Arqwart
D'Vorah for KP2 copium
OP is a WIP and will be added to as needed.
Best girl coming through.
Giovanna is a simple rushdown character with minimal complexity for an easy skill floor for players new to her. Rocking Chun-Li style huge legs to kick people from miles away and lighting fast speed, Giovanna has deceptively long range for a character meant to be right on top of the opponent.
Before we get into it, here's some helpful information both in general and for Gio herself.
Notations
Specials & Supers
Seupultura (214K): large roundhouse kick that deals notable damage. Can OTG, including after itself at the end of a combo. Gio's go-to combo ender.
Trovao (236K): slow startup advancing kick attack that breaks the first projectile it hits and is slightly plus on block. Great for advancing, block string mind games after conditioning opponents, and wall-breaking combos. Be mindful of its slow startup, however, because it can be interrupted or jumped over.
Sol Nascente (623S): looks like a traditional dragon punch special, but does not have invincibility and does not move Gio off the ground much. Is stupid fast for a special (7f startup) and is always plus when blocked by an aerial opponent. Hitbox is a full arc above Gio (hitting both sides of her) and puts her hurtbox quite low. Combine this with the 0 risk when blocked by an aerial opponent and you have a fantastic anti-air. With its 7f startup, Sol Nascente is the only special that can combo after Gio's 5P.
Sol Poente (214K): can be done on the ground or in the air. Sol Poente is a hopping attack that low crushes, is an overhead, and advances enough that it can be a cross-up tool depending on your distance from the opponent. It's +4 on block but can be interrupted due to its slow startup so be mindful. Air version can hit twice as the initial double jump acts as an attack. Be careful with the air version, though, as it gives Gio a LOT of height which can result in you whiffing entirely.
Ventania (632146H): meter-burning attack super. Costs 1 bar. Advances forward with a slew of kicks and does a LOT of damage. Invincible on startup but death on block.
Tempestade (236236H): meter-burning attack super that can only be done in the air. Costs 1 bar. Stupid fast divekick attack super with no startup invincibility, but be warned that it's a very shallow divekick so it does not go very far forward. Is fucking +5 on block so there's little risk to using it and can act as a pressure tool if your attempt at reading an anti-air didn't work out. It also has a very easy input motion so your jumps become very scary once you have meter.
Key Items of Note
-Frame data.
Best girl coming through.
Giovanna is a simple rushdown character with minimal complexity for an easy skill floor for players new to her. Rocking Chun-Li style huge legs to kick people from miles away and lighting fast speed, Giovanna has deceptively long range for a character meant to be right on top of the opponent.
Before we get into it, here's some helpful information both in general and for Gio herself.
Notations
Numbers (1-9): indicate direction of an input. For example, 2P is the equivalent of a D1 in Mortal Kombat. See Dustloop Wiki's page for details. I'll be using this for combo notations since it's the norm for Guilty Gear.
S: "Slash" normal. Default button is Y / Triangle. Often called "Far Slash" and notated by f.S
c.S: "Close Slash" normal. Default button is Y / Triangle. When close to an enemy, every character has a different Slash attack.
H or HS: "Heavy Slash" normal. Default button is B / Circle
P: "Punch" normal. Default button is X / Square
K: "Kick" normal. Default button is A / Cross
D: "Dust" normal. Default button is Right Bumper / R1
RC: "Roman Cancel" meter-burning move that has a time-slowing effect on enemies and animation canceling effect on one's character. Costs 1 bar and is input by pressing any 3 non-Dust attack buttons at the same time (though I strongly recommend you bind a single button to it, such as one of the triggers).
YRC/RRC/BRC/PRC: yellow, red, blue, and purple roman cancels. When activating roman cancel, you and your opponent's current states will change the color, effect, and use of the RC.
OTG: "Off/on the ground." Means that whatever attack being mentioned can hit an opponent when they're first knocked down before invulnerable knockdown frames kick in.
S: "Slash" normal. Default button is Y / Triangle. Often called "Far Slash" and notated by f.S
c.S: "Close Slash" normal. Default button is Y / Triangle. When close to an enemy, every character has a different Slash attack.
H or HS: "Heavy Slash" normal. Default button is B / Circle
P: "Punch" normal. Default button is X / Square
K: "Kick" normal. Default button is A / Cross
D: "Dust" normal. Default button is Right Bumper / R1
RC: "Roman Cancel" meter-burning move that has a time-slowing effect on enemies and animation canceling effect on one's character. Costs 1 bar and is input by pressing any 3 non-Dust attack buttons at the same time (though I strongly recommend you bind a single button to it, such as one of the triggers).
YRC/RRC/BRC/PRC: yellow, red, blue, and purple roman cancels. When activating roman cancel, you and your opponent's current states will change the color, effect, and use of the RC.
OTG: "Off/on the ground." Means that whatever attack being mentioned can hit an opponent when they're first knocked down before invulnerable knockdown frames kick in.
Specials & Supers
Seupultura (214K): large roundhouse kick that deals notable damage. Can OTG, including after itself at the end of a combo. Gio's go-to combo ender.
Trovao (236K): slow startup advancing kick attack that breaks the first projectile it hits and is slightly plus on block. Great for advancing, block string mind games after conditioning opponents, and wall-breaking combos. Be mindful of its slow startup, however, because it can be interrupted or jumped over.
Sol Nascente (623S): looks like a traditional dragon punch special, but does not have invincibility and does not move Gio off the ground much. Is stupid fast for a special (7f startup) and is always plus when blocked by an aerial opponent. Hitbox is a full arc above Gio (hitting both sides of her) and puts her hurtbox quite low. Combine this with the 0 risk when blocked by an aerial opponent and you have a fantastic anti-air. With its 7f startup, Sol Nascente is the only special that can combo after Gio's 5P.
Sol Poente (214K): can be done on the ground or in the air. Sol Poente is a hopping attack that low crushes, is an overhead, and advances enough that it can be a cross-up tool depending on your distance from the opponent. It's +4 on block but can be interrupted due to its slow startup so be mindful. Air version can hit twice as the initial double jump acts as an attack. Be careful with the air version, though, as it gives Gio a LOT of height which can result in you whiffing entirely.
Ventania (632146H): meter-burning attack super. Costs 1 bar. Advances forward with a slew of kicks and does a LOT of damage. Invincible on startup but death on block.
Tempestade (236236H): meter-burning attack super that can only be done in the air. Costs 1 bar. Stupid fast divekick attack super with no startup invincibility, but be warned that it's a very shallow divekick so it does not go very far forward. Is fucking +5 on block so there's little risk to using it and can act as a pressure tool if your attempt at reading an anti-air didn't work out. It also has a very easy input motion so your jumps become very scary once you have meter.
Key Items of Note
-Frame data.
-She does not have a run like most other characters in the game. Her dash is a "traditional" fighting game dash both forwards and backwards. Most notably, her forward dash covers a LOT of distance VERY quickly.
-Roman cancels are not necessary at all to get good combo damage on her nor for breaking walls. For wall breaking, Trovao (236) wall bounces, 5S and 2S hit multiple times, c.S and K are jump cancelable, c.S and Sepultura (214K) can OTG, etc.
-K and c.S can be jump canceled, meaning you can hold up (and a direction if desired) to immediately jump after the move lands or is blocked. Unsure if any other normals are jump cancelable.
-6H is an advancing mid rekka-style move that can go up to 3 H hits. Puts both Gio and the opponent into the air on hit which makes it very easy to hit-confirm into either RRC or Tempestade after the second hit. Not special cancelable after the third hit.
-2S hits up to 2 times. f.S hits up to 3 times. However, both can be canceled into other moves at any point as desired. This makes them both really good for block string mind games and wall-breaking combos.
-Guilty Gear has run/dash "drift" (or whatever players call it). This means that canceling a run/dash into an attack will maintain your character's forward momentum for a moment as the normal starts. With her stupid fast dash and high range kick normals, Gio can be quite threatening even from a distance.
-Trovao (236K) can't be combo'd after normally, but a counter-hit state will allow for full combos after. Extremely valuable time to hit confirm when going through enemy projectiles or catching the opponent pressing a button from a distance.
-Trovao (236K) also can't be combo'd into normally; but a counterhit 5S or 5H can combo into it. Try to avoid dialing in S->H or H->Sepultura when advancing or pressuring as counterhit 5S/5H into Trovao can lead to 6K -> Sepultura -> RRC combo.
-Anti-air counter-hit Sol Nascente (623S) knocks the opponent a decent distance away but also floats them for a follow-up. Practice the timing on getting combos from this.
-c.S is insane for pressure and is her core combo starting tool since it floats the opponent slightly, resulting in juggle combos. It's + on block with very little pushback without faultless defense, allowing for great stagger pressure and frame traps. It's also jump cancelable as I mentioned above so enjoy the strike throw, stagger, frame trap, AND overhead/low mixups that come with c.S.
-Giovanna passively gains bonus damage dealt and less damage taken when at 50% meter and a higher bonus to both when at 100% meter. This is indicated at 50% bar by Rei (the wolf) glowing and at 100% by Giovanna's skin turning the same color as Rei, her eyes glowing, and a symbol appearing on her forehead. There's also a small visual spark that goes off when you hit each threshold. It's a 5% and 10% damage boost respectively and Dustloop (see the Frame Data link above) has Gio's damages listed as ##(##)[##] to indicate base, 50% meter, and 100% meter damage.
-Sepultura (214K) is only -4 on block. If an opponent blocks it at long range or uses faultless defense for higher block pushback, you effectively don't lose your turn at all and can choose to risk pressuring more, backdashing to reset neutral, jumping, etc. This also means that conditioning and learning your opponent can lead to you not losing your turn even if blocked up close. If they like to jump after, it's now just a regular close-range neutral. If they like to mash a slower normal like S or H, you can begin mashing 2P or 2K after to interrupt and take your turn back.
-j.K hits on both sides of Giovanna, allowing for super easy crossups. It also has a 6f startup so it's great for air-to-airs.
-j.P can block string and combo on hit in the air multiple times while also block/hit comboing into 5P mashing when both of you land. This makes j.P a fantastic air-to-air option as it has only a 6f startup and can build lots of RISC if they block.
-Roman cancels are not necessary at all to get good combo damage on her nor for breaking walls. For wall breaking, Trovao (236) wall bounces, 5S and 2S hit multiple times, c.S and K are jump cancelable, c.S and Sepultura (214K) can OTG, etc.
-K and c.S can be jump canceled, meaning you can hold up (and a direction if desired) to immediately jump after the move lands or is blocked. Unsure if any other normals are jump cancelable.
-6H is an advancing mid rekka-style move that can go up to 3 H hits. Puts both Gio and the opponent into the air on hit which makes it very easy to hit-confirm into either RRC or Tempestade after the second hit. Not special cancelable after the third hit.
-2S hits up to 2 times. f.S hits up to 3 times. However, both can be canceled into other moves at any point as desired. This makes them both really good for block string mind games and wall-breaking combos.
-Guilty Gear has run/dash "drift" (or whatever players call it). This means that canceling a run/dash into an attack will maintain your character's forward momentum for a moment as the normal starts. With her stupid fast dash and high range kick normals, Gio can be quite threatening even from a distance.
-Trovao (236K) can't be combo'd after normally, but a counter-hit state will allow for full combos after. Extremely valuable time to hit confirm when going through enemy projectiles or catching the opponent pressing a button from a distance.
-Trovao (236K) also can't be combo'd into normally; but a counterhit 5S or 5H can combo into it. Try to avoid dialing in S->H or H->Sepultura when advancing or pressuring as counterhit 5S/5H into Trovao can lead to 6K -> Sepultura -> RRC combo.
-Anti-air counter-hit Sol Nascente (623S) knocks the opponent a decent distance away but also floats them for a follow-up. Practice the timing on getting combos from this.
-c.S is insane for pressure and is her core combo starting tool since it floats the opponent slightly, resulting in juggle combos. It's + on block with very little pushback without faultless defense, allowing for great stagger pressure and frame traps. It's also jump cancelable as I mentioned above so enjoy the strike throw, stagger, frame trap, AND overhead/low mixups that come with c.S.
-Giovanna passively gains bonus damage dealt and less damage taken when at 50% meter and a higher bonus to both when at 100% meter. This is indicated at 50% bar by Rei (the wolf) glowing and at 100% by Giovanna's skin turning the same color as Rei, her eyes glowing, and a symbol appearing on her forehead. There's also a small visual spark that goes off when you hit each threshold. It's a 5% and 10% damage boost respectively and Dustloop (see the Frame Data link above) has Gio's damages listed as ##(##)[##] to indicate base, 50% meter, and 100% meter damage.
-Sepultura (214K) is only -4 on block. If an opponent blocks it at long range or uses faultless defense for higher block pushback, you effectively don't lose your turn at all and can choose to risk pressuring more, backdashing to reset neutral, jumping, etc. This also means that conditioning and learning your opponent can lead to you not losing your turn even if blocked up close. If they like to jump after, it's now just a regular close-range neutral. If they like to mash a slower normal like S or H, you can begin mashing 2P or 2K after to interrupt and take your turn back.
-j.K hits on both sides of Giovanna, allowing for super easy crossups. It also has a 6f startup so it's great for air-to-airs.
-j.P can block string and combo on hit in the air multiple times while also block/hit comboing into 5P mashing when both of you land. This makes j.P a fantastic air-to-air option as it has only a 6f startup and can build lots of RISC if they block.
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