DARKSTALKERS III VAMPIRE SAVIOR LORD OF THE VAMPIRE (<--- Grammatical error here) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS or rather, a crappy text. :P ITs.. it..s ITS.. ITSs... iTsS.. HERE!!!!! Oh crap! Oh heavens! By golly!! It's FINALLY HERE! >============================================================================< VAMPIRE SAVIOR UNOFFICIAL FAQ Version 2.0 By AKIRA FU, Singapore (Paul Fu) Please use MSDOS editor to view this article for best results. >============================================================================< This article is not endorsed, sponsored or promoted by CapCom Entertainment. So, please don't sue me. All characters are trademarks of Capcom or their respective companies. I'm trying to promote this sleeper but extremely cool game to members of the general public. Nice work, Capcom! *applaud* Observations on Vampire Savior: Darkstalkers III is not here to stay in Singapore. The 'dissapearing' of the DS3 game at Tiong Bahru means actually something. I discovered at Parklane (when a controller was spoilt) from a technician that this game is due to return to Japan in days. It is only a 'trial' in Singapore. Let's all hope this great game would be released officially in Singapore soon. Emerald and Cathay Funlands got DS3 a while after the game was removed from other arcades. It seems that it is there for keeps.. I hope. There is a slight difference between the two versions. Button-pressing EXes have changed in their commands and chains have reduced damage. Some EXes have been removed. Rumours: Rumours has it that a secret character exists. Intelligence claim this 'secret character' to be a cross between Demitri and Donovan Baine. >============================================================================< >============================================================================< CONTENTS: -=AAA=- New Features -=BBB=- Basic Gameplay -=CCC=- Moves List -=DDD=- Character Analysis -=CHRONOLINE=- Orderly time listing of progress in FAQ. -=About the Author=- >============================================================================< >============================================================================< -=AAA=- NEW FEATURES: 1) Triple level health bar (As I expected) The health bar is one helluva breakthrough. Its a combination of SF, XmenvsSFand the DS2 bar together. The health bar composes of 3 colours. Green, Red and White. The Green part is of course, the life you left. Whenever your character gets comboed, a chunk of Red appears, followed by a White portion beside the Red. The Red is permanent damage, while the White damage would heal in time. Blocking attacks and pouncing further increases the White portion. Blocking normal attacks lengthen the time needed to recover. K.O. ensues when either the Red or White touches the end of the bar. 2) Continous round system This is no SF clone. The when someone wins, let's say Demitri(who else?!) over Hsien-Ko(hahah), the life Demitri has left is carried over to the next round. There are 3 'rounds' signified by bats per character and after the bats are used up the poor soul dies. Once one life bar(round) is used up, one bat dissapears and the loser immediately gets up for pre-battle positioning. Time left is brought down to the next 'round'. 3) Pre-Battle positioning A la Marvel Super Heroes, you can position yourself AFTER someone loses a round. But this time you can DASH, and just a LITTLE before the word 'Fight' appears you can smack the opponent. 4) Dark Force A mixture of Custom Combos or Oro's(SF3) Tengu Stone and unique to every character in DS3, there are Dark Forces. Use up one special to perform this cool maneuver that changes the background. Executed by pressing a punch and a kick of the same strength together. Different characters have different Custom abilities. For example, Demitri has combo enchancer bats flying around him while Jedah can fly. 5) 4 New Characters ---------------------- Of course, what would be a sequel game without new Characters? The new craps are: a) Lilith- A Morrigan Clone, minus the hair, minus the ******, minus the bats, minus the fireballs, and a plus to cute content. Basically, she has Morrigan's sprites, but she has a short but cool haircut, and TOTALLY, fla, err.. 'not grown up yet'(finally).. She has a small batty fireball which has Dan's fireball range (which is too small). She also has an INSANELY HUMOUROUS special move which makes her throw a hat thing to the opponent and when the opponent gets the thing, the opponent appears on a circus stage and Lilith has to press buttons according to the buttons that appear on screen to do major damage. b) Queen Bee Very cute character. Especially when she turns into a small bee. Lots of stings and bees, and she has a move that makes you into a egg/statue thing.. Definately a new type of weird character. Looks sweet like honey. She has a honey bubble special, but it doesn't trap the opponent and it seems blockable. I wonder what's it for. :I I used to think that she looks crappy from the net pics I got, but in fact she's very well-drawn. c) Baby Bonnie Hood(or Bulleta) The ultimate in hypocrisy. This Little-bo-peepesque(or Goldlilockesque) character is totally ridiculous. The way she stands, wins or loses is like as innocent as a new born baby. But, press a few buttons and she draws out mines, uzis, rocket launches.. Argh. Man, she's a dead cute girl that has a Nazi army backing her up. One of her specials calls 2 enourmous soldiers that stand full screen firing lead at the opponent. Well, totally unique kind of character not to be seen anywhere else. I don't think anyone else can create such an insanely hypocritical character other than Capcom. Good job. *clap* d) Jedah ARGH!! There's someone as cool as Demitri in there! In some countries, Darkstalkers 3 is known as Jedah's Damnation, I have no idea what that means. Jedah is supposed to be the Vampire Saviour or 'Saviour of the Dark Side' transalated.. I'm still wondering if he's evil or something. He's also a totally unique character. He has a figure like the Magic User in AD&D2, and has the Grim Reaper's sickle. He has lots of unblockable moves and long-ranged attacks. He can fly!! His punches and kicks are dead cool. Devilish. His hands extend, leaving his veins/blood in between his shoulders and hands for arms! He also has a dead cool special, which works quite like Lord Raptor's basketball special. It grabs the opponent, pulls him down to a place like hell (yes) and lots of hands pester the soul and smacks him up again. I'm going to use him!! What?! No one cares? Oh well.. ---------------------- 6) Characters Removed Ah.. The downside. Not really, actually, a few unpopular(maybe) and cheesy characters are taken away. The all-powerful Pyron, the chicken Huitzil and the almost-crappy Donovan Baine. So, no more fireball trapping by the bosses. (At least i don't think they'll come back as secret chars) ^_^ 7) Random Box Character Selector Oh no! The bosses may come back has secret chars! Well, at least I think there are going to be secret characters in there. Hmm.. 8) New backgrounds Yes, finally Capcom decided to whip their artists to draw up some VERY impressive backgrounds. Some of the old backgrounds remain, retouched in colour. The new backgrounds are all drawn with impressive detail and in perspective. Perspective as in, like, some of SF3's backgrounds. But far better. Examples are a Chinese River with some of Chinese fairies(Chang-Er?) on boats, and a VERY well-drawn skyscraper stage. The stange is on the SIDE of the skyscraper, meaning the gravity went wrong somehow, and a helicopter hovers.. At first I was wondering why there were ant-like cars in the middle of everything. 9) New bar formats!! Err, ok, so that's what Capcom always does, change the design of the life bar, special bar, and other stuff.. This time if the 1st player gets hit the fire flickering around the time would lean to the 1st player life bar. 10) New portraits This time around, Capcom employed some really good artists indeed. All the character portraits look very impressive. I think they got rid of the DS2 artist. I hate to say it but the portraits in DS2 suck. DS1's Demitri was dead cool but a bit too small. 11) New sprites!! Not totally. Cappy used back the old sprites for old characters, but changed certain moves and maybe even new moves. Of course, the new characters, all except Lilith, are totally newly drawn. And very well too. 12) New Character select screen Cappy is incorporating 3-D into their 2-D games. A bit like this is cool. Too much like EX is uncool. Anyway, look carefully, and the character select thingy is 3-D when it pops up. 13) Nude scenes! Stop drooling!! There aren't any! Just trying to make you guys read on..Maybe there are a bit?? -_- Don't hit me!! *sniff* >============================================================================< >============================================================================< -=BBB=- BASIC GAMEPLAY (Argh) -Buttons- There are six buttons. In sane, logical arcades the button formation would be three punches on top and three kicks below. The punches and kicks range from light to heavy, from left to right. In general light attacks are faster and do lesser damage while heavier attacks are slower and do less damage. -Blocking- Blocking high is done by holding back. When the opponent attacks you will block. High blocking is to avoid overhead attacks that hit you when you block low. When you just finish doing a move you cannot block. Blocking low is done by holding back/down(diagonal). Air-blocking is done by holding b or b/d in the air. Certain moves may be air-blocked but normal moves(i.e. punches and kicks) on the ground cannot be air-blocked. Air punches and kicks can be air-blocked. After air-blocking, an air move may be executed immediately to turn the tables. -Chaining- Chain combos are hits that only need pressing buttons in a sequence. The sequence is from light to heavy. You can chain punches and kicks of the same strength. -ES- ES are moves which are enhanced special moves. Just do your conventional special move motion and press all punch or all kick buttons depending on your special move. They take up one EX meter. -EX- EX are moves which are unique to that character. They are, in general, spectacular, damaging and useful. They take up one EX meter. -Guard Cancels- Guard Cancels are moves that enables you to break your guard when you block and counter the opponent's attack. It is usually a Shoryuken motion, i.e. f, d, d/f followed by a button. Guard Cancels can also be used in ES form. It requires skill. They do little damage and look dead cool. GCs are not invincible. -Special Moves- Moves which require some motion and pressing a punch or a kick. They are usually called just 'moves'. Doing different moves store different lengths for the EX Meter. -Tech Hits- Tech Hits are low-level Guard Cancels used by simpletons and timid people.. Ok, ok. They are just easy-to-do Guard Cancels. They push your opponent away when they are attacking you. Press a button when you are blocking. It requires little skill. They do no damage. -Throw Escapes- Escape throws by pressing f+MP, or f+HP, or f+MK, or f+HK. Does not work against Special Throws. Escaping normal throws lighten the throw by around 50% damage. >============================================================================< >============================================================================< -=CCC=- MOVES LIST: This is the Moves List for all the characters(sans secret character(s) if any). The Moves List is taken from Gamest June 97. I noticed some moves were left out, and certain moves are totally or partially different in Asian and European versions of DS3. No names for moves are listed as I do not know the names of every move. Any inconvienience is regretted. However, there is are some move descriptions. If the description sucks means I don't know much about it.. Yet.. Some moves are added in myself as Gamest did not put in all the moves. Legend: d, u, b, f Down, up, back, front, respectively. D, U, B, F Down, up, back, front, respectively, but hold the direction for 2 seconds. (air) Do the move in the air. (air/ground) Do the move in the air or ground. (hold) Hold down the last button/motion. LP, MP, HP Light, medium, heavy punch respectively. (or jab, strong, fierce in some countries) LK, MK, HK Light, medium, heavy kick respectively. (or short, forward, roundhouse in some countries) -DEMITRI- Normal Moves: d, d/f, f+P(air/ground) Fireball, different look from DS2. Cool. Added recovery. f, d, d/f+P Air defence. Better priority than DS2. d, d/b, b+K(air/ground) Drill. Useful for escaping moves. 360deg+P Special throw. More useful now, but still useless. Demitri does a spinning piledriver on the opponent. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+P Uppercut move. Dark Force: Combo-Enchancer bats a-la-Tengu-stone help Demitri add hits and damage to his moves. EX Moves: d, f, d/f+KK Demitri turns into a flock, err, hoard, err, group.. Whatever... of bats. It does good damage in close and has high priority. LP, MP, f, MK, MK Midnight Pleasure, his old EX move. Requires 2 EX meters as it is very damaging. Short ranged. d, f, d/f+PP New version of Midnight Pleasure. It is not so easy to grab the opponent now, but it does really good damage and is too cool. He bows, turning the opponent into a female(yes), and holds the opp. in the air, sucking the whatever out of it.. -MORRIGAN- Normal Moves: d, d/f, f+P Projectile. f, d, d/f+P Air defence. d, u High jump. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+P Special Throw. Picks up the opponent in high in the air and brings opp. down again. u, u/f, f+P(air) Air fireball. Works like Akuma's but worse recovery. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+P Her uppercut move. Dark Force: A mirror image of Morrigan does exactly what she does. EX Moves: LP, LP, f, LK, HP Volley of multihits. Blockable and can be done in air. f, d/f, d, d/b, b+KK Speeds through the opponent and comes from behind, drilling the opponent. Old EX. f, HP, MP, LP, f Cool special!! She extends her metallic arm FULL SCREEN and if the opponent gets caught she short of shocks him. Blockable. MP, LP, b, LK, MP ??? -ANAKARIS- Normal Moves: d, d+PorK(air/ground) A sarcophagus crashes down from the air. d, d/f, f+P(air) Curses your opponent into a cute thing, defenceless for some time. d, d/b, b+K Sucks in opponent's fireball. d, d/f, f+K Throws out opponent's fireball. b, f+P Ultra-long range multihit move. d, d/f, f+P A long range throw. Different buttons have different ranges. f, d, d/f+K(when falling) Use this when you get knocked down. See what happens.. :) MK An overhead with good coverage. Chainable. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+PP It uses up one EX meter. COol GC! Dark Force: Anakaris splits into half and both body parts attack the opponent. Does not get stunned when opp. hits him. Only the upper half of his body is vulnerable. EX Moves: b, b/d, d, d/f, f+KK An unblockable move. Looks cool. HK, MP, d, MK, HP Probably the most damaging special in the game. Multihit lightning/fire/ice special with a huge sarcophagus finish. Uses 2 EX meters. HK, MP, LK, d, LP, MK, HP ??? Uses 3 EX meters. Not confirmed in non- testing versions. -LORD RAPTOR- (or Zabel) Normal Moves: d, d/b, b+K(air/ground) Air defence with good range and power. Done in the air, it twists down at an angle. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+K Teleport. Different kicks do different places. d, u+K(air/ground) Chainsaw dive at opponent. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+P Special throw. Quicker and more damaging now. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+K COOL guitar GC!!!! 8D Dark Force: Lord Raptor's hand turns into a huge chainsaw for combo mania!! My favourite Dark Force in the game.. Makes Lord Raptor look like a deranged maniac. EX Moves: f, b+PP For combos, this is damaging and cool. Long range. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+KK(air/ground)EX air defence. Damaging. f, d, d/f+PP Cool-basketball-unblockable-autoaim-EX. Faster than before! -RIKUO- (or Aulbath) Normal Moves: B, f+P Stun ray. Stuns MUCH longer than before. B, f+K Stun gas. Can be aimed full screen. Different kicks do different ranges. Lesser stun potential than in DS2. b, b+K or f, d, d/f+K Air defence. Great air coverage. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+P Special throw. Rikuo picks the opponent up in the air and air combos the opponent. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+K Special throw. Rikuo turns into a pearl spitting-oyster and juggles the opponent. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+K GC. His air defence move. Dark Force: Rikuo calls forth a swordfish and rides on it, with waves in the background. Low attacks cannot hit him, and he does not stun when he gets hit. EX Moves: f, d/f, d+PPorKK A torrent of water rushes upwards when the small splash connects. KK has a definate distance before it rushes. Or is it the other way around? f, d, d/f+PP A bubble that is unblockable and damages the opponent as it traps him in it. For combos. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+PP Full-screen wave EX. Spectacular. d, d+PP A pretty useless EX that uses 3 EX meters. Maybe it is useful?? -Felicia- d, d/f, f+P, P Felicia throws a ball in front and leaps clawing at it. A high priority move with good recovery. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+P, P She rolls and the second P pressed makes her do an uppercut. Harder to go under fireballs now. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+K She swings around her opponent, clawing. Special throw. f, d, d/f+P Leaps up in the air and rushes downwards with kicks. d, d+KK(hold) Adds to your EX meter. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+K Kicking GC. Dark Force: Felicia calls her little kitty friend to help hit her. Much like Demitri's. EX Moves: b, b/d, d, d/f, f+PP Multihit rolling special. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+KK Calls her kitty friends to smack the opponent nuts. Looks much better but has increased recovery. -SASQUATCH- d, d/f, f+P WHY?! Cappy removed the snowman projectile and ... and replaced it with this insulting move! d, d+P Tower of ice air defence. f, d, d/f+K Spinning kick with good range. f, d, d/f+P(hold) Rolling fist with good range and power. Hold to stop it. If the opponent tries to move release it. High priority. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+P Swallows the opponent, spits the opp. out frozen for combos. Harder to combo now. 360deg+K Powerful throw. Damaging. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+L Spinning kick GC. Dark Force: Pressing LP+LK would make Sasquatch turn colour, and he doesn't get stunned when hit. Pressing other button combinations would make a group of jumping penguins follow Sasquatch, that explode as Sasquatch hits the opponent! EX Moves: b, b/d, d, d/f, f+PP Full-screen ice laser EX. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+KK Unblockable hilarious EX Move. Sasquatch freezes the floor and makes the opponent fall through it. A whale kicks the opp. out and Sasquatch says,"Baibai!!" Aww.. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+PP Sasquatch pulls a banana skin from his mouth and throws it on the ground. Insult special. Opponents trip on it and fall down with ultra-minimal damage. The one who litters can too trip over the banana skin.. ^_^ 720deg+KK This is the new 'dog sled' special that is totally ridiculous!! Unblockable and Sasquatch sits on the opponent across the screen multiple times as if the opp. is a sled!! Very damaging.. -VICTOR- Normal Moves: B, f+P New animation. His head turns big and smashes the opp. D, u+P Very BIG move. High priority. f, d, d/f+K Air Defence. Rising knee. d, d/b, b+P Electric spinning lariat. d, d/f, f+K Unknown. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+P Special throw. Picks opponent up into the air and smashes opp. down onto the floor. 360deg+P Mega-Damage Special Throw. Kicks the opponent up and when the opponent bounces from the impact, Victor smacks opp. onto the floor again. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+K Rising knee GC. Dark Force: Victor summons the spirit of his creator and pressing f+HP near the opponent would cause Victor to do a twirling throw with the dead scientist's ghost swirling around. EX Moves: D, u+KK His old 'jump-up-bang-floor-with-electricity'. Now better air defence potential. 720deg+KK Ha, ha!! Victor uses his butt to grab the opponent and squeezes opp. with electricity and swings him away. Damaging!! -BISHAMON- Normal Moves: b, b/d, d, d/f, f+P Spirit projectile. Setup for combos. b+P, f, d, d/f+P To be done after Spirit projectile. d, d/f, f+P To be done after Spirit projectile. B, f+PorK A high-priority multislash. It is quite damaging, useful and has good range. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+P Uppercut GC. Dark Force: Bishamon does not get stunned when hit with this Dark Force activated. EX Moves: f, f/d, d, d/b, b+PP A huge hand emerges from Bishamon's chest and grabs the opponent. It is now unblockable. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+PP New EX. A washboard travels across the screen and knocks the opponent down. Some tiles fall on the opp. and Bishamon slashes them. d, d+KK(pounce) Use this when your opponent is on the ground. -JON TALBAIN- (or Gallon) Normal Moves: d, d/f, f+P(air/ground) Jon gets engulfed in energy and rushes at opponent. Can be repeated immediately twice for a combo by pushing direction and punch button just before it ends. f, d, d/f+P Rising Beast Laser. d, u+K Air defence move. Rising kickflip. d, d/b, b+P Argh. Cappy removed the cool nunchaku animation for this not-so-nice multihit thing. d+KKK Jon leaps forward a small distance. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+K Special throw. Jon picks opponent up spinning into the air and crashes opp. onto the floor. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+P Beast Laser GC. Dark Force: Jon's old EX, he casts multi images and whenever he hits more damage and hits would be added. EX Moves: b, b/d, d, d/f, f+KK Full-screen twirling fire-dragons stream across the screen. LP, MP, f, LK, MK Very cool EX. Not confirmed. -HSIEN-KO- (or Lei Lei) Normal Moves: d, d/f, f+P She throws different objects at the opponent. Certain objects dizzy immediately. d, d/b, b+P She knocks a gong.. High priority move. Air defence. f, d, d/f+P Swinging tarzan across the screen with blades swishing. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+P Special Throw. Throws opponent up and slices opp. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+P Changed GC from DS2. Dark Force: Hsien-Ko's chinese Taoist summoner appears. Hsien-Ko does not get stunned when hit. She cannot do any special moves. EX Moves: b, b/d, d, d/f, f+KK Large Chinese blades emerge from the screen across the floor, juggling the opponent. LK, HK, MP, MP, u She drops a weight on the opponent and many spiked balls fall on the opponent. Spiked balls hit opponents on the floor. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+PP A bomb with a face, dropped by Hsien-Ko, ticks from 9 to 0 and explodes. It can be kicked around. -JEDAH- d, d/f, f+P(air/ground) Spinning sickleblades hover in the air. Different buttons yield blades at different heights. d, d/b, b+P Traps opponent in a bubble and slashes opp. A throw. Crouch to avoid the initial slash. f, f(air)(hold) Jedah dashes forward in the air. It can hit an opponent. Chainable. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+KorK, P(air) Jedah hovers in the air for a while and leaps down, grabs opponent, leaps up and slashes opp. Unblockable. Can be done in the air. Pressing P after K would make Jedah rush down in a wheel. The wheel is blockable. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+K(ground) A special throw. Jedah makes the opponent swell till opp. bursts! Very cool! HK Sickle overhead with very good range but low damage. Very slow. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+P Jedah decapitates himself and splashes blood to GC. Dark Force: Flying ability. Not very useful.. Air chain when doing this. EX Moves: d, d+PP A hole travels across the screen, and grabs the opp. into a hell-like bubbly place. Lots of hands pester opp. Unblockable. Very fast! b, b/d, d, d/f, f+KK, K A pool of blood splashes across the screen, the second kick pressed splashes the blood further a few steps and grabs the opponent in a bloody grasp. The opponent gets hammered on the ground and is onto an ancient book filled with queer words. Cannot be blocked. Very damaging!! Coolest EX in the game!! -QUEEN BEE- b, b/d, d, d/f, f+P(air/ground) A blockable move.. The ES version is very cool. d, d/b, b+K Like Adon's move. Leaps back and rushes down with sting. Combo after this if it hits. f, f(air) Air dash. K(Press many times) Multiple stings. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+P Special throw your opponent to the wall with a sting. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+K Sting GC. Dark Force: Flying ability. Use this for air chains. EX Moves: f, d, d/f+PP A bubble of honey bounces around the screen. Setup for combos. Use many of these and throw your opponent as they block. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+KK Lots of bees rush towards your opponent. Can be done in the air. -LILITH- d, d/f, f+P(air/ground) A projectile with a range like Dan's. f, d, d/f+P An air defence move with good range. d, d/b, b+K Like Raptor's move. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+P A long-range catch throw. Different punches have different ranges. She launches you out of a bow. d, u High jump. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+P GC. Her air defence move. Dark Force: An exact replica of Lilith follows what she does a few seconds later than her. EX Moves: f, d, d/f+KK She turns nude and lots of bats surround her as she rises in the air. Very damaging. LP, LP, f, LK, HP Multihit special. Can be done in the air. -BABY BONNIE HOOD- (or Bulleta) B, f+PorK A rocket projectile. Kick does low ones. D, u+P Air rocket projectile. f, d, d/f+P She opens a flaming wine bottle. Air defence move. d, d/b, b+P(hold) BB Hood swings her basket and smacks the opponent. Hold the P button to make the basket bigger with more range. Guard Cancel: f, d, d/f+K She teleports to the back of the opponent! Dark Force: It seems that she can do multiple rockets after activating her Dark Force. Without storing! EX Moves: b, b/d, d, d/f, f+PP Two HUGE soldiers and BB Hood fire full screen. To be used against opponents in the air and in combos. b, b/d, d, d/f, f+KK First she charges at her opponent, then she cries her heart out and the opponent falls into a pool of tears. Later she rubs her hands in glee as the opponent gets tossed out! Damaging with high priority. f, f/d, d, d/b, b+KK She places an gives an apple to the opponent. While the opponent ponders on what the apple is, the apple explodes. Unblockable. >============================================================================< >============================================================================< -=DDD=- CHARACTER ANALYSIS This section is about combos, tips, comments and descriptions on the characters. I would like to applaud Capcom again for breaking the barrier on a game with very balanced gameplay. There are also parts on how to break certain tactics. The Darkstalkers series concentrate on chain combos as the main way of fighting rather than harder SF type combos, as it is a game aimed at medium-level players. Marvel Super Heroes is an example of a low-level game, full of button mashers. There are no infinity combos as yet in DS3, and I don't think there will be. I still encourage more skillful combos rather than boring chains. Luckily, chains when blocked can be Guard Cancelled. In my opinion, normal throws are not cheap unless they are used excessively. However, Chicken/Machi playing tactics, i.e. hit and run, fireball trapping, wait-for-time, wait-for-mistake tactics, take the fun out of the game. A little is ok but a lot is, well, despicable and unethical. Worst of all, are people who toot fireballs and run away like chickens. -DEMITRI- Demitri has improved a lot from DS2. His air defence has better range and priority, and his unblockable EX has improved range and quickness. Capcom made that EX more vulnerable, though. Therefore, I do not conclude that cheap. :I His projectile has increased recovery time, but it has better range than before. The batty EX does good damage and is more useful now. One of my favourite characters. Much of Demitri's strength lies in his unblockable EX. It is very useful and damaging. Cancel punches and kicks with this move to trick the opponent into getting grabbed. Break this move by jumping, dashing backwards or pressing a light attack that comes out quickly. When the opponent gets smart, do the batty EX. Another tactic for his unblockable EX is to do a fireball, and rush forward when the opponent is stunned to execute the EX. I know his fireball has more recovery time because it is harder to do this tactic than in DS2. Use his air/ground drill to escape attackers and to nail projectile-hurling opponents. Because Demitri has a projectile and good air defence, it has attracted Chicken players. Fortunately, his air defence can be air-blocked. Block it at a certain height to stop this move. -MORRIGAN- Morrigan seems much unchanged from DS2. She still attracts Chicken players due to her very useful air projectile. Morrigan players like to do the air projectile and when the opponent leaps over it she uppercuts. It is hard to break such a tactic. I suggest using long-ranged air attacks to hit her when she is recovering from both air and ground projectiles. Block her air defence when neccessary. She doesn't have that cheesy 3-Hit air attack anymore, so DS players can stop fearing her multi-overhead hi-priority move. Morrigan players should use more of her attacks with good range and power. Many of her punches and kicks yield excellent priority. Use her multihit split image EX both in the air and on the ground, comboing it after air and ground chains. It has good priority and can be used defensively. -ANAKARIS- DO NOT underestimate this hyper-slow character. He is very slow and very weird, but he is one character NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED. Few know how to use him as he is slow and weird(but I have been known to use Necro in SF3 :P). Anakaris has great air defence using his d+HP, and a great overhead move MK. He also yields good range and reasonable air coverage with this d+MP. Use his b, f+P very often as it has very great range. Tick an opponent with a cancellable punch or kick into a his special throw. Press l, r, l, r in quick succession after you manage to grab the opponent. This swings the opponent for more damage. His ES throw very useful but is not very damaging. If used correctly, Anakaris is a formidable character with great trapping abilities. Use his unblockable EX, the hole-in-the-ground-with-light thing to catch opponents blocking in fear or jumping opponents. For offensive play, Anakaris can press d/f+MKorHK in the air to start a combo. He has permanent floating ability, so he can stay in the air for long periods of time. Use his royal curse projectile occasionally. Once the opponent is cursed, land on the ground and utilise his overhead on the helpless opponent. Another really sadistic way to use Anakaris is to curse the opponent when he is low on life and press d, d+PP to call forth the sarcophagus ES. Lots of egyptian coffins fall on the puny opponent, and he can't block it! Really sadistic and farnee. :D~ Because Anakaris is slow, he can sometimes be trapped in corners. Simply press b, b to teleport to the other side of the screen. -LORD RAPTOR- Lord Raptor is a dhalsim-type character, capable of trapping opponents. He has many combos and strategies, and is quite hard to use at first. One of the few characters that possess many SF-type combos. He is definately one of my favourite characters, but some Chicken players use him in a very boring way. His useful punches and kicks are really a long list. Both in the air and on the ground, press f for increased range. Most of the time his ranged attacks have lesser priotity than his short attacks. f+MK is a great move for pestering opponents. His ranged attacks can be chained, therefore, chain them! f+MP too is great. Chain them into a f+HP. In the air, His d+MP is quick and long-ranged. For better priority use MK. Pressing d for any of his kicks make him do a screw downwards.. This move is pretty useless. Pressing u or d would make Raptor point his air punches in directions. His air HK can't be used for air combos anymore. For air defence, use his d, d/b, b+K for opponents jumping in from far. If they block it, special throw them. If they get hit by it, you can probably pounce on them. For opponents who jump vertically onto Raptor, press d+HP. Vary his air defence with air throws and his EX. For combos, his d+MK has good range and can be cancelled into various EXes and special moves a-la-SF. Use his improved basketball EX on projectile-happy opponents, and cancel his punches and kicks into the basketball EX on blocking opponents. -RIKUO- This Merman is toned down a lot from the previous series. His stun moves need to be stored now, therefore decreasing their potency. He has very good normal attacks, and is a quick fighter. Rikuo is harder to use now. Alternate his Stun Ray with his Stun Gas. Use the gas when you think the opponent is about to jump. The gas can go full screen, so use it on opponents recovering from a move. If the opponent gets hit by the gas, rush towards them and perform a chain combo or use the f, f+HP, a shell multi-hit move, for a tick-throw. If the opponent gets hit by the ray in the air, use Rikuo's air defence. If the ray hits the opponent on the ground, rush forward for a chain or do an EX move. For air defence, Rikuo can either use his leaping kick move or his standing HP. I encourage the former, though. Air throw the opponent if you think they are going to jump at you doing nothing. Use his Dark Force occasionally. If opponents hit Rikuo during his Dark Force, he does not get stunned. He has one of the best Dark Forces in the game. Use his Dark Force and form a bubble EX when close. Pester your opp. so he gets trapped in the bubble for combos. -FELICIA- Felicia is an example of a low level character. She has plenty of powerful chains and moves with high priority. She is already formidable without any special moves. Experiment with the various punches and kicks to use in various situations. Her ground crouching and standing LKs are very fast and are totally irritating! Use her d, HP for air defence. Felicia's f, d, d/f+P has great priority.. Cancel normal moves into this to pester your opponent. As for her multicat EX, press b, b/d, d, d/f, f+MK+HK (note the strengths of the buttons, they influence the special) against jumping opponents. For her rolling EX, do it on fireball-happy opponents. -SASQUATCH- Sasquatch is a VERY POWERFUL character! He has various punches and kicks for all purposes and many throws to boot. Cappy has weakened him from DS, but he is still one of the most powerful characters in the game. Don't be deceived by his humourous nature. He is deadly and a token-sucker. He has powerful and long-ranged chains. A very important element in using Sasquatch is using his dash. Dash and attack, then use the 'eat' special throw to swallow your opponent. I don't consider that a cheap move as long as it is used in moderation. It can be broken by the usual light attacks or by doing a hi-priority move when you see Sasquatch charging. Another option is to dash and chain your opponent. In such cases if the opp. LKs to break the tactic, it might not work. So, opponents may use a hi-priority move to counter.. Use his new f, d, d/f+P in combos. You can cancel normal moves to combo. If the opponent blocks hold it down until the opponent tries to hit. His GC has great range too. For jumping opponents, use d, d+P, the Ice Tower. release that cool move and 'bang' the opponent is on the ground. As for his EX moves, the laser thing is useful against projectile-wielding opponents, and for a combo after swallowing your opponent. His ground freeze special is useful against opponents jumping in from far and or recovering from a knockdown. It is unblockable. For his really humourous Dog-sled special, dash in and tick your opponent before grabbing him! -VICTOR- Victor is a character that deals a lot of damage in most of his moves. He is slow, but fast enough to be usable. His queer speed makes it hard to block. Victor's medium and heavy attacks can be held down to make his body charge with electricity for more range and damage. For chains, you can hold down his medium attack, then without letting go, chain it into a heavy and hold the heavy attack for lots of damage! His air HP makes a good anti-air weapon. Victor has a some powerful throws. The best is his 360 throw. It does lesser damage than in DS2(Where it took nearly 1/3 damage), but it is flashy and adds to your EX meter. It also shuts up those people who think Victor is cheap. His GC is with good range. Use it often. For air defence, use the rising knee or the lariat. Victor's Dark Force is his old EX move. It is invulnerable when he activates it, so use it on jumping opponents or tick your opponent when he is in a corner. Just activate the Dark Force and throw your opponent like normal. Air-throws work too. Use his present EX on opponents jumping in from far or opponents recovering from a move. It is not very useful but it is damaging. -BISHAMON- Bishamon was very powerful in DS2. He doesn't seem toned down at all in DS3, and he has that unblockable EX to add to his arsenal. His strength lies not in his moves, but his long-ranged and hi-priority slashes. All of his punches and kicks each has their own use. He is a low-level character. If you don't believe me go use him for an hour(or less) and go challenge experts. People who haven't fought Bishamon would be tricked time and time again by his normal pesky attacks. Experiment with his punches and kicks to get used to what to do in which situation. His air MP is very useful as it chops 2 times. Bishamon has very strong chain combos. In fact, they are not only strong, they are very scary. He slashes in many different directions and even players used to the game would feel the pain. :) A good tactic with Bishamon is to use his B, f+P slash opponents about to jump, and B, f+K to slash crouching opponent. When they get scared, dash in and attack them. Use his unblockable EX move on blocking opponents. It is not very damaging but harder to break than Demitri's unblockable EX. His other washboard EX should be used on opponents recovering from a fall or opponents jumping in from far. In DS2 I was killed so many times by pesky Bishamons that I was determined to find a way to kill them. His air attacks are indeed very irritating, so jump and block his air attacks and before you land kick/punch him with a ranged attack. Another tactic that Bishamons use is to dash and slash you. Use the Guard Reversal or wait until his initial dashing attack stops and counter with a hi-priority move. -JON TALBAIN- Jon is another Bishamon type character if you use his Chains. He has quick and damaging chains. His main asset is his very quick speed and ranged attacks. He can both be a low and medium level due to his controllable beast laser. At first, Jon users would just chain combo here and there all the time. Later on when Jon sees the world he would prefer to combo his opponents using the Beast Laser. Jump HP, crouching MK, Beast Laser(d, d/f, f+P). Usually after this combo a sensible direction to point the second charge would be u/f. Just press u/f+P just before the first Beast Laser ends to do the second before landing. Another one of Jon's beautifully intimidating combos is his ES Beast Laser. It is VERY damaging. It can take up to a little more than 1/2 your life meter with a whole chunk of white damage. Just do the combo above but press all 3 punch buttons to do an ES Beast Laser instead of a normal one. It sucks up 1 EX meter but is really too cool. It is harder to aim. The ES Beast Laser can be done 5 times before Jon stops and lands on the ground. Do a f Laser, then a u/f Laser, and according to where your opponent is, point the rest. His new Fire Dragon special is too useful. It takes little damage but it can be used as an air defence, an anti-projectile move or on opponents jumping from far. BTW, there is a code for Jon only. At the Character Select, hold start at Jon and press all 3 punches or kicks. A flashing Jon would appear. There is no difference except he uses his old fire dragon. -HSIEN-KO- Hsien-Ko is a high level character. This is because she is slow and very hard to use. She was ranked, I heard, last in DS2. But that doesn't mean she's hopeless. (Hi Mike Ting!) A very cool chracter if used properly. She has an array of air defences. Her d+MP is used for opponents jumping in from far, much like her f+HP. For opponents jumping in close, use her MK or d+HK. Some people consider this cheap. This is not really so since you can attack her without jumping. Anyway, anything used excessively is boring so don't keep irritating your opponent with her easy defences. Mix it with air throws. Use her medium and heavy projectiles. Medium for running opponents or those who love to void projectiles. To use her heavy projectile properly, you have to cancel normal attacks into it, to avoid opponents hitting you. A good one is d+MK. Cancel it and throw the projectile. After that the opponent would not dare to air defense you in fear of getting hit by the falling thing you threw. So charge or jump and attack the opponent at this point. If the opp. tries to use a normal attack and you anticipate it, use the gong to hit him. At close range, mix up heavy and light projectiles. After her air swinging wheel, before she falls she can do a second one. You can gong before you fall too, on opponents who want to hit you. -JEDAH- Now, this is a HIGH level character. I was smashed, slashed, smacked and milked(of credits) in the process of learning him when DS3 first came out. Jedah is slow and his moves are hard to time correctly. To others, Jedah users might seem cheap but he actually is not. Use him and you'll find out. COOL he is, and COOL the way he should used. He is also one of my favs. For normal attacks, you can use his standing MK 1 or 2 times on opponents trying to GC or counter attack you. This move has good range and priority. His standing and crouching LKs and LPs can be cancelled. They are the only normal ground moves that can be cancelled in the game. Do not use his HP too much as it does little damage compared to the hits it does. Jedah has one of the weakest chain combos in the game. That's what his d+HK is for. It is more damaging than his HP. His standing MP is very useful on opponents JUST ABOUT to jump. His d+MK is for opponents jumping in from far. His air attacks are quite short except for his MP. Use his air MP on fireball happy opponents or jump back, MP for opponents with those sickeningly hi-priority air attacks. His air MK and MP are the only air attacks with good priority. His cancellable air attacks are LP, LK and MK. Jedah's air HK is high-priority but it takes some time to come out. Hee... His moves have cool names like Dio Sehga and Nero Fatica! Anyone who knows what language or what these means please email me. For his ground sickleblades, always try to cancel a normal attack to use it. This is because it is very slow and would dissipate if you get hit early. The same with his
air blades. On the ground, generally use the light blade and in the air use
the heavy one. His unblockable air grab move is very useful. Use it after 
cancelling air moves or just by itself on revcovering opps. If opponents try
to jump at you, just smack the P button to make Jedah roll down as a giant 
spinning blade. To break all of these moves just attack Jedah with ranged 
attacks if you sense or see him doing it. If Jedah is pestered he has a hard
time retaliating.

For air defence, use his d, d/b, b+P. It MUST be done very early. Almost at
a 'guessing' timing, as if it is done late Jedah gets smacked. So once you
get the feeling that your opponent is about to jump or see him jumping....

For his d, d+PP EX move, use it on opponents just recovering from a fall or 
before they land from a jump far away. For his 'Contract' special, do it on
blocking opponents up close. Cancel attacks into sickles then do the EX.

-QUEEN BEE-
Queen Bee is NOT a lousy character. She is good. She is good. This is because
of her moves that reeks of hi-priority. Adon players of SF would find her in
some ways similar. A high level character.

Her ground moves are varied and pestering. Use her d+MP when opponents are on
the ground to pester them, and if you think they are going to jump do the 
standing MP. Both have excellent priority and speed. If Capcom ever decides 
to make her standing MP a mid attack, it would be the end of the world. Her
HP is a beehive move that should NOT be done too close. It is for people 
trying to GC or counterattack. Mix up her punches and kicks to confuse your
opponent.

In the air she has a good MP. She can cancel it into her air moves. This MP 
has excellent range and priority, use it on fireball-tooters and those using
normal attacks as air defences. Her MK can too be cancelled, it is useful 
when opponents jump and you jump, use her MK then cancel into a move. Bee's
air HP can be used effectively if you think your opponent is about to air
defense you. 

Use her special throw(f, f/d, d, d/b, b+P) on opponents too afraid to do 
anything but block. Mix up everything with her multi-stings.. 

After her leaping-back-then-sting move, you can chain the opponent. She 
Doesn't have very powerful chains. If you do the ES version of the leap move,
and it actually HITS, the opponent gets poisoned and stunned for a short 
while. For her d, d/f, f+P use it in the air after blocking or to break air
defences. Use it to avoid low ground attacks as well. The ES version is 
damaging and beautiful too. ^_^

For her killer bee EX move, (doesn't it remind you of the X-Files?)utilise 
when opponents try to air defense you. It is not very effective but quite 
damaging and fun to watch. Queen Bee's Honey EX is not very useful as ONE EX.
Preferbly it should be a few balls of Honey bouncing around. If your opponent
tries to block it throw him. Just pester the opponent after the Honey EX. It
can be used as an air defence too. Traps opponent should it hit the opp. on
the ground. But you can only hit the opponent once after he gets trapped. 

-LILITH-
This young lady is not Morrigan, and she doesn't play like Morrigan. She has
some of Morrigan's normal attacks, but she is different. She is very powerful
due to her normal attacks.

Let's see.. Lilith's d+MP(same as Morrigan) is good and fast, and her d+HK is
good for tricking scared opponents. Her d+HP(same, *yawn*) has good range. 
For cancelling moves, d+MK is cool, it has range.

Of all her air attacks, the best(few compare to it) is her HP. She can use it
as a combo starter, anti-air and even hits air defences sometimes. Luckily it
isn't nearly as powerful as certain game's super-heavy attacks, which almost
definately dud air defenses. This punch lasts long through the air. 

Her projectile is dead short-ranged but think of it as a hi-priority move. 
Do it in the air or on the ground, as it has good recovery. Air defence for 
her is easy, as she has a good air throw and a good uppercut. Her uppercut,
although it looks like it has good range, Morrigan's is actually better. 

Lilith has that ranged unblockable move. In the beginning everyone would get
fooled by it.. Later on most of the time it foils. Much later on expert users
of Lilith would develop the 'Zangief Syndrome' and discover ways to use this 
move making it hard to avoid. The ES version is very good as you can hit the
opponent after he bounces back from the wall.


-BABY BONNIE HOOD-
Baby Bonnie Hood. I got lots to say about her, man.. She's insane. Funny to
watch. Quite hard to use at first but later on she becomes a deadly weapon. 
*draw Minigun*

BBHood has powerful but short-ranged chains. She has the best air chains in
the game, and if practised she can do lots of damage even before she lands on
the ground. Her air chain combination is LP, LK, MP, MK.. Of course, it can 
be changed.

Her ground attacks are pretty short, but her HP(uzi thing) is cool to watch.
Use her HK or d+HK all over the place.. Like laying mines.. :) For cancelling
moves, d+MP or MK is good. Use her standing MK when close and special throw
the opponent. It can be used to pester the opponent, and b+MP can be used to 
escape. 

Rocket high and low to confuse and charge after the opponent once you rocket.
Her Dark Force, when activated, you need not store for the rockets. Use it 
when your opponent is low on life and in the corner.  The champagne flambe 
thing has good recovery, so just use it if you think your opponent is gonna
jump. She has a good special throw. Useful as opponents would be fearing so 
much they'll block and get thrown! 

BBHood can be used effectively if you GC often. GC and appear behind your 
opp. to do her Crying EX if they try to hit you. If they don't, rush forward
and do the Apple EX(unblockable). The Crying EX has great ground priority, so
pester your opponents with LKs or LPs and when they try to kick you DO IT. 
Her soldier special is for jumping opponents or opponents who are close and 
recovering.

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-=CHRONOLINE=-
Chronological list of Progressive hard work and toil:

19-5-97: First section of FAQ done. Brief description of New Features and New          
         Characters.
24-5-97: Moves List done up. Not 100% ready but many moves are in here.. :)
26-5-97: Updated Moves List and Custom Abilities added. Basic Gameplay section 
         added. (Argh!!! *puke*)
30-5-97: Updated Moves List with new discoveries. Overall touching up. Started 
         Character Analysis section.
31-5-97: Changed paragraphing format for easy DOS editor viewing. Added more
         crap on Character Analysis section.
20-6-97: Added more characters in Character Analysis section. Updated certain
         moves.
10-6-97: Character Analysis COMPLETED!! *WHEW* *PANT* *WHEEZE* Water!! Should
         I continue? Removed 'a lot more fun than SF3'. Felt that SF3 can 
         actually be fun after a LONG time.. ^_^ So maybe now they're equals!

COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS, INSULTS, FLAMES, ARGUMENTS, PRAISES and QUESTIONS
about this FAQ please email Demitri at demitri@pacific.net.sg
And, oh ya, Challengers too. ^_^ I live in Singapore.


-=About the Author=-
The author is a fighting games freak with a love for Capcom games and Sega's
VF3. He plays regularly at Funan Centre Astropolis, Singapore, and often 
hangs out with his usual group of friends there. He is easily recognisable
by the way he wears his cap. (=D

Paul Fu is also an ex-SysOp of Demitri BBS. The BBS has crashed along with 
his old computer system, and along with it goes his friends from his BBS 
days. Now he no longer BBSes but spends time shaping his Homepage.

Please visit THE SPLAT(tm) at http://home.pacific.net.sg/~demitri
It contains info on VF, SF and DS..

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