Ralf Jones
In a nutshell
Ralf "Rambo" Jones is rather different than how you may remember him. Although he is still primarily based around mid range zoning, abusing his powerful far normals like st.C and st.D, and his amazing st.CD, Ralf has also lost the use of his command grab. To make up for this, he's been given a cancelable cr.B, along with some extremely powerful basic combos that do a lot of stun and damage, making him a powerful first character. Unlike many a lot of other chars in XIII, Ralf's combos do not really involve quick inputs or juggles, but he has more of an emphasis on links. His execution requirements are fairly low (unless you are extremely bad at loose links!), and most of his game is space control with normals, so you may feel more comfortable with Ralf's slower, more basic combos and easy to grasp zoning game coming from a Street Fighter background.
Video Walkthrough
Move List
Normal Moves
Hop: 40
Hop: 40
Hop: 70
Hop: 68
Hop: 80
Unique Attacks
Throw
Special Moves
ex : 45×8
kof.sp : 50
ex : 100
ex : crumple
kof.sp : 80
ex : 60×2+80
kof.sp : 40+30×2
ex : 30×2+20×4+100
kof.sp : softknockdown
ex : hardknockdown
ex : 180
Desperation Moves
p Charged Lv.1: 220
p Charged Lv.2: 260
p Charged Lv.3: 320
ex Uncharged: 300
ex Charged Lv.1: 340
ex Charged Lv.2: 380
ex Charged Lv.3: 500
Charged Lv.3: unblockable
Console Changes
- Crouching D has faster recovery.
- Heavy Burning Hammer (qcf+C) has faster recovery. It can combo into heavy Gatling Attack (b~f+C) without needing to cancel.
- During Vulcan Punch (P*) (all versions), Ralf can move forward.
- EX Burning Hammer (qcf+AC) has faster startup and can be comboed from heavy attacks.
- Both versions of Galactica Phantom (qcf qcf+P) can be charged (previously 220 for normal version, 360 for EX version).
- Far standing C can be canceled into Vulcan Punch.
Strategy
Move Analysis
Normal Moves
- Standing Light Punch (
) -
- Standing Light Kick (
) -
- Standing Heavy Punch (
) -
- Close Heavy Punch (Close ) -
- Standing Heavy Kick (
) -
- Close Heavy Kick (Close ) -
- Crouching Light Punch (
+ ) -
- Crouching Light Kick ( + ) -
- Crouching Heavy Punch ( + ) -
- Crouching Heavy Kick ( + ) -
- Blowback Attack ( + ) -
- Jumping Light Punch (Air ) -
- Jumping Light Kick (Air ) -
- Jumping Heavy Punch (Air ) -
- Jumping Heavy Kick (Air ) -
- Jumping Blowback Attack (Air + ) -
Unique Attacks
- Jet Upper (
+ ) -
Throw
- Dynamite Headbutt (
or 
+ or [while close]) -
Special Moves
- Vulcan Punch (press
repeatedly) -
Vulcan Punch (press + repeatedly) -
- Burning Hammer (
+ ) -
- Burning Hammer ( + + ) -
- Explosive Punch (
+ ) -
- Explosive Punch ( + + ) -
- Gatling Attack ( [charge] + ) -
- Gatling Attack ( [charge] + + ) -
- Blitzkrieg Punch (Air + ) -
- Blitzkrieg Punch (Air + + ) -
Desperation Moves
- Galactica Phantom ( + ) -
- Galactica Phantom ( + + ) -
- Bareback Vulcan (
+ 
) - - Jet Vulcan (
+ + ) -
Tips and Tricks
- Ralf's cr.B links into cl.C. Whilst his cr.B is cancelable, it doesn't lead into quite as much damage as cl.C will. Fortunately, Ralf's cr.B to cl.C link is pretty lenient, so it's recommended you learn it to get the most out of him.
- Starting from cr.B in general for any of these links will reduce the damage of your combo by about 30, as you need to avoid using df.A.
- Ralf's EX Gatling Attacking (charge b~f+AC) is his only comboable hard knockdown. If you feel the need to do some more sustained pressure on your opponent, you could substitute it for any DM here at the cost of a lot of damage.
- Any instance of a combo from qcf+C into cr.C xx special/super, could be ended in cr.D sweep instead if you don't want to push your opponent a long way away for whatever reason (fireball character, etc). Again this costs you damage.
Combos
0% Drive
0 Bar
- cr.B cr.B xx charge b~f+C - (143, 14)
A pretty weak combo from a low. It does lead to a knockdown however, which may be more favourable in some situations.
- cr.B df.A xx qcf+C, charge b~f+A - (198, 39)
Ralf's basic combo from a low. It leaves the opponent standing next to you, so be wary of reversal attempts or command grabs. df.A may not connect from a more distanced cr.B.
- (cr.B) cl.C df.A xx qcf+C, cr.C xx charge b~f+C - (280, 39)
Ralf's basic meterless combo. If starting from cr.B, you have to omit the df.A, and you may need to skip the df.A from distanced jumpins or just a longer ranged cl.C hit. Does great damage for a meterless combo.
- cr.C xx qcf+C, charge b~f+A - (182, 25)
For confirming from cr.C pokes when you're fairly close. Again, leaves you close to the opponent.
- cr.C xx charge b~f+C - (160, 15)
Combo to use when confirming from a very long range cr.C poke. If you're closer, use the combo above.
1 Bar
- (cr.B) cl.C df.A xx qcf+C, cr.C xx qcbhcf+K - (413, 31)
Ralf's extremely powerful basic DM combo. As before, omit the df.A if starting from cr.B, or from a distanced confirm.
- cr.B df.A xx qcf+C, qcbhcf+K - (344, 19)
The easier low confirm into DM for ralf.
- cr.C xx qcf+C, qcbhcf+K - (334, 15)
- cr.C xx qcbhcf+K - (296, 7)
DM combos for cr.C pokes from distance.
2 Bar
- (cr.B) cl.C df.A xx qcf+C, cr.C xx qcfqcf+AC - (493, 32)
- cr.B df.A xx qcf+C, qcfqcf+AC - (442, 19)
- cr.C xx qcf+C qcfqcf+AC - (441, 15)
- cr.C xx qcfqcf+AC - (412, 7)
Ralf's qcfqcf+AC DM does not really add that much damage for the extra bar compared to qcbhcf+K. Considering he's mostly used as a battery, you may not always want to do these combos.
50% Drive
0 Bar
- cl.C xx qcf+C charge b~f+A (DC) qcf+C cr.C xx charge b~f+C - (309 49)
- cr.B df.A xx qcf+C charge b~f+A (DC) qcf+C charge b~f+A - (285, 47)
Not terribly worth the drive, but can be useful nonetheless.
1 Bar
- cl.C xx qcf+C charge b~f+A (DC) qcf+C cr.C xx qcbhcf+K - (434, 41)
You can do df.A after cl.C here and omit the cr.C to get 1 extra damage, but 9 less stun. It's better to not start from cr.B link for this combo because it actually does less than just doing the cr.B df.A combo.
- cr.B df.A xx qcf+C charge b~f+A (DC) qcf+C qcbhcf+K - (425, 37)
2 Bar
- cl.C xx qcf+C charge b~f+A (DC) qcf+C cr.C xx qcfqcf+AC - (496, 41)
Same applies for this combo, you can use df.A but avoid cr.B
- cr.B df.A xx qcf+C charge b~f+A (DC) qcf+C qcfqcf+AC - (487, 37)
100% Drive
Due to Ralf's somewhat low damage in HD combos and the fact he's usually placed as first, none of these combos are really recommended to be used in a match unless you're dominating or you're playing Ralf in second or third.
1 Bar
- (cr.B) cl.C df.A (HD) cl.C df.A qcf+C [charge b~f+A HDC qcf+C] x5 qcbhcf+K - (626, 24)
2 Bar
- (cr.B) cl.C df.A (HD) cl.C df.A qcf+C [charge b~f+A HDC qcf+C] x5 qcbqcf+AC - (670, 24)
3 Bar
- (cr.B) cl.C df.A (HD) cl.C df.A qcf+C [charge b~f+A HDC qcf+C] x4 charge b~f+A HDC hcbhcb+AC - (763, 16)
These combos will work half screen to the corner. Doing it past this will result in your Gatling Attack whiffing after a few reps. May also not work on all crouching chars. Try to do cl.C df.A after the HD activation as late as possible to make sure you're point blank and have pushed the opponent as far in as possible. Also possible to start HD combos with cl.C df.A xx qcf+C cr.C (HD) ...
Video for all listed Ralf HD combos