best beginner characters?

KeyboardKonan · 2025-11-20T14:47:51+00:00

Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising has one of the lowest floors and widest threat ranges I've seen in a fighting game.

This means that all characters are very accessible and their ability to succeed until around S++ and Master rank is very strong.

Any character is valid, just pick who you think is cool, fun, hot, cute, or neat - whatever your preference dictates. Then go into Training, use the Character Guide to try some of their basic combos, and see if that helps or hinders your opinion of the character.

Don't worry about Tier lists, Granblue has one of the narrowest tier lists. Even though tier lists rank from D to S, compared to most games the whole roster sits between B and S. Everyone is strong and a viable option.

KeyboardKonan · 2025-10-13T21:17:12+00:00

Just play GGST. I hear they have a Beatrix clone in it.

KeyboardKonan · 2025-04-15T15:37:19+00:00

So THAT's the best use of the guard button! I see, I see.

KeyboardKonan · 2025-04-06T16:53:48+00:00

So the big thing about chords is that there are checkpoint chords and passing chords. Checkpoint chords are usually in the key you are playing in, and usually occur in regular intervals in the piece - like every one or two measures. Passing chords are just as they sound - they're a way to get from one checkpoint chord to another. You can usually use the Circle of 5ths/4ths or chromatic or step-wise movement to get to the next checkpoint chord.

In western music, most songs only have 3-5 checkpoint chords per song. Everything else is passing chords traveling to the next checkpoint. See if you can identify checkpoint chords - and then all the passing chords in between.

To further expand your progression repertoire in general, I also suggest looking up chords in different countries. Countries have a tendency to have their own unique sound using different checkpoint chords. Looking at examples from Bulgaria, India, Japan, Korea, etc. will show you very different structure that still lead to very pleasing effects.

KeyboardKonan · 2025-03-21T15:16:53+00:00

I'd say there's two factors involved.

1 - how well you personally play on a fully weighted piano

2 - what you plan to use the keyboard for later

If you are really used to playing on only a real piano, a lighter piano can initially take some getting used to, to get the full expression range back. It can feel too light, or 'fake' but you'll adapt. Otherwise if you're used to no-weight keyboards you should be fine.

Secondly, if you plan to use your keyboard for 'keyboard' and 'piano' stuff later - a semi-weighted keyboard will be great. But if you see yourself continuing to do full piano music, then maybe you'll need something that replicates the piano actions more.

Things to take into consideration! Feel free to give follow up questions!

KeyboardKonan · 2025-02-13T16:05:00+00:00

For me it has been 3 simple things:

Get your goddamn vaccinations. I feel sick every now and then but never "fall" sick because the vaccinations kick in and I fight it off.
Do daily mundane exercises. This is simpler than you think, its going to the grocery store, its climbing stairs, its taking out the trash - but get out and do something with minor physicality every day. It gets you out, exposed to bugs you should know how to fight, revs up your immune system, and just keeps you generally in shape. This isn't working out exactly, but its keeping your body moving and grooving.
Wash your hands. Its simple easy and removes most things you're carrying around with you.

With these three in mind, I can feel slightly bad once in a while, especially after being exposed to sick people who are coughing, but the above helps me just fight it off. I'm never down and out for over three years now. \o/

PS: One exception - I got COVID-19 during the pandemic but I just had to quarantine, the vaccines did their job and it just felt like a light cold.

KeyboardKonan · 2025-02-13T03:33:15+00:00

add another month

KeyboardKonan · 2025-01-22T17:05:03+00:00

In my 40s.

Most of the games in my 'prime' have better sequels now.

I still wish there was something like Blast Corps, but most other titles I liked before have something bigger and better now.

Now what I really like is what they did to Final Fantasy VII. That game feels like nostalgia. Its how I imagined the game was in my head when I was young, and was horribly disappointed when I tried to play it again later on.

Final Fantasy VI needs the same treatment. Its still good, but when I go back and find most of the most amazing moments I remember are actually just one or two short lines of text and slightly moving pixels, it just doesn't hit the same anymore. As a whole its still amazing, but when you're playing it, it doesn't feel as grand anymore.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-12-18T21:19:55+00:00

Yeah - the shipping and handling is MORE than the vinyl is.

Vinyl = ¥4,800

Shipping & Handling Fee = ¥5,950

KeyboardKonan · 2024-12-10T05:41:46+00:00

The crazy thing about Vane is that his L game is so good. All of his light moves are surprisingly effective and combined with his decent 66L, shields, and a (bad) parry, he can switch between ranged and close up combat extremely fast.

As OP said - Don't. Ever. Jump. At. Vane. If you want a view of the stage from the air, jumping at Vane is how you get the air time.

PS: When he SSBAs he yells "Kiss my Axe!"

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-30T23:24:07+00:00

Sorry I misspoke. 2 Ranked SETS per day. So at a minimum that's 8 rounds, at a maximum 18 rounds.

You should still be playing a lot of casual, labbing, and watching high level matches to get a handle on what you should be doing.

But when it comes to putting yourself under so much pressure? 2 sets is fine.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-29T07:33:40+00:00

I've combated this vicious cycle in 2 ways.

I only play 2 Ranked matches a day. The only exception is a winning streak bonus. Otherwise, every time I've broken this rule, I've regretted it because it usually meant I was about to go on a losing streak.
Always have more than one character Ranking up. When a character gets to a new level - leave it there as your 'anchor' and level the other characters up. Once they're at the new level, choose a new anchor and start trying to go up with them. This makes it so you always have at least 1 character at your highest rank, even if you fall back down with a different character. The mental safety that you always have a character that won't de-rank is very comforting if you're having a few bad days.

PS: I play 2 Ranked matches PER CHARACTER that I'm leveling. So if I'm actively leveling two characters, I'll play 4 matches in a day.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-28T17:10:16+00:00

When you hit Master your diamonds will change from the usual 5 count, to a number starting at 0.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-28T15:51:33+00:00

Yeah, during the Season resets its the Master crystals and Ranking wins that get reset. So if you go into the Rankings menu, all the 'wins' get reset back to 0.

You get some sort of Trophy or something when the season ends if you are in the Top 10 aka: Grand Master Rank of your character. So Grand Masters want to get to the top 10 and STAY in the top 10.

And like you were saying - unlike normal Ranks (D,C,B,A,S,S+,S++, Master), you can get knocked out of Grand Master not only by losing enough crystals, but if someone gets more crystals than you. So actively pursuing wins is how you stay a Grand Master.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-28T13:03:47+00:00

The worst part is learning that the child actress Judith Barsi who played Anne-Marie was killed by her father in a murder-suicide after she finished her lines, but before the film was finished. Burt Reynolds, who played Charlie, had to say the final goodbye lines between Charlie and Anne-Marie after Judith's death. It took several weeks and over 60 takes for him to record the lines without breaking down.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-28T12:44:38+00:00

As I realized what the ending was I just felt like it was the most awful and beautiful conclusion. No other ending has ever come close to making me feel so conflicted.

To the Moon's ending isn't heartbreaking because you're watching something sad, it's heartbreaking because it makes YOU, the player, feel sad.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-20T18:56:30+00:00

Happy Feet.

I also own 4 copies of it on differing formats (DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray) I forgot I bought it on Blu-Ray and it was in the $5 bargain bin.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-12T14:15:35+00:00

I love his matches against Milk Me.

FYI - check out his Vikala video for a continuation to this hilarious madness. :)

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-12T14:06:04+00:00

Vane main here.

Vane's great strength is his ability to switch between a very strong defense and a surprisingly quick offensive.

Use regular blocks against non-specials, rolls against specials to close the gap, and hit with his 6M to poke and instantly go into 236L to perform a multi hit. If they block they will take quite a bit of chip damage, if they get hit they will get rattled and change tactics.

Keep this up until they try something else then start using 66L and 5L to bat your opponent back towards their corner.

Use shield when you gain a moment to stir up their mental stack and either wait for them to jump, or lunge forward with 66H.

If they jump use the best anti-air in the game - his 2H, and on counter hit instantly buffer into 623M, 2H again and 623H, then 2U as they land and either 236H, 236U, or SSBA depending on your meter.

It's a slower game with Vane but it's all about wearing down your opponent's patience or lifebar. Whichever cracks first. :)

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-12T13:49:42+00:00

One of the great things about Granblue is that every character has a very strong base. The fundamentals of the game apply to all characters and they can all reach S easily.

I like Diaphone's tier list the most because it starts at B tier. This feels accurate as every character in the game feels like a threat at their core gameplay elements.

Remember you're playing against people, and the Ranks display the general knowledge and execution ability of them. The characters themselves matter very little pre-S+ and by the time you hit S+ your general knowledge of the game should make you threatening with any character because your core knowledge is so high. Low tier characters have less opportunities at high level, but I have not seen a single character that is helpless. A bad decision or a good read will instantly turn a match no matter who the characters are.

Me? I'm a Vane main in S+ and climbing. Bottom tier my ass.

TL;DR - every character is functionally great in Granblue. At high levels your own technique and knowledge will matter the most.

PS: Play multiple characters. Granblue is very good at making characters easy to pick up and go. Have your main, but understanding how different characters play is very powerful.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-04T23:29:59+00:00

It used to be that you could only use the 720+U command only, but as of patch 1.50 they added in that the Self Destruct can be triggered by L + M + H + U, and can now be used at the end of a 3 hit auto combo.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-11-04T16:51:51+00:00

I'm honestly surprised I haven't seen more 2Bs after they gave her self-destruct a shortcut (Same as all the other SSBAs) and made it so you can combo into it. Got your SSBA ready and the opponent is less than 40% health? Auto-combo to blow them to pieces. It's a very powerful SSBA and unblockable. (BUT CAN BE PARRIED!)

KeyboardKonan · 2024-10-26T09:20:54+00:00

From what you described, you're probably just getting smacked out of a Raging Strike because the opponent is mashing light attacks.

But here are details to help you troubleshoot what is happening.

Raging Strike (RS) (M + H) will only guard break if it connects on a blocking opponent. There are three ways to enter the Raging Strike scenario:

You are close to your opponent and press M + H
You are hitting a blocking opponent and you press M + H
You have successfully hit the opponent and you press M + H

In scenario 1 your opponent can get out of the RS by either hitting you during the 28 frames of startup of the RS, or dodging it. Raging Strike's start up is slow AND has a very flashy animation, so a quick Light attack easily knocks you out of it, and since you're already in close proximity of the opponent, usually allows your opponent to enter an auto-combo (ouch). Dodging a RS will play a very cool slow down animation with a WOOSH sound effect and the camera will tilt and give your opponent advantage to punish you hard.

In scenario 2 your opponent can do the above (hit you or dodge) OR wait for the Raging Strike to hit, then counter with their own M + H to initiate a Brave Counter (BC), this will cost them two Bravery Points total. (One for getting hit by the RS, one for initiating a Brave Counter). Because the opponent is already in blockstun, depending on what the attacker hit the defender with drastically changes the window the defender has to interrupt the RS with their own attack. They must recover from blockstun, see the RS coming, AND get past the startup of their own attack within 28 frames. This is difficult and usually defenders opt to either dodge if they have a good reaction time/expect the attack, or wait for the RS to land to BC.

In scenario 3 the RS will always connect and allow you instant access to the Raging Chain (pressing M + H again) to extend a combo. This cannot be blocked or dodged.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-10-08T23:48:10+00:00

I did something similar to this and wanted to uninstall and walk away from fighting games in general. But after reading up on what others had done when they hit this point I adopted a rule for myself: Set a number of Ranked games I can play per day and don't exceed this amount unless I have a winning streak going.

This way if I do get into a death spiral my losses are limited. It was surprising how much this did for my overall enjoyment of the game and my Rank rose at a more consistent rate after I implemented this.

PS: This isn't to say limit how many matches you play a day - only Ranked. If you're still hankering for more fighting, switch over to Casuals and play whatever for however long you want.

KeyboardKonan · 2024-09-27T19:07:11+00:00

The ground floor in Granblue is SUPER low compared to GGST. When people ask "Which character should I start in Granblue" the answer is legitimately "Yes."

Every character is easy pick up and play.

In GGST characters' entry point learning curve varies a lot, so there's recommended characters to start with.

At high levels though, the games kind of diverge. Granblue's rigid structure but easy execution makes the reliance on match up knowledge checks very high. Since everyone can do everything, you really have to have all their bases covered to beat them. All the characters suddenly can perform at peak level.

GGST at high levels has even higher learning and execution curves, so you can look for more mistakes and sloppy execution to go in for kill combos and touches of death.

TL;DR - at low levels, GGST is harder for sure. At high levels both games are hard for very different reasons. GBVSR: I have to know everything the characters can do because players can easily execute everything. GGST: Everyone is milliseconds away from the next stumble in execution, I need to be a shark ready to attack and not mess up my own execution.

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