Locked-off attack properties

[Hollowed]

When you lock-off you can only use your neutral-direction attacks, as far as I know. However, some moves have different properties. Of note are Valiant Blow and Sacred Cross.

Attacking with a locked-off Valiant Blow or Sacred Cross won't force Cecil to track his opponent, effectively shortening their ranges. Additionally, Sacred Cross only attacks downward which somewhat limits its use.

Locking off for such attacks can be useful because Cecil sometimes walks right into an opponent's attack. Because of the shortened range, this is a safer way to disable Snooze and Lose.

[Scott]

Not knowing Cecil's normal attacks, I'm wonder how does Sacred Cross normally work? Because if it only goes down when he's no locked on, it could be a very useful trick.

[Hollowed]

Normally, Sacred Cross has moves you closer horizontally. If you're lower you track upward; if you're above or parallel you track downward before attacking. The two movements are combined to become diagonal in one swift motion.

Locking off doesn't seem to decrease the amount of startup frames, but it still removes the horizontal tracking and always causes downward homing. This allows a tight frame for punishing moves, but the beauty is that you can choose when to use it.