The King of Fighters XIV/Leona Heidern
Movelist
(*) = EX OK
(!) = MAX OK
Throws
Leona Crash (Forward) - 
/ 
+ 
Leona Crash (Backward) - / ; + 
Command Normals
Strike Arch - + 
Special Moves
Moon Slasher - (charge) 
+ 
/ *
Baltic Launcher - (charge) + / *
Earring Bomb - 
/ *
Grand Saber - (charge) + / *
- Grand Saber (Follow Up) - after
Grand Saber, 
+
X-Calibur - in air, / *
Desperation Moves
V-Slasher - in air, 
/ !
Slash Saber - 
/ !
Climax Desperation Move
Leona Blade - +
Quick Combo Reference
| 0 Meter |
Anywhere |
(Combo 1) = (damage number here) dmg |
| 1 Meter |
Corner |
(Combo 1) = (damage number here) dmg |
| 2 Meters | Anywhere | (Combo 1) = (damage number here) dmg |
Gameplay Overview
Leona is an excellent KOFXIV character with no major weaknesses. As of patch 2.0, her health was nerfed to 900 (along with Kula, Athena and Mai). Her damage was also toned down quite a bit as X-Calibur won’t combo from any air normal anymore, but overall her damage went down too. She still has an amazing set of normals and combo potential to take down anyone. Leona also has the fastest back roll in the game and a run animation so low that it runs under several pokes from the whole cast. She is execution-heavy with plenty of charge moves and tight cancels, but a strong character for anyone willing to learn her.
Strengths:
- Crazy damage
- cr.B links into cr.C, also acts as frametrap
- Complete set of great normals, both ground and air
- V-Slasher to punish for slip-ups
- Versatile, can be played defensively as well as rushdown
- Two instant overheads with big damage potential
Weaknesses:
- Bad meterless reversals
- Demanding execution
- Low health means she can be killed in one hit against certain anchors
- Somewhat low damage for 1-bar combos
Normals
Standing
- st. A - A good, fast poke. Will stuff hops too, but due to height, it doesn’t cover full jumps that well. No special or command move cancel. Suits well for MAX-cancels. Also has a super cancel.
- st. B - Slightly less range and height than her st.A. Cancel-wise it’s very similar to st.A. Due to input overlaps, it’s better to use st.A for super cancels.
- st. C - Best range out of all her ground normals barring s.CD. Advances her forward by a lot and is a fast move to throw out in hopes of a MAX or super cancel.
- st. D - Used pre-emptively it’s a fair antiair kick. Will whiff on crouchers unless you are close enough to prefer any other move instead of it.
Close
- cl. A - Despite the animation being a higher standing punch than st.A, it will still hit crouchers. Very quick and has a special and command move cancel. Slightly plus on block.
- cl. B - A standing low kick. Other than being low, it doesn’t have much use due to being lesser to cl.A.
- cl. C - A somewhat slow heavy normal that hits twice. The most important thing that cl.C does is forcing opponents to stand up. Which means it’s one of the best normal to go for after MAX-cancel. Both hits have all possible cancels. As of 2.0 with the MAX run speeds unified, cl.C has become consistent to go for in combos.
- cl. D - A two-hit knee attack, either hit is cancelable to ground moves despite the animation. Good for hitconfirming although you will be left minus on block.
Crouching
- cr. A - A good fast crouching jab that has a whiff cancel into itself and both B-normals! Slightly plus on block.
- cr. B - The fastest normal Leona has, tied with cr.C. This great low also links into cr.C on hit. Does not cancel into command moves, but otherwise has every cancel. A cornerstone poke for every Leona-player.
- cr. C - Fast, crouching uppercut swipe that links from cr.B, which is huge. Huge recovery on whiff or if left uncanceled. Do not use unless it hits in which case it’s a great move. Works as an antiair.
- cr. D - By itself it’s a standard sweep, but lacking in the cancel department. You can only MAX cancel from this which is somewhat of a waste on hit. Do not whiff.
Jumping
- j. A - One of the best aerial normals in the game. This move will hit crouching opponents as an instant overhead. In addition to that the hitbox is wide and fast enough to be used as an occasional crossup and air-to-air. Special and super cancel. As of 2.0 will no longer combo into X-Calibur.
- j. B - For straight up air-to-air situations j.B is the better choice with a long and fast horizontal reach. Special and super cancel.
- j. C - Her best jump-in with the chunkiest crossup hitbox. Has a special and super cancel too.
- j. D - Leona’s least useful jumping move, but possesses the same cancels as the rest. Hits slightly further horizontally than j.C which might make it useful in some cases. Will only rarely crossup.
- nj.D - Leona has two instant overheads, this one does more damage, but has to be used up close. As of 2.0 will no longer combo into X-Calibur so you need to opt for V-Slasher instead.
Blowback
- st. CD - A long-reaching hand stab. Longest range out of any ground normals and it has a whiff cancel. Avoid using it without a cancel into D Grand Saber, which makes it quite safe and gives a combo on hit.
- j. CD - Leona does a glowing kick which in line with other j.CDs does major blockstun. On counterhit you can go for D Grand Saber into C Moon Slasher.
Throws
- (Throw description)
- (Throw description)
Command Moves
Special Moves
Notation Key (*) = EX OK
(!) = MAX OK
Super Special Moves
Climax Super Special Moves
Combos
- Any bnb ending in [2]8+C (charge down then up+heavy kick) can be followed up with any amount of bar you want to spend with Slash Saber (EX) to Leona Blade or just Leona Blade. Input as 2147C 41236KK
Any combo where you end with V-Slasher, can be extended with Leona Blade or Advance canceled to Saber slasher. You can also EX V-Slasher for more damage.
Rush Auto Combo
Meterless: description here
1 Meter: description here
EX: description here
0 meter
- cl.D, f+B, qcb+C, [2]8+C
- cr.B, (cr.B,) cr.C, f+B, qcb+C, [2]8+C,
(omit one cr.B if too far or you hopped in with a button.)
- cr.B, (cr.B,) cr.A, f+B, qcb+C, [2]8+C
(same confirm without link and cr.C whiffs on block. Less dmg.)
- nj.D or forward hop j.A, 214C, V-Slasher.
(Instant overhead combo.)
- st.CD [4]6+D, f+D, V-Slasher
- st.CD (fully recovered) [2]8C.
(Does not work from max range. Useful if you did not buffer [4]6D from your CD poke.)
- st.CD (fully recovered) TK V-Slasher.
(Useful if you do not have charge. Does not work from too far away.)
1 meter
- Far C [BC] cl.D, f+B, qcb+C, [2]8C
- Far C [BC] cl.D qcb+BD, [4]6+BD, [2]8C = (339 DMG)
(standing only. 50 more damage.)
- cr.B, (cr.B,) st.A [BC] cl.D, qcb+BD
- cr.B, cr.C [BC] cl.D, qcb+BD
Corner
- j.CD Counterhit. [2]8C.
(Start charging during j.CD animation. Depending on the height you catch them, you might put yourself to corner or not. Be ready for this for Leona Blades input. Works on both ground and air hit.)
- j.CD Counterhit. TK V-Slasher.
(Works on both ground and air hit.)
2 meters
- (place combo here) = (place damage amount here)
(place combo description here)
3 meters
- (place combo here) = (place damage amount here)
(place combo description here)
4 meters
- (place combo here) = (place damage amount here)
(place combo description here)
5 meters
- (place combo here) = (place damage amount here)
(place combo description here)
Misc
Videos
Leona Slow Motion Hitboxes
External Links
Discussion Threads
Discuss at Dream Cancel