Bartz Assist & Combo Discussion Thread

[Starwave]

Hey there! I decided to post one of these because I wanted to advance Bartz' metagame and the Bartz boards are awfully desolate so I wanted to move things a long. Bartz is one of the best characters at setting up combos. Every single one of his moves can lead into combos, and they're quite damaging too.

Assists

Kuja:



Let me help

The quintessential assist. Kuja is hands down the best "all purpose" assist in the game. Bartz and Kuja share exceptional synergy, and it is because of Kuja Bartz can deal incredible damage. Both of Kuja's BRV assists cause warp chase, making him useful in both ground & aerial combat.

BRV assist
(BRV)Snatch Blow: Arguably the best assist attack in the game, Snatch Blow is extremely useful for Bartz. Its got good range, has a long animation and it can chase. As a result Bartz can perform damaging combos (like Holy>Flare) because the opponent is held in place for quite some time.

(BRV)Strike Energy: Another extremely good assist. Strike Energy is similar to Snatch Blow; Its got good range, and it holds the enemy in place so that Bartz can setup his damaging combos.


HP Assist
(HP)Force Symphony: I don't really like this move tbh, and like I said before you're usually better of saving those 2 assist bars.

(HP)Flare Star: A decent HP assist thats easy to setup, and is decent at punishing foes from a afar. However due to the nature of this game, HP assists are frowned upon (unless they're REALLY good) If you have 2 assist bars, you're better off saving them for your own combo's or in case you get caught in an assist combo yourself!

Summary
Pros: Versatile, damaging, can cause chase with both ground & aerial BRV attacks, combo friendly.
Cons: Nope, nadda zip. There is absolutely no downside to using Kuja.

Combos
Combo A=Slide Shooter after warp chase
Combo B=Holy > Flare after warp chase
Combo C=Dodge Cancel after assist, then Holy->Holy then Flare. In certain combos you cannot use the link glitch.

*note 1: It is possible to use Rush impact & Ragnarok Blade after assist, but both of those moves are outclassed by Slide Shooter & Holy >Flare respectively. They still have some slight utility, so don't completely dismiss them (Ragnarok blade can wallrush, Rush Impact sends the opponent downwards)

*note 2: Its possible for Bartz to use Rush Impact (2 hits) or Slide Shooter (1 hit) during the Kuja assist. However completing both of those moves will cancel the chase portion of the Kuja Assist.

Solid Rise (5 hits) > Kuja assist > Warp Chase > Rush Impact (Combo A)
Solid Rise (5 hits) > Kuja assist > Warp Chase > Ragnarok Blade (Combo B)
Solid Rise (5 hits) > Kuja assist > Holy > (Combo C)

Blade Crash (2 hits) > Kuja assist > Warp Chase > Combo A, B or C
NEW! Blade Crash > Kuja Assist > Dodge Cancel towards foe > Holy > Flare
(Can't use the link glitch)

Reel Impulse (2 hits)> Wall Rush > Kuja Assist > Combo A or B
Reel Impulse (1 hit) >Kuja assist > Combo A, B or C

Rush Impact > Kuja Assist > Combo A, B or C
Rush Impact (near ground) > Kuja Assist > Rush Impact > Combo A or B
Rush Impact (near ground) > Kuja Assist > Slide Shooter (1 hit) > Combo A or B
NEW! Rush Impact's ground wallrush > Ground BRV Kuja > dc away from opponent/Kuja > Luminous Shard > delay warp chase > Holy > Flare

Slide Shooter > Wall Rush > Kuja Assist > Combo A, B or C
Slide Shooter (2 hits) > Kuja Assist > Combo A, B or C

Holy (close to the opponent > Time Cancel > Rush Impact > Kuja Assist > Chase > Combo A or B
Holy > Kuja Assist > Combo A, B or C

Ragnarok Blade > Wall Rush > Kuja Assist > Chase > Combo A, B or C

Luminous Shard > Kuja Assist > Combo A, B or C

Dark Flame > Wall Rush > Kuja Assist > Combo A, B or C

Hellfire > Kuja Assist > Combo A, B or C

Tech Chases
Luminous Shard (Opponent dodges) > Kuja Assist > Combo A, B or C
Slide Shooter (2 hits & Close to the ground) > Dash > anticipate opponents move*

(They're on the ground and you can either block their incoming attack, attack them quickly or use an HP attack if they dodge)

Visual Reference

Aerith:



I'm here

Aerith is another really useful assist that can help out Bartz in almost any situation. . While Aerith is less offensive than Kuja, she does have a few perks over him. She is capable of replicating most of the above combos and a few of her combos involve chase, allowing Bartz to easily absorb EX force while dealing good damage, making her a valuable partner to the EXR set. Aerith also has some really good standalone assist moves.

BRV Assist
(BRV)Cure: Aerith instantly gives Bartz 400 BRV, useful after you've dealt a ton of HP damage to your opponent and are slowly waiting for it to rise back up. Preferably you should use more often on assist builds on less in the EXR build.

(BRV)Seal Evil: Aerith's bread & butter assist move and part of the reason why she's such an amazing assist. Seal Evil holds the opponent in place, giving you ample to time to land a strong combo on the foe. When Seal Evil is used shortly before chase, the opponent is stuck in the air, which allows you to not only gather EXR, but also land a Holy Combo or a BRV attack.

HP Assist
(HP) Planet Protector: Temporarily makes Bartz & Aeith invincible to damage for 6 seconds. Very useful when your opponent has a large amount of BRV, as you can absorb a hit and punish them right afterwards (Planet Protector prevents you from flinching) Very costly however and it might not be such a good idea on EXR builds.

(HP) Holy: Aerith charges up Emperor Starfall / Exdeath Maelstrom style and shoots out an unblock able attack. She's immune to BRV damage, but HP moves will assist lock her. Basically this move should only be used if your desperate to land an HP move because its extremely costly. (I like to use it long BRV moves like Solid Barrel)

Summary
Pros: Versatile, has a decent amount of combos and has useful standalone BRV & HP assists.
Cons: Not as damaging as Kuja, combo's are trickier to use.

Combos

Blade Crash > Aerith Assist > Chase > Holy > Flare
Solid Rise > Aerith Assist > Chase > Holy > Flare

Rush Impact > Groundrush > Aerith Assist > Holy > Flare (the link glitch may be performed at certain distances)
Slide Shooter > Aerith Assist > Holy > Flare
Holy > Flare > Aerith Assist > Holy > Flare

Visual Reference

CREDITS:
-Kayarine for discovering ALL Aeriths combos and several Kuja combos.
-Kayarine for creating both Bartz assist instructional videos.

[Starwave]

(Placeholder post for later)

[Kayarine]

The "combo C" only says Holy > Flare, but I've gotten Holy > Holy > Flare to work. Dodge cancel at the earliest opportunity if calling Kuja to combo, then cancel the dodge into Holy and cancel Holy into another Holy, finishing with the Holy glitch (activate Flare as soon as Bartz finishes casting the second Holy). This is if Kuja uses his air assist. If he uses his ground one, wait a bit and space correctly before casting the first Holy (cast it as Kuja is about to shoot them up)

If mistimed, the opponent will be able to recover as Bartz starts up Flare, but they'll still get hit by it either way unless they can double dodge. They could call their own assist between the recover and getting hit by Flare again though, so try to not mistime if they have assist.

[Kayarine]

Combos with Kuja assist now in video form for visual reference. :o

[Kayarine]

I was messing around and found this:
Rush Impact's ground wallrush > Ground BRV Kuja > dc away from opponent/Kuja > Luminous Shard > delay assist chase > Holy > Flare

Kuja should still hold down the opponent when Luminous Shard lands. Delay assist chase a lot so the opponent stops flying up by the time Bartz teleports to make Holy connect. By the time Flare hits, Bartz's BRV may or may not have fully recovered to base BRV (depends on when LS hit).

The dodge cancel isn't needed if Kuja's ground assist connects without a wall rush (this would happen mostly when Kuja is called for ground dodge punishing or punishing in general)


On that note, it's also possible to connect a Slide Shooter off assist chase if the assist chase is delayed (does more damage than Rush Impact)

[Kayarine]

Quadruple post, fudge yeah.

Anyway, here's a video with the Aerith assist, as well as the Kuja combo I mentioned in the previous post.

[Odjing]

No fifth post in a row for you Kayarine, so C-C-Combo Breaker!

This is not my video, but I just wanted to show that Jecht works great with Bartz too. I found this today, but I guess some of you guys already know about this.

[Starwave]

I updated the thread with Kayas newly discovered combo's.

I'll test out Jecht when I get home tonight.

[NeroMD]

Great work on putting this all together guys! +Rep

Also Kaya, Less Holy more Swordslash.

[Djungelkorv]

Oh, I'm glad you linked my Jecht assist video, Odjin

The biggest reason i use Jecht instead of Kuja with Bartz is that It's very easy to Evasion Revange (or whatever it's called) your opponent. It's much easier than it would be with Kuja.

This is how I do it: Use Luminous Shard from a distance (forcing the opponent to dodge forward), then use jecht assist and combo into Holy-> Flare.
This works best if the opponent i airborn.

Check out my youtube channel, I use this trick all the time, It's extremly effective!