By akademiotoelektronik, 19/03/2022

Tierlist of Guilty Gear Strive characters, based on their learning curve

Before showing the tierlist, it is important to clarify some things. It is aimed at players who have no experience in Guilty Gear, but also in fighting games. For a player who has experience on certain licenses, the ranking would be very different. For example a Guile main on the Street Fighter license, will probably have no problem taking May in hand, and his place would then drop. Then this tierlist only concerns the handling, not the investment necessary to completely master your character at a high level (not to mention a competitive level). In this case, already the tier "I press buttons" would no longer exist, but some characters would go down and others would go up a notch. Finally, let's remember that the difficulty of mastering a character has no connection with its level of power at high level, is it not Mr Badguy?

Explanations

The characters are presented in order of appearance in the tierlist.

Potemkin: Even though Potemkin is the slowest character in the game, his normal hits have good range and do a lot of damage. The MegaFist are specials that are difficult to punish if the opponent has no knowledge of the match up, and the Potemkin Buster, even if it is difficult for a beginner to pull off, removes a large part of the life bar. Finally, his highest defense in the game allows him to take more hits than the rest of the cast.

Sol Badguy: Sol has the best normal in the game, with his K coming out in 3 frames. His fS is also very strong, and he has some simple combos that do a lot of damage (compared to how simple they are). He can puff his Volcanic Viper (dragon) on the upstroke, especially against beginners who tend to chew the bites. Finally, its Heavy Mob Cemetery Overdrive will surprise beginners because it is not keepable, although its usefulness will decrease as the player progresses, who will end up hardly using it on the upper floors.

Ky: Like Sol, Ky has an invincible pif on the upstroke (Vapor Thrust) which will reset the neutral against beginners. His normals are less good, but his projectiles allow him to play from a distance, an area in which Sol is less efficient. He also has better overall range on his normals.

Giovanna: The Brazilian has several positive shots on block, which allows her to easily keep an opponent under pressure. His combos are pretty straightforward, and his dash allows him to control floor space. She has a unique mechanic, which causes her damage and resistance to increase as her tension bar fills up. A beginner player will therefore not be penalized if he does not use his tension, we can even say that he will be rewarded for ignoring part of the game mechanics. Be careful though, Giovanna is the character with the least range of the game. game (if we remove its 2D), it is therefore necessary to avoid masher otherwise you will lose a lot of duels.

Ramlethal: Ram follows the same principle as Potemkin, but less well (for beginners, as soon as the average level is reached, their gameplays have nothing to do). His normals have a lot of range and do more than decent damage. Be careful not to throw her swords anyhow, because she is much weaker without them.

May: With multiple disjointed normals (hits whose hitbox is bigger than May's hurtbox), the pirate is a character who can win matches just by pressing two different buttons. If she's not higher in the rankings, it's because she's a dependent character, which means you have to hold back even during the offensive phases to pull off her signature special move: Totsugeki. It is only this counter-intuitive mechanism that makes it lose places.

Nagoriyuki: Vampire Samurai also has a unique mechanic. He can cancel the recovery animation of a special move, by another special move, which makes his offensive phases flawless. It's up to the player to decide when to stop tapping, with their opponent having almost no window to counter their attacks. On top of that, he has excellent range, which is a big plus in a rookie matchup. On the other hand, the more special moves he uses, the more his blood bar fills up, and when it is full, Nagoriyuki enters a special state. Once the latter is activated, he will lose up to 50% of his life (more if the opponent manages to hit him during this one) until he manages to cancel it. With this extra bar to manage, Nagoriyuki turns out to be more complex than it seems, and a beginner can lose a match by having just been hit once by an opponent who has remained on guard for the entire match. Of course there are moves to lower your blood gauge, other than losing life, but if you start to deal with that, then you're not really a beginner anymore.

Leo: Affectionately known as Gorilla King by the community, Leo isn't as easy to pick up as his reputation might suggest. He is a character with stance (posture) which means that according to this one, his blows change. It will therefore be necessary to invest a minimum of time to learn how to juggle between them. Afterwards, it also has a pif on the upstroke and sequences that are difficult to read for beginners. In his Brynhildr stance, his guard changes and is no longer the back direction but a button. Unlike a classic guard, it cannot be maintained, but offers other advantages. It counters all strikes and reflects projectiles. This can allow Leo to take back his turn from an unsuspecting opponent.

Anji: The Japanese is the only character in the game to have an automatic guard mechanic. This allows him to easily punish a player who mindlessly mashes his buttons. Moreover, he is a rekka character, ie his sequences can vary greatly. His Fuujin can be followed by a low or an overhead, forcing the opponent to make a decision in a hurry. Nevertheless, just like Leo, a minimum of training is necessary to begin to exploit the character well.

Goldlewis: While he goes by the moniker of Absolute Defense Secretary, Goldlewis' defensive options are worse than average. In addition, the character lacks a lot of mobility, being even worse than Potemkin in certain areas. To compensate, his shots usually have decent range, and he has very good projectiles as long as his safety bar is loaded. Its slowness means that it remains exposed for quite a long time in the event of a whiff, forcing it to think before pressing a button. On the other hand, its potential damage compensates a little for its various weaknesses.

Chipp: The otaku caricature has pretty much every offensive option possible. His general mobility is the best in the game (Millia is a bit better in the aerial field, and Giovanna has great assets on the ground, but only Chipp excels in these two fields), in short, facing a Chipp player is a bit try to catch a fish with hands covered in soap. To compensate for these assets, he is the character with the worst defense in the game, and three opening guards can overcome him (two can be enough at high level, depending on the situation). His general range is quite weak, which also forces him to take risks. Chipp is a glass cannon, and jumping headlong into the fray with him usually leads to defeat. Also, unless you master his advanced combos, his damage is relatively low.

Axl: Representing the zoner archetype in the base cast, Axl is a very complex character. Its general mobility is passable, which means that a player must move towards the opponent while keeping them at a distance, in order not to find themselves cornered (immobilized in the corner). Its defensive options are very limited, while its damage is also quite low. If he is not too difficult to learn at first, he will always remain among the difficult characters to master regardless of your level of play, and only even more complex mechanics prevent him from reaching the top of the ranking. Future Axl hands, you have been warned: it is impossible to play your character on autopilot, unless you are really much stronger than your opponent.

Faust: The FGC has no shortage of imaginative character qualifiers, describing Faust's fighting style as: Random Bullshit Go! This is due to the unique mechanic of the good doctor, which uses items with random effects ranging from donuts that restore life to your opponent, meteorite drops, bananas, trumpets that can be used by the player and their opponent to summon angry mini Fausts, an afro wig or even different explosives. In short, a Faust player must constantly adapt not only to what his opponent does, but also to what his character comes out of his hat. Fortunately it has some advantages, such as movements that are very difficult to read for a player who does not know the match up, a hurtbox that is often smaller than its size would suggest, and normal moves that are difficult to counter without taking risks.

I-No: The Scarlet Witch has probably the most atypical progression curve in the game. Difficult to learn, it becomes rather simple to play at medium level, before becoming much more complex at high level. This is due to her hover dash, because unlike other characters, she doesn't stay on the ground while dashing. This gives some of his moves properties, very useful for beating opponents who spam the low guard. So you have to get used to this special move before you can successfully exploit the character, which can confuse a beginner. More than any other character, I-No is a character that requires a good knowledge of its mechanics, both to play it but also to face it. Other fighters, however, require more knowledge of their own mechanics to be played correctly (but not necessarily to be faced, at least at low level), and they are the ones who form the top of the basket in terms of complexity for neophytes .

Millia: Millia will take on the same flaws as Chipp, namely poor health, very low damage if the most advanced combos are not mastered, while adding some very easily punishable hits if blocked. His offensive tools are less complete than Chipp's, but his mastery of the air is superior to that of the ninja. She is a so-called setplay character, which implies that once she has taken the momentum, she can keep it until the end of the round, unless her opponent manages to read her game perfectly. The first steps with her are difficult, but if you are looking for a character who, once mastered, can asphyxiate any opponent as long as you take the advantage once in neutral, then do not hesitate for a second.

Jack-O: Unique representative of the Invokeer archetype, Jack-O is also atypical for this archetype. Indeed, her invocations disappear as soon as Jack-O warns, forcing her to remain on the offensive. She can alternate between ranged pressure like a zoner, and other short-range options. Her defense is also very low, and she is vulnerable during her summons. Its latest also depend on a secondary bar, giving the player an additional resource to manage. Matches against her are usually one-sided, one way or the other. If it is very difficult to access for a beginner, once mastered you will have a very flexible character, able to adapt to all situations. In short, for future Jack-O hands, get ready to burp blood, but the game is worth the candle, because in the end it is you who will show Sol hands who wears the pants in the couple (Sol and Jack-O). O are a couple in Guilty lore).

Zato-1: After the invoker, make way for one of the other most complex archetypes in fighting games: the puppeteer. Zato is not fighting alone, his shadow Eddie is also present to assist him. It will therefore be necessary to learn to manage two entities simultaneously, while keeping in mind that without Eddie, Zato is much less dangerous. Additionally, his life is quite low, leaving very little room for error. Finally, you have to master both Eddie's shots and Zato's to successfully pull off interesting combos. At the highest level Zato is formidable, but his handling remains very complex. Its only advantage is excellent general mobility, allowing it to temporize when Eddie is destroyed, while the latter returns.

Happy Chaos: If you've gotten this far, chances are you're beginning to identify some patterns for complex characters. Happy Chaos is the worst of them, because you won't have to manage one but two additional resources: his focus and his ammo. Its gameplay revolves around these two resources, and you will have to be careful not to run out of one of them, or risk becoming a mediocre fighter at best. Happy Chaos' defensive options are very limited, even his supers can be countered by a mash opponent. On the other hand, once mastered, you will have a fighter who excels at each distance, who can make all his shots safe by spending an ammunition, in short, a real monster. Currently (January 2022) he ranks very high in the professional tierlists, but more than the other fighters, a significant investment of time will be necessary to begin to exploit the character well.

Although this tierlist was made to give an indication of the difficulty of handling the different characters in Guilty Gear Strive, it does not constitute an absolute truth. The main thing in a fighting game is above all to have fun, and this involves choosing the character you prefer, whether for its look, its animations, or its gameplay. Complexity shouldn't hold you back in any way, because if it's Happy Chaos or Zato that's bothering you, then it's with them that you should progress. The only good way to use it is above all to see if it's normal for you to have difficulty getting to grips with this or that character, while giving you the first keys on how to play them. Or at the limit of orienting yourself on a character to start with, if you cannot choose among the cast of the game. Fighting games remain one of the most rewarding genres in terms of progression, because your victories as your defeats will depend only on you, but their main goal remains above all fun. So, let's rock!!

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