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Twin fighter is a melee heavy class with lots of direct attacking skills, each having lengthy cooldowns. Basically, you have two characters, each with a separate set of skills with separate cooldown timers. This allows for some interesting applications such as using two skills at the same time, or attacking with your twin while your main character evades. They are capable of long and extremily damaging comboes against regular enemies, but lack some power against bosses and elite enemies early on. Their power is offset by slow attacking speed, but they are quite good at controlling space too and have various ways to attack safely at mid-range. Apparently, at higher levels they gain several buffs in move speed and come into possession of some powerful multi-hit attacks which help them out against bosses.
For reference, we will refer to the character you control as the point character, while the twin will be assist character.
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Controlling Twin Fighter
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When you first open the skill window, you'll notice that the left side skills are coloured orange while the right side is coloured green. Skills in orange will be used by the point character and skills in green are used by the assist character. Due to the fact that they are two separate people, the twins can use skills in the middle of each other's attack animations and cooldowns.
The assist character has several properties you need to remain aware of. The assist character will follow closely behind the point character, teleporting if they fall too far behind. They will immitate most actions such as dashing and dash-jumping, but are unable to perform a regular jump. Assist characters cannot be damaged or interrupted by enemy attacks, except in PVP where they can be hit out of their animations and even killed.(though it is possible to re-summon them if this happens)
When calling the assist character's attack, they will attack in the direction the point character is facing, and their position will shift for a moment depending on the style of attack. For example, performing Dragon Kick will cuase the assist character to fly in front of the point character. They'll remain standing there for a moment, and any further commands given to them will be executed on that spot, without returning to the point character's side. You can call an assist's skill while jumping, since they remain grounded, and even used them to interrupt enemy attacks as their skills can be called while their sibling is immobile or knocked down.
X-attack with the twins is a little different to most other characters, especially after learning Tactical Combo, but we'll get into that later. Both twins attack at once for a somewhat slow 5-hit combo, but it doesn't knock back the opponent at all and with some attack speed, it's quite possible to just hold down X and do surprisingly good DPS for something so simple. Most weak enemy mobs will fall for it.
Holding and releasing Z causes the twins to charge up a force attack which knocks enemies down and has fairly decent range. Damage is quite poor, so you won't be using it often. Dash attacking with the twins is somewhat slow compared to other characters. It does have a bit of startup and knocks enemies down, but with the assist character in tow, the dash attack actually still has some utility as an approach.
The Z-button also has an interesting property of being able to cancel the asssit character's animation providing the point character is not already doing something. By simply tapping Z, your assist returns to a neutral state, interrupting their own move. This can be used to allow the twin to rapidly perform specials one after the other. After playing with this some more, I realise that it also causes the assist character to try to return to the point character very quickly, and any enemies caught in the assist character's pushback attacks (eg. Dragon Kick) will instead be pulled towards the player!
X- Attacking while in the air causes the point character to perform a 3-hit combo, the last hit of which slams an enemy back down into the ground. This doesn't have a large hitbox initially and requires some precision, but overall it adds some nice damage to simple X-oriented comboes, and keeps the point character airborn for a good amount of time if stalling in the air is necessary, so it comes in useful for avoiding boss attacks. The slamming effect on the last hit is very important, as it allows for quick, easy relaunches against juggled monsters, since your assist character can launch the enemies right back up again.
It might seem complicated at first, but after some experimentation, controlling the twins isn't too hard at all. Fighting game players who are familiar with characters like Eddie (Guilty Gear), Hisui & Kohaku (Melty Blood) or Carl Clover (BlazBlue) will feel right at home controlling the twins.
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Twin Fighter Skills
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Twin Fighters seem like they have a lot of attacking skills, and this is because of the nature of their comboes. Here is a list of skills I've tried, and the utility I've found for them so far:
One Sword, One Cut (point character)
A very simple attack, involving an overhead chop which knocks enemies down. It's quite slow and not really very useful, but needed as a prerequisite to better skills.
Power Fist (point character)
The point character poses, then throws a rushing punch to strike multiple enemies in the attack's path, starting at 3. This seems like a very decent skill, though I haven't gotten it higher than 1 yet. It hits a few times, decent damage, and stuns groups of enemies. The only problem is that it has some startup and is easily interrupted, as well as lacklustre range. You're generally going to want to use this in ground comboes against enemies who are already taking damage from the assist character's attacks. I can see the stun being useful in PvP, although the attack itself is quite telegraphed and most likely not a good idea to simply throw out.
Tornado Spin (point character)
For the first 10 levels or so, this will be your primary damage in comboes. It only works against airborn enemies, but it does a lot of hits and great damage, and most importantly it allows you to move immediately after it ends. This means that you can follow it up with X attack in the air, or finish with a bunker buster. With only a 5 second cooldown it's not often that you won't find some place to throw it into comboes. Some say this move loses it's effectiveness at higher levels but for now I highly recommend at least 1 point. You'll need it for Bunker Buster anyway, and it doesn't seem to gain any noticable power bonuses as it levels up.
Bunker Buster (point character)
A slow but powerful falling axe kick which crashes down and launches enemies into the air. This can only be performed while airborn, but is an excellent attack and one you'll be using very often . Get it to at least 3 as a matter of priority. The hitbox on this attack is huge, and the point character recovers quickly. In many ways it's similar to the thief's cut down, though not quite as spammable due to a longer cooldown of 6 seconds. This move also hits fallen enemies, allowing it to be used as an AoE relaunch. Overall, it will be one of your primary means to start offense on a group of monsters.
Tactical Combo (both character)
This one is a bit interesting. It changes the property of your X-attack as follows: Pressing Z after the first or second attack will trigger a different combo. [X, X, Z] for example, causes the assist character to perform a backflip kick which counts as a launcher, while [X, Z] will initiate a simple punch kick combo from the point character, which knocks enemies away. You are capable of buffering the last hit while calling the assist character's commands, so for example, having the assist character use Dragon Kick, pressing [X, X,] during the animation, and then Z once the animation ends will cause the assist character to follow up their dragon kick with a launcher immediately. However, the first two punches must come out even if they don't connect, so it's not possible to buffer the entire sequence while the point character is already in another animation. Another interesting thing to note is that after inputting the first X or X, X, you can delay the assist character's Z command for as long as you want, so long as you don't move from your position, even if you input other skills between commands. [X, X, ...... dragon kick, Z] will still cause the assist character to perform a flip after their dragon kick, so long as the point character doesn't walk, jump, or use point character skills before the Z command is input. There's very little reason not to get this skill, if just for the interesting utility it provides. You also need this for Dragon Kick and Weaving.
Weaving (point character)
Doesn't look like much at first, but this skill is basically a parry and a dash combined. Enemy attacks taken while dashing will be blocked, allowing for quick escapes and safe approaches in some situations. I can see this being very useful in PvP, and also for avoiding certain predictable boss attacks. It's especially effective against projectile attacks. The skill's descriptin is wrong though, and it does take MP to cast, and has no such 'weaving guage'. With a cooldown of 5 seconds it's not exactly spammable and the dash itself is short, so use wisely. It's also worth noting that due to the hitscan nature of mob attacks, it needs to be used pre-emptively against monsters, which is something that requires a bit of practice. In PvE, I'd say it's best used against projectile attacks since it seems to parry them far more easily than melee moves. The window for parrying is actually at the END of the dash, not the start, meaning that the actual dashing animation itself is vulnerable, but there is a significant window to block attacks once your point character stops moving.
Rapid Stance (point character)
Your party buff. It boosts evasion and hit by 10%. Evasion and hit are two useful stats, especially for PvPers, so there's no reason not to put a point in this.
Spin Kick (assist character)
A quick turning kick with a decent AoE and speed, but low damage and utility. It can't really be used as combo filler because it knocks enemies back, and for that purpose Dragon Kick is superior. I haven't found much use for this move. The cooldown isn't exactly great for such a weak move either.
Rocket Blow (assist character)
The assist character does a little dash followed by a vertical kick which knocks standing or fallen enemies skyward. This is a fantastic skill - it's fast, strong and does serves as your main launcher when Bunker Buster is on cooldown, bringing your list of launchers to a total of 3 at early levels. Don't be fooled by the animation, this skill's hitbox is HUGE. It can easily launch whole mobs of monsters whether they're standing or already knocked down. With a cooldown of 4 seconds it's also one of the quickest skills to recharge. Get it to at least lv3. It also puts your assist character right in front of you, which is useful for certain skill and combo positioning.
Dragon Kick (assist character)
A lunge kick by the assist character. It deals a lot of hits and pushes enemies back very far while knocking them down, and has great range. This makes it a fine skill for throwing into enemy mobs without having to get too close, and for dealing with ranged attackers. By using Tactical Combo, you can then have your assist character launch any enemies, or simply use a twin action skill to go straight into Non-stop kicking or dragon kick for further damage. At later levels, it lacks damage compared to several similar moves, and can be replaced on your hotkeys, but still remains one of your most spammable skills.
Non-stop Kicking (assist character)
A purely damage-dealing attack which hits standing enemies a bunch of times, dealing good damage for an early skill. It's a bit slow to start up, but powerful. At lv 3 it targets fallen enemies too, making it much easier to use. I got this to lv5 just so I could kill bosses a bit more easily, but later on when you unlock stronger, similar moves such as Slide Kicking, it becomes obsolete. It has a lot of startup and cooldown, so it's best used as a finisher or for stunning bosses. Get this move until your first free reset scroll, then drop it off unless you plan on getting Infinite Kicking later on.
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Twin Skills
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For some reason, the 2nd job of Twin Fighter is just called 'Twin', which seems like a step backwards if you ask me. You get this basically straight away so it's not really important I guess.
Infinite Turning Kick (point character)
A series of dancing kicks which advance you forward, hitting many enemies in the process, and ends with a crushing overhead kick which knocks them all down. This move seems really cool at first. It's very flashy and damaging, but it also has a lot of good and bad. The good is that it's nice mob control, powerful, and can be easily comboed with dragon kick for a powerful advancing duo combo. The bad is that it has some really funky hitboxes, suffers from position lag, and you really have to commit to using it because the animation lasts a long time, which is a bad idea in heavily mobbed areas or during boss fights. In fact, it's practically useless against most bosses, since you'll only hit them a few times with it unless you're in the corner or you're lucky enough to make them flinch. It's a difficult decision because when used properly it can clear whole mobs, providing they don't see you coming first. Other than that, you really don't need to get this move higher than lv 1. I tested it at lv3 and the damage increase was barely noticable. On top of that, I found that it started to drop enemies mid-combo.
Fusion (both character)
Fuse with your sibling in order to become more powerful, and raise movement speed while decreasing cooldown of skills, increasing attack rate and attack speed, critical rate, etc. You use up MP per second while in this mode and can toggle it on and off. I got this for testing purposes, but I don't think it will be useful until it's boosted to higher levels and paired up with fusion-specific skills. Right now it just turns me into a slow character with big skill cooldowns and mediocre combo ability, but apparently at higher levels it becomes very useful in PVP for recalling/cancelling the assist character's movement. Most of the fusion-specific skills are PvP oriented too. It might be best to leave this one alone until endgame.
Finish Combo Lv.1 (point character)
Adds an extra attack to your X combo if you press Z after 5 hits. Sounds nice, but actually this skill really sucks. The extra attack is very slow and knocks enemies down, but it's very slow. Did I mention it's slow enough that you can be comboing an enemy normally, do this attack, and you'll get hit out of the startup animation? Maybe it's better as you gain attack speed but I really think you can be doing better things, like the summersault kick follow up after 2 hits. You have so many superior ways to knock down or launch enemies after an X attack. When in fusion mode, it can be used after only 3 attacks, but still slow. Your points could be spent on better things, I think.
Spin Bomb (assist character)
Kicks twice, firing off two hadoukens which penetrate through enemies, potentially dealing decent damage to bunched-up mobs. I'm not a fan of this skill due to long cooldown, but with some investment I can see it being useful. It's also your only real projectile attack in early levels.
Spirit Spear (assist character)
The assist character shoots forward like a torpedo covered in electricity, shocking and damaging enemies in their path. Very similar to Dragon Kick, except faster and more damaging with more range, less hits and a significant cooldown that decreases with level. It has about the same cooldown as the Marksman's gattling rush, and personally I don't like this move very much compared to Dragon Kick due to it being less spammable, but it doesn't knock enemies back and so allows for easier followups. It also comboes nicely WITH Dragon Kick, allowing you to do some amusing comboes where your twin is completely off screen.
Hyper Knee Kick (point character)
The point character pauses for a short time, then charges a good distance with a flying knee kick, knocking enemies down. This move is weak. It hits once and does minimal damage, but at the same time it does have a good amount of range and is fairly safe to cast into a mob. At lv3 it hits fallen opponents, but doesn't launch them so there isn't too much reason to use it outside of fun comboes involving all of the twin's advancing attacks one after the other.
Power Weaving (point character)
An upgraded version of Weaving. It's the same as Weaving, except it allows you to dash in any direction and actually displays a buff called 'Immersion' for 1 second, which may or may not be a visual indicator of the move's parry window and gives a buff to attack speed, crit rate, hit and move speed. Each additional level adds another second to Immersion's duration, for a total of 3 seconds Immersion after using this move. It's worth noting that the buff takes place at the end of the dash, and you can attack and move while it's in effect. This move is quite a big deal and has proved very useful to me, so definately get it to 3 at some point. Additional levels also decrease the cooldown, and at lv3 this move has only a 4 second cooldown. 4 seconds of cooldown, 3 seconds of Immersion. More testing needs to be done to determine if Immersion also extends the parry window. This is a separate skill with a separate timer to regular Weaving, which means that you can use both of them one after the other for a considerable period of invulnerability.
Slide Kicking (assist character)
This move is like some weird hybrid of nonstop kicking and dragon kick, while not really having the same utility as either. Your assist character does a little hop and then slides forward, hitting any standing or downed enemies once and pushing them very slightly back, then unleashes a barrage of low kicks for much greater damage. It's useless to try to use this at point blank range, but once you get used to the move's sweet spot, It's very powerful. It goes along with Infinite Turning Kick excellently and I do find it very useful for damaging bosses. At around the lv 30's it's your strongest skill at lv 3, rivalled only by Rolling Grabble.
Rolling Grabble (assist character)
The assist character does a dive roll through opponents, knocking them down, attacking continuously while doing so. This move hits 2 or 3 times if you're lucky against regular opponents and has high power per hit. Overall, it's not as strong as Slide Kicking vs normal mobs, but it absolutely mauls bosses and frozen enemies, hitting many times repeatedly for extremily high damage. Right now, I use it along with Slide Kicking for boss DPS. Another reason for getting this over slide kicking, is that it slightly launches opponents. While it doesn't have as much raw power, it allows for an easy followup with Tornado spin which is enough to clear most mobs. Slide Kicking also costs a lot more points to get, since you have to go through Spirit Spear to get it. Another unique attribute of this attack is that it has no limit to how many enemies it hits. Couple that with it's huge range and wide hitbox, and it's quite good at knocking over large mobs of foes in pve. Due to the wide hitbox it's also amazing in F6 for clearing out the spawn point.
Dragon Uppercut (point character)
This attack is awful. Your point character performs a spinning, jumping uppercut that hits standing or airborn enemies twice and knocks them down. Sounds cool, bit it's really not. Your enemies aren't sent flying, instead they just magically fall over, and you get badly position bugged. This move has super armor at lv 3, but it's not really noticable. Worst of all, this attack is very, very weak for a skill that requires so many points. Perhaps useful in PVP for the super armor, but doesn't seem so to me.
Impact Blow (fusion)
Fusion-only attack. A single weak hit that stuns and debuffs opponents. Seems like a PVP oriented attack but it could also be useful in F7 due to it's stun properties. It's got a short, sharp animation that comes out quickly, and lacks range. Not very powerful at all in terms of damage.
Smash Kick (assist character)
So you're lv 34 and you still like using Bunker Buster and Tornado Spin? Then what you need is a Smash kick. This move hits very hard twice in a row, and only hits airborn opponents. Even combined with lv 1 tornado spin, a lv 1 Smash Kick is exceptionally powerful. The only problem is, if you are going the ground combo route of using Rolling Grabble and Slide Kicking, you don't really -need- this skill. It's good for styling on enemies though, and general swag, but outside of PVP where it could be used to stop pesky archers from jumping around too much, it has little utility in PvE outside of finishing monsters quickly after a bunker buster > tornado spin combo. If you want to be stylish, you can actually Z-cancel rolling grabble immediately into this skill, launching an enemy with grabble and then finishing them with smash kick. It's impractical, but looks cool.
Evasion training (buff)
A passive buff that boosts your evasion by a certain %. You need this at lv 5 to get Breath Training, so may as well enjoy having a higher evade rate. Alongisde Rapid Stance, this skill allows twins to achieve a very decent evade rate, which works well with weaving and power weaving.
to be completed
Edited by Luckywhiterabbit, 06 January 2012 - 07:55 PM.
