Phalanx, Forward! (A Guide to Blade Symphony's Fencer)

Hello again! If you liked my previous guide on Judgement, then you're in for another round of stabbing and slashing with another character that I have recently begun to master. In this guide, I will be talking about Phalanx: specifically his skillset, preferred weaponry, and tactics for this mobile and versatile maniac.

Pros and Cons

The up sides

+ Extremely versatile champion, can be played in a variety of roles.

+ Very broad range of attacks; from lightning fast swipes to very heavy yet still damaging overheads, with something in between added for funsies.

+ Great gap closing abilities.

+ Can press the advantage and continue comboing for prolonged amounts of time.

+ Very fun to play and tricky to master.



Aaaaand the bad ones

- Can be a bit easy to screw up and get punished for the mistake.

- Heavy attacks aren't as hard hitting as some other classes *Cough* JUDGEMENT *Cough*.

- At times is very tricky to properly time a multitude of attacks.

- Some attacks are very bad for comboing.

Yet More Attack Types, and Further Useage

1. Fast Attacks







Fast attacks are as basic as you get on Phally boy over here. They're fast, little damaging, and oh-so-nasty. These are good follow ups to a technique that you already executed if the person is in point blank range, as it is pretty hard to beat in terms of speed. They can also be used as excellent gap closer, specifically......

Tier 2 Fast Charge



These puppies prove to be quite good at reaching and knicking your foe unexpectedly. This works on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th combo of the fast forward group. The 2nd is a bit less reaching, but he steps back in the process. The 3rd is the most reach, and he stays wherever he has lept, which is good for following up, and the 4th is also a good one for falling back after shanking the bonehead. If you charge the 4th fast forward, he will also do a "leap" of sorts.

2. Balanced Strikes







Balanced attacks on Phalanx are incredible in that they have a wide variety of useage. The left strike is quick and fast, with the stats of a balanced attack. Meanwhile, the right side one has much more coverage, as well as a delay so that you can move into a more preferable position to slash 'em up at. (Another added bonus for the side slashes is that you, too, can use them like judgement side heavies to wind up in the air and land down smacking the foe with; beware though that these attacks are a bit faster that judge's, so the timing will have to be quicker.) The first balanced forward is also with a nice delay, but if you're going to use it for the delay, you might as well use the heavy tier forward (More on that later). Phalanx also has a good second square balanced forward, known as:

The Washing Machine



This attack is almost instant, and if you land a hit on them point blank with it, MAN is it gonna hurt! This spinup is pretty tricky to land though, and easily kept away from or simply sidestepped. Be careful, as it's range isn't too far out, and it leaves you vulnerable to an attack while you're sitting there flailing your sharp metal stick around. A good follow up to a gap closer that lands you in your opponent's breathing room. Just like the fast attacks, this one has practically no windup, is very fast, and on top of that, it's a balanced strike.

3. Heavy Duty Pain Delivery







These slashes are very slow compared to most other heavy attacks that other fighters have. But with a decrease in speed comes an ability to further time these suckers up. Attacks like this are extremely great if an opponent is comboing forward to you but is still out of reach. Just step back, and wind one up to show your disagreement with him attempting to fast attack spam you to death.

NOTE: The heavy forward tier 2 charge is considerably faster than tier 1, and fully charged, is the slowest out of all the forward heavies. Don't bother using the tier 3, it's nearly useless, as by the time they see you winding up, they'll expect a slow one, so give them the tier 2 while they're still thinking that they got you all figured out.

4 Air Attacks







As Phalanx, you have 3 of the most WONDERFUL jump attacks in the game. The one going forward has an added trick to it as well (More on that, yet again, later). Your jump attack to the left has IMMENSE distance coverage. Make sure to angle it appropriately (You're going to want to make sure your left side is facing the enemy as to hit them with this side swipe). The right one isn't as distance covery, but it can still get the job done, plus he's got a godly arc on the right one, covering almost a half-circle. These are good for initiating on an unsuspecting foe as they charge their attack OR have nearly finished ending their charged attack.

Air Attack Forward Glide
As Whoarts has mentioned in his video series (You should check him out, he has youtube guides for even the advanced user), you can use your jump attack forward to "glide" across the floor. The trick to it is executing the jump attack just before you hit the floor. This makes for a nice, unexpected gap closer, or a quick getaway once you're in the air and want to evade your opponent's next attack. Keep practicing though, this one is a bit tricky to pull off.

Swords For Your Liking

Phalanx can use every single sword type this game has to offer effectively. Here's why:

Katanas (Difficulty: *) are very versatile. You have a lot of slash in your roster of attacks. It is also as I said previously, a noob friendly weapon. Good for blocking after you have made an oopsie-daisy in your combo (and trust me, starting out, you will make LOTS of them). The Washing Machine benefits off of this too, making it a nice weapon to use.

Foil (Diffuclty: **) STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! You wanted to say something? STAB! All joking aside, the Foil is a noob friendly weapon, as it allows you to just tick away at their hp bar with the fast attack forwards. Yet, in the right hands ,this becomes even scarier. Although your other combos don't do as much damage with the foil, they are still very nice if you need the delay timing. With this weapon I would also advise you use the balanced forward instead of the heavy forward if you need the delay as the foil benefits more from the shanking than it does the gashing.

Scimitar (Difficulty: Win all matchups) You are a terrible person for using this weapon, you know that? At it's current state, Phalanx has a ton of abilities that can combo with the scimitar. A lot of his strikes hit a multitude of times, not to mention using it with the Washing Machine *Shudders*. When you pair those two together, you literally hang your opponent out to dry. But as far as attacks go, you're going to want to refrain from using too many heaving and stick to light attacks + The Washing Machine. Better yet, just don't touch this weapon at all, it needs fixing and is an E-Z win. And nobody likes a lame-o that facerolls everyone.

Longsword (Difficulty *****) The pinnacle of proffessional play. A lot of good players LOVE the pairing of longsword and Phalanx. Your windup heavies mean you will be faking most of them, leaving your opponent guessing. Another awesome thing about Longswords is using the boost you get from doing some attacks with it. For instance, if you charge up a fake fast tier 2 3rd square attack, you will not attack, but you will gain the area coverage! That's insane! Fake a leap attack, and then follow up with something even nastier. Also works well because of the damage boost you get from breaking a block, as you can do the step back and whop em combo and have it yield devastating results.

Jian (Difficulty: ***) These are very nice for faster combo speeds than the other swords. Also the block offers a better reward for screwing up by allowing you to intercept an opponent's attack and get a free hit off. You can also combo some fast attacks and finish with a heavy for faster attack speeds.

Class Specific Shenanigans

This section is going to cover facing up against different classes.


Phalanx vs. Phalanx Another mirror matchup, eh? These will always boil down to skill. Bait his attacks, and try to gap close in on them fast. Beware, he is just as nimble as you, and keep an eye out for his sword type. Usually you can tell what attack types he will spam just based upon it. Plan accordingly, and react faster than him, and you will win.

More fun with Judgement You can run circles around this guy and make fun of his slowness and inability to combo. You have the advantage here. With your gap closers, you can take overcome his windup times and cooldowns of previous attacks to hit him where it hurts: His pretty face. Make sure to keep an eye out for those jump side heavies, as well as the gap closing air attack, as those will be his number one priority of landing on you. Stay nimble, and try not to use fast attacks to much on him as he will stop you with a balanced forward if he catches you. Feel free to use the gap closing ones that also allow you to jump back, however, since those are pretty damn fast.

Poor ol' Pure With the recent update to Pure, she has become less than viable, making her easy picking for you. Just beware of her side strike into a heavy right combo, as they still hurt. Keep away from her, and land your moves before she does. Also keep away from her spinny sword twirl. Charge up your fast 3rd attack while she waves her thing at you.

Ryoku...... More like RyoFUUUUUUUUUU- This man is going to be your arch-nemesis. He stands against everything you have ever done. Most of his attacks are rapid, and once he's got you up close and personal, there is almost always no escape. You're going to want to stay back for this one. Hit him with the charged 3rd fast, and maybe a jump slash and a washing machine. Do not stay next to him for too long. His combo's really hurt. Also take your time and land pot shots of your heavy forward on him as to shut him up for a bit.

Feedback, Please!

That about does it for the guide. To make sure I improve these and clarify whatever seems vaguely written here, feel free to comment! I appreciate feedback on anything in the guides, and hopefully in the future, this means i'll be able to pump out way better guides. Too vague? Not enough pictures? More details? Let me know! I'm open to criticism and the likes.

As always, thanks for reading. Hope this guide has done it's part. It's still your part to adapt, practice, and overcome, so keep fighting! As it has been, you'll never just climb to the top without falling. This, and many other games like it, are all about the practice and the learning.

Tali-ho!

Other Guides I've Made

If you liked this one, check out my other guides! I am going to do a series that is a bit more noob friendly at introducing the classes than the School of War is. Don't get me wrong, those guys know what they're doing, I simply feel like their teaching methods are a bit off, though.


Judgement: Out here.



Pure: (Waiting For Developers to confirm her being finalized move-set wise)




Ryoku: (Coming Soon)

[ak3120]

Yes. I've created this guide waaaaaay back, and i'm too lazy to update it. Sorry! I'll try to work on that soon.

[Meepithmancer]

It would seem you got your katana and longsword mixed up. I'm a phalanx player myself, and I've gotta agree with a lot of this stuff. It's a little out-dated, because pure has been buffed to hell, and can now combo spam you to death, and judgement is probably the fastest character.

[Melon]

Kinda new to phalanx here but i've been experimenting a little and found that air cancelling a fast forward 3 can help you dodge a low attack and still close the gap and well, poke them :D Thanks for the guide!

[Shockjaw]

I'd advise switching or putting a disclaimer on the Longsword and Katana switch in regards to their attributes.

[monkey.D.nyunyu]

is there a way to change camera zoom ?

[orca]

thnx

[SlatkiCvarak]

Nice Guide !! THANK YOU !