******************************** BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Noel Vermillion Character Guide ******************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Guide Version: 1.2 Created By: Andrea/gsninja (e-mail: gsninja@yahoo.com) Version Date: 7/26/2009 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- *Contents* ~A. Introduction [INTRO] ~B. Version History [VRHS] ~C. Basic Controls [BCN] ~D. The Num Pad [TNP] ~E. Why Noel? [YNOL] ~F. Noel's Moveset [NOLMST] 1. Standard Attacks [STATK] 2. Special Attacks [SPATK] 3. Grabs [GBS] 4. Distortion Drives [DDRV] 5. Astral Heat [ALHT] ~G. Noel's Combos [NOLCBO] ~H. Conclusion [CONC] ~I. Frequently Asked Questions [FAQS] ~J. Legal Notes [LGNTS] ~K. Thanks [THX] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~A. Introduction [INTRO] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ BlazBlue is the so-called "spiritual" successor of Arc Sys' Guilty Gear series. It is the most recent fighter to arrive on the 360 and PS3, and even after one week, it has garnered high praise and reviews, although this game has been out in arcades for months before the console release. BB is a two-dimensional fighter that will remind you heavily of Guilty Gear if you played that series as well. Noel Vermillion is one of only 12 yet extremely different characters in the game of BlazBlue. She is a lieutenant in the Librarium's Praetorian Guard, exhibiting highly advanced combat skills and placed under the eye of Major Jin Kisaragi at a young age. She is ordered by the Librarium to track down Jin after he deserted his post. Arriving in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, her story begins to unravel, the Wheel of Fate turning... Noel is currently one of the most popular characters in the game. Noel is a character that's fairly easy to pick up, but, when it comes to the amount of combos that need to be learned, is also tougher to master. Anyone can spam her Drive moves, something that has given her a rather notorious reputation among BB players. In order to actually be a good and competent Noel user, however, you need to cut that **** out and start using that hot body of hers to effectively combo and pressure your opponents, something that doesn't happen in five minutes of playing the game. This guide will teach you how you use Noel better than a scrub who only knows the Drive button. This guide is also currently a work in progress. I'm definitely not pro with Noel, as I'm still learning a lot myself. As I personally get better as Noel and pick up more things along the way, I'll try updating this guide as often as possible. If any of you point out mistakes and lapses in strategy, or just want to offer advice, PLEASE contact me. I'll gladly accept any criticism and advice as long as it isn't something like "ur guide/noel sux". I want this guide to be as effective as possible for people using Noel. As a final note before we get this party started, I play the 360 version of the game. Therefore, any references to the buttons, etc. will be to those of the 360 controller. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~B. Version History [VRHS] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ -July 7th, 2009; Version 1.0 Unlike my Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn guide, I didn't want to upload this guide until it was completely done, so...here it is! -July 26th, 2009; Version 1.2 Sorry, totally didn't want to wait this long to update. I had tons of stuff to do, mostly concerning my summer school class. Anyways, I just changed some wording around in the guide and added some other stuff, including changing descriptions around some attacks. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~C. Basic Controls: Learn Your Stuff [BCN] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Here's a short list of the basic controls used in BlazBlue. These are all the default controls, also the way I use them. -Left Analog Stick/D-pad: This is your source of moving Noel's sexy body. Walking, dashing, jumping...all of it is done by playing with this stick (That's what she said) and/or pad. -Right Analog Stick: Special shortcuts are set here. Offline, you can use this as an easy way to unleash Distortion Drives, but online, things are different. For one, in all Ranked matches, shortcut specials are banned. In Player matches, you have the option of allowing/banning them. -X: Weak Attack (A) -Y: Medium Attack (B) -B: Strong Attack (C) -A: Drive (D) -LB: Taunt (S) -RT: A+B -RB: B+C -LT: A+B+C +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~D. The Num Pad [TNP] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ The Num pad is something to familiarize yourself with right away unless you either barely touch this game or you simply don't care. Here's why: If you look at any BlazBlue discussion, you'll notice people putting numbers before button inputs. What does this mean? Simple: Look at the Goddamn Num pad on your keyboard: 789 456 123 Now to give an example...let's say some types "2C"; This means Down+C. If someone says 6A, it means Forward+A, and so on. Now, you might be asking...why use the Num pad for directions if you can just say stuff like "Forward+C"? Well, using the Num pad to describe moves is a hell of a lot easier and shorter than completely typing something out. Wouldn't you rather say "3C" than "Lower-Diagonal-Right+C"? Now that you know, you'll realize it's much easier to type out combos and stuff using Num pad directions than longer, drawn-out directional inputs. Also, when someone types out something like "j.C", it means a midair attack ("j" stands for "jump"). When someone lists "jD", it means a double jump. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~E. Why this super hot piece of work (aka Noel)? [YNOL] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ So...why use Noel? Why use a really popular character Drive-spammed to infamy when I could just use a more underused character and make myself feel more special? Because she has quite the body. Well, she does, but that's not really the main reason. Noel is really quite a force. Although you may think her a "noob" character because she is easy to pick up and has a very exploitable Drive, she really isn't a character for scrubs if you want to get better with her. Like everyone else in this game, you need to know Noel's combos better than a pedophile knows his/her way around a child. Noel has some effective, devastating combos that, when used in the proper hands, will wipe the battlefield clean of opponents. Noel is fairly quick and her Drive opens up a massive array of combos to start off. Noel has several extremely quick attacks to poke her way through defenses and set up enemies for some delicious combo action. Although she's no Ragna or Tager, Noel can pack a punch with her more powerful moves and, given the chance, will rip your health points down to nothing if you don't take precautions. A spammy Noel is easy to smack in the face; a competent Noel is hell waiting to rape your face. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~F. Noel's Moveset: The fun FINALLY begins! [NOLMST] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ABOUT TIME, RIGHT DUDE? Here are Noel's attacks, in full force up your opponents' butts. /------------------------------------------------\ 1. Standard Attacks: Here come the basics! [STATK] \------------------------------------------------/ These are simply all of Noel's basic attacks. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Weak Attacks (A) $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ These are Noel's weak attacks. They are really lacking in power, but the main use of these moves apart from 6A is for poking opponents. Learn to love them. -5A: A fast jab and a FANTASTIC poking move. Although super weak, it's extremely quick and can easily find its way through openings in the opponent's defense. This move is also great for stunning opponents to set yourself up for a string of more hits. The only weakness of this move is its small range, but it's well worth it to use this move when you need it. USE IT, ABUSE IT, LOVE IT. -6A: Noel aims a fairly fast kick upwards to knock people into the air. This is such a good set-up for aerial combos, not to mention it can outprioritize and stop certain moves like Jin's Musou Tosshougeki (aka the Ice Car). Don't spam this move, though, because it can be punished by someone who knows what's up (c wut I did thar). -2A: A crouching version of 5A. There's nothing else that differentiates it from its standing counterpart. It's just as good. USE IT, ABUSE IT, LOVE IT. -j.A: The aerial counterpart of 5A, this move is great for catching opponents midair and messing up their approach. Other than that, though, it's obviously weak and its range is tiny. Still, it can combo into j.B and further aerial attacks, not to mention it pokes. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Medium Attacks (B) $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ These are Noel's medium attacks. Although more powerful than her weak attacks, they are not good AT ALL used alone. Instead, these are more suited for being used in combos, and it is within that usage that these moves shine. -5B: Noel performs a backhand. Slower than 5A, this move really doesn't have much purpose. It could be used in a combo, or maybe even as a combo starter, but this is really one of Noel's more underused moves. Not recommended unless it's really needed, but it does have enough priority to knock characters out of certain attacks, so it's not useless. -6B: This funky little move is definitely better than 5B. It has a larger hitbox and can even stop midair approaches if they're low enough. The combo potential for this move is decent too. This move actually also breaks through low guards quite well. -2B: Awesome combo potential here. Although it sadly doesn't do more than slip under standing guards on standing opponents, this move shines brightly when the opponent is grounded. Use this to combo into 6C and so forth. -j.B: Not quite as good as j.A at stopping and poking through aerial approaches, this move can still stop them fairly well and can then combo into j.C for further damage. Fairly decent damage too. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Strong Attacks (C) $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ These are Noel's strong attacks. Totally awesome, these moves deal decent damage and are very important in combos. These are NOT to be spammed, though; they're too slow for that and anyone worth something can easily punish you for sloppy strong attacks. -5C: A standing close-range gun blow. A good move that has the uses of 6B, except it might be slightly, slightly faster. -6C: This move is ****ing AWESOME. You will be canceling into other hits during combos using the first hit of this two-part move. You will be learning to dash into this move, as well as cancel it after the first hit, for sexy combo continuage. Alone, this move sucks except as an anti-air attack; used in combos, it takes your average steroid- abusing wife beater and makes him CRY like a WUSS. -2C: This is just my personal opinion, but I find this move somewhat useful, stand-alone and in select few short combos. It's somewhat awkward to use in combos, though, and stand-alone it isn't really much better than 5C. However, it has some fantastic usages, like comboing into 3C. -3C: Noel slides under the enemy and knocks him/her down. This is an amazing gateway to massive combos involving 6C, 22C, and dash canceling. However, use this move when you know you can hit; if you're blocked using this, you're getting beaten. Hard. Still, this is another great move in Noel's arsenal...it just can't be used moronically. -j.C: About as useful as j.B. Its greatest purpose is to set the stage for the hot aerial combo finisher known as 236C. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Drive: Chain Revolver (D) $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ These are Noel's Drive attacks. Unskilled players spamming these moves is what gives Noel a somewhat negative outlook to some people. These moves open up tons of possibilities for intense and damaging combos, but they will NOT make Noel invincible. Competent players can punish a Noel out of her Drive very easily if Noel's player isn't being careful at all. Make sure you use Noel's Drive right, and you will be a very happy (wo)man. -5D: A simple jab that drags Noel forward. If not followed up, the opponent simply falls to the ground. This is a combo opener, and Noel will find a great variety of possibilities following this. Very, very good move. -6D: Noel will start to move forward, then quickly duck down and sweep the opponent off his/her feet. Not much of a great move, and it can kill your combos. I recommend against using it unless you want to fake out your opponent and hit him while he's guarding standing up, which actually works extremely well concerning mindgames. -4D: With this move, Noel steps back and shoots at the ground in front of her. This is a nice move, able to backstep away from attacks as well as combo nicely into 2D. -2D: A Drive move than makes Noel completely immune to low attacks while in the animation of the move, this is definitely one of her better Drive moves. She can knock enemies out of the air decently well, as well as pass ducking guards. -j.D: A good way to interrupt combos and avoid low blows, as well as a decent damage dealer. I wouldn't suggest using this move often for attacking, but it's a solid, reliable move. This move is extremely useful for something else, though. You can cancel this with Noel's landing recovery and begin chaining Drive combos from there. You can attack with air combos, cancel j.D with landing recovery as you reach the ground, and continue your combo from there, as an example. Credit for j.D canceling goes to the YouTube user guambombboy, whose video I saw about this. -5A, 6A (Drive): After the opening drive move, you can start inputting Weak, Medium, and Strong attacks for different effects than outside of the Chain Revolver. 5A and 6A are quick, simple hits that do a little damage fast, but outside of that, aren't useful for much else. -5B, 6B (Drive): Extremely useful, these awesome, powerful kicks are perfect for combos, even simple Drive-only combos. Use these in conjunction with some smooth combos to really, really hurt your opponent. -5C, 6C (Drive): Like 5B and 6B in Drive, 5C and 6C are awesome combo moves that flow easily into 214A. While 5C is a basic hit, 6C is a multi-hit gun move that can easily be one of the better Drive attacks, since it actually draws the opponent closely to your side, making further smackdowns easier. /----------------------------------------------------\ 2. Special Attacks, where things get heated up [SPATK] \----------------------------------------------------/ These moves are called "special" because they're a bit more advanced that the standard moves. These moves are performed with more directional inputs than standard moves and are generally stronger and/or more advanced than the standard moves. -214A (Muzzle Flitter): The sheer usefulness of this move is just too good. Not only can this be easily followed into, but it is just as easily followed up by a 2B, which opens the way to aerial massacre. Don't use this move if you aren't sure it will land, because like some of Noel's other moves, it's EASILY punished if it misses. -236A, 236B, 236C (Optic Barrel): These are all one move, really. A is close range, B is mid range, C is long range. This is Noel's only option for a projectile apart from her Distortion Drives, despite her use of twin pistols. Use this move when it's safe to do so, as there is a fair amount of recovery lag after performing it. Nonetheless, being Noel's only projectile, Noel can use this to outrange her opponents and even to knock them out of the air. Overall, a decent move. -j.236C (Revolver Blast): This is Noel's ultimate midair combo finisher. Beautiful in every sense of the word, this is THE move to use to finish up your business in midair. Multi-hit, decent damage, and wide range make this one of Noel's best moves. Here's a tip from Rook the Knight: "If you go 2369, you can activate them from the GROUND. For some reason, the game doesn't mind the extra jump thrown into the combo. For Zero Gun: Thor, 2369 236D (or 236 2369D, doesn't matter) works nicely, as you only have to enter HALF of the combo from the air. Low flying revolver blasts are also quite entertaining, especially since you can sometimes hit crouching opponents." -22B, 22C (Silencer): One is rather lame, the other is super hot. Both of these can only be used while the opponent is grounded. With 22B, Noel fires a multitude of weak shots and shoots the opponent away from her in the process, while 22C fires one, more powerful shot and knocks the opponent a little in the air, right where Noel can combo into a mid-level move. 22B can use the first two shots to lift the enemy into the air enough to smack him/her with 6C, but 22C is so much better for that. 22C, combines with 6C's first hit much better and dash canceling REEEEEALLY well and can keep your opponent trapped for several moves in a row. 22C is, in other words, brilliant. -236D (Bloom Trigger): During Chain Revolver, use this move to make Noel shove a pistol in the opponent's face and blow him/her away. Because of the considerable knockback this move has, it proves to be an effective and damaging combo finisher. Make sure the opponent's not blocking this, though, because it spells trouble if Noel can't land this move. -214D (Follow Through): Think Yuri's Ghost Wolf from Tales of Vesperia. During Chain Revolver, if the opponent is close enough, 214D makes Noel rush quickly to the opponent's opposite side and shove him away with high knockback. Like 236D, 214D is a combo finisher, and a move you want to make sure you land. This move can actually be punished a little more easily than 236D, as an opponent can simply turn around as Noel is getting behind him/her and smack her. -28D (Spring Raid): Yet ANOTHER good combo finisher that will be punished if not successful, 28D is strong with high knockback JUST LIKE THE OTHER TWO DRIVE FINISHERS. The only difference is that it strikes very vertically and knocks your opponent in the air. /------------------------------------------\ 3. Grabs: Get the **** out of my face. [GBS] \------------------------------------------/ -5BC: A simple grab attack where Noel grabs her opponent and knees him/her forward. The animation of this move can be canceled into 214A. -4BC: Noel grabs her opponent, jumps on his/her back, and knocks him/her away with her foot, landing on the other side of the opponent. Has about the same usefulness as 5BC. -j.5BC: A grab in midair, Noel grabs her opponent and throws him/her down to the ground. j.5BC is a good way to end short midair combos, as well as grabbing opponents from the air who are guarding. /------------------------------------------------------------\ 4. Distortion Drives: EVEN YOU CAN'T DODGE THIS, MAJOR! [DDRV] \------------------------------------------------------------/ Woohoo, on to Noel's Distortions! You can either use the right analog stick to use a simple shortcut to these attacks, or you can enter the usual directional inputs and buttons to perform them. Since you can't use the right analog stick in Ranked matches and not everyone in Player matches allows them, I highly suggest you learn to use Distortions effectively without depending on shortcuts. Distortion Drives, most commonly called Distortions, are powerful supermoves each character in BlazBlue has, with varying appearances and effects. Each Distortion normally consumes 50% of the Heat Gauge. -236-->236D (Zero-gun: Fenrir): A multi-hit gun attack with massive range, this is a great Distortion to combo into. Although it knocks opponents too far to follow up for another combo directly after, this distortion is decently powerful and is easily combo'd into. If Noel is close enough to her opponent that she hits him/her with her massive gun before she starts shooting, after she tosses that big gun away, she perfoms an additional move while the opponent is suspended in the air and fires another, powerful shot. -j.236-->236D (Bullet Storm-->Zero-gun: Thor): Same button combo, this time in midair. Noel fires a volley of bullets, followed by pulling out a rocket launcher and firing it at the opponent. It can be combo'd into from midair hits early into a combo. Personally, I find this the less useful of Noel's two Distortions, but it's much better than ZG: Fenrir if you're not close enough to activate Fenrir's final shot, as Thor's rocket launcher shot actually does more than Fenrir's volley of shots excluding that final shot (Thanks to Rook the Knight for that info). /--------------------------------------\ 5. Astral Heat: Party in my pants [ALHT] \--------------------------------------/ Astral Heats are flashy finishing moves that must meet three requirements in order to activate: -It must be the FINAL round of the match. Whoever wins this round wins the match. -Your Heat Gauge must be filled 100%. -Your opponent must have no more than 20% HP. Astral Heats are incredibly flashy and awesome to watch, yes, but that's all they are meant to be. They could be risky to use if you don't know what you're doing. Noel's Astral Heat is fairly sexy. It involves moving and jumping around while shooting your opponent trapped within intricate glyphs. After Noel's done shooting, she smacks the hilts of her pistols together and the glyphs explode and finish off the opponent. Noel's Astral Heat, Valkyrie Veil, can be a little tricky to pull off, but is actually fairly simple. The Command List in-game totally misleads you: It says "(Down) Charge (Up) + C repeatedly)". Translation error or whatever, the button input for this is to charge down while pressing C three times, then press up and C, and the Astral Heat will work! +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~G. Noel's Combos: Here's where the fun gets even better! [NOLCBO] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ A fighting game just isn't as fun and complete without some intricate and damaging combos, and BlazBlue sure as hell delivers on that front. Noel's combos involve dealing a lot of damage through a lot of weaker, faster, and multi-hit attacks. Noel, used effectively, is capable of chipping at your opponents health extremely quickly because of the speed and efficiency through which her combos work. Here, I will list some useful combos of Noel that can help you practice. The combo list will start small for now, then grow as I start to grasp come better ones. 6C-->BC(Cancel) and 3C-->22C-->6C are two amazing, amazing little parts of combos that Noel can consistently repeat several times to rack up damage with the assistance of dash canceling as well. These are two things that you should hammer down as soon as you can, especially the first, because they're fantastic ways for Noel to trap opponents in severe combos. 6A, 3C, 5A poking, and 5D are examples of Noel's most potent combo starters. Together, these can combo into a hell of a lot of things, so mix and match button combinations for your own personal pleasure. #1: -6A -j.A -j.B -jD -j.B -j.C -j.236C #2: -5D -6C -5C -6C -214A -2B -6C -j.C -j.236C #3: -5A -5B -6B -3C -22C -6C -5BC (Cancel) -6C -j.B -j.C -j.236C #4: -5D -5B -6B -5B -6B -236D #5: -5D -6C -5A -6A -28D #6: -6A -j.A -j.B -j.BC -2B -6C -j.BC -2B -6C -j.C -j.236C #7: -5D -5A -6A -5A -6A -28D +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~H. Conclusion: And so the end is here...[CONC] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Well, there you have it, my guide to hopefully at least help you grasp the concept of using Noel. Surely a vicious fighter, you can't think badly of her just because she's easy to pick up and has an easily spammable Drive. Any adequate Noel player will wreck you with quick, ruthless attacks if you expect any less of her. Noel is an utter pleasure to use, and if you were patient enough to read this guide, I hope you'll at least understand the joy we have maining such an interesting character. VIVA NOEL!!! +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~I. Frequently Asked Questions [FAQS] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Q: IS NOEL EASY TO USE? A: When it comes to picking her up and learning the basics, Noel is easier than most in BlazBlue to use. To master her skills, however, is a different story. Q: EXACTLY HOW POPULAR IS NOEL? A: If I remember correctly, Noel is currently the third most "mained" character online, behind only Ragna and Jin. Q: I HATE NOEL, EVERYONE SPAMS HER DRIVE! HOW CAN I GET AROUND THIS? A: Like every spammer, Noel Drive spammers are easily taken care of. Because her Drive attacks can be punished fairly hard, Instant Blocking, then countering is a simple, easy way to destroy the scrubs. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~J. Legal Notes [LGNTS] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ This FAQ is Copyright(c) July 2009 Andrea Petriella. You can always use this FAQ for your own PERSONAL use; it cannot be reproduced under ANY OTHER circumstance. If you want to share some of the info on this FAQ without actually posting it, at least give some credit to me. If you want to post this FAQ on your website or whatever, contact me via e-mail: gsninja@yahoo.com. You CANNOT post this guide on your site without contacting me first. Not following any of these guidelines is a violation of copyright. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~K. Thanks [THX] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 1. Me for writing this. 2. My parents for giving birth to me for the purpose of writing this FAQ. 3. Arc Sys for making this amazingly sexy game. 4. GameFAQs, for hosting this guide and being an amazing site. 5. Every other site hosting this. 6. BlazBlue message boards, forums, and videos on the interbuttz...you taught me a lot. 7. Everyone who's helping me with this guide by giving me tips, etc. 8. YOU, the readers, for actually reading this. <3 ~Fin.~