Description of the fighters

I know I'm not the only one who wonders this. I have Evo, and I've played all the characters a bit. But I still question their fighting styles. What does each fighter focus on, what are they capable of, what do they excel in, what are their weaknesses? Any description and info about their styles would be very helpful for people who struggle to choose a main when starting to play a new fighting game. I know I should be asking this in Evo, but people here know how the different characters work up to this point, and I barely have time to play Evo. The more info I can gather up about them while I wait for VF5 360, the better.

If this clears anything up, I am coming from a DoA background. I've heard some general info about them, but it's just not enough. I may over something character-specific that I may learn to like later on; having all the info up front in one thread is a much better idea for me. If I have to wait until the game comes out and info is found, then I can wait in the meantime. Thx in advance for the info and the help.

 

It's too early for me to say for sure who's what in VF5, but see below for my view on the groupings so far. Note that just because I've classified a character as stance-based, it does not mean that the character does not have (for example) a solid power game. It just means that the character is usually played with more emphasis on stance than power. Brad, for example, has a solid power game similar to that of Jacky, but he is known more for his slipping stances.


Power-based characters: high damage potential, solid mix-ups, these are your all-around characters. Probably best for beginners.
- Akira: SDE, 'nuff said
- Jacky: the most well-rounded character
- Kage: slightly more stance-based, but still well-rounded
- Lau: highly offensive, a character to keep attacking with
- Lion: good range, hard to hit

Speed-based characters: characters with fast attacks that tend to recover quickly but do not take as much damage as other characters.
- Pai: speed and range makes Pai strong
- Eileen: great mix-ups and strings, but with short range
- El Blaze: runs around all over the place

Throw/defense-based characters: these characters tend to have great defense, and are best in throw-counterable situations.
- Wolf: best throws bar none
- Jeffry: throwing game has improved in VF5
- Aoi: sabakis, evasive moves, and good throws
- Goh: could be classified as power-based, but many throws and sabakis make him better at defense

Stance-based characters: these characters require significant investment of time in terms of learning movelists, flowcharts, and options. They are usually very flashy looking and often confusing to opponents.
- Lei Fei: exemplifies the stance-based character
- Sarah: Flamingo seems to be emphasized more in VF5
- Brad: slipping is powerful, but Brad can also win without stance
- Shun: SOU stance is extremely powerful in VF5

Other
- Vanessa: a combination of power, speed, defense, and stance in her two stances.


Please feel free to disagree with the above! Would love to read other opinions on how the characters compare.

 

This might help a little.

The search engine may also help you get a general idea of the different characters. If you have more specific questions, this thread is a good place to do it /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

I'm working on an in depth character selection guide that will talk about these things. Won't be ready till after US release though, so be patient if you can . Everyone should feel free to talk about their thoughts though since the import version are arriving as we speak.

 

I'm an idiot. Here is the link I wanted to give you

Sorry about that!!

 

haha. Vanessa is UNCLASSIFIABLE!

But actually it's hard to put each character into a specific group. I think Lion is more based on speed/defense, and Jeffry is a power/throw character. You could have long debates about each character's true strengths, because you can play any/all of them in different styles. Especially Vane.