The Last Blade 2/Hibiki Takane

Overview

Hibiki in general is the type of character who uses her long reaching normals to control space, if you've played Samurai Shodown she is basically a female Ukyo Tachibana, and her B buttons are also great in this game. No matter the mode you choose. She's very strong in both Power and Speed/EX modes, Power being more focused on space control, neutral and punishes, while Speed is more focused on rushdown and pressure.

Style	Strengths	Weaknesses
Power	Outstanding neutral, punishes deals about 1/4 health sometimes. Neutral/Defensive gameplay.	Has to commit to reads against certain MUs, which can be dangerous. Optimized combos can be somewhat hard to do, requiring hard links.
Speed	Good, intuitive combos and damage. Offensive gameplay, great mixups.	You have some trouble getting in, you'll need reads. You're very negative on your normals, so you'll get punished often, if you don't cancel properly
EX	Same as speed	Getting punished is even worse, as you take more damage You can't 623B into 236A/B or 41236C The extra damage is minimal

Strategy

Hibiki's best way of dealing damage is by zoning out her opponents, but in Speed and EX modes she works aggressively as well. If you're going to play with her in power, learn how to use your B normals, especially 6B and 5B on power her 2B is pretty bad, but it can be cancelled on block in case you make a mistake. And your A normals, for pokes and confirms. 5B is going to be your best friend, it's a 3f anti-air (Takes 9f to get to the ground) and cancels into everything, it's simply good. Your bnb in power are going to be these two:

(j.X) 5B 236A/B
(j.X) 4A 4A 5A 236A/B

The difference from one another is that the second option deals a little more damage. The optimized version is, however

(j.X) 5B 623B (changes sides) dash 3B

Doing 663BCD is going to help a lot doing this link consistently

If you're going to play in speed, they won't be as necessary as your main focus of damage will be your combos with A starters, for example,

4A 5AA/{5A2A} 5B 236A/B
4A 5AA/{5A2A} 2B BC 236A/B 

Which is your bnb in that mode.

Normals

Standing

5A Standing poke	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 13/1 S 11/0 4 4 24 Any P -5/-7 S -5/-20 P 6/3 S 2/1 M P ○/○ S ○/○ Air Hibiki does a quick poke

4A Punch!	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 13/1 S 11/0 4 2 11 Any P +10/-5 S +10/5 P 6/3 S 2/1 M P ○/○ S ○/○ Air Hibiki punches you and gets a free combo because of the outstanding framedata

5B Your best move

Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 30/3 S 16/0 3 4 --- Any P -2/-10 S -2/-22 P 8/4 S 3/1 M P ○/○ S ○/○ Air P 30/3 S 16/0 2 (9 in total) 2 --- Any P +4/-10 S +4/-16 P 8/4 S 3/1 M P ○/○ S ○/○ Air P 30/3 S 16/0 -- (11 in total) 2 21 Any P +6/-10 S +6/-14 P 8/4 S 3/1 M P ○/○ S ○/○ Air Hibiki slashes in a circular motion, her best move. For startup and active frames, It's 3f>air boxes (4f)> 2f>Ground boxes(2f, 2f)>Recovery. Hits once. 2nd hit 3rd hit

6B Bye life	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 50/6 S 23/0 13 4 41 Any P -5/-13 S -5/-25 P 12/6 S 4/2 M P ×/△ S ×/× Air Hibiki slashes forward. The △ indicates that you can cancel it with BC

5C Don't use this

Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 13/1 S 11/0 9 2 19 Any P +2/-13 S +2/-13 P 6/3 S 3/1 M P ○/○ S ○/○ None Hibiki does a low kick. It's shit. Takes forever to come out, deals less damage than 3B and has less range, but it’s generally safer to use as an otg (3b can be punished on a neutral wake up for a lot of the cast) 3B can give you better oki (depending on how they wake up) and more damage Hits OTG.

6C Not as good as it looks.	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 19/2 S 16/0 9 4 39 Any P --/-34 S --/-34 P 6/3 S 3/1 M P ○/○ S ×/× Air Hibiki hits you with the end of her scabbard. Knocks down.

3B Ouch

Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 21/-- S 21/-- 5 2 44 Low P --/-- S --/-- P 2/-- S 1/-- --- P ×/× S ×/× None Hibiki slashes downwards. Hits OTG, Do it with 3BCD so you don't have to dash before it, or if you have to, you don't have to stop and potentially miss it on that case, 663BCD (easier on a stick). Be careful when deciding to use this to otg. Many characters can punish it if they get up normally and are close to you, especially when cornered. It’s not as bad as Setsuna’s 3B in this regard but in many cases it may be better to use 5C as an otg attack for safety.

Dashing normals

Check System if you can't get this to come out

Dashing High You thought it was 6B but it was ME	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 26/3 S 19/0 7 2 21 Any P -9/-10 S -9/-10 P 8/4 S 3/1 M P ○/○ S ○/○ Air Hibiki does a high slash that looks like 6B

Dashing Low Knockdown	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 26/3 S 19/0 7 2 44 Any P -/-37 S -/-37 P 8/4 S 3/1 L P ×/× S ×/× None Hibiki dashes and knocks you down. Useful? No

Speed Chain

A>A "If you did an optimal combo you'd have won"	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech 8/0 3 2 27 Low -6/-21 2/1 Mid ○/○ Air Hibiki hits you with her A button again. Just cancel into a B button.

C of A>B>C Isn't that 623C?	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech 28/0 12 4 22 Any -/-20 4/2 Mid ×/× All Hibiki hits with her scabbard. For some weird reason you can also airblock it (?????) You can and should dash 3B if you ever do this.

Crouching

2A Poke that leads nowhere	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 13/1 S 11/0 3 4 16 Any P +3/-7 S +3/-12 P 6/3 S 3/1 L P ×/○ S ○/○ Air Hibiki does a crouching poke. Great to interrupt pressure and make some weird hibiki things mixups, very quick

2B Don't. Use. In. Power.

Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 28/3 S 23/0 5 2 67 Any P -14/-10 S -14/-34 P 8/4 S 4/2 L P ×/○ S ○/○ Air Hibiki does a crouching swing, leaving you with worse framedata on hit than on block. Just, Don't. There is only one small reason to use it and it's to anti air, even then, 5B, 6B and 41236C do a way better job on that. On Speed it's actually very useful poke since it's cancelable unlike in Power, it's faster than 5B and cancels nicely into 236A/B to secure advantage.

2C Watch me as I style

Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 13/1 S 11/0 5 2 14 Any P +7/-8 S +7/-8 P 6/3 S 3/1 L P ○/○ S ○/○ Air Hibiki does a low kick. Deceptively good move, will often catch opponents and is good to mix them up after a j.B, learning to confirm this into DM will take most people by surprise and has a good window to confirm, unlike 4A/5A which have to be done immediately. Learning 4A, 2C and 2C, 4A links are a must, as they make 4A/2Cx3 way easier, mostly because it's a move slow enough you can react to it if you're paying attention. Comes out quick enough people almost never switchguard it as well

3C Get down.	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 24/3 S 19/0 13 4 24 Any P --/-19 S --/-19 P 8/4 S 3/1 L P ○/○ S ○/○ None Hibiki swings her scabbard, tripping you down.

Air

j.A Look mom I'm playing neutral	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 13/1 S 11/0 5 2 --- Any P --/-- S --/-- P 6/3 S 3/1 H P ×/× S ×/× Air Hibiki puts her sword forward, good hitbox and neutral tool.

j.B Get in the blender!	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 26/3 S 13/0 7 2 --- Any P --/-- S --/-- P 8/4 S 3/1 H P ×/× S ×/× Air Your best combo starter and very good move too. Tied with Zantetsu j.B as best crossup in game.

j.C Just who uses this	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 13/1 S 11/0 8 3 --- Any P --/-- S --/-- P 6/3 S 3/1 H P ×/× S ×/× Air Use this when memeing.

Universal Mechanics

Throw C+D EEEY!

Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P28/-- S22/-- 33 -- -- Any P --/-- S --/-- P 2/-- S 1/-- -- P --/-- S --/-- -- Throw. You can always do a 3b after it, dealing 49 (Power) or 43 (Speed) points of damage. If you throw them into a corner and do 3B every character can punish you for it if they wake up neutral, anywhere else is character specific so keep that in mind. Still pretty useful as throws are good, if it whiffs, you'll listen a gasp. You can hold any direction while doing it 2nd part

5B+C Power Version Speed/EX Version	Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech Power 61/-- 45~65 2 44 Any --/-- 12/-- --- ×/× None Hibiki charges and attack, unblockable. You can hold it for a while. Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech Speed/EX 19/0 22 3 23 Any --/-20 3/1 H ×/× Ground, Air Hibiki slashes upwards, overhead. Can combo after it.

Special Moves

Distance Slash 236A/B A version B version

Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech A P 28/3 S 23/2 5 2 62 Any -7/-27 P 2/8/4 S 1/4/2 M ×/× Air Forward slash that hits mid and deals good damage. Do it on round start to catch aggressive opponents, the only way they can escape is by dashing backwards, so you'll be safe. Click on show hitboxes to see the startup boxes 1st part Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech B P 24/3 S 21/2 5 2 72 Low --/-40 P 2/8/4 S 1/3/1 L ×/× Air Low slash that hits low (wau) and deals reasonable damage. Do it on round start as well, or as combo ender. You'll only reset neutral because you can't OTG after this, you can try to make an okizeme, but it'll most likely not happen. Click on show hitboxes to see the startup boxes 1st part

Beckoning Slash 623B HAKKEN!	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech - - - - - - - - P △/× S ○/× - This bad boy hits differently with the time it has been held for some weird reason. On power it's your super cancel, on speed, you can cancel into every other special except itself. Click on show hitboxes to see the startup boxes 1st part

Piercing Moon Pounce 623C Please wait warmly, girls are preparing...	Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 50/6 S 45/5 28~48 4 27 Any --/-21 P 2/12/6 S 1/4/2 H P ×/× S ×/× None Very slow attack and usually not worth it, has some nice setups in the corner. You can hold C and it hits overhead.No it's not unblockable. Gives you a straight SSC confirm in Speed. Click on show hitboxes to see the startup boxes. 1st part

Heavenly Being Blade 41236C Looks too much like a throw, this isn't broken unlike her SS7 counterpart, as per the words of a great sage 'Deflect is the great equalizer' you can get some really nice damage out of it however.

Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 32/-- S 28/-- 5 12 20 Any --- P 1/2/-- S 1/1/-- None P ×/× S ×/× None Counter movement. You'll probably never use it in a real match unless you got godlike reads, and even then, deflect would be a better option due to more damage and somewhat better oki. One very important thing to note is that if you get the right timing, you can hit both C/BC and the ground hit, always dealing 70 damage (BC is recommended due to less recovery) you'll also get an ambiguous mixup. Click on show hitboxes to see the rest of the move 2nd part 3rd part Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech C P 39/- S 35/- 1 2 59 Any --- P 10(12) S 5(5) --- P ×/× S ×/× None If you do, however, hit them with this button since it deals more damage. Can do 3B after it but rather hard C version Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech BC P 24 S 23 1 2 49 Any --- P 8(12) S 4(5) --- P ×/× S ×/× None It's her other option. You don't really have to do it. In certain circumstances you can do a 3b after it. BC version

Kami Hitoe ni te Kawasu Nari AB *Loses half of her height*

Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P --/-- S --/-- 2 15 - Any P --/-- S --/-- P --/-- S --/-- --- P ×/× S ×/× --- This move can dodge from high attacks. It is pretty good, however, there's not much reason to use it. You can dodge some fireballs but it's a high commitment.Plus, you might get punished here. Active frames listed are upper body invincible. Follow up with Ma O Tsumeru Koto Kanyou Nari (6C) to dash forward. Follow up with Ma O Oku Koto Kanyou Nari (4C) to hop backwards Probably has potential, still unexplored. 2nd part 3rd part Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech 4C --- 1 --- 27 Any --- --- --- P ○ S ○ None You can dodge some projectiles, but the timing is very specific. On some characters at specific moves you can jB and get a full confirm out of that, but it's very tricky to do and you can't do it on reaction 1st part 2nd part 3rd part 4th part Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech 6C --- 4 25~29 40 Any --- - --- P ○ S ○ None This looks like 623B so you can trick people, but no one will fall for it. Ma O Tsumeru Koto Kanyou Nari can be cancelled.. 1st part 2nd part (Hold) 3rd part (Stop holding forward)

Sanae O Okotaranu Kokoro Nari - Hold Start

• Hibiki holds her sword close as it glows, asking her father for help.
• Meter is charged slowly in this motion.
• No hurtbox provided, since it's the same as her standing

Desperation Moves

Heavenly Spirit of Victory 2146AB Dash to win

Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech P 81/-- S 86/-- 18 7 49,60 Any -7/-27 P 0/0 S 0/0 M P ×/× S ×/× None Hibiki dashes forward to slash through opponet. Travels a great distance, hits from 3/4 screen. Confirms from any normal on hit except the ones which aren't cancellable, except for 3C (Why is 3C cancellable anyway?) 2nd part (If it whiffs, it'll return to the first part) 3rd part 4th part

Super Desperation Move

No Fear Feint 641236B Stylish

Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech Startup Boxes --- --- --- --- Any --- --/-- Unblockable ×/× None Incredibly stylish and hard to combo into. It can be confirmed from quick pokes such as 4A and 5A if you’re close enough, as well as 5B, dashing high, and 2B (in ex). Up close it is an unblockable hit grab, which means it can’t catch an opponent who is throw invincible during block stun (this doesn’t apply to opponents in hit stun). It’s possible to be deflected as well. The initial active frames that trigger the locked animation can hit on either side of Hibiki, making things like dash under sdm or AB~6C sdm as you run through opponents possible. If connects near opponent, makes a flash of light and deals %50+ damage (On Hit ver) If opponent is a distance away, will strike upwards with less damage (On Whiff ver) Click on show hitboxes to see the startup boxes 2nd part 3rd part 4th part 5th part Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech Hit up close 90 5 5 --- Any - 0/0 Unblockable ×/× None On hit it'll look like this. Click on show hitboxes to see the boxes Hit 1st part Hit 2nd part Hit 3rd part Version Damage Startup Active Recovery State Frame Adv Meter Guard Cancel Tech On Whiff/Hit far 32/-- 10 3,3,4,3,1 61 Any --- 0 All P ×/× EX ×/× None On whiff it'll look like this. Click on show hitboxes to see the boxes Whiff

Combos

Hibiki is a very fun character, during matches you won't be doing much more than your BnBs, but it's possible to make her a powerhouse. One of her best characteristics, is that both her Power and Speed damage outputs are similar, so you can freely choose the one who best suits our playstyle. Power for a more defensive gameplay, and Speed for a more offensive gameplay.

NOTE: Before every combo, except those with 623C and 6[6]A/B (Dash A/B) starters, you can use a jX starter.
NOTE: In both modes, you can exchange a 4A for a 2C (except during chain combos on Speed mode), with a harder link but a low starter. The damage is the same.

Power Mode

For a more in depth view of Power Hibiki combos, please see the doc in #External Links.

Meterless BnBs

• 5B xx 236A/B
• 6C xx 623B

If it crosses sides, end with a 3B

• Dash A/B xx 236A/B
• 4A/2C, 5A xx 236A/B

Metered BnBs

• 2C xx 2146ab
• 5B xx 2146AB
• 6C xx 2146AB
• j.X, 641236B

You're not going to use this one much

• 2C/4A/5A xx 641236B

Sometimes it won't 'combo' but will connect, you can do a 6A to start buffering

Optmized meterless BnBs

• 4A, 4A, 5A xx 236A/B
• 4A/2C, 4A/2C, 4A/2C, 4A/2C, 5A xx 236A/B

Only works on crouching Mukuro. If he's not crouching, do 4Ax3

• 5B xx 623B, Dash, 3B
• Dash A/B xx 623B, Dash, 3B

Buffering dash and doing 3BCD helps a lot, input would be 663BCD

• deep crossup j.B 4A, 5B xx 236A/B

Only works on Juzoh, Amano, Kagami, Shigen and Kouryu. Deep crossup j.B is required 4A, 5B is a tight link, so practice it

Optmized metered BnBs

• 4A, 2C, 4A, 5A xx 2146AB

You'll find it easier to do it like that because 4A makes you go backward, making you miss the third 4A. Do 5A as 214A and then do 6AB quickly

• 5B xx 623B xx 2146AB

623B has to cross sides, most optimized confirm for 2146AB DM if you add a j.B starter

Corner and near corner only

• 5B xx 623B, 236A/B

A version has to be done exactly in the corner. If you delay too much, 236B whiffs. Theoretically possible to do in the corner

• 6C xx 623C, 3B

Speed and EX Mode

• EX can't cancel 623B xx 236A/B

Bread and Butter combos

• 5A > 5B > 5C (Dash, 3B)

If you're in the corner, you don't need to dash for the 3B to reach

• 4A > 5AA > 5B (Ender)

Doing 4AAA works as 4A 5AA

• 4A > 5A > 2A > 5B/2B into (Ender)

You have many variations on how to end Speed and EX combos, and they'll be listed in the next section

Combo Enders

• > 6B
• > 6C, (3B)

Range dependant

• xx DM
• xx 236A/B
• xx 623B xx 236A/B

You can delay 236A/B.

• xx 623B xx DM (ex mode)
• xx 623B xx 41236C, 22B'

Very important combo, fandango confirm

• > 3C (3B)
• 5BC, Normal

5BC, 5B Setups a 236B if you can time it right, high risk

5BC. nA/C Only works in the corner

5B xx 5BC Will sometimes whiff, can't be recommended

• > 5BC, 236A/B
• > 5BC, delay (fall) 3B

Super Speed Combos

• A + B + C + A + B + C + A + B + 236C
• A + B + C + A + B + C + C + B + 236A
• A + B + C + 2C + A + 2C + 6BC
• A + B + C + 2C + A + 6BC + A + 236B

External Links

How to P-Hibiki by Sakurako Oomuro