DIO Guide

A full guide for DIO in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R. Normals, combos, general tips, and recommended assists all included.

Introduction

Hey everyone! Welcome to your one-stop-shop guide for all things DIO. As a professional suck-up to this fantastic character and villain and there wasn't already a guide like this, I figured I take a stab at it. Let's jump right in.

Notation Explanation

Throughout this guide, you'll be seeing numbers followed by letters to describe inputs. I'll show a picture of what everything means.

I'm going to show you a picture of a page from the Mizuumi JoJo's Bizzare Adventure: All-Star Battle R Wiki page to explain this for you as it makes this much easier, and it's just visually pleasing. I'll also link the page as all credit goes to this site for doing the explanation for me.


Here is the wiki page for those interested: https://wiki.gbl.gg/w/JoJo%27s_Bizarre_Adventure:_All-Star_Battle_R/DIO/Combos

Feel free to explore this wiki as well because there is some genuinely useful information on the site for other characters. Some of the info in this guide is taken straight from this page :).

Basic Strengths

When it comes to our blonde hair hottie, he's got a few massive strengths.

The elephant in the room is his DEVASTATING damage. In the hands of a player that knows how to pilot DIO, he can easily two touch most of the roster with relative ease.

DIO has a 50/50 out of neutral that we'll get to later in this guide, but it allows so much mix up potential off of a few setups that he can use with various assists.

DIO's meter economy is pretty damn good. Most of his combos do cost meter sure, but you'll get most of it back in said combo as they string many hits together that generate meter like a damn battery.

I dare you to try to zone this character, because you just can't. The moment that projectile is on screen, you're getting parried into next week from across the screen if you aren't careful about trying to read said parry, because it isn't completely guaranteed.

One point that not many talk about with this character is simply his ease of combo-ability (if that term even exists). DIO's combo theory and BnBs are simpler to learn than other characters as his pathing within said combos are fairly simple. His kit is cut and dry in the sense that each move has its purpose in a battle. Each launcher doesn't need the same followup and you don't need the same launcher to land certain followups. Once you learn them, you'll be able to flow through different conversion with ease. This is coming from someone who usually isn't that good at this type of thing.

Basic Weaknesses

There two big weaknesses that I'd like to address here for anyone wanting to play as this character.

DIO has one of the lowest HP pools in the game. While he is able to 2 tap most of the roster, some of the roster has absolutely no problem 2-tapping him back, especially using Keicho's assist after taunts.

DIO has weak defense in general. He doesn't have access to a meterless reversal like most of the roster, and the only way for him to get you off of him without an assist charge is to spend 2 bars to break out of your combo with a feature in his move list, but he does have to be on the ground standing up while you hit him to actually use it. He can actually use it if you're guard pressure is too much as well by just inputting the same thing when he blocks you.

Ground Normals

Here we'll just be covering all of the normals this character has on the ground.

STAND OFF

5L: A pretty standard jab for ASBR: Can feel a bit stubby at times, but I find it good for stopping jump-ins.

5M: An advancing swipe that has good range to poke and counter-poke pretty well. Use this in neutral often as it has deceptive range.

5H: DIO lunges forward slightly with a high kick, also good range for poking.

^^^ALL STANDING NORMALS ARE MIDS MEANING THAT CROUCHING OPPONENTS CAN BLOCK THESE^^^

2L: A simple crouching chop. This one isn't great, it's pretty stubby and is only good for okizeme if timed correctly.

2M: An advancing swipe aimed at your opponents feet. This is his best ground opener for poking and neutral.

2H: DIO summons The World to sweep the opponent into a hard knockdown. Can be good for poking to reset neutral or to sneak in a low at the end of a string if the opponent loves to block high.

^^^ALL CROUCHING NORMALS ARE LOWS AND CAN BE BLOCKED BY CROUCHING OPPONENTS, BUT NOT STANDING OPPONENTS^^^

3H: This is DIO's only command normal. He brings the oh so fantastic road sign out to smash the opponent with it. This launches on hit, can be Stand Rushed, and can hit an opponent OTG (on the ground).

5/4 + Any Two Attack Buttons: The Throw Input. The World will stop time, punch the opponent while time is stopped, then resume time to send them flying. This does cause a wall bounce and leaves the opponent pretty far away.


STAND ON

5L: The World kicks low towards the opponent. This attack, despite it's appearance, doesn't actually hit low and is therefore not good for stopping dash jumps. This has a special use along with 2L that we get to discuss later.

5M: The World socks the opponent straight in the stomach. This advances DIO forward and is my favorite normal for S ON because of it's good range.

5H: The World performs a kick that goes pretty high. The hitbox is accurate to this animation. It is UNUSABLE against small characters such as Iggy and Shigechi unless they are in the air. Just a bad normal against smol bois.

^^^AGAIN ALL MIDS^^^

2L: The World gives a standard crouching punch. This is a good normal for pokes, and has a special use along with 5L we get to talk about later.

2M: The World gives a nice hook to your lovely opponent. This things range is disgusting and is the best crouch normal DIO has. This the only crouching normal DIO has that is a Mid.

2H: The World performs the same sweep motion as the S OFF normal, but this time launches the opponent on hit. This causes a hard knockdown on its own, but is most commonly use to meterlessly extend combos just a bit to get an extra string in there for DAMAGE.

^^^AGAIN ALL LOWS UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE^^^

Air Normals

Here we'll cover all of DIO's air normals and their uses.

STAND OFF

j.L: DIO kicks down towards the opponent. IMO the best jump in normal for your standard jump-in uses.

j.M: DIO performs a jumping knee. This is deceptively good for cross-ups and is your best air-to-air jump normal.

j.H: The World is summoned to swipe below DIO and is the best cross-up jump normal as it can hit really late in the animation, allowing for easy conversions to ground strings.


STAND ON

j.L: The World jabs downards. This has an okay hitbox, but has a lot of active frames. I would use this to press early into your jump to surprise the opponent because not many people know how good the active frames are.

j.M: The World sweeps his hand upwards, launching on hit. This is the best Air-to-Air normal DIO has if you don't have access to S OFF j.M.

j.H: The World hooks down towards the opponent. The hit box is fantastic on this move and it should be abused for the jump-in it is. It's the best Air Normal to cancel into his j.236L/M/H due to the generous hitbox.

^^^ALL AIR NORMALS ARE OVERHEADS MEANING THEY CANNOT BE BLOCKED BY CROUCHING OPPONENTS, BUT STANDING OPPONENTS CAN^^^

Special Moves

We'll be discussing all of DIO's special moves here, along with their uses.

STAND OFF

46L/M/H: DIO throws a knife. The speed of the knife depends on version used, Light being the slowest, and Heavy being the fastest. This move can be special cancelled, including into itself, the moment the knife leaves DIO's hand. This is a Mid.

236L/M/H: The World is summoned and does an attack that changes based on the input of the attack.

• The Light version summons The World close to DIO and will use a Mid attack that launches the opponent that opens up the possibly of a Flash Cancel or Assist to extend the combo.
  
• The Medium version summons The World a bit further away (about jump distance) and execute an Overhead jab that launches the opponent to the floor. This cannot be comboed out of in any way.
  
• The Heavy version summons The World just beyond jump distance to execute a Low hitting jab that does launch slightly and can be comboed from if close enough.

It's important to realize that each version's distance will track the opponent if they are closer than the standard range. The Heavy version won't whiff if the opponent is hugging you, DIO is smart enough to summon The World close enough to himself to hit the opponent.

22L/M/H: DIO strides towards the opponent, egging them on. This move parries anything except for Throws, HHAs, and GHAs. DIO will Time Stop Teleport behind the opponent and launch them. It's important to know this does not freeze the opponent in place, meaning they can dodge, block, or even interrupt the counter attack if they read the parry.

63214L/M/H: DIO performs a command grab that does not leave the opponent in a hard knockdown state. He will regain some health and attack buttons can be mashed here to extend the duration to restore up to double the health it normally does. If used against any of the following characters:

• Jonathan
  
• Joseph
  
• Jotaro (Part 3)
  
• Jotaro (Part 4)
  
• Josuke (Part 4)
  
• Giorno
  
• Jolyne

DIO will do a special taunt animation and also gain 0.25 HH gauge, but will be left at disadvantage.

46H while taking damage or guarding: This is the combo interruption mentioned earlier in the "Basic Weaknesses" section of the guide. If you are grounded while guarding or being hit, DIO will stop time and put himself in position as if he just Perfect Dodged the attack that you activated this move on. This does requre 2 HH gauge to be used.


STAND ON

236L/M/H: This is your standard Stand rush. The distance covered, damage, number of hits, and how far the opponent is launched away increases with each variant. Light has the least and Heavy has the most. This move is a Mid.

214L/M/H: DIO poses as The World prepares an unblockable gut punch. The attacks speed and range depend on the version used. You guessed it, the Light is the fastest and most stubby, whereas the Heavy is the slowest and has the most range. This move causes knockback on hit that usually isn't able to be comboed with unless with very specific Assist setups, it can be cancelled into HHA though.

j.236L/M/H: This is the really really good one. The World barrages downwards towards the opponent with Overhead punches and finishes with a kick that will launch. The move can be Stand Rushed, allowing DIO to move separately from The World to add damage in midst of said punches. The amount of hits changes on the version used, once against scaling up from Light to Heavy. Both the Light and Medium versions can be comboed out of meterlessly unless DIO is too high in the air or the opponent is too far away. The Heavy version cannot be comboed out of unless you use an assist or Stand Rush the move. This move is the biggest threat in DIO's arsenal. We will get into this later.


USABLE REGARDLESS OF STAND STATE

22S: DIO's pride and joy...stopping time. DIO will say "Za Warudo" quickly followed by an animation that once completed, will stop time. The move can be used once you have 1.5 HH gauge, but is extremely slow unless you have 3 HH gauge. This is to encourage you to burn all of your meter as once time is stopped, your meter turns into a timer for you to wail on the opponent as much as you want with zero worry of them fighting back. Also the move is so abhorrently slow without 3 bars that it's borderline unusable unless the opponent is fullscreen and has the reaction time of a sloth. All damage dealt to the opponent during this state is slightly reduced and dealt all at once when time resumes. All attacks can OTG the opponent during Time Stop, restanding in some case scenarios. After this affect ends, there's about a ~5 window where DIO just can't gain HH gauge (unless you use Akira's assist XD). If time is stopped and you're playing against AW Diego, both versions of Jotaro, or another DIO, they may use the same input with 1 HH requirement to start moving in your time stop. If your bar runs out before theirs, you'll be frozen instead. You can end combos in a reset that confirms a Time Stop to happen right as the opponent gets up, resulting in a second combo.


HEART HEAT ATTACKS

236 + Any Two Attack Buttons: DIO dashes forward and kicks upwards, stopping time, throwing a barrage of knives, uttering the beautiful "Checkmate" line, before resuming time and turning them into swiss cheese. This move is quick and is completely invincible. It's good for reversing, just remember that people have brains and can flash cancel their combo to block this. If they jump at you carelessly while they are within this move's range and it'll kill, punish their sorry ass. This move requires 1 HH gauge. This is a Mid Attack.

236 + Any Two Attack Buttons (Time Stop): DIO will throw multiple knives before they freeze in place, continuing said flight after Time Stop ends. There isn't a lot of use for this, as you still have to burn meter while already in Time Stop. You could jump over the opponent and start attacking to force a Hard-to-Blockable, but there's better uses for your Time Stop. I'm putting it in the list because this special version does exist. This is a Mid Attack.

236L+M+H: The World lunges forward with a massive Mid haymaker. If this connects, the GHA animation will play of the infamous steam roller being mashed into your opponent before exploding. This can be comboed into fairly easily with 3H in S OFF or 5H in S ON. If used on Jotaro (Part 3), a special animation will play and the Jotaro player can make a special animation play by spending 2 HH gauge and pressing 22S during the super animation. This will actually cause him to survive the GHA if he would've had died and leave him at 1 HP. Both players will return to round start positions of the Jotaro player does this.

Recommended Assists

So, I'm only gonna mention the one that I use pretty much all the time, but also give some other options.

Jotaro (Part 3): Yep, this is still my favorite. You can combo meterlessly off of so many routes with this assist and the timing is pretty generous of when you can actually call it in too. He lacks a second defensive usage, but I play DIO to swag on people and do big damage, not to win.

Other Options

Keicho Nijimura: This is an obvious one. You can end your combos with his assist and then taunt to guarantee a mine relaunch.

Josuke Higashikata (Part 4): This is similar to the Jotaro Assist, but it's more of an Anti-Air and some prefer it over the Jotaro (Part 3) Assist.

Gyro Zeppeli: Using this assist mid string can setup extra pressure. This is good on DIO as we have a few mix-up options in our neutral game.

Combos

Time for the creme de la creme of DIO. The combos baby. We'll start easy and get harder as we go on. I will also be including a few example videos of just some combo theory for DIO in general as you can string certain areas of combos with each other. You can pair launchers with other launcher follow-ups. They don't need to be identical each time.

Remember that a (s.) before an input means that you must be in the Stand On state.

Also remember that nay time we end a combo with a special move, you can add HHA > 3H to the end of it for some extra damage if it would put in the kill on the opponent as the move doesn't add a whole lot of damage to the end of really long combos.

Throughout the guide you'll see numbers in brackets like [1] and [2]. This is just for you to see which combo ties to which video giving of me showing you what it'll look like.

EASY STUFF/ BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LATER

5LMH > 3H > 236L

5LMH > 3H > 236L > HHA (Easy Beat)

5LMH > 3H > QSOn > 5LMH > 236H (The main point here is to get used to the QSOn after 3H)

(s.)5LM2H > 2M.dlH > 5MH > 236H

[1] 2368L/M/H (The main way to execute an instant-air/TK j.236L/M/H. Get comfortable with this as it will just be a part of your normal gameplay on this character. I promise you won't regret it!)


MEDIUM STUFF

[2] 5LMH > 3H > QSOn > 5LMH > 236L > FC > 669j.H > j.236H > SR > j.M > j.M > 5MH > 3H > QSOn > 5LMH > 236H
(This looks like a lot, but this is the main combo "route" when not involving any form of assists at all. It also covers the BnB of DIO which is the "j.236H > SR > j.M > j.M > 5LMH > 3H > QSOn > 5LMH > 236H" section. That's used a lot in combo theory with this character.)(With enough practice, I know you can do it!)

(s.)5LM2H > 5M.dl2H > 66 > 2M5H > 236L > FC > 669j.H > j.236H > SR > j.M > j.M > 5MH > 46H > 236L > HHA > 3H (The key with this one here is that after you finish the HHA, you run towards the opponent to smack em with the street sign while they're on the ground.)

[3] (s.) TK j.236M > 5MH > 236L > ASSIST (Jotaro PT3) > 669j.H > j.236H > SR > j.M > j.M > 5MH > QSOn > 2LM.dlH > 2M.dlH > 5MH > 236H (The moral of the story from this one is that where we are using the Jotaro assist is exactly where I use him in the rest of my combos if I go off track. If the opponent is launched and you have Jotaro up with a 5MH > 236L left in your "3 hit rule" for that combo, you can link into 5MH > 236L > ASSIST and what comes after that here every single time as long as your combo hits allow so.)


HARDER STUFF

(s.)TK j.236H > SR > j.M > j.L > 5MH > 3H > QSOn > 5LM.dl2H > 2MH > 5MH > 236L > FC > 669j.H > j.236H > SR > j.M > j.L > 5MH > 3H > QSOn > 2M5H > 236H

Not really gonna put much else here as the harder stuff of DIO does require you to go into practice and learn how his combo theory links up, then you can do some crazy s h i t.

TOD

For those who are unaware for fighting games, TOD stands for Touch of Death. This means that if DIO has 3 HH gauge and touches you with no assist charges, this combo will kill you at any HP value as the combo does above 1000 damage and there isn't a character who has a higher HP pool than 1000.

[4] (s.) TK j.236M > 5MH > 236L > ASSIST > 669j.H > j.236H > SR > j.M > S > 2LM.dlH > 66 > 5L > 22S (Time Stop Reset) > 214L > 214L > S OFF > 5H > 3H > 236M > 5H > 3H > 236M > S ON > j.H > j.236H > (Time Resumes) > j.M > 5MH > 214L

(For those that are here again, yes I did change it because I came up with a better version as I was just in some practice. That's why the 4th video has audio because I didn't have time at the moment to record it without my mic. Enjoy my reaction to hitting it for the first time).


[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

General Playstyle and Tips

DIO is a rushdown character at heart, but that doesn't mean he can't hold his own in terms of zoning. He does have a projectile and you should be using it if you'd like to change the neutral a bit. If they attempt to trade with you, sneak in a parry somewhere.

Once we're close we have access to a DEADLY mix-up. This is a jump in normal while we are in S ON. The opponent must guess if you will do j.L/M/H > j.236L/M/H or j.L/M/H > 2L. This is also not considering that you don't do a jump normal and just jump towards them before doing 2L. Both of the results are safe as you should only be doing this when you have enough meter to Stand Rush j.236L/M/H. Both of these routes lead to huge damage and will almost always force an assist break from your opponent if either of these connect otherwise it is going to HURT. Touching more on j.236L/M/H, if this Special is done instantly off of the ground, it's a completely unreactable Overhead that as stated before can lead to huge damage. If you're close to the opponent, you're just forcing a 50/50 from neutral of an instant-air Overhead or 2L.

You should be playing DIO with the intent of getting close, but you should be doing so safely. As stated previously in the guide, DIO is squishy and doesn't have good defense. You need to get the snowball rolling and not give them room to breathe. Apply pressure, build meter, do damage, threaten forced 50/50s, and Muda rush them until they're paste.

I personally will abuse 669j.L a lot from midscreen just due to it's good hitbox that makes it hard to anti-air. Just don't use it too much or they'll start to read you like a graphic novel.

The moral of the story is to get close, do big damage, but do it all safely.

Conclusion

Well. that about does it for our blondie with a body. I hope you all enjoyed the guide and learned something that you can take away for yourself and your DIO pleasures. If there is anything at all that you'd like me to add to this guide, please leave it in the comments and I'll get back to you on whether or not I will add it. Now go make your enemies into paste.

[Ghost bleed]

W Guide