Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax/DFCI/Mikoto Misaka

Mikoto Misaka (御坂美琴)
I'll show you just what I can do!

Introduction

A junior high student, she's a powerful Electromaster nicknamed "Railgun". Even though she's in Academy City, she's one of only seven high-powered espers (Level 5).

Originally from the light novel series Toaru Majutsu no Index, localized as A Certain Magical Index.

Gameplay

Mikoto is DFCI's resident zoning character. With multiple moves that hit from half screen away or further, Mikoto excels at punishing players who try to blindly approach, and she has the ability to convert any random hit into hard knockdown with her exceptional EX moves. Since her neutral is already exceptional, she can afford to run punishing setup-based assists to capitalize on these hard knockdowns like Rusian, Ryuuji, Mao or Boogiepop, and as one of the few characters in DFCI to have an airdash, she has a great ability to turn knockdowns into scary pressure situations. On top of that, if the opponent does ever get in on her, Mikoto has arguably the best reversal in the game with EX Magnetic Move (214AB), which can be done during any small gap in pressure to quickly get her high off the ground and put the opponent in a tricky situation.

Mikoto's biggest weakness is the huge dead zones on her zoning normals. 5[C], 2[C] and j.[C] in particular are phenomenal buttons to have, but they only cover a thin part of the screen, and if the opponent can maneuver around them or reads her patterns, she can be easily punished. On top of that, her Impact Skills are basically useless defensively, her fastest normal is 6F, and overall she must generally use EX Magnetic Move or pushblock to escape dangerous situations. Her anti-airs are also somewhat lacking, especially for a character that's so focused on controlling the neutral game.

Pros

• Strong zoning game
• Good mobility with Magnetic Move and airdash
• EX Magnetic Move (214AB) is arguably the best reversal in the game
• Can convert basically any hit into hard knockdown
• Strong neutral game means she doesn't need her support to play neutral, giving her lots of flexibility in assist choice
• Her Railgun Climax Art is one of the best Climax Arts in the game

Cons

• If she misjudges a zoning option in neutral, she usually is stuck in significant lag and can be punished hard
• Mediocre anti-airs and abysmal Impact Skills mean she has to spend meter on 214AB or Blast to escape bad situations caused by small mistakes in neutral
• Difficult (but not insurmountable) matchups against popular top tier characters like Tatsuya and Shana

Recommended Assists

Rusian - Currently the most popular assist in Japan for Mikoto, after the Arcade v2.3 revision. One of the best assists to play Mikoto in a more aggressive way: Lucian doesn't improve her zoning game, but Mikoto's ability to get knockdowns from almost every move allows her to set up Lucian's 6S (Monster Train) safely. You can also summon Lucian 6S in neutral and punish them for trying to hit him, by using your unique moveset and your mobility. Mikoto can cover Lucian from fullscreen with multiple options with 2AB, 236AB, or even her Railgun super to tag people that try to swat him away. Plus, Lucian needs to be hit at least 2 times by the opponent to be cleared. Once Lucian manages to travel safely off-screen thanks to Mikoto's cover, the second phase is guaranteed to come out, giving Mikoto an opportunity to perform a throw/high/low/block mixup just before the goblins hit, with the risk/reward heavily weighted in her favor. 5S is a counter move with a huge trigger box to ward off overly eager opponents.

Mashiro - Mashiro serves as both a potent neutral tool and potentially terrifying setplay. 5S unleashes a murder of baumkuchen that fiendishly roll forward, serving as a projectile to front your approach or as a combo extender. 6S sets out four cats that serve as both ample tick throw and high-low set-ups as well as checks against the opponent's movement and pokes as you close in.

Boogiepop - Boogiepop has a fairly run-of-the-mill 5S for extending combos, but her 6S allows Mikoto to play to her strengths of keepaway. During the 6S flute song, Mikoto gains a 15% damage buff and gains 2/3 of a bar, and when the song finishes Boogiepop does a fullscreen attack that does an enormous 2000 in chip + white damage when blocked. It can only be stopped by hitting Mikoto directly as the assist is intangible. If the opponent somehow gets hit by Boogiepop (or jumps, as her attack is air unblockable), they take 2500 damage and Mikoto can follow up with a full combo. The threat of eating nearly 2000 damage if Boogiepop's song finishes causes most opponents to try and rush Mikoto down as fast as possible, so as long as you're confident in your ability to control your opponent's movements for a few seconds the payoff can be enormous.

Potentials

Universal Potential: Increases damage dealt by 10% for 20 seconds when health falls under 30%. If behind in rounds won, increases damage dealt by 20% instead.

Character Potential: Use 3 Extend Action attacks (5[C], 2[C] or j.[C]) for Attack Level 1 for 10 seconds. Can be activated twice a round. The attacks do not need to hit the opponent to count.

Move List

L = Low, H = High, A = Air
JC = Jump Cancel, SC = Support Cancel, EX = EX Cancel
ISC = Impact Skill Cancel, TCC = Trump Card Cancel, CAC = Climax Art Cancel

Startup includes the first active frame.

Normal Moves

5A	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 300 6 2 16 -5 +8 (JC) JC, SC, EX, ISC, TCC, CAC HLA - Slighty downward-angled electric thrust. Decent range and quick startup.

2A	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 250 6 3 16 -6 SC, EX, ISC, TCC, CAC LA - Crouching electric punch. Hits low. Chainable into itself and has very fast start up, so it’s good to use as a poke out.

5B

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 500 9 3 19 -7 +10 (JC) JC, SC, EX, ISC, TCC, CAC HL - Angled electric shock that hits the ground. Range is similar to 5A but will also hit grounded opponents. Air-unblockable. Jump cancellable and will combo into a rising j.C on standing opponents. Has poor recovery compared to most other 5Bs, so try to cancel this move into something safer on block.

2B	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 450 10 3 18 -6 +? (JC) JC, SC, EX, ISC, TCC, CAC HL - Slash with iron sand sword. Does not hit low, but is air-unblockable. Long reach, but has some blind spots. Unlike in DFC, 2B is now jump-cancellable.

5C	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 700 10 3 21 -7 SC, EX, ISC, TCC, CAC HLA - Circular electrical arc starting at her head. Good range and hits above her, so it can be useful to catch jump outs. Like many other 5Cs it's pretty minus on block by itself, and can be punished by A normals and some B normals.

5[C]	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 900 18 2 37 -22 SC, EX, ISC, TCC, CAC HLA - Longer range (2/3 screen) and a higher arc. Big blind spot below the arc.

2C	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 920 11 10 17 -2 SC, EX, ISC, TCC, CAC HL - Attacks with many iron sand spikes. Does not knock down, but hits 5 times, all of which hit low. Good for okizeme as it will win against the single point of armor on reversal Impact Skills. Air unblockable. Very safe for a 2C move.

2[C]	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 1310 19 12 23 -3 SC, EX, ISC, TCC, CAC HLA - Longer range (2/3 screen), but has a much longer startup, so the timing must be later for use in okizeme or the opponent can jump out. Higher hitbox and will wall bounce in the corner. Does not hit low.

j.A	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 250 7 2 X+2 Varies JC, SC, EX HA - Horizontal electric punch. Decent enough range to be a good air-to-air, but has a weak lower hitbox. Jump cancellable.

j.B	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 450 10 3 X+3 Varies JC, SC, EX HA - Slash with iron sand sword. Very long reach and possibly her best jump in. Can cross up and works well from low air dashes. Jump cancellable.

j.C	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 715 12 4 X+4 Varies JC, SC, EX HA - Downward-slanting electric attack. Does not reach as far horizontally as j.B, but does reach lower. Can be used for okizeme/jump-ins. Jump cancellable.

j.[C]	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 900 18 3 X+4 -11 to -19 (no cancel) JC, SC, EX HLA - Sends a bolt of lightning down about 2/3 of the screen in front of her. Long start up and and quite narrow, but great for controlling space. Stops her air momentum. Knocks down and is jump cancellable on hit or block.

Special Moves

Electro Shock 「電撃の槍-エレクトロショック-」 236X

Version Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox A 850 14 2 26 -6 SC, EX, TCC, CAC HLA - Straight electric attack, reaches about 2 character lengths. Wall bounds in the corner, letting her combo into 5B > Air Combo Only knocks down midscreen, but launches quite far Good at covering the blind spot of 5C Version Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox B 925 15 2 27 -7 SC, EX, TCC, CAC HLA - Distance reaches the opponent at round start Version Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox C 1000 16 2 28 -8 SC, EX, TCC, CAC HLA - Distance reaches around 2/3 of the screen Version Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox EX Close: 1163 Far: 1057 13 8 12 -1 SC, TCC, CAC HLA - Goes roughly fullscreen and does slightly more damage if done point blank.

Magnetic Move 「電磁機動-マグネティックブムーブ-」 214X Air O.K.

Version Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox A N/A There!: 950 Frontal: 720 ~12 There!: 12 Frontal: 15 N/A There!: 6 to 12* (Varies) Frontal: 18* (Varies) X+6 There!: X+6 Frontal: X+20 N/A There!: -38 (no cancel) Frontal: +8 to +5 N/A There!: SC Frontal: SC N/A There!: HLA Frontal: HLA - Mikoto levitates into the air at about 70 degrees behind her. At that point, you can cancel into multiple actions: Air Movement　「空中移動」: Press forward or back to shift from one piece of rubble to another in the direction specified. Can be done a maximum of two times per 214X in any order. You can then follow into "Cancel," "Attack over there," or "Frontal Attack." Cancel 「解除」: Press down to immediately cancel 214X or a preceding follow-up. This option is always available unless you used "Frontal Attack." Roughly 6 frames of landing lag. Attack over there! 「その場で攻撃」: Pressing A/B/C will shoot out a boulder roughly 45 to 60 degrees below and in front of Mikoto. The trajectory depends on what button you pressed, with A being the shortest angle. You can then follow into "Air Movement," "Cancel," another "Attack over there," or even "Frontal Attack." Frontal Attack 「前方に攻撃」: Holding forward and pressing A/B/C will lunge Mikoto forward while she throws a pillar at the opponent. The steepness of the pillar's trajectory depends on what button you press, with A being the shortest angle. This follow-up will cause you to leave the levitation state. The air versions operate identically to their grounded counterparts. Version Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox B Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A - Identical to 214A except Mikoto goes a little further back. Version Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox C Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A Same as 214A - Identical except Mikoto goes roughly two character lengths back. Version Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox EX N/A There!: 1100 Frontal: 950 ~12 There!: 11 Frontal: 13 N/A There!: 5 to 11* (Varies) Frontal: 21* (Varies) 0 There!: X Frontal: X+15 N/A There!: -9 (no cancel) Frontal: +9 to +3 N/A There!: SC Frontal: SC N/A There!: HLA Frontal: HLA - A faster, more powerful version of the normal Magnetic Move. The follow-up commands and restrictions are identical, but your "Air Movement" follow-ups are now faster. "Attack over there!" throws larger boulders that go faster and do more damage. Likewise, "Frontal Attack" will cause you to leave the levitation state but with a stronger, larger pillar in hand. It is worth noting that the timer before levitation ends is slightly shorter in the EX version. If you do not prematurely end the levitation with "Frontal Attack," Mikoto goes into a free air state, where you can air dash, jump, and use jump normals. However, you cannot use any j.214X move. Unlike in DFC, "Cancel" from an EX Magnetic Move will also leave you in a free air state. Frame data note: The recovery on all follow-ups and the move itself have been decreased. The move itself essentially has 0 recovery. "Attack over there!" has as much recovery as your air time afterward.

Universal Mechanics

Throw 6C or 4C	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 1100 4 1 84 +52 (hit) SC, EX, TCC, CAC N/A - Grabs and shocks her opponent. Sends opponent flying away, with lots of time to position for okizeme. Cancellable into Blast, Trump Card and anything that uses the Climax Gauge.

Impact Skill Electro Fencer 「砂鉄剣-エレクトロフェンサー-」 5A+B	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 1130 12 9 45 -20 SC, EX, CAC (hit only) TCC HLA - Rushing attack with an iron sand sword. High damage and easy to combo after. Very minus on block

Impact Skill Biri-Biri Earth 「電震脚打-ビリビリアース-」 2A+B

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 1000 15 3 36 -22 SC, EX, CAC (hit only) TCC HL - Overhead stomp that then sends a blast of electricity along the ground. The electricity can reach from one end of the screen to the other and hits low. On close hit, will knock down, but will not knock down from far distances. Slow startup but will combo from B or C attacks. Can hit any support that is grounded

Impact Break 4A+B	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox First Hit: 900 Launcher: 800 First Hit: 22 Launcher: 9 First Hit: 8 Launcher:2 First Hit: 14 First Hit: -2 Launcher: -37 First Hit: N/A Launcher: SC, EX, TCC, CAC (on hit) First Hit: HA Launcher: HLA - Overhead launching kick, can go over lows.

Trump Card Chaser! 「ちぇいさー！」 5A+C

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 3000 25 4 25 -14 N/A H - Kicks a Vending Machine and her opponent. Strike and projectile invulnerable on frame 1, hits overhead, is air unblockable, does 3,000 damage. Pretty much your standard Red Trump Card. Launches opponent away on hit. One of the weaker Red Trump Card attacks, in terms of hitbox height and range. Only reaches about 1/4 of the screen horizontally, and a single jump is high enough to avoid the attack vertically.

Climax Arts

Railgun 「超電磁砲-レールガン-」 41236B+C	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 3500 12 3 65 -37 N/A HLA - Full screen beam attack. Very fast startup and a big fullscreen hitbox. High damage in combos as well. Goes through regular projectiles. Like other 41236 Climax Arts, has no invincibility and has some post-flash startup, so it’s possible to be hit out of.

Mikoto Special 「電装乱舞-ミコトスペシャル-」 63214B+C	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Cancels Guard Hitbox 2781 7 23 20 -28 N/A HLA - Rushing Ranbu. Invincible during the dash. Very punishable on block

Combos

Midscreen

5A Starter

5A > 5B > 2C > 5AB/2AB/236C

• Meterless combo. Mikoto's meterless combos are pretty pathetic, and meter is easy to come by in DFCI, so please only use these when desperate. 5B and 2C do slightly more damage than 2B and 5C, though you'll often use 2B instead of 5B due to its greatly increased range.

5A > 5B > 2C > 5AB > 214AB~C~6A

• Great 1 bar combo into a long hard knockdown that lets you call a setplay assist with time to spare. This is an essential Mikoto BnB that you'll be using frequently. Note that the inputs after 214AB are performed during the EX Magnetic Move (throw C rock, move forward and throw A rock).

5A > 5B > 2C > 5AB > 41236BC

• Typical 2 bar combo into Railgun super. Though the knockdown doesn't last as long as EX Magnetic Move combos, you put the opponent at full screen and should still have the opportunity to call your assist.

Air-to-Air Starter

j.B > j.C > 7jc > j.B > j.[C] (1244)

• Air-to-air combo into hard knockdown. Meterless. Also works with j.A for slightly less damage but faster startup.

j.B > j.C > 7jc > j.B > 214AB~C~6A > land > setplay assist (?)

• Air-to-air combo into hard knockdown. Costs 1 bar. The large amount of frame advantage after landing lets you safely call an assist near to the opponent without having to spend meter.
• Alternatively you can OTG the opponent for a tiny bit of extra damage if you need it.

4A+B Starter

4A+B > X > j.B > j.C > jc > j.B > j.C (1844)

• Impact Break combo. Meterless. Allows the opponent to tech high in the air, so if you have the meter it's recommended to use the metered combos below to ensure a hard knockdown.

4A+B > X > j.B > j.C > 7jc > j.B > 214AB~C~6A > land > setplay assist (2137)

• Impact Break combo into hard knockdown. Costs 1 bar. The large amount of frame advantage after landing lets you safely call an assist near to the opponent without having to spend meter.
• Alternatively you can OTG the opponent for a tiny bit of extra damage if you need it.
• This combo will not work when too close to the corner.

4A+B > X > j.B > j.C > jc > j.B > j.C > C.Blast > 236AB > 41236BC (3634)

• Impact Break combo into Combo Blast. Costs 3 bars and Blast (net 2 bars). Unburstable after the Combo Blast.

4A+B > X > j.B > j.C > 7jc > j.B > 214AB~C~6A > Lucian 5S > 236AB > 41236BC (4024)

• Impact Break combo into Railgun super. Costs 5 bars and assist. Isn't resource-efficient, so only save this for when you need to finish the round.
• This is not a Lucian-specific combo, he can be replaced with any assist call that can keep the opponent in the air after 214AB~C~6A
• The 236AB is optional if you don't have the meter to spare.

Corner

5A Starter

5A > 5B > 5C > etc

• Notes about this particular combo

4A+B Starter

4A+B > X > j.B > j.C > 7jc > j.B > 214AB~C~2 > j.[C] > land > setplay assist (2060)

• Impact Break combo into hard knockdown. Costs 1 bar. The midscreen version of this combo doesn't work in the corner, which is why we need this weaker variant.

Assists

Assist Character 1

5A > 5B > 5C > 5D > etc

• Notes about this particular combo

Assist Character 2

5A > 5B > 5C > 6D > etc

• Notes about this particular combo

Colors

Color 1	Color 2	Color 3	Color 4
Color 5	Color 6	Color 7	Color 8
Color 9	Color 10	Color 11	Color 12
Color 13	Color 14	Color 15	Color 16
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Color 21	Color 22	Color 23	Color 24