Guilty Gear X2/#Reload: Kliff Undersn FAQAuthor: kunou_samaWritten on March 24, 2004 Last Revised on February 23, 2007 |
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Kliff Undersn, a hidden character in Guilty Gear X2/#Reload, can be an extremely effective keep-away & power character if used properly. This guy dishes out huge amounts of damage if you know what you're doing. While this FAQ will not go over Kliff's background or how to unlock him (this stuff you can find at gamefaqs), this FAQ will tell you what are some of Kliff's effective strategies and combos. This FAQ is for an advanced player, so if you don't understand something try using the links on this page for some background. Since most people play #Reload anymore the bulk of the strategy will focus on Kliff's use in #Reload; a section at the bottom outlines how things change for Kliff in #Reload from X2.
Pros and Cons
Kliff Vocabulary
Shitkliffing
v. Shit?Kliffing
To beat the shit out of an opponent while using the character Kliff Undersn in Guilty Gear |
An event in which you shitkliff |
Kliff Strategy: Keep-away with Pokes
Kliff has very nice pokes, which means that he can keep the opponent one-sword's length away for most, if not all, of the match. This should be the main strategy in most situations. This ability, coupled with Kliff's small size and great anti-air will create an impregnable fortress. The basic moves are outlined below:
The chart is not too hard to figure out, even if you cannot read Japanese. The numbers represent the damage of the moves. The most important things to look at in this section are the far S (fS) and crouching S (2S). fS executes on the 13th frame while 2S, your farthest reaching poke, executes on the 7th. These moves, along with the Houkou Gaeshi (236P) special move, will be the basic pokes used. fS and 2S can be chained: fS -> 2S -> 236P. This poke chain should restrict ground movement against most characters. 236S should NEVER be used due to its laggy startup and horrible recovery time (32 frame disadvantage!!!); 236P will work fine. (Even if you can FRC the 236S move, it grounds on hit and doesn't allow for a followup combo unless you are very close) Restricting ground rushes from the opponent should force them to take other options.
Kliff Strategy: Anti-air
Kliff's anti-air comes in three forms: 6P, H and Urokohagashi (623H -> H*n). 6P is a powerful anti-air and should not be underestimated. Not only does it come with a x4 Stun Modifier (the opponent takes 4 times as much stun damage as usual), but it chains to cS into air-combo. After dizzing an opponent a few times, they will probably try to "hover" (use their double/triple jump) over your head and take advantage of 6P's recovery. 623H will serve to take out opponents who try this. 623H can be continued for awhile by mashing H to extend its active time. However, 623H doesn't chain to anything (without RC maybe) and its recovery is pretty bad too. H is good for dealing with opponents who try to come in at weird angles. Since it surrounds Kliff 360 degrees, it will cover Kliff's back as well. Sometimes however, just running away while they're over you and resetting the keepaway is safest.
Kliff Strategy: Overdrives
Unlike most characters, Kliff's overdrives are powerful and useful. Reflex Roar (236236S) has some invicibility frames (Frames 3 - 5 are invincible), comes out lightning quick (5th frame: 4 frames until red screen, and 1 frame after transition), covers almost the entire screen horizontally, does good damage (100 damage), has a short recovery time, and can be comboed!!! The FRC (Frames 6 - 7) for this move is required for some combo setups (against male characters in particular), but for 75% tension you can heavily cripple any character. Some other things to note: (1) Since the Overdrive comes out so quickly, almost any whiffed or blocked move can be punished with this. (2) All the pokes can combo to this move, including 2S. (3) The active time of this move is deceivingly long; many times characters that jump over it will start landing and get hit by the "hot air" trailing the Reflex Roar! (4) Even 2D can cancel to this move, meaning that you can start the combo from a low-hitting attack. Combos for this Overdrive will come up in the Combos Section.
Soul Surviver (4641236H) is primarily a wake-up attack, since it has invincibility frames from frame 1 to frame 22. It causes some good damage too, usually on the order of 140 to 160. There aren't any other great uses for this move, except you can also use it to counter due to its invincibility properties.
Kliff Strategy: Dizzying the opponent
While Kliff's moves all cause large damage, they all cause the normal amount of stun except for 6P. Guys like Potemkin and Slayer, have reduced stun on some of their more powerful moves like Potemkin Buster and Dead on Time. Kliff does not have this restriction and thus can pile on his most powerful moves to cause maximum dizzy damage.
Stun Formula: (Damage * Combo Modifier * Other Modifiers - 5) * 0.15 * (Random number between 1.00 and 1.03)
As an example, lets look at the stun from a counterhit 6P:
(32 * 1.00 * 2.00 (<- for counterhit) * 4.00 (<- 6P stun modifier) - 5) * 0.15 * (1.015 (Average number)) = 38 stun!!! Three of these within a reasonable amount of time will stun anyone, even Potemkin with 80 stun resistance! Let's say you use CH 6P, notice it connects and then do another 6P for the launcher since the opponent cannot recover from CH 6P. The 2nd 6P will do about:
(29 * 0.75 * 1.00 * 4.00 - 5) * 0.15225 = 12 stun. So, for a simple CH 6P into another 6P you inflict 50 stun. From here you can launch into an air combo and hopefully knock em out. Think of 6P as Guilty Gear's Gigas Breaker - most people will dread getting hit by it so much that it's mere presence will probably keep people from jumping in on Kliff. Kliff's other moves can stun a lot too: even a simple Reflex Roar out of the ass does 14 stun on a normal hit and 29 stun on CH! (Test you can try out: Three consecutive counterhit 6P's are enough to knock anyone out, including Potemkin.)
Kliff Strategy: Floating Kliff Fairy
If you end up in the air as Kliff, you will notice that Kliff floats alot and that it takes him awhile to land. If you want to move through the air at a reasonable speed, Kliff can airdash unlike Potemkin. To get down quickly if you're high in the air, you have two options: D and Shishi Otoshi (41236S) . D causes Kliff to jump on his blade and cruise down at a 45 degree angle. This is an overhead, regardless if the blade hits the opponent's feet or wherever; in fact, you should always aim the air D towards the feet or legs, since this makes the move much harder to punish as well as comboable into Reflex Roar. Air D protects you almost everything the opponent could throw out, like dedicated anti-air such as 6P (and Potemkin's 2H and Axl's 2S and Ky's Vapor Thrust and...) and it even protects you from ground-to-air throws like Heat Knuckle, Heavenly Potemkin Buster and On (I've confirmed this). Using Kliff's air D against anti-air will usually result in two things: the opponent getting hit or a clash. Pretty nice. Using D along with 41236S (which causes Kliff to fall straight down and cause an explosion) should allow Kliff to land and restart keep-away. (The size of the explosion depends on how far you drop, so if you TK this move then the explosion is very small.) Kliff is not too strong in the air, so it is recommended that Kliff's feet stay planted on the ground. You can, however, tactically abuse air D since it is hard to punish this move due to its speed and angle (difficult to defend with 6P).
Some other times Kliff can be in air: iad K into combo, iad backwards H, and iad cross-up H. The iad combo will be reviewed in the combo section, while iad backwards H is a defensive move that is relatively safe. If you're good at air-throwing, you can try Kliff's. It's nothing special, but I have read that you can combo after it if you know what you're doing.
Kliff's small size
Kliff's small size is the key for his keepaway. Unlike Axl, who has to worry about opponents running in under P, airdashing in low over Rensengeki and airdashing in high, Kliff only has to worry about opponents running in and airdashers with his moveset. Also, since Kliff is small most air-to-ground will miss or the opponent has to wait too long to attack and the extra time will allow Kliff the time he needs to start anti-air. Axl's keepaway requires very good reflexes to stop a good opponent, but Kliff's keepaway is much easier since his pokes are quick to recover and cover a lot of space.
Another aspect of Kliff's size is his reduced hitbox: Kliff's sword does not count towards his hitbox until about halfway up the sword. You can test this yourself by seeing how far 2S can go through Invite Hell. Use the sword tip invincibility whenever possible, like with 6H okizeme.
Kliff Strategy: High-Low game and Okizeme
Kliff doesn't have too much in the way of high-low and okizeme. His basic options are:
High-Low:
Kliff Strategy: Wakeup Moves
Since none of Kliff's special moves have invincibility, only his Overdrives can effectively be used for wakeup. However, they are very good moves for wakeup. Reflex Roar can be FRC'd just in case the opponent blocked which means it is safe to use even if they are expecting the wakeup. And Soul Surviver will push the opponent back too far to retaliate if they block it (If they go over you though, you're in trouble). 2H can be used as a defensive move since it has some lower body invincibility (frames 4 - 26) and is pretty fast (executes 12th frame). Wakeup is one part of Kliff's game that improves tremendously in #Reload (Sen no Sen).
Kliff Strategy: Moving Around
Kliff is not too quick, so he is more of a defensive character. The quickest ways to move around are iad, an air D after a super jump or 214K. If you are running, remember to use FD brake since Kliff's braking animation is pretty long. Kliff's backdash is pretty good; it covers a large distance in 13 frames, and frames 1-9 are invincible.
Kliff Strategy: Rushing Down and Advancing
Kliff has two main setups that allow him to relatively safely advance: one involves fS->iad and the other involves 236P FRC. The first setup: fS is jump-cancelable, so you can iad cancel it and attack. In the second setup, one very much like Venom's Stinger Aim FRC, Axl's Rensengaki FRC, and Sol's Gunflame FRC, Kliff can FRC his 236P at the end of a gatling chain and iad in or run in for pressure. Once you FRC, here are some good mixup options; Try to use them all to make your attacks harder to read: iad K, 6H, 2K, and 2D. All of these can lead to a followup combo that can cause tons of damage if the enemy's guard meter is partly full.
Another way to advance (not necessarily rush) is to use iad and mix up between iad K and iad D. If the opponent sees the iad and sets up anti-air you can "stop" the air dash with air D and then hit their feet instead! A CH air D to the feet will launch high enough to follow up with Reflex Roar too.
Kliff Strategy: Going from Intermediate to Advanced Kliff Use
Let's face it - no one is very impressed when you play Kliff as keepaway; in fact, most people would call this "cheap". If you want to actually impress people while playing Kliff, you need to learn a few things. Not only will these things look cool and usually impress people, but they can also make your game much more deadly as well.
Notes on Kliff's Other Moves
In this section, I'll review the last few special moves that I haven't gone over too much before and show why you may or may not use them:
Defensive Statistics
Kliff has the weakest defense in the game, on all fronts:
Lines of Defense: A Review
As a quick review, let's go over Kliff's Lines of Defense one last time:
Tension Management
Kliff gains tension pretty slow, so don't waste it and DON'T get a Negative Penalty (shouldn't be too hard as Kliff, the game is pretty lenient with him). Other than Overdrives, FD and Dead Angles, the only other use for tension would be the 236P FRC. This can be used in combos (see Combos section) for pressure and should be an important part of your game. 214K can also be RC'd into a combo in the corner, but this is a very specialized circumstance.
Kliff vs. - Character Specific Strategies
Here are some character specific things to keep in mind, as well as my assessment of particular matchups. I have referenced this for #Reload, since this is the current version of Guilty Gear:
Two important points: All female characters, Bridget and Kliff will wall-bounce high after Reflex Roar, effectively eliminating the need for the FRC in most cases (See Combo 2 below). Because of this and the fact that females have lower defense, Kliff tends to have an easier time against female characters. On the other hand, heavy characters cannot be launched with 2D->236P FRC which makes these matchups more difficult.
Kliff | Anji | Anji's autoguard move, Kou, is pretty useless against Kliff's pokes. However, the autoguard Overdrive can hit Kliff so watch out. The only setup that is dangerous for Kliff is the post-On Perfect Butterfly Trap. Watch out for this; this is where a Dead Angle or Burst is strongly recommended. | |
Kliff | Axl | I think this match is pretty even. Axl outranges Kliff, but Kliff's pokes and recovery are faster. For Axl to cause big damage though, he will have to come in for FRC Rensengeki or something else into an Axl Bomber loop/combo; on the other hand, Kliff doesn't have to move in close: he only needs 2S->Reflex Roar. Axl's counterstances are another thing to watch out for, so use 2D if you think he will try to counterstance a 2S. | |
Kliff | Baiken | Baiken's counters cannot hit Kliff at maximum range, but her dust loop is still something to be wary off. Stay out of that corner and force Baiken to come to you. If she doesn't, try using the taunt and then draw out a counter. | |
Kliff | Bridget | Kliff has Bridget beat in poking, so rushdown is really Bridget's only viable option. Try using 214K to screw up yo-yo setups and land a Reflex Roar combo; Bridget floats for a very easy followup air combo. | |
Kliff | Chipp | Chipp may be fast, but he simply has to hit Kliff way too many times before Kliff lands a hit to win. If Kliff lands a good solid combo the round is probably over (especially if the combo started off a CH 6P) since either Chipp gets knocked out and dies or Kliff can play pure defense after that. | |
Kliff | Dizzy | Dizzy can peck away at Kliff and force him to come in close with her numerous projectiles, taking some power out of Kliff's optimal game. Her rushdown has too many holes so Sen no Sen gets you out pretty easily and I don't think it should be too much of a concern, but watch out for her combos because she can do alot of damage. | |
Kliff | Eddie | The infamous Eddie. Eddie's lockdowns and unblockables are a little less fearsome thanks to Sen no Sen; if Eddie leaves a small opening, use it to get outta trouble. Also, with its three punches you can stop a rushdown by destroying the shadow with one punch and using the other two to drive Eddie off. If Eddie summons the shadow before downing you, try to destroy it with a fS-2S (fS in case Eddie tries to have little Eddie take the hit and rush in, chain to 2S to hit him too). Watch out for Invite Hell, since the far drill can hit just outside of 2S range and the drills can hit Kliff's sword. To get past drills, mix it up with some iad pressure and 214K. All in all, I think Eddie lacks the tools to get a good Kliff into a good lockdown, with far Invite Hell being almost the only viable method. | |
Kliff | Faust | If you think about it, Kliff simply does what Faust does but better (except high-low game). Try to stay within Kliff's sweep range so you can take advantage of Kliff's superior execution time on his pokes. | |
Kliff | I-No | I-No's Chemical Love goes right over Kliff's head, and his 2S can hit her out off Taiboku o Sasuru Te. With those gone, I-No can only come in with note use and the air kicks. Still, Kliff's antiair is so powerful I don't think I-No really stands too much of a chance. | |
Kliff | Jam | Jam simply has no effective tools to come in: any iad stuff will get a prompt 6P, and her Burst Rush and ground rushes are stopped by 2S (her 2S seems to be able to beat out Kliff's 2S in some cases though - watch out). Without these, her speed and combos mean nothing when it is relatively easy to hold her off. Her 214K can potentially open up a combo opportunity, but it has high risk too. If Jam thinks she can get free kick charges from far away use Reflex Roar or 214K to change her mind. If she tries to parry stuff, start throwing in a 2D every once in awhile. | |
Kliff | Johnny | Johnny can dish out lots of damage, but only if he can get past Kliff's keepaway. Watch for Divine Transport since this goes over Kliff's 2S; however, it also goes right into 6P though if you time it right. | |
Kliff | Ky | This guy's projectiles can make this fight a pain in the ass. Use 214K and Reflex Roar to punish this when possible. The taunt also is pretty useful in this matchup, since Ky will probably just shoot crap until he can land a knockdown and start his okizeme. Luckily, Ky's high-low game is not very good. This is one matchup with your ability to use 236P Handbeam rushdown will be very important. | |
Kliff | May | May can cause lots of damage if she can land a combo, but her range and advancing options put her at a very high risk. Zone her correctly and watch for vertical Iruka's and this should not be too bad: Her light weight is a plus for you. | |
Kliff | Millia | Millia may have a great wakeup game, but her best advancing tools can be neutralized if you play correctly. Since her air D is of no concern since Kliff is so short, she can only attack with the hairpin from the air; if you draw this out try and make she she can't get it again. Her ground advances are worthless against 2S; just watch out for obvious things like Emerald Rain. If she does manage to knock you down go for Sen no Sen; it is by far your best option due to Tandem Top, her crossups and high-low game. | |
Kliff | Potemkin | Potemkin is probably Kliff's worst opponent; in fact, if I still played X2 I would almost be tempted to give Potemkin the advantage. All of Kliff's pokes are 1-hit, meaning Po can careen right through with Hammer Fall. Ending all strings with 236P will probably start Potemkin FDB'ing back the hand-beam. Potemkin can even FDB the mighty Reflex Roar! Getting too close to Potemkin and using any laggy move will usually result in Potemkin Buster (like don't use 214S too deep, likewise with 214K). Potemkin's H has as much range as Kliff's fS, but Kliff's 2S still outranges it. Slide Head will also force Kliff into the air, but it can be used to your advantage: if you predict a Slide Head, airdash in and use the standard combo - Po will lose about 1/3 of his life. One option with Kliff is to use iad mixups to advance, since Potemkin's antiair is relatively slow. Kliff can still inflict heavy damage against Potemkin with 50% tension, but Potemkin's defense protects him well (around 220 damage for a standard Reflex Roar combo). If you see a Hammer Fall coming and you have more than 50% tension, let him have it; note that you can also use a poke and cancel into Reflex Roar and still hit Potemkin, since Potemkin will either be too slow to hit you, or he will try to hit you in Reflex Roar's invincibility frames. You can also use 214S, fS-2S, 2S-H, or fS-H to break Hammer Fall if you are quick enough. (The nice thing about using the strings ending with H is that it will be a counterhit and Potemkin will be staggered) But if you are playing #Reload, just dodge the damn thing with Sen no Sen. Try using the taunt in this matchup, since Potemkin cannot flick back the letters. | |
Kliff | Slayer | Slayer is outranged by Kliff, so much so that it takes two teleports for Slayer to get through 2S range and reach Kliff. However, an expert Slayer can use Invincible Mach Punches to get past Kliff's sword so watch out for this. Mix in some Sen no Sen so if Slayer does Mach Punch, he whiffs and eats Jigoku no Tsukkomi combos. Use care when using the punches during Sen no Sen as wakeup, since Slayer can teleport behind you (if Slayer is really close though, the punches still hit even behind Kliff!). Slayer is a serious threat because he can kill Kliff with 2 to 3 RC combos, so be on guard. Stay out of the corner, but if you do end up in the corner be weary about jumping out: you might get hit by a 6H combo. The moves to watch out for are Slayer's 6H, air H and Pilebunker. | |
Kliff | Sol | Sol has problems with Kliff for the same reasons he has problems against Johnny; he can be zoned extremely well by their pokes. Sol's iad S/H is destroyed by 6P, his Volcanic Viper is useless since Kliff shouldn't be using wakeup on him anyway, and his FRC Gunflame can be escaped with Sen no Sen. In addition, Grand Viper can be hit with 2S. Keep the match in the center screen to try and avoid Dust Loop setups and you should be okay. Watch out for "Burning Finger", since this goes over 2S. | |
Kliff | Testament | Testament will probably try one of two ways to defeat his loving father: (1) Rush down with high-low-throw and EXE Beast FRC -or- (2) Set traps and look for openings. As Kliff, the blood nets can be disabled pretty easily with Kliff's pokes, but the trees pose more of a problem since Kliff is too slow to run over them. Keep your eye out for Testament laying these things, and remember that Testament is vulnerable while laying them (try to poke him). A turtling Testament in the corner with traps protecting him is best dealt with using Kliff's Taunt. At maximum range the worst thing Testament can do is hit you with EXE Beast, and while the letters cannot disarm the HITOMI trees they will give you some added cover. Also, if the Testament is turtling try to indirectly punish him by waiting for him to get a Negative Penalty before moving in. | |
Kliff | Venom | Venom's rushdown is pretty dangerous, but his ball formations can be nullified if you have 50 tension; it doesn't matter how many balls are on the screen, Reflex Roar will destroy them all and still hit Venom. 2S, 6P and Sen no Sen are, as usual, your best friends. | |
Kliff | Zappa | Zappa's options against Kliff aren't very good. To begin with, Zappa's range and ground-to-air aren't too great in most cases. Kliff can kill the Dog summon with a simple 2S, and the Sword summon just doesn't have the range to be a serious threat to Kliff. Watch out for Ghosts though, and don't let Zappa hit you with the summoning move; Raoh will quickly kill Kliff, so don't give Zappa a chance to use him. Be especially weary of the Dog summon if you get cornered; this shouldn't happen though, since Kliff should do his best at keeping the fight in the midscreen. | |
Kliff | Robo-Ky (#R) | Robo-Ky can gain tension by just laying a mat and sitting there, so try not to let him have free tension. Robo-Ky can hit with some very powerful combos if given the chance, but you should be able to zone him and wear him down. His heavy weight causes some problems with combos, so keep this in mind. Sen no Sen will stop the rushdown abilities that Robo-Ky has pretty well. I think the most dangerous thing to watch out for is CH air S, but if you use 6P properly I think that you can beat this out. | |
Kliff | Justice | Justice will have an uphill battle against Kliff, basically because Kliff's range can make it almost impossible for Justice to move in. Use 214K if Justice uses the N.B. firebomb, since the startup of that move is laggy unless FRC'ed. If Justice starts using the Valkyrie Arc counterstance, use 2D and Combo 9. Justice's high-low okizeme can be escaped with Sen no Sen in #Reload unless a well-placed firebomb prevents it. Kliff's Reflex Roar combos are easy against Justice since she wall-bounces high; unless Justice can land some clean hits, Kliff has the advantage. |
General Combos
Nothing too flashy here, just stuff that works pretty well. The damage values are against Sol, unless otherwise stated. Use these to make your own combo ideas:
Guilty Gear X2 and #Reload Differences for Kliff
Kliff doesn't really change that much from X2 to #Reload, so the strategy from X2 still applies to #Reload. However, one move of Kliff's becomes very useful! Read on! (These differences were confirmed with the Japanese Guilty Gear XX #Reload Complete Guide):
Kliff Triforce of Wisdom
In the spirit of the Baiken Triforce of Bullshit, I have created a triforce for Kliff:
Remember that none of this stuff is absolute; change your own strategies as you see fit. E-mail me if you have any other good ideas or comments. Check back on this FAQ too, since I update it often.
Now go out there and make Kliff proud. "Korezo, Ikkitousen!"