Ling Xiaoyu Strategy FAQ ver. 2.5



Copyright 1997 Dion A. Madrilejo



Any unauthorized use of this FAQ in a print or electronic publication

without

express written consent will be prosecuted (Or at least flamed liberally.)



--------------------- History ---------------------



v0.5 First publication of this FAQ

v1.0 Lots of text redone

     First vs. guides added

     Table of contents added

v2.0 Pulled stuff about hopping out of the AoP out of the FAQ

     Follow-ups to AoP->breakdance sweeps/scissor kicks

     Added Questions section

     Little tidbit about facing Eddys added

     Credits added

     FAQ locations added

v2.5 More anti-Eddy stuff added

     Dodging section added



------------------ Table of Contents ------------------



*Why?

  -Reasons why to play Xiaoyu

*Where?

  -Where you can find this FAQ

*General Tips

  -Core Xiao moves

    -Storming Flower

    -Art of Phoenix

    -Turned-away Vert. Hook Kick

  -Dodging

*Vs. Guides

  -Eddy

  -Paul

  -Jin

  -Lei

*Miscellany

*Things to do



--------------------- Why? ---------------------



This FAQ exists because no one at the time had yet to create a suitable

playing guide for our gal Ling ;)



In case you get into any arguments over who to play in TK3 here's some ammo

as to why Ling's the way to go:



-She's cute (Well; during the actual match anyway): I personally don't like

 her portrait but at least she looks good during the fight. 

-Best win pose: How can you beat a girl doing a handstand splits? 

-She can taunt: 1+3+4, 2+3+4 or counterhitting with the Storming Flower.

-She's a University of Michigan fan: Her 2P outfit shows that she, like

 Shun Di in VF2 and 3, is a Univ. of Mich. fan.



--------------------- Where? ---------------------



Here are the places that legally carry this FAQ:

(If you find a place that carries this FAQ ...WITHOUT... proper credit

being given; please let me know and if you're carrying this FAQ without

notifying me, read the copyright notice at the beginning.)



Tekken 3 Professional Players

http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~mxavier/TEKKEN3/TK3.HTM



Tekken Information Center

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/7811/



Dion's World

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dmad



-------------------- General tips --------------------



When playing Ling there are three things you really need to have down to

dominate with her:



-The Storming Flower 

-The Art of Phoenix 

-Her Turned-Away Vert. Hook Kick



== The Storming Flower == 

The power and usefulness of this move is nearly as amazing as Paul's Death

Fist. It's fast, counterhits virtually anything and when it counterhits it

smacks 'em so far away you can usually get a running shoulder charge in

much like Paul. Also since it's only a tap really you can react a lot

better with it as opposed to a Death Fist.



USE- Former Paul players are pretty much ready to go so they can jump to

the CAVEATS part. For the rest of you...you've probably seen Paul players

death fisting like madmen. The good ones will counterhit death fist ->

shoulder charge with perfection and sometimes finish a round in under

20 ticks. The trick is to, well, understand your enemy. You need to have a

feel for which moves take long to execute and/or retract. When the throw a

slow move; smack 'em with the SF. As for which moves you should SF, that's

something you can only get down with practice. Of course the fact that the

SF has some pretty insane priority doesn't hurt either (I hit people out of

charges and Hwoarang out of many of his kicks all the time.) I'm not sure

about this bit but I think she ducks a bit when she dashes in to SF and

thus some high attacks will wiff and thus allow you to counterhit more

effectively.



CAVEATS- Do NOT go nuts with this move like many a Paul. You cannot use

this move with wild abandon because 1) it has a short reach and 2) it has

horrible recovery time. You MUST know the range of this move to make it

deadly for them. If you wiff (which will happen, especially when ppl will

charge in and stop just outside of the SF range) you will eat it...HARD. If

you want to SF with maximum safety go for the Hydrangea->SF canned combo

(u+1+2,2,1) Although it's fairly hard to hit with all the hits.



== The Art of Phoenix ==

The sheer usefulness of this stance is just that side of amazing. It's nigh

invulnerable since just about everything wiffs above her head (Except for

sweeps) and you can retaliate in ANY situation with relative safety.

There's also the mentality that people have that funky stance = vulnerable

so they tend to do stupid things which you can capitalize on.



USE- There are many things you can do from the AoP but you'll probably go

for the following:

1+2 Double forearm bash: Decent damage and it juggles. Go for this when

they wiff a heavy attack over your head like Paul's death fist.

u/f+4,4 scissor kicks: Comes out fairly quick and good against people who

try to smack you out of the AoP with a low attack.

d/f+4,4 breakdance sweeps: If they wiff high but it's not a heavy attack do

the sweeps since they come out fast.

4~3 ground scissor sweep: Good reactionary move since it executes even

quicker than the breakdance sweeps although you really can't follow it up

except with the prone ankle kick.

u/f+3 and u+3,3 pop-up kick and pop-up side kicks: Great surprise value and

you land on your feet after execution. I have yet to get the second side

kick to connect although it does keep people from rushing in if you wiff

the first kick. The straight pop-kick has a lot of lag if you wiff it so

make sure of your range before execution.

...and the most important attack from the AoP...

1+3/2+4 THROW: It's the fact that you can dodge safely and throw that makes

the AoP so sickening to your opponents. Basically you knock them away, AoP,

and when they come in, wait for them to do just about ANY move and you roll

out of the way and throw them.



Also remember that the breakdance sweeps AND the scissor kicks can go

straight into the TA uppercut->VHK (2,4) Besides looking damn cool and

dealing some great damage, getting hit with all of this (just imagine Xiao

connecting with both scissor kicks, then an uppercut, then the VHK, then a

low sweep) can be awful demoralizing. You can also tack on the 2,1 turned

away punches before the VHK. HOWEVER, there is some pretty ugly lag between

the TA uppercut and anything following it, ergo...an aware opponent will

see the oppourtunity and kick you in the back or something more hideous.



CAVEATS- Do not hang out in the AoP for long periods of time at close range

since people will only stupidly try to hit you high for a short period of

time. Pauls will sweep, Leis will rave spin, Nina's will double-palm, etc,

etc.



== The Vertical Hook Kick == 

Right behind the SF; her VHK (Turned Away 4) is almost like Jun's f+2

uppercut in TK2. When not working on slapping people silly with the SF,

work on getting to the VHK and following it up.



USE- Basically you need to get your back to your opponent to use this. You

can do this via Butter the bread (d/f+1) or the downward slap (u+1) but the

usual way to turn is via the Raccoon Swing (f,f+3) although abusing the

Raccoon Swing->VHK can get you swept so mix it up with the (d/f+1) and the

(u+1).

When you do land this move (which will hopefully and happily happen often)

you can follow up with an SF (Hard to time) or use these followups:

1,2,SF

1,u+1,f,F+3+4

1,u+1,2,1,4

Some people also swear by using the four-hit flurry for juggle hits but I

have yet to connect well with it. *shrug*



MISC- Remeber that when you're turned around you can insert two rev.

punches (2,1) before the VHK but you have to be pretty close to do it but

it looks really cool when you land all the hits.



== Dodging ==



This is where things get silly. While Xiao already has an impressive

arsenal of attacks, you're bound to get in a rut and your opponents will

know what you're going to do so how do you make things interesting for your

opponent? Dodges.



For me I've basically been just getting into dodges and the ones I

currently use are:



The dive roll (f+3+4)

The cartwheel (f+1+2)

The skyflip (f,F+3+4)



If you're familiar with the way dodges work in VF3 then you should

understand most of the basic mechanics but for those of you who aren't

familiar let me explain.



Dodging is basically what turns a 3-D fighter from just being a 2-D fighter

with a nifty graphics engine into a full 3-D game. A term which you'll need

to know is "tracking". Tracking is basically the ability of a character to

continue to face you as they execute a string of attacks. Generally a

character's ability to track depends on how far away you start your dodge,

what kind of move your opponent is doing, and if you opponent is attempting

a string of moves.



In TK3 characters have a great tendency to move in a linear direction when

attempting any sequence of moves, be it a "canned combo" (e.g. like the

hydrangea->SF combo) or a 10-string. However there are certain cases where

their sequence will not necessarily travel in a straight line, usually this

occurs when you attempt to dodge at too far of a distance and you only end

up being slightly off-axis from your opponent as opposed to directly to the

side or behind you opponent which is where you want to be and thus you end

up recovering from your dodge attempt just to eat the rest of their combo. 



You have probably noticed that not all attacks execute in a straight line.

These attacks are the bane of a dodging character since these attacks occur

in a horizontal circular arc, they have the possibility of smacking you

clean out of your dodge. Characters with significant circular attacks are:



Law:  Dragon's Tail

Paul: the d+4 sweep

Jin:  Hell Sweeps

Eddy: (Way too many of his attacks)



The cartwheel (f+1+2)

Fast and it looks good. Dodges into the screen when facing right.



The dive roll (f+3+4)

Not as fast as the cartwheel but it's a lot more practical. Why? AFAIK

rolls right under Eddy's legs when he's in the handstand splits. Dodges out

out of the screen when facing right.



The sky flip (f+F+3+4)

Yes I have this as a dodge. While it does count as an attack, the chances

of landing this in extreme combat situations is fairly low. Good thing to

use for sheer confusion and the landing is fairly safe since most people

have a hell of a time judging where you're going to land and if they're too

close to where you're coming down they'll either take the block or take the

hit.



------------------ Vs. Guides ------------------



This will be pretty sketchy to begin with but I'm working on it.



== EDDY ==

This is probably the guy you'll run into the most. The big problem that

people have with him is that he's damn annoying in the hands of a scrubby

buttonmasher because it's hard enough getting a feel for the attack levels

of his moves when you're facing someone who knows what he/she's doing, much

less someone who doesn't know what they're doing. However there are really

only two things you need to keep in mind when facing Eddys 1) They're

coming in low and 2) They're gonna swing for awhile. A LOT of Eddy's combos

end up with a bunch of low hits; block them and retaliate as desired (SF

when you can, flapping wings (d+1) when you're not sure). Also Eddy combos

will last for what seems like days. The trick is to recognize the points in

the combo where he's just swinging his legs around for show as opposed to

an actual attack. Usually if they go into the floor exercise gymnastics

moves you can SF after you block their kicks or you can make them wiff

since he has a tendency to stick as opposed to move during his combos. Also

if they hit you with a move which you block but are not pushed back very

far, go for the SF or flapping wings since Eddy has some pretty bad

recovery time on his moves. The other thing you need to do is pay attention

to your life bar. One thing I've noticed against Eddys is that they can hit

you with a combo that doesn't look like it's terribly nasty but if you look

at your bar you're down a good 40%. When you get drilled by Paul you know

it, Eddys will kick you to within an inch of your life and you'll barely

notice.



As many of you have probably found out, most Eddys will go for the

handstand splits for extended periods of time. The problem with this is

that his reach nearly doubles yours and therefore you get smacked and feel

silly that you can't effectively retaliate. The SF goes right over them and

the legs just barely hit mid so you can't really come in low. Fortunately

there is an answer, the forward thrust kick (f,F+4) The first time I tried

using this against an Eddy, he was just stunned that he couldn't handstand

at will anymore and I won the round (unfortunately I lost the match due to

an unblockable, but I digress) Bad things about the thrust kick: it

telegraphs like a mutha and it's slow to come out. Great things about the

thrust kick: smacks the buhjeezus out of Eddys who think they're

untouchable when swinging away. 



== PAUL ==

Good Pauls are pretty scary since they will death fist you at just the

right times. They will also falling leaf combo, tile splitter->death fist,

or sweep->dashing elbow at will as well. For those of you not familiar with

the EXTREMELY nasty falling leaf combo, it's a tile splitter, sweep, and

then a dashing elbow (The tile splitter is basically a downward hammer

punch.) Anyhoo; the best strategy against a Paul is this...AVOID GETTING

KNOCKED DOWN. Unfortunately this is what a lot of Pauls will try to do;

especially with the sweep. Sweeping Pauls are basically a pain in the ass

since the sweep 1) is really fast 2) reaches rather far and 3) flows into

the dashing elbow. The other problem with Pauls is that if you wiff

ANYTHING you will take a death fist to the chest. So far the best technique

I've found is to go with the AoP. the death fist just sails right over it

and then you can counterattack. Unfortunately you have to get your opponent

to go for the fist as opposed to the sweep. If you do the AoP too soon or

hang out in it too long they'll sweep and then you're in trouble since

nasty Pauls will tile splitter->death fist as you get up and you're pretty

much done at that point. Basically you have to be pretty flawless against

Pauls since you cannot dish nearly as much damage as they can, all they

need are two or three good hits and you're dead.



== JIN ==

While Pauls do heavy damage; the heavy hitting specials require a lot of

commitment. Jins on the other hand do fairly decent damage but they can

mash buttons all day and not give you a chance to retaliate. However there

are a couple of good chinks in their armor that you can take advantage of.

First are the Hell Sweeps (a jumping spin kick, three low sweeps, and then

a side kick to the stomach). You must learn how to block this since it

tracks flawlessly if you try to dodge it. After blocking the last kick go

for the Raccoon swing->VHK->SF. The SF alone can be blocked after the last

kick and sometimes it will wiff so go for the swing. Thankfully, Jins are

pretty much stand-up fighters; Leis, Pauls and Eddys will mix it up high

and low but Jins will pretty much come at you high and mid except for two

specials; the can-can kick and the three-ring circus. The can-can kick,

AFAIK, has to be blocked low for the first hit and high for the second (at

least this is how Jun's can-can kick worked in TK2). The three-ring circus

is a little easier. While the last kick can either come high or low, block

low since if they go low, you block and everything's cool; if they go high

the kick wiffs over your head and you can punish them.



== LEI ==

Much like Paul, look out for the low hits since Lei only needs a few rave

spins to put you away. You also cannot lie in wait in the AoP for an

extended period of time since Lei will just rave spin you for a loop. But

generally 9 times out of 10 Leis will be doing one of the following:

-Coming at you with a rush of attacks

-"Lei-ing" down

-Going stance happy



If Lei is rushing: AoP out of the way since the rushes AFAIK come high for

most of the hits. Retaliate with the breakdance sweeps, a low 3 poke kick,

or go for the throw.



If Lei is Lei-ing down: A prone Lei is a problem since they can play the

guessing game from that position just like you can from the AoP. The trick

here is to either make them flinch (stick and move just outside of their

sweep range and make them think they can hit you) or if they drop to the

ground right in front of you with their head towards you go for the poke

with the flapping wings (d+1) or the sweep (d+3). If their head is away

from you keep your distance since they can give you a serious kick to head

if you're too close.



If Lei is going for the stances: Learn to recognize which stances are

vulnerable at which levels. Generally you can go low except for the panther

stance which I don't currently have a good way to deal with since I don't

get a lot of stance happy Leis around here.



------------------ Miscellany ------------------



To shave down your finish time against the CPU try this:

knockdown with the SF -> chi charge (1+2+3+4) -> counterhit with the

charged SF when they run at you -> running shoulder charge after the

counterhit

If you can land the SF right at the beginning of the round you have the

ability to finish the round just about as fast as a death fisting Paul ;)



------------------ Questions ------------------



Where to interrupt Yoshi's 10-string BEFORE the last three sword swipes?



Effective strategies for using the circle stance?



Ways to beat a waiting-Jin and ways to beat a button-mashing Jin?





------------------ Things to do ------------------



-Finish up the vs. guides

-Adequately explain dodge usage

-More general strategies

-Detailed moves breakdown



------------------ Credits ------------------



NAMCO.............................for making a fun 3-D fighter



SurfBard..........................four-hit flurry VHK follow-up



Justin Pierce.....................VERY detailed move FAQ which I use as a 

                                  checklist for moves to try and test for 

                                  usefulness

                                  

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+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+

| just another....  |  Dion A. Madrilejo        dmad@umich.edu       |

| USELESS FACT      |  URL:http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dmad       |

+=-=-=-="Stun settings are for people who can't commit"  -JMS=-=-=-=-+