Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3)

Introduction

Vampire Savior(aka Darkstalkers 3 in the US) is the third incarnation of the Vampire series. It was released in 97, and much of the game mechanics of its roots are what many of Capcom's later Versus games have borrowed from. On higher levels, the game is fast paced, and in its now 8 years of being out, has still been relatively balanced in competative play.

Theres more to say, but I'm sure someone will be kind enough to add more filler, and maybe an image. (i'm a wiki scrub) What's important though, is the knowledge to play the game right, not all this silly background information.

also, I(gbursine) truely believe one person cannont know everything; mainly because I know I don't. So to further make this whole thing useful, it's necessary that other people contribute, or there will be many holes within this guide due to the simple fact that things are viewed by the eyes of one person.

Advanced General Strategies

-=chicken guard=-

most pple here know chicken guard is jumping at the opponent, and blocking. in VS, the jumps are quite flexible, so you can chicken guard an attack, and if theres sufficient space between that first hit you blocked and the next one coming(i.e. lei lei's j.hp, which doesnt give you much time as opposed to random air chain by qbee) you can cancel the (air)block stun, and hit them w/ something... OR, if they've stopped all together(i.e. air blocking victors bigass head), characters w/ an air dash *coughqbeecough* STILL have the option to airdash & retaliate. VERY handy. Countered by being thrown of course, and fast airchain I think.

-=empty air chaining=-

empty air chaining... I really dont know what to call it, so I'm gunna call it this till some1 gives me a proper term. I dont see many other fighters that can use it the way this game does. Its basically, jumping and doing an early move i.e. talbain's j.mk. as the j.mk ends(even if you wiff), you throw a j.hp/j.rk on. So essentially, you have some attack out for most of your jump. Also, if the second hit hits, its more than likely going to be a deep hit; allowing for a followed up ground combo. for some characters, this becomes a useful added method for them to build meter when not much is happening(i.e. aubath)

• • I cant stress enough how important empty chaining is.

• instant air dashing

Instant air dashing (iad) is just as it says, dashing so that you're skirting the ground. Tho, not all characters have an air dash to utilized(i.e. felicia, lilith), and not all of the ones who do can utilize it(mainly jedah).

How to iad: a dash is inputted by two consectutive forward motions.

-Up/toward->toward

this is the most obvious shortcut. very efficient when done correctly consistently.. what sux tho, is that its hard as fuck to iad on an american stick... The vampire engine is really bitchy w/ the "forward" inputs. Doing the inputs quickly is going against what seems to be a natural habit/motion of the hands(from what i've seen). b-izm remedies this with an up/toward->down/toward motion.(vid to be accessible soon). tho, this is still more jap-stick based... this is all i can give as far as iading goes... if none of these methods work, stick with up, toward, toward. ghetto, and not nearly as fast as iading

characters with effective iad's: lei lei, zabel, qbee, jedah*

• jedah's iad is useful via iad->fireball, significantly cutting the recovery on the blade... otherwise, dont be too reliant on it for rtsd.

-=offensive ground dashing=-

Theres two different types of offensive ground dashing(ogd's..i'm makin acronyms up on the fly): ground ogd's, and air ogd's.

just about all ground dashes add to the momentum of your rtsd(rushing that shit down)[there are a couple of exemptions]. Implementing them is character specific of course, but just about every character looks to either a. apply pressure b. connect a ground combo off of a dashed hit

its so simpo(<--stolen, I just forgot where from)

There are exceptions though:

-Leilei's teleport ground dash has a somewhat obvious & significant startup. Going into dash->throw is viable, but leilei maintains more momentum with an iad or just simple walking. -Demitri's dash is much like lei lei's(a teleport)... But, since(from the assorted vids I've watched) demitri wasnt designed for the rtsd shit that other characters were capable of, his dash serves more as a means of use for running away, horizontal uppercut setups/combos(ya, its comboable), random unblockable super setups(risky imo tho... but doable).

-Victor. I'm still somewhat unsure of whether or not he fits the "out of the ordinary" category. b/c he's the cast's main grappler(:p to sasquatch), his dash allows for throw setups in addition to getting in the opponents face.

Many of the characters w/ ground ogd's can just use normals(w/ little recovery) and rtsd.

Following characters with ground ogd's:

• anakaris
• aubath
• bbhood
• bishamon(forward dash)
• demitri
• lilith
• qbee
• victor
• zabel*lei lei
• *pyron
• *phobos
• *donovan

*not really from vampire savior but still applicable(ya, I know they're in the home versions).

Air ogd's will actually propel the character into the air, giving the character the ability too add quick overheads to their rtds mixup. this leads to some crazy shit from some characters(i.e. sas). Theres also two types of air ogd characters. most of them do a hop that propels them, Jedah and Morrigan outright fly(ya, common knowledge to all of you likely, but w/e.. i might as well sight(cite?) every tidbit) Air ogd characters:

• Bishamon(backward dash)
• felicia
• gallon/talbain
• Sasquatch
• *Morrigan
• *Jedah

* a nice thing to remember w/ these characters is not to dash for too long. they both lose the ability to block once they get too high, they're likely just a flying target(think xism) Also, a unique property about each of them is that jedah can air dash once he's airborn, & morrigan has 4 different versions of her ground dash(forward, back, upforward, & backforward).

*Another thing to note about the hopping characters(except bishamon) is that they each have a shortened dash by simply pressing back after the [forward, forward] command.

fly-dashing aircombo note:

-The rule for non-chained air attacks is that you cannot use the same move twice in one jump. If you've done an air chain, however, only the first hit counts toward this rule. It's possible to do forward, chain into fierce, then fierce, but not forward, chain into fierce, then forward.

-=chain/unchain state=-

this is kinda obvious, but odd w/ some characters. so simpo... but worth taking note for pple trying to do shit but are saying wtf. when you jump, or walk, you're in a chain comboing state. you can start a combo(provided the hit connects/is blocked) and chain away. any form of dashing takes that ability away... also, you lose the ability to block, which may or may not be a fair tradeoff, depending on how well your offensive game is.

an oddity is with leilei, relative to the other air dashers(qbee, zabel, jedah... i cant think of the others...). after an air dash, leilei for some unknown reason or another cant do special moves.... minor, but jedah's blade/command throw, qbee's jaguar kick, or zabel's down-up move(i'm so bad w/ names -_-) are viable for use after an airdash. leilei would've taken great use out of airdashXXgong... but i guess its a shoulda woulda coulda thing on the part of capcom

-=Building meter=-

-Like many other games, its more advantageous of you to be building meter at the other side of the screen, as opposed to just doing nothing while waiting for them to come at you. If you and your opponent are being asses, and arent rushing down. so, here are my best suggestions w/ each character for building meter:

• Aubath: j.mp->j.hp, & lp waves/dusts
• anakaris: j.D+hk(you should be rushing down thogh)
• Bishamon: s.rk
• BB hood: light missles, & j.mp>j.mk
• Demitri: ham and fried eggs!... just fireball -_-(boring fucker)
• Felicia: manual charge(in pulses... or as I like to call cookieeee), or j.mk, j.rk(which is safer)
• Jedah: wheels, c.mk
• Gallon(talbain): j.mk, j.rk
• leilei(hsien Ko): tk gong
• Lilith: tk soul flash
• Morrigan: j.mk->j.rk
• Qbee: j.mp->j.rk
• Victor: lp spins
• Zabel: j.hp-> j.rk

a note: Jedah doesn't get meter from Dashing back & wiffing normals

Generally Accepted Tier List

Top

Upper Mid

Mid

Lower Mid

Bottom

Character Specific Strategies

• Anakaris
• Aubath (Rikuo)
• BB Hood (Bulleta)
• Bishamon
• Demitri
• Felicia
• Gallon (J. Talbain)
• Jedah
• Lei Lei (Hsien Ko)
• Lilith
• Morrigan
• Q-Bee
• Sasquatch
• Victor
• Zabel

**Note: There's no Oboro Bishamon, Donovan, Phobos(Huitzil), nor Phobos. This is due to the fact that they were in the other incarnations of the Vampire Series, and though they appeared in just about all of the console ports; this section maintains arcade purity. Also to boot, none of the 4 characters are used in tournament play, since they are not available in the arcade versions of Vampire Savior.

Relevant Discussions

http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54122

Past Vampire Savior videos

http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85637