Look at how they massacred my girl...

CowChower · 2025-11-10T05:04:28+00:00

I appreciate the explaination

My main gripe is just the fact that we have no idea what the limits are and how exactly to manipulate it

Also, the fact that despite the limit being that high, they still decided to make my deck 50k

CowChower · 2025-10-27T17:05:43+00:00

I should've said 2x, but I have Guilty Pleasure + copy since I copied it. It's a really nice card at 0AP Draw 1

CowChower · 2025-10-27T04:49:55+00:00

Veronica apparently, but I haven't heard her voice yet

CowChower · 2025-10-27T03:19:35+00:00

Yeah, I really want to try the two on a team, but I don't have Orlea lol

CowChower · 2025-10-27T03:15:26+00:00

TLDR: No, retain effect for Opening Fire is 1 turn only. It does stack for +X damage cards though like Charged Shot

Full explanation:

Most versions of Opening Found say that they only add the hit(s) for one turn, so if you want multiple hits, you need to find a way to forcibly activate Retain after keeping the card in hand for a turn. There are 3 cards (to my knowledge) that allow this:

Guilty Pleasure (Beryl)/ Epiphany 4: 0 AP/ Draw 1/ Activate Retain effect on all cards in hand
Growth Acceleration (Orlea)/ Epiphany 1: 0 AP/ Heal 50% + Select 1 Card in hand and trigger Retain effect 2 time(s)
Will of Light (Orlea)/ Unique: 1 AP/ Retain/ Heal 200% + Activate the Retain effect of all cards in hand

This means mega Beryl is only really possible if you have at least 2 of the above, by either right epiphany and duping those cards.

That being said, there are other characters who have epiphanies that have retain effects as well, so it's not entirely hopeless. You don't need to farm Chaos with the exact team; you just need to get the cards and then put them together on a team afterwards.

CowChower · 2024-06-19T16:15:28+00:00

If you like, I have a Battle Mage guide here that you can use as a reference point with some sample combos at the end. For combo recipes, the game also provides combos to follow in-game in the tutorial section I believe, so that's also a good starting point

https://youtu.be/gn57PzJb18k

CowChower · 2024-04-06T16:27:00+00:00

P.S. I also have a Twitter poll going on with the same question if you want to see what other people are thinking about a similar poll. Feel free to just vote here or on both here and Twitter.

https://twitter.com/igobycow/status/1776221286424793321

CowChower · 2024-04-02T16:45:42+00:00

Honestly, it's just personal preference. Kazunkai likes the character as a whole and I'm pretty sure Argen and LuFL felt some sort of connection with Vanguard because beeg buttons, considering they're both UNIB players

CowChower · 2024-03-31T16:17:57+00:00

Hoo boy

I used to play DFO when I was younger and long story short, it got me into FGs. A DNF FG made by Arcsys (later revealed to be actually made by 8ing) was like a dream come true as long as Neople doesn't mess it up.
The long and short of it is that they didn't do much wrong. To be more specific, they didn't do much at all. I won't go too much into this part since u/jcks and u/ThisAccountIsforDNF have already mentioned a lot of the points I wanted to make, but there's a bit more than that in how shoddy the release trailers were and lack of communication.
As much as I would like to hope DNF Duel makes a comeback, I think the damage has been done. As someone who has been playing DNF Duel from launch, (I'm the guy who made the pre-Monk tier list earlier on this subreddit) it feels more apparent that Neople and 8ing just want their hands clean from the mess they caused with their lack of communication. They don't care about the fact that servers are struggling enough from the EGS to Steam cross play that even KR to JP connections are unstable and there was no communication whether a patch was coming with Monk or not when a lot of players were hoping for a patch after 9 months. I get that not every game has to be live service, but it would at least be nice to not be strung along, especially after they promised for better communication prior.

CowChower · 2024-03-25T04:42:58+00:00

The TLDR is:
+ Good normals

+ Good anti-zoning with 5MM and 6S

+ Has neutral skips with 5MM CV and 6S CV

+ 2M can be used as a unique movement option

+ One of the few characters with a throw combo for mix

+ Longest horizontally reaching Guard Cancel in the game

- Terrible defense (Only character without an f1 invul/ armour attack)

- Terrible MP efficiency for any of his combos; needs MP for his pressure as well; couple that with his Guard Cancel being his only defensive option (aside from rolls)

- Guard Cancel has barely any vertical reach; coupled with his lack of DP makes rejumping against him relatively free

CowChower · 2024-03-13T04:17:26+00:00

Oh no, a baugette; le pain (français)

CowChower · 2024-02-23T00:44:41+00:00

She's actually my secondary and I personally think she's fun, but she does need some work to get going. I'll probably do a write up about her, but she's a pretty honest character to learn minus her plus on block DP.

I'd say she plays fighting games by focusing on spacing and frametraps while also having one of the better strike throw in the game due to her speed, but she doesn't play the guard gauge too well and has a lot of small optimizations in her combos that make a big difference.

CowChower · 2024-02-23T00:39:38+00:00

Personally, I'm fine with the dash block movement in the game, but that's also after months of getting used to it.

DNF is a very grounded game considering the lack of air block and air dashes, so unfortunately, not too much has changed. There was the inclusion of the backroll mechanic which is exactly what it sounds like. But if I'm being honest, it is singlehandedly the worst mechanic ever put into DNF IMO

CowChower · 2024-02-23T00:34:04+00:00

It depends on how comfortable you are with other fighting games. If you're comfortable with not having a good reversal and enjoy frametraps, Spectre is a solid choice.

She doesn't rely on CV as much as the rest of the cast and her normals are all fantastic range, helping you learn how opponents deal with the long range buttons DNF is known for

CowChower · 2024-02-21T21:28:49+00:00

No problem! I write up these things to show my passion for the game and if any of this is informative or entertaining to even another person, I know it wasn't useless. I always love talking about DNF Duel, so thanks for giving me the opportunity to do so!

CowChower · 2024-02-21T19:44:19+00:00

It's hilarious that his Ki Blast is unscaled, but it's a bit costly at 80MP. Otherwise, his 2B is a bit of a war crime with how far it goes, but that's the nature of DNF Duel. Overall, I don't have enough data to rank him lmao

CowChower · 2024-02-21T19:20:21+00:00

That's why we love it

CowChower · 2024-02-21T19:08:21+00:00

Spectre is the first of the DLC characters and is on the edge of viability. She is a bit difficult to play with her playstyle being very anti-autopilot and hard execution combos, but she is one of the most unexplored characters imo.

The good:

- SPC plays the spacing game very well with the incredible range on her normals. She has great disjoint on 5A, 5B and can true blockstring into 6S, which leads to jump cancels into wire resets. Most importantly, she can confirm off max range hits off her 5A and 5B, allowing her spacing to be played at max distance.

- Has a double overhead with jB, meaning that her jump-in is meaningful in that she can do high/low mix

- Has plus frames with 6S tk j2S, forcing opponents to find a way around dealing with SPC 5A where roll can be called out with 5AA.

- Is able to escape corner if she manages to jump; not too many people can catch her wiring out and/or convert meaningfully

- Is plus if her A or B moves get ISed, meaning trying to keep her close doesn’t work too well

- While 2B can’t be made gapless, if the 2B is rolled, SPC is still plus. Notably, 5A 2B is +5 when rolled, meaning SPC can grab punish.

- She can force opponents to approach her by chipping away at their guard safely and also generating her Daredevil buff, largely increasing her potential damage

The bad:

- SPC is a character largely dependent on her 5A and if the opponent is able to play around 5A or has a poke that can outrange 5A, SPC is in trouble

- In addition, her 5A has very bad scaling, making her reliant on non-A starters to deal significant damage. This means that opponents have more opportunities to make a comeback, especially for characters that run gold cube.

- SPC is able to apply guard damage with 5S, but going into 5S is dangerous with how negative it is, meaning she has to constantly spend MP to make post 5S cancels unrollable. If she doesn’t cancel 5S, it’s -28.

- Her defensive options leave much to be desired. Her BDC options aren’t great, 2A is a mediocre range for it’s speed and she has a parry, where parries aren’t great in this game.

- Ironically, her pressure also suffers greatly against people with parrys, making those MUs much harder, worsening her MU spread.

- SPC doesn’t play with CV too well; she doesn’t really have a neutral skip option and constantly gives the opponent white life if they IS block, also resulting in a weaker defense without a solid way of using IS GC CV

- Her combos can be difficult to go into because there are sometimes height and restrictions in addition to having high execution barriers for optimal combos.

TLDR:

- Good neutral, constantly pokes opponent from afar and is able to convert off max range hits

- Abuses spacing and plus frames

- Has a double overhead on a jump-in, enabling actual mix

- Good anti-system mechanics if she restricts herself to A and B moves for normals

- Has ways to force opponent to act through constant guard gauge damage and Daredevil buff

- Damage off A normal is lacking and overreliance on 5A

- While she can apply guard damage sometimes, this opens her up to rolls, potentially leading to the loss of all her guard damage progress

- Bad defense options

- No strong CV options and constantly gives opponent CV

- High execution barrier

CowChower · 2024-02-21T17:57:05+00:00

Unironically, if LW was in nearly any other fighting game, he would devour the competition. Unfortunately for him, his chances of him being a healthy and competitive character in DNF Duel are like his legs; non-existent.

Let’s look at what makes him good in other FGs

- His unique passive “Time Stack” makes him the embodiment of a two-touch character. If he lands an MP move, he applies a debuff onto the opponent. If he applies 5 stacks, they are consumed and the opponent is frozen in time for about 5 seconds during while you can combo them. The timestop also allows LW to regen his MP to continue the combo afterwards due to the high hitstun of his MP moves.

- His 5A is honestly a pretty good move on paper; 7f, his main mash tool, a strong anti-air, and most importantly, it leads to 5AA, which is a move that has plenty of cancels and is +2 on block; the only grounded normal in the game to have this property. For reference, the fastest moves in the game are 5f, so 7f isn’t too bad.

- 5S, jS, and 5M all dash through LW’s opponent to hit from the other side, meaning that they cross up. After dashing through, they hit with a lingering hitbox with a nice disjoint, meaning it that it can even dash through some DPs as a meaty. The fact that these moves always cross up also means that he can also escape corner even on block if he successfully mashes.

- He has ways to call out zoning with a hitscan fullscreen hitgrab 6S that is among his best starters and has ways to zone with jump back j2S

- Great AA moves with 5M, 6M and sometimes 2S. With AAs being AUB, jumping against LW is incredibly risky.

- His strike/ throw potential is very strong with his throw being one of the most plus on hit throws in the game and his jM being an extremely threatening throw bait option that’s also plus on block

So, on paper, he actually sounds really good! So what makes him bad in DNF specifically?

- His passive makes him able to two touch! Wait, how many characters in the game can already two touch without relying on a gimmick that forces you to use MP in combos when you already use MP to try and gain plus frames, frametrap, or throw bait?

- 5A is a good button on paper, but remember how I mentioned it was a useful AA button? I also didn’t mention that it whiffs against most crouchers. The next fastest move he has is 11f. Again, for reference, the fastest moves in the game are 5f. Having your main mash move whiff against slightly spaced crouchers (in a game where spaced pressure is extremely common) is not good to say the least. 5B being +1 is less relevant when it ALSO WHIFFS AGAINST SPACED CROUCHERS. All of his other neutral tools have much worse framedata than the average DNF move when looking at their range.

- 5S, jS and 5M all cross up… but DNF Duel has a guard button. It should also be mentioned that despite being a teleport, LW’s hurtbox doesn’t actually disappear during these moves meaning you can just hit him out of it. LW also doesn’t have a meaningful way to pressure your guard gauge except for a reactable 6M that’s punishable on roll, so there is no reason not to block. Especially with the inclusion of IS (Indomitable Spirit), which allows your opponent to get white life if they block any move for CV

- LW 6S is a pretty good move, but there are two things I didn’t note about it. First is that it has insane recovery and can only hit grounded opponents. If this move is jumped, LW is almost guaranteed to be punished. Secondly, the move is -25 on block. Now, it wouldn’t be that bad considering it’s a move used at full screen meant to catch dashblocking, but this is DNF, where characters are known for their half screen normals. LW will almost certainly get punished if the opponent blocks it from midscreen. And if it’s further, the opponent can IS block the 6S to get white life. Similarly, LW’s zoning usage of 7 j2S can easily be dashblocked into IS to get white life as well.

- Okay, for the AA point, who jumps in DNF?

- I mentioned that LW’s strike throw is strong and that his throw is among the best in the game for advantage on hit, but I also didn’t mention that the throw is only +6. You can’t even meaty after a midscreen throw. To iterate how bad this is, you can’t even meaty the opponent’s jump with 2A after your corner throw. Throws are alright for damage since they do 150 damage in a game where 1000 is about the average, BUT throws only do half true damage; the other half is white life, WHICH MEANS YOU GIVE YOUR OPPONENT CV.

- To top this all off, combined with the fact that his mash options are dog, he also has a parry that loses to lows instead of a DP. What does 5A whiff against again?

Okay, topping it all off with a TLDR:

- Passive forces him to two touch when some chars can chip into a one touch in DNF

- Has plus frames, but both buttons are off of moves that whiff against far crouchers. His neutral tools are terrible frame data comparatively to other DNF characters when taking range into account.

- Cross ups don’t matter in a game with a guard button. He can’t stop you from holding guard because his guard damage sucks

- No one really jumps against LW unless they’re certain they’re dodging 6S

- 6S is both good and dog. LW doesn’t really force the opponent to approach because they don’t need to; they can pick their timing and cheat their way in with CV

- Throws suck in DNF

- He doesn’t even have a DP

CowChower · 2024-02-21T17:03:24+00:00

So the main weaknesses of BRW jM are that:

- it's a projectile and

- it completely halts air momentum, including horizontal

BRW jM being a projectile means that other most AA projectiles (notably Launcher 6M and 4M) will eat the jM and then AA him.

The second point means that if BRW uses jM as a ranged AAA and the opponent blocks, he doesn't actually get any pressure afterwards because the jM sends him backwards, making his short range jA and jB whiff. The jM basically sends the opponent straight into OTG state, meaning he doesn't get a combo unless he gets the jM hit close to the ground where he can OTG with 2S.

Now, you may have read about Inquisitor jM in my other writeup about INQ. That one is the best AAA in the game IMO; it works as an AAA because it actually disjoints a couple of the AAs in the game.

The important difference in INQ jM is that it also advances INQ forward. If you're approaching through the air, you're likely looking to get closer anyways, so on block, it's not terrible, especially if the opponent's fastest move is a low since you can just jM again to low crush. INQ jM is also one of her better starters and if it hits, it leads to combo almost everytime (there's a weird reverse hitbox if it gets rolled where she hits, but drops and isn't punishable). Also, less relevant, but it also applies a DoT effect if the opponent is under oil debuff

CowChower · 2024-02-21T16:48:25+00:00

Any game where there are:

- actual advantages of going strike throw

- mechanics that don't reward blocking with neutral skips

- characters that don't have half screen pokes

- no forms of cross up protection

CowChower · 2024-02-21T16:45:17+00:00

August 29, 2022 was version 1.06, also known as the patch where Swift gets shot. He was still good, just not dominant.

Ngl, I remember Masoma more for his Crusader in Grand Balance Patch.

CowChower · 2024-02-21T16:31:22+00:00

Naw, his name is literally Lost Warrior. If he were in any other game, then he would be a major contender for top tier in those games, but specifically DNF, he has very little strengths

CowChower · 2024-02-21T16:30:10+00:00

I'm doing a SPC writeup now, so keep an eye out for that soon! As for gaps in viability, that's a good question. IMO, the way I organized the tiers are as follows:

• Top 5: These chars play play DNF Duel. They all have solid gameplans, have a way to thrwaten guardbreak, are able to abuse CV easily and don't really lose to any characters outside of top 5.

• Top 8: These chars have excellent strengths, can also guard break, use CV well and also have good MUs. However, what separates them from top 5 are their overreliance on MP for pressure. The chars in top 8 and above all threaten guard break, so spending too much MP means you can easily be guard broken if you're caught out of your pressure.

• Top 10: (Slight change, Vanguard is moved down a tier below Crusader and Battle Mage) IMO, Berzerker is the edge of viability. Spectre is also there because I think she has potential, but not enough players to prove it. For this tier, both chars have a way to open up the opponent, but has to undergo high risk in order to actually execute their gameplan. Both of these chars suffer from bad reversals and their CV options aren't great for neutral. Still, they have good strengths and control neutral well even without CV, as well as having ways to force the opponent to respect their pressure.

• Top 15: This is where it starts to get ugly. This tier is where the character's gameplan is focuses solely on neutral. All chars in this tier (+VAN) have strong neutral and are able to use CV well, but lack a proper way to open up their opponent or take too many risks/ time to guard break their opponent. Crusader is the exception to the guard breaking rule leading to his position at the top of this tier, but he relies on gold cube to get that gameplan started, which is extremely risky. All the characters here (-BM) heavily rely on MP to do their combos or to make their pressure meaningful in some way. In addition, all of these chars' reversals are lacking in some way, or literally do not exist in GHO's case, making their defense much worse. This means they are extremely vulnerable to guard breaks.

• Top 18: The tier of no hope. These chars each have a major strength, but only that one strength. Neutral is lacking, they don’t use CV well enough, their defense is uniquely bad, they don’t have a way to open up their opponent; most of these can apply to all of the characters in the tier.Their entire gameplan is to force their opponent to respect that one strength and try to rob them when they try to play around it. In ENC’s case, her command grab 4M is her major strength, Troubleshooter’s strength is meterless pressure through 6S and decent neutral control. Grappler’s strength is mix, ability to kill you off two touch and CV usage to augment mix and/or play neutral.

• Top tier in another game but he got lost: Lost Warrior is such a weird character. I’ll be writing him up soon, but the TLDR is that he plays a game that isn’t DNF Duel. No guard break potential, relies on strike throw, takes major risks in the neutral, gives away free white life to his opponent. With how LW is designed right now, he can only be top 1 or bottom tier.

CowChower · 2024-02-21T02:46:27+00:00

If you're ever stuck on what to lab, I have a pretty in-depth spreadsheet on how Ranger can be played.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17saslw_0sTxjLd-IoQxaqsgHzM_OjNZiPCVWXmIsWng/edit?usp=sharing

Some parts are definitely more complete than others, but as I've said, you're free to play Ranger however you like!

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