CANADIAN EVO - Lei Fei - First Impressions

Hi there - I've been getting up to my elbows in Lei Fei since I got VF4 back in like... Feb, it must've been. After several months, I became a high king with about 2000 wins, no losses, and set about trying to reach 10,000 wins, as this was the only challenge left - the AI was kinda' sucky.

In fact, though I was clearly skilled at the game, I knew I had much to learn. For example, I had never found a use for, and therefor never became proficient in:
- throw reversals / escapes
- evades
- the evade attack
- the forward / backward ducking motions
- and fast stance switch-ups (which as we all know is integral to a high-perfomance Lei).

I've complained about this on these boards before - my talent had reached a plateu, and could not improve until I was challenged further. I could not evolve - I needed Evolution.


Now being Canadian (and somewhat low on the Video-Game-Distrubution-Food-Chain), Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution only came out the day before yesterday.

I found a sales clerk who - by slip-of-tongue or perhaps mere stupidity - promised me a thirty-seven dollar credit if I traded in a used copy of Splinter Cell. I held him to his word, and finally got my own copy of Evo, along with a 7 dollar store credit. /versus/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Here are my impressions and observations, after a day of playing:

And WTF, my stats too...

ShaolinTAO
Win Ratio : 98.1%
Win(s) / Loss(es) : 361 / 7

30.9% Completion
29 / 84 Wallpapers
51 / 153 Emblems
23.9% Items
36.2% Players

...just so you have a taste of where I am, and where I don't know I'm going.

The first 3 things I noticed about Evo:

(1) The intro sucks compared to VF4.
(2) Lei's slower, but no stronger /versus/images/graemlins/frown.gif
(3) The A.I. is totally better.

Upon further play, a few basic things reveal themselves :

(4) Hang time has been improved : people stay up in the air longer /versus/images/graemlins/grin.gif
(5) Lei's overall style is in for a subtle change, given the addition of Bokutai.
(6) Lei will most likely become Lau's apprentice for VF5 /versus/images/graemlins/grin.gif
(7) Lei's reverse stance has been greatly improved.
(8) Remember how some moves just WOULD NOT work against the AI in VF4? Like the sweep on +,? Well, the same and the opposite is true for EVO. For example, if your enemy is crouching, you can nearly always hit them with + or the Tiger Sabaki (wierd). As well, in Evo I find they actually fall for the final sweep on +.

Now aside from that, these Quest fighters are givin' me real trouble. By that I mean they win one round or sometimes even two, and now that I'm on to the fifth arcade, my losses have just shot up. I was at three going in /versus/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Clearly, I myself am in for a bit of an evolution, if I am to reach 50% completion. For old-school evo players out there : how do I get Lei's blindfold? I know, I know - "do a search, you lazy fuck" - I already did and found a thread that was supposed to address it, only it didn't really, and I got no clear instructions on how to get the blindfold. 'Less it's the kill-them-on-exactly-the-10-second-mark thing - haven't found that quest yet.

Anyway, I don't want this to be completely useless, so here's moves/flows/combos that have been serving me well, on my first day with Evo. And as a note for people who haven't read my stuff before, I consider the stances to be:

++ = Nehan Shiki
= Koko Shiki (Tiger Stance)
++ = Hai Shiki
++ = Dokuritsu Shiki (Crane Stance)

WORKABLE FLOWS :

Now while no flow will serve you as reliably in Quest as it did in Kumite (the AI is too smart - they'll learn and find weaknesses), there are a few that serve:

BACK ATTACK :
+---(NEHAN SHIKI)---+,---(NEUTRAL)---+,---(TIGER STANCE)---Lady's Choice

The enemy will often expect you to use all three strikes of the sabaki from Nehan Shiki, but by omitting the last one, you give yourself a much higher priority on the next move - use this time to hit your enemy back with +,, and follow with whatever seems appropriate. In my case, I've found this is one of the few opportunities they'll give you for from Tiger Stance.

SMACKEMBACK : EVO

The smackemback flow (if you're familiar with the style) is in for some pleasant improvements thanks to Bokutai, not the least of which is an opportunity to gain ground and enter reverse stance.

Here are several Smackemback flows with no explanations:

Classic Smackemback:
(DOKURITSU SHIKI)------(HAI SHIKI)---,+

Classic Smackemback Evo Combo:
(DOKURITSU SHIKI)------(HAI SHIKI)---,+---NEUTRAL STANCE)---+---(Enemy Flops)------(HAI SHIKI)

Smackemback Bokutai:
(DOKURITSU SHIKI)------(HAI SHIKI)------(BOKUTAI)
Follow with:
---(Throw)

or + as necessary.

...and I'm tired so I'll finish this later.

-Tao

 

I can't believe this - I finished the flows section and combos last night, but I guess I was an idiot and hit "preview" instead of "yes, this is the right one, post it you stupid program". So, I'm not about to go and write them all up now, but I was working on some stylin' wall combos today, and here they are:

WALLBANGERS EVO:

While the good ol' Wallbanger isn't as reliable as it once was, there are a few variations that can serve:

(HAI SHIKI)---,+---(wall stagger)---+---
71 Damage - nice and reliable.

(HAI SHIKI)---,+---(wall stagger)--- (hold for stance)---+
79 Damage - there's small struggle potential between the + and the .

(HAI SHIKI)---,+---(wall stagger)------(high wall bounce)------+
82 Damage - reliable, but the can be tricky.

(BOKUTAI)------(wall stagger)--- (hold for stance)---+
76 Damage - reliable.


Note : the old Carrier Combo:
(Dokuritsu Shiki)---------++---+---+

Is still reliable up to about... oh, ninth dan or so. After which, your enemy will consistently stuggle out between the two set-up kicks. HOWEVER : I *have* managed to pull it off against some higher level people - conquerers, and such - it's kooky.

And... yeah. Does anyone know what move should follow from Crane Stance for a reliable combo? tx,

-Tao

 

Most powerful followup I know of after (from Dokuritsu Shiki) is: (from Hai Shiki) -> + (from Hai Shiki)-> +. Also, after you stagger with the , (from Hai Shiki) is almost impossible to avoid. Those are the best combo options I know so far. Of course you can always cancel the stance and just throw. /versus/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /versus/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

A good player will always be able to stuggle out of the after the . So normally i do instead (like what Dre said, it's impossible to avoid). After the , it will leave you in Dokuritsu Shiki and you can two choice your opponent with either + or or + (which is not evadable). Or just cancel and throw.

 

Not 100% sure but I do beleive the eye band can be found through the random "Winner Gets a Prize" matches. That's how my buddy got it.

Now I got a question for you. Where abouts in Cananda do you live? Actually PM me the answer so we don't break the thread too too much.

Rock,
Cuz

 

I managed to get the blindfold yesterday - between the Straw Farmer's hat, the blindfold and Mr. Monkey, I'm a happy camper /versus/images/graemlins/grin.gif!

Perhaps it's different in each version (or indeed, random in each game?) but I got the blindfold at the... one, two.. I think it was the sixth arcade had a challenge where it was "Hit the guy at the 10 second mark". I've read here on VFDC that there's a quest to have the KO right at the 10 second mark, but I only had to smack Brad at the right moment, and I got my fold.

 

No actually you're a 100% right on that one! He did get it after the "hit at th 10 sec. mark" quest.

Rock,
Cuz

 

The end?

Okay, I'm up to like the ninth arcade - how many are there?? (not searching for it, and won't) Point is, I'm feeling much more comfortable with my Lei Fei Skillz and Tezznikki, to the point that I can't really work on a VF4 to EVO transition guide - I feel better suited to a beginner's guide to Evo, and as such am moving on.