Heart

Requiem 8246AB during Agnus

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Level Normal 12800 Mid - 40+0 1 48 -33 B Extend Force 12800, 6400 Mid - 40+0 5 50 - B Agnus Dei, dona eis... Requiem! While the bullet from Agnus is in the air, Elsa draws a sacred gun, loads it, and fires a huge blast forward. This attack is unblockable in the air, has infinite horizontal reach and does a considerable amount of damage. While the bullet is being loaded, Elsa uses Belmont's stopwatch so the opponent slows down regardless of their position on the screen. It looks big but it does not actually hit that high, so the move tends to whiff on people on the peak of their jump. During EF you lock the opponent with one shot, then fire another. Even if the opponent blocks the first shot, the second one is unblockable.

Combos

Solo Combos

The goal of most of Elsa's combos is to end in communio, as it leads to hard knockdowns and is how you get her powerful mixup game started. The version of communio that you use generally depends not on the specific combo but on your exact spacing and goals.

A communio keeps your opponent as close as possible for an easier time setting up your mixups. C communio can send them flying all the way into the corner. B communio is similar in purpose to A, but is more consistent - where A communio might whiff if your opponent is spaced a bit further away during your combo, B communio will probably catch them.

When in doubt of which communio to end your combo with, use B.

• A 2B 2C 421X 214A+B

Basic super confirm. Also works with 236A+B to send the opponent into the corner.

• 2A 2B 2C 421A [6HC] 5A [jc] JA JB J4B [jc] JA JB J4B JE j214x[Communio] 2C(otg)

Standard homing cancel bread and butter. Works everywhere on all characters, though the J4B must be delayed on small characters in order to connect. Can replace [6HC] with [EFC][dash] to use EF instead of meter.

• 2A 2B 2C 421A EFC 5A jAEAEA land 5A [jc] JA JB J4B [jc] JA JB J4B JE j214x otg hits

harder extension bnb of above combo that can only be done during EFC mode.

Videos

• AH3LM - Angelia and Elsa Character Overview and Q&A by dootShootS (2014)
• Rest's Wind Elsa vs Kamui - With English commentary. Other Elsa games earlier in the video.
• Flower Elsa vs Konoha, Kira