A giant poke using Vatista's wings. Has long reach and can be jump-cancelled into air combos, so it works as an anti-air (even at a distance!) if you can get past its slow startup.
Vatista slides a wheel along the ground. Reaches far, but you have to wait for the wheel to get there (as such, its startup and safety on block vary based on spacing). Main combo starter, and with 5C can convert damage from surprisingly long distances. Easily jumped/Assaulted over, so you REALLY don't want this to whiff. Vatista's only low.
A spinning attack using Vatista's wings. Doesn't hit overhead. Has a large rear hitbox, but doesn't cross up due to crossup protection. A useful jump-in for hiding the charge for her B Drill overhead. Guruguru~
A follow-up to 5B that hits twice again and launches the opponent. Can be jump cancelled into a combo... or you could just do 5B > 2C > 5C for more damage. Notably less safe on block than 5B alone.
Vatista hops and then stands still in the air for a period of time. Can be cancelled with Assaults, jump attacks, and special moves, giving her some tricky movement options as well as the ability to hold a charge in the air without moving.
A spinning kick with deceptively few active frames. Has a solid vertical hitbox, making it a usable, combo-able anti-air. Knocks down on counter-hit, allowing for a follow-up combo.
Vatista charges forward while spinning her wings. Goes far, hits quickly, but is unsafe on block - it usually leaves Vatista at point blank range, meaning most characters can punish with a throw. It can be cancelled into 4FF on block to make it safe or into FF/[4]6A on crossup for a combo. Guruguru~
Vatista fires short energy beams from her fingertips. Can be cancelled into from any normal. Hold BC to get more hits. She can move in any direction during the attack, and if in the air, drag her opponent with her. The air version is still air unblockable and unshieldable. Its hitbox can cancel out projectiles. Babababa~
Universal reversal. Invincible from start-up until the first active frame. Not throw invincible. You can delay the start-up until the 69th frame, but there's no real incentive to do so outside of thwarting meaty attacks.
Fires a slow moving projectile. It's slow enough to be followed into battle, making it effective as a pseudo-shield if you want to get in. Disappears if Vatista is hit. Pushes Vatista back when fired in the air. 53F charge.
Fires a much faster moving projectile that pushes Vatista back on the ground or in the air. Not as effective as your laser, but it's nice to have options when you have a [4] charge. Disappears if Vatista is hit. Vatista's hitbox isn't actually crouching during startup. 53F charge.
A very large and very slow fireball that takes a very long time to start up - if you do this at any distance the opponent has a chance of touching, they can react and knock you out of startup. Can reverse a neutral situation if you get it out safely and follow it into battle, but it disappears if Vatista is hit. The fireball has no hitbox until it's released. 53F charge.
Vatista throws zoning to the wind and flash kicks. A fast and effective invincible reversal when you have charge. Smaller than her B kick and almost sorta safe to whiff from a distance. Neither kick will hit straight above Vatista. 53F charge. Samaso~
Vatista flash kicks even harder and spikes for a soft knockdown. Has huge vertical reach and can be CS cancelled on hit for even more damage. On hit, Vatista recovers and regains her air action on the way down. 53F charge.
Vatista flash kicks, dive kicks, and then flash kicks again. A strong reversal, combo ender, and all around "fuck you." Has the largest hitbox of the three. 53F charge.
A fast, horizontal laser that instantly reaches corner to corner. Yes, you have to charge forward, but on the other hand, you get to charge while advancing (possibly behind a Lumen Stella?). Charging [3] also works to keep you stationary. Stops Vatista's movement when used in the air and even allows her an air action after its use. Can 53F charge.
Not much more damaging than a regular beam, but pretty advantageous on block if you want to spend the meter for it. Otherwise mostly used for VO combos or punishing projectiles fullscreen. 53F charge.
Vatista sets a bit on the field by holding any button and then releasing it. The bit will explode on contact with any of her moves. Very threatening in neutral and easily leads to 3-4k combos off of errant explosions. An absolutely essential tool for both her pressure and high damage combos as well, difficult as they may seem to perform. Vatista sets the bits at different angles based on whether she's standing, crouching, or airborne. The bits function exactly the same no matter what button is released to set them, but releasing a button of an already released bit will replace the old one (as such, she can only have three out at once). All bits disappear if Vatista is hit/grabbed (even if she techs). Any normal can be cancelled into a set on release, but it's very unsafe to do so if you space improperly/get predictable with your blockstrings. 61F charge.
Si Deus Fragmentum (Explosion) 「シデウスフラグメンツム」 (Use an attack on a bit)
Set bits will explode on contact with any of Vatista's attacks, including the explosion of another bit. The explosion hits six times, with the final hit shooting the opponent straight up in an untechable state, granting you a free combo. (subsequent mid-combo explosions will be techable before they land).
Vatista's drill kick. The A drill is mostly a combo tool, but it can be used for sudden, unexpected dives if you have the charge, even though it doesn't hit overhead. 43F charge, which is coincidentally just about the amount of time it takes Vatista to complete a jump.
A much slower drill kick, but it hits overhead to make up for it. If you're able to hide the charge in another jump, you can use it as an instant overhead - with 2C, you can make a high-low mixup between j.C > [8]2B and j.C > 2C. Ends in a small kick that launches the enemy toward the wall, which Vatista can combo off of. 43F charge.
A super drill kick that does more hits the higher Vatista is on the screen - it works well with her FF. Has invulnerability until hitting the ground. Ends in a wall slam that Vatista can usually combo from, but the enemy may be able to tech out before that final hit in longer combos. Some characters might skip a few hits in certain situations, but Hilda and Eltnam will drop out of the move entirely. 43F charge.
Frame data note: The 38 frame gap is between the second and last hit.
A giant beam. Since it's not a charge move, you can use it at any time to punish any whiff from anywhere on the screen if you want to spend 200%. Has plenty of invincibility, too.
Vatista makes whole pillars of lasers. Will usually do less damage than her normal Infinite Worth at the end of a lengthy combo, so use that instead.
Combos
Vatista has relatively few optimal combo routes, but many ways to reach them - you don't need to take screen position into account so much as you do starters/hitstun proration.
Basic ground combo that gets you used to [8]2A and 2C OTG. Still a useful route to go to later on if you feel your starter has prorated your combo too much (Assault, especially).
Basic anti-air combo that gets you used to j.C > land > j.A. Can connect off of many other moves, such as anti-air 66B/66C. You may need to replace 2C > 2B with 2A if used in a longer combo due to proration.
Midscreen Combos
Damage values indicate base damage. "+" values indicate bonus damage from Vorpal (CS combos only). Note that slight changes in timing can change the amount of hits your moves do, so expect values to vary in practice.
The standard Fragment combo. The button holding required to use Fragments mid-combo may seem difficult, but they're no big deal once you get the motions into your muscle memory. The 2C and 2A OTGs are a little strict, however - hitstun proration can ruin this combo easily if you're not careful with your starter or don't get a counter-hit (though the j.[B] > [8]2A aerial route will make up for the former). Still, there are a LOT of starters not listed that can get to this route. The damage for [2]8B/C assumes you do it after [6]4B - it's difficult, but you can swap it for 2B instead for less damage.
A CS version. The trick is to whiff the grounded 5FF, but hold 9 to make the second (airborne) portion hit. This uses the double laser landing route for additional damage.
Standard Fragment combo that takes into account the fact that the opponent will tech after the first mid-combo Fragment by releasing the second mid-combo Fragment before they're knocked out of the first one's explosion. For the jC > [8]2A ender, you need to time the second Fragment's so it explodes from the first one's explosion - for either [2]8 ender, you can get away with being a little late since the Flash Kick will pop it.
[8]2B
All damage values assume the drill portion of [8]2B hits only once before the kick, as an instant overhead should.
Her standard Fragmentum route, but now in the corner. Just be sure to hold [B] from the beginning. 2C will whiff on Akatsuki, Byakuya, and Chaos.
Combo Routes
Vatista's combos will generally follow a Starter > Aerial > Landing > Ender pattern. Familiarize yourself with her various routes so you can switch mid-combo when necessary.
Combo Starters
These starters all take the place of 2C > 5C in the above 2C combo.
5A/2A > 2C > 5C
Hey, it's what we know and love. Just make sure you don't use 5/2B in between 5/2A and 2C.
5B/2B > 2C > 5C
If you're careful that these don't whiff, they work great. 5[B] also works as a blockstring starter - 5[B] > 2C > 5C gives you time to confirm if you want to jC 5C on hit or release a Fragmentum on block. Alternatively, Reverse Beat to 5A, 5B (assuming you started 2B), 5AA (if you're close), etc.
j.B/j.C > 2C > 5C
Jump-ins. What else can you say? If you use these off of an Assault, you'll need to use the j.B > (j.A >) [8]2A aerial route to get a Fragmentum combo.
66C > [4]6A > 2C > 5C
If you hold 6 during all of 66C, it'll become a 4 on crossup and give you a [4]6A. Unprepared opponents may also block the 66C and not expect the crossed up [4]6A, still granting you the combo. If you don't cross up, you can burn Vorpal with 66C > FF > CS > 5C.
5C > FF > CS > 5C
Useful if Vatista is too far away for 2C to punish in time, you want to CS for some meter, or you just weren't expecting to start with 5C. 5C > 2C > 5B can work for the latter as well if you don't have CS. 5C > 2C > FF > CS > Aerial will do slightly more damage, but works at shorter distances.
66B (ch) > 2C > 5C
66B knocks the opponent down on counterhit, meaning you can follow up with this.
Aerial Routes
These all come after 5C in the standard Fragmentum combo and are more or less replaceable.
j.[B] > j.C > [8]2A
Basic air combo. Works.
j.[B] > j.C > land > j.A > [8]2A
The land > jA is important here in increasing the range at which Vatista can hit with [8]2A, thereby increasing the range at which she can combo from. Allows you to get more hits out of j.C and [8]2A, so it arguably does the most damage, too.
j.[B] > [8]2A
Useful if you're worried about your hitstun proration - it lets you land full Fragment combos off of Assault j.B or j.C and is essential for reaching the double laser landing route explained further down. Fairly hard to pull off though, since the j.[B] must be done as late as possible on top of requiring you to charge [8] during the startup of 5C. You can use j.[B] > j.A > [8]2A or j.A > j.[B] > [8]2A for a bit more leniency on the timing with little apparent change to the hitstun proration.
j.A > j.B > j.C > land > j.A > j.B > [8]2A
Yeah, she can still do this. You won't be able to get a Fragment combo off of this, though. You'll usually go for this off of 5A anti-air, like in the [8]2B > 66C > 5A combo.
j.C > land > j.A > j.[B] > [8]2A
Only usable when j.C is done on the falling portion of Vatista's jump, and as such isn't usable off of your standard starters. It is usable for routes involving aerial CS ([2]8B > CS, FF > CS) as well as random j.C hits against airborne opponents. In the latter case, you may be better off using j.C > 5C > j.A > j.B > [8]2A to ensure it hits against opponents low to the ground for similar damage.
Landing Routes
The all are assumed to come after an aerial [8]2A. Any combo with 2]B[ assumes that you were already holding B before entering this route.
2A / 2C > 2B
Basic landing route that can't lead into anything other than [2]8X. Based on your combo's proration, 2C may drop, requiring you to use 2A instead.
2[C] > 2]B[ > 2A > 2B > 2]C[ > [6]4B
The standard Fragmentum landing route. Get familiar with this, as this route is essential to reaching Vatista's optimal damage output.
2[C] > 2]B[ > 2A > 2B > 2]C[
Same as the above, but time the 2]C[ release such that the second Fragmentum is popped by the first's explosion. Used primarily when you open with a Fragmentum, but also useful when one of your combos happens to run through a Fragmentum you previously set up.
2[C] > 2]B[ > 2A > [6]4A > 2]C[ > [6]4A/B
The double laser route - it does slightly more damage, but it's a bit more difficult to pull off both in terms of execution and proration - there's a larger gap between 2A > [6]4A than 2A > 2B, so hitstun proration makes this combo impossible sooner than the single laser variant. To reach this route, you'll need to use a good starter and either the j.B > (j.A >) [8]2A or j.C > land > j.A > j.B aerial routes.
Combo Finishers
[2]8B / [2]8C
[2]8B midscreen downs the opponent far away, but allows you enough time to set up a projectile, Fragmentum or Assault to gain GRD. [2]8 midscreen leaves the opponent about 1.5 character lengths away with much less time to set up anything. [2]8B in the corner puts Vatista at a perfect distance to start the repeated Fragmentum string, or just general Fragmentum oki. [2]8C in the corner puts you almost point blank to the opponent with little time to set up.
j.C > FF > [8]2C
Usable in combos after an opponent has been hit by the second (or more) Fragmentum. Holding [8] during FF drags the opponent upward, letting you get more hits out of [8]2C. It (usually) does more damage than a [2]8C ender, but keep in mind that if this is ending a full combo, the wall slam will almost always be impossible to combo from - that is, if they don't tech out before [8]2C's final hit (you're safe either way).
j.C > [8]2A
Any aerial sequence (jC jB jA, jB jC, etc.) into A drill after a second Fragmentum more or less works. A meterless ender that does similar/slightly more damage than [2]8B and ends with better oki positioning midscreen. Generally a 2]B[ or 2]C[ crystal is released after the A drill, but keep in mind that like all Frag setups midscreen, backtech avoids everything.
Strategy
Mixups
Instant Overhead [8]2B
Despite being a charge move, [8]2B can function as an instant overhead if the charge is hidden in another jump/other moves. With j.C, she can perform a high-low-high mixup between j.C > [8]2B, j.C > 2C, and j.C > land > [8]2B. You can also set this up by using j.A to explode a nearby Fragmentum and then mixing up between j.C > 2C and j.C > land > [8]2B (assuming the explosion is blocked). Note that at low altitudes, most characters can hit Vatista out of [8]2B on reaction with a simple 5A, so don't get predictable with this.
