JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future/Hol Horse

Hol horse in the introduction of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future.

Introduction

Hol Horse, the gushed-up cowboy second hand smoker. One of the recurring villains in the comic book. That just wouldn't leave the heroes be. Anyhow, he is one of the simplest characters to use in the game. Due to him not having a regular stand, and immune to stand crush he is very scrub friendly. He has very good keepaway tactics, and his supers are very strong. Hol Horse is most effective if used for basic runaway, or projectile abuse.

Moves List

Notation

 Joystick Position
                  
       7 8 9      
       4 5 6      
       1 2 3      
            
a1 == Light Attack
a2 == Medium Attack
a3 == Heavy Attack
S == Stand button
T == Taunt/Start button
?a == Any attack button
?2a == Any two attack buttons (pressed at the same time)
?3a == All three attack buttons (pressed at the same time)       

Normal Moves

Hol Horse does not have use of Stand Mode as he is a Passive Stand user.

5.a1 - A short standing kick. This isn't as effective as 2.a1 for combo potential, as it has similar pace but less range.

4.a1 - Hol blows cigarette smoke in his opponent's face. This is a little slow for a low-damage attack, but has a fair amount of range and a surprisingly large hitbox. Use on the defensive.

2.a1 - Hol throws some sand at his opponent. This has quite a lot of vertical and horizontal range for a basic crouching attack and is fairly quick. Definitely Hol's best combo starter, though 5.a1 can be used in a pinch.

5.a2 - A medium-range, fairly quick kick. This isn't the most desirable combo starter, but can be linked into from 5.a1/2.a1.

4.a2 - Hol leaps up and kicks out. This is another quick move, with greater range than 5.a2, but a larger amount of start-up time. Generally useful as a simple combo link.

2.a2 - Hol hits his opponent with a brick. This is a little slow on the recovery and generally one of Hol's less useful basic moves, but can still be linked into from 2.a1.

5.a3 - This is a roundhouse kick with a little bit of start-up time. It has decent range and sends your opponent flying backwards. The start-up time isn't so great that the move is rendered altogether useless; however, it's not the safest of Hol's basics. Quick players can cancel into an a3 Hanged Man to trap their opponent. More in the combos section below.

4.a3 - Hol fires multiple shots at his opponent's feet. Good damage for a low hitting move. Useful for corner mixups with 214+a2, 623+a2, and his unblockable bullet, 421+AA.

2.a3 - Hol slides forward with his leg extended. Hitting an opponent with this move will knock them down, and Hol moves fairly fast during the move. This has lots of uses, including getting out of corners and quickly moving in on your opponent. See the combos section below for some examples. Very punishable when blocked!

Jumping a1 (a1 in air) - A generic diving knee attack. Not a great deal of range, as usual.

Jumping a2 (a2 in air) - Same as jumping a1.

Jumping a3 (a3 in air) - A generic air kick, angled downwards. Better than jumping a1/a2, but you probably won't be doing too many jump-ins as Hol anyway.

Special Moves

S (The Emperor) - Hol draws his Stand and fires a shot, which pauses in the air for a second before moving. Moving the joystick in a direction while performing the move will determine the initial direction of the shot. This can be performed in air.

5.S/6.S - Forwards
4.S - Backwards
9.S - 45 degrees up/back
3.S - 45 degrees down/back
7.S - 45 degrees up/forwards
1.S - 45 degrees down/forwards
2.S/8.S - Upwards

But there's more. True to the manga, Hol's shots can be controlled after being fired - to an extent. After the shot starts moving, moving the joystick in any direction other than 8 will redirect the shot in the stick's direction. The most effective tactic here is to fire shots while in the air, then move them at 45-degree angles to find your opponent - otherwise, controlling the shot "times out" after a second or so and you end up with far less mobility. On contact, fired shots cause continuous hits and can do a lot of damage if not blocked - particularly if you move the shot back and forth over your opponent.

236+?a (Hajikida!) - Hold fires a bullet straight forwards. Using a3 fires a low shot. This is much faster than The Emperor, but you may well find that it's actually less useful in many situations due to its general predictableness and lack of versatility.

214+?a (Hanged Man) - Hol sniggers and motions with his hands, and a hole appears in the ground. If your opponent steps on the hole, The Hanged Man will pop up, dealing a small amount of damage and stunning them for a second or so. The distance the hole appears away from Hol is determined by the button used to perform the attack. This has a little start-up time and is somewhat punishable, but is extremely useful - it can be chained into most easily from 5.a3 or 4.a2, and once your opponent is trapped you can get a free a Hajikida! or super in, among other things.

623+?a (J.Geil no Danha!) - Hol fires at the ceiling and glass falls down. This is a generally good anti-turtle move - it's an overhead, can be performed fairly rapidly, and can be performed in air. In other words, it's pretty spammable. The glass can do a considerable amount of damage if it all hits your opponent. Hol's shot can hit jumping opponents for minor damage. On the ground, the shot's angle is determined by the button used to perform the attack.

Super Moves

236+2?a (Fuchimakeru!) - Hol fires many shots directly forwards. This is highly effective at short range, but the shots tend to spread out at longer range and have far less of an effect. Due to the aforementioned effect your opponent may have a hard time punishing you as you perform the move, unless they can get behind you. In air the shots are fired diagonally downwards; on the ground the a3 version is low.

214+2?a (Saikyo no Combi "Hanged Man") - Hol fires three shots at the screen, causing bullet holes to appear. If your opponent comes into contact with any of the cracks, they freeze, the background darkens, and The Hanged Man stabs them in the neck. This does considerable damage, and can even be linked into another one in the right circumstances. The move's start-up time is negligible, but if your opponent blocks - the only real way to escape the move - they'll have a big opportunity to punish you. Use with caution.

623+2?a (Dangan no Modou) - Hol turns and fires a single shot in slow motion. You have a few seconds to precisely control the shot before everything returns to normal speed. Your opponent still has full control while you're controlling the shot, meaning that this is most effective at close range after sweeping your opponent or another setup where you can hit them on wakeup or right after a superfreeze. Holding the attack buttons will make Hol fire another shot as soon as the first times out; you can continue firing shots this way until you run out of super.

Misc.

623+?a while blocking (Guard Cancel) - Same as 5.a3. As the move's a bit slow you won't be able to interrupt attacks such as Jotaro's Patsun Ora, but most of the Guard Cancels in the game suffer from this so you're not stuck with too much of a disadvantage. Occasionally useful for knocking on opponent back further than one can with a pushblock.

The Basics

Tactics

Hol works best at medium range. His basic attacks are quick and effective enough to start combos easily. Lack of Stand mode doesn't disadvantage Hol at all - he's still mid-high tier, and being able to access all of his moves in a pinch aids his mobility greatly. Unlike many JoJo characters, Hol's definitely best on the offense. His attacks are strong enough to do considerable damage even without big combo links - keep pressuring your opponent and you'll get through with time.

Combos

This section outlines some simple combos that may be useful for beginners, and some bread-and-butter combos that should be learnt by all players.

2.a1 -> 5.a1 -> 236+?a or 236+2?a

• A very simple link combo.

2.a1 -> 4.a2 -> 236+a3 or 236+a2+a3
2.a1 -> 5.a2 -> 236+a3 or 236+a2+a3

• Simple mixup variations on the above. Most of Hol's basics can be used as mixups in this combo structure.

5.a3 -> 214+a3 -> 214+2?a

• A fairly easy means of getting Saikyo no Combi out. You'll need to be quick on the inputs as the links are pretty tight.

5.a3 -> 214+a3 -> 214+2?a -> 2.a3 -> 623+2?a

• An easy means of extending the above combo. The 2.a3 allows you to get close to your opponent before they wake up - the Dangan no Modou should be performed as soon as you stand up, and the bullet should be directed straight downwards. As soon as your opponent fully wakes up, it'll hit them.

214+a3 -> 2.a3 -> 623+2?a (hold buttons)

• This combo should be performed at medium to long range. When you perform the first Dangan no Modou, you should direct the shot first upwards for about 2/3 of a second, and then down. Your second shot should be fired as your opponent wakes up, and both shots should hit them at the same time.

214+a1 -> 214+2?a -> 214+2?a

• Stun into Saikyo no Combi, into a juggle with another Saikyo no Combi.

214+a1 -> 214+2?a -> 214+2?a -> 2.a3 -> 623+2?a

• An extension of the above.

5.a3 -> 214+a1 -> 214+2?a -> 623+2?a (hold buttons)

• 100% combo. Works in corners. You should know how to use Dangan no Modou by now - first shot up and then down, second shot should hit immediately, and a third shot should land before they recover from the hitstun.

Example use of these combos can be seen in this YouTube video.

Match-ups

Vs. Shadow Dio:

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure