-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _______________________________________________________________________________ Street Fighter IV: Rufus Character Guide By: Heroic_Legacy _______________________________________________________________________________ -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Contents 1: Intro 1.A: Rufus? Why use Rufus? 1.B: Controls/System and Notation 2: The Movelist 2.A: Normal Moves 2.B: Unique Moves 2.C: Special Moves 2.D: Super Move/Ultra Move 3: Gameplay 3.A: Basic Combos 3.B: Player Archetypes 4: Match-Ups 4.A: vs. Abel 4.B: vs. Akuma 4.C: vs. Balrog 4.D: vs. Blanka 4.E: vs. C. Viper 4.F: vs. Cammy 4.G: vs. Chun Li 4.H: vs. Dan 4.I: vs. Dhalsim 4.J: vs. E. Honda 4.K: vs. El Fuerte 4.L: vs. Fei Long 4.M: vs. Gen 4.N: vs. Gouken 4.O: vs. Guile 4.P: vs. Ken 4.Q: vs. M. Bison 4.R: vs. Rose 4.S: vs. Rufus 4.T: vs. Ryu 4.U: vs. Sagat 4.V: vs. Sakura 4.W: vs. Seth 4.X: vs. Vega 4.Y: vs. Zangief 5: Thanks and Legal _______________________________________________________________________________ 1. Intro Hey there! If you're reading this it's safe to assume you are looking forward to taking Rufus for a test drive. Or are looking for ways in which Rufus falters and you can take advantage of it. Either way, you'll get your answers in this very guide. I'm Heroic_Legacy and for my first guide I will be going through the whole of Rufus, a character in Street Fighter IV. 1A. Rufus? Why Rufus? Well if you don't use Rufus shame on you. Seriously though, he's a ton of fun to play as. Rufus's physique just adds to the hilarity of his moveset. But don't underestimate him. He may be rotund and jiggly, but he is a seriously dangerous character to be on the wrong side of. Rufus is a character that will take a little time to learn and just a little practice on your timing. But in the end it all pays off with sweet damage and style points to boot. 1B. Controls and Notation LP: Light Punch/Jab LK: Light Kick/Short MP: Medium Punch/Strong MK: Medium Kick/Forward HP: Heavy Punch/Fierce HK: Heavy Kick/Roundhouse df: Down+Forward on directional s.X: Standing attack j.X: Jumping attack c.X: Crouching attack QCF: Quarter Circle Forward DPM: "Dragon Punch" Motion. Forward down down+forward in one motion. QCFx2: Quarter Circle Forward x2. Super or Ultra Motion. That's really all it'll take to learn Rufus. There are tons of other commands in the world of Street Fighter but Rufus's moveset is rather simplistic. So no worries there. For more advanced terminology, I will be providing a glossary at the end of the FaQ. Check there. 2. The Movelist Right here, you'll learn everything that Rufus has to offer in terms of moves in the game. From normals to his Ultra move, I've got it all covered. 2A. Normal Moves Normal moves while can change depending on range. Far standing Normals s.lp: Quick jab is thrown by Rufus. Decent speed and cancelable/linkable. s.lk: Quick little kick by Rufus. Nothing real special. His lp is much better. s.mp: Rufus bends forward a little bit and throws a full straight punch. Not real great, but a good poke to be sure. s.mk: Rufus spins and does a long reaching kick to opponent's abdomen. Good long range poke. s.hp: Rufus plants his feet and throws a 45 degree angled punch. Very good anti-air and very strong. s.hk: Rufus takes a step forward and raises his leg as high as he can. The awkward startup may catch somebody napping, but don't expect them to fall for it a lot. Close Standing Normals s.lp: Rufus gives a quick little elbow. Same as the jab. s.lk: Just a short kick, cancelable into hk for Target Combo. s.mp: Rufus delivers a little uppercut to his opponent. Good speed and can be cancelled. s.mk: Rufus has a unique s.mk in that it hits twice. This will take care of Focus Attacks but doesn't dish out a lot of damage. Another good poke. s.hp: Rufus's combo starter. Looks like a big uppercut. Comes out fast and is cancelable. Does good damage. Definitely one you should get familiar with. s.hk: Rufus stands on one leg and kicks at the opponent's head with the other. Very quick, but bad recovery on block so watch out. Crouching Normals c.lp: Little quick jab. Very good pressure. c.lk: Rufus extends his leg out just a tiny bit. Even with c.lp c.mp: Rufus raises his palms into the air and thrusts. Best used as anti-air. c.mk: Extends his leg just enough so that he has range and taps the opponent. Invaluable as it comes out fast and is cancelable. Good range too. c.hp: Rufus reaches a long way across the screen with a punch. Takes up half the screen. Not very fast, but fast enough to catch a sleeping opponent. c.hk: Sweep move. Nothing extraordinary here. Just gets you a knockdown. Rather exaggerated motion so try not to use it often. Jumping Neutral Normals j.lp: Jumping and sticks his elbow straight downwards. Terrible. j.lk: Raises his knee a little as he jumps. Probably only good for quick air to air priority game. j.mp: Jumps and punches at a 45 degree angle. Much like his standing far hp but does little damage. Really only good if you botched a jump and they are jumping at you. j.mk: Jumps and sticks his leg out downward. Really not worth it, j.hk is just as good if you need a neutral jump overhead j.hp: Best neutral air move Rufus has. He jumps and stretches out both arms and his knees for a huge area to hit the opponent. Stuffs a lot of moves. Do not use this as a neutral jump overhead, it will miss. j.hk: Rufus sticks his leg out sideways and gives more range than j.mk. This is your normal of choice if you need to start a neutral jump overhead combo. Jumping Directional Normals j.lp: Rufus sticks his hand out at 45 degrees downward. Not much use as he has much better options in the air. j.lk: Rufus jumps and throws his leg out over him, used as a quick air to air so you don't end up eating one of those heavy kicks. j.mp: Rufus's elbow juts out just a bit. Really not much use for it. j.mk: Rufus extends his leg straight out. Compared to what this button can be used for in the air it kind of loses use. You'll most likely not want to ever see this normal. j.hp: Rufus punches at a 45 degree angle downward. Good combo starter for a jump in. j.hk: The best air to air normal Rufus has period. He jumps and performs two kicks that will put the opponent in a juggle state, meaning you can follow it up with any special that can juggle an opponent. You'll get used to this move quite a bit. 2B. Unique Moves These moves are special and belong to Rufus only. Normally they have special properties. Vulture Kick: f+mk, This move is Rufus's standing overhead. It does decent damage for an overhead and leaves you safe. Can't combo it. Not too quick but it's a good change of pace to catch opponents who like to turtle it out. Glory Kick: df+mk, Rufus rolls forward and hits opponent with his leg. Not damaging but it moves him far enough so it's good to gain distance against a few select characters. See Character strategies for more details. Fragrance Palm: f+hp, Rufus takes a step forward and pushes out both with his palms in both directions. Really slow startup but great priority against moves and does decent damage. Comboable in corner. Falcon Kick: df+mk (In air), Ah, the pressure cooker. This move has to be used quite often for a rushdown Rufus to be effective. The Falcon Kick is an air to ground move, in which Rufus dives at a 45 degree angle towards the opponent. It is very quick, and you can combo out of it if timed correctly. When using it, you can cross the opponent up if you space it correctly. You can pressure heavily by Falcon Kicking as low to the ground as you can. Recovery is very good. Definitely the one move that defines Rufus in the game. 2C. Special Moves Each character has special moves, Ryu's Hadoken, Zangief's Lariat. Rufus is no exception. His special moves are very unique, and fit him perfectly. -Galactic Tornado: QCF+P(PP), Rufus spins forward a set distance and ends with a palm strike to the opponent. You can direct his movement towards the opponent during this move to let his rotund stomach hit them for up to 3 hits. The EX version creates a vacuum effect in which if the opponent is close enough, they get sucked in and hit. Safe to throw out, since the opponent cannot punish you if they block it. Cancel s.hp or c.mk into it for a normal combo. -Messiah Kick: QCF+K(KK), Rufus jumps and spins in the air landing with a kick. From there he can follow up with a second kick, which you can control. Light kick followup looks like a Flash Kick, and is comboable from the initial kick Rufus does. Medium kick followup doesn't combo, but is a sweep that gets a knockdown and hits low. High kick followup is an overhead stomp basically. It catches crouching opponents and knocks them down. EX version is arguably the best move in the game. It has startup invincibility, it hits 5 times without the followup, and comes out extremely fast. Your best Reversal attack. -Snake Strikes: DPM+P(PP), Rufus leaps into the air flailing his limbs around for multiple hits. Best used when you know the opponent will jump. From full screen you can use snake strikes to hop over projectiles and gain Super Bar. Light punch version can actually combo to c.mk if opponent is standing and didn't block. EX Snake Strikes is the most damaging EX move in the game. When you catch a jumping opponent with directional j.hk, use EX Snake Strikes ASAP for more damage than most Supers. The timing is different depending on the altitude of the opponent so, practice a bit with it in training mode. 2D. Super Move/Ultra Move Super Move In Street Fighter IV, there is only one Super Move for every character (Gen and Dan being exceptions) It costs all 4 of your EX stock and usually is a watered down version of an Ultra. -Galactic Romance: QCFx2+P, Rufus moves a slight step forward and punches two times. If the second hit connects then the opponent entes a frozen state as Rufus flips over them and double palm thrusts them over to the other side of the screen. It does a decent amount of damage, but not worth it in the long run. It is comboable off of his target combo, directional j.hk, and Galactic Tornado in corner. You can cancel his s.hp and Galactic Tornado on first hit to combo into it. Ultra Move In Street Fighter IV, in addition to the Super Bar there is a Revenge Meter. This meter fills when you take damage, or focus enough attacks. When it fills halfway, you are given the ability to use an Ultra Move, which is considered a move to turn the tide of battle in your favor. It normally does at least 40% damage to all characters, very useful. -Space Opera Symphony: QCFx2+PPP, Rufus leans back, then delivers a long winded combo that juggles opponent and ends with him double palm thrusting them into the air. It does great damage, but it is so comboable that it is almost a part of Rufus's gameplan all the time when he gets Revenge Meter filled. Comboable from directional j.hk, target combo, far s.hk, Snake Strikes(In corner), Galactic Tornado(In corner), Messiah Kick lk version (FADC), Messiah Kick lk version (on an airbourne opponent), and directional j.hp on grounded opponents. 3. Gameplay Rufus is a rush-heavy character, so his gameplay revolves around setting up his combos among other things. This section will tell you how his basic combos and strategies. By now you have familiarized yourself with all his moves, so it's time to put them to good use right? Pretty soon you'll be rolling with the fat man and winning matches. 3A: Basic Combos From confirming his Ultra to a simple punishing combo, you'll get it all. These combos are going to be your easy ones to learn. Rufus has no crazy executed links so no need to worry about them. LK > HP is a tough one but after a bit of practice that one becomes second nature. These are combos you'll be using for every fight. 1. s.HP > HP Galactic Tornado* 2. c.MK > EX Galactic Tornado 3. s.LK > s.MP > HP Galactic Tornado* 4. c.LP x3 > EX Galactic Tornado 5. c.MK > HP Galactic Tornado* 6. s.LK > s.HP > HP Galactic Tornado* 7. LP Snake Strikes > c.mk 8. Target Combo > Space Opera Symphony 9. s.MP > EX Messiah Kick (LK Followup) 10. EX Messiah Kick (LK Followup) FADC> Space Opera Symphony Note: The above combos can all be started off of a dive kick or an angled j.HP. *= In corner, you can add a LP Galactic Tornado for an extra hit and damage. 3B: Player Archetypes Rushdown: This type of Rufus user would most likely pressure the opponent into mistakes and cause heavy mindgame mixups. It will be an uphill battle if they get into their groove. Dive kicks, quick attacks, high low mixups, this player will make you sweat easily. It is most likely the best way to play Rufus in my estimation. Just the fact that one mistake on the defensive side can end up eating a combo worth about 30% without meter, makes it much easier to push them and make them fall into easy patterns, in which you can just start throwing or crossing up. Just be careful though, some characters are immune to rushdowns and you will have to be careful if you try to rush them down. Most notable rushdown-immune characters are: Blanka, Ryu, Sagat, Akuma, Ken, and E.Honda. Turtle: This type of Rufus is hardly used, but is very useful. This Rufus will most likely sit there in a crouch and wait. c.mp and c.hp are Rufus's best moves in this mode of play. Anti air and long range poking. Focus Attacks will be used to absorb fireballs and pokes if the opponent keeps using them. You will have to capitalize on their mistakes in order to win. Just, make sure to keep a cool head and not fall under the pressure and crumble. Counter: The hardest Rufus to use, but most rewarding. The Counter Rufus will have so much experience, that Rufus's tools will be used optimally. c.hp will be used to stuff fireballs before they come out, psychic EX Messiah kicks to stuff anything they attempt, snake strikes on every jump. Palm on every dash attack and tornado through close range fireballs and hit the opponent. This Rufus should be relatively safe from most everything. But, with big reward comes big risk. Anytime you fall off key and start randomly throwing things out, you will be punished hard. The best Rufus players can use all three types in the same fight, and confuse the opponent with everything that can be done. Rufus is very diverse and quick to confuse opponents, so being able to use all three will only help out. Dive kicks, perfect timing, and a good sense of defense will go a long way against the upper levels of play. 4. Match-Ups So you got his combos, you have everything you need to finalize the deal and become great right? Well you need character specific strategies. If you don't know the matchup, all that knowledge you just learned is wasted! So get to digesting this! Note: Difficulty does not reflect tiers, nor does it use the same system. Difficulty will just be a number out of ten, as how hard you will have to work to win. 4A: vs. Abel Difficulty: 5/10 Strategy: Abel is tough when put in the right hands. Watch the Marseilles Roll and grab it when you can. If not, then put yourself out of the reach of his Tornado Throw. Getting knocked down forces you to deal with Abel's wakeup game. And that is something you really do not want to see when facing him. Keep him on the defensive and make sure he has no chance to get anything going. Pressure with dive kicks and try to mix things up with grabs. Do not, give Abel space. The moves you want to watch for, his EX Change of Direction will eat the first hit you throw out there, so you can block it, or EX Messiah it to break the move where it stood. Abel's crouching moves are good, so overhead a few times. Watch his rising elbow normal though, he can use it to combo into almost everything including his Ultra. 4B: vs. Akuma Difficulty: 8/10 Strategy: Akuma is very tough because he has Rufus's Bane. A shoryuken. Akuma users that run away are simple to deal with. Glory Kick is your friend here when they air fireball. If at the right distance, you can Glory Kick right underneath it and be in a position to hit him when he is recovering. When they teleport, readjust your distance and use Rufus's c.hp to hit him. Or, if you can, combo him for trying to run away. An Akuma that rushes is the worst, because Rufus is not good at all under pressure. More than likely your EX stock is very important here. You'll want that EX Messiah Kick every single time that Akuma tries to hit you. Just stay calm, and block. Hit his jump ins with your c.mp and try to gain momentum. Do not pressure with dive kicks because one shoryuken can be focused into a red fireball. Just sparingly use them. 4C: vs. Balrog Difficulty: 7/10 Strategy: Balrog is going to either rush you, or turtle the match out. Rushing Balrogs aren't tough, as you can pick your spots to abuse them. When the rush fails, they will always sit there and charge up that headbutt, waiting for you to walk in so they can hit you. A turtle will dominate you unless you force him out and make him move. Headbutt beats everything Rufus has and that makes it hard to crack that turtle shell. Dive kicks, tornado, messiah; they all get stufed by that headbutt. Appraoching is deadly. Don't outpoke him, his jab is much too fast to even bother and he'll get two off for every one you manage to throw out. Pick your spots and bait the headbutt. Almost instant dive kicks may force a Balrog's hand. Punish hard, and offensive from there. Be careful on wakeup though, he'll still try that headbutt. 4D: vs. Blanka Difficulty: 7/10 Strategy: Blanka. Oh boy, devilish and relies heavily on mind games. Your opening move will be one of two moves. Crouching jab, or heavy Galactic Tornado. Crouching jab takes out his roll from the start, Tornado stops most of his slower rolls. His slide takes out both of these moves, but it will leave him at close range. A roll that hits you or you block, punishing is almost impossible. It requires a perfectly timed one step and c.hp, but the timing on it is so strict it may backfire and leave you open to a jump in. Blanka's best combo comes off a jumping heavy kick, so be sure to stop it with a crouching medium punch. Watch his crossup j.mk, as it will make you have to guess on the next move, and you don't want to have to do that. Just like Abel, keep him grounded, keep him on the defensive. When pressured, Blanka users tend to electricity or vertical ball. On wake up, make sure to block high. Ball bounces off of you for punishment and electricity you can EX Tornado it. 4E: vs. C. Viper Difficulty: 5/10 Strategy: Viper needs more combos than you do, so disrupt their flow and make sure to pressure them into the ground. Dive kicks may trade with HP Knuckle, but you have more health than she does. Trades are usually in your favor. Force mistakes and punish blocked thunder knuckles. Do not let yourself enter the corner, as that is where Viper users will just eat you alive. Jump her Seismo attempts and punish with a basic jump in combo. Once they realize they are being ruined by your jump ins during Seismo, they may start canceling it. In which, just walk forward c.hp and make them unsure about their mind game. If you can stop them from landing a seismo, you control the fight. Shouldn't be too hard if you aren't distracted by the flash and style. 4F: vs. Cammy Difficulty: 5/10 Strategy: Oh how Cammy has fallen in this game. Still a threat as seen at EVO, but nowhere near much of a challenge as previous games. Crouching block is the answer to almost everything Cammy has. Hooligan is usually used as a move to cross the screen while maintaining an offensive. Don't stand and be prepared to throw when they land. Good Cammy users will TK drill and never use random spiral arrows. They will bait moves out, so don't fall for it. Only punish their mistakes. Your pokes are a little short range, so you might lose out in a poking battle. Dive kicks and EX Tornado are really helpful in this fight. EX messiahs aren't the move you need, simply because it is way too unsafe on block. You'll eat a damaging combo for throwing it out there if it is blocked. Don't jump, her air throw and her cannon spike will eat you alive. Stay grounded and play keep away. Eventually she'll have to rush you. Then you can win. 4G: vs. Chun Li Difficulty: 6/10 Strategy: Those monster legs of hers pose problems for everyone. Her kicks are deadly and easily control the mid range game against anyone. Everything that Rufus has in terms of special moves can be stopped by a simple standing heavy kick. It's a hard fight but due to her low stamina, getting in means getting done. Her fireball is just bait for her Hazanshu, or for you to get in range for her to punish you with her above average normals. She has a few unique moves with different properties and startup, but has a chance at confusing you and making you stop and think. Her crossup kick, her overhead, the flip kick and her up kicks combo. Just get the offense and stick to it. She'll fall quick. 4H: vs. Dan Difficulty: 4/10 Strategy: Danger warning, do not underestimate. Dan can be played effectively. Jumping light Dankuukyaku will put a hurt on anything you do in terms of air to air, as well as ground moves. He has a small delay after he lands if you block it, and you can punish him. But be quick, his koryuken has big priority. He has no links so it isn't worrysome if he lands a few jabs on you. He has a surprising set of normals which, although look stupid, are rather effective. Anti air kicks, long pokes, and a fireball poke. It is tough to get in on him. He's a good poke character and if not for his lack of links, he'd be at least middle tier. 4I: vs. Dhalsim Difficulty: 8/10 Strategy: Cat and mouse all match long. Dhalsim will try to get away, you have to end up chasing him. Rufus's size works against him here, as Dhalsim can easily tag him in the air with his long reach and slow fireballs. Your work is definitely cut out for you in this match. The entire match will end up depending on whether or not you get to Dhalsim before he can teleport. And then once he teleports, you do it again. And over and over, until he ends up on the ground with your victory. If you can't reach him, you can't win. Your best moves in this fight will be j.hk, j.hp, and c.mp. Its a giant poke match, and you are trying to make him fear your pokes, and allow you to just jump right in. Watch his instant teleports, as they lead into big combos that really hurt. If you can dodge his limbs, and leave him in the air, you really have nohing to fear. 4J: vs. E. Honda Difficulty: 9/10 Strategy: For some reason Honda is just one of those harder fights for Rufus. Honda's heavy damage and great priority will trouble you all fight. A few normals from him, and a hand slaps here or there will KO you, so watch it. Honda has reach on you from inside, and his headbutt is able to beat everything you have. Not good. Your best bet is to punish him and long range poke him. EX Snake Strikes if the opponent likes to move in with the jumping palm push attack. Otherwise, be very careful. Pressure but watch when he has meter, as an EX Headbutt will beat every jump in or dive kick. Get on top of him, watch the ochio throw, and the buttslam. Do not attempt to punish a buttslam, instead just jump right away. Risking the ochio is not what you want. Just get away from his hands, and confuse him. 4K: vs. El Fuerte Difficulty: 4/10 Strategy: Focus attacks are necessary vs Fuerte. His Dash mixup between the press and the grab is easy. Focus the press and release for a free combo, duck the grab and punish from there. He'll be bouncing off the walls and may attempt to keep you grounded with his air grabs. Don't worry, you don't need to jump in this fight too much. Just react to his moves and you should be alright. When he gets Ultra, DO NOT JUMP. That's how all Fuerte users will use it as an awkward anti air. Stand your ground, guess the mixup right and you should be alright in terms of this matchup. 4L: vs. Fei Long Difficulty: 4/10 Strategy: Quick, and a great high low mixup with an overhead. But, his damage is lacking a bit so there shouldn't be much of a problem. Pressure him, but watch the flame legs, if he gets trigger happy on your jump ins, bait and punish. Rekkas are easily punished with almost anything. Command grab is almost useless so you really shouldn't worry about it. Careful with the chickenwing. Definitely want to try punishing it while he's in the air. c.mp should easily get it done. Pressure him more than he can pressure you, and you'll win. After all, you do almost twice the damage he does. 4M: vs. Gen Difficulty: 4/10 Strategy: This is a tough fight, until you learn what Gen can do. Then most of everything he has to offer can easily be punished on block. His dive kicks are all terrible on block, and his up kicks are horrendous if blocked. He has wicked crossups and about 4 kara throws, so you may want to be wary of the trickery. He's weak though, and you can take a lot more damage than he can. Pressure him constantly, he only has one move with invincibility and it is his EX Wall dive. Not to mention, it doesn't hurt at first so you can punish on reaction. Easy fight. 4O: vs. Guile Difficulty: 4/10 Strategy: Man did you fall flat. Great character in past years, but lost most of his good things in this game. No priority, very vulnerable to crossups. This Guile is a shadow of his former self, so put him down quick to ease the pain. Cross him up constantly with dive kicks and keep grabbing. Be wary of the air throw, as that just lets him pressure you. EX Messiah will get you a flash kick to the face, so don't do it often. Overheads, dive kicks and grabs are easily your best moves here. Don't be afraid to take a few hits. Guile only dishes out damage when you get stuck eating a boom standing. His sweep just means free Ultra for you. Block the first and input your Ultra. He'll stop sweeping eventually. 4P: vs. Ken Difficulty: 6/10 Strategy: The most popular character in this game online. Yet, Ken is definitely not like his SFIII persona. He's weak, his moves leave him unsafe, and the only things he has is a good poke game and a great kara. Bait shoryus, eat fireballs with galactic tornado, and EX Messiah right out of his hurricane kick even if it hits you. You'll hit him hard. Watch the kara throw and be prepared to tech, a good Ken will always be trying to land throws this way. Be sure not to jump. Ultra has huge anti air range on startup. And, shoryukens as per usual. I'd say its safer to dive kick here, as his heavy shoryuken doesn't hit for all damage from ground to air. But it is still a shoryu and you shouldn't be too dive kick happy. 4Q: vs. M. Bison Difficulty: 5/10 Strategy: Pretty even fight here. Bison's Heavy Kick is nasty and does great damage so be sure to watch your range. It can be used as anti air too, and that doesn't help anything. Scissors kicks are almost always safe as Bison users know his light kick version is unable to be punished on block. Bison has one big, big flaw. Lack of anti air. He can jump double punch, but that really is all he can do in terms of air control. So stay on him and right above him where that deadly Heavy Kick can't hit you. You'll have to outguess and outmaneuver the Dictator for the win. Pressure hard and you'll get results. 4R: vs. Rose Difficulty: 4/10 Strategy: Just one move to watch for. Rose's slide. It doesn't knock down, but recovers so fast she can throw you before she is even out of her animation. It's tough to see if you arne't used to it, but once you do, Rose is in trouble She has simple combos, and most will zone with Soul Sparks and Soul Throw your jump ins. So just focus the sparks and pressure with dive kicks. Soul Throw isn't game breaking like a shoryuken, so not much to worry about. Pressure and stay cool. Watching the slide to throw will be your biggest concern. 4S: vs. Rufus Difficulty: 10/10 Strategy: Oh god, this fight is a menace to deal with. The one who pressures best wins, so get your pressure working ASAP. You'd be fighting yourself, so you'll know when EX Messiahs are coming, or Galactic Tornados. Taking it to the air is a 50/50 praying game. Whoever lands the j.hk, lands the damage. So, stay close to the ground. Dive kick and mixups. A Rufus on the defense is a Rufus about to lose. So be sure to make them taste defeat as soon as possible. The longer you let the fight drag on, the more chances they have to turn the tide. Third toughest fight he has. 4T: vs. Ryu Difficulty: 10/10 Strategy: Do not use Dive kicks as an offensive tool. Ever. This matchup will make you cringe everytime you see Rufus take to the air. Because, against Ryu users, that means they get an uppercut, and a free Ultra, a free Super, or a free fireball. Tornado through the fireballs, wait for him to make his way to you. Feel free to dive kick or snake strikes over fireballs from full screen, but at midscreen the game gets gritty and hellish. You jump, you get hit hard. He jumps, he doesn't hurt too bad unless you read it and EX Snake Strikes it. EX Messiah and EX Tornado are friends here. Ryu hits hard, but so do you. Turn it into a slugfest from mid range and try to catch him in a poke while you EX Messiah or Tornado and force him into a corner. Once in the corner, back out while you can. He has more ways to get his Ultra then. Just be sure to get in that sweet zone and make him work for the win, rather than jumping at him and handing him the win. 4U: vs. Sagat Difficulty: 10/10 Strategy: God, hardest fight for Rufus period. Sagat really only needs one button to hurt you. His heavy kick stuffs your jump ins, your tornado, your messiah...Getting around that one move is one part of this matchup. The next part is getting past the uppercut and knowing when the knee is coming, to not get hit by it and go through the fireball obstacle course awaiting you. You have no advantages in this fight, and your only hope is to punish a tiger shot when you jump it perfectly, or to dodge a tiger uppercut. Otherwise, just pray. 4V: vs. Sakura Difficulty: 4/10 Strategy: Sakura is a very combo and link heavy character when used at higher levels of play. She is very easy to kill though, low health and not many options in terms of defense. Watch for her jumping attacks and her c.lp. Either one of them will end up leading into an EX Tatsu, and then more damage. She can stun you easily, and has a few reset tricks up her sleeve. Just stop her jumping attacks and keep her grounded. Tornado is good at stopping her. Play it a bit more aggresive and you'll be rewarded with a victory. 4W: vs. Seth Difficulty: 7/10 Strategy: Ah, the final boss. Worst stamina in any fighting game besides Chipp Zanuff in Guilty Gear. Good for you. Problem is he's given the most diverse offense in the game to make up for it. He has at least 5 ways to land his headstomps and his multihit legs move. Pressure him heavy and don't let up. Most Seth users forget they have a triple shoryuken so abuse dive kicks. If they wise up and use shoryukens, bait it like any other shoto character. Do not let him hit you, tap you, or anything. Give him no room to breathe. Seth on offense is your loss. Do not Tornado through Sonic Booms or else you might be eating that 25 hit combo of joy Seth loves dishing out. Seth will play a tougher Dhalsim if they play keepaway. c.mp and jumping attacks would be useful in that situation. But remember, Seth running is good. Less chance to combo you. 4X: vs. Vega Difficulty: 4/10 Strategy: Annoying as a flea. Let him wall dive, j.hk him and snake strikes the way down. Show him what air superiority is. If he pokes you like crazy with the claw, knock it off of him. He has very bad anti air and his flip kick is very bad on block. Just rush and push him to make bad choices. When he gets Ultra it doesn't change the game too much unless his mask falls off and he still has his claw. Watch that crossup claw attack, comes out quick. Make sure to be ready at all times to punish most of whatever Vega does. Don't let him get that slide in either. If he knocks you down he has a free wall dive that you will have to guess where to block. 4Y: vs. Zangief Difficulty: 10/10 Strategy: This matchup makes me angry. Rufus is meant to fight up close, but Zangief is just so much better at it. Keep your distance and make him chase. c.mp his jump ins, or if you feel brave you can use your far s.hp. Maybe go up and jump at him with j.hk and snake strikes for a bit of damage that stays. If he is standing toe to toe with you, you've lost. Do not dive kick, Zangief's hitbox makes the low dive kicks miss, and since he's so tall it is almost impossible to combo him after one. Tornado can be SPD'd on reaction. Lariat as usual, beats everything. Stay away, long range pokes, and anti air. EX Hand is your problem move, as you'll end up having to burn an EX Messiah if he uses it just to stay safe. Do not combo him whatsoever. The chance that you miss a link or cancel is too much risk. They could be mashing 720 PPP for his Ultra. And if you miss a link. There goes the round in Zangief's favor immensely. This fight is almost as unfair as the Sagat fight. 5. Thanks and Legal I would like to thank the following: Capcom, for making the Street Fighter series and continuing to add on to it. GameFaQs, for being a great site and hosting this FaQ. All my friends, for fighting me when I first started this FaQ for information. And You, for reading this guide. Copyright 2009 Heroic_Legacy All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.