He rages. In order to protect his master, the beast will raze buildings and crush trees with
his own two hands. To stand by his master's side, he takes on the curse of eternity,
transcending the power of mankind. On this quiet night, he thinks about his master,
and how he may die on the battlefield one day...
A mysterious old beast, who has lived centuries. With ties to the "Night Blade", he operates by the Princess's side. Speaking of the princess, she has recently taken a somewhat useless high school student under her wing, leaving the beast perplexed. All the while, Wald and his comrades are under attack from a mysterious organization, Amnesia. "The Hollow Night is upon us, and we will settle this", says a high ranking member of said organization. In hopes that he may protect his master, Wald decides to head into the belly of the lion's den, alone. Fulfilling his promise to Linne's brother, Kuon.
“
Battles are cruel...? The words of pansies with no strength.
You can only curse your own weakness!
”
Gameplay
Waldstein is the big body grappler of the game, i.e. slow, big buttons, and focused on the use of his 360X command throw to deal damage. The lack of speed in his movement and attacks is mitigated by UNI's universal Assault mechanic; combined with having one of the strongest jumping attacks in the game in j.C, Waldstein has a uniquely strong (if predictable) way of closing the gap and playing at his best ranges compared to grapplers in other fighting games.
Waldstein excels in both close-range and mid-range scenarios due to having several ways of creating frame advantage (1A, 4B, 214X), normal attacks with great range and dominant hitboxes (5B, 2B, 5C), and the fastest command throw in the game (360A). Because his attacks generally have slow startup, Waldstein prefers to preemptively strike fast and establish his highly oppressive pressure game whenever he gets close enough, but as of UNICLR he has a complete set of tools with which to establish threat at almost any range. All of this culminates into Waldstein having optimal combos that are both very easy to learn and highly rewarding.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Claw Normals: Waldstein's claw normals and specials delete projectiles, which changes the way most projectile characters play neutral around him.
Health: Wald has the highest health in the game, allowing him to tank more hits than most.
Damage: His damage is higher than average, with some metered combos easily reaching 4K. Most rounds can end after a command grab and two combos.
Close-Range Offense: Wald has several ways to create frame advantage for himself up-close and can easily take advantage of it with his command grabs.
Close-Range Defense: Wald has the fastest meterless move in the game at 3f, giving him a powerful option for punishment and abare entirely unique to him. He also has strong reversal options with meter.
Gimmicks Galore: Waldstein easily beats players who do not understand how to fight him.
Very Slow: Wald's traditional abare options are extremely weak due to his fastest normal being 8f (compared to 5f for most characters). Using his 8f 5A means releasing down-back as 1A is 9f. His movement is also very slow to balance out his terrifying power up close.
Very Big: Large hurtbox and limited long-range options mean he naturally struggles against zoners.
Heavily GRD Reliant: Wald heavily uses Assault to close distance most of the time, making him prone to being predictable and becoming severely disadvantaged by GRD Break.
Gimmicks Galore: Waldstein has to work a lot harder against opponents who know all his tricks and force him to play more honestly.
Force Function projectile will destroy opponent projectiles, without being destroyed itself.
Frame Data Help
Header
Tooltip
Damage
Damage done by this attack. (x) denotes combined damage [x] denotes minimum damage
Guard
The way this move must be blocked. High = Can block standing Low = Can block crouching Mid = Can block standing or crouching Air = Can block in the air Air Shield = Can block in the air while shielding Unblockable = Cannot be blocked
Cancel
Actions this move can be canceled into on hit or block, unless specially noted. N = Normal Cancelable SE = Self Cancelable SP = Special Cancelable EX = EX/IW Cancelable CS = Chain Shift UNQ = Unique (See description) TH = Throw Cancelable J = Jump Cancelable (Hit cancelable only by default) (X) = Hit cancelable only -X- = Can additionally be cancelled during whiff
Property
Special properties this move has. Click on the property to navigate to an explanation.
Cost
The resources this move costs to use. GRD = GRD Blocks EXS = EXS Meter Vorpal = Vorpal GRD Break = Causes GRD Break
Attribute
Attributes of the attack. Mostly used in situations involving invul. There are two sets of attributes: Strike/Throw and Head/Foot/Dive/Projectile Every move has a Strike/Throw attribute, but doesn't always have Head/Foot/Dive/Projectile attribute. --- Strike = Strike (Anything that isn't a Throw is a Strike) Throw = Throw --- Head = Head (Most jump normals) Foot = Foot Dive = Some air specials Projectile = Projectile
Startup
Frame when the first hitbox is present. + denotes the frames before and after super flash.
Active
The amount of frames that this move will have a hitbox. (x) denotes frame gaps where there are no hitboxes is present. Due to varied blockstuns, (x) frames are difficult to use to determine punish windows. Generally the larger the numbers, the more time you have to punish.
Recovery
Frames that this move has after the active frames if not canceled.
Overall
Frames that this move takes from start to finish before the character returns to neutral.
Advantage
The difference in frames where you can act before your opponent when this move is blocked (assuming the move isn't canceled and the first active frame is blocked). If the opponent uses a move with startup equal or less than this move's advantage, it will result in opponent hitting that move. ±x~±x denotes a possible range of advantage. The left value is when the active frames hit sooner (generally worse) and the right value is for when the active frames hit later (generally better).
Invul
The frames where this move cannot be hit by an attribute. Full = Fully invincible Strike = Strike invincible Throw = Throw invincible Head = Head invincible Foot = Foot invincible Dive = Dive invincible Projectile = Projectile invincible
Tied with 2A as Waldstein's fastest normal, 5A lacks the horizontal range of its counterpart but has a surprisingly high hitbox for catching jumpers.
Buffed in CLR to have less recovery (was -5 in ST), making it a much stronger button for tick throws into 360A than it already was. Use this against cornered opponents to make them guess between a staggered 5B/2B or 360A.
Waldstein slashes with his claw upward at full length.
Fairly strong for generic zoning, 5C has solid range both horizontally and vertically.
Has the Destroyer property, nullifying at least 7 hits of projectiles (requires more testing).
Slower than 2C but with better horizontal reach, 5C is good as an early denial to all manner of approach attempts but quickly loses effectiveness when already on the defense.
Increase Charge version causes heavier knockback on hit and a float state on block (similar to Wagner's 214[B]), which can extend the opponent's green shield window if they perform it early. This allows for very easy visual confirmations into 360B/C for a guaranteed GRD Break. Mostly useful in the corner for this capability, as well as gapless cancels into 214B or even a meaty 214A for maximum frame advantage.
Waldstein punches downward at the opponent's legs.
Has almost as much reach as 5B. Formerly Waldstein's only low-hitting attack.
Has deceptively long range for a low attack. Amazing poke and combo starter to punish opponents overly anticipating 360X or Assault approaches in neutral.
Misses against pretty much anyone in any proper aerial state.
Waldstein punches downward with the claw opposite his j.A.
Fairly decent as a jump-in attack.
Done early from an Assault, doesn't give combos from non-Counter Hit but is very difficult to anti-air on reaction. A great advancing poke for disrupting an opponent's anti-air timing but risky.
A very powerful move, but the increased startup makes it prone to being preemptively anti-aired or shielded to end your offense.
Ground-slams aerial opponents on hit and is plus on block from almost any height.
Performing from assault guarantees that the attack will not hit. The startup animation can be used as a visual trick to perform an "empty jump" Assault into a 360A command throw. By performing only a partial charge during the Assault, this can become its own mixup where the opponent will be forced to guess whether to block or contest.
Has the Destroyer property. Increase Charge version can nullify up to 11 hits.
Buffed in CLR to hit Low instead of Mid. Not 1A's most notable feature, but it's nice that Waldstein has a second low attack now.
Causes staggered down on hit. Due to being a command normal, it can cancel into specials but not other normals.
Advantage is high enough to link into 2A on normal hit and at least 2B on Counter Hit.
Has a very large stagger window for canceling into special moves in addition to being +2 on block. An under-utilized but very dangerous button if you can read how the opponent wants to respond.
Waldstein reaches upward in front of him with both claws for an anti-air grab.
If he is able to catch, he crushes them in his claws, then throws them against the ground for a groundslam hit.
While this would be an amazing neutral anti-air in many circumstances, Waldstein already has access to air-unblockable 2C and 5C, both of which have a much less avoidable hitbox and provide more follow-up potential.
As it is, this is typically just seen as either a combo filler or a combo ender.
Waldstein does a big forward punch. Wall-slams on hit.
Usually combo filler for the standard re-jump BnB, though it has some merit as a very fast, horizontal air attack.
Done early from an Assault, will whiff most grounded opponents and allow for a clean 360 mixup, or an "empty" jump low.
Done late from an assault, will hit the following characters crouching: Waldstein, Gordeau, Orie, Mika, Enkidu, Londrekia. Grants massive frame advantage on block(+14/15).
Waldstein turns completely horizontal in the air and then launches himself with the momentum slightly for your typical grappler body splash.
Extremely unsafe on whiff or block without Chain Shift.
There might be some uses with the extra momentum bounce to get around certain kinds of zoning, but without Chain Shift it's still not worth the risk (or the minimal reward on success).
Waldstein slides forward slightly while swinging with a claw in a big horizontal slash.
Deals good damage and can cancel into things such as 214B.
Doesn't cover much distance, but at a range where Waldstein's normals are already a threat, 66B can push you even further in where things such as 2B and 5B would force you out of range.
Fairly good to extend pressure with after blocked 214B.
Waldstein leaps forward while thrusting a claw clenched into a fist forward that almost looks like an Assault j.6C.
Like j.6C, it causes wallbounce on hit.
Unlike j.6C, there's an initial hit before the punch and the attack cannot be air-shielded. *This is almost guaranteed to whiff on any grounded opponents, but has some great anti-air coverage.
If you somehow get it to connect on the ground, you have significant advantage on block.
Otherwise, you can use it kind of like j.A as an "empty jump" mixup, but it's much easier to get mashed out attempting such.
Has no foot invuln, but raises his hurtbox significantly enough during the second attack that certain sweeps may whiff.
The rock has a hitbox when Waldstein picks it up, and then another one when he throws it. Hold 4 or 6 to make him throw the rock closer or farther, respectively.
Causes wallbounce while in vorpal allowing free conversion. Non-vorpal increased version also wallbounces.
Counts as a special, for the purposes of canceling into.
Has a bit of shock value and can steal rounds off of low health stalemates if the opponent forgets about it.
Great, low risk tool to predict the startup of an opponent's projectiles due to the rock's fast travel speed.
As Force Functions universally cost GRD, it's a terrible idea to use this as in any sort of projectile spamming tactic. Especially
Cuts through 2-3 projectiles on startup, and about 6 while flying through the air.
Universal reversal that blows the opponent back on hit.
Airborne: 1~52, Standing: 53~59.
For Full Charge version: Airborne: 1~101, Standing: 102~108.
Requires at least 100 meter and puts you in Veil Off state which grants 20% more damage, but drains your meter at a slow rate.
Meter drains much slower when health is below 30% (orange health).
You can hold down A+B+C to delay activation and gain a few extra benefits, but doing so is highly unrecommended unless trying to run the clock as this move already has a long start up as is.
C version is about the same speed as B version (in addition to having a long super flash), and only hits mid, but is much safer on block, in exchange for the meter usage.
Has considerably more range than 236A, and a bit more range than 236B.
Mostly used as a combo ender, but has some niche usage as a whiff punish tool.
C version has some use as a reversal option due to its startup invulnerability, however it is not very reliable due to its massive startup and deadzone.
The first hit does 573 damage, which may be enough to finish the round with a trade.
However, it works excellently as a combo ender near the corner.
Waldstein's standard grappler SPD-esque command throw.
All three of these will always whiff against aerial opponents, and will be gold throws if done to an opponent while they're still in blockstun or recovering from staggered down state.
Doing a 720 instead of 360 will make each grab deal more damage and leave the opponent closer to you.
Only a 3/4 circle is required for the 360 input. A full circle is counted at a 270 degree spin, a double circle is counted at a 540 degree spin.
A version has fairly low reach, but still has a faster startup and slightly more range than regular throws.
Waldstein slams both claws together in a thunderclap that produces a "projectile" of sorts.
The A version is fast enough for a continuous blockstring if the button before it was big enough (5B, 5C, 2C) while also being plus on block.
214A and 214B are great for applying pressure due to their advantage on block, though with the long startup being predictable about when you throw them in will lead to getting mashed out before the clap happens.
Waldstein slams both claws together in a thunderclap that produces a "projectile" of sorts.
B-Increase version is still too slow to get a completely tight blockstring out of from any attack, but is even more plus on block, and launches on hit.
Can cut up to 11 projectiles (unchanged from regular B)
Waldstein slams both claws together in a thunderclap that produces a "projectile" of sorts.
The C version is extremely fast. On hit for the C version, Waldstein grabs the opponent and slams them into the ground, then performs a belly-to-back suplex for a side-switch.
Extremely damaging starter if you have CS to create a follow up combo.
Has situational use as a punish tool.
Cuts through up to 15 projectiles. If you hit the opponent successfully and go into the grab animation, any remaining projectiles will miss.
If this move would connect on the same frame that the opponent would hit you, the opponent wins the interaction and this move's hitbox disappears.
Attack has two hitboxes depending on if the first/closer one gets blocked or not. If you block the first one, Wald is +9.
Aerial A version causes Waldstein to continue with his momentum
Aerial B version leaves Waldstein suspended in the air for an additional 18 frames before landing
In the air, the j.214 series become air-throws. Both A and B versions result in a somersaulting piledriver on catch.
The j.214 series don't do much damage on their own, and are typically seen as simple combo enders, but on a hard read j.214 starter can lead to a difficult but standard combo.
Aerial C version leaves Waldstein suspended in the air for an additional 14 frames before landing
In the air, the C version causes him to pause briefly in the air as he grabs. The C version has Waldstein fall to the ground and go through the same motions as his grounded C version on hit.
Waldstein charges forward, catching any opponent unfortunate enough to be on the ground in his path as he continues all the way to the wall.
Minimum charge time is 38 frames.
Able to catch airborne and knocked down opponents during a combo.
Can catch blue shields, but whiffs against green shields. Thanks Kamone.
On whiff, Waldstein bounces off the wall and is left in a very punishable state.
On hit, the A and B versions slam the opponent into the wall, then Waldstein turns around and carries them all the way to the other wall.
You can reset opponents with this move if you delay it slightly after a combo that leads into 4B. CS cancel with this starter will lead into 4.5k with meter.
Waldstein moves with a surprising amount of speed with this move, and can catch people off guard in neutral, but it is still typically a very risky option in neutral.
The C version adds one more full screen carry, slamming them against the original wall for a third hit. Notably, this grab is still able to catch opponents in an aerial juggle state or off a groundslam.
As a starter, C version can be CS canceled on the 2nd or 3rd wall slam. You will need different combos depending on when you CS.
Able to catch airborne and knocked down opponents during a combo
Easier to combo into than 360C since, like the [4]6 series, it is able to catch opponents in ground-slam or aerial juggle state.
Always ends with both characters in roughly round starting positions, regardless of where the move originally connected.
Still typically inefficient for the meter cost, unless done at the end of a Veil Off combo.
Like 360C, this move has startup invulnerability.
It's also 3 frames slower and has three times as many freeze-frames to give the opponent time to think about it if you made a wrong call and they were just sitting and baiting for a reversal.
Waldstein becomes surrounded by a pillar of light which goes into a cinematic on hit.
Must have less than 30% health (orange health) to use.
After the cinematic, characters will be moved to the middle of the stage, regardless of where they were positioned before.
Due to the cost, it is usually not recommended to use this move unless it will kill the opponent.
Notable Rebeats and Gaps
Rebeat Table
Attack
Chain
Advantage
2C
1A
+2
2C
w1A
-7
Gap Table
Attack
Chain
Frame Gap
2A
5B
1
2A
214A
5
2A
236A
6
1A/5B/2C/5C
214B
5
5[C]
214[B]
5
66B
214A
5
214A
720B
5*
Assault > j.C
5B
5
236X
The follow-up, 4X
0~8
214A
360C
8
Notes:
2C > 1A is your go-to anti air starter. All of your other rebeats leave you more minus than before.
214A > 720B is a great tool because you will redgrab an opponent that tries to mash when you are only +1. However, you must make sure that you are outside of any 5-frame normals because strike with beat throw on "trade". If they don't mash, you have that much more time to resume pressure. However if they continue to block, it will be a goldgrab as usual. And of course if they jump they will get a CH on you, but jumping takes extra time that you can resume pressure with.
Assault j.C can easily be made tighter by doing a move that is faster than 5B. 2B is another good choice.
For the 214A > 360C, you must let the entire recovery of 214A play out or else the opponent can tech the 360C (you should not see the gold rings)
