Summoning 101 : a guide to the high summoner

[shakotan_strafer]

SECTION ONE

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Character Overview
so you want to learn how to use yuna eh? you have come to the right place, but first, there should be a question you should ask yourself.
Do i like summoning beasts to knock the living daylight out of my opponents? Yes/no
If you answered yes, then yuna is the right character for you!
im sure you have questions to ask about yuna, the main one that should be on your mind is this, luckily the answers are here!
What are her strengths and weaknesses?
Yuna is a character who excels in zoning, through medium range pokes ixion + ifrit, and to some extent keepaway through the use of valefor and bahamuts brave and hp attacks. yuna is best played on the ground, as her most useful combat options spawn from her ground moves. Many of yunas attacks have a slow start-up, because of this, the general game plan would be to keep your opponent at bay (preferably medium range) with projectiles and pokes. for the sole fact that yuna has a hard time getting in on her opponent, The only time you should ever rush in to land an attack is when you are applying pressure with your assist such as terra's gravity, or exdeaths tornado, using stage elements to launch a surprise attack, or when you know you can absolutely punish an opponents whiffed attack or blocked attack. You can expect yourself to be blocking more than rushing down. Mixups are also an essential part of her game, because she lacks in the punishing department (combo wise). When in ex mode, the game plan should be relatively the same, though you can afford to be more reckless, as the risk vs reward factor are balanced out due to the damage output and combo-ability on her fastest attack (heavenly strike - shiva).
tl:dr? Zone, play defensive, Dont Be Reckless, assist choice is paramount

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before you go on, this section contains frame data. explanation of what it is ->http://dissidiaforums.com/showthread...669#post238669

Move-list And Attributes


credits to ujhbn for the table!

Brave attacks

Ground Attacks

Energy Blast (Valefor)

Description:
Long / Projectile
Fires 5 projectiles
Fires in a radius of 180 degrees
32 Start-up Frames | 62 Active Frames | 60 Recovery Frames
No additional affects
A standard projectile attack. this attack is more on the slower side of Yuna's attacks, but given the maximum range you SHOULD be using it at, it is relatively safe. It is a good match starter, to set the mental boundary, as to where your opponent can stay without taking the risk of getting hit. this is your only zoning tool on the ground. Learn the range of this attack, it may be very important to your game. at point blank range for a punish, the opponent eats all 5 projectiles. note, can be blocked or dashed. Must have for Yuna.
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Meteor Strike (Ifrit)

Description:
Close/Physical
Linear attack
2 slashes at close range. Can choose to complete 1 only
19 Start-up Frames | 36 Active Frames | 66 Recovery Frames
Wall crashes
This is Yuna's fastest attack on the ground. Its a standard hack and slash move which send the opponent a considerable distance away. the range on this move only extends up to ifrit, not his slash animation. yuna staggers when blocked. if your building up brave and your opponent whiffs, this should be the attack you use. this is for three reasons:
1. It is her fastest attack on the ground, and is pretty much a guaranteed hit on whiff (taking into consideration the human reaction time etc...) though there may be some exceptions.
2. It resets your zoning game by sending them away, just outside of the range on your energy blast.
3. wall crashes for combo's with assist.
MUST HAVE for Yuna.
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Aero-spark (Ixion)

Description:
Medium/Physical
Linear attack, slight tracking left and right
Lunges at the opponent, then fires discs dependant on your timing at the opponent. it can be either 2, 4 or 6 (cleared up by RionNagase. You can choose to complete the slash only.
27 Start-up frames | 62 Active frames | 40 Recovery frames
Initiates chase
Yuna's slowest attack on the ground, and easily seeable by the opponent. This move packs a considerable amount of grunt, and is unblockable (staggers both yuna and opponent) without precision block. It initiates a chase sequence after the areospark projectile hit. on the first hit, if blocked, guard staggers, and causes a reset in the playing field ( allowing you to get away and zone again). also, if you guard staggger the opponent, you can dc backward, and hellfire for coverage from any retaliation, or try and connect another aerospark or meteor strike (needs more testing). must have for yuna
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Air Attacks
Sonic Wing (Valefor)

Description:
Close/Physical
Slightly tracks around Yuna ( down, left and right)
Swoops down, and catches the opponent in a flurry of attacks, then blows them away. You can choose to complete only the swoop.
27 Start-up frames | 41 Active frames | 64 Recovery frames
Initiates chase
This attack has some very good range on it, and it tracks down, left and right to catch your opponent. This move is extremely useful to the fact that it is essential to one of Yuna's main mixups, which is a combination of heavenly strike (see below) and this attack. The range is deceptive to the opponent, and the hitbox even more so. You have to be discreet in using this move, as when you do use it, and it is blocked, you still stagger (unlike heavenly strike). as a standalone move, it still is still very good if used sparingly.
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Heavenly Strike (Shiva)

Description:
Close/Projectile
Slightly tracks in front of Yuna
3 attacks, pummels the opponent side to side, and then slams them to the floor. Attack can be stopped at any time.
11 Frame start-up | 74 Active Frames | 58 Recovery Frames
Floor crashes
Hands down, this is Yuna's best move. It has very fast startup and does a decent amount of damage. it has a below average recovery time, and WHEN BLOCKED, YUNA DOES NOT STAGGER. against some characters, you have enough time to dodge away even when blocked. The beauty of this move is not the damage factor, but how easy it to land, how safe it is even on block and the combo-ability and mixups that follow after. for example, you land this attack, you have 2 options.
1. Use an assist to jail them after floor crash, then follow up with a hp attack or (insert combo).
2. if you have no assist, try and bait them to guard or dodge, maybe by doing a small dash and dc'ing. then once they have taken the bait, follow up with diamond dust.
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Impulse (bahamut)
singular

Medium/Projectile
charged

Medium to far/Projectile
Description:
Attack can be charged. you can choose to fire one projectile, or four. Un-charged impulse homes slightly more than charged on opponent.
Un charged: 39 startup frames | (?) active frames | 55 recovery frames
Charged: 58 startup frames | (?) active frames | 66 recovery frames
No additional effects
one way which ive found to use both the charged and the uncharged version of this move is to call out an assist which fires a number of projectiles, such as kefka or firion. firing the charged version with your assist can apply immense pressure on the opponent, with the amount of projectiles coming at them. the uncharged version is also your mid-air zoning tool. note, while using the charged version, the area in front of yuna is left unguarded, as the projectiles travels outward before going towards the opponent. see in combo section for more info on this attack.

[shakotan_strafer]

HP Attacks

ground attacks

Hellfire (Ifrit)

Description:
Close/Physical
Fast, creates a projectile wall, three pillars of fire appear in front of you. Rather large hitbox
37 Start-up Frames | 53 Active Frames | 23 recovery frames
No additional effects
On the ground, you don't have much choice in using Yuna's hp attacks. ItS either, if their far away, you use energy ray, if they are close, you use this move. Its relatively quick, and willl get the job done for punishing. It also goes through walls, and tracks forward a little bit. It also has a large htibox, if used correctly, it shouldnt ever miss. Also has fast recovery. it also goes through walls!
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Energy Ray (Valefor)

Description:
Far/Projectile
A ray goes across the screen, after execution it then explodes. Hitbox extends to the end of the explosion. Ignores height to an extent
59 Start-up Frames | 33 active frames | 48 recovery frames
No additional effects
Yuna's go to move for long range pressure. You should not be using this at close range, because of its start-up time. But generally, as a medium to longe range it is ideal. It the hitbox also extends right up to the end of the explosion animation, so it can be quite deceptive to you opponent. this also goes through walls!
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Air Attacks

Thor's Hammer (Ixion)

Description:
Close/Physical
A ball of lightning appears, hits for brave damage then explodes.
good attack, draws the opponent in, and has large range for explosion, large recovery though
49 Start-up Frames | 52 Active Frames | 76 Recovery Frames
Vacuums/absorbs
Against dodge happy players, this move is a good one to use. By baiting the opponent to dodge, you can use this move to vacuum them back in to catch the last two hits of the brave attacks, and the hp attack. But as a general rule of thumb, this shouldnt be spammed, because of its recovery time. If you call this attack at the wrong time, you can expect to eat a nice juicy combo, or a meaty HP attack. This is very situational.
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Diamond Dust (Shiva)

Description:
Close/Physical
Similar to Thors hammer, fast but less range and no vacuum.
21 Start-up Frames | 56 Active Frames | 59 Recovery Frames
No additional effects
This should be your staple hp attack for Yuna in the air. Its fast, does decent damage, tracks a little bit and recovers the fastest of her air hp attacks. The downside to this move is that it has very small range and must be timed perfectly, as your opponent cant really "run into it" after its been casted. When making combos with Yuna, you should always use this as a finishing move, because it will have an easier time connecting within the time frame because of its start-up. But it may suffer from its range. must have for Yuna.
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Mega Flare (Bahamut)

Description:
Medium/Projectile
A large beam is fired, hits for brave damage. While charging for attack, you can move around, and bahamut does turn to face enemy, if they do manage to cross over to the opposite side.
63 Start-up frames | 58 active frames | 75 recovery frames
Wall crashes
This is Yuna's only medium to long ranged hp attack in the air. It has good damage and range,but long startup and recovery time. even with the long startup and recovery time, it is still a very useful move. It also has reflective properties on the beam, so most magick attacks thrown at you during the active frames will be reflected, and does move around, according to where your opponent is. this should also be part of your mixup and zoning, as the opponent will expect a bahamut projectile, and bait them into blocking or dashing and they eat mega flare. also, if whiffed, using an assist can help make it safe from being punished. A good time to use this move would be on cramped stages like the pandaemonium (final fantasy 2), as it dosent leave much room for dodging etc. also note, although hard to do, the opponent can still hit yuna during the animation, if they manage to get out of the attacks way xD. this also goes through walls!!

[shakotan_strafer]

EX mode

-EX EFFECTS-
Regen - regain hp slowly while in ex mode
Critical boost - attacks have a greater chance of gaining a critical hit
Double summon - summon two aeons at once during brave attacks

while in ex mode, yuna gains the ability to use two aeons at once while attacking. you cant choose which ones to combine, but they are predetermined. because of this many of her moves become either safer or stronger. for example, energy blast have an added effect of ifrit protecting the front of your during activation.

yuna's ex burst is fairly simple. as the buttons appear on the screen, you have to time yourself to press it, indicated by the white ring closing in on the symbol. the trick here is to press the button later than you would think you would have to time it. its hard to put in words, so go into battle with EX-centric ruleset and test out that burst!



Energy Blast (Valefor)

Description:
close to far/ physical and projectile
5 projectiles are fired in a radius of 180 degrees, ifrit also covers the front of you with a slash.
? Start-up Frames | ? Active Frames | ? Recovery Frames
No additional affects
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meteor strike (Ifrit)

Description:
close/physical
ifrit and shiva combine their attacks and pummel your opponent left and right.
? Start-up Frames | ? Active Frames | ? Recovery Frames
wall crashes
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aerospark (Ixion)

Description:
close to medium/physical and projectile
ixion slashes the opponent like normal, then bahamut fires an impulse shot, then aerospark kicks in and damages the opponent.
? Start-up Frames | ? Active Frames | ? Recovery Frames
initiates chase
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sonic wing (Valefor)

Description:
close/physical
valefor starts of by hitting the opponent in a flurry of attacks, the bahamut fires an impulse shot, then valefor blows the away and initiates chase.
? Start-up Frames | ? Active Frames | ? Recovery Frames
No additional affects
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heavenly strike (Shiva)

Description:
close/physical
similar to metoer strike, pummels left and right then floor crashes.
? Start-up Frames | ? Active Frames | ? Recovery Frames
floor crashes
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impulse charged (Bahamut)

Description:
far/projectile
once the attack is released, valefor fires a single shot, which hits the oppoenent before the extra four shots of impulse hit the oppoenent.
? Start-up Frames | ? Active Frames | ? Recovery Frames
No additional affects

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Combos and move synthesis

Blizzard Impact (Bahamut and Shiva)

Description:
an amazing find by RionNagase, this works very well!! ill let him explain how it works.

Anyone who uses Yuna try this move, it is amazing. It's a Link Glitch with Yuna
Make sure your opponent is withing reasonable range for Bahamut's Impulse attack. Have it Charged and fire it. All of the orbs have to hit before or after the first orb hits use Shiva's Heavenly Strike and continue pressing the button as if Shiva will still attack, if you are successful, Shiva will summon a block of ice and smack them onto the floor.

close andfar/projectileand physical
a charged bahamut impulse is fired, as the shots hit, shiva continues the combos with a heavenly strike and smashes them to the floor.
? Start-up Frames | ? Active Frames | ? Recovery Frames
floor crash
This combo does a lot of damage, a 100% succesful combo hits all four of Bahamuts impulse shots and Shivas three hit heavenly strike. keep in mind, no damage scaling is present like in fighting games. Top it off, you can still get in an assist to combo into a hp attack. an example, and the easiest that comes to mind is Laguna, since he jails the opponent for a sufficient amount of time for yuna to dash in there and complete the combo. i also forgot to mention that there is a minimum range required to land this combo. to put it simply and to be safe, the you have to be just outside the range of the edge of madness stage.


---------- Post added 03-12-2011 at 03:52 AM ---------- Previous post was 03-11-2011 at 06:44 AM ----------

i edited it out of my first post, but id prefer is no one posted until im 100% sure about how many posts ill need etccc.. thanks!

[shakotan_strafer]

Section Two

in dissidia duodecim, assist are an intrinsic part of your game, both offensively and defensively. yuna is a character who benefits greatly by having an assist by her side. chooosing the right assist to suit your needs is an important part of any characters game. some assists cover characters weaknesses, like being used as cover for a potentially unsafe attack. some are used to make combos, by extending attacks through wallrushing or chasing. another use for assists include using them as a sheild, to escape attacks. below are some of the better assists for Yuna among the cast of characters. By no means are these analysis the exact way to use a certain assist, but shed some light on their potential.

Jecht:
Ground brave : jecht rush
Air brave : jecht stream
Ground hp : jecht blade
Air hp : triumphant grasp
Effect: : Wall rush
ANALYSIS : Easily one of the best assists in the game. jecht has a high damage output, keeps your oppoenent in a flurry of attacks for a substantial amount of time, and is very easy to combo of because he leads to a wall rush. Yuna's attacks which are easy for Jecht to combo of of include meteor strike, heavenly strike, diamond dust, mega flare. many players are running Jecht as an assist, and a vanilla combo you should be seeing a lot, which is very easy is:
Meteor Strike -> Wallrush -> Jecht Stream -> Wallrush -> Hellfire/Diamond Dust/Megaflare
of course for combos, there are many possibilities which jecht, because of the sheer simplicity of yunas moves and jechts wallrush.
but wait, THERES MORE!!! - Assists work well when punishing hp attacks from your opponent. for example, one character which i see myself playing against a lot is vaan. i am extremely paranoid when his hurricane hp attack is casted. when this move is called, jecht is good for punishing vaan while i dodge his attack. if your close enough to jecht wallrush you can even combo.

Sephiroth: Dissicon_ff7_Sep1.png
Ground brave : Reaper
Air brave : Sudden Cruelty
Ground hp : Octaslash
Air hp : Hell's Gate
Effect: : Assist Chase
ANALYSIS :

Kuja : Dissicon_ff9_kuj1.png
Ground brave : Snatch Blow
Air brave : Strike Energy
Ground hp : Flare Star
Air hp : Force Symphony
Effect: : Assist Chase
ANALYSIS :

Tidus :Dissicon_ff10_tid1.png
Ground brave : Sonic Buster
Air brave : Hop Step
Ground hp : Spiral Cut
Air hp : Slice and Dice
Effect : Sonic buster = Wall Rush
Hop Step = Assist Chase
ANALYSIS :


more coming soon...

[shakotan_strafer]

reserved post

[Milkshakes00]

Needs an accessory/equipment section, IMO.

[Dark_Ansem]

the title alone is an epic win. excellent guide.
do you believe it's a good, CP-wise, to equip Yuna with every attack available to her? or some (like impulse) are a waste of valuable CP?

[shakotan_strafer]

@milkshakes
should be coming soon, once im done with my half yearlies :P

@dark_ansem
thanks man, but i believe that yuna needs all of the versatility she can get. all of her moves are extremely useful, in the right situations. on my sets, i have all of yunas moves equipped and i can still manage to equip other important abilities such as counterattack, riposte, etc...
but its all subjective, depending on how you plan to use yuna. at most, my guide is just one way to play yuna, its not exactly a rule of thumb, as of yet since the game is still in its early stages, gameplay and competitive wise.

[Dark_Ansem]

that and the fact she has only unique moves!

besides, FF rule of thumb: Aeons can tear to shreds ANYTHING. playing her story mode and she's just WOW!

[san tacos]

Great OP, looking forward to seeing this updated!