Instructions This FAQ is for VOOT. The sequel (Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram) DORDRAY Moves and Strategy v1.0 by friction Please contact me with any feedback, corrections, new ideas, whatever, at: friction@speakeasy.org --- Last updated May 17 1998 --- Contents: - Intro - Weapons Systems - Close Combat - Special Attacks - Vs. Guide - Move List --- Introduction In VOOMG, each Mech had 3 basic weapons. But things are a little more complex in VOOT. Dordray really has 5 major weapons, all very different, not including special moves or close combat. He is hard to use because these main weapons can only be fired under certain circumstances: The V. HURRICANE and CLAW can only be fired from a standing position, and the RUSHES only off of a Forward Dash. If you are not fluent with all 5 attacks, and their variations, you will have a hard time winning. It seems that the most advanced aspect of his offense is the RUSH... in fact, your main priority when learning Dordray will probably be how to avoid getting the RUSH when you don't want it! So learn the characteristics of the other moves first, and then try to integrate the RUSH. He is also slow, but has great armor to make up for it and is pretty stable. In Close Combat, Dordray is perhaps the slowest mech, but he does lots of damage when he hits. --- WEAPONS SYSTEMS: DRILL: This is the mainstay of your offense. There are quick variations of the drill, such as LTLW and crouch LW, which do not home as well. The standard drill has great homing, and the RTLW drill is the one that turns in the air and rushes the opponent. Note that the RTLW drill will only turn about 90 degrees, making this move useless on an approaching opponent. Useful for a surprise once in awhile. Also, some drill variations will stay out on the perimeter after a miss, Rotating in and making another pass at the opponent, one they can almost NEVER plan for. I think it is the diag-fwd dash drill that has this ability... I need to do more research to find out how to take better advantage of this. When trading dash-attacks with an opponent, get a feel for how long you have to wait before firing the drill. I find that I have to wait a little bit longer to be sure I'm going to hit an opponent whose path I'm crossing, to let them get far enough away. The Drill rush (fwd-dash LW) is covered under RUSHES. CLAW: The claw is a great attack because it does decent damage and slows your opponent CONSIDERABLY. Thus it's a setup for more damage. Plus, it's an 'extra' attack in the sense that it seems to operate independently of your regular RW, the fireballs. A great combo is: fwd-dash Fireball -> crouch Claw (crouch LTRW). If you time it right the claw will fire the moment you end your dash. No problems with running out of RW ammo. Claw combos coming soon. V. HURRICANE: This is another mixed blessing, like many of Dordray's moves. It is paralyzing to the opponent for a seemingly random amount of time (it seems to depend on how many rings hit, and how much the opponent struggles to escape). It's hard to know how to follow up this move sometimes without knowing how much time you have. A powerful effect is that is destroys *most* incoming attacks. Some major exceptions would be Specineff's homing energy balls (I wish it would). So while it can protect you, it also is slow and uncancellable and can leave you very vulnerable to attacks from the sides and back. The Damaging variation (RTCW) is great, if you can hit with it. It's a little slower to come out and lasts much longer, leaving you more vulnerable. The crouch variation may be useful, haven't really played with it. When you fire your CW when you are dashing, you are stuck with the 'flaming ring', which does piddly damage. Its usefulness seems to be less than Apharmd's beam cutter from VOOMG. It may be useful for cutting down incoming fire, I don't know. All I know is I try to avoid wasting my ammo on it. Also, the HURRICANE props an opponent up, so they can't fall down to escape damage. So, if you can freeze them near you, you can often get in TWO CC attacks before they go down. FIREBALLS: Fwd-dash fireballs are deadly. Fwd-diag also good. Moving through an opponent firing these is effective as Dordray (and everyone else) gets near-instant rotation. Side-dash fireballs are weak, but the option of using the crouch on the side-dash fireballs helps. Crouch side-dash fireballs are quicker and make small explosions when they hit or reach their maximum range, which is about 1/3 of an arena. The explosions can sometimes cancel incoming fire if you're lucky. Useful bail-out move, or to finish someone off. Regular side or back dash NOT RECOMMENDED. RUSHES: This is where Dordray becomes really tough. It's very hard to master the use of these rushes, but if you can, your Dordray will be really powerful and disorienting for your enemy. The problem is that you can't just do a rush off of any old dash, only a forward dash. Also, the rush is hard to hit with, cannot be done at point-blank range, is canceled if you are hit with anything major during it, and leaves you vulnerable if you miss. Fwd-Dash CW gets you the 'CD Rush' with something that looks like a CD on your head. This does big damage. Fwd-Dash LW gets you the 'Drill Rush' which does less damage and is slightly more steerable. You can get an 'instant rush' by pushing a turbo button, CW or LW, and Fwd all at the same time. Rush Techniques: Curve-Dash - The Curve Dash is a crucial asset to set up Dordray's Rushes. Use the Curve ability to 'aim' your forward dash before you activate it with CW or LW. Watari Dash - This is also very useful. The variation I use is to side- dash to avoid incoming fire and then turn to forward, use a little curve for final aiming, and Rush! The problem with these tricks is that you may spend so much time aiming your dash that it ends, or you just get hit! Or you may be so close to the enemy by the time you are on track that the rush will go right through them. A good technique to practice is as follows: Side-dash. Watari-turn forward. If opponent is nearly in front of you at this point, curve- dash to aim and Rush. If opponent is not directly in front of you, shoot regular fireballs. Rush Combos: Hurricane and Drill Rush - This is a cool setup, BUT... you can't use your CW rush after the hurricane, which is the most damaging one, because you're out of ammo! Damn! So, you are better off firing a quick crouch LTRW Claw, then doing the drill rush. Claw and Rush - The claw may slow the opponent enough to allow you to hit with the rush. But don't count on it! Most people will immediately side dash after getting hit by the Claw, because they are expecting a drill next. So it may be good to see what they will try to do, and then respond. After all, they can dash, but not quickly and not far, with that Claw hanging on them. Claw, Drill and CD Rush - Ahh, the Trifecta! Beautiful if you can get it, and quite painful for the opponent. This is the perfect application of Dordray's 3 main weapons. You can even do this after a fwd-dash fireball, although almost nobody will still be standing by the time you get to the Rush! Dash Fireballs (or Dash Drill) and Rush - You will more or less be oriented to your opponent after a dash attack. So you can immediately do a rush if they are right in your sights. Use the quick rush technique. --- CLOSE COMBAT: Dordray is slow in close combat, maybe the slowest of all the VOOT mechs. But he makes up for it with power. One hit can do big damage. And while he may be slow, he is still fast enough to block and counterhit, something which seems guaranteed in VOOT. Example: Fei-Yen attacks with her sword combo, swinging twice. Dordray blocks both, and then counterattacks with LW for what seems to be a guaranteed hit. Dordray has short arms and cannot swing his weapons very far. So they have a short arc. The right swing will not hit someone on Dordray's left, and vice-versa. If your opponent is dead in front of you, either will work, but otherwise, you have to pick the appropriate weapon based on your enemy's position. This is a limitation that Mechs like Temjin, with a long sword swing, don't have. While his regular CC attacks are slow, his crouch CC attacks are even slower. Despite these limitations, I seem to have some luck with him in CC. I think it's because I know that he is too slow to be the aggressor, unless someone is just landing from a dash or otherwise vulnerable. Instead, I wait and react. I don't know yet how valuable his throw really is. It only grabs mechs Standing in your Right arc. It is unblockable, and in a sense is similar to a crouch attack. It's probably a little faster than his crouch attacks though, so may be a better option against blocking opponents. Haven't figured out why he sometimes tosses the opponent, and sometimes hits them with the drill. It is uncancellable as far as I know, leaving you vulnerable. Use with caution. Also, if they are not too close, you can pop them quickly with the Crouch Claw Launch (Crouch + LTRW). May knock down. His CC weapons, with notes: RW Claw swing- This attack has the longest activation range, 79.9m, and incorporates a pretty long 'slide' up to the opponent. Good damage, but slow. LW Drill swing- This attack has a shorter activation range, 54.9m, but otherwise seems similar to the Claw swing. CW Claw and Drill swing- This funny-looking move comes out very slowly and has a very short range. But it does even more damage. Activates at 69.9m. Crouch RW Crouch Claw- Very slow!! Good damage. Crouch LW Crouch Drill- Also Very slow, also good damage. Crouch CW Crouch Scissors- EXTREMELY slow, glacially slow. The only good thing I can see about this move is that it extends fairly wide to both sides. Damaging if it hits though. Not recommended. Jumping LW Drill Drop- Good damage and about as fast as anyone else's jump attack. RTRW Claw Uppercut- A dramatic finish, but very slow. Try it when you are winning convincingly. Another potential use is if you happen to freeze an opponent in the air, but pretty close by. There is a jump up at the end that might hit. RTCW Throw- Good damage and looks cool. See notes above. Q-Steps Not the quickest, or the longest, but usable. Q-Step + LW or RW Circle Attack- Not a great circle attack due to his short arms. Unpredictable hit ability. --- SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spinning Drill - Rotate Right and CW with all gauges full -Homes well -Big damage -Can be easily interrupted by enemy fire -Useful to hit landing opponent Giant Mode - Push Start - only once PER CREDIT If hit during growth process, Giant mode is canceled. -Increased armor? -Larger weapons hit more easily -In CC, RW becomes a stomp move --- Vs. Guide (incomplete) Angellan: At the start of a round, if she puts up a shield, you can CD rush her right away for huge damage. I think you have the advantage at the beginning of the round here. The rushes can be used to get away from dragon breath in some cases. Temjin: It's very hard to avoid that damn fwd-dash beam rifle for a slow guy like Dordray. At longer range, it will bounce though. Bal Series: Keep an eye out for the mines! Dordray will have to absorb quite a few before he falls down. Grys-Vok: Don't forget that you can deflect his RW. Raiden: A difficult matchup, especially if you don't like running and hiding. Raiden's Lasers are tough on Dordray because he is too slow to escape it, and yet the drill, claw, and rush (and fireballs?) are all canceled by it. At least it doesn't always knock down. Specineff: Another really tough matchup for Dordray. Beware the homing balls, they are not canceled by the V. Hurricane. The only way I know to cancel them is with the explosions of your crouch fireballs, which is not easy to do. The Shockwave (boomerang) is tough on slow mechs like Dordray, and knocks down often!!! For some reason, just about anything Specineff does, except the homing balls, knocks Dordray down. Also, it is very hard to RUSH Specineff because the shockwave can cancel the rush easily. Sometimes Specineff's RW will also cancel the rush. Don't get overly offensive unless you think you can really get the opponent confused. A better tactic is to keep cool, keep reflecting the RW as much as possible, and try to get in a good, solid drill or fwd-dash fireball when you can. Don't count on hitting Specineff with many rushes though. In CC, watch out for his deadly speed! You have to play CC waiting for the 1 big hit. Apharmd S: Apharmd B: The Hurricane is very effective vs. the Tongfer Rush. You can often freeze him right in front of you, for a 1-2 punch. Viper: You can play with the air rushes if you want to get clever. Or even the Air Hurricane --> Air Rush (requires 2 jumps) Fei-Yen: Stay away from the edge to avoid HHB explosions. Dordray: You can't possibly win this matchup. Dordray is just too tough. Give up. --- Dordray Movelist (Special thanks to Hiro for the basics) * denotes key moves Normal (standing) Attack RW Fireball * LW Drill * CW V. Hurricane - Paralyzing rings * RTRW Flamethrower RTLW Homing Drill - turns in air RTCW V. Hurricane - Damaging Rings * LTRW Claw attack - Slows opponent * LTLW Quicker Drill LTCW Quick flaming ring Crouch Attack RW Exploding fireball - mid range LW Quick Drill * CW V. Hurricane RTRW Crouch Flamethrower RTLW Crouch Homing Drill ? RTCW Quicker Damaging Hurricane LTRW Quick Claw attack * LTLW ? LTCW ? Jump Attack RW Fireballs LW Drill CW V. Hurricane RTRW RTLW RTCW LTRW LTLW LTCW Dash Forward RW 3 Fireballs x4 * LW Drill Rush * CW CD Head Rush * Dash Diag-Forward RW 3 Fireballs x4 * LW Drill * CW Ring Dash Side RW 3 small 3-way fireballs LW Drill CW Ring Dash Back RW 2 Fireballs x4 LW Drill CW Ring? Aerial Dash Forward RW Fireballs LW Drill Rush - slightly steerable CW CD Rush Aerial Dash Side RW Fireball LW Drill CW Ring Aerial Dash Back RW LW CW Crouch Fwd Dash RW Fireballs LW Crouch Drill Rush CW Crouch CD Rush Crouch Side Dash RW 5 Exploding Fireballs limited range * LW CW Close Combat RW Claw Swing - longest range * LW Drill Swing CW Claw/Drill Swing - slow RTRW Drill uppercut - SLOW RTLW ? RTCW Claw Throw - grab and toss LTRW Claw Launch LTLW Drill Launch? LTCW ? Crouch Close Combat RW Crouch Claw LW Crouch Drill CW Scissors swing RTRW RTLW RTCW LTRW Quick Claw Launch * LTLW LTCW Jump Close Combat RW LW Drill Smash * CW RTRW RTLW RTCW LTRW LTLW LTCW Dash Close Combat RW Claw Swing LW Spinning Drill CW Spinning Drill ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EOF