Garou: Mark of the Wolves Thread - Everything you need to know

[Nocturnal]

Welcome to the Garou Mark of the Wolves thread. Here you will find everything you need to know about the Garou Mark of the Wolves game engine. If there is anything here that you don't understand don't be afraid to ask questions. Also this post will be updated if there are any changes or fixes. Enjoy.

Garou MOTW is out for Xbox live (6/24/09), the netcode is pretty bad, GGPO is still better. Port is similar to PS2
version with the same exact training mode. The "Guard Cancel" letters now show up so it's a fixed PS2 port. The Xbox 360 is the best port out now but PS2 version is still good for tournaments. Both versions run at a faster frame rate than the original arcade version.

***All character combos, strats, etc. on the second post***
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So to start things of here is a quick write up I did for the game engine. It should give you guys a good idea of how the game engine works in detail. This guide is good for the MVS/AES, DC, PS2 and Xbox 360 versions of Garou MOTW:

Taunt - AES/MVS (arcade) versions you press start to taunt your opponent. PS2 version you use the select button. Xbox 360 version you use the back button to taunt. You can also add a taunt button if you have more than four buttons on the PS2/360 versions of the game. You can cancel out of taunts during the taunt animations. Also right when you win a round after the KO you can do special hidden taunts by hitting either  bck+ start or fwd + start on the AES/MVS versions. (On the PS2 it's bck + select button or fwd + select button, 360 version is bck + back button or fwd + back button)

Small jump - tap ub/up/uf.
Your character jumps about half the amount of a normal jump which can help you when you want to throw an opponent off. Since small jumps tend to be a bit more difficult to counter from the amount of jump height. Use small jumps to throw off opponents that think you'll attack low as you jump in, to land a overhead attack opening. Also remember that you cannot Just Defend when you small jump so make sure you use it wisely.

Normal Jump - press and hold ub/up/uf.
You can't air block in Garou MOTW but you can JD while you are in a normal jump state. You si,ple press ub/b/db just as you are about to get hit so you can JD their attack.

Super Jump (SJ) - dwn, then quickly hit ub/up/uf (Only for Dong and Jenet). Cannot JD during SJ animation.

Foward Dash or Run - tap fwd, fwd.
Here is a list of character that can run only: Rock, Hoku, Dong, Terry, Gato, Hotaru

and characters that can dash only: Grant, Kain, Jae, Freeman, Kevin, Jenet, Butt/Marco, Tizoc/The Griffon

Characters that dash usually have better mixup options since dashes are faster than runs. So for feint cancels or breaks this can be helpfull for a lot of situations where your opponent is cornered.

Back dash - tap bck, bck.
Everyone can back dash in Garou. It has invicibility during the back dash so you can go through normal, special or super attacks. It does have a small period of recovery at the end of it. So use it wisely and don't do it at the wrong times cause you might get hit as you finish the back dash animation. Certain characters can cancel out of their backdash animations as well. Here is a list of which characters can cancel their backdashes:

Jenet - During the backdash animation cancel into  dwn + B/D (Might need to double tap down at times for it to come out more consistant)
Hoku - During backdash animation cancel into either  qcf + A/C or  qcb + B/D
Kain - During backdash you can cancel into his charge dwn, up + B/D, TOP attack (C+D), all supers. His backdash cancels require real fast strict timing. As soon as you backdash with him you have to cancel within 2 frames of the backdash start up animation.

Throws - Throw by pressing either f/b + C/D up close or in the air with C (Gato and Tizoc/The Griffon are the only two with D throws, also Jenet, Hoku, Hotaru and Dong only have air throws in the game with jump C).
You can tech out of throws by pressing the C/D button. You can air grab when you small jump, regular jump or even super jump as well. You cannot tech out of command grabs or air grabs. There is also a bug in MOTW that allows you to escape any throw. Whenever you input a TOP attack/Super during the recovery of one of your specials/supers, you won't be able to get thrown. It's a strange bug but it works pretty easy. This video shows it in application: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gRoJcRI-Jc&p=6B41D61AD830D624

Roll Recovery - When you land on the ground on your back/stomach press A, B, C or D.
Depending on which button you press executes the direction you will roll towards. Use them to recover quicker than just the normal get up recovery. Helps you out by preventing possible crossups or jump in attacks from the opponent as you get up. Though be carefull which ones you use as it's possible for an opponent to use the roll recovery to his advantage as well. Here is a list of what each button does, as you hit the ground press:

A - for a forward small roll recovery
B - for a backward small roll recovery
C - for a forward big roll recovery
D - for a backward big roll recovery

Guard Crush - You can get guard crushed if you block for too long your character starts flashing red when you get near guard crush. When you get a guard crush the words guard crush appear on the screen in red letters. You will see a blue spark different from the Just Defend blue spark, that shows your guard crushed. When you get guard crushed your left wide open as your character leans back for a second with his arms up. During that time your open for any attacks and you cannot block during that animation.

Feint moves -  fwd + A + C  or dwn + A + C (Any character).
Everyone in Garou has feint moves, they are used to trick your opponent into thinking your going to do a special or super attack. Both feint commands do different feint animations for each character. Try everyones out and also depending on which feint you do one is usually quicker than the other.

Feint cancels (FC) - fwd + A + C  or dwn + A + C after a standing/crouch A, B, C and D.
Everyone except Grant can feint cancel, though not all normals can be feint cancelled. Some character can feint cancel all their normals while others can only feint cancel some. It usually depends also on how far or close you are to your opponent. Feint cancels are very helpfull since they allow you to cancel out of normals that usually have long recovery time. Such as standing fierce attacks, since they usually have a lot of recovery time behind them. Also with feint cancels you can do combos that you can't do normally at times. Such as for example with Terry do stand C, then fwd + A + C for his feint move, then cancel to another stand  C or down + C, fwd + A + C feint cancel, etc. Experiment with each character what can or can't be feint cancelled on hit. Also if certain normals that you do on hit don't feint cancel they usually can on block. It's kinda strange bit can help out certain characters from their recovery times. Same goes for normals that are blocked which can also cancel into specials/supers as well. List showing which characters tend to use feint cancels more often:

http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index74.html#post5087718

Feint cancel loop explanations and video:

http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index75.html#post5140546

Power Meter - Your power meter can charge up to two times to be fully charged. When you have one bar of super meter its called S. power (Super) and if you have two bars then its P. power (Potential). P. power super moves do more damage then the normal S. power supers. You can only build meter either hitting the opponent with normals or if they block your normals or hitting them with specials or whiffing specials as well.

Just Defend (JD) - On the ground press bck for high/mid attack, db for low and bck while mid air from a normal/super jump. JD's occur when you defend a move at the last second. You cannot JD when you small jump. The words "Just Defend" should appear on the screen with yellow letters if you did it correctly. You should also see a blue spark which also indicates that you JDed a move correctly. This is one of the most important features in Garou, since this can decide the outcome of a match. Everytime you JD you gain back some life, which is why JD can really change the flow of a match. You can JD just about everything besides certain command grabs, grab supers and normal throws of course. Also remember you can't air guard in Garou but you can JD in the air as well. Learn the timings on certain moves as some require certain timings, to be JDed correctly. Also if lets say you JD in the air a normal attack/special or even super attack, you can counter right back after a JD. Since it counts as being neutral in the air, so you can do a normal attack, special attacks and it is even possible to air grab. They have to be close enough to you in order to air grab them, you can also continue to JD if they decide to lets say dash and try another normal on the ground before you land. So you can see that Just Defend is a
pretty important thing you use correctly in this game, use it wisely as well.

[Nocturnal]

Guard Cancel (GC) - As you JD do a motion for a special or super move to GC out of a JD stance. You'll notice how when you JD your character goes into a stance. It almost looks like hes ready to attack right after the stance which is where GC's come in.This can be a bit tricky but there are shortcuts to doing them with no problem. Easiest way to learn them is try GCing out of fireballs at first. If you do it right you should see the "Guard Cancel" words appear in red letters on the screen (PS2 version does not have this for some dumb reason). GC's help out in certain situations where you cannot counter certain moves. Once you learn GC's you can change a match around very quickly, if you catch opponents off guard. Especially agains't fireball happy opponents you can Guard Cancel back at them with your own fireball, special or super.

There are 2 methods for doing GC's:

1. Right when you JD do the motion for a special or super quickly. Theres a small window for doing the GC usually the window ends after the blue spark animation is done.

2. Since the Garou engine stores motions for specials, supers and charges, it helps make GC's easier. For
example with Rock if you do his fireball motion qcf then wait about a second or walk forward than hit A/C. The fireball still comes out because the motion stays stored for a short amount of time, with that you can use it for GC shortcuts. Think of it as an option select, before JDing do the motion for a fireball qcf. Then hit bck to JD right after that motion, then all you do next is hit any punch button A/C. This makes the fireball special come out as a GCed move, so you see why this shortcut helps out. Same can be done with super moves as well, do the motion qcfX2/qcfx3/360/720/etc, then press bck to JD. Then hit whatever button it needs to activate the super move to GC it. Once you learn this method of doing GC's it becomes easier doing them consistant. These links explains more about advanced motion storing:

http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index44.html#post3541389
http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index45.html#post3546034

Break Moves (A special cancel like FRC's in Guilty Gear), here is the list of all the break moves for each character:

charge dwn, up + B/D - Jae
charge dwn, up + B/D and charge bck, fwd + D before he shoots forward - Kain
dp +B/D - Terry and Gato
dp + A/C - Dong, Butt/Marco and Grant
qcb + B/D- Hotaru
hcf + B/D (Only when it grabs) - Freeman
360 + C (Only when it grabs, can hold down A +B  to do follow up charge attack) - Rock
qcf + B/D and qcfx2 + A/C (Can break at any time as soon as he starts throwing his ninja stars) - Hokutomaru
qcf + B/D - Jenet and Kevin
rdp + C and qcb + D - Tizoc/The Griffon

There are set special moves and supers in Garou for everyone that can be breaked out of by pressing A + B. Breaks help out in a lot of ways to either continue a combo or to prevent yourself from getting counter attacked. You can only break your break move once in a combo unless you get a counter hit. When you hit them with a break move and it counter hits them ,you can do another break with the same move. Though Jenet can break two of her specials in one combo, but the second break doesn't give you enough time to follow up after it. If you break correctly you can prevent the recovery time of the break move so your not wide open for your opponent to counter attack. You can break moves if they make contact, whiff and even if they are blocked. Once you learn the timings for breaks you can then master to combo into them with no sweat. Also breaks are good at times for gaining super meter as well, so its good to learn which break moves to use for gaining meter safely.

T.O.P System - T.O.P. stands for Tactical Offensive Position, you get to choose it right after the character select screen. Your life bar will appear with a white line and you get to choose from 3 different default positions, by pressing bck or fwd. On the AES, DC and PS2 versions you can shrink your TOP bar even smaller then the default postion by moving up or dwn. So you can have the TOP come up early in the round if you put it on the start of your life bar. You can also have it on the middle or even at the close end of the match as well. Depending on how you want your TOP set is how you should set it, everyone has their own preference. When you reach your TOP line on your life bar the words " TOP IN!" appear in yellow on the screen. Your character begins to flash as your in TOP mode. When your in TOP your attacks get stronger, you gain a TOP attack (press C + D to do your TOP attack for everyone in Garou) and you gain life also. Depending on how low your TOP line becomes is how much more damage your moves deal. The smaller the TOP line the more
damage it does agains't the opponent. Everyone in Garou has different TOP attacks some can be comboed into while others you can't really combo into at all. The majority of them though are usefull in their own ways, learn to use them wisely in certain situations. You can also GC into a TOP mode attack, which is very easy to GC into. You recover some life in TOP mode when your not being attacked by the opponent. It only gains back the full amount of TOP line that you picked from where it starts. A bit more info on TOP mode here:

http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index57.html#post4495330

Low Dodge Attack - Press A +B (Any character).
When you do a low dodge attack your character gains lower body invicibilty, so if an opponent tries to trip you it wont hit you. Though everyones low dodge attacks are different in Garou some are more usefull than others. Learn when to use them at the right times when playin agaisn't trip happy oppoents. The window for invicibility last until the low dodge attack animation ends. Some stay on the ground and some come off the ground as well. Also can be used as an overhead attack for some of the characters, since some of them come off the ground. So its great for mind games in certain situations like in the corner. Gato and Rock are the only characters who dont come off the ground with their A + B move.

High Dodge Attack - hit  down + A + B (Any character).
When your do a high dodge attack your character gains upper body invicibility, great tool to use as a anti air attack. Since you gain the advantage agains't jump in attacks but make sure you time it right. If not you might end up trading hits if done too early or not doing the high dodge move at all. Again learn to use it wisely in a match so you can gain the advantage and maybe even land a counter hit. Also with the high dodge attack you can faint cancel it when it hits the opponent as well. You cannot faint cancel the high dodge attack when they block it though.

High/Low Dodge Attack Cancel - hit a stand/dwn + A + B  then do a special move to cancel out of its starting animation. A lot like Kara Cancels in Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike you can cancel certian high/low dodge attacks with every character. Some are more usefull than others and some are easier to cancel out than other characters. Great tool to use when you want to throw off your opponent, especially in wake up situations.

http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index27.html#post3114245

Here is a list of characters that can cancel their  A + B overheards while in the air:

A + B cancel into qcf + A - Tizoc
A + B cancel into qcb + B/D - Hotaru
A + B cancel into dwn + B/D - Jenet and Grant
A + B cancel into qcf + A/C or qcb + B/D - Hokutomaru
A + B cancel into any of his specials/supers - Rock (His doesn't come off the ground but he uses it the most effective. Mainly because it opens up so many options for him during wake up situations.)

Kara Cancels - Japanese term that means "empty cancel".
In other words when you can cancel out of normal attack into a special move, before seeing the normal attack animationfully finish. Mainly used to gain some extra range on certain special/super attacks. Each normal attack for each character has different timings for the kara cancels. Use them again to throw off opponents in mind game situations.

[Nocturnal]

Counter Hits - In Garou there are 2 different types of counter hits that are possible to occur in a match. Both can help you out in either landing a free super or getting extra hits for more damage.

The first kind of counter hit is an official counter hit, when you see "Counter Hit" appear on the screen in red letters. Depending on what attack you use is usually what causes a character to fly u/flip around on the ground from a counter hit. It can happen from either normal/special/super moves and they usually all give you an opening for another extra hit. It depends on how they hit the character on the ground/air. Air counter hits or a move that makes them go up from a counter hit lets you get a free extra juggle/hit from it. So if lets say Terry does his dp + B/D then breaks it and lands a counter hit. Then he can go ahead and do another dp + B/D into break again then use a special/TOP attack/super afterward. You gain an extra break everytime after a counter hit so use it as much as possible if you can. You can see that with this type of counter hit other combo possibilities are possible. Another thing with official counter hits is that if the opponent lands on their stomach. You can roll recover from a counter hit attack when you land on your back/stomach. But if the opponent doesn't roll recover from a counter hit then you can hit them while they are laying on the ground. Think of it like a OTG (off the ground) hit, though you only get one extra hit from it. Something to know incase you don't see them roll recovery off the counter hit, so you can land an extra hit. I'll get more into these type
of counter hit combos in the character threads as they progress. Then theres the ground counter hit that flips them around as they get a counter hit. With these type you can walk up and start a free combo, super them, etc. When they flip around they stay stun the whole time they are in that animation. So once you see that happen it's your chance to punish them during/right after it.

The second type of counter hit is the type that doesn't show on the screen but allows you to connect a special/super only after it. This type usually happens when you trade hits most of the time, when doing two specials/supers at the same moment. So if you ever see a situation where you both do a special but you recover faster while your opponent still falls. Then you can quickly follow it up a special or better yet a super before they land on the ground.

Motion Storing Technique - There's a technique in MOTW where you can store motions without having specials/supers triggering. For example with Freeman lets say you want to cancel his stand A into his qcf x2 + P super. The problem with doing it normally is that Freeman has a qcf + A/C special which tends to overlap the super a lot of the time. It's possible to do it from a neutral stand  but timing has to be fast. The best way would be to instead do qcf + A + D, then qcf + A/C. What happens instead is you still get the stand A when you do qcf + A + D. When you press any buttons with D the game doesn't let you trigger any specials/supers. Instead the game stores the motion and has whatever you button you press with D come out instead. So with Freeman qcf + A + D will only give you stand A and not a qcf + A/C special. You keep the motion stored so you can quickly just do another qcf + A and his qcfx2 + A/C super will come out. Since you stored the extra qcf the game only needs you to do qcf + A for the super to activate. This also helps when doing more complex combos like trying to combo into qcf x3 + C  with Dong/Marco. You can also use it for simple combos if you are having problems trying to do even basic combos.

Throw bug - There is a bug in MOTW where it allows you to be throw invincible for a certain amount of frames. The only way you can do it though is if you have at least 1 super bar or if you are in TOP mode. This video explains it a bit
more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gRoJcRI-Jc

Here are the codes to pick Grant and Kain in the arcade MVS version of Garou MOTW, you can do them fast or slow but there is a timer:

-For Grant go to Dong, hold down start, tap upx2, dwnx2, up, dwn. Grant should appear if you did the code correctly, then just press A, B, C or D to pick his color.

-For Kain go to Jae, hold down start, tap dwnx2, upx2, dwn, up. Kain should appear if you did the code correctly, then just press A, B, C o rD to pick his color.

In order to do survival mode in the MVS arcade version of the game you have to press and hold A +B + C + D before hitting start. It should take you directly into survival mode after you pick your character.

Here is most of the characters frame data info:

http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index4.html#post1972855

Tier lists:

http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index12.html#post2705417
http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index40.html#post3423826

Console port differences:

http://shoryuken.com/f2/fighting-game-console-port-differences-thread-139385/index2.html#post4324981
http://shoryuken.com/f4/garou-motw-thread-52470/index76.html#post5182703

Character Hitboxes:

http://uo-mabushi.jp/ (Not 100% complete yet and it's all in japanese also)

0F (Zero Frame) unblockable setups, escapes, counters and option selects:

http://shoryuken.com/f2/get-ready-survive-new-garou-mark-wolves-thread-157635/index75.html#post8791818

This covers just about everything you should know about Garou: MOTW engine before learning the character you want to master. If anyone has any questions don't be afraid to ask here. Check the next post after this where I post character specific topics next. I hope this helps everyone out in the long run, so enjoy and have fun.

[LouisCipher]

I'm gonna' ask a legit question and hope I don't get flamed. Because if I bring it up anywhere else, I just get flamed for saying it.

I dig this game, I've put it in my Top 10 Fighters list. I can accept the infinites that Jenet and Kevin have. Terry also has an infinite, but it's easier to get out of then the others. I think it's a good game.

I like and respect this game. But there's one thing that absolutely kills it for me. And that is poke priority.  KOF has something similar, but not in KOF does every poke beat every special move like in Garou.

I'm just sharing my opinion here, not hating on the game. I just don't like this mechanic. And I'd like to know what others think of this mechanic, and how they get around it.

[Emil_kof]

I like and respect this game. But there's one thing that absolutely kills it for me. And that is poke priority.  KOF has something similar, but not in KOF does every poke beat every special move like in Garou.

I'm just sharing my opinion here, not hating on the game. I just don't like this mechanic. And I'd like to know what others think of this mechanic, and how they get around it.

You have to consider move startups frames and invincibilities. If a special move has some startup and someone's poke has already come out, the special move will probably lose unless it had some startup invincibility.

[Running Wild]

I can accept the infinites that Jenet and Kevin have. Terry also has an infinite, but it's easier to get out of then the others. I think it's a good game.

I never knew they had infinites, I know Kevin has a few variations of a 100% combo, while Jae Hoon and Hokutomaru both can do an infinite with consecutive feint canceling.

Got any links to vids of the infinites you mentioned?

[Nocturnal]

He's probably talking about Jenet's FC loop which is similar to Jae's and Hoku's. Chances of someone pulling off a full loop in a match is very unlikely. The timing has to be perfect. You also have to consider the chance of dropping the combo is very high. It's better to just go for a knockdown into wake up mixup. Kevin doesn't have an infinites but he does have situational 100% combos which you will never see in high level play. Terry does not have an infinite period. His FC loops can only go for so long before you get pushed back too far. As for pokes go, it's similar to any other game really. Emil pretty much already explained it. You have to consider the frames the normals come out at versus the special/super being used. Not all specials/supers have invincibility on start up. It's all trial and error and once you figure out what beats what then you'll know not to use those things in certain situations.   

[LouisCipher]

I'm not trying to be argumentative for the sake of being argumentative, but to me an Infinite is a string of attacks that cannot be escape from. Unless I'm totally wrong, but that to me is an infinite. Kevin, Jenet, and Terry can get you in an infinite when you block, they can basically just keep attacking you. Nocturnal's correct in that Terry does not have an infinite like Kevin and Jenet, he will eventually be pushed away, but the time it takes that to happen he will break your guard and do whatever he wants to you.

I'm trying to think of a rape joke involving 'Busta wolf!' but nothing comes to mind.

It's possible to escape from these infinites by hitting Down+AB at the correct time. However, players that know this can bait you to do the Down+AB, and then mercilessly beat you down for that.

The only thing you can do to really avoid it is not get pushed in the corner, which doesn't help much of course.

The thing with the pokes is that it comes down to certain characters being at a disadvantage simply because their specials don't have much invincibility.

Take Gato for example: Only his Quaking Fang (QCF+Punch) can't be poked out. Everything else he has can be poked out. I know he places high in the tiers but that's only if you're good at mastering Cancelling the Gale Fang (QCB+Kick) and you can do craploads of damage with that one setup. However the timing has to be perfect, it works infinitely better on counter hit, and you can still be poked out of it.

So it comes down to characters with invincible AA's can do better than everyone else just because they can't be poked out.

[Remxi]

Hmm can't you JD GC to get out?

[Giby]

Remxi, you can JD/GC to get out of Terr's guard crush loop when he does his ff+C. You can also throw him, poke him out of it, or d+AB. There are several other options, but these are the most commonly used.

LouisCipher you really need to re-word some things you're talking about. I read your post thinking you were saying "d+AB will get your out of infinites if timed correctly" making it sound as if thre are combo breakers in the game. Gato's qcf+P can be poked out of, it has happened to me plenty of times. Everything can be poked out of if you time it right, this applies to many other fighters, not just Garou.

As for legit infinites, only four characters have them: Jae, Hoku, Freeman, and Jenet. All of them involve the feint cancel loop except Jenet's dive kick infinite, which, imo, is much harder to pull off than the feint cancel one.

[Mazinkaiser]

Garou for the win, this walkthrough is really impressive nocturnal, thx laster i digg it.

[Nocturnal]

I need to edit the first few post now that arrows and buttons icons are active. I wouldn't really count Jenet's dive kick loop as an infinite. It's pretty much impossible to loop it forever because they fall lower each rep you do.

[MUSOLINI]

couple things.

first the infinites: jae, hoku, feeman and jenet. first of jenets, her air dive infinite. doesnt the opponent get too low after a while, so meaning its not a true infinite? and isnt dong hwan able to infinite? ive seen somebody do the same infinite jae did killing somebody. but the opponent didnt have full health so it might push him back too far back. dont know fr sure (ooh boy, been years since ive played this game).

last thing id like to note. i remember it wasnt possible to combo on after low jumps like in kof. you could use a super, or even a special (dont remember, super is correct though). but you couldnt continue comboing with normals after a low jump in connecting (which i always found fucked up in this game).

las thing id like to add. i dont know what i miss more. not having a motw2 or rb3. damn.

[Karate chop]

isnt jenets infinite a feint dash cancel loop too? Im pretty sure ive seen it in a combo vid

[Nocturnal]

The Jenet dive kick loop is not an infinite loop. They do get too low after a few reps but good luck trying to do more than 2 reps. Dong does have a feint combo loop but again it's really hard since he has to run in. Jenet does have one as well but she doesn't really need it to win. You can combo from low jumps. It's just that they have to be done meaty for you to be able combo into afterwards. It also depends on the character you are using. Certain supers require you to be close and doing a small jump tends to push you back some. So you might end up whiffing a super completely just doing a small jump attack into super with some. So it benefits characters with fast specials that they can break or fast supers like Rock's qcfx2 + B/D for instance.