N00b Jeffry looking for a consultation! Hilfe!

Hello! After reading through heaps of very useful info on this (and other) sites, I have created an account to be able to ask specific questions. VF is a long-lasting passion of mine, I remember the awe VF1 created when I had a first chance to play it . I lost contact after VF2, since more recent version arcades did not make it to Czech and I was a PC gamer only. Now, with PS3 and VF5FS, it's time for a little revival - and I must confess that though I am now rather old, the game is still as mesmerizing as it ever was.

So, enough banter, on to my questions. I played Jeffry from VF1, it's my favorite character (he has dreadlocks, and everyone considers him dumb and clumsy), and I don't intend to change that. I was quite sad to read that the official tiers consider him one of the weakest, and online, I have not met a single Jeffry player yet, just a lot of Jackies, Pais, Sarahs and Fei Longs, or what's the guys name - oh, and Akiras.

That said, I can play hard AI just fine, I can best my local offline friends, but online, I get beaten so badly... My greatest concerns are:

1) Interrupting enemy combo flow. I have already learned to rely on simple or to try to jab into the enemy combination, but reading them is a great problem for me - there are delayed attacks, and traps that cause me to counter at a disadvantage even when it seems I should be good. Do you have any advanced Jeffry-specific tips?
2) I have problem with crouch dashes. I have a good stick (Street fighter IV TE round 2), but still, there are lot of errors when executing. I will practice, but it does not feel natural at all yet.
3) Evading - it's new for me, having played VF2, and I always seem to evade to a circular - or, when it succeeds, I fail to follow with meaningful counter, the enemy seems to recover too fast.
4) Advanced throws - I have practiced the wall throws or air-catch throws as a part of the tutorial, but in actual match, all I can do is simple ( or ) + and that's all. How do you guys do it?
5) - Jumping knee attack, should be a launcher and combo starter, but it seems so risky to me (long recovery) that I almost never use it.

Favorite, and surprising moves I have discovered so far:
- two low punches, great against crouching opponents
+ from running - it ignores high block, large success rate
+ - stomach crumble, excellent move.
+ - Kenka kick, great long distance opener.
- and hooks in general, I feel are Jeffry's main weapon
- sweet little knee, excellent against those who duck often under attacks

Any comments welcome, sorry for all the errors and stupid things I probably wrote! I know it all comes down to systematic practice, and I will practice, but I guessed a little discussion can't hurt.

 

Yes, and one last thing I forgot - jumping. The super long floating jumps from VF2 were completely surreal, but even now, I don't understand their usefulness. I mean, they are slow, while flying, you cannot block nor do anything other than one attack, and you are extremely vulnerable. I have also never seen anyone using them. The only use I can think of is jumping over anticipated when rising from the ground.

 

First of all, do you have xbox version or only ps3? If you have Xbox it would make it much easier if I just beat the information into you.

IMO is not good, the first hit is special low so you can block it standing, then by the time second hit lands a decent player will be able to react to that. I've found though it can be more successful if you do the first part then follow up with a mid since they will crouch anticipating the 2nd part. Also, if you predict your opponent is going to do a move that is high, will duck under that high and interrupt it - most likely CH.

Running P+K has nasty recovery and it's not unblockable unlike the other running attack. I personally would never use this attack.

I heavily prefer + to because they're both 16f but the stomach crumple is safe on block whereas the double upper isn't. The deal-breaker is that the double upper can't be hit-checked like taka's twin pistons and so it's basically too much of a negative risk/reward scenario for me.

Is excellent and can be hit-checked to bottle cut. If you just keep throwing out the string though it can be predictable and you will be punished when opponent ducks the high.

I use kenka kick from time to time, but as a round opener.. that's ballsy lol. I'm interested in trying now though!

1. The problem you're describing seems less about Jeffry-specific tips and more about just not knowing your opponents movelist thoroughly. The best way to do this is just go through the command list of the character in question and especially focus on the strings or w/e that you're having trouble with to see the frames on block, if it's circular, etc.

2. Practice. ^_^

3. Evading to circulars is a little tricky. You have to know your opponents movelist and which way it goes to, front or back. Obviously you can't be always right and will eat one from time to time but it will make your life much easier. Also, if you're facing a good opponent, they will notice which way you like to evade. So if you always evade up, your opponent can check their stance and always deliver a half-circular covering the direction you always evade towards, making it seem like you're always eating them. So mix them up.

In terms of punishing evades, I can't remember the exact formula and don't know if it changed in FS so it'd be great if someone chimed in here for that. Generally speaking though, if you evade a move that has long recovery you will have more frames at your disposable to punish them, whereas if you evaded a standing punch, you won't have much of an advantage if at all.

4.Practice. ^_^"

I will say though, air throw isn't very useful unless you want to be flashy. Only exception is against shun where it docks off some of his drinks.

5. Knee is awesome, but if you're just throwing it out at random with no purpose crossing your fingers that maybe it will land this time.. that's indeed risky lol.

Consider this though, whenever you throw out a + with Jeffry and it gets blocked you notice your opponent attempts a throw. You answer with a knee and half his life his gone. If he's a shitty player he will never learn (lol, just keep doing it) but if he's a good player he will adapt and so will you.

Here's another scenario, your opponent can't hit-check. He 2p's you, doesn't matter to him if it hit or not, he's going for his next attack. You block his 2p and he's at -5, your knee will beat a 12f jab or another 2p attempt let alone whatever the fuck that scrub was thinking of doing (probably a launcher lol) and bam, half his life is gone. In general knee is your friend against abare players, if you land a standing P you're at +5 minimum, again they try to attack and they're eating that knee.

If you evade a big move, chances are you can launch them with knee after evade. Lots of times it won't work and you should keep a mental note on what moves it didn't work on. When your knee is blocked on side-turned though it's still punishable but less-so, they can't do anything fancy.

That's another reason I don't like the reward is so much less than knee and they're both punishable, so fuck it I go big or go home.


As I've said though, I prefer to play and show you rather then comments and such so let me know if you have xbox version!

 

Jumping can freeze your opponent because it's a guessing game. You can attack low from it, mid or no attack at all and throw them or something as you land in front of them.

I haven't actually used it much myself during matches though because it is indeed slow, it's something I've been meaning to experiment with actually, on my to-do list.

 

Thank you for all the detailed information, and sorry, I unfortunately happen to have the PS3 version - I bought PS3 for all those crazy Japanese exclusives like Metal Gears, Yakuza and such, I have soft spot for Japanese craziness.

So that's a pity, I would very much appreciate training with someone experienced.

One more think - could you please provide a definition for the term "hit-check"? I have seen using it a lot, does it mean attempting a fast attack in the middle of opponent's combo, or does it mean a fast, exploratory low risk/low reward attack like jab?

 

Well, I'm getting the ps3 version in a few weeks anyways hopefully so no worries, get yourself comfortable so I can assess you.

Hit-check is simply what it implies, for example if you throw out a low punch, did it hit or not? When you threw it out in the first place the goal was to interrupt your opponent to swing the advantage back to you so an offense can be started again. If your low punch got blocked though, you would have to act differently unless you want to take a big risk but that's more advanced stuff.

Another example is Jeffry's , you do the part first and hit-check it, if it hit on CH then your opponent will float and the second part is guaranteed. If the got blocked though you hit-check it and don't use the follow-up.

Does this make sense? You check to see if your strike hit before proceeding. This also works the other way, like checking if your opponents low punch hit you or not, everything is happening really fast during a match and this is an important skill to master!!

 

Kama what rank are you? Depending on the ppl you challenge, your playstyle will differ. For example, against newbies 1PP is f'ing gold, and ballsy kenka kicks are awesome because newbies are always surprised by the range (even if they've eaten it for the past 2 rounds already) and it will never sink into their heads that you have the frame advantage even if they have blocked it. So against newbies I purposely kenka kick into their block and then just CH combo their lights out.

However, against players who play with brains instead of mash, kenka kicks will get you killed because they'll just evade it and side-combo you. And 1PP is blockable as Kamais said.

If you're going to do a running attack, use the K+G version. Because you lie down after a miss. Even if you get punished, it won't be a half-lifebar-damage combo like the P+K version will eat.

Diagnal jumps in general are much faster now in VF, no longer the moon-gravity version of the older games. The 9K hop kick comes out fast, avoids lows, and has fair range.

And, learn Jeffry's 2 barebones (i.e. no well-timed P's in between the big hits) re-bounce combos until it comes out naturally even in online-challenge situation where you're nervous. The most common chance to use it is when you land the 3K+G. That's the best Jeff move I know of which induces a crumple:

(1) Crumple -> 43P+K -> 33P -> 4KP.
(2) Crumple -> 214P+K -> 41236P+K -> 4KP.

 

@Whenever I talk strategy, I have top player/japanese opposition in mind when talking strategies and such, I should have said that from the beginning. Thanks for bringing that up Mlai lol.

I'm warrior btw but I don't think rank means much, I haven't even played much rank in the last week now. It sickens me... Off topic though haha.

 

Speaking of rank, I am currently 2nd dan, but I don't know what does it means exactly (how bad or good is it?). I would find ratings similar to chess ELO system clearer (i.e. when you win/lose, your rating increases/decreases, and the amount of points you win/lose depends on rating difference between the opponents).

Yes, + is a good move, but somehow I don't use it much because I get countered too often. I will probably have to get more familiar with the advantage system, though practice, no doubt.

As for Combos, the longest chain I managed to pull of containded as the hooks seem to raise the floating opponent up. Is weight still a factor in VF5SR? Because Akira seemed to juggle me forever, with a strange kind of a lowkick.

"Combos" I managed to use successfully:

+ (or 3x)
(quite good though the is a very risky move)

Also, is a simple and a fantastic kick, I am surprised how often it just hits.

That said, I am convinced that I am a total beginner, because I cannot do most of the things I have read in the various tutorials. Specifically, I cannot dash with confidence, I evade only sporadically, I constantly forget to speed up recovery after being knocked down. Most often I just guess-alternate high and low blocks and try to spot good moments to enter into the opponent's chain with or - so strictly defensive, you would say poking game. Sometimes, it even works quite well.

 

You are not alone. I am a brand new VF player but I have had experience with 3D fighters (Mitsu in SC). I've scratched my way to 4th dan and I've picked up some terrible habits along the way.

• Using to punish wiffed wakeups
• Using : and immediately going for ground throws
• Mashing under pressure (true scrub tactics)

And I have dexterity issues as well. I'm too adjusted to double tapping to evade like in Soul Calibur and waste my advantage. But I know that practice will weed out many of my weaknesses. I have debated switching to a "higher-tiered" character, but I enjoy Jeff too much to put him down (Maybe Jean as a backup). But keep at it, there are so few of us Jeffry's out there that I'd hate to see any go.

 

Well, I share your sentiment about Jeffry. He used to be a killer back in VF2, I remember my friends swearing at me after ducking yet another + circular kick and punishing with an effortless throw... but now, how much disadvantage one has just for picking Jeffry? Are there high level players using him at all?

 

Jeffry is a great starter character in that his gameplan is relatively "simple". You can mix up between a strong throw and mid launcher as a general rule.

Try to create opportunities to use qcfP+G, qcbP+G, and 46P+G throws into your game. An easy way to set this up is to use 2P sparingly. Throw it out to stop your opponent's momentum and immediately go for a throw after the hit. Do this and you can condition your opponent to expect throws. Then you simply swap in 3K+G after the 2P. If they throw tech or even duck or sidestep wrong they will eat the kick, then you do qcbP+K>hcfP+K>4KP for 80 odd damage vs most characters.

If 3K+G is blocked you are at -8 so nothing is really guaranteed and you need to be ready to defend or evade.

I started playing Jeff with less than 6 tools:

-Throws listed above
-3K+G combo
-Knee combo
-P and 2P
-3K as a spacing move

Always remember the basic rule of VF, throw beats block, block beats attack, attack beats throw. If someone defends vs one thing they are vulnerable to another. There is almost never a 100% safe choice. Even with using a just a few basic tools, if you know when to use them right, you can do well vs many opponents.

Hope that helps, it's kinda basic but I don't know how deep you wanted to get it. Just ask if you have more questions.

 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Speaking of rank, I am currently 2nd dan, but I don't know what does it means exactly (how bad or good is it?).</div></div>
Until you get out of dans and into the named ranks, you'll be fighting mostly newbies or mashers. Once in the named ranks, you'll have demotions as well as promotions.

At the low-mid dans, don't expect to throw too much (unless it's an air throw or ground throw). There are just too many mashers who you cannot condition to guard; they'll be mashing away at PPP even while being CH by you, so use the 2P -> 3K+G tactic at your own peril.

An easy follow-up that I've found after a successful 2P is 3PP. You can hit-confirm it because it flows so naturally from 2P, and is practically guaranteed against a masher. It results in him being side-turned. If you know he's still mashing, you can combo him. If you know he's finally scared, do the 46P+G/64P+G side-throw for a flashy dose of pain.

 

Okay, been practising some more, I start to spot the failed opportunities, and I start to understand why I lose more.

One more question - Offensive move, should I even care on my level? Is it useful/necessary?

 

Useful for quick positioning in the ring.

For example, you're near the corner of the cage, or you're near the edge of the arena, and you manage to knock him down. Use the 1 second you have to OM out of that corner/edge.

 

Well, after 200+ something matches or so, things are becoming more interesting. I have incorporated dodge into my play, though I must admit that I tend to do just all the time. But against certain characters it's very good, especially against Sarah's and Jackie's backflip.

The characters I have most problems against, though, are Eileen (I absolutely hate her), Lei Fei, and also Goh. I have problems reading their moves, especially that shaolin monk has so many canned combos that alternate low and high attacks that it is infuriating.

Also, Wolf has some throws I don't get - he seems to come from across half the field and immediately throw, insane.

And yes, is surprisingly fast and good move, I started to use it sporadically as a surprise weapon.

 

If you successfully side step a slow to recover, linear move like that then you should go for a launcher and get some big damage in.

 

There are two techniques I just can't perform reliably - TKoD and Buzzsaw kick. No matter what I do, it comes randomly like 1 in 20 attempts. Any special trick to them?

 

TKoD - As long as you're patient enough to wait until Jeff's kicking foot touches back down onto the ground, and as long as you know how to hadoken, TKoD should be 100% successful execution all the time. Sega seriously made the execution window that retardedly big.

What the heck is the Buzzsaw Kick? Is it the P+K,P,P+G on CH? Just do it a few times in dojo to marvel at the animation, and then forget about it because you'll never get to use it in a real fight.

 

on CH is on counter-hit, right? What exactly does it mean, does the opponent have to try to attack, or must the middle register as CH to be able to follow with +?