From: Fury (buel@acomp.usf.edu) EARTHQUAKE MINI-FAQ by Fury (buel@acomp.usf.edu) I guess I'll try to put this the same way I put a Wan-Fu "thingy" a few months ago; in the form of a list of ideas. 1) Of course, you want to hit people with ducking ABs whenever possible. They will know this, and seek to jump at you whenever they can. The ducking AB is the move to do when someone is dizzy, unless you can do the super -- and even then, you may want to do a ducking AB anyway. It does monster damage and beats other moves. He also seems to come out of block stun surprisingly fast with it. 2) As I said, people will try to jump at you whenever they can. The LESS preferable way to deal with them is to meet them in the air. The MORE preferable way is to hop back and hit them as they are coming down. Your standing B is awesome -- don't forget about it. If someone jumps from way too far, the standing B will hit them while they are falling. From a little closer, a C flame is the ticket. If they're even closer, though, you should hop back. The corner is your enemy. 3) If you're in the corner, get out of it. Do this by hopping off of the wall, or by splitting and becoming the far Earthquake. Sometimes, you can run under someone. When you run under someone, your best bet is to roll very far and turn around with an AB. 4) If you have to jump, the pulldown AB is usually the best move, because it has great priority and can cross up. You can also go off the wall to come down at a strange, confusing angle. Kicking in the air may lead to accidentally "bouncing." If you are careful, the CD in the air is great, as is the C. Your jumping ABs (the blade, not the splash) reach far, but are hard to time. 5) Splitting and staying in the same place is a great, sneaky trick. You can often hit people with a ducking AB as they try to throw the false you. 6) The flame is a shield against projectiles. You want to use the old Kyoshiro trick of starting with C flames and using longer ones as the fight drags on, hoping that the enemy will plow into them. Occasional flames can be used to aid in approaching Ukyo. I hope I didn't make it sound like the flame is a great uppercut -- it isn't, unless the range is just right. 7) The super sucks. The right way to do it is as an uppercut -- you grab someone out of the air with it, not off the ground. Trying to do it to someone on the ground will get you hit. 8) The buzzsaw sucks. Avoid it. It punishes you for leaning on buttons. 9) The bounce sucks. However, it actually gets going in the air (listen for the "woo kuu!"), so it is one of the few moves that does block damage on the way down from a jump. Use it to kill, not to "tap off." 10) You must throw people a lot. They will try to stay on you if they're not running -- there will be no inbetween. You have to get them off you. Reach is your ally. 11) The standing AB is much better than it used to be. It reaches VERY far. Use it to irritate people, and then use standing As as fake standing ABs. 12) Like the ninja, Earthquake can vanish and drop from the roof. Like the ninja, Earthquake should avoid this move except a) At the end of a fight b) When you KNOW someone is going to throw a projectile c) To hit a Nakoruru that is always hanging on the bird d) Against a total novice I'm afraid that's all I have; there are no magic patterns, because Earthquake is now one of the most fair characters. -- Fury, at no extra charge ==============================================================================