How to play Spinal v4.0 FINAL This version is revamped, and final. Look at the "IMPLEMENTATION" section at the end of the guide. ANNOUNCEMENT: For those who care this will be the last version of the Spinal Guide. Within the last week I feel I have elevated my play significantly. It's now gotten to the point where no one will play me at all. I've posted my best secrets under the CHEESE section. After reading the cheese section, you WILL know why I say Spinal is the best. I am also totally convinced that Spinal has no Shadow, or Spirit move. I'm also going to put out a guide that has 5-10 combos with every character that do between 45% and 80%. If your interested, keep your eye out. Also I'll be taking the web page down soon. I just don't have time to keep it up and freshen it up frequently. Author: MDSPINAL@aol.com - Please feel free to Email me with suggestions, fixes, tips, or just about any thing. I'm taking my WEB page down. We will be moving under Flatline computing. I hope to have the entire site up within a month. Email me and I can put you on a sub list that will notify you when it goes up. TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------ *1* Small Details - An explanation of Spinal and Killer2, also has my rankings. Now has my larges ultra and ultimates. *2* The Addition of Throws - Explains how to throw. *3* The Combo System - Talks about the combo system and breakers and how they pertain to Spinal. *4* Special moves - List of confirmed list of specials and explains the uses for each, and the joystick motion / button combination. *5* Supers - List of confirmed supers and where and how to use them. *6* Putting Combos together- How to string your moves into combos, includes lists of several combos categorized by difficulty. *6.5* Cheese - How to WIN WIN WIN. *7* Strategy - How to use it all. Also contains strategy against each character. Includes counter section. Added jumping section here. *8* Rumors and Lies - I'll talk about some of the bull I've read on internet, in mags, and general other chat. Also have a list of known BUGS. *8* Closing and Credits - My credits and fav KI2 internet sights. *9*IMPLAMENTATION - The Final Guide Note. ------------------------------------------------------------------- *1* Small Details Spinal's weakness: Spinal has drastically changed from Killer1. He has become slower, his teleport now requires him to have a skull(this kinda sucks), and he doesn't have an attack to propelles him across the entire screen. You will also notice that some opponent's attacks will now take presidency over Spinal's where they didn't in Killer1. Spinal is the only character in Killer2 that DOES NOT have a counter attack. His auto doubles are now slower making them much easier to break. Spinal's Strengths: With a skull, Spinal can now teleport either in front, behind or in the same place. The teleport is invulnerable. You can also attack out of the teleport with relative safety. Spinal can summon his own skulls now. By taping twice toward or twice back, you can run in or back. I feel the two most beneficial changes are the addition of the dart kick and the soul drainer. I'll outline how I use these moves later. #Current Largest Ultra:68 hits - You must have a full super bar, and have your enders built up to get the full number of hits. - D+5,D+2QCT+2,4,HCT,B+2,F+3,HCT,B+2, F+3,HCT,B+2,F+3,HCT,B+6,2,4,3,QCB+3 (ultra starts, At end of ultra HCT+6, and then HCB,HCT+6 sometimes this works sometimes not. If it does you'll get 66 hits) This will give you ALOT of skulls at the end. It seems to hit a different number each time though. The most I have gotten is 66 hits. If your having trouble doing the skulls after the ultra use the Slow Mo combo. To perform this do the ender motion twice. Ex if your ender is QCB+6, do QCB,QCB+6 and the hits will hit in slow motion. This also works Ultimate and No Mercies: Ultimates can be done at the end of a combo, when your opponent is flashing red, at the end of the second round. No mercies can be done at the same time, but not in a combo. Ok, I USED to not do ultimates or no mercies. I received mail from tongf (sorry, I didn't write down your E-mail address) saying that you can beat other ultimates with Spinal's skull drop because it was so fast. Rich and I tried some stuff. Here is a list of places you can slip the ultimate in and crush your opponent. Some player might become POed if you do this to them. 1)Whenever your opponent tries to throw a projectile. 2)Whenever your opponent tries to no mercy you. Spinal's will beat any other I've seen, including Jago's dragon fireball. 3)If your opponent does a move that doesn't have the range to hit you. You can also evade back out of the way and do the skull drop. 4)As a juggle, when your opponent is falling backward "catch" them. 5)If your opponent jump backward. Ultimate No Mercy -------- -------- B,DB,D,DF,F,B,DB,D,DF,F+1 HCT,HCT+1 D,D,D+4 No Equivalent Ranking: Here is my ranking. It might change with the upgraded versions of the faq. In my strategy section you can find more reasons why I rank the characters this way. 1 - tied for Spinal and Glacius - I'm starting to think that Glacius is the best character in the game. 2 - tied for Maya and Orchid and Kim Wu 3 - tied for Sabrewulf and Ryu, oh I mean Jago 4 - Fulgore 5 - Tusk 6 - T.J. Combo - sorry Combo fans, but he's not even close to the player he was in Killer1. *2* The Addition of Throws: To throw with Spinal press F+6. This can also be done in a combo. After and auto double press F+6 and you can do any move to juggle your opponent. Throwing is a welcome addition. Most players don't use the throws. They "regress" to the ducking turtle style that was used in Killer1. There has been talk of reversing throws, and I have yet to see anyone reverse throws(I throw a lot). I have also head talk about how some character throw easier than others. I don't know, but Spinal and Glacius throw the same. I have also head the Sabrewulf has no throw, I have never seen him throw(computer or human), and I've heard people I play with say they've tried every button and can not throw. We'll see. To counter throw press F+6 at the very beginning of a throw. You can Also counter throw out of throw combos. I have not be able to reproduce the throw combo counter reliably. *3* The Combo System(and breakers) Pertaining to Spinal: Killer2 has added more flexibility to the auto double(AD) combo system. In Killer1 you did a STARTER-AD-LINKER-AD-ENDER. There were also some small manuals that did a ton of damage, and that you could not break. Now you can break any combo(see the combo breaker section). Killer2 allows more free hits in it's combos but still preserves the auto double and linkers, whereas these moves would knock down the opponent in Killer1. Several individual links can be added to his combos. These links go from a fierce to a medium, or as a two hit fierce. Spinal's manual links are listed below: 6-5 > two hits, adds about 10% to a combo. Can be done once per string. 3-2-2 > Adds three hits. This increases the knock down change. You can also do 3-2 for 2 hits. F+3 > Adds two hits. This can be used after a special or as a starter. D+6-5 > this is a low link. These are interchangeable. EX. 6-2, D+6-D+2, D+6-D+5, 3-D+2, 3-D+5, 3-5 ect. Notice, you can not use D+3 because it will knock you opponent down. Also links can be done from the quicks to the fierce. This gives FAST knock down results, so it's not really applicable to the player you is trying to only win. It can be used to add "style" to you links. A example of this type of manual would be 6,5,1,3. Very hard to break, as well as perform. It will also knock the opponent down EVERY time. I don't recommend using manual quicks in combos. Knowing this info we can now make combos that follow a new hierarchy. This makes them much harder to break, and also greatly increases their damage: STARTER-AD-6-5-LINKER-AD-3-ENDER, or 3-2-2-ENDER are good examples. The key, I feel, is making your combos a small number of hits(unless they use a supper), and high damage. The next key is to add you super moves. As of now, I have never seen a super broken, so they are safe to use(for specific supers see below, the supers below I have done. I have tried some supers from the web and other faqs and couldn't get them to work. I try to keep everything here legitimate). For the most part you super will act as your ender or starter to your combos. Here is an example of the hierarchy: STARTER-AD-MANUAL HITS(MH)-LINKER-AD-MH -SUPER, SUPER-AD-MH,LINKER-ENDER, or SUPER-AD-SUPPER-AD-SUPPER. This is not always the case though. Several of Spinal's supers can only be done in a combo. I want to touch on enders. Every has read by now when you do all 4 of your regular enders, you gain hits, and also access a 5th ender with more hits. Adding hits makes you more vulnerable to be broken, but it gives you some more damage, the choice is yours. The Soul drainer can be still done by charging button 1(shadow combos is Killer1), performing the joystick motion, and releasing the button. Spinals enders are QCB+4,5, or 6 - the 3 morphs, and QCB+2. His 5th ender is QCT+1. You can also do a throw at the end of a combo by pressing F+6 only after an auto double. THE THROW CAN BE REVERSED! After a throw anything goes, but I've found the best results with the air juggle into a skull toss or two. Spinal's ultra combo is QCB+3 and his Pseudo-ultra is QCT+3. Spinal's combo breaker is QCB+?. You must break punches with kicks and kicks with punches, and also with the same strength. EX an attacker use button 3 to attack, you would break it with button 6. This is slightly harder than Killer1. After you can recognize your opponents attacks breaking becomes easier. You can also combo break in the air. This might be a bug that would be fixed on further versions. After each combo breaker you gain a hit on the next combo breaker as well as about 1/2% damage. I have read that you can break ultras, if you have life left with a super move. I have never seen anyone do this, nor have I done it. I have also heard you can break supers with supers, there again I have never been able or seen anyone do it. If you start you combos from the back(with your opponent's back toward you), your opponent MUST perform their combo breaker backward. By doing this you can make your combos appear "UNBREAKABLE". This is a little known glich that carried over from Killer1. If you STUN your opponent you can always jump over them and start from the back. Is this unfair? Spinal's 2 hit air juggle is done by pressing button 3 them quickly D+5. You can then add extra hits by throwing skulls. Or by doing the Skewer. You can also throw the stun skull or skull blast #2 supers. *4* Spinal's special moves, and how to use them: Joystick/button Move desc. ------------------------------------------------------------------ QCT+1 Soul Drainer. Spinal will shoot several rings out of his shield. The rings will do about 3% damage but will suck one full level of your opponent's super bar. This move will move your opponent back far enough that they can not counter you even if they block it. I like to use it out of my manuals when the person blocks. EX D+6,D+2,QCT+1. You can not over use this move. THIS MOVE WILL DRAIN SUPER EVEN IF IT IS BLOCKED. QCT+2 Skele-Skewer (dash sword). This special lunges slightly forward. It beats attacks that hit downward (Like sliding attacks). It also works as a linker. You can auto double with buttons 1, and 2. This move will also hit an opponent falling from the air in a juggle. Does ok damage also. QCT+3 Flame Blade. Most of your faqs don't even list this move. It is a linker or a starter and auto double with button 2 or 5. It will beat almost any move that lunges across the screen (Jago's kick). You can also use it to link, but you must make sure you are close to your opponent or you can't auto double out of it. QCB+4,5,6 Teleport. You can only teleport if you have a skull. teleporting with button 4 with put you in front of your opponent, 5 will put you in the same place you started, and 6 will put you behind you opponent. Mix them up and you will confuse the heck out of every one. you can also warp out of blocked manuals for safety. EX D+6,D+2,QCB+6. You can also "pin" you opponent with the teleport from blocked manuals and the soul drainer. Pretty soon they'll start jumping, and you can take advantage of them. THE MORE SKULLS YOU HAVE, THE FASTER YOU TELEPORT. B+1 Power devour. This will convert blocked special moves into skulls. Be careful, you can only hold about 7 skulls. Also this move takes a second to come out of and can leave you vulnerable. I only use it at a safe distance to catch projectiles. D+6 in air Dart kick. Spinal will quickly "dart" down out of the air. I like to jump backward when my opponent ducks and do this quickly. It is much faster that your top attack. you can also use it to avoid moves and fireball traps. QCT+4,5,6 Skull toss. Throws a skull. 4 is slow, 5 medium, and 6 fast. There is also a special move on the machine called the skull scraper. It's motion is DB,D,DF+kick. The motion should read DB or D or DF + 6. By pressing DB+6 you will slide a very short distance and recover quickly, D+6 cause you to slide a little farther, faster, but with slower recovery. DF+6 will cause you to slide farthest and fastest, but have the longest recovery time. All the slides auto double with button 2 or 5. If you slide as a counter, it doesn't mater what one you use. See the Strategy section for more info. *5* SUPERS I feel that Spinal may have one or two supers that I have not yet seen. I don't really try to figure out joystick motions. If anything else is posted, and it works, I'll add it. For the most part, Spinal's supers will do damage to the opponent or help him gain skulls. I try to put a super in every combo, and this is only possible with Spinal cause you can suck your opponent's super bar. If you use a super in a combo and end your combo with the soul drainer, you won't even be able to tell you used your super energy. Joystick/Buttons Actions/Uses ------------------------------------------------------------------ QCB,HCT+3 Grim Reaper. Spinal will leap about half the screen and hit down with his sword and shield. Your opponent must be standing to block this. It also auto doubles with button 2 or 5. This is an excellent move to lead with because of if range. It will also beat sliding kicks and low attacks. It doesn't take a lot of super to use. HCT,B+2 Sword swipes. Spinal will do about 10 consecutive flame blades. If you watch this special you can see it slowdown at the end. On the last swipe you can perform an ender, special, or another super. The timing is kinda tricky. I have not seen and auto doubles out of this attack. This special can only be done in a combo. You can ALWAYS press F+6 at the end and throw out of it. You can also do a neutral 6 to do a manual hit out of it and them go into an ender or a special move. I highly recommend this. HCT+6 Skull blast. Many people confuse this as a regular ender. Spinal will lean into his shield and shoot about 5 skulls out at close range. You don't have to have any skulls to do this move though. It can only be done in a combo. HCB,HCT+6 Skull blast #2. This is the same as the Skull blast except that you DO NOT have to be in a combo. It will juggle and does GOOD damage. HCB+2 or 3 Skull summon. Spinal will "summon" one skull with button 2, or totally fill up with button 3. I recommend using button 2 because its faster, and it also leaves you room to catch more skulls without overloading. If you need a skull either knock your opponent down, or wait till you are at a safe distance, and summon away. You can also do this move between rounds. HCB,HCT+5 Stun Skull. Spinal shoots a skull with a blue trail. If it hits his opponent, It will knock them down, and they will stand up stunned. You can use this in combos. EX QCT+2,4, SUPER. Then start a new combo when they stand up stunned. The first time I did this, people immediately said it was cheap. Using this technique, you can achieve 100% life combos. HCT,B+6 Spinal will slide and hit his opponent five times. This is useful to get closer to your opponent in a combo where the Sword Swipe super would move you opponent out of range. Anyway, this can only be done in a combo. *6* Putting combos together: All the advice or faqs in the world can not substitute for practice and combat experience. I've separated this section into a novice combo section: where I will list all the links and autodoubles, an advanced combo section: here I will list mostly the manual additions, and a section for combo that do more damage(these use supers). The main thing to remember is to do as many super as you can in your combos. At first that might be just an auto double into a super, but as you progress you can add more. The more you add the more you will have to use the soul drainer as an ender or at other times during you fights. NOVICE AUTO DOUBLE COMBOS without linkers ----------------------------------------- QCT+2,1 or 4,QCB+4,5,6, or 2 QCT+3,2,QCB+4,5,6, or 2 D+6,2,QCB+4,5,6, or 2 NOVICE AUTO DOUBLE COMBOS with linkers -------------------------------------- QCT+2,1 or 4,QCT+2,1 or 4,QCB+4,5,6, or 2 QCT+3,2,QCT+3,2,QCB+4,5,6, or 2 QCT+2,1 or 4,QCT+3,2,QCB+4,5,6, or 2 QCT+3,2,QCT+2,1 or 4,QCB+4,5,6, or 2 D+6,2,QCT+2,1 or 4,QCB+4,5,6, or 2 ADVANCED AUTO DOUBLE AND MANUAL COMBOS with linkers --------------------------------------------------- QCT+2,1,6,5,QCT+3,2,QCB+2 F+3,QCT+2,F+3,QCT+2,1,QCB+4 3,2,2,QCB+5 QCT+3,2,3,2,QCT+3,2,3,QCB+6 B+3,QCT+2,F+3,QCT+2,4,QCB+2 QCT+2,4,3,2,QCT+2,1,F+6 - ends with throw, can juggle from. D+6,D+2,QCT+2,F+3,QCT+1 - uses soul drainer and not an ender D+6,2,3,2,QCT+2,D+3 - uses uppercut, not an ender B+3,QCT+2,F+3,QCB+6 - starts with down strike, must be blocked standing HIGH DAMAGE AND OTHER USEFUL COMBOS ------------------------------------- QCB,HCT+3(SUPER),2,3,2,QCT+3,HCT,B+2(SUPER) - high damage(HD) QCT+2,4,HCT,B+2(SUPER)HCT,B+2(SUPER) - HD QCT+2,4,3,HCT,B+2(SUPER)F+6,jumping 3,D+5 in air,QCT+6 OR QCT+2 OR HCB,HCT+6 - last several hits juggle. QCB,HCT+3(SUPER),2,HCT,B+2(SUPER),HCT+6(SUPER) - HD F+3,HCT,B+2(SUPER),QCT+2,HCT,B+2(SUPER),HCT+6(SUPER) - HD D+6,D+2,QCT+1 - very useful, even if blocked F+3,QCT+1 - useful also D+2,QCT+2,F+3,QCT+3,D+3 - Manual D+6,D+5,QCB,HCT+3(SUPER) - your opponent must block low, low, high... D+6,2,2,QCT+1 QCT+2,4,HCT,B+2(SUPER),F+6 - end with throw. Do your choice of fine juggles. B+3,HCTB+2(SUPER),QCB+6 - not a true combo. you will confuse your opponents by appearing behind them. COMBOS OUT OF THE DART KICK - because you can counter ALOT of attacks --------------------------- with the dart kick. All these combos start with D+6 - the dart kick. D+6,F+3,QCT+2,F+3,HCT,B+2(SUPER),QCT+2(JUGGLE) - Over 45% Damage D+6,D+2,QCT+2,1,HCT+6(SUPER) - Over 35% Damage D+6,F+3,QCT+3,D+3,QCT+2(JUGGLE) D+6,D+6 - Yep thats it. D+6,F+3,QCT+2,1,F+6,Jumping 3,D+5,QCT+2 - Juggle combo *6.5* Cheese, How to WIN WIN WIN. I'm breaking this section up into sections: Big Stage Cheese, Small Stage Cheese, Turtle Cheese, Combo Cheese(Very Cheesy), and the Throw Cheese. Big Stage Cheese: Spinal's warp and run gives him a benefit over the slower characters on the Big stages. This strategy works primarily against Glacius, Jago, Sabrewulf, Kim Wu, Orchid, Tusk and Combo. If your opponent chooses to walk far away from you, you can throw one Skull with QCT+4, very slow and warp behind them. Because they can't block 2 directions they will be hit by some thing, be it your attack or your projectile. You can also use the Skull toss HCB,HCT+6 that throws 5 skulls and warp. The only restriction is that you must have enough skulls to warp effectively. I like to use the Skull Summon 2 between rounds to fill up. You can also throw a slow Skull and run past it. Further more you can throw a skull, run and do the dowstrike out of it. All these strategies will give you like 4 super bars if your opponent blocks them. Small Stage Cheese: This evolves much the opposite. As you get up close to opponents you can throw through their attacks, take a little practice, but can be done. You mix this up with like the ducking forward kick(D+5), and you will PISS the HELL out of your opponents because you pin them down, and when they block, you just build your own super. You can also use the JUMP-BACK-FAST-DARTKICK strategy to make yourself even more lethal. Works good against Fulgore, Combo, Maya, and Kim Wu. Turtle Cheese: I Don't turtle unless its real close and there is like 5 seconds left on the clock. Basically you just duck and block. When your opponent decides to do ANY move you can jump back and counter with the dartkick. This works on any character, but Combo's running downstrike can be fast enough that you can not jump back in time. There are 4 main different forms of combo cheese, 1: the you can't break because I'm not comboing. This evolves doing a series of 2 hit combos, after 2 hits you wait for your opponent to do his breaker, and them counter the missed breaker. 2:Can't Break This - You start you combos so your opponent is facing the wrong way, and must do their breaker backward. 3: The Spinal warp combo - If you do a speed combo morph spinal will warp and you can continue the combo on the opposite side. THIS IS A GLICH. A warp glich combo would be QCT+2,4h,QCB+4r. then another combo when your opponent locks up. Very CHEESEY! 4: The "Gimme your Super cheese" - This is doing a manual combo into the soul drainer so if the block it you get some super from the blocked hits and the Soul Drainer. A good example is:D+6,D+5, D+2,QCT+1. Gives you about 2.5 super bars plus the soul drainer. The Throw Cheese: You can throw through your opponents special and regular moves if you are close enough. Nuf Sed. FULL LIFE CHEESE ON VERION 1.0 ONLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have not realized the potential for full life combos until I learned of the Super Stun Skull. If you have enough super bar, you can do combo into stun skull, combo into stun skull. Combine this with the backward combo breaker and you have a potential for 100%er's. The computer will not register these as 100% though. Here are some examples of potential 100% combos. If you think its cheap, don't use them. After some deliberation, I've decided not to use them unless in a tournament situation. QCT+2,6,5,QCT+2,F,HCT+5 - stunning 27% combo. Repeat from back. D+6,2,3,QCT+3,2,F+6, jumping 3,D+5 in air(air juggle) F,HCT+5(SUPER) as a air juggle. Your opponent will stand up dazed, 37%. Repeat from the back. QCT+3,2,HCT,B+2(SUPER),F,HCT+5 - 30% stun. Repeat from back. *7* Strategy: Jumping Attacks: It's frustrating to lose to someone who jump keeps jumping around. You will find with Spinal you can take almost all characters out of the air with D+3 uppercut. However it will NOT hit Kim Wu's or Maya's jumping quick punch, as well as Kim Wu's jumping forward kick. You can in place do four separate things: 1) Tap twice back to run back and counter with the Skewer before your opponent's feet hit the ground. This is EASY to do and is the most safe. 2) Tap twice back, but counter with the Soul Drainer. This is a little harder to time. 3) Just block. 4) Do the Flame blade, but your timing must be exact or you will miss everything. When someone jumps backward, you can: 1) Tap twice toward to run to them and hit them with the Skewer as they sail back. 2) Do nothing. 3) Throw you stun or super skulls. 4) Jump after them with your air juggle(Not recommended). When you jump it is important to choose what move you think will hit your opponent, but not to worry about damage(cause the fierce are the easiest moves to counter). Here is a chart explaining it further: Button # When ----------------------------------------------------------- 1 or 4 Opponent's ducking blocking, or if you jump by accident. 2 When you over jump and are crossing over. 3 To meat your opponent in the air, when you expect to take them off guard. 5 when you meat them in the air on equal terms. 6 or D+6 To attack them on the ground when you SURE they will not defend. Here are some general rules I go by when I play any human opponent. You will learn to feel out your opponent's week areas, and take advantage of them. Counter section has been added under each character. It is a chart that lists what move will take presidency over your opponents if they hit at the same time. The chart is not yet complete. You will see a flash of fire if you hit a move counter. It is in the following format. Opponent's move Your Counter ---------------------------------------------------- The name of your opponent's Your move that will beat attack. your opponent's attack. 1) If your opponent likes to jump all over the place, remember you can take them down just by pressing D+3. It takes all air attacks out and does about 15% damage in the process. If you still have trouble just block, you don't have to counter every move every time to win. 2) Don't be afraid to throw the hell out of anyone(F+6). The best way to feel out if someone is conscious of the throw is to look if they move. If you attack and they just sit there, ducked, right beside you, chances are that you will be able to throw them about 15 time that round. BE CAREFUL, some players will sit and wait for you to flinch and attack. If you are right up against them, your throw will beat their attack. After a few throws, they usually start jumping around, and them you can really take advantage of them. 3) Check your downstrike(B+3). If you opponent doesn't block it, use it. This also applies to the grim reaper super which is so fast it will catch most people ducking. Once again, be careful on characters with low slides. 4) USE YOUR COMBO BREAKER(QCB)!!!! DON'T JUST SIT THERE AND WATCH THEM SMASH YOU!! 5) If your opponent is good at breaking combos you might want to concentrate on doing smaller combos, and using more supers. 6) STEEL YOUR OPPONENT'S SUPER(QCT+1)!!! If they don't have it, they can't use it, and you can... 7) Use your run(2 taps either direction) to get you out of the way of attacks. You can do any more out of the run including supers, downstrikes, and specials. You can run under jumps and hit people in the back. You can run back to avoid short range moves(Sabrewulf's spin) and counter with another attack. 8) Jump intelligent. By this I mean you should not just go nuts and bounce around the screen. When a character tries to run by you, or role by you, jump back and kick. They will be in the same place they were before they rolled and with less energy. Jump backward to avoid any ground move. You can also counter it with the dart kick. 9) Mix up the slide with the downstrike and fake downstrike. B+2 is the fake downstrike. If you can get your opponent to stand you can quickly throw a slide, confuse them! You can also use the fake to get closer and throw. 10) Practice and plan strategy against your week characters. My personal week character is Jago. I know that Jago can uppercut me out of the air, so I don't jump. I know Jago's combos are fast and more difficult to break(because of the speed) than other characters. BY the same token, I know that most people who play him lead with the slide and windkick, the windkick can be beaten with the Flame blade(QCT+3), and I can jump and the slide will stop under me, and I get a free hit, or beat it with the Skele Skewer. 11) You can beat missed specials and regular moves with your quick attacks(buttons 1 and 4). This is a "nickel and dime" offense that worked well in Killer1, well it also works well in Killer2. 12) Try to draw your opponent into doing his downstrike them quickly throw your slide. 13) DON'T BE AFRAID TO LOOK AT YOUR OPPONENT'S HANDS TO PREDICT THEIR NEXT MOVE... 14) If you have trouble timing your moves in between your opponent's, you can set them up with a LEAD-IN. A Lead-in is a regular move that hits faster than a special move to set up your opponent for the rest of your combo. D+2 is an excellent lead-in. 15) Learn to reverse throws. If you don't you will suffer in time. All you have to do is SEE that you are being thrown and press F+6. 16) As people start to relies the potential of a cross over into a downstrike, it becomes VERY important to be able to teleport. This is most evident against a GOOD Maya player. Spinal does not have an air counter reverse move(like Orchid's knee). It is a MUST to have a skull to avoid the madness. 17) The Skull Drop Ultimate is VERY fast and can be done to counter an opponents fireball. It is also fast enough to counter other player's ultimates. 18)You can throw skulls out and teleport behind your opponent "pining" them down. You can also throw the Skull blast #2 and teleport. 19) IF you have trouble doing manual combos into special moves try doing your second or third hit of the manual link ducking so that you can role strait into the special move. EX D+6,D+2,QCT+2. It's MUCH easier to do. 20) Don't let some loser tell you they are better than you because they can do a bigger ultra. People who save their super for ultras end up putting money in the machine. 21) I hate it when people BITCH about the throw. When someone bitches tell them "You will have to learn all the aspects of the game, not just the ones you choose if you want to fight me. Otherwise playing me is just like throwing your quarters on the floor." Just kidding ;) Here are some hints against specific characters as well as the counter section. 1) Glacius: You can beat the puddle moves with the slide, As soon as he melts just slide and you'll get him every time. The Flame Blade(QCT+3) will beat the shoulder. Be conscious of his ducking double kick, as well as the ice lance. You also have to break his combos FAST because his supers do a ton of damage. You can also beat ANY of his attacks by teleporting and hitting him in the back. You can also jump back and dart kick the shoulder, but not the Puddle uppercuts. REMEMBER that the quad-throw can be BLOCKED. When he tries to regenerate his life you can slide or run up and throw. He can not attack out of the regeneration. A conservative and cautious Glacius player can seem like an unbeatable opponent. You will need to concentrate on your lead-ins to maximize your chances of winning. Glacius is one of the most powerful characters in Killer2. Shoulder - counter with - Flame Blade Puddle Uppercuts Slide Ice Lance Slide Ice Grip Flame Blade 2) Orchid: Orchid's manual combos are very powerful as well as her supers, fortunately they are also slow, so break them. Orchid's projectile is slow and can be easily jumped or teleported past for some offense. Her downstrike is also slow. Orchid is very powerful, but slower than in Killer1. She also doesn't have any quick dashing moves making it hard for her to counter your attacks. You can run from her and teleport and she will have a hard time catching you. Use you Soul drainer Alot to keep her from having her supers. Be careful of her fake fireball. Spin Kick - counter with - Flame Blade Tonfa Rush Flame Blade Slide Skele Skewer 3) Ryu, oh I mean Jago: Jago is fast and overplayed, so there are probably more known techniques with him than other characters. People will try to do the street fighter Ryu and Ken uppercut/fireball pattern. Catch a skull, and teleport. You can also slide under his fireballs or just catch them with the power devour. Remember: that his wind kick no longer goes through fireballs, you can counter the slide by jumping back and dart kicking quickly or with the Skele Skewer, the teleport will beat all his moves, and he sucks in the air. His off the ground uppercut can not beat the soul drainer. So you can stand over him while hes getting up, and blast him. He'll go through like the first 2 rings. Most Jago players will try to get far away from you on the big screens and chuck projectiles. Remember you can catch 'em and teleport. Because his combos are so fast it is safe to charge your ender and use the morphs(he will hardly have time to break 'em. Punish Jago, he's not worthy of being in Killer2. Slide - counter with - Skele Skewer Wind Kick Flame Blade Sword Slash Slide 4) Sabrewulf: Sabrewulf is, in my opinion, the most powerful in terms of damage character. When you are not used to playing him, it seems like his moves go through everything. Your flameblade will counter the cartwheel kick, and the spin claw. I like to jump back and dart kick to counter the pounce. I have never seen Saberwulf throw, and I have heard that he doesn't have one. Most SW players will duck and wait for you to flinch and attack. It helps to have your combo breaker wired. When SW players turtle, I like to throw or just take their super with the soul drainer. You will also be able to hit the grim reaper on most of these players. Be patient when you play SW. You can also teleport through his attacks and hit him in the back. Remember SW DOES NOT HAVE A THROW so he can not counter throw! Ok here is the CHEAP THROW pattern that works on SW. After you throw them once, run over to them so you are right beside him. If he does his counter block and do a lead in, followed by a combo. If he jumps either direction you can quickly hit him with your D+3 uppercut. If he doesn't come off the ground with either of those 2 you can IMMEDIATELY throw him again. I do this on people who just sit a do nothing with SW. Is very hard to escape. Cartwheel - counter with - Flame Blade Spin Slide Pounce Skele Skewer 5) Combo: His rolercoasters will go through your soul drainer, but will not beat your Skewer, you can slide against all the running attacks except the downstrike. You will also have good luck using the teleports and popping up on either side of him with the Skewer. Combo doesn't have an easy way to counter your attacks, His low attacks can be easily avoided and countered by jumping backward and dart kicking. His powerline can and Cyclone seem to be invincible from air attacks, but no one uses the Cyclone except the computer. You can jump the ground punch and counter it with the dart kick every time. Combo, I feel, is much weaker and slower than in Killer1. He also has no way to create offense, so if you lay back and play smart, he's probably screwed. Rolercoaster - counter with - Skele Skewer Powerline Slide Knee Flame Blade 6) Fulgore: Catch a skull and go to town. You can warp and counter any of the eyebeams and projectiles. Whenever he does the jump eyebeams, appear behind him and uppercut him out of the sky. You can also find im when he's invisible by teleporting and skewering. Don't jump around too much. Most Fulgore players try to pin you down or span the screen with projectiles and lasers. Spinal counters all this with the teleport. Also player like to lead with the double roundhouse. It is slow, you can block the first hit and slip in some quicks or even a throw. Most of his auto doubles are very slow. If any move hits you, break it. Blade Slide - counter with - Flame Blade Shield Slide Eyebeams Jump kick / teleport 7) Spinal: I decided to add this section because I have seen an increase in the number of Spinal players in the arcades I play at(I'm not the only one anymore). The slide is overused by almost every Spinal player. You can counter and eat them with the Skewer. Try to draw your opponent into doing stupid moves(like jumping around, sliding, downstriking, and dart kicking at the wrong times). Use your shorts to widdle(sp?) away their power, and counter their blocked special moves. Skele Skewer - counter with - Flame Blade Flame Blade Slide Slide Skele Skewer 8) Maya The amazon boob queen: Maya has lots of two hit attacks(like Orchid) you can counter them by jumping backward and dart kicking. Unfortunately, the flame blade his your main counter for her specials, so you have to get close enough to her to hit it. You can knock the air flip out with you D+3 move of a quick jumping 3. Most of her moves will beat the slide. Most of Maya's attacks are slow, so you can run back, and run in and counter or throw. She has the best air arsenal in the game, so don't even try to beat her in the air. Also her downstrike jumps slightly so your slide will not counter it. Use you lead in alot and try your breakers with the quick buttons. You can also counter from the warp. Round off - counter with - Flame Blade Dagger Attack Flame Blade 9) Tusk: I like the full screen downstrike(NOT). Tusk has a lot of range, and does a lot of damage. He can be hard to fight if your opponent is a good blocker. Try to draw him into stupid move. Your skewer will counter most of his specials because they are slow to recover. You can also eat him up using lead in attacks. He has some very big juggles, so be careful. You can warp out of his moves and counter. His go behind move can be easily countered by just jumping back with any attack, and you will also start your combo with him facing the wrong way. I like to use the run back into the skewer to counter his moves. He can be a very powerful opponent. Boot Kick - counter with - Flame Blade Slide Skele Skewer Double Slice Slide 10) Kim Wu: Most people I talk to feel that she is the most powerful character. I have to disagree, Spinal is definitely her "counter" character. You can teleport and counter all the air projectiles before her feet touch the ground. Her split flip is easily countered by jumping back into the dart kick, and the slide can be slipped in between a lot of the double attacks. I HIGHLY recommend sucking her super. She has the ability to start high or low, quickly, and takes good damage. You can use your evade in and out to dodge most of her moves and counter. Her air attacks are useless against Spinal, you can also catch any of the air projectiles with the power devour. Split Kick - counter with - Skele Skewer Double Kicks Flame Blade 11) Gargos(georgious): I have yet to see any of the Gargos codes work. He is easy to beat by teleporting and hitting him in the back. I like to catch one of his air fireballs and just warp like crazy. Uppercut him off with D+3,QCT+3 or one of the morph enders. All Moves - counter with - Teleport *8* Rumors, Lies, and BUGS: I appreciate the 20-60 pieces of E-Mail I've been getting a day with some major and minor corrections. I have also gotten my fair share with people listing supers that I have not been able to reproduce. I have also, through out the net, see lots of supers listed I can't reproduce. Here are a list of a few: F,D,FD,F+3 - some kinda uppercut thing. This came from a reliable source, so I was kinda surprised when I couldn't hit it. So much so that I tried it for about 3 games. HCT,B+3 - Supposed to be some kinda sword thing. I have seen this on MANY or internet sites. Have NEVER been able to reproduce it. F,HCT+3 HCB,HCT+6 - Supposed to throw twice as many skulls as the regular skull blast super HCB,HCB+1 - Supposed to morph into Idol and hit them like 10 times. This would be neet... Too bad its BS. I have also gotten lots of mail telling me how to do 60+ hit Ultras. I have never gotten more than 49 hits. Most combo faqs say you can do like a special to auto to special to auto to super to F+3 to super to F+3 ect... until you run out of super. THIS DOES NOT WORK. One thing I want to try is to do a super to linker to super ect.. Thanx Rich for the idea. Here are a list of bugs: 1)Maya ultra locks the machine sometimes. 2)If you combobreak and get throw at the same time your attacks will not do any damage. You have to lose. 3)If SW is hit while doing the fake howl on the last round and killer, sometimes he won't die. You can keep fighting forever with no life. 4) Glacius can sometimes combobreak after the combo is completed and hes laying on the ground. *9* CREDITS: Jeff, Mark, Shawn, Rich, and Tim - My fellow local arcade junkies. Cylencer@aol.com - Thanx for your faq. Glasious@aol.com - Thanx for you faq. You spelled Glacius wrong. BFolger@primenet.com - You have the best WWW sight for KI2. Thanx for the html help and for putting my guide up on your site. Thanx for all the help. SORRY AGAIN RICH. I FORGOT YOU. I WOUNDED YOU INNER CHILD. Raig@bbs.kis.net - Thanx again Rich. Killins2 - Thanx for the ultimate, and the X-tra super(that doesn't work). LHZW88A@prodigy.com - Thanx for the Soul Drainer charge, and you your "ethical" look at my play style. SandMT@indirect.com - Thanx for reviewing the revisions of my guide. Thanx for being like me(sort of) across the country;) *10* Implementation - The Final Note Lastly, here is a list of circumstances you, as a player, could be in, and a list of responses with their cause and effects. I've broke it up into conservative and aggressive responses to each situation. Both answers are correct, but it up to you to pick what to do, understanding that being to conservative or aggressive can get you killed. Try to gage your response differently against the play style of your opponent. I also have my personal answer to each situation. Opponent jumps on you: Conservative - D+3 uppercut into a juggle with QCT+2 or block Aggressive - Jump into them with 3, into D+5, into QCT+2 juggle(15%), or run backward (tap twice back, and counter with another move) Personal - I use D+3 if my opponent has little super. If they have close to full super I will run back and hit them with the soul drainer as their feet hit the ground, they can block, but I get their super. Opponent jumps backward: Conservative - Do nothing or run back, plan next attack, summon 1 skull, throw a fast skull or a Stun Skull. Aggressive - Jump into your opponent with the air juggle, run forward slightly and retaliate with D+3 or QCT+3 or the soul drainer. Personal - I summon a skull unless I am full, My second choice is to throw a stun skull. If my opponent has little life I'll chose one of the more aggressive actions. Opponent runs from you: Conservative - Be patient, space your attacks well, wait them out. Aggressive - chase them and try to max out every opportunity. Personal - I like to use the Full Screen Cheese highlighted above. When people run I tend to get frustrated. I'll hit them once and run from them also just to piss them off. You can use the warps and skull tosses to "hunt" down almost any opponent Opponent is so aggressive that you are overwhelmed: Conservative - Try to block and get your composure to mount some type of counter. Aggressive - Do the same thing. Personal - I see this type of play from people who are good with Maya and Kim Wu. It's very overwhelming with Spinal because he doesn't have an uppercut special or super. The best thing to do, is to make quick erratic, unpredictable and even stupid movements. Most player think "well he'll never do that, that would be stupid" thats when you do it. I like to avoid their attacks by jumping backward to avoid, and countering with the divekick. Opponent is so conservative I'm falling asleep: Conservative - Wait them out and try to get a hit here and there. Aggressive - Throw, jump, downstrike, go nuts! Personal - Taking the aggressive path will most likely get you killed. Most people who turtle up are good at countering things. I prefer to just keep hitting them with the soul drainer over and over as they block. you can take about 7% of their life in 15 seconds by doing this, and you get that super. This will also make them start to move, and you can take advantage of them. Opponent block EVERYTHING, we just keep blocking each others specials: Conservative - Try to keep widdeling away at their life, as they block you gain super. Aggressive - Throw, and try to counter the attacks. Personal - Go read the counter section and the lead in section. If you master those 2 methods this will NEVER happen. Opponent does cross-over jumping when I'm down and I can't get out. Conservative - Change your block perspectives. Aggressive - Jump out, run back or try to counter. Personal - Unfortunately this is a week area for Spinal. If you have a skull, teleport to safety. Otherwise you have to change your block perspectives. Nothing else effectively works. Try not to get in that situation. I have trouble with opponents that can change move mid stream - Fulgor, Combo Conservative - Work on your blocking, learn the counters. Aggressive - Counter. Personal - Counter, you can also counter all those transition moves by jumping backward and dive kicking every time. Character with go behinds tend to kill me - Kim Wu, Combo, Tusk Conservative - Work on blocking. Aggressive - Attacks the opposite direction so it hits them. Personal - Jump back out of the way and dive kick them in the back. This works EVERY TIME. c. 1997 by MDSPINAL. No part of this FAQ may be rewritten in any way without permission from the author. You can do whatever you desire, but give credit where credit is due.