Bunt out of a special? (Raptor question)

[Tokiw]

I play mostly raptor (Pretty much exclusively unless the person I'm up against isn't that good). So, something I've seen other Raptors do is the whole "Bunt out of a spin" thing. I can't seem to figure out how to do it...

Mind you, I AM playing with a controller, so it might be something to do with that. I haven't tried with the keyboard yet.

(Also, come come nobody plays Raptor? His special seems good enough...)

[Candyman the Apathetic]

As you can see most of us play everyone else and the exception of candyman fever.

[beans]

Go read the "Indepth Analysis: Raptor" section on my "Dead Man's Lessons" guide. It explains Raptor's special.

EDIT:

TL;DR:

Hold the swing button down for varying lengths of time to change how long the ball stays in Raptor's spec. Press bunt while you're holding the buton down. You can also just tap the swing button and then bunt before you hit the minimum hold time and the ball is released.

If you need more information, the rest of the guide is shown below. I didn't copy/paste the above, so what's shown below might be worded better.

[previewicon=2361134;sizeOriginal,inline;player0Fullshot.png][/previewicon]

Background

Raptor is a rookie in the Lethal League scene, hailing from the south. Though young, he’s very determined and fiercely competitive. His weapon of choice is a metal baseball bat and his special ability allows him to twist around and quickly hit the ball two times in a row.

Relative Angles

Raptor's angles are generally inverted versions of the other character's angles. Instead of having a shallow neutral-up and a steep neutral-down, he has a steep neutral-up and a shallow neutral-down. His neutral-down angle becomes slightly more steep in the air, but not by much.

If the long version of his special is used on the ground without specifying a direction (holding down, left, right, up, etc.), his smash angle will be used. This does not work in the air, although special smash effects will play if the long version of his special is used on a corpse in the air.

Movement

Raptor is generally rather nimble compared to the other characters. He's short, his crouch isn't too tall, his acceleration and max speed are rather fast, and he has decent vertical acceleration.

Raptor can wall-jump by jumping on a wall and jumping off again. He can also wall-slide, allowing him to time his wall-jump more precisely or give himself extra time to strike a ball moving across the bottom of the stage.

Special

Raptor's special seems simple, but is actually one of the most complex specials in the game, aside from Dice.

By attacking again during hitlag, Raptor can initiate a whirlwind attack. After a short time, the ball will fly off again. Numerous things can be controlled here.

• Hitlag. His special can be used at any time during hitlag; this could be at the very beginning of hitlag or at the very end to mess with his opponent's timing.
  
• Timing. There are two versions of his special (minus the variable version) : a long version, and a short version. By simply tapping the attack button, the short version will be used, but by holding down the attack button, the long version of his special will be used. The long version of his special doubles the ball speed, as if it were a smash. None of this accounts for the fact that he can end his special at any time, explained later.
  
• Angles. His neutral-down, neutral, and neutral-up angles are all available to select during his special. It is also possible to do these same angles behind him, giving him the opportunity to send the ball in 6 directions. If on the ground, Raptor will default to his smash angle if using the long version of his special and if no angle is specified.
  
• Cancellation. Raptor can bunt out of both the short and long versions of his special. This can be used to reserve his special for later if it's not immediately useful in the given situation by immediately striking the bunted ball for 2 "free" meter, or it can be used offensively; for example, Raptor can actually downbunt out of his special in order to kill his opponent if they happen to jump over him by mistake. He can also release the ball prematurely; see below for details.

It is wise to note that, while Raptor has a short and long version of his special, the special can be ended at any time by simply letting go. This allows you to keep his special going until you notice a weak point; whether it be your opponent facing the wrong direction, beginning to charge, striking prematurely, etc. they'll most likely die if you send the ball at them without waiting for the timer to run out.

[Tokiw]

While helpful, it doesn't answer my question directly. You simply hit the bunt button and kaboom, you've bunted out of it? My issue comes from more of a game-pad perspective. Something else that probably isn't helping my cause is the fact that my attack button is X while my bunt button is B, so I can't quickly hit them together unless I'm holding my controller weird. I was mostly wondering if you had to bunt directly after you had hit it, or if you bunted during the spin phase.

[sh101]

You need to be holding bunt when the ball is released.

[Tokiw]

Ah, alright. That makes sense I suppose. I've also rebound bunt to right bumber on my controller so now I can press both at the same time.

I hate making control scheme changes when I'm comfortable with a certain way things are.

[Glioburd]

Originally posted by Tokiw:

(Also, come come nobody plays Raptor? His special seems good enough...)

Only shftd plays Raptor but he sux

[beans]

Originally posted by Glioburd:

Originally posted by Tokiw:

(Also, come come nobody plays Raptor? His special seems good enough...)

Only shftd plays Raptor but he sux :B1:

Only.

Hold on, lemme go test the distance from this window to the ground.

[Glioburd]

Originally posted by PeggleFrank:

Originally posted by Glioburd:

Only shftd plays Raptor but he sux

Only.

Hold on, lemme go test the distance from this window to the ground.

Nooo.
As you're Rapter mastor, it was so obvious that I havn't even bothered to mention you.

[shftd]

Originally posted by Glioburd:

Originally posted by Tokiw:

(Also, come come nobody plays Raptor? His special seems good enough...)

Only shftd plays Raptor but he sux

[Shadowspaz]

Originally posted by Tokiw:

Ah, alright. That makes sense I suppose. I've also rebound bunt to right bumber on my controller so now I can press both at the same time.

I hate making control scheme changes when I'm comfortable with a certain way things are.

Me, too... So much so, that I've refused to change them, while still playing competitively. :P

For the X +B combo (Also used for quickparries), I slightly rotate my hand around the controller, enough so I can hit B with the outside edge of my thumb while holding B. Feels a lot less awkward than the explanation sounds, I assure you. lol

But since I've kept it all as defaults, various tricks are locked into my muscle memory as gestures- A jump + quickparry (AXB) is something of a circular sweeping motion, a rising bunt (A, slight delay, B) is rolling my thumb up... Things like that.

You can get surprisingly good with defaults, actually