Flare use frequency advice

[Nemphtis]

I have a question that’s about the flow of combat in general, but I wanted to post this in the Emperor’s section as he is my main and perhaps your advice will vary depending on the character I play.

I’ve not been using Empy much on Duodecim as I’m just going through story mode and crap, but I imagine he plays more or less the same as he did in the original. I primarily relied on Empy’s Thunder Crest for BRV damage and his two flares to keep some pressure on my opponents. I have no idea if these three tools are considered the most crucial for the rest of you, but if so, this is where my problem comes into play.

If the flares I release for pressure actually end up hitting the enemy, I deal a small amount of HP damage and lose all my BRV, I hate the idea of entering ‘break’ mode from a single hit because my flare hit the enemy, it scares me. I try to build up enough BRV to kill an enemy with a single HP attack, is this a good idea with Empy or are his flares so crucial to his survival that I should use them at all times and focus on chipping HP away in small chunks, whilst risking ‘break’ after each successful flare impact.

I’m a casual Dissidia player so the way I play Empy is probably terrible, but I would like to know which of these two play styles benefit my character choice the most if possible. Spam flares throughout the match for pressure, or stockpile BRV by just using non-HP attacks until I can one-hit-kill my opponent?

[Pifreak]

I'm no Emperor player, but this depends on the character matchup.

Against another "BRV gatherer" you should try to build up BRV to "compete" with them, so that they don't kill you as quickly. However, if you simply aren't making progress, it's best just to chip away.

Against another chipper, it's best to gather BRV, since the BRV pool does give quite the boost, even it got reduced in DDFF. Along with Flare's HP wall rush property now, you'll be dealing major HP damage with that break.

But be careful, when having really high BRV, crits can go up to 8x. (I got this information from the a team's YT channel: TehNinjasHouse; one of their videos) You'll be feeling the pain then if you get hit. So land HP attacks accordingly depending on the situation, which means get apply it when you see your BRV racking up.

[Nemphtis]

So the more BRV I have, the more likely I will be on the receiving end of a critical hit? Good to know.

[Khell]

It's actually not an increased Critical chance, but an increase to Critical damage. The base is x2 at low brv (from 0/Break to like 2k or so I believe) and it increases as the target's BRV increases to x8 Critical damage at max BRV. It's essentially the only way you deal any damage to the Feral Chaos prototype in the Confessions of the Creator story (when he's got the 90x multiplier on his 5% defense accessory).

[SawronZXZ]

Since Emperor is a tanking character anyway, I would suggest doing what Pifreak said, and if you're chipping, DO NOT rely on ground Flare. Opponents (at least ones I face) will go out of their way to reflect it back at you.

[Nemphtis]

So is Bombard still the only move which can deflect ground flares back in the case of someone using an attack which reflects it? Also, what exactly do you mean by a tanking character, I'm not too familiar with the lingo. I just remembered reading somewhere that the less BRV you have when you connect with a HP attack, the faster it recovers back to your base BRV. So I guess chipping away HP is a little more viable than I initially thought, I always wondered why the hell it would take ages for my BRV to recover but I see videos where people's BRVs are back to base so fast.

[Kotei]

Flares can be used without worrying, if you know how to use it. Red Flare works good as a counter and a followup to Thunder Crest. It's a safe haven which can deflect tons of magics. You don't have to be so scared by a reflected Flare, because a good emperor player will always have Bombard equipped. You can also make the Flare harder to reflect. when you see that your opponent is using an attack that would deflect your Flare, you can recast it if you have enough time, cancelling the old one and making openings. An advanced strategy can also make Flare's direction really hard to predict: your Flare automatically follows the opponent all the time, but if you lock off, Flare will go straight forward. You can use this to your advantage. Also, with the fact that your opponent always attack in your direction, you can move around and make it harder.

Back in Dissidia, I think the Emperor was as good by chipping HP as by gathering Bravery. I think he's more like a Bravery gatherer now, since his combos with Thunder Crest are deadly (TC>Mine>Mine can take 2000 for example) . Also, if you have hit with a HP attack while having a very high bravery, you can use a reflected flare to your advantage. If you have like 0 brv or less, and if your opponent really like to deflect Flare, then let him use it and get hit by it. By being hit by a HP attack with your low bravery, you will return shortly to your base brave.

And if you don't want to get a break when you are recovering bravery, use omni air dash to go away. Quite simple, isn't it?

[Kraid]

^ What?

Nooooooo.

Ok let me explain a few things:

In Duodecim, you have LESS chances of using Flare now due to assist and the fact the actual 'Flare Move' when Emperor throws it out has been lengthened. This makes it easier to punish.

With the nerf in Criticals, Emperor is going to change from someone who can go both styles (Chip OR Brave Storing) to a... well chipper. You cannot store the bravery as much in Duodecim due to assists. This makes it so you need to chip more often. In Duodecim, you get the tools to actually help do the chipping due to Assists and the fact that Emperor is probably the best Assist Builder IN THE GAME. This means Emperor can get more out of his attacks. However you can still 'Brave Store' or 'Chip' depending on what you feel is correct.

[Nemphtis]

Do assists pose a problem because an opponent can call one in to attack you whilst you're still in the start-up frames of Flare?

Also, how were criticals nerfed exactly? I'm a casual so I don't know about a lot of these references.

[BRKNglassIncarnate]

For the first question, yes..I think (if they're using the right Assist).

In DFF, the criticals did 5x the normal damage. In DDFF, the criticals do 2x the damage only.