Cyberbots/Reptos

RF-004 Reptos

Introduction

Reptos is a VA who can do both rushdown and zoning very well. He was considered to be the best non-boss VA for a long time by the Americans. He's not considered to be the best non-boss VA anymore since the rise of Vise, but he's a solid number two. While he lacks some options that are fairly universal, he more than makes up with it with VA specific tools he has. Despite having a very fast tridash, his high low mixup is non-existent due to not having any low attacks. This VA is good both for people who want a strong option to start off with, and players who are looking to invest time into mastering a VA as he has strong option at a low level, and a high skill ceiling.

Pros:

• Fast 8-way dash gives him good options for air movement.
• Strong simple combos from lights that do a lot of damage.
• Air grab that works against both airborne and grounded opponents.
• Blockstun pressure can be overwhelming if the opponent is not comfortable with guard canceling.
• Zoning options cover many angles with large hitboxes, and can do reliable chip damage.

Cons:

• Has no low attacks.
• Below average health, fairly fragile.
• Many moves have long animation times that must be completed which can leave him exposed.
• Longer minimum Power Charge time (16 frames) means he can't use that as a way to make his moves as safe as other VAs can.

Normals

5L - Comes out quite fast. The first hitbox that has short range is active on frame 5, the second hitbox with much longer ranger becomes active on frame 7. You need to keep this in mind when trying to combo off a jump in. It is much easier to combo off of a jump in if you are very close to your opponent because you can use the first hitbox. This can chain into 5H, which can be canceled into Violent Wind for really good damage. That's your bread and butter combo. Even on block you generally want to do the full chain into L Violent Wind as stopping short will leave you exposed and the L Violent Wind is very difficult to punish and usually leaves you in an advantageous situation. You can also chain into another 5L and then into 5H, but if you do this the 5H is not special cancelable.

2L - This move is also quite fast, first becoming active on frame 4, and then the extended hitbox becomes active on frame 5. This does not hit low, but it has good reach and can be used in situations where you are too far for 5L to hit. It is special cancelable and Power Charge cancelable. However, it is better to just let it recover naturally than to Power Charge cancel it as you will recover faster that way. The special cancel must also be done very fast to actually come out, and the window for it is small.

5H - This is mostly a combo tool. The first hitbox is active on frame 8, but this has very short range, so it is only relevant when right in their face. Either for on hit or block you're going to be going into this from 5L. Because Reptos has a long minimum Power Charge time (16 frames) you want to just cancel this into a special move (usually L Violent Wind) on block, and L Violent Wind on hit for good damage and a knockdown. The second hitbox (active on the 10th frame) can be a decent anti-air, but if timed wrong you are very exposed so it's kind of risky.

2H - While this looks like a good anti-air, and there are certainly many very good anti air hitboxes on it, the fact that it starts up so slowly can hinder its usefulness in that regard. It first becomes active on frame 10, but the hitbox is positioned very far behind Reptos, so it takes until frames 15, 16, and 17 for the really good anti-air hitboxes to come out. If you can time it properly though, there is very little in the game that can come down from the air on those hitboxes and trade favorably. Not special cancelable. It is Power Charge cancelable, but as with 2L, this isn't really worth doing. One thing to note is that because the hitboxes on this move are so good once it is active, with little to no hurtbox mixed in with them, it can be good at destroying incoming physical projectiles.

j.L - This is going to be your go to button in the air for pretty much everything. Jump ins, air to airs, everything except OTGs and crossup shenanigans, and even then you end up using it sometimes. Reptos puts up a nice wall in front of him from frame 9 to frame 28. When combined with his 8-way airdash, this can cover a large swath of the screen. Does not crossup on its own in the traditional sense, but when combined with j.2H, it can be an effective mixup tool. More on that in the j.2H section It can also function as a pseudo crossup by jumping over the opponent, and then tridashing back to the original side with it.

j.H - Hits four times. This move would be decent if it didn't bounce you back up in the air after it's done hitting (both on block and on hit). This makes it generally impossible to combo off of, and often times unsafe on hit. It is possible to hit low enough that you won't bounce back up in the air, but this is impractical to attempt when you have j.L as an option.

j.2H - Like j.H, this bounces back when it hits, but unlike j.H, you can follow this move up with more actions. For example, you can j.2H someone, then dash in again if you still have some Boost gauge, and hit them with a tricky j.L or air to ground Fatality Dunk. This can be an effective attack route when you get a knockdown. You jump in with an OTG j.2H, then dash in again after the bounce when your opponent has woken up for a mixup. This move is mostly saved for OTG tricks or mixups in the corner, but can be decent midscreen when done as a deep enough crossup that the bounce back actually switches the side you are on, creating opportunities for more crossups.

Dashing L - This move is pretty useless. The first hit is special cancelable, but it won't actually combo into anything. Often unsafe on hit. Avoid using this move.

Dashing H - This looks like a dashing version of Reptos' normal 5H attack, but the second hit will knockdown on hit. This move can be good to use as a long range punish on something like a dragon punch, but make sure you cancel the first hit into L Violent Wind since the second hit knocks down and won't allow you to combo. Like in other situations, you should be canceling the first hit of this into L Violent Wind on block to be safer.

Weapon Off 5L/H - This is a slow version of the second hit in the LLH chain. Terrible move, you need your arm back as soon as possible. If you're in a situation where you can't get your arm back, you're still going to want to stick to your other moves, 2L, and 2H because of how bad this move is.

Throws

Normal throw range - 28

L throw - Standard hold throw, mash the stick for more damage. Reptos can also use his L throw as an OTG, but it will look the same as the H OTG throw.

H throw - Standard toss, can be used as an OTG. Reptos doesn't get a ton of use out of these because usually you want to be doing his command throw, Fatality Dunk, both as an OTG and in any other situation you could throw in.

Arm Ripper throw - Standard arm ripper, range is 24. You want to be doing Fatality Dunk instead as it does more arm damage than an arm ripper normally will, and is better for both range, damage, and ease of use.

Air throw - This is one of the things that makes Reptos a very strong character. Very few characters actually have a good way to force damage on opponents that are happy to hold up back to get out of pressure. Reptos is able to scoop up opponents who try it. You can perform his airthrow with either L or H and you can be holding any direction except 7, 8 or 9. The range for this throw is 46.

Weapon

Laser Cannon

This weapon attack is unique to Reptos and is an integral part of his zoning game which allows him to control complete lines of vertical and horizontal space. This weapon attack is the horizontal element in that strategy. It can be done standing, crouching, or in the air to shoot at different heights. In some ways it is weaker than other weapons because you cannot shoot a projectile and then cancel the recovery with a Power Charge or other attack. If Reptos wants the laser to come out, he must fully commit to doing the move. This can leave him exposed as the startup and complete animation for the laser is quite long. You can mitigate this to some extent by shooting the laser in the air as you are about to hit the ground, for example, by inputting 1/3B ~ W. This is a good strategy to use as it covers and important space on the screen just above standing VA's heads, preventing them from jumping, or landing easily, and if they happen to be caught blocking it in the air, you can follow up with an LH Satellite Force for some free chip damage. This basic pattern of 3B ~ Weapon in the air coupled with various ranges of Satellite Force make up the main texture of Reptos' zoning game. By mixing up the Satellite Force version strength, you can make it very difficult for some bots to navigate around all of your lasers to get in. By throwing out L versions of Satellite Force periodically, they will often find themselves running right into them thinking they have finally escaped the laser matrix they've been trapped in from full screen. When playing against VAs that tend to approach more horizontally on the ground (for example Reptos himself with Violent Wind) you can use the ground version the Weapon to check their advance periodically. Of course whenever you do use Weapon on the ground, make sure you are at full screen for it. Using it at close or mid range with it's long startup and long commitment time is setting yourself up for disaster.

Hyper Laser - You can hold the Weapon button to get a fatter laser with a bigger hitbox that does hard knockdown, but the startup on this version is even longer. This works standing, crouching, and in the air.

Specials

41236 L or H - Violent Wind. One of Reptos' defining abilities. This will be your go to special to use in pressure and combos. It is possible to punish on block but it is very difficult to do as it requires very precise guard cancel timing, so you're mostly safe to just throw this around. The standard combo with this move is 5Lx5Hx41236L. This should net you a good 40% on most characters. Both versions of this move have a very good horizontal hitbox in front of Reptos that will blow through lots of moves your opponents may try in neutral, including horizontal physical projectiles. The H version of this move has a much larger hit box in the back and above Reptos that will allow it to cross under and hit opponents who may try to jump over. On hit the H version will travel across the screen and come back for a second pass, juggling the opponent, the L version just does the initial pass.

623 L or H - Risky Nail. This move is terrible and should never be used. The L version will combo from your standard 5L 5H chain but it doesn't knock down and does pathetic damage. The H version won't combo. This move pretty much only ever comes out on accident.

214 L, H, or LH - Satellite Force. Another of Reptos' signature moves. This is the other half of his zoning game, giving him complete control on vertical space. The L version lands right in front of him, the H version lands mid screen, and the LH version lands full screen away. While the lasers are out, they create a wall that will block any projectiles coming in at Reptos. This move does a nice three hits of chip damage, and can often be used after a knockdown to either OTG or catch the opponent meaty if they tech rolled for some free chip. The LH version usually works if they are tech rolling consistently, or are otherwise rolling away, but be careful if the opponent starts rolling forward after a knock down as the long startup of the Satellite Force will leave you exposed if they get past it. It can be difficult to tell which version is being done right away as three targets always appear at each possible distance whenever Reptos does any version of the move, and then converge on the correct location. Oftentimes it is safest to just do the L version when at neutral to catch incoming projectiles or opponents who are starting to get hungry. The L version will catch opponents rolling forward after knockdowns, but if that becomes a pattern, you would probably be better off shifting to Fatality Dunks as your OTG option.

22 L or H - Fatality Dunk. This right here is Reptos' pride and glory. He picks the opponent up off the ground, jumps in the air, and then slams them back down. This has a range of 46 frames, longers than any of his other grounded throw options, and as such is your go to. It can also be used to OTG downed opponents in place of a normal throw. A raw Fatality Dunk into an OTG Fatality Dunk will almost always knock off the opponents arm, allowing Reptos to go in even harder with throws since there is no risk of being thrown instead. As usual with throws in Cyberbots, you cannot do this move while dashing. You can dash, press the Boost button to stop the dash, and then throw though, which is quite strong. A unique property that this move has is that it can be done in the air against grounded opponents when you dash in the air, and then cancel the dash with the Boost button just like you would on the ground. If the opponent is beneath and slightly in front of Reptos as he's doing this, he can Fatality Dunk them. When performed in this way, Fatality Dunk has a range of 68. This is an important part of Reptos' mixup on opponents in the corner. Since he doesn't have a low, he has to set up situations where he can force damage without relying on high low mixup, and this is an excellent tool in that arsenal. For both the air to ground and ground to ground versions you can input B into 22B to cancel the dash, and then finish up with L to complete the input. You could do the input with H, but it's better to use L so that in the even that the Fatality Dunk doesn't come out, you're still coming down with a good normal instead of a bad one, since there's not whiff animation on Fatality Dunk, you will just get a normal associated with the button you used. This is true for both the air and ground versions. There's no difference between the L and H versions of the special move, so you may as well use the version that gives you a better normal on whiff.

Cyber-EX

236236 L or H - Full Verniern Hurricane. This move is strike invincible for 32 frames, but it doesn't become active until frame 34. Once active though, the hitbox surrounds Reptos completely, making it difficult or impossible for most VAs to challenge this move, despite the lack of invincibility during the active frames. It is possible to combo into this move from the standard 5L 5H chain for some real big damage, and if the opponent fails to tech roll properly, you are in perfect position to follow up with an OTG Fatality Dunk.

LH - Giga Rain. This burst has a very large vertical and horizontal hitbox at its peak, but it is among the least invincible bursts and the initical hitbox is very small. It becomes active on the 8th frame, and the initial hitbox sticks very close to Reptos' sprite. It is strike invincible for 10 frames, but the hitbox doesn't start expanding until the 12th frame. This means you have to be a little more careful with this burst when used up close compared to other VAs. However, one major advantage that Reptos' burst has is that it has very large vertical range. This allows him to use it as more of an aggressive anti-air than a defensive one. For example, it can be very effective to dash under someone on the ground while they are high in the air and then activiate burst to hit them with an unblockable attack while they are backturned up in the sky.

Combos

Basic BnB combos, courtesy of Totu_Q.

Reptos doesn't have a lot of variety in terms of available combos, but what he has works well. 5Lx5Hx41236L will be your standard bread and butter combo. If you have meter you can replace the 41236L with 236236L/H for extra damage.

Your OTG follow up options usually fall into one of two categories: defensive play, and aggressive play. The standard defensive OTG option is to lay down Satellite Force to cover your opponents wake up and give you time to shift back into your zoning neutral game. The standard aggressive OTG option is to dash up for an OTG Fatality Dunk if the opponent didn't tech roll to try to knock their arm off. If they do tech roll then you are in place for tridash and ground pressure.

Extra Resources

Hitboxes, courtesy of Totu_Q