User:Mavi/Spirits Primer
This page is intended to help newer players understand how to choose Spirits for different characters. It is a rough guide and represents the opinions of one player. Listed character+Spirit pairings also do not mean those are the only or even necessarily best choice of Spirit for a character, only that the character works relatively well with that Spirit. Additional notes with looser opinions and elaboration from the other are placed at the end of each Spirit section. The headers for each Spirit link to their respective Spirits wiki entry. This page does not cover the console-only Spirits.
There are currently no plans for full chars of character-Spirit synergies across the entire cast. That represents a significant undertaking and could easily change with new information. Check the character pages, consider the information here, take both with a grain of salt, and use your best judgement to pick Spirits as suits you and any matchups you encounter.
I Spirit (怒 Rage)
Important:
- Good Hyper Slash: damage, range, startup
Helpful:
- Good Rage duration/retention
- Not reliant on supers
- Not reliant on other Spirit mechanics for movement/defense
Example Characters:
Charlotte, Haohmaru, Sieger, Zankuro
Opinions
Hyper Slash is game changing, both to use and to play around. Very high risk, especially given I's lack of defensive mechanics, but also high reward. Entering Rage cranks your offensive threat to 11 with a massive Rage bonus (roughly 50%), though its baseline bonus for max Weapon Gauge is slightly lower than other Spirits.
Characters who like this Spirit tend to also work well in other Spirits, so it functions well as a matchup-specific choice against certain characters or players.
Look carefully at a character's Hyper Slash properties and overall gameplan when considering this Spirit. Haohmaru, Sieger, and Zankuro all have large, damaging Hyper Slashes, making them effective recoil cancel options and sometimes even punish tools. Charlotte's damage is slightly below average, but her startup is extremely fast for a Hyper Slash. Kusaregedo's Hyper Slash is massive and deals high damage, but is also so slow that opponents can often break the armor with a second hit or simply recover to block in time. I also deprives him of much-needed rolls.
II Spirit (真 True)
Important:
- Benefits from roll mobility
- Good WFT
Helpful:
- Good Rage duration/retention
- Benefits from one time use of Secret Move
- Good specials for canceling out of Toy Transformation
Example Characters:
Opinions
A jack of all trades Spirit that is at least decent for basically everyone, but often not their best option. Character specific, often convoluted inputs for both Secret Move and Toy Transformation add some awkwardness to this Spirit. Toy Transformation adds some unique spice with startup invulnerability and ability to immediately special cancel, though the aforementioned inputs limit use cases and the neutral frame on wakeup prevents use against meaty setups.
Yoshitora is a great fit for II: a command grab and varied other specials to roll cancel into, use of Secret Move early in a round is beneficial to unlock Yuuchouka and he can confirm into it, a comboable WFT, and multiple good options out of Toy Transformation. He also doesn't strongly benefit from a lot of other Spirits unique mechanics, so their upsides aren't as appealing for him as other characters.