Fiona general guide.

• Renges65 wrote on 2010-11-06 18:23
  Found this thread a bit ago where people are discussing rank 9 Butterfly Swing.
  
  Nexon Forums - Rank 9 Butterfly
• risend wrote on 2010-11-06 20:18

  Quote from Renges65;206349:

  Found this thread a bit ago where people are discussing rank 9 Butterfly Swing.
  
  Nexon Forums - Rank 9 Butterfly

  
  
  Half the people in that thread is talking about swords Smash #3 combo Ivy sweep and not butterfly. Butterfly only goes to rank A as far as I know in both versions of Vindictus.
• heretic304 wrote on 2010-11-07 07:49

  Quote from Gotejjeken;206342:

  You can also pull off six blossom blows in about the same amaranth time if you HS cancel. I find myself doing Amaranth less and less...I would actually be interested in a Ivy Sweep calculation vs. Amaranth, as Ivy R9 seems to do a ton of damage with that added kick, and it can also be pulled off a lot faster than an Amaranth. The only time Amaranth is really viable is if you PG into it...but I find myself CA'ing in that situation more than anything.

  
  
  It would depend on the situation. Sure 6 blossom blows is great, but the stamina usage for that is immense compared to that of a single amaranth kick. 42 stamina per triple blossom vs 18 stamina for 1 amaranth kick makes it clear why it's still a useful smash. I often find it better, and safer, to do one amaranth and a single or double blossom if time allows. And in my experience a triple blossom seems to take about the same time as 1 amaranth, so I'm not sure how you're able to do 6 of them. If you're talking 3 double blossoms, that seems quite impossible since it requires 2 normal hits per combo.
  
  Assuming you're talking about a downed boss, let's not forget to mention that amaranth's animation cancels much more quickly than a triple blossom or a triple Ivy. So using that on a downed boss allows for some strategic variations. For example, something with a long KD time will allow for an Amaranth and a Blossom or double Blossom. Something with a shorter KD time will allow you to time your Amaranth so that it land as it gets up and becomes vulnerable to KD again and still give you time to cancel in case it doesn't fall down. If you were to try doing that with blossom or ivy sweep, you'd require nearly the full smash combo to get that, and since they don't cancel as quickly, you'll be more vulnerable to getting hit as well.
• rymd wrote on 2010-11-07 18:00
  yeah what heretic said
  r9 blossom kind of disappointed me because the stamina cost was insane and it took too long to use. it sucks that the third blossom takes so long to complete too and can't be canceled very fast. i kind of find myself switching between blossom, ivy, and amaranth frequently, depending on the situation.
• Andy-Buddy wrote on 2010-11-07 18:03

  Quote from rymd;207275:

  yeah what heretic said
  r9 blossom kind of disappointed me because the stamina cost was insane and it took too long to use. it sucks that the third blossom takes so long to complete too and can't be canceled very fast. i kind of find myself switching between blossom, ivy, and amaranth frequently, depending on the situation.

  
  
  That's sort of the beauty of using a sword. You can switch between play styles and adapt to different situations, be it bosses or a large number of mob monsters.
  
  Hammers also have that beauty, just you give up some ability to react.
• Andy-Buddy wrote on 2010-11-07 19:44
  Does anyone know exactly what Large Shield Pros and Cons are?
• Arus wrote on 2010-11-07 19:56

  Quote from Andy-Buddy;207359:

  Does anyone know exactly what Large Shield Pros and Cons are?

  
  Pros: Better defense and durability, and Heavy Stander keeps you from getting pushed back at all while costing less stamina.
  Cons: No counterattack or retaliation bonuses after r9+ perfect guard.
• Andy-Buddy wrote on 2010-11-07 20:01

  Quote from Arus;207379:

  Pros: Better defense and durability, and Heavy Stander keeps you from getting pushed back at all while costing less stamina.
  Cons: No counterattack or retaliation bonuses after r9+ perfect guard.

  
  
  Thanks.
  
  Anyone know if it takes longer to go into HS? And you can still GCHS with it, right?
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-11-07 20:51

  Quote from Andy-Buddy;207393:

  Thanks.
  
  Anyone know if it takes longer to go into HS? And you can still GCHS with it, right?

  
  
  What the heck is GCHS...?
  
  It takes the same amount of time to set up guard and heavy stander. Basically, the only real difference here is that you gain more defensive capabilities while losing retaliation.
  
  No counter. You don't get the 3rd hit startup on perfect guard either. And it weighs more stones, obviously.
  
  The advantage here is that you're pretty much invincible as long as you hold your heavy stander. Very useful against raid bosses and runs where the enemies all do nothing but smash.
  
  Edit: Oh, GCHS. I'm not sure.
• Bakuryu wrote on 2010-11-07 20:52
  GCHS = Guard Cancel Heavy Stander.
  
  Also, I wonder if large shields will become useless with Heavy Stander Counter.. since you can only do that with small shield. I guess it will depend on how useful(damage/stun?) HSC is.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-11-07 20:55

  Quote from Bakuryu;207454:

  GCHS = Guard Cancel Heavy Stander.
  
  Also, I wonder if large shields will become useless with Heavy Stander Counter.. since you can only do that with small shield. I guess it will depend on how useful(damage/stun?) HSC is.

  
  
  It was already kinda worthless as it was.
  
  They need to give large shields a huge buff. Or a large shield only attack.
• Bakuryu wrote on 2010-11-07 20:57
  Well not exactly worthless, the pros wasn't that great, but Fiona really sucks against raid bosses, and Large Shields made a little better. But yeah, they definitely need a buff right now.
• Andy-Buddy wrote on 2010-11-07 20:59

  Quote from Bakuryu;207461:

  Well not exactly worthless, the pros wasn't that great, but Fiona really sucks against raid bosses, and Large Shields made a little better. But yeah, they definitely need a buff right now.

  
  
  Damage Return GOGOGO!
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-11-07 21:02

  Quote from Andy-Buddy;207466:

  Damage Return GOGOGO!

  
  
  See that would be kinda cool but once again makes it only worth using against raid bosses.
  
  Not that devCAT has EVER managed to balance ANYTHING in the past, but I'm hoping to see Large Shields buffed in a way that there would be incentives to use outside of raid boss combat.
  
  Same with hammers, I suppose. Capping skills at rank A kinda makes using them pointless if sword skills can go much further.
• Bakuryu wrote on 2010-11-07 21:10
  But the point of large shields was never to be used outside of big ass bosses D:
  It was never intended for people to choose one type of shield and only use that, one type of shield good for something, the other good for another thing, change equipment depending on what you are facing.