LuciaBot v1.0

Difficulty Advanced

Focus Maneuvering/Frame Data And Setup Defense

LuciaBot, despite her large number of options, is relatively easy to input, but can require some quick button press sequences. Since these are mostly not combined with directional motions and mostly are not hidden inputs, it is easy to tell when things have been input correctly or not. She has only one or two variations and they are also simple. The purpose of the bot is to help you to deal with a character whose 'setups' revolve around her precise spacings relative to you when you are forced to block certain moves, and to teach you to use your character's armor and mobility options to react quickly before she can even complete the 'setup'. Since the bot should also do most of her moves (sometimes too much so, but this can be reduced with Variants), it also helps build familiarity with punishes for when the opposing Lucia player drops the execution, or fails a hit-confirm and overextends into an unsafe special attack or V-Skill. Though the bot's Point Systems are generally based around punishes, players should try to do them and do a lot of damage, but not pressure her after. The timings of her inputs mean that this will result in the greatest amount of variation in her tactics. We consider her an Advanced level bot due to the mindset required to gain from working with her, moreso than the difficulty of getting points. Working with this bot also requires a relatively strong understanding of Frame Data for your own character.

To input this bot requires a general understanding of edge shifting techniques. Depending on which set of Variations you choose, which V-Trigger the bot is optimized for will change and should therefore be another consideration for what inputs you choose to put in. Additionally keep in mind which V-Trigger you feel your character's tool set and own playstyle may have most trouble with when choosing which. Some suggestions are given in the Goals section below. When viewing the videos on this page meant to help you see the inputs, please note that for this bot, the main input is shown and there will be no specific video for the Variants even if we eventually make them, since they are changes in how long a button is held and cannot be seen.

Gauge Settings

As with all bots, 1P Health should be set to "Normal". 1P CA Gauge and 1P V-Gauge should be set according to the player's character preference, aim to use the settings that will help best train the punishes/confirms you are aiming for, or force more awareness, as needed, but in this case we strongly suggest setting both to "Normal".

Settings for 2P are Health - "Auto-Recover", V-Gauge - "Maximum Start", CA Gauge - "Maximum Start".

Goals

Completing each action gives 1 point. Try to get to 10 points without dying.

Points System

Difficulty Levels

Action #1

5LP 5LK 5MP+MK (hold until end) 63236 end recording instantly

Holding the MP+MK until the end is not absolutely required, and technically choosing not to hold it counts as a Variant. If using this Variant, treat Point System D as the 'antiair' form. This input is actually a Target Combo and has related timings for that, so pay close attention when recording it. The final part must be a full 63236 and not a 623 input or she will overuse her invincible reversal move Hurricane Spinner and the player will not get any experience with her Gunsmoke special and its enders (note that this bot generally will not do 'braking' due to the inputs used, but you can try to tap 4 before the 5LK or use 4LK here in order to give her 'Braking' (i.e. stopping the run of Rough Chase rather than doing an attack).

Action #2

(2)3LK+MK (if not using that optional 2 input, make the 3LK+MK FirstFrame) hidden [6LP+LK] 321LP+LK (hold until end, may end up hidden), 1HP+HK 236 end recording instantly

A relatively long and complex input meant to give her a lot of approach options. The HP+HK shouldn't be held until the end because it causes a shift in rhythm due to causing negative edge reactions in more situations than is normally desirable. If for some reason you choose to hold this to create a Variant with a FirstFrame Action #3, your Point System D must be the 'Sliding Attacks' version. Starting with the 2 input is optional as well but creates more chances for her EX Invincible move Hurricane while removing the FirstFrame that helps to vary her sliding attacks sometimes when using other Variants that hold MK to the end.

Action #3

(FirstFrame preferred) 6HP+KKK hidden [9 66] end recording just after peak of jump.

This input is the easiest, the FirstFrame is not even required unless the player wishes to use some variants in other inputs that involve holding the buttons to the end (particularly for Action #5, otherwise it's completely unnecessary).

Action #4

5MP 5HP (should combo or nearly link-combo, not hidden) hidden [5MP+MK (optional hold until end)], 214 end recording instantly

This input is fairly easy and just needs to be edge shifted correctly at the end. It has a Variant-option in which you hold the MP+MK to the end, but this tends to cause a negative edge outcome on her M-Fire Spinner, which may be undesirable for characters who use strong throws and grabs. It can be useful against characters who use a lot of 2MK and other high-profile-able lows in their footsies.

Action #5

1MK, 1HP+HK, 236 end recording instantly.

A simple input with a relatively strict timing. Both the 1MK and the 1HP+HK must be visible, but need to be timed so that there is early no lag between them. This recording is easier to do and judge correctly with no V-Gauge available, as it also cannot be mashed in any way, making the final edge-shift feel difficult and strict as well.



In-Depth

LuciaBot is currently thought of as the newest 'end boss' of all the other bots once you have mastered their lessons, replacing the previous holder of that title, Chun-LiBot, who was far more difficult to enter than LuciaBot and is therefore one of the recommended bots for more advanced players to spend their fight money on. Players who want to get the most out of LuciaBot should therefore, at the bare minimum, be able to beat BirdieBot, RashidBot, and SagatBot consistently at Normal difficulty. The reason being that much like Chun-LiBot, who we also recommend you train with before LuciaBot if you can input it, is that you need your brain to be able to keep of the various frames and motions of her relatively quick or subtle looking moves while still being able to maintain your focus on multiple situations with similar but slightly variable responses.

The advanced use for this bot is much like the one for KageBot, and as such shares the same basic framework. Like KageBot, her point system doesn't really seem that challenging at first, especially if you are focused on only one thing. Like many of our other bots however, being able to keep track of the things the point system is asking for without ignoring the things that it is not asking for, and being able to keep track of multiple things at once (including counting the points) is what makes this difficult. Like KageBot, however, she takes this concept to the next level by requiring multiple variations of punishes and responses in different situations. The main example of this is her various firecracker kicks from close and her V-Skill, which may look similar to some of her other normals and specials that have different start up or may be safer on block. These moves may require somewhat similar punishes or responses at close range, yet depending on meter or distance, the ending of the response can change significantly depending on your character. She also requires you to keep an eye out for different approaches at the same time, such as jumping or running straigh at you, only to decide on a Firecracker kick or a throw at the last moment. Between the subtle variations in required responses and the varied approaches, she can become very mentally taxing as you try to optimize your responses.

While, like KageBot, the start up for some of her moves can be quite long, they tend to have less obvious tells than KageBot's and tend to require faster responses. However the true reason why Lucia is the 'end boss' is due to something far more than just the mindsets and different things to keep track of. All of our Advanced level bots have difficult mindsets or reactions, or require you to have higher awareness or better move recognition than most beginners can manage, but LuciaBot not only requires all of these things, but also requires you to keep up with her far more than any other bot except maybe Chun-LiBot and KarinBot. She also requires more defensive reactions, much like our other Advanced bots, which in turn require far more twichy muscle memory. Getting the Anti-Air and the Throw Tech while still maintaining all the other mindsets noted as well as constantly reacting and adjusting to her various moves can make LuciaBot exhausting, especially for less experienced players.

So what other uses does LuciaBot have? The first extra use she has is increasing your ability to keep up with and follow an opponent's various moves and quick changes in thinking. This is mostly achieved through training your stamina and constantly forcing yourself to keep your own actions and responses as close to optimal as possible. Additionally, holding back on following up with pressure after a punish can help instill the habit of observing your opponents movements before reacting to the beginning of their motions. Training poorly with this bot would involve allowing yourself to constantly pressure Lucia and letting your autopilot to take over. Out of all our bots, LuciaBot is the one where you simply cannot allow yourself to autopilot for very long, if at all, due to the amount of things you need to keep track of and respond to on the fly. If you let autopilot take over, you may find yourself getting dash thrown or knocked down by her slide.

The second extra use LuciaBot has is helping you train your trickier anti-airs and air-to-air responses to her jump. Since her jump is so well hidden and she has so many other ways to draw your focus away from the fact that she can hurt you with it, you may find yourself initially distracted by her heavy ground game. Additionally her various attacks that send her into the air may make you less guarded when she leaves the ground. Her point system means that the more grounded points are easier to earn if you let her stay close to you as well. If you start allowing yourself to focus on the air game, you may find that her jump is exceedingly hard to punish if you let her get close, due to her very precise ground game spacings and LuciaBot's ability to constantly readjust her spacing to something better for her. However, it is not impossible to deal with! Especially if you have experience with other bots like AkumaBot or KageBot, you may find yourself gradually learning her air timing. To get the most out of this secondary use, try experimenting with your more difficult punishes for aerial opponents and try to vary your response according to what button she hits in the air (or if she ends up delaying it for too long to be relevant). It is very important to this secondary use to make sure you aren't just reacting to the jump itself and are instead finding your characters preferred timing for making the decision for your aerial punish and reacting based on the information you have at that time. This can be quite difficult to do if you lack a lot of the training from our other bots, so it is highly recommended you complete all other aerial opponent training before using her for this secondary use.