Capitalizing on Tusk's staggers (setups inside)

Here’s some fun devastation I found with linking staggers:

Backstab (far), s.HP (far), Heavy Manual xx Light Skull Splitter/Light Shoulder/Medium Slide xx stuff
s.HP (far), Heavy Manual xx Light Skull Splitter/Shoulder/Slide xx stuff
s.MP (far), Medium or Light Manualxx Light Skull Splitter/Shoulder/Slide xx stff
cr.MP, Medium or Light Manual, etc

Landing staggers on Counter Hit allows for a stronger Skull Splitter follow-up than normal.

For fun:
Backstab (max range), s.HP (far) xx Instinct Cancel, s.HP (far) xx Shadow Skull Splitter xx Shadow Skull Splitter xx Nothing but Heavies xx Conqueror - 100% damage

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More

Spine splitter, crouching mp xx shadow skull splitter
Spine splitter, crouching mp xx light skull splitter
Heavy skull spliiter, standing mp, light skull splitter (you have to time standing mp so you don’t trigger the autodouble)

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Suggestion: what about editing the OP with all the possibilities? Could work like this:

Starting from:

a) c. MP->
1- shadow inmortal spirit (opener)
2- standing mk xx inmortal spirit light follow up (opener)

b) Spine splitter->
1- crouching mp xx shadow skull splitter(opener)

We can have a complete guide of all Tusk’s stagger applications

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I’ll make a diagram when I come back from work.

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ahahahaha, I love it. You made my day

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Ah yes the old ken flowchart… Xd

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I suppose it’s incomplete, but it’s a good start

Mmm there are some issues with this flowchart:

1-Once you land a special move (regular or shadow version) you are in the combo system, so your next move is breakabke. The flowchart should end there, because you managed the objective: confirm a stagger into a real combo
2-Chart 1: max range. From a max range c. Mp you cannot confirm into shadow skull splitter, shadow inmortal spirit is the choice here.
3- Aren’t chart 3 and 4 covering the same scenario?

well the chart shows every instance where you can chain one stagger into another stagger, hence why I call it “perma-stagger chart”. If it’s useful in combat or no, that’s another matter.

Indeed you are right. Well, in part. Let me clarify:

At 100% max range, NOTHING can confirm a c.mp. Not sh. inmortal spirit, or sh. skull splitter
At 95% range, only sh. inmortal spirit confirms
At 90%, both confirm.

So saying max range is confusing, because there’s different options at 90%-95%-100% max range.Difficult to assess since there’s pixels of difference.But I’ll modify that.

Chart 4 shows the follow ups after backstab. Since the stagger time is so massive in this move, it can easily link into the other three charts.

Something I just found: Tusk can perform a 43% damage unbreakable.

Backstab, st fierce punch, grab, skewer.

Skewer is breakable but the damage is already done

updated chart (I have not included immortal spirit because it does not stagger, the chart is only for staggers into staggers)

follow up

I tested against cpu and while not breakable, the grab can be teched.

Anyways, if the grab is not teched and you counterbreak successfully after skewer, the damage is 98%:

backstab (first hit, not breakable), st.fp (second hit, not breakable), grab (techable but not breakable), skewer (breakable, let’s assume we counterbreak succesfully), fp auto, shadow skull splitter, (both inside lockout, so not breakable), shadow conqueror ender:

98% damage in a one chance to break

43% unbreakable in case they don’t take the cb bait

Also, I forgot: shadow conqueror ender only adds 5% of damage over normal conqueror ender, so this combo is actually 93% damage with only one shadow bar.
And 85% damage without shadow bars at all (replace shadow skull splitter with heavy linker skull splitter

In fact, 2 shadow bars only add 13% of damage

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Posted this in the other thread, but since this is the stagger thread:

When Tusk deflects an opponent, the resulting combo is stronger than the same move on counter hit:
EDIT: When deflecting an opponent, the deflect attack itself counts as an opener, so I’m afraid I’ve lied to you all.
I’ve revised the below list accordingly.
DOUBLE EDIT: So now I’ve learned that deflecting an airborne opponent does not count as an opener, only grounded opponents.

  • cr.MP, Shadow Splitter, Heavy Manual xx Conqueror - 37%
  • cr.MP (CH), Shadow Splitter, Heavy Manual xx Conqueror - 39%
  • cr.MP (DF), Shadow Splitter (breakable), Heavy Manual xx Conqueror - 47% - 2 chance break
  • s.MP, Shadow Splitter, Heavy Manual xx Conqueror - 38%
  • s.MP (CH), Shadow Splitter, Heavy Manual xx Conqueror - 41%
  • s.MP (DF), Shadow Splitter (breakable), Heavy Manual xx Conqueror - 47% - 2 chance break
  • s.HP, Shadow Splitter, Heavy Manual xx Conqueror - 47%
  • s.HP (CH), Shadow Splitter, Heavy Manual xx Conqueror - 49%
  • s.HP (DF), Shadow Splitter (breakable), Heavy Manual xx Conqueror - 66% - 2 chance break
  • M Splitter xx Shadow Splitter xx Conqueror - 31%
  • M Splitter (CH) xx Shadow Splitter xx Conqueror - 35%
  • M Splitter (DF) xx Shadow Splitter xx Conqueror - 39%
  • H Splitter xx Shadow Splitter xx Conqueror - 34%
  • H Splitter (CH) xx Shadow Splitter xx Conqueror - 37%
  • H Splitter (DF) xx Shadow Splitter xx Conqueror - 47%

[Instinct]
cr.HP xx HP Conqueror xx HP Air Splitter (Manual) xx Shadow Conqueror - 33%

  • cr.HP (CH) xx HP Conqueror xx HP Air Splitter (Manual) xx Shadow Conqueror - 36%
  • cr.HP (DF) xx HP Conqueror xx HP Air Splitter (Manual) xx Shadow Conqueror - 53%

All of these are one chance breaks except for the deflect combos labeled as 2 chance, can be done anywhere, and deflect recaptures so it’s anti-air OK.

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Decided to give one or two of these a bit of a shot. Results of their first see is in the vid (along with the resulting salt Rash).

One thing I’m at a loss to do is when you have no shadow meter. If they’re in the corner a throw is enough to throw another ten to fifteen percent on the stagger. But outside of that …

I’m still learning alot but this makes hitting with those standing heavies really worthwhile.

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As for using the stagger without Shadow meter, you’re doing fine. If they’re close enough you can follow up with a s.MK or s.HK, otherwise you can go into LP Skull Splitter, shoulder charge, or slide to begin a combo.
Using the grab like you have been is also good, as it can’t technically be broken, but it can be teched.

Also don’t forget to go for those skewers for 5% more.

Skewers getting broken are leaving me at a massive disadvantage knockdown, contrary to those new breaker rules.

I’m starting to not do them because 5% is not worth giving my opponent a plate of free oki

Try this one= spinning stab, instinct cancel immediately, back up slightly, spinning stab, St hp, cr mp, St hk, <all manualls, shadow skull splitter x2, damage ender. Jump skewer if they don’t quick rise

Fyi in instinct after conquered into air shadow skull splitter you can run cancel into df+k, while opponent is being knocked across the screen and follow up.

You can actually turn you 98% into a full kill combo, after the counter breaker use heavy auto, light shoulder, medium auto, shadow skull splitter, shadow DP, it does 102% and so is a 2 chance escape (or rather DON’T escape) kill combo.

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