Here's some tips for Annie's gold Prize Fight!

[Mornedil]

Annie's Prize Fight may be over for this month, but I'll post my experience with it for the next time it comes around!

This is one of those prize fights where experienced players seem to have a super easy time with the modifier, but it could prove difficult for newer players who are still learning, or players who rely on blocking a lot during fights.

So I'll post a video of some high streak gameplay, and some tips for how to rule this prize fight!

The Modifier
25% chance when blocking a hit to gain a stack of Enrage for 15 seconds.
When the above occurs and the fighter reaches 5 stacks of Enrage, the Enrages convert into Guard Break, and the fighter takes 50% of their max health in damage.

To clarify, only the FINAL STACK of enrage matters for the 2nd part of the modifier.
If, for example, Sheltered Parasoul gains 4 stacks of Enrage from her SA, and then blocks a hit and gains a 5th stack, she will lose 50% health and gain guard break.
However, if she gains 3 stacks of enrage from blocking, and then the final 2 stacks from her SA, nothing will happen.


Tips for the prize fight
• Use the modifier to your advantage.
Instead of performing long combos, keep attacking the opponent's block until they reach 5 stacks of enrage.

• Use multi-hit blockbusters (like Argus Agony and Catastrophe Canon Alpha) against a blocking opponent to easily stack enrage and lower their health by 50%.

• it's safe to block at the start of the match. The opponent will likely just perform an L5, and you won't reach 5 Enrage from that.

• If you're close to getting 5 stacks of Enrage and feel like you need to block, consider tagging out to give yourself some time to reset.

• A way to avoid the negative effects of the modifier is to reach 5 stacks of enrage from other sources (fighter SA or taunts)! After that, it's safe to block as long as you still have 5 stacks.

• Other than the tips above, try to block as little as possible, and intercept attacks when you can.
After intercepting, consider just swiping up to launch, then do nothing and let the opponent stand up. This is a great opportunity to start attacking their block after they get back up!

 

[Lililira]

Nice! These are all very good tips that will come in handy the next time this PF appears.

One more I can add though: Avoid using fighters that can remove opponent buffs. They'll prevent the opponent from gaining 5 Enrage stacks at once and being affected by the 50% health loss, unless you use them very very carefully. I would especially avoid using Summer Salt or Stand Out, since they both remove buffs in a manner which is hard to deliberately prevent, but Silent Kill, Rusty, and Mean One can still work in this PF since they all rely on landing non-blocked hits to remove buffs, which can be avoided through careful play.

Also, sometimes in the early matches it can be worth it to just not block if you have 3-4 Enrages but enough health and defense to tank the opponent's combos, rather than risk the 50% health loss and Guard Break from blocking too much. This modifier can kill a streak early if you don't play it carefully enough and block too often, even on the very early fights where you're mostly facing sub-10k FS fighters.

 

[Hall☆weenQueen]

Thank you Morn! I was thinking of starting something like this myself and I'm so glad to see this on the forum!
Something to add, for newer players a good old burst may help if you think you may be in trouble.

I ended up using the enrages myself rather than letting the opponent get them because sometimes they'd punish me if I wasn't able to get the enrages in on one shot. It seemed like I had more control that way, but as time went on I got braver and laid the smack on the opponents with my hits.

I noticed the times I was in trouble the most was against defenses that had a lot of multi-hit special moves like Filias and even Cerebella's cerecopter. So there is a tip for players wondering how to build their defense.

Also, in a rather clever way, this prize fight it truly outstanding for Annie. Considering her many multi-hit special moves and block busters, she can really shine here (this is a bit of an obvious point but I wanted to say it anyway). I can't wait to build up my Annie for the next prize fight!

Also, I really want to thank the devs for giving us new content that is fun to grind and isn't so gruesomely hard and painful. It's the perfect balance of skill and playability.

 

[BallotBoxer]

the next time this PF appears.

Mark yer calendars for: 01 February 2021

Dec. 14 - 19 Big Band / Cerebella
Dec. 21 - 26 Robo-Fortune / Ms. Fortune
Dec. 28 - Jan. 2 Filia / Parasoul
Jan. 4 - 9 Beowulf / Peacock
Jan. 11 - 16 Painwheel / Double
Jan. 18 - 23 Squigly / Valentine
Jan. 25 - 30 Fukua / Eliza
Feb. 1 - 6 Annie / Big Band

By then we should see plenty of stronger Annies in the teams (too many 30K diamonds with little sub 1K silver Annies)

I'd warn noobs to stay away from Angry Fighters (SAs based on gaining Enrage) unless you know what you are doing. That means Primed Parasoul, Heavy Handed Cerebella, Mean One Peacock, Sheltered Parasoul, etc. Sometimes you get too mad and you are one block away from destroying yourself.

 

[Art3mes]

Also, I really want to thank the devs for giving us new content that is fun to grind and isn't so gruesomely hard and painful. It's the perfect balance of skill and playabilit

perfect balance

As all things should be.
- Thanos

 

[Mornedil]

Good additions everyone!
I forgot to mention trying to avoid using buff removal variants, but Lililira covered that!

Avoid using fighters that can remove opponent buffs. They'll prevent the opponent from gaining 5 Enrage stacks at once and being affected by the 50% health loss, unless you use them very very carefully.

A thing I can add is that you only need to avoid buff removal if you're relying on the PF modifier to deal enough damage to not time out. (But regardless, you're shooting yourself in the foot a bit when using them).
The same goes for fighters that inflict curse. Avoid using them if you want to make use of the modifier. I ran into this problem when using my Purrfect Dark, but luckily she's a powerhouse and had no trouble dealing damage anyways.

Claw & Order can also be dangerous to use.
She resets the opponent's debuff timers when she lands a critical hit, meaning that once she inflicts 5 enrage on the opponent, it'll turn into 5 stacks of guard break that keeps getting reset to 15 seconds.
As a result, every time you try to attack the opponent's block, their block will break, which is extremely useful if your CnO is super strong and you don't need the modifier.
But if your CnO is still weak and needs the modifier to avoid timing out, you're screwed (especially against ICU valentine since you can't even bleed them)