a guide to vixen, the yomi hustle scourge (to most people) and lovely nuclear kitsune. general overview so you wanna play vy shen, ex-yokai of pleasure with a thing for fire, nuclear bombs, and tax evasion hmm?~ well here's a players (likely incorrect) observational guide for ya to teach you the ropes since inkless just... won't. unless you pester them, but you really shouldn't do that. MOVING ON! uniquely she takes both additional and reduced damage compared to most characters and has less health than most characters. starting off she takes DOUBLE DAMAGE and as her health drains, she gets that reduced down to roughly 40% damage taken (60% damage reduction). her starting hp is 12000. her play style is all about getting in on someone and wailing on them with high speed strikes and various dodges at point blank with some short range moves to assist with keeping the pressure on. your biggest problems are people who can parry, or block strings cause quite frankly you just don't have many safe guard breaking moves despite being a point blank fighter that don't cost you a rather large portion of your super gauge or are fast enough that if your within range to use a prior move to get the option to use said guard break in the first place. passives so here's the thing about vixen. she's got 5 passives, she heals her self and gains nuclear charge, leaves wisps of fire on them, and finally sets people on fire! however the third one is what actually enables previous two. her ability to mark people with excess fire, noticeable by the ring of up to 8 flame pips circling them at any given time. ABSORBING now these pips are tied to what i call "absorbing" moves and "marking" moves. if the move is mostly white icon and has no orange flame effects, those are absorbing moves that take a tick off of your enemy every time you hit them with it, causing a bit of nuclear charge to build up and granting healing for a bit of health (IMPORTANT: your heals can CAN EXCEED your max hp, but you will still suffer the double damage, and it will drain away rapidly). these moves make up the standard attacks of her kit. MARKING now that's great and all but what about marking moves? those are moves landed from attacks with orange flame effects on the option icon. E.G. magma charge, your supers (outside of thermal fission), and your post shine options (which weirdly includes lite ant. exceptions to the rules man.). NUCLEAR CHARGE/HEALING nuclear charge is is known as heat in the files and on a little tool tip that was added when mousing over vixen in the previews while furious (IMPORTANT NOTE: i use dev accurate number displays, the the heat preview does not. add an extra zero to the end of it for accurate damage if you're not using a mod that shows dev accurate numbers). it's built through both taking damage (dependent on how much damage you take at once) and absorbing marks with "konsume", but what REALLY charges it at a extreme rate is two things. the use of the super thermal fission which seems to add to your charge via taking the amount you currently have and adding a percent to it. the second however is self damage inflicted by your move glow. however the standard way to get heat is by using the "konsume" option on absorbing attacks. IMPORTANT NOTE: as your opponent gains meter you will gain REDUCED NUKE DAMAGE. this is important because yomi has a rage meter mechanic and grants your enemies meter the longer you combo them. IGNITE while using "konflagerate", using absorbing attacks on marked enemies will inflict 300 delayed damage (if the enemy has meter the damage is significantly reduced until all meter present is gone) to an opponent that is sped up in neutral compared to being in a combo, however the scariest part of this is the fact that this burn CONSUMES ENEMY SUPER OVER TIME (this is directly applied to meter burn as well). IGNITION this is basicly a lockout system due to a major change in how vixen unlocks her moves throughout a match you gain moves from ignition 0-3 by just.... you know, fighting and not losing momentum. this will drain away for being passive with the exception of using "COME ON!" Attacks grab grabs with vixen lack a dash option and have a 3 meter toggle which leads into deep impact/down bad, moves that are guaranteed to combo end sadly. more on those later. flash claws a 7 frame anti-air with a fixed direction (being diagonally above and to either the left and right). it is extremely quick and might allow you to jump normally unjumpable moves at the cost of dealing with the extreme end lag (the move totals roughly 24-26 frames if not free canceled). another great whiff escape tool. tap a non free cancel-able 4 frame punch that doubles on connection. use 3 times (if you keep them in combo and not flying) and you'll send them flying. tilt a basic 5 frame low kick with a very small amount of forward movement. pretty much only there for mixups and toe stubbing. begone the fast guard breaking option (on the ground) that has a aimed over head kick. inherits momentum to a middling degree. really good for building heat if you can send enemies to a wall or DI mix them. ascending sun a 6 frame rising double kick that ignores Ariel attacks up to frame 9. also a strangely good way to get people into a combo from the ground with a large amount of momentum being inherited. descending moon a 6 frame rolling hopping kick that has a fall toggle attack that will dodge lows, but still get grabbed. scam either a way to sacrifice yourself for a massive chunk of heat if you get hit during startup or a way to just sucker punch someone if they use a defensive option. (would recommend getting some temp health and heat before using this as you only get one shot at this if it goes off in heat gain as it is percent based) important note: this move will generate a bar of meter over its duration. AIRBORN double kicks/ high kicks both are 4 frame highs that have a second launching kick and a interrupt if you land the first kick. the only difference is the direction they nudge you in with DK nudging you forward, and HK nudging you upward. drill kick a 4 frame low that has a fall toggle allowing it to add downward momentum to vixen, while also inflicting a VERY heavy meteor (downward) like knock back. good for jumpscaring people who don't mind their heads. Specials cinder req: ignition 1 a none flippable 15 frame invincibility heavy dash (your invincible at frames 5-10). this puts you into what i call the "cinder" state (i know, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ name is ♥♥♥♥♥♥. moving on.) in this state you can use the ant moves. another semi-exclusive attribute to this state is access to the flash dodge (aim-able left and right with some vertical control) additionally your supers will be available as well and if you use flint-wheel (and i think octokick) in this state you'll remain in the cinder state afterwards. finally you'll retain access to shine, magma charge, grab (but no advancing grab), friction, and a modified version of dawn which become a IV heavy speed slam, but is massively block punishable. has a sway option to increase end frames but flow backward. great for lining up a mid-air fire ant or not burn an air option to reposition below you. also ends much faster in combo (i think it's only 8 frame? it's weird.) lite ant a single low damage hit 3 frame backhand punch that out prioritizes grabs and places fire marks. bizarrely long hitstun time if landed with low knockback. great for unleashing a strong left/right! fire ant a speed adjustable flaming clothesline strike that hits a total of 3 times before sending your opponent flying. however be aware there is a deadzone at 0 on the slider that will cause you to whiff. this deadzone, however, also does allow for a very sneaky escape. side notes: if you get hit during the iframes of cinder you will generate 750 N.C./heat shine a 2/10 frame point blank flash of fire that can lead into glow/radiate as well as cinder if your on the ground. however, the move sends enemies flying outside of combos, so in that case it's a "GTFO ME" button, HOWEVER IT DOES NOT HITSTUN OUTSIDE OF COMBOS, so if a opponent *cough* cowboy *cough* has really long reach on it's normal attacks, your getting hit.. also, adds flash dodge, and can be used again in succession. also this move eats your momentum so if your flying out of control with no other air options, use this thing like an air brake! landing shine mid combo will actually put you into cinder stance at point blank. major warning: if an opponent projectile gets parried using shine you will curl into a DI controled fireball magma charge req: ignition 1 a momentum dependent rush down with projectile immunity that comes out in two parts. the contact and the actual uppercut, making this the reliable way to slap someone with two marks at once. however, when used it WILL cut all upward momentum that you have, it will inherit all other momentum, if you can, try to super jump or heat chaser (either version) into this. you'll catapult yourself and make chasing enemies much easier after sending them flying. dawn a 5 frame high flaming flip kick that has minor anti-air qualities. however be warned, this has even more upward knock-back than magma charge. strong left/right req: ignition 2 a guard breaking 20 frame punish with a metric crap ton of armor that will cancel out on getting hit. it also grants a bit of charge, and these come out faster in combo (only by 2~ frames but hey, faster is still better ain't it?) and finally HURTS LIKE HELL AND FULLY MARKS AN ENEMY OR CAUSES DETONATION AT FULL MARKS (so long as it is not whiff blocked or parried). sounds good right? bad news these are a guaranteed combo ender. though it does connect even if the opponent is flat on their backs from a backhanded knuckle to the face. this move generates more charge on hit than the amount you get on whiff (600 whiff/ 900 on hit) heating up req: ignition 1 plants 4 marks. works well as a momentum carrying move or a bit of a mixer mid combo. will be careful as this will usually result in a ignition. spirits a pestering projectile that marks and deals a little damage. like. maybe 100 damage. locked into the move for 15 frames. also acts like a particular teleport attack if they are a decent distance away, and attacking as if they were going to parry the projectile. flipping the attack will attack from behind. gains a more powerful version at ignition 1. friction simple descending kick with an explosive landing or if you don't use the fall toggle you'll hop off a enemys head. it does inherit momentum but the big thing is that it is a hopping move on the ground, which means low attacks won't stop you. however it can still be grabbed unlike a normal hop attack. it can also be used to hit people while they're on the ground. super moves gleam req: 1 super meter it's literally glow but as a super that deals very slightly less self damage, and lacks a followup super equivalent to radiate, likely due to the fact that on hit this move tends (more often than not) to refund a quarter of it's own cost. also, great for burning floored or walled enemies. adds 750 heat on direct hit and 250 on full cast, otherwise and if cast in combo (but not directly hitting it actually ends sooner in similar manor to cinder (i believe it cuts 10~ ish frames off?). surprisingly, it's useful to use it as a close range whiff to add 4 marks and some heat if you can follow up. pain vortex req: ignition 2 a 15 frame projectile launching can be controlled with the mini DI wheel. can hit 4 times and will mark and add hitstun each time. unless your in a combo or far FAR away, be careful when using it. it's somewhat dangerous for you and will end with you losing half your life or needing to burst. this is however a really useful tool for setting up detonations due to holding someone in one place on the right angle~ flint-wheel req: ignition 2 4 high speed air kicks that end with a plummet inducing overhead kick that come out at 6 frames. majorly punishable if you whiff or get blocked. octo-kick req: 2 super meter/ ignition 3 basically flint-wheel trading the massive first hit range for 4 more strikes and faster start up. great for what it is, and it deals some pretty chunky total damage too surprisingly, coming out close to the enemy and even useful as a possible counter charge. burning moon req: 2 super meter/ ignition 3 /must be in the air (?) a marking variant of descending moon that ends with a friction decent and guarantees near max marks, as well as a massive chunk off their hp if you land the full attack. however it does have a bit of a start up issue. deep impact/down bad req: 3+ super meter/opponent must be grabbed with toggle active these two are birds of a feather style abilities that act as a way to either send you opponent away from you in one piece or burning like a meteor on entry in the night sky. the difference is that deep impact sends them to the sun while dealing a little more damage. down bad is the air version that ends them down to earth after tumble roll slamming them. both will end your combo. as a important note, these moves eat all available meter to deal more damage and inflict more flame pips. however, interestingly enough the move seems to refund roughly half of it's meter spent, when used raw due to the sheer damage you put out. THERMAL FISSION req: 3 super meter okay this bugger of a move is so confusing so take everything here as "incorrect" until proven true. what it SEEMS to do is grant you the "sparking" condition which grants heat/nuke charge over time. this condition lasts until your next nuke. WARNING: this move will erupt into a 6 frame blast of fire draining 2000 hp from vixen. also takes a % of your current heat (roughly 55-60%) and adds it on top of your current heat when cast. HOWEVER, you only get ONE use of this per nuke so you'd best build up your heat a bit first. furious creature req: ignition 3 spawns a clone who gets controlled by a mini DI wheel and will go kaput in one hit, while offering a teleport with fire moves. also getting this clone on top of a hitstuned enemy will allow them to add hitpause to a flying enemy to give you a chance to catch up. WARNING: there is a +2 frame start up on teleport and said teleport has a 4 turn cool-down with it being able to be caught by frame 3-4 moves dubious creature req: ignition 3 furious creature but standard attacks. works amazingly as a get out of jail card. NUCLEAR REACTION okay so this section is very much a add on from both passives and a few of the moves. i've mentioned gaining nuke charge throughout this whole guide, but not how to make use of it. to summarize the stages fooked you or your opponent are is the effects on vixen. no vfx: 750+ damage a light glow: 1000+ damage heavy glowing: 2500 + damage RADIATION SYMBOL AND SIRENS: 5000+ DAMAGE !!! when moused over: YOUR DEAD. what are you looking at me like that for, I'M BEING SERIOUS! regardless nuke charge can only be discharged when using certain moves while an enemy has full marks on them (8). the move in question is strong left/right. afterwords if all conditions are correct and your not horrifically desynced from your opponent you'll let off either a small shock wave, a nuclear pulse, or a actual mushroom cloud. no matter what your opponent will be sent reeling. Legacey this section is for moves that i know of that were removed that i know of that where critical in my opinion. deep impact/down bad (detonate) req: 3 super meter/opponent must be grappled/be in cinder state (DI only) while not fully removed, in addition to what was posted above, these moves used to also allow for detonation of your nuclear charge/heat. scratch that itch req: 3 super meter/opponent had to be grappled this move used to eat all marks on your enemy at the time no matter what and plant 3 more afterword, which was great for building healing and nuke charge. however, depending on both your meter and opponent DI this sometimes ended up being a finisher to your combo due to the extreme force vixen throws in her headbutt, or in many cases it was a way to prolong a combo due to the extreme horizontal force it had for the headbutt and fight DIdown. heat chaser req: 1 super meter easily seems like a badly pathed chaser ability however it's affected by your DI dial, and my god, taking control makes this thing ridiculous. it also adds a massive momentum boost to most of your attacks, and practically turns magma charge into a teleporting slam. it also has a nice short range flame burst that can catch opponents off guard and sends them flying with a mark. however you only retain this state for 4 turns. glow/radiate these moves used to be able to be used after shine and each other, which drained a total of 3k hp but would grant massive amounts of heat and super meter.