=============================================================================== Soul Calibur 2 - Raphael =============================================================================== Author - Harold "Kageh" Hess The following mini-guide is a strategy article written for GameNOW magazine (Vol. 3 #23, September 2003). This is the uncut version which was later edited to be more palatable for the gaming masses and meet space constraints. This was in no way meant to be a complete guide, but rather an inspirational article of sorts to get people interested in playing the character. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Raphael is a new character to the Soul series and brings a new weapon style with him. Conniving players who like to make very precise, calculated attacks will enjoy playing Raphael. Similar to real fencing, Raphael excels at moving in and out and thrives on attacking openings with quick, lunging attacks. Due to the nature of his style however, his attacks are somewhat susceptible to evasion. Best played patiently, Raphael players will spend most of their time at mid to long-range containing their opponent's evasive movements and punishing openings. His special soul charge cancel techniques allow him to be very offensive at times and his unique auto-evades boost his defense rounding him out well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soul Charge Cancels (SCC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A soul charge cancel is a technique that allows you to cancel the recovery of an attack with a soul charge, which in turn can be cancelled as well. This will leave you in a level one soul charge state. This technique is not unique to Raphael, but he is unique in that he possesses the most with three different cancels and two of them being almost central to his offense. Needless to say, this is a technique that all aspiring Raphael players must master. The three moves that can be soul charge cancelled are: 6BB 8Way Run 3 or 9A Fully Crouched 3AA The first two moves being the most effective and the third not as useful due to its slow speed. The actual cancel consists of two parts. The first part is performed by holding the button for the last attack and then pressing the other attack buttons immediately afterwards. For example: 6B[B], then while still holding B, immediately press A+K so that A, B, and K are all being pressed. If done correctly, Raphael will perform his 6BB string and then immediately go into a soul charge animation which cancels the recovery of the string. Canceling the string into the soul charge animation is the first part of the soul charge cancel. The second part of the cancel is done by pressing G to cancel the soul charge animation. This is the tricky part since it has to be timed, and timed well if you are to cancel the animation as soon as possible. So the full command input for the first soul charge cancel would look like: 6B[B]A+KG. It takes some practice to find the perfect time for pressing G, but you want to do it as early as possible so that you can recover as quickly as possible. Performing these soul charge cancels are great for throwing off opponents who are waiting for the canned follow-ups to the above attacks and mixing-up your offense. Not only that, but they leave you in a level one soul charge state, which makes your 236A+B a Guard Crush! Pay attention to how your opponent responds to your soul charge cancels. Auto Evade quick counter attack attempts, use your horizontal attacks when they try to evade, and throw or use your 236A+B guard break on those who defend. There are many options. Soul Charge Cancels just set the ball in motion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auto-Evades (AE) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Raphael possesses a unique dodging technique called an Auto-Evade (AE). Spiral Envelopment is one version of the AE done by pressing A+K and evades thrusting attacks, low attacks and mid attacks. Circular Envelopment is the other version of the AE done by pressing B+K and evades thrusting attacks, mid attacks and high attacks. When the command for an AE is entered, Raphael will enter a special animation. If the opponent attacks him during the beginning portion of this animation with the appropriate type/level of attack, Raphael will automatically evade; hence the name "Auto-Evade". After a successful evade, Raphael will be able to perform special attacks immediately afterwards. Auto-evades are only good for one hit. Therefore, they will fail to multi-hitting moves and strings. However, they are excellent for punishing single hits and the final hit of many strings. Learning to place Auto Evades well will be an important part of mastering Raphael. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Poking ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Little strokes fell great oaks." It's something to keep in mind when you play Raphael. He has a great assortment of long-range pokes to pester your opponent with. Annoy your opponents with Raphael's fast, safe pokes to make them impatient while you bait predictable responses. The opponent becomes much easier to read when they are getting tired of waiting. Raphael excels as baiting attacks and then punishing them on whiff or by interrupting with a counter hit. 1B, 2K, and 8Way Run 1 or 7A are all great low pokes for pestering your opponent. The last two in particular leave Raphael at an advantage on hit and setup his While Rising attacks. While Rising B and While Rising A+B will interrupt your opponent's counter attacks. 66B and 236B are Raphael's main lunging moves for punishing whiffed attacks. Bait your opponent with Raphael's lows or dance in and out of range with his special movements (214 or 236) and then punish whiffs with Raphael's lunging attacks. Not only fast and safe on block, 3B is Raphael's primary combo initiator. Follow up successful hit with a 6BB into a SCC. It will leave Raphael in an advantageous position and at a level one soul charge. After the SCC, another 3B will hit grounded opponents who stay down or try to roll. You can also mix up his level one guard break (236A+B) and lows on those who try to block. Many of Raphael's strings or attacks lead into his Preparation stances. Certain stances give you access to specific moves, but his stances are more or less the same in overall application. They can allow you to continue the offensive with various attacks or take evasive actions with his special stance side steps and back steps.