Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong jeff.oneshot.wong@juno.com ver 1.2 Added to Tricks and Strategy section. Added Bryan information on partnering up. Fixed throw escapes for multithrow. Added info on buffering Bruce's multithrow. Ver 1.1 Updated Tricks and Strategy section. Added information for side throws. Fixed minor errors on a couple of moves. -- Ver 1.0 First version of Bruce Movelist Note: This is only a preliminary Bruce Faq. More will be added over time. It is very incomplete. Please help add to it^_^ ===============| BRUCE IRVIN |=============== About the faq writer: I've played games for as long as I can remember. I've written a few other faqs before this such as a Makoto Faq for Street Fighter: 3rd Strike as well as Mitsurugi and Knightmare Faqs for Soul Calibur. I'm now taking a crack and writing a Tekken Faq. About this faq: This faq was written for all those Bruce players that find themselves unable to win despite using such a powerful character. After reading this faq, you might find yourself really wanting to play Bruce just to see if what you've read really works. Well, what you read will work. It's all a matter of HOW to get it to work for you that should be of great interest and that is also a part of this faq. The notations used in this faq was taken from Catlord's Movelist. *-*-*-LINKING & SPECIAL CONVENTIONS-*-*-* + - Moves must be done together, Moves must be done right after the other ~ - Moves must be done IMMEDIATELY after the other _ - Or (When used between two moves, they are interchangable) FC - Move indicates that character must go into a full crouching position. CH - Major Counterhit (Hitting your opponent during their move execution) [] - Brackets surrounding an item indicate an optional output () - Parenthesis indicates moves grouped together {} - Curved brackets indicate buttons needed to break a throw: 1 - Left Punch Button 2 - Right Punch Button 3 - Left Kick Button 4 - Right Kick Button 5 - Tag Button GRAPPLING TECHNIQUES (Front) 1+3 [~5] Knee Bash [Tag] {1} A simple throw move where Bruce grabs his opponent and knees them in their face. Although it can be escaped with one button press, this is still the move of my choice because it can be tagged. If you have a Mishima-type partner, you can do some serious damage by tagging-in with a Thunder God Fist (f,n,d,d/f+1) which is guaranteed if your opponent tech rolls if timed correctly. Non-Mishima? Like, say, Bob? His Ax Kick(f,f+3) works fine. There are many other moves that all characters have in their arsenal that can punish an opponent if they techroll. Just experiment and you'll do fine. Even against more advanced players, this is a good throw to use because there's a chance of landing Bruce's Rising Knee (b,f+4) if they tech roll and aren't holding back on the joystick the whole time. People may think that the Rising Knee is guaranteed after your opponent techrolls the throw, but that isn't the case. However, if they don't techroll, feel free to start up on your okizeme game with the partner of your choice and continue to hit them as they lie on the ground. Since I'm usually partnered with a Mishima, I just go practicing my Wavedashing/Lighdashing until they get up^^; 2+4 Rib Crusher {2} Another simple throw where Bruce grabs his opponent and holds them in place for a second before delivering a knee right into the opponent's side. It takes off slight more energy that his other throw. This move is perhaps more useful because not only does it take off more energy, it sometimes flips the screen around so you end up on the side of your choice. The breakdown of that is that if you are on the left side of the screen and manage to connect this throw, you can sometimes find yourself on the right side afterwards. That's good since this can be a bit more advantageous because having it where you use only your wrist to input a command is far easier than your whole forearm. That's why all you Mishima players tend to rather be on the right side. Use this move from time to time to keep the opponent guessing and to get them onto the left side which can sometimes cause those damn Mishima players more trouble doing their EWGFs ;) f,N,d,d/f+1+2+4 Embracing Knee {1+2} The first of Bruce's multithrow. He does a small crouch dash before grabbing his opponent. He then twists them around 180 degrees before kneeing them in the side. Listen for when Bruce grunts as he is twisting his opponent around. If you don't hear the grunt, watch for when the opponent is totally turned around to the other side before inputting the command for the next move of his multithrow. These two clues should be helpful in getting you to pull his multithrow off successfully. 1+2,1+2,1+2 Tumbleweed {1} This is one of Bruce's optional second throw in his multithrow. If you find yourself actually landing the first move (f,N,d,d/f+1+2+4), use this move to tack on some insane damage. Take note that this move is inescapable. (3_4),1+2+3 Left Knee Strike {2} This is Bruce's other optional second throw of his multithrow. After Bruce turns his opponent around and knees him, inputting this command would cause Bruce to knee them again with his other leg. It doesn't take off as much as the Tumbleweed (1+2,1+2,1+2), but it gives you a chance to tack on the third move of Bruce's multithrow, which is inescapable. The problem in tacking in this move is that against advanced players, this move will generally never land because they are aware of the how much trouble they are in if the fail to escape this part of the multithrow. It also doesn't help that there is no optional escape command aside like you would have for King to keep the opponent guessing. A very easy way to input this throw command is to press and hold 1+2 while constantly tapping 3 or 4 or simply alternating between then (3,4,3,4...). 1,3,1+2+4 Turning Knee {1_2} This is the third move to Bruce's multithrow where he knees his opponent a third time using his other leg, the same leg used for the first part of the multithrow(f,N,d,d/f+1+2+4). Watch for the moment Bruce's leg leaves the ground for the knee before inputting the command for the final part of his multithrow. This move does a fair amount of damage but is escapable. The escape depends on which input you entered for the multithrow before this. It's unfortunate that even though this can keep your opponent guess on what the throw escape is, they would have most likely escaped since the previous moves require only pressing 2 to escape either throw inputs. A very easy way to input this throw command is to press and hold 2+4 while constantly tapping 1,3,1,3..... 2,4,1,1+2+3 Rising Knee The forth and final move to Bruce's multithrow. This is the most devastating move of Bruce's arsenal and why all high level players know how that they have to hit 2 in order to escape his Lef Knee Strike (3_4),1+2+3). That is because if the latter move lands, Bruce is free to land the third and forth part of his multithrow without worry. If you land this entire chain throw, your opponent could kiss close to 80% of his life bar goodbye. A very easy way to input this throw command is to press and hold down each button you as you press 2,4,1,3. That means that by the time you press the last button, three other buttons are already being held down. (Left) (1+3)_(2+4)_(2+5) HEAD BREAKER {1} Bruce grab his opponent and hit them in the back of the head, sending them bending forward where he would then execute a backhand, sending his opponent flying away and too far away for some okizime. This looks a bit like Julia's Mad Axes (d,d/b,b,f+2). Against advanced players, it is escaped fairly often because they should be aware that depending on where his opponent is, the button representing the arm closest to Bruce is the escape button. That means if Bruce grabs them from their right side, then all they have to do is hit 2 to escape. Likewise for when grabbed on the left side. (Right) (1+3)_(2+4)_(2+5) FACE BREAKER {2} A pretty nasty looking throw move where Bruce bring his opponent's head down as he knees them in the face while simultaneously elbows them in the back of the head. This is the better move use because the opponent falls close to you, allowing for some okizime. Against advanced players, it is escaped fairly often because they should be aware that depending on where his opponent is, the button representing the arm closest to Bruce is the escape button. That means if Bruce grabs them from their right side, then all they have to do is hit 2 to escape. Likewise for when grabbed on the left side. (Back) (1+3)_(2+4)_(2+5) Reverse Neck Toss Bruce grabs his opponent from behind, bends at the hips, and flips them over him and onto the ground. It looks like exactly Paul and Kazuya's back throw and does a good deal of damage, despite looking rather weak for a back throw. It's totally inescapable, much like all back throws in the game. SPECIAL TECHNIQUES 1,2 1-2 Punches Bruce does a 1,2 punch. It a good and highly feared poking tool. The first punch is only 8 frames meaning you will find this combo, or at least the first punch, landing quite often and interrupting a lot of your opponent's attacks. This poking tool is probably one of Bruce's best because if you land this on CH, then you are guaranteed a few follow-up like his (2,f+4)_(2,4)_(2,d+4) combo. More detail on this later in the tricks and strategy section. 1,2 Bruce Rush The last two punches to Bruce's 1-2 punches. You should never really execute these last two punches unless it is on CH. It's really easy to see when the first 2 hits of his 1,2,1,2 combo is a CH so it isn't hard to tack on the last two hits for guaranteed extra damage. On CH, this combo takes off a massive amount of energy. You don't really need to use this combo when you can easily tack on even more damaging combos if the first 1-2 punches is CH. It is safe to do the 1,2,1 version of his punch combo because the third punch hits mid, forcing players to stand and block. It is also useful for juggles such as his d/f+2, dash-in, 1,2,1, 1,2,f+4 or his d/f+2, dash-in, 1,2,1, 2,f+4 3_f+3 Midkick These are Bruce's standard kicks. If you do f+3 instead of just hitting 3, you will take off more energy, track peope who like to sidestep toward their left as well as cause a knockdown. It has a very long range and should be thrown out from over a character's length away so there is no chance of being punished should they block the attack. It is 16 and 18 frames respectively meaning that both are pretty dangerous to throw out against Mishima opponents with 11 frame Electric Wind Godfists (f,n,d,d/f+2). However, if the 3_f+3 is blocked, you don't have to worry about getting countered since it provides enough block stun for you to recover safely. 4_(f+4) Frontkick_Highkick The 4 kick is a good keep away attack that comes out fast and tends to CH more often than expected. It's 12 frames long which is the reason why you find this connecting so often, because very few opponents have anything faster than a 12 frame attack outside a simple poke. Although it hits high and can be ducked, it has an incredible range, much better than a lot of other characters standing 4. Take note that the range is what makes this move very good, not its speed. It is better to do the f+4 version because it pops the opponent up instead of away on CH which allows for a followup juggle combo. The f+4 is the best version of his kicks because you can easily tack on his Triple Knees (b+4,3,4) if you're fast enough. What you should do is throw out Bruce's f+4 attack with every intention of it CH so you won't find yourself reacting too late to do a followup when it does CH. [1],2,d+4,3 [Punch,] Punch, Sweepkick, Highkick This is one of Bruce's many mix up combos. You have the option of either starting off the combo with a 1 or 2. This is one of the combos that make Bruce so hard to fight against. That is because the Sweepkick (d+3) portion of this combo comes out extremely fast, so fast that it might not be possible or at least very hard to block on reaction. It's great for poking. As good as it is a poking tool, I would advise against tacking in that final 3 because it hits high and any advanced player could duck that last move on reaction. To have this work in your favor is to actually delay the last 3 to catch your opponent off-guard when he thinks you're not going to followup with that immediate 3 high kick and comes in to counter you. On CH, most of the [1],2,d+4,3 combo will land but the last kick will whiff. There is a better way of using this combo, which will be explained in the tricks and strategy section. 2,4_(f+4) Punch, Frontkick_(Highkick) These moves are nasty, especially his 2,f+4 because it takes off an insane amount of damage if it connects on CH. That is because if the 2 lands on CH, you have a 12 frame hit advantage which allows for the f+4 to land. However, if the 2 lands on non-CH, you only have an 8 frame hit advantage which isn't enough for the f+4 to land since it takes 12 frames to come out. If Bruce is netsu powered up, landing this move on CH will take off just a little bit less that half his opponent's lifebar depending on their class. These two moves are one of Bruce's best poking attacks. This is because the 4 or f+4 of the combo hits mid or high respectively. This makes it hard for Bruce's opponent to predict whether to block or duck the kick because both attacks come out at the same speed. Don't forget that there is also the option of Bruce doing his 2,d+4 combo in which the d+4 hits low. Alternating between these three combos will keep your opponent constantly guessing whether to duck/block a high kick, block a midkick, or block a low kick. All three variation of Bruce's last kick comes out at the exact same speed and makes it very hard to block on reaction. F+2,4 Punch, Highkick Variation This is perhaps the nastiest attack in Bruce's arsenal. This is a variation of Bruce's 2,f+4 attack. The difference is pressing and holding forward and pressing 2,4. In doing so, this combo is guaranteed whether it hits as a CH or not. This is because Bruce's F+2 gives him a 12 frame hit advantage, giving him the necessary time to land the highkick as opposed to an 8 frame hit advantage with a regular 2. This combo is feared because it is one of the best counter attacks after your opponent whiffs a move or you block a move with bad recovery. With netsu, this single attack can take off almost half your opponent's life bar depending on their class. F+2,d+4_N+4 Punch, Sweepkick_Frontkick This is a variation of Bruces 2,d+4,3 Punch, Sweepkick, Highkick combo. The difference is using in the initial 2 punch. Like mentioned above, the F+2 gives him a 12 frame hit advantage, giving him the necessary time to land the follow up Sweepkick_Frontkick as opposed to an 8 frame hit advantage with a regular 2. These two moves should be used every bit as much as the F+2,F+4 attack to keep your opponent guessing in case he actually blocks the initial F+2 punch. 1+2 Overhead Bomb This move is surprisingly useful. This move has it where Bruce takes a step forward, hops up into the air and punches downward. This move seems to be very useful against big character because it can hit them even while they are on the ground. Of course, since it takes almost forever for it to actually come out, your opponent has more than enough time to get up and block it. If you ever find yourself actually landing this move on a standing opponent, you can easily do juggle follow up. I usually do the Triple Knees(b+4,3,4). f+1+2 Spinning Slice Elbow Perhaps the most useless move Bruce has. However, it's not as useless as people believe. This move has it where Bruce does a slight sidestep toward the right as he does a spinning elbow attack. Unfortunately, this move hits high and tends to miss quite often if you throw it out at the wrong time. Here is what I actually find useful about this move. I'm not too sure of the spacing yet, but at the proper distance, if you sidestep right and do the f+1+2, you will basically execute a double-sidestep-to-attack type move. This is similar to Bob's/Beak's double/triple sidestep-to-attack moves. Here is what's pretty amazing. At the proper spacing, side stepping and doing the f+1+2 attack allows you to actually move around your opponent completely, ending up behind him. Since this elbow tracks really well, you will end up hitting them in the back of their head. If done correctly, it looks like Bruce is executing a quick sidestep and moving forward and spinning around 270 degrees instead of 180 before hitting the opponent. The funny part is that if your opponent is holding back on the joystick the whole time to continuously face you, they'll end up walking right into the elbow since you will end up facing their back. This move is pretty hard to abuse. Another aspect that makes this move useful is if you like being on a particular side. Just do the sidestep-into-f+1+2 move to get to the side of your choice. This move seems especially effective for those players that tend to like being on the right side of the screen so they can do their wavedash/lighdash/snakedash/etc easier with their Mishima-type partners^^; f+1,2,1 Triple Elbows Bruce executes three elbows. This move is somewhat useful despite all three being guaranteed only on CH. It's unfortunate that all three hits aren't guaranteed like they used to be in Tekken 2 if the first elbow connects. This move can't be reversed by characters like Jin, Jun, and etc. since it's a joint- type attack. You shouldn't really use the third elbow because if it is blocked, you will find yourself waiting forever for Bruce to recover. The first two elbows are pretty good to use as a poking tactic. You can surprise your opponent sometimes by actually whiffing the first two elbows from a distance and following through with the third elbow. This is because the last elbow has a deceptively long horizontal range. Advanced players tend to execute the first two elbows as a poking tool and tack in the last elbow when they see it CH on reaction. Unfortunately, as good as a poking tool this is, there are many better ones, and this one can leave Bruce open for certain guaranteed attacks like the Mishimas' Shining Fists(1,1,2) if the first or second elbow are blocked. FC,d/f,d,d/f+1 TORNADO UPPERCUT This is one of Bruce's new moves. From a ducked position, Bruce executes what looks like a spiraling uppercut which travels under high attack. It takes off a good amount of damage but is very risky to execute. If blocked, your opponent goes into block stun allowing you to recovery safely. However, if missed, you will be punished because you will take quite a while before you recover. 1,4,3 Southern Cross Another one of Bruce's mix up combo. This combo is pretty effective and useful if you throw this into your attacks every here and there. This move is where Bruce does a quick high punch followed up by high kick, both of which can be ducked, and finally finishing off with a mid sidekick. The side kick (3) is what generally lands when your opponent is busy rushing in to counter after that highkick (4), only to get knocked down by that last kick of the combo. This combo is relatively safe to throw out every here and there where you are guaranteed all three hits if it is on CH. SS+1 NIGHTMARE ELBOW This is another one of Bruce's new moves, and a very useful one, too. This move is his where Bruce executes an elbow after sidestepping. Despite it having a rather small range, for some reason, this move lands quite often when use sparingly. This is because the elbow has excellent priority. What makes this move so useful is that if it hits, you are guaranteed a Hopkick (u/f+4) if your opponent remains in neutral guard. Also, you can land a Hopkick pretty easily if your opponent tries to attack after being hit. On CH, this move will send your opponent to the ground where you can do a Cyclone Edge (d/f+3)to knock the grounded opponent back up into the air and juggle with the Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) or the juggle of your choice. This combo is guaranteed. b+1 NIGHTMARE BACK KNUCKLE *Crumples on CH* This is yet another one Bruce's new moves where Bruce ducks low and does a rising spinning back hand. It's pretty useful if you find yourself fighting against pokers that constantly do 1,2. This move crumple stuns on CH, allowing for some nice juggles like the follow up combo above, the Cyclone Edge (d/f+3) into Triple Knees(b+4,3,4). Against large opponents, if you land it on CH, you can do one nasty combo. As they crumple stun, sidestep left, Double Knee(b+4,3), Double Knee(b+4,3),Triple Knees (b+4,3,4). The combo works. I use this all the time if I ever find this move landing against large opponents on CH. Against big opponents, I don't recommend you actively trying to land this move on CH just so you can land that combo. However, it definitely is one flashy combo. d/f+2 [~5] Face Buster [Tag] *Juggles* Bruce's elbow uppercut. It launches high enough for you to do the juggle of your choice. Once great aspect of this attack is that it can not be reversed by characters like Jin, Jun, Paul, etc since it is a joint-type attack. That is why Bruce's knees can't be reversed either, because he is basically hitting him with joint-type attacks. Even though this is good move to throw out against normal characters with reversals, punch-reversal specific characters like Bryan, Bruce, Ganryu can reverse it. When this move connects, use the juggle combo of your choice. Something like his Knee(b+4), Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) combo works fine but there are many more damaging ones. d/f+1,2 [~5] Double Face Buster [Tag] *Juggles* I believe this is a great juggle starter. Although it will only launch on CH, the amount of damage you can dish out is incredible. You should never hesitate to tack on the 2 because even if the first hit lands and the second is blocked, you're safe from any counter attack afterwards. If you find yourself never connecting this move on CH, then do the first attack and follow it up with a guaranteed d+1 if it connects. If you do manage to land this on CH and launch your opponent, a simple juggle like his Hopkick(u/f,N,4) into Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) will take off a ton of damage. You can do other more flashy combos, like his Highkick(f+4),Cyclone Edge(d/f+3), Triple Knees(b+4,3,4)combo. However, you have to take note that the timing for landing the Cyclone Edge(d/f+3) is pretty tricky. d/f+1+2 Short Stepping Uppercut This is another uppercut but this one doesn't launch. It's actually a very good poking tool and comes out relatively fast. If you are fighting against someone using this move, you might be in for a good fight since a lot of advanced players know that this a great poking tool to use when they're not busy attempting to land a CH 1,2 into 2,f+4 combo. f,f+2 NIGHTMARE MACH PUNCH *Reverses Punches* This is an excellent move where Bruce ducks low but punches at his opponent's face. People say this is generally useless because it comes out so slow but I'd like to think differently. This move is excellent only if you have really good reflexes. One part I must stress is that you should never use this move as a form of offense, at least not really. I think you should use it solely for defensive purposes. The reason is that this move auto-reverse punches. What does that mean? Paul's Tile Splitter, Deathfist (d+1,2) is worthless because you can always reverse his Deathfist. The problem though is being able to use this on reaction. It's pretty cool when you make people change their gameplan because of this. I remember using this against those damn Deathfisting Paul players. Whenever they try to Deathfist me, I would punch reverse it every time. It's too bad that it usually takes five or so punch reversals before they realize I'm reversing them on reaction ;) The same thing goes for people trying Jin's Toothfairy (SS+2) or Devil/Angel's Devil Twister (SS+2). On more advanced players, it's still useful. You can use this against Jin's EWGFs. Of course, you're not going to be doing this on reaction but rather anticipation. Just take your time to catch on to your opponent's pattern before reversing his EWGFs. This works wonders against other Bruce players that try to do his CH Gatling Combo(3,2,1) because you can punch reverse his second attack. The same goes for Bryan's version. After a punch reversal, if you're quick enough, you can land his Nighmare Low Heel Kick(b,b+4) to knock the opponent up before they can roll away and into a Triple Knees(b+4,3,4). If you learn to use this really well, this will work in your favor because you will be forcing your opponent to change his gameplay, which is good. It's kinda like how an efficient use of the universal low parry (d/f before low attack lands) forces opponents to change. f,f+3 Slice Kick Bruce takes a big step forward and executes a nasty roundhouse. This is similar to Bryan's Slice Kick but better. This is because it send your opponent into block stun if blocked. It's an especially good move to use as okizeme against opponents who constantly roll backwards. It takes of a really good amount of damage and sends your opponent flying backwards a good distance if it connects. d+3_4 Thai Shinkick Bruce's quick low kicks. The d+3 has more range since he takes a small step forward as he delivers his low kick. This is one of Bruce's few low attacks. It comes out quick and is a very good poking tool to keep your opponent guessing. Ling's Art of Pheonix Stance (d+1+2) is useless against these attacks. This is a good okizeme tool against rising opponents, too. b+3,4_2 Frontkick, Knee_Right Punch Bruce executes a high front kick toward his opponent's chest, which can easily be ducked, followed up by either a quick jab or knee. The jab could also be ducked though. The knee is generally the better move to use because if it lands on CH, it will cause a crumple stun, allowing for some juggle follow ups like his Triple Knees (b+4,3,4) 3,2,1 [~5] Gatling Combo [Tag] *Juggles* This is perhaps the most feared combo in Bruce's arsenal. Landing this move on CH and tacking on his Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) means 60% of your opponent's lifebar gone. The initial kick comes out very quick and has a very long range, making a CH pretty easy to land. Against advanced players, it's much harder to land because they will be always on the lookout for that one particular combo. A good way to land this combo is do SS,b,b,3,2,1. This has it where Bruce sidesteps, backdashes, and then does his Gatling Combo. This is a good tactic because, sometimes, your opponent is rushing in to attack you as you backdash, only to get hit with the combo and stuck watching as most than half their lifebar is taken away. 4 Lowkick This is the last move to Bruce's Gatling Combo. It's not recommended that you use this last attack because it can easily be low parried or blocked since, unlike Bryan, the low kick is Bruce's only attack. Besides, why bother committing to the last attack because if the third hit lands, your opponent will be launched into the air, making the lowkick whiff and, thus, a missed juggle opportunity. 3,3 Dual Spinkicks Another good poking technique where Bruce executes two kicks. The first kick hits mid and the last one hits high. Oddly, the last kick seems to rarely be ducked in time. Perhaps it is because your opponent is probably expecting his Gatling Combo(3,2,1). On CH, this simple 3,3 combo is guaranteed and for very good damage. However, there is no real reason to try and CH with this combo when the Gatling Combo is much better. This combo is very useful for juggles because it is the main element for some of Bruce's highest damaging combos. b,b,N+3+4,4 Handspring Backflip, Bazooka Leg Bruce basically backflips and then lunges forward with a high hitting lunging front kick. It's not recommended that you do his Bazooka Leg because any decent player knows that Bruce can only do a high hitting move after the Handspring and would always duck it and counter. d/f+3,1 Cyclone Edge, Tornado Uppercut This is a really useful combo. Bruce executes a spinning low sweep and follows it up with a jumping spinning uppercut. If the first hits on CH, the Tornado Uppercut is guaranteed. However, the problem is getting a CH because the first move comes out very slow and is usually blocked. Luckily, if the Cyclone Edge is blocked, the Tornado Uppercut is generally blocked, putting your opponent in block stun and preventing him from countering. This move is generally useful for crumple stun CHs like Bruce's Nightmare Back Knuckle (b+1) or the knee part of his Frontkick, Knee (b+3,4) combo. You can also do this after a landing a Nightmare elbow (SS+1) on CH. However, why use this combo when you can do the Cyclone Edge(d/f+3) into Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) instead. d+3+4,3 Rave Kick, High Sidekick A surprisingly useful move when Bruce does a quick low shin kick followed up by a high kick. This move is especially useful for okizeme when you see your opponent executing rising attack because the first kick will pick him up off the ground where they'll get hit with the second kick. If done on a standing opponent, the second kick is generally ducked on reaction simply because it looks a lot like Law's d+3,3 kicks. d/f+3+4 STEP-IN MIDKICK This move has it where Bruce takes a step forward and executes a mid level kick. This move doesn't seem to be used that often which is ashamed because it's quite useful. This is because it ducks underneath several hit attacks scoring you a CH for some good damage. It looks similar to Lei's d/f+3 sidekick. f+4,3,4 Triple Blind Kicks Bruce executes three spinning kicks. The first kick hits high, the second mid, and the third high again. Good players never execute the last kick because it can easily be ducked and punished. The first two kicks are best because the second kick hits mid and pushes the opponent far enough away that they can't really counter attack if blocked. It's generally even better to just use the f+4 part of this combo because it launches on CH allowing for some quick follow up juggles like the Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) b+4,3,4_(d+4) Double Knee Rush, Lunge Knee_(Lowkick) This is what people seem to hate most about fighting against Bruce. This Triple Knee attack allows for scrubs to land extremely powerful juggles after launching their opponent. Although the Triple Knees are generally used for juggles, it's just as useful against standing opponents. That is because if the first knee hits, the second one is guaranteed, CH or not. What's even better is that if the first knee is blocked, your opponent is pushed back far enough that they can't counter attack afterwards while you are in your recovery frames. I advise not doing the third knee or even the lowkick aspect of this combo if the opponent is blocking because you can easily get hit before the third move comes out for CH damage. However, if your opponent don't realize that they can hit you in between the second and third attack, they're going to have a bit of trouble reacting in time to block either the third knee or lowkick. Another good aspect about landing the first two knees is that opponents seem to always try and counter attack where you can then land something like his CH 1,2 into 2,f+4 combo for insane damage;) b,f+4 [~5] RISING KNEE [Tag] *Juggles* This is Bruce's best new move. All he does is execute a knee toward his opponent where it'll launch them quite high if it connects. You can then follow up with the juggle of your choice like his Hopkick(u/f,N,4) into Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) combo, which will take off quite a bit of damage. You can do more flashy combos like sidestepping left, and doing his Punch, Sweepkick, Highkick(2,d+4,3), into Triple Knees(b+4,3,4)combo or something like that. Even though it always launches your opponent high when it connect, it doesn't seem to launch as high when it's tagged cancelled. b,b+4 NIGHTMARE LOW HEEL KICK A really good okizeme and overall attack. This move has it where Bruce does a spinning low heel kick that will low juggle on CH. From here, you can do something like his Cyclone Edge(d/f+3) into Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) follow up or just do his Triple Knees if you find yourself having trouble landing the Triple Knees after the Cyclone Edge. f,f+4 Bazooka Leg Bruce executes a lunging front kick toward his opponents chest. Although it takes off a lot of damage if it connects, it can be ducked leaving you open for punishment. The move comes out a bit slower than usual moves making the timing a bit different for those reverse happy players out there. A good time to use this move is for those extremely high tag juggles, like Bob's high launcher (f,d,d/f+4). d/b+4 SWAY HIGHKICK A great new move that have been added to Bruce's arsenal. Bruce takes a quick step back before stepping back in slightly with a highkick. If this move connects, it takes off big damage, even if it isn't a CH. This move makes certain moves useless, like Kazuya's Twin Pistons (WS+1,2) because the move makes Bruce dodge the second hit and counter with a highkick. There are a bunch of moves that become useless when you make use of this move. This move is also great against people that like to do 1,2 punches and also useful as keep-away after they block something like your Gatling Combo (3,2,1) SS+4,1_4 BULL KICK,LEFT HOOK_DOUBLE BULL This new move is where Bruce does a powerful-looking roundhouse toward the opponent's side which can be followed up by a high hitting elbow or a second repeated roundhouse. Both of these moves are pretty good because if you do the SS+4,4 move, your opponent must block both of them or find themselves losing quite a bit of energy. On CH, both hits are guaranteed. If you choose to do the elbow follow up (1) instead, you're not in all that much danger because your opponent is most likely to block high instead of duck the move because they don't want to get hit by the second kick instead. Also, the 1 is a good anti-sidestepping attack because the initial Bull kick (SS+4) will hit them if they sidestep left and the elbow attack will hit them if they side step right after you whiff the initial kick. b+2+3 Sidewinder *Unblockable* Bruce's unblockable where he winds up for a short time and delivers a powerful gutpunch similar to Kazuy's Demon Gut Punch except with far more horizontal range. It comes on pretty fast for an unblockable and does massive damage if it lands. It's not generally recommended to use unblockables and this is no exception. TRICKS AND STRATEGIES Here is the real good part of this faq I wrote and probably the reason why you're reading this. This faq takes into consideration that you are already a really good player or at least at an intermediate level. This faq is here so you can basically make a name for yourself at your local arcade at the very least. The main emphasis of this faq is on several of Bruce's most devastating attacks. Guaranteed attacks. Are they hard to do? No way. They're really easy. The most emphasis should be on his CH 1,2 (pause)2,f+4 combo. This is perhaps the greatest equalizer in Bruce's arsenal. If you land this move just once, it'll most likely turn the battle in your favor. You have to realize that this combo is guaranteed. Okay, so how can you land this combo? I'm really not too sure. This faq is a bit biased because it's geared for players who actually know exactly when to attack and when not to. It's kinda hard for me to explain because for me, it's a bit like second nature. It's kinda like me trying to explain to you on how to ride a bike. Only through experience will you know when to throw out a move and when not to. And when you finally do learn it really well and do land the 1,2 on CH? Well, just wait a split second before inputting the 2,f+4 to tack on some additional guaranteed damage. You have to take note that this works on a CH 1,2, not a connected 1,2. It's not hard to tell the difference between a CH 1,2 and a regular 1,2. That's not the only trick. Bruce has a few other guaranteed combos. I remember playing a friend of mine on his PS2 and he tagged in his Nina with full energy just as tagged in my netsu powered-up Bruce. I landed his CH 1,2 (pause), 2,f+4 combo on her and took off 70% of his energy. I guess this is because it was against Nina since she takes extra damage like Wang does. This is while in vs play with the energy at the 100% setting. That's one nasty combo ;) Bruce's 2,f+4 is guaranteed. But you knew that.....so how come when you do it, the opponent seems to be able to block or duck that highkick? Maybe you don't have the timing down and the person who taught you has the superior reflexes to time it so that move lands on CH all the time? Heh, it's so easy it's laughable. All you have to do is to press and hold forward on the joystick as you hit buttons 2 and then 4. Anyway, give it a try and smile when you realize that people seem to be losing chunks of energy as you land this combo every time and it isn't even on CH. Now, how do you land it? Just be patient. Bruce's f+2 punch is only 12 frames, only 2 frames slower than his regular standing 2. The difference is that when the f+2 lands, it gives you a 12 frame hit advantage, allowing the kick of the combo land successfully every time. Now, since the f+2 comes out very quick, that means you will find yourself landing this combo very often. How many moves do you think an opponent can throw at you that have under 10 frames of recovery? Not that many. But what about those moves that push you back too far to counter? This is where side stepping comes in handy. Just be patient and wait for them to make the mistake. Even if the person can do an 11 frame Electric Wind Godfists 100% of the time, it doesn't mean he will connect, whether blocked or hit, with it 100% of the time if you're patient. And if you're the type to be impatient....bring out your partner and be aggressive with him/her instead ;P One trick that seems to work really well is whiffing the first two knees(b+4,3) while your opponent is on the ground and then doing the Triple Knees (b+4,3,4) immediately afterwards to juggle your opponent when they are getting up with a rising attack. The reason this seems to work so well is based on your opponent expecting to punish you for whiffing the two knees with a rising attack, only to find out too late that Bruce recovers from the second knee quickly enough that he would be able to start up on his knees once again as your opponent is getting up with a rising attack. What is even better is that the Triple Knees juggle because the initial knee will launch your opponent just high enough for the other two to land successfully. This trick will probably work at least once at advanced play before your opponent catches on and remains on the ground so that you'll whiff his second set of knees. You're probably wondering why I'm suggesting that you play Bruce as a turtler. Well, I'm not saying exactly that. Just play more patiently instead if you find yourself losing with him. He's still very good as a mix-up pressure player but you can now rest easy that you don't always have to pitbull and constantly attack. He has perhaps the nastiest equalizers around, those being his CH 1,2,(pause)2,f+4 and CH 3,2,1, b+4,3,4 combo and you should keep this in mind when turtling. If you ever find your defense being overwhelmed by an overly aggressive pitbuller, switch into an offensive posture and attempt for one of those equalizers. I suggest attempting the first combo because it is almost insanely easy to land against pitbullers. Heck, if you don't want to resort to those combos, just pressure your opponent with a F+2,4. Heck, why not have some fun? Instead of relying on his CH Gatling Combo (3,2,1) like most players seem to do, try relying on that F+2,4 combo instead. You'll be surprised when you find yourself rarely attempting to launch your opponent now that you're using this combo instead. That way, when people are crying 'foul' or 'cheese', you can tell your opponent that you're not even juggling. That way, you can throw in a CH Gatling Combo (CH 3,2,1) and tack on his Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) to show you opponent how really nasty Bruce can be ;P Don't forget that you can also do variation of the Punch, Highkick(F+2,4) combo. His Punch, Frontkick (F+2,N+4) and Punch, Sweepkick(F+2,d+4) are also guaranteed. If you were use something besides his Punch, Highkick combo(F+2,4), then use the Punch, Frontkick (F+2,N+4) one because if you miss the first punch, his (F+2), which you shouldn't because you're only supposed to throw out the combo when you know it's going to hit, you're relatively safe because the Frontkick hits mid and will push your opponent away enough so they can't retaliate. Plus, the Frontkick will also keep your opponent honest and think twice for attempting to duck what he believes would have been a Highkick. Although the techniques mentioned above will most likely be very useful, don't use them exclusively. There are other Bruce strategy guides out there that is probably more informative than this and it's recommended that you read those instead. This faq should not be consider as 'THE' Bruce Faq and should not be taken as the true way Bruce should be used. These techniques were mentioned merely to help you improve your game and make your Bruce a whole lot nastier^_^ The stuff below are just some techniques I figure you people might find Useful: I think Bruce has one of the best universal low parry (d/f before low attack lands). Not the actual low parry but his followup possibilities. This is because Bruce that can take off more than half your energy off a single universal low parry. That is because Bruce had do his Face Buster (d/f+2) to launch his opponent and into a combo of his choice. A good follow up juggle combo would be his Double Face Buster (d/f+1,2) which would then flip his opponent onto his stomach where you can then land the Triple Knees (b+4,3,4) or perhaps a 1,2,1,dash-in,1,4 combo instead of the knees. However, this combo seems to only work if you low parry a low right kick and you wait a fraction of a second before doing his Double Face Buster. If you low parry a low left kick, don't bother tacking in that initial d/f+1,2 because the second attack will whiff. You like doing tag-in throws? You know, like Paul's Shoulder Ram (f,f+1+2~[Tag]) throw into something like Heihachi's Demon Stomp (d+4 on grounded opponents). Well, if you wait about two seconds after your partner comes in before doing the Demon Stomp on the downed opponent, you will take off about 20% more energy for that attack. This goes the same if you wish to do Bruce's Nightmare Low Heel Kick (b,b+4). Timing is the key. If you ever find yourself wanting to do Bruce's Running Jump Kick (While running, 3). You can do a variation of it by doing a full crouch, then f, pause, f,f+3 to execute it from a standing position. You basically see Bruce crouch, stand up, take a tiny step forward, and then go into his Running Jump Kick. You have a ton of time to execute the f,f+3 motion after the FC, f. The thing I do know is that you can not enter do the motion FC, f, f, f because you have to pause after the first f before entering f,f+3 to execute the move. This move looks similar to the Mishima's instant Running Jump Kick off their Crouch Dash. No, I'm not talking about a u/f+3 looking one off the CD. I'm talking about the one that causes block stun, the running 3 version. I did it by accident several times and was able to recreate it but had never bothered to find the exact motions. It is off a Crouch Dash because I did a Wave instant Running Jump Kick to make sure. I think it's something along the lines of (Wavedash,f,n,d,d/f,f,n,u/f+3) I'll try and find out or perhaps someone already knows the exact motions. All I do know was that I wasn't inputting forward three times to get that attack out and that it came out very much like a FC, f, pause, f, f+3 except perhaps faster. You can buffer the Running Jump Kick during the recovery animation of certain moves. I haven't found out which ones exactly though. I know that you can definitely do it with Bruce's Short Stepping Uppercut(d/f+1+2). As his arm is retracting from the uppercut (Bruce in recovery animation), hold forward on the joystick. After the recovery animation is done and you see Bruce so much as twitch, as he gets ready to take a step forward, quickly tap f,f+3 to execute the Running Jump Kick. There's gotta be some good mix up possibilities there... There is something concerning Bruce's Tornado Uppercut(FC,d/f,d,d/f+1)that I'm curious about. I'm not too sure but it could be possible to buffer this move. If you look at the motions, it is the exact same motions as Bryan's C.O.M AKA Chains of Misery (FC,d/f,d,d/f+1+2) throw except it only requires you pressing 1. One of the cool things about Bryan is that you can do his C.O.M from a standing position. The way this is done is to actually buffer the C.O.M while Bryan is in his recovery animation of a move, like after connecting a standing 1. As his arm come back to his body, you would input the motion, d,df,D and hold down on the joystick as he goes through his recovery animation. The moment Bryan recovers, he would go into his ducking animation since you are holding down on the joystick. This is where you would then press d/f+1+2 to execute the C.O.M and grab your opponent. What I'm not too sure is if you can do Bruce's Tornado Uppercut much like one would go about doing Bryan's C.O.M. If you find yourself constantly getting juggled or getting hit as you coming in after tagging, I suggest practicing the tag cancel (u,u/b,n). Of course, you probably already know about this....but can't quite get it? It's all timing. You have to input the command just as the partner enters. The moment you see ANY part of the incoming character, you have to enter those commands. If find yourself entering the commands by the time you see your entire character on the screen, you're WAAAAY too late. The best way to practice is to constantly keep pressing the tag button...and go about doing the motion. Basically, the command input would look something like [tag],u,[tag],u/b,[tag],n,[tag], u,[tag],u/b,[tag],n,[tag],u,[tag],u/b,[tag],n,[tag]. Pretend you're playing 'Track and Field' and the [tag] button is the 'action' button while you go about doing the joystick motion ;) Sure, it'll look like you're button mashing the tag button, but this is a good trick. After a while, you'll start catching instances of the tag cancel. However, don't stop there. Just keep on doing it. Eventually, you'll slowly start picking up on the timing and exactly when to do the motion. With practice, you can get the timing down perfectly. Once you do, you won't need to constantly hit the [tag] button to see what looks like a continuous exchanging of two characters. You know you've got tag canceling down right when your character stops his incoming run well before they can spotted even halfway on the screen and the screen is forced to pan toward the right/left to fit them in. In learning and mastering this, you've just eliminated the huge risk of getting juggled or hit by a big-damage attack every time you tag you partner. Learning this is very important. And worst case scenario, if you can't get it to work right, no matter how hard you try, you can always do the sloppy tag cancel by doing d+1 as you're coming, but risk getting CH. There are a lot of moves in the game that seem guaranteed but really aren't. There are a few useful tricks that you can do to keep from getting more energy knocked off than supposed to. For instance, I'm sure at one point while playing a Mishima character, you've managed to land that Jumping Stun Kick (u/f,n+3) when your opponent techroll after getting hit with a Stonehead throw(f,f+1+2). However, you should never fall for this trick. If you get hit with a Stonehead throw, rather worry about your opponent playing okizeme against you, go for the techroll. If your opponent knows about that Jumping Stun Kick, show them that you really know your stuff when you block it. How? Push and hold forward on the joystick. That's it^_^ If you're sick and tired of not recovering from getting knocked down by a move in time to block your opponent's okizeme attempts, you can actively make your character get up quicker. In order to do so, press and hold up on the joystick while tapping 2 continuously to do so. However, keep in mind that you will have to then immediately press down on the joystick in order to block the incoming low attack the moment you stand. I tend to rise this way. However, you can chose to simply hold the joystick in the d/b direction while constantly tapping 2 to recover crouching. However, this will mean you will have to let go of the joystick should your opponent decide to do a mid-hitting move instead. I recommend doing the first option because it's better to risk getting hit with a low attack rather than a usually more damaging mid-attack. That's just my opinion though^_^ Another very important thing to know is the universal low parry (d/f before low attack lands). It's incredibly useful. Bruce is a very very scary opponent to fight against if you know how to consistently use low parries. That is because you have a juggle opportunity every time you parry a low kick attack and take away a great deal of energy off your opponent's energybar. What's so good about Bruce is that his d/f+2 launches every time and it can't be reversed. The thing is is that your opponent can actually cancel out of their low parry stagger animation by executing their reversal, and perhaps even reversing your attempted attack. Of course, with Bruce, you don't have to worry about that and will never need to buffer a chicken or play that guessing game of making your opponent go into their attempt reversal animation before launching them or do some other move instead. Bruce's hopkick (u/f+4) is an excellent move. That move should be used every time you duck under a high move. Learn to do that instead of some rising attack like his while standing 4 because you can take off a lot more damage with a quick juggle as opposed to any rising attack. It's kinda like the way Lei should be played when he ducks under a move since he has no real launcher from the crouching position, very much like Bruce. I don't recommend doing the Tornado Uppercut because it comes out too slow and isn't as easy as connecting Bryan's C.O.M or King's DDT on reaction ;) Bruce is an excellent partner. However, there are some characters that aren't good partners for Bruce. One of the best things about having a well complementing team is being able to do tag juggles. If possible, you should ONLY do tag juggles, or at least do it as often as possible. That is because tag juggles take off red energy, which is basically dishing out unrecoverable damage AKA red damage. Bruce is a great partner because he can easily dish out incredible red damage with so little effort. His Triple Knees (b+4,3,4) lands on basically any taggable launchers. You can choose to do even more damaging juggles if you want, like tacking on an extra Knee (b+4) before doing the Triple Knees. One of the great things out the Triple Knees is that it even lands on big characters like GunJack or Ganryu if they are launched from the right distance. It definitely works if you do tag juggles of those 'higher' average launchers like an EWGF. Only certain bounce-juggle attacks like Bryan's non-CH b+1 or Paul's CH Swayback Tile Splitter (d,d/b,n,1) or Lee's Spinning Ax Kick (b+4) doesn't seem to work. Of course, you can choose to do other tag juggles that work specifically for those occasions like his Cyclone Edge, Tornado Uppercut (d/f+3,1). It's far better to take off red energy in a juggle because that unrecoverable damage can mean a great deal if the battle drags on and you have a partner recovering while tagged out while your opponent doesn't. The only time you should not do a tag juggle is to land a more powerful juggle that would finish your opponent off if that little extra damage is what is required. There is one drawback to doing tag juggles though. Doing so resets your netsu count and your ability to dish out 30% more damage with every attack for a brief period. What I mean is that if you tag juggle with Bruce before he has a chance to reach netsu, when you tag him out, you'll have to wait until your partner is hit enough time for Bruce to reach netsu again. Of course, if you don't like the thought of being hit a certain time before your partner reaching netsu, you allow your opponent to land those push-away attacks that take off no damage like Anna's d/f+1+2 or King's f+f+1+2. However, what are the chances your opponent would do just that ;) If you don't want to have your netsu count reset, just wait until Bruce is netsu before doing a tag juggle to dish out even more red damage ;) At the current moment, my favorite partner for Bruce is Kazuya. I like this combination because Kazuya has weaker juggle opportunities than other Mishimas like Jin or Heihachi. Also, Kazuya has the fastest EWGF of the Mishima as well as takes the least damage. I know, Kazuya has no EWGF. I merely refer to is as an EWGF simply because I'm referring to the 'higher' launching WGF. It's got the same juggle properties as a real EWGF except there's no electricity accompanying the move nor the block stun than makes this such a good move to throw out, provided it connects. The thing is is that I almost always tag juggle into Bruce's Triple Knees(b+4,3,4) whenever possible. This is because I don't like the juggle opportunities open if you land a CH WGF. Sure, you can do something like his CH WGF, f,F+1, f,F+1, f,F+1, WGF, u/f+4~3 combo and definitely get style points for actually landing his u/f+4~3 in a combo, but it seems better to take off red energy instead, at least in my opinion. As you can tell after reading this faq, I enjoy making use of guaranteed combos. Kazuya, much like Bruce, has several really devious guaranteed combos too. One example is doing throwing out only one of his modified jab (b+1) and watching to see it connect. I just the modified jab because not only does it do more damage, but it also gives you a greater hit advantage. This extra hit advantage you get allow you to connect with his modified Shining Fist (b+1,b+1,2_B+1,1,2) every time. Or, if you wish, you can do his Punch, Punch, Backfist (b+1,2,2) or Punch, Punch, Lowkick (b+1,b+1,4) combo if you're close to your opponent. Basically, Kazuya has some nice guaranteed 4-hitter combos ;) About the modified jab (b+1), I recommend using the modified version over the regular version simply because it's more damaging. This combo is so easy to do and so hard to counter against simply because your opponent only has that small window to counter the b+1 with perhaps a d+1. Another good aspect about having Kazuya as a partner is tagging in with a Demon Thunder God Fist (f,n,d,d/f+1) if you tag Bruce's Knee Bash (1+3~[tag]) throw and your opponent techrolls upon landing. And, like mentioned, against an advanced player, they would probably choose not to techroll so they don't get hit by that devastating move. That is where you can do something like a single Hellsweep (f,n,d,d/f+4) or do his Flipping Ax Kick (u/f+4~3). Also, you can try out his Jumping Stun Kick (u/f,n+3) after your opponent techrolls a Stonehead (f,f+1+2) to see if they block it or not. If they don't then I guess they don't know that they have to hold forward on the joystick in order to block the move :) I don't want to really go into detail with Kazuya since this is a Bruce faq afterall ^^; Another good partner for Bruce would be Heihachi. You have the exact same tag juggle opportunites after a connected WGF/EWGF. The difference here is that Heihachi has more juggle opportunities should you chose to wait until Bruce is netsu before doing a tag juggle. Something as simple as connecting Heihachi's Demon Godfist (f,f+2) and juggling with a well-timed Deathfist (d,d/f,f+2) can take off as much as 82 points of damage. Of course, you can choose to do more flashy combos like an EWGF, 1, EWFG instead or something along those lines. I've mentioned earlier that Bruce's Slicing Kick (f,f+3) is pretty good as okizeme against opponents that like to roll back all the time. Heihachi has one just for people who like to techroll or roll toward the side instead. His Demon Boar (b+2) tracks your opponent as they roll toward the side and is guaranteed when they do. Give it a try. Another good aspect about having Heihachi as a partner tagging in with a Demon Thunder God Fist (f,n,d,d/f+1) if you tag Bruce's Knee Bash (1+3) throw and your opponent techrolls upon landing. And, like mentioned, against an advanced player, they would probably choose not to techroll so they don't get hit by that devastating move. That is where you would do the Demon Stomp (d+4 on grounded opponents) instead. I don't recommend doing a Flipping Ax Kick (u/f+4~3) because if your opponent happens to roll out of the way in time, you get hurt when you land, unlike the other Mishimas. It's also pretty easy to land Heihachi's unblockable (d+1+4) for incredible damage. You can do something as simple as a WGF, f,F+1, f,F+1, f,F+1, d+1+3 combo and land the unblockable if you opponent techrolls. However, there's a chance they'll just stay down and wait for it to whiff and punish you afterwards. This is where the okizeme games should had come into play long ago. All this time, you should have been doing the d+4 if they stay on the ground, b+2 if they techroll toward the side, forcing your opponent to wonder whether to roll or stay down where they lie. And if they roll backwards, that's where you simply do a double WEWGF (Wave Electric Wind Godfit) for added damage. That's where you do 2 wavedashes (f,n,d,d/f,f,n,f,n,d,d/f)to get in close to the opponent as they roll backwards and then do the EWGF to hit them and make them think twice about rolling backwards. You can do a Wave-buffered-into-Demon Godfist (f,n,d,d/f,f,n,f+2) if you can't do two wavedashes too well. Since the Demon Godfist has it where Heihachi takes a step forward, it can be used to substitute for the extra wavedash. Also, if you ever land a Demon Breath on CH (CH 1+2), you can land a u/f+4~3 for free or perhaps do something else like a WEWGF against big opponents^_^ Also, you can try out his Jumping Stun Kick (u/f,n+3) after your opponent techrolls a Stonehead (f,f+1+2) to see if they block it or not. If they don't then I guess they don't know that they have to hold forward on the joystick in order to block the move :) Another cool thing to know is that Heihachi's Flipping Ax Kick (u/f+4~3) is guaranteed after a CH 1+2, provided your opponent don't do the spring-up by holding forward on the joystick. Anyway, There's a buncha other strategies for the old man that I could mention, but like I mentioned before, I'm don't want to go into detail with with Heihachi since this is a Bruce faq afterall ^^; Since Bruce is a kickboxer, one must wonder how good another fellow kickboxer would be for a partner. Bryan is an excellent partner. It's a bit unfortunate that Bryan don't really have all that many tag juggle opportunities because his WS+1~[Tag] comes out a bit slow and is a bit hard to connect. However, his b+1~[Tag] is really good because if it connects, it bounces your opponent off the floor and back up into the air, making it impossible for your opponent to techroll. Although by the time Bruce is tagged in your opponent is already on the floor, you can still take of red energy. Bruce's Cyclone Edge, Tornado Uppercut (d/f+3,1) works fine for some good damage. However, you can choose to do his Cyclone Edge (d/f+3) and tack on the Triple Knees (b+4,3,4) since the Cyclone Edge juggles your opponent off the ground. Bryan is an excellent stand- alone fighter too. He has the ability to seriously punish his opponent and dish out wicked amounts of damage on CH. His CH WS+3 is very dangerous because it causes his opponent to crumple stun and allows for some wicked juggle opportunities. Although his CH WS+3 is escapable, your opponent will need very fast reflexes to break out simple because Bryan's can quickly juggle immediately afterward right after he lands his CH WS+3. That is because by the time your opponent realizes they have been hit with Bryan's CH WS+3, your next move is already out and juggling them for more damage. Basically, there is a much shorter window of escape for you opponent. What makes this move even more scary is that you can do the instant version of it (d,df,n+3) and throw this move in during your custom string if you think your opponent is going to attempt counter attacking. One thing to keep in mind is that although this is a joint-based knee attack, the knee can be reverse so don't forget to buffer in a chicken whenever you do this move. Bryan can dish out some mighty impressive damage with juggles. Most of his combos should be based upon his 3,3 because it is a perfect set up for his Mach Punch (f,f+2). For instance, Bryan's u/f+3, 2, 3,3, 1, f,f+2 is one wicked combo. It takes off an insane amount of damage because not only are you juggling with a highly damaging 3,3 but also tacking on a f,f+2 too. Bryan's 2, 3,3, f,f+2 juggle is the juggle of choice. You can do this combo off basically any of his launchers (WS+1_u/f+3_d,d/b,n+2) and even his CH WS+3. Here are some tricks I found out about him. Although in advanced play, you should find it hard to land his d/f+3, however, if you do, you can dish out incredible damage. The combo of my choice is d/f+3,crouch-cancel, d/f+1, d+2, variable. The motions is basically d/f+3, f,f, d/f+1, d+2, variation. When the d/f+3 lands and launches your opponent, you quickly run in closer by crouch canceling (f,f) and then doing his d/f+1, to juggle and d+2 to flip your opponent onto his stomach, preventing him from techrolling. Here is the fun part, after your opponent lands, you have the edge over the situation. If they roll toward the side, f,f+3 is guaranteed. It also works if they roll backwards but you need to actually time it so you hit their back as they're rolling. If they do nothing, his hopping lowkick (u/f,d+3) lands. If you don't want to guess on what move to do, simply doing the hop (u/f) works wonders because if they techroll, his landing WD+3 is guaranteed. If they stay where they are, the d+3 will connect as you land. However, if they roll back, you won't be able to do any follow up. You can choose to do this tactic of add more to the combo. After the d/f+2, f,f, d/f+1, d+2, you can do 1, f,f+2 to tack on more damage. It's pretty hard to land the f,f+2 so you can choose to do 1,3 instead for style points^_^ If you ever find yourself landing his WS+2,b+2_f+2, you can do his 3,3, f,f+2 afterward for wicked damage. If you ever find yourself unable to land the 3,3 correctly, it all has to do with timing. You don't hit the 3,3 until the moment after your opponent reaches the apex of their flight and on their way back down. Or better yet, look at your opponent's forearms. The moment they're perpendicular to the ground, you hit the 3,3. After that, you need quick hands to do his f,f+2 for added damage. If you still have trouble doing this combo, you can do his f+4,3,4 instead. You need to do this when their head is exact at the same height level as yours. All you need to do is look at your opponent's animations. This will help immensely. Oh yeah, if you ever find yourself unable to land his f,f+2 in a juggle after his 3,3 that is because you are inputting it at the wrong time. You can ONLY input that move correctly after your opponent has reached the apex of their juggle and is on their way back down. There basically is no timing. All you do is watch your opponent's animation. Bryan's u/f+3 is very useful because it has extremely long range and tracks really well and is a good pressure tactic. You can take advantage of the low parry (d+1+3_d+2+4) because it can do WS moves off that as well as standing and ducking attacks. And don't forget that you can buffer into a Chains of Misery off a low parry or a hop (u/f). The motion would basically be (d+1+3,d,d/f,d,d/f+1+2) or (u/f,d,d/f,d,land,d/f+1+2). Oh yeah, Bryan's 1,4 is guaranteed if the first hit connects so use that to your advantage. Do his 1,4,3 from time to time to keep your opponent from ducking and punishing you in case you whiff. You should find Bryan's 1,4 landing pretty often since his first punch is only 8 frames. Abuse it like you would Bruce's F+2,4^_^ If your opponent blocks your b+1~[Tag] attempt, you can land his 1,4 combo every time if you opponent doesn't do anything but hold the joystick back the whole time. Also, if you ever land Bryan's left punch reversal, the one where Bryan does the gut punch afterwards, not the Mach Punch, you are guaranteed a f,f+4 if you opponent tries to turn around. If they are on to that trick and simply hold down on the joystick to duck it, you can choose to use his d/f+2 which is also guaranteed^_^ And don't forget that his SS+1 is really good, despite it hitting high. If you land this move after side stepping right, you're guaranteed a U/F,n+3 if your opponent tries to get up in place and leaves them with their back toward you for a Mach Punch (f,f+2). Or you can choose to do his Slice Kick instead (f,f+3) if you hit them after side stepping right. Or for real style points, do a big hop(U/F) buffered into a Chains of Misery when you land instead. If they stay where they are? A d+3 works fine after a hop. And if they techroll? A WS+3 will be guaranteed as you land from a hop. And if they roll backwards? A b,b+4 works fine. My recommendation is to do a hop into a WS+3 because if they roll and execute a rising attack, their move will not only completely miss you, but they will also have their back toward you as your WS+3 lands. You can feel free to tack on extra damage afterwards. Also, while you're hopping toward them, if for any reason they roll backwards, don't execute the WS+3 as you land. Instead, do the f,f+2 to hit them in the back of the head as they are rolling away. And if they try to roll toward the side and then roll away? A f,f+3 hits quite nicely^_^ Keep in mind that this same mix-up can be used off his d/f+3, f,f d/f+1, d+2, variable tactic I was talking about earlier if you wish. And all of this stuff is guaranteed. All you need is the quick enough reflexes to discern if they're rolling backwards or toward the side. That's it. This is some wicked stuff, wouldn't ya say ;) It's kinda unfortunate that you hafta find out for yourself how well this works instead of seeing it in action because it's a REALLY nasty way of playing Bryan^^; Here is a cut and paste of an email I recently sent to two of my Tekken buds^_^ -- After you guys left after all those TTT matches we've had, I went onto Zaibatsu to check out some info on Bryan because I wanted to get better with him since I only started using him seriously roughly 2 or so weeks ago before we played. Anyway, there seemed to be only one faq for Bryan. Some dude named Renick wrote it. There was some pretty informative stuff, but nothing about Bryan that I didn't know already. However, I must say that it was really informative. After skimming through it, I figured there was much more to Bryan than what Renick had wrote in his faq so busted out Tekken 3 for the PS and began practicing some stuff out and trying to be innovative and come up with some new strategies for him. After around a good hour of messing around on practice mode against the computer, I think I stumbled upon some really insanely crazy stuff. Remember how I sometimes used his d/f+3, f,f, d/f+1, d+2 combo on the both of you and right before you guys left, I showed how if you techroll Bryan is guaranteed a f,f+3 or if you roll back he's guaranteed a b,b+4 and if they stayed on the ground a u/f,d+3 is guaranteed? Well, I started messing around with a variation of that combo to see what I can come up with. I found out that after a right SS+1 lands, you have basically the same options. From what I found out, everything is guaranteed. After landing a SS+1, you have almost a dozen options to choose from, all of them guaranteed..... After landing a right SS+1: Opponent stays on the ground: U/F,d+3 lands Opponent tries to stand up: U/F,N+3 lands and hits them while their back is turned leaving em open for another attack. If you had hit them with a left SS+1, it will miss. However, U/F,(land),WS+3 lands. You can also do a U/F,(land),C.O.M. if ya like!! Opponent tries to do a rising attack: U/F,N+3 lands and hits them while their back is turned leaving em open for another attack. What's even better is that this hits for CH damage^_^ Once again, if you had hit them with a left SS+1, it will miss. Opponent rolls backwards: U/F, (land), f,f+2 hits them in the back of their head. If timed correctly, the Mach Punch actually causes your opponent to go flying _towards_ you where you can add a d/f+3 for more damage. Opponent rolls backward: b,b+4 is guaranteed. You can choose between this move or the move above. The above one is much much better though but I guess you might wanna use this one simply because it's cool seeing a b,b+4 land successfully. But then again, landing a f,f+2 is also cool too ^_^ Opponent rolls toward side: U/F,(land), WS+3, wait. After landing, the WS+3 will come out. However, it whiffs completely and you'll look like an idiot attack thin air. However, this is really messed up. Doing that move seems to momentarily cause the camera angle to shift which causes your opponent's rising attack to not only miss, but attack in a way that they are left with their back toward you. You opponent basically attacks exactly 180 degrees in the wrong direction. When then do, you can do a WS+1 from there and do a juggle combo of your choice.... Opponent rolls toward side and then backwards: U/F,(land),f,f+3 lands. However, you hafta wait on the f,f+3 to get it to connect. The timing is a bit tricky and I haven't really figured out the timing just yet. I need to practice it some more to find out for sure. Opponent rolls toward side and then backwards: U/F,(land),b,b+4 is lands. Opponent rolls toward you: U/F,N+3 lands. All of this stuff from what I have observed seem to be guaranteed! I guess the only thing that'll prevent you from being able to use this tactic constantly is either a lack of dexterity and reflexes or the ability to actually land a SS+1 since it's pretty damn hard landing it^^; What's even more messed up is that I'm very sure that this will also work for that d/f+3, f,f, d/f+1, d+2 combo because your opponent is left in the exact same distance and position with their face down toward the ground. Since Bryan doesn't have a new d+2 move for Tekken 3, I can't find out if it works. Heck, it doesn't even matter because I can't even seem to get the d/f+3, f,f, d/f+1 to land anyway. This trick also works if you land his d,d/b,n+2. However, the setup is a bit differently. Because you recover from this move faster, you can't hold U/F on the joystick like you would for the SS+1. Otherwise, you'll jump entirely over your opponent, which is okay I guess. However, if you wanna do damage, I suggest waiting. The timing is pretty weird. Certain moves land depending on the timing. If you do U/F just as your opponent is at Bryan's head level, the U/F,N+3 is guaranteed if your opponent tries to stand up or do a rising attack. A f,f+3 also lands if you time it correctly. If they try to roll backwards, they mysteriously do their backwards roll animation...but they actually move closer to you, allowing you to land the f,f+2 Mach Punch. Pretty messed up, huh? I guess it's because the U/F seems to momemtarily shift the camera angle just enough that when you opponent pulls back on the joystick, they seem to actually roll backward but towards you. If they roll toward the side, a U/F,d+3 seems to land, but I'm not too sure if it's guaranteed. I'm playing against the computer afterall. This seems to work if you do the U/F motion when your opponent falls down to head level. Now, if you wait a bit long, when your opponent is falling down to around waist level, you can do a U/F,(land)WS+3 as they roll backward, which will not only land, but have your opponent's back toward you. If they roll to the side, the U/F,(land)WS+3 also lands, but has it where your opponent's side ends up facing you. And if they. If they just choose to stand up or do a rising attack, that's where your f,f+3 is guaranteed if timed correctly like I said before :) All in all, the timing for this one is REALLY tricky. I haven't truly figured it out completely yet. I'd rathed do something like a d,d/b,n+2, f+2, 3,3, f,f+2 combo instead over this anyway. It seems that even though the other one has much more damage potential, it's a bit risky, much more riskier than for the SS+1 since you hafta time the U/F correctly for it to work rather than just hold U/F like with the SS+1 ^_^ The f,f+3 trick seems to also works if you land a CH b+1~2~u, b+3. That's a CH backhand combo where you sidestep before the second backfist comes out and do a b+3 to flip your opponent onto their stomach. From there, I think only a f,f+3 is guaranteed if they so much as twitch. If they try to roll toward the side, I'm not too sure what to do. I dunno how I'm gonna be able to explore this tactic for this move more indepth because it's kinda hard landing that move and having it where you flip the opponent with that b+3 because I dunno the timing for it. Beside, why the heck should I bother. If I land a CH b+2, I'm gonna do something like a b+2,1,4 instead for guaranteed damage rather than risk messing up trying to do the trick and doing no follow-up instead ;) I'm gonna go find out if the tactic mentioned works after a b+1. I've gotta get my hands on a PS2 to try it out. Theoretically, it's possible since b+1 is a bounce juggle and your opponent can't techroll. However, because your opponent will land fairly close, you might accidentally hop over them when you do a U/F,N+3. I think you might hafta do that d,d/b,b,u,n Hayashida step a couple of times in order to get into position. It seem possible. If not, it doesn't really matter since it's better to do some high damaging combo anyway^_^ Also, if you look certain animations, you can land much more powerful combos with ease rather than doing those easier less damaging ones like everyone seem to do. After landing his WS+2, b+2, (that punch where he lifts his opponent over his head and slams them on the ground), if you look at his front leg, it twitches backward and then forward, which gives the exact timing to land his b+2,1,4 combo. You basically hafta hit b+2 the very moment Bryan's front foot twitches backward and before it moves back forward to its usual position. You can also look for that same twitch if you wanna land his 3,3, f,f+2 combo instead, which I know works because I used to pull it off infrequently on TTT when I tried for it. Now that I've got the timing down, I would like to try it some more on TTT to see if it works because TTT might have some strange juggle properties that Tekken 3 doesn't and vice versa. I can't seem to do the WS+1, f+2, 3,3, f,f+2 combo like I do on TTT and I basically had to find an alternate combo. I found out his WS+1, (wait) b+3,2,1, f,f+2 is very easy to land and might even take off more damage than the one I normally use so I would like to see which combo is better. You can also buffer the f,f+2 Mach Punch. If you tap forward as Bryan is recovering from an attack, once the recovery frames have ended, all you hafta do is do f+2 to pull off the Mach Punch. I guess that shouldn't be all that new for you to know since that's basically how you buffer into a standing C.O.M off a regular jab, where you would input the d,d/f,d command while in the recovery animation and then simply pressing d/f+1+2 once you see them twitch toward their crouching animation. All this stuff I found out today. I'm gonna hafta practice some more to see how well it works in real battle. I've only managed to implement a small protion of the tactics mentioned here on you guys when we played, and it seem to work, but I'm hoping we can play against each other some more so I can weed out any inconsistencies I might have and to get the exact timing down.^_^ -- Man, that's waaaaay too much Bryan info. I think I went a bit too in-depth for this character^^; That's all for now. More to come. I'm sorry if you believe I'm over-babying you with constantly putting in the commands after every move. It's just that with some faqs I read, I hate it when the author refers to just the names of the moves and I'm forced to constantly look back on the movelist because I can't seem to remember all the commands for them^^; Credits/Acknowledgements- Major credit goes to Catlord for his Movelist as well as his Combo Compendium. Without it, it would not have been possible for this faq to be created. Thanks goes to my friends Nelson, Alex, Paul, Kevin, Jason, and Joe back on Long Island for allowing me to play against them and learn what works and what doesn't. I especially learned from Nelson and his NJ friends some rather interesting things about the game. And for Nelson being one hard bastard to impress in that game and making me want to really get good just to see him go 'Man, that was some cool stuff you did', without saying it sarcastically;) Thanks goes out to my friend Erik for showing me that no matter how good my defense is, he will somehow find a way to accidentally land a Deathfist and wipe out half my energy bar.....as well as land Paul's unblockables....and Bob's unblockable.....and.....anything that SHOULD NEVER land!! Thanks goes out to my friend Ultima for letting me take his rounds in MvC2 whenever I was waiting around for people to play the TTT machine at our local arcade. And for trying to do the WGF and realizing the dragon punch motion isn't quite the same as the Street Fighter Dragon Punch motion ;) Thanks goes to John up at Binghamton for first telling me about the Bruce's CH 1,2,(pause)2,f+4 combo first. From that combo is where Bruce's F+2,4 combo was derived which eventually lead to how I now play Bruce. And to the rest of the Binghamton crew for making it worthwhile to continue playing TTT and letting me play against them on their PS2s. Thanks goes to Namco for making such a great game. However, I really wish they made a Super-Duper-You-Will-Cry-For-Your-Mommy-Ultra-Hard setting for their PS2 game because Ultra Hard is waaaaaaay too easy^^; Thanks goes to Buddaquan for mention of the hopkick trick after landing a SS+1 Thanks goes to ihira for mention of the how to block a Jumping Stun Kick (u/f,n+3) after techrolling a Mishima Stonehead (f,f+1+2). Thanks goes to Iowwatbulb for the helpful button buffering for Bruce's Multithrows. It's much more efficient than the way I used to do it^_^ And to the folks at www.tekkenzaibatsu.com for their frame data. If I am forgetting anyone else, I apologize.