Subject: VO: Viper 2 FAQ ver 1.0 From: tansh@singnet.com.sg (Alan Tan) Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1996 18:53:25 GMT Message-ID: Viper FAQ ver 1.0 by Alan Tan This is a FAQ that focus mainly on vs humans Techniques for Viper. If you require general information on how to play the game, look for it at http://www.singnet.com.sg/~ctan40/ There is a fairly good webpage on Virtual On. General Information. I assume you know how to dash and jump, if not.... sigh. One can stop dashing by dashing by dashing in the opposite direction during the dash, provided one has not fired in dash. Jump cancel can be done by pressing the sticks inwards, provided on has not shot in air or have not reached the apex of the jump. These two are VERY IMPORTANT techniques, esp the jump cancel for Viper. Terms I'll be using Walk= Both joystick in one direction Dash= Movement with the dash button side dash=right or left+ dash button forward dash=forward (inclusive of diagonals)+dash backward dash=Back (inclusive of diagonals)+dash Central weapon= Both fire buttons Right weapon= Right button Left weapon=left button Way to win Hit the opponent and try not to get hit. If you are playing scrubs or you have just played the game a few times, the easiest way to win is to take temjin and fire his right weapon repeatedly while walking. When opponent shoots, wait for the shots to come close, dash to dodge and shoot.The whole point is keep firing and dun get hit. If you want to procede to a new level, you must ensure that your shots have a higher chance of hitting. Timing is the key. There are two ways to ensure a hit. 1) After the opponent has commited himself to a dash, you can dash in a SPECIFIC direction as to ensure your shots have a high chance of hitting (if he dun dash cancel) and at the very least, you will not get hit. I'll called this thrust vectoring. The whole point is dash in a direction such that the opponent is moving AWAY from your perspective, while you are moving sideways from his perspective. Look at the web page I've mentioned for diagrams. It's hard to explain, you have to play and keep an eye out on when you get hit and when you hit. 2) Hitting the opponent when he freezes. Opponent will freeze for VARYING amounts of time after a Jump or a dash if he did not cancel them. The whole point of the game is to time your shots such that it reached the opponent when he freezes. You have to play long enough to judge how fast your shots are and when the opponent will freeze. One point to note, some characters, notably Temjin, can shot at ANYTIME during their dash and so their timing is easier as you DO NOT have to time your dash, only when to hit the fire buttons. Other characters, notably Feiyan, will release her shots at a specific time of her dash IRREGARDLESS of when you hit your fire buttons. Thus, you have to time the beginning of your dash instead. This two are the BASIC fundamentals of the vs game. As you can see, both techniques require your opponent to dash FIRST. very impt point. Things that you can do during a dash freeze. During a dash freeze, there are certain things you can do earlier than others, ie it allows you to regain mobility earlier. 1) Fire a central weapon. During the freeze, you can fire your central weapon before you can dash or fire the other two weapons. One can cancel the fire of a central weapon by dashing. So one can actually dash, shoot, central weapon fire then cancel by dash. In this way you can MAYBE recover slighly faster. Anyway you have the added advantage of a powerful shot that might kill projectiles coming your way. BTW, only a central shot that was fired while you mech is standing still can be canceled, ie a crouch central shot or one that is fired while walking cannot be cancelled. This is of dire importance to Viper as you Freezes for a LONG time if a do a walking Homing and Viper just CANNOT afford to get hit. 2) Jump. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR VIPER AND BBB. The advantage of doing a jump after a dash shot is that 1) you recover faster 2) you regain sight of opponent. Unless you are a mech with good air capability (Viper+BBB) you run the risk of getting shot in the air and unless you are Viper or BBB, it is usually very stupid to fire in the air as once you land you are LIKELY to get hit. Specific info for Viper Viper is my main character just like Lion in VF2. One must understand how each of Viper's weapon works under diiffent conditions. Special Weapon Viper's Dash: Can only be done with full ammo. Fly and tap forward and hit two fire buttons. Does lots of damage and VERY HOMING. Uses of this move will be discussed later in Ariel combat. Right weapon (Vulcan) This is Vulcan's main armament. It is weak but recharges fast. Walking Standing or walking while pressing the right button will give you a long stream of weak shots. They are NOT homing so fast character like Feiyan or Arpharmd can just walk to dodge them. They does little damage but little damge is better than no damge. The bulk of your damage to the opponent will come from you missles, homing and Viper's Dash. But this weapon is far from useless. This weapon recharges fast and thus you can use it more freely. Firing the weapon is not to kill the opponent but to irrtate him so that he MUST walk or dash to avoid the shots and thus maybe giving you a chance to hit him with something more puinch. At the very least, it doesn't hurt you a bit to shoot your vulcan so shoot it. One thing good about Viper is that he can dodge most shots by just walking. In the meantime, he can fire back at the opponent, gaining initiative if the slower opponent is forced to dash. Side dash Side dash gives three short streams of vulcan. Quite useless actually as the damage potential is not worth the freeze after your dash shot. Used only when you got nothing else to fire. mm..... one point to note, the dash shot freeze is different depending on which weapon you have fired. foward/back dash This gives you a long stream of shots. Quite useless too. Firstly, forward dash is dangerous to execute and if one has the chance to do it, it is better to do something more damaging like homing as your shots are quite likely to hit due to thrust vectoring. Back dash is REALLY STUPID. Period. In flight In the air you get three short streams of shots. Quite a good option if you do not have ammo for homing as the three streams comes out FAST and are quite difficult to dodge. The shots are weak but could mean a HUGE differance if time is running out and the opponent is leading by a whisker. On the whole, it is better to cancel your flight instead of risking the Freeze when you land. crouch (pressing sticks inwards and fire) does a short stream of shots. Crouch shots do not require time to start firing, That means you can execute a crouch shot immediately when you are walking and firing something. Example, Viper is walking and firing his vulcan, he wants to fire his missiles. Normally he have to stop firing his vulcan and WAIT for sometime before his missiles can be fired. Alternatively, he can do a crouch shot which comes out immediately. There are two kinds of crouch shot. a stationary crouch and a moving crouch. A moving crouch is done by first walking sideways and immediately closing in the sticks for a crouch shot. Needless to say, a moving crouching is MUCH better. BTW, you cannot do a moving crouch Homing. Left Weapon (7-way missiles) Each weapon have its own uses and the 7way missiles is very strong in close to mid range. However the missiles are slow and not very homing so their power lies in their numbers. Walking Very useful in close to mid range as it is virtually impossible to dodge 7 missiles at close range. Useful at longer ranges when used in combination with homing. Fire the missiles, force opponent to dodge and use you homing to try to catch the opponent when he recovers. One thing to note, if you do a walking homing you cannot move for quite an appreciable amount of time. This problem can be solved by actually stoppong first then fire or fire your missiles while ending your walk behind cover, then fire homing. Side dash Side dash missiles gives the missiles a partial upwards velocity in the beginning allowing them to go over obstructions. The upwards velocity will cause the missiles to miss at very close range and thus in this case there exist a minimum range. This minimum range is shoter than that if standing/sidedash homing. Useful if there are obstructions between you and the opponent. Forward dash This is a power move that can be used to punish opponent in a freeze, esp a flight freeze. Time your dash so that you get near when the opponent stops and you fire at close to point-blank range, as close as possible. If all goes right almost all the 7 missiles will hit giving you very substantial damage. Here I need to mention something that is of great importance. When you fire a weapon in a dash, you mech will turn to face the opponent. How much the mech turns before releasing his shots is of great importance. Certain weapons like Arpharmd shotgun fire almost immediately without turning (one of Arpharmd weakness, as Arparmd Cannot do a forward dash shot up close) while others like Feiyan's left weapons turn completely to face the opponent before releasing any shots. Needless to say, it better to fire at the opponent. In the case of 7way missiles, you will release you first missile without much turning and then the 2nd, the 3rd all the while turning to face the opponent. From my experience, if you forward dash past the opponent and hit your missiles, the first 2 will be airballs while the rest should be on target so its not that bad. Back dash This give you a ball of missiles similar to what you get in flight. Utterly useless. Flight Gives a one ball of missiles. Good vs ariel opponent in close range as the wide area of the ball ensures a almost certain hit. A homing is better vs ariel opponent at mid range. Other than that this move should not be used as the ball of missiles are VERY easy to dodge and slow. Crouch Looks identical to standing missiles except the missiles supposedly start from another direction (Left to right or right to left, I've forgot) Not much differance I guess but of course it has the advantage of being a crouch shot (look at crouch vulcan for discussion on crouch shots). Homing The most powerful weapon of Viper and requires skill (timing) to use. Standing/Walking There is a big difference in the standing and walking homing. Even though they look the same, the walking Homing CANNOT be cancelled by a dash, ie you cannot fire the homing and immediately dash and you will be frozen for some time. SO NEVER do the walking homing unless you have cover. The standing homing on the other hand allows you to fire and run so its quite safe. The homing bean has a quite a big upwards initial velocity allowing it to go over obstructions but that also means that is it useless at close range. The fact that the homing goes up then down at the opponent means that it has the potential to hit the opponent even if he is behind cover. Thus all depends on you timing of your shot, release it so that it arrives when the opponent freezes and you should do substantial damage. Sidedash This sidedash homing has the same upwards velocity as that of a standing. Its uses is the same as the standing but with the added advantage of allowing you to dodge enemy shots first than counter. Basic use is that you see opponent jump and fire, you sidedash to dodge the shot and time your homing to hit the opponent when he lands. Useful against people like Viper and BBB. Forward,Back Dash. The great thing about this shot is you do not have to worry about where the opponent lands, you just have to TIME your shot and your mech will turn to face the opponent and the upward velocity ensures your homing will reach your target even if he is behond cover. This give you a homing without a upwards velocity allowing for close combat. The forward dash shot is VERY USEFUL for viper. Firstly, viper will turn and face the opponent before releasing the shot and that coupled with the homing ability make the shot deadly accurate. One way is to dash past the opponent and release the shot where you opponent CANNOT see it coming. Thus he doesn't know exactly when to dodge and will probably dodge too early, allowing the homing to adjust its flight and track him down. Crouch Identical to Walking homing as you cannot cancel by dash. As the advantages of a crouch shot. Combat!! There are basically two kinds of combat involving Viper, Ariel and land combat. Both are equally important. When I first started out playing Viper, I did not understand the importance of land combat and consequently I lost to players who know the weakness of Viper. That is he is VERY vulnerable at the point he lands. Let me discuss Ariel combat as I feel that that is more shallow. Ariel combat. Viper has great lateral movement capability in the air and thus almost impossible to hit. One must ALWAYS be moving sideways to dodge any potential shot. It does Viper great injustice if you were actually shot down in the air. The is a shot perios when Viper is rising from the ground when he can get shot but other than that you SHOULD NOT get hit in the air. Once you are in the air you can mainly do five things, first three being firing each of the three weapons, fourth being Viper's dash while fifth is flight cancel. BTW, Viper is the strongest when he is in the air above the opponent's head, out of sight. There is not much offensive point is jumping from far in plain sight. Thus the later discussion is based on the fact that you are flying above the opponent. BTW, where you land is critical so try to find some cover where you land. 1) Shooting Vulcan. This does minor damage which unless this minor damage is critical to the game or you are certain of very good cover upon landing, do not attempt this. 2) Shooting missiles: This is very strong against an opponent who is very close, prefably in the air whereby a certain hit is almost ensured. Other than that you should save your missiles. A quick flight cancel, walking missiles is much more powerful. 3) Shooting homing. The basic trick Viper has is mixing up his Homing and Viper's dash. The whole point is that the only way to dodge the Viper's dash is by jumping which leaves the opponent vulnerable to the homing. So the threat of getting hit by the Viper's dash coming from nowhere often force the oponent to jump. Once he jump, fire the homing for an easy hit. 4) Viper's dash A powerful option for Viper in the air, a dangerous one too. The point is ONLY do the dash above the opponent's head where he CANNOT see it coming. To do otherwise will make you vulnerable when you recover. If the opponent successfully jump and dodge the Dash, he will then jump cancel and try to hit slice or hit you when you recover. All is not lost as the time when you lose you invulnerabililty to when you gain mobility is quite short making the timing of the counter difficult. Raiden is the MOST dangerous character to try a viper dash. In fact, its just no point cuz one miss, Raiden will shoot his Lasers which last soo long and will catch you the instant you recover, leaving you with a silver of life. Aprharmd and Temjin is also dangerous to try against. The whole point is shoot more homing than Viper dash, thus the opponent develops a habit of dashing away. Then once a while do the Dash. 5) Doing the above tactics will give you a competent Viper but it is the Flight cancel that will make your Viper one to be reckon with. Firstly, although Viper is strong in the air, he is very vulnerable when he lands. Secondly, his LONG hangtime in the air allows the opponent ample time to orientate after dodging Viper's shots and punish Viper. Thirdly, good players with an idea of it is almost impossible to hit Viper in the air will usually just concentrate on dodging Viper shots first. So if you are directly above your opponent, GOOD players will dash to dodge a possible homing then maybe cancel it by a jump to dodge a possible Viper's dash. The jump will be most probably be cencelled immediately once the opponent sees that there is no Vipers dash coming as one is vulnerable in the air (unless one is Viper or BBB). This series of movement is actually quite good defensively as it keeps one really safe. Notice that the opponent will not fire any shots which is reasonable cuz the is very little chance of hitting viper in the air so the opponent will try to dodge then wait for you to land. Taking advantage of your opponent's mentality, you can flight cancel safely then upon landing release your missiles which is very strong at close range. The whole point of flight cancel is that it allows you to land safely by sacrificing shooting in the air, which will most probably miss anyway if the opponent is good and follow the above-mentioned series of movements. So when you land, you must know the mechanics of land combat esp vectoring. Land Combat. Viper has VERY WEAK armour and thus will be skewered if he tries to engage the opponent in a land only battle as he just cannot afford to get hit. Land battles however is still a part od Viper's arsenel and CANNOT be ignored. From Afar. The high offensive capability and mobility give Viper an edge in long-distance combat. The point is fire as many shots as possible from your three weapons and hope that one catches the opponent. Example, walking vulcan, crouch (moving) missiles, homing, dash vulcan. This barrage will confuse the opponent and hopefully something will hit, most probably the dash vulcan. The point is you are not supposed to get hit from afar as you have ample time to see shots coming. This applies to the opponent as well but viper has far more shots than any others adn it is through numbers that Viper hopes to score a hit. Mid Range Viper is in a extremely dangerous position at mid range as he is quite vulnerable on the ground. So the whole point is when the opponent shoots something, fly. DON'T DASH. Try to get over the opponent's head to set up offenseve chances. You can fire your missiles at mid range and they are quite powerful. Close up combat This case occurs when you flight cancel relatively close to the opponent. In this case the opponent should be slightly disoriented as he is in the process of dodging you supposedly air shots. A quick release of Homing or Missiles should ensure a hit. Use homing if the opponent is dashing away from you madly. Use missiles if the opponent is not disoriented and facing you. Alternatively, if the opponent is facing you, a quick dash past him then fire you homing is a good choice. Playing for time out. Viper can play for time out if you are leading by a series of flight cancels. Effect of stages. Viper is the strongest in Space Dock where there is this huge obstruction which provides great cover for Viper. Viper is the weakest in Ruins where there is no cover. That's all for Viper As usual comments and flames are welcome. Alan Tan