The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/EX Billy

Introduction

EX Billy is a midrange character that excels at zoning with his long reaching normals and strong pokes. He has good anti airing options such as a long reaching upwards pole attack and a anti air super to help with his zoning. In addition to this Billy can also rush down to push the opponent back into the corner where his pressure is strong and he has access to some really damaging combos. Billy also has access to some mixups in the form of lows, an overhead and an untechable throw. Billy has a fairly unique weakness in that most of his long pokes have very bad priority where the hurtbox extends further out than the hitbox, meaning he can get hit from further ranges than most characters.

Changes from previous versions

98 to 98UM

Normals:

• a new hitbox added to st.C. It now hits diagonally upwards as well as in front.
• hitbox of cr.A lengthened.
• New animation to cr.D, the staff now hits twice instead of one staff hit and one sweep.
• raw f+B is now an overhead

Specials:

• qcb+K added, diagonal anti air move
• hcb+K added, a multi hitting staff move
• Mash+C reach increased
• maximum number of hits increased from six to 8

Supers:

• added qcfx2+K, an upwards travelling fire wheel move, Max version shoots the ring of fire downwards afterwards
• qcfx2+P startup reduced by 5 frames, 5 frames and 9 frames respectively for the light, heavy and max versions , all the versions can combo from lights

98UM to 98UMFE

Normals:

• close C no longer whiffs on short characters
• crouch D now cancels into special and super moves
• f+As second hit should no longer whiff on short characters

Specials:

• HCF+Ps A version has 6 frames less recovery, C version has 10 frames less recovery
• Mash A/C, you can now cancel the animation by pressing ABCD together

Normal Moves

Close

• cl. A: Has good vertical reach. Decent point blank anti air. Whiffs on short crouchers. Chainable. Cancelable.
• cl. B: staple combo tool when chained into from cr.B. Chainable. Cancelable.
• cl. C: One of Billys main combo tools. it has a lot of active frames so it can be a good meaty. Cancelable.
• cl. D: whiffs on regular crouchers and lower. Can be a decent close range anti air. Cancelable.

Stand

• st. A: Decent poke. More active than st.B. Whiffs on tiny crouchers. Cancelable.
• st. B: can be useful for stopping hops. whiffs on short crouchers.
• st. C: long range poke with two active parts, the first diagonally above Billy which can stop jumps and the second in front of him. Like many of Billys longer pokes it has very bad priority.
• st. D: very slow move with some low invulnerability and decent hitboxes for stopping jumps. Very risky due to how slow it is and should be used with caution.

Crouch

• cr. A: long range poke, very useful for checking grounded movement from the opponent. bad priority.
• cr. B: Billys main low combo tool. Chainable. Cancelable.
• cr. C: very fast move which makes it an excellent combo tool, can also be used for anti airing or as a poke since it also has nice forwards priority. has a lot of recovery on whiff. Cancelable.
• cr. D: Long range sweep that is whiff cancelable. Has good priority making it a good poke as well. Cancelable.

Jump

• j. A: very fast making it excellent for air to airs.
• neutral j. A: Long reaching forwards poke that can be good for air to airs. bad priority.
• j. B: good jumpin that also works as an instant overhead.
• neutral j. B: mostly the same as j.B but with a different animation. not an instant overhead.
• j. C: long range poke with a lot of active frames. bad priority.
• neutral j. C: downwards hitting long poke with good priority making it a good ground to air and air to air tool.
• j. D: good for jumpins and crossups.
• neutral j. D: pretty much the same as j.D but with a different animation.

Blowback

• st. CD: great long range poke with nice priority. Whiff cancelable.
• j. CD: great jumpin attack with good priority.

Throws

Drop into Hell: (close) b/f + C

• hold throw, not techable. Billy picks the opponent up on his pole and shakes them around a bit, then slamming them down sending them fullscreen away with a hard knockdown.

Skewering Toss: (close) b/f + D

• regular throw, techable. Billy picks the opponent up with his pole and slams them down behind him sending them fullscreen away with a backturned hard knockdown.

Command Moves

Wide Revolving Kick: f + A

• two hitting move with great priority on both hits. One of Billy's main pokes and combo tools.

Pole Vault Kick: f + B

• slow overhead move that travels forward a lot. Has good priority.

Special Moves

Midsection Club Cruncher: hcf + A/C

• Billy thrusts his pole forwards. The A version starts up faster but recovers slower while the C version is the opposite.

• The A version is your go to combo tool as the C version is too slow to combo.

• the C version is the better choice for neutral use as it's faster recovery makes it a bit safer to whiff.

• has a ton of priority so it can almost be considered a projectile in use.

┗ Flaming Midsection Club Cruncher ( During Midsection Club Cruncher hit): qcf + A/C

• Followup move to the Club Cruncher. Billys extended pole erupts into a burst of flames that knocks down

• Will only come out at about 3/4ths of the moves range so it won't come out if you hit them at the tip.

• Only comes out on hit.

• Causes a soft knockdown.

Whirlwind Cane: A tapped repeatedly

• Billy spins his cane around in circles. Can be canceled at any point by pressing ABCD.

• Can nullify projectiles.

• does a lot of hits and good damage if you catch the cornered or backturned opponents with this.

Focus Continuous Beat Canes: C tapped repeatedly

• Billy sends his pole out in front of him at a rapid fire pace. Can be canceled at any point by pressing ABCD.

• This move pushes the opponent far out which makes it a good move for getting opponents out of close range and into zoning range.

• Unlike the A version this move does not nullify projectiles.

Pursuing Fire Dragon Cane: qcb + B/D

• Billy delivers a series of 4 strikes with his pole.

• A version starts up and recovers faster but deals a bit less damage than the C version.

• this can be a fairly safe chipping tool as it has a lot of pushback leaving you at zoning range afterwards.

• all of the strikes have good priority on them

• can be a decent combo ender.

Sparrow Drop: qcb + A/C

• Billy thrusts his pole diagonally out into the sky.

• the A version starts up faster and recovers a bit faster but does less damage.

• kinda hard to use on reaction but the A version is the one that should be used for it.

• for preemptive anti airing on a read the C version will deal more damage.

• this move can not hit grounded opponents at all so only use it when you're sure they're going to be in the air as whiffing it will lead to a guaranteed punish.

Soaring Crackdown Cane: dp + B/D

• Billy polevaults into the air and comes down about a half screen away from the starting position of the move.

• the B version is faster but leaves the opponent closer to the ground when it finishes leaving less time for followups.

• the D version is slower and harder to combo into but leads to better juggles.

• neither version combos from lights but both combos from heavies.

• in the corner this move is extra deadly because you can combo a super afterwards for big damage.

Desperation Moves

Crimson Lotus Crush: qcf, qcf + B/D

• Billy creates a ring of fire with his pole and jumps into the air.

• super that can be used for reversals or anti airing.

• will combo from both lights and heavies.

• Max version does more damage.

Super Fire Wheel: qcf, hcb + A/C

• Billy spins his pole around creating a ring of fire, he spins it in place for a while and then sends it flying forwards.

• both A and C version are fairly similar, they mostly have different timing for the hits.

• mostly used for a corner combo after dp+K.

• Max version does more damage.

Salamander Stream: qcf, qcf + A/C

• Billy strikes with his pole creating fire in front of him.

• Has good range so is his primary combo super.

• combos from lights and heavies

• Max version does more damage.

Combos

• cr.B cr.B cr.A f+A

Basic low confirm combo into a safe ender that doubles down as a good blockstring.

• cr.B cr.B cr.A qcfx2+C

low confirm combo into super

• (j.X) cr.C hcf+A

meterless combo from heavies and jumpins

• (j.X) cr.C dp+B qcf,hcb+C

corner combo into super from heavies or jumpins. dp+K can be prone to whiffing if spacing isn't on point.

• (starter) f+A ABC qcfx2+C

quickmax combo where you link a super after f+A. Best used in the corner since the pushback can make the super whiff midscreen.