MELTY BLOOD Actress Again Current Code – Guide to H-Neco-Arc Chaos

A quick guide on anybody wondering anything about Neco-Arc Chaos in his Half Moon style.

Buttons and Moves

Note: Credit goes to MitsuruHype

For this guide, we will be using the numeric system. Use the image provided for reference.

Also, when a button has (IC) beside it, I’m merely using the UNIST terminology for holding down the button to charge it.

5A – It’s your jab. You’ll most likely never use this. Comes out the same time as 2A and does the same amount of damage. You’re doing this just to burn them with a cigarette which we will get into later.

2A – It’s your actual jab. You’ll be using this a lot because 2A out of pressure is super common. 4 frame jab btw. Eat your heart out.

5B – You punch people into the air. Good launcher but very stubby. You use this in the middle of combos to get them in the air specifically for damage.

2B – You slide in. You need this for combos. You can’t combo without this. You have very short limbs.

(IC)5B – Your arm becomes a crab claw. This is not a true anti-air it does extend your hurtbox. It is air unblockable. You use this when they want to chicken block.

5C – You kick them. You’ll never use this. Does good damage though.

2C – You claw their feet. This is a low. This is a sweep. You’ll be using this sometimes but it is slow and stubby so beware.

6C – You summon a large eldritch abomination out of your back. This is an overhead. You can do something after this actually but it depends on how far away you are.

3C – Your leg turns SEXY~ and turns into a large bug leg. Covers a large portion of the screen and good at keeping space. It does extend your hurtbox. These are all important things.

(IC)5C – Your leg turns into a dragon(?) and hits the opponent. This is a mid. This is a good button for creating space. It does extend your hurtbox. These are also all important things.

j.A – You poke at the sky. You’ll never use this button outside of a combo. Beyond super stubby.

j.B – You kick them. You’ll never use this outside of a combo. Beyond super stubby.

j.C – You strike an anime pose while you kick. You’ll potentially use this outside of a combo but not realistically.

j.2C – You smack the enemy down to the ground. You’ll potentially use this outside of a combo but not realistically. This has a soft knockdown effect(rather than a hard knockdown which is what you want).

236x

• 236A – You spit out a bird in a direct line in front of you. Good to end a blockstring on as it can catch a button and can make the opponent play Touhou rather than Melty(not really though).
  
• 236B – You spit out a bird in a direct line diagonally above you. It’s a quite shallow angle but it’s nice to have to threaten someone from jumping(but it doesn’t do that job well).
  
• 236B – You spit out a ton of birds in a direct line in front of you. Nice pressure tool to contest projectiles. Takes 100% of your meter to use.

214x

• 214A – You teleport backwards, leaving a black puddle behind. If the opponent is close enough, the black puddle will damage them and hit 3 times. This is one of your mix tools.
  
• 214B – You teleport in place. While you are off-screen, a bull will appear out of the ground and strike. This is one of your defensive options and mix tools. If it counter hits, you can combo afterwards.
  
• 214C – You teleport forwards, leaving a black puddle behind. If the opponent is close enough, the black puddle will damage them and hit 3 times. This is one of your defensive options and mix tools.
  
• 214D – Shield Special. You Armor 1 hit and then smack them with ya FACE… okay actually you just 5B with it but without being able to combo afterwards.

623x

• 623A – You jab out your cigarette with a flurry of blows. This will destroy your scaling but it’s one of your combo and defensive tools with how quickly it comes out. 5 frames. No invuln.
  
• 623B – You delay for a moment to jab out your cigarette with a flurry of blows. You use this in combos and nothing else. Still no invuln.
  
• 623C – You smash into them with a flurry of paws. It doesn’t do any damage, but if it hits, you break their meter. Comes out frame 5. Not a lick of invuln. Don’t use this in a combo btw, it GIVES THE OPPONENT AN INSANE AMOUNT OF METER WHEN YOU DO. Takes 100% of your meter to use.

22x

• 22A – Command Grab. You grab hold of them and let a flurry of birds loose from your sleeve. It gives you a hard knockdown for Oki. IT’S MAGIC~!
  
• 22B – Same Command Grab but instead you dash in for it.
  
• 22C – Command Grab Super. You teleport behind the opponent and grab hold of them, then they get swallowed by the gator from Resident Evil 2. Does super insane damage and gives you a hard knockdown for Oki. Takes 100% of your meter to use.

j.236x

• j.236A – You shoot lasers out of them eyes down towards the ground. Pretty nice zoning tool and after use, if you have yet to jump or air dash, you may do so(you get 1 DJC and 2 air dashes with this character).
  
• j.236B – You shoot lasers out of your eyes again at the same angle, but you deal out more hits. You’ll probably use this for zoning more. Has the same properties as j.236A but comes out slightly later.
  
• j.236C – You sweep across the arena with your eye lasers this time. Other than that, nothing different. Takes 100% meter to use.

j.214x

• j.214A – Neco Rocket. You go a short distance. Pretty nice. Use this as you see fit as it’s a good mobility tool, pressure tool and damage tool.
  
• j.214B – Neco Rocket again. You go a very huge distance fairly quickly. The version you will always use because j.214A is completely inferior in every single way.
  
• j.214C – SUPER Neco Rocket. You detach all of your limbs which also turn into rockets and increases the area covered by the Neco Rocket. Full Invuln during.

Combos

You’re… not comboing with this dude. He can combo but you most likely won’t find yourself in a situation where you can. But if you do, you use these:

If you want to gain meter:

• Damage: 2330
  
• Meter Gained: 54.9%
  
• basic beginner BnB. If you want a hard knockdown and a ton of meter, take this. Not a lot of damage compared to his damage combo, but you take what you want. You use this combo for meter and Oki set-up.
  
  #2: 2A>2B>2C>623B>j.B>j.C>j.AA>djc>j.B>j.C>j.214B
  
• Damage: 2336
  
• Meter Gained: 63.3%
  
• EXCLUSIVELY if you want meter. Basic Beginner BnB variant. You trade off your hard knockdown for going to a teleport mix and 8.4% extra meter. Think about your priorities.
  
  #3: 2A>2B>2C>5C>j.A>j.B>j.C>djc>j.A>j.B>j.C>j.214B
  
• Damage: 4108
  
• Meter Gained: 64.7%
  
• Advanved BnB variant(listed in the Damage section). You trade off your hard knockdown for 10.5% extra meter. Your decision(this can also btw be used to close off a round pretty nicely).

If you want damage:

• Damage: 3766
  
• Meter Gained: 44.4%
  
• Decent damage(compared to the rest of the roster). Hard knockdown.
  
  #2: 2A>2B>2C>5C>j.A>j.B>j.C>djc>j.A>j.B>j.C>Air Throw
  
• Damage: 3880
  
• Meter gained: 54.2%
  
• Advanced BnB. You have to delay 5C after 2C for only a couple of frames, otherwise you whiff, which isn’t too bad as it does put them in hard knockdown state and you can Oki.
  
  #3: 2A>2B>2C>5C>j.A>j.B>j.C>djc>j.A>j.B>j.C>j.214C
  
• Damage: 4436
  
• Meter gained: -52.8%
  
• Advanced BnB variant with super ender. You need at least 52.8% of meter to use this as you’ll get the last pieces of meter you need by the time you reach the super ender. Use this if you are desperate to close out a round.

If you catch the opponent with 6C overhead at close range:

• Damage: 3510
  
• Meter Gained: 37.1%
  
• You do this if the opponent rushes while you’re trying to space them out while they turtle. This doesn’t work at max range, keep that in mind.

If you catch the opponent with (IC)5C at close range:

• Damage: 2522
  
• Meter gained: 44.1%
  
• You do this if the opponent rushes while you are trying to space them out with (IC)5C. This doesn’t work at max range, keep that in mind.

And if you catch the opponent with counter-hit 214B:

• Damage: 4448
  
• Meter Gained: 53.2%
  
• You always go for this when 214B counter hits. No exceptions. Not even if you want meter. Use the time while they’re knocked down to get the hell out of there.

So… What’s the Plan, Boss?

Okay, let’s be real here, you aren’t playing him because he’s good. He can’t catch people easily and his mobility in the air is beyond bad without Neco Rocket which, while good on block, is super punishable on whiff. His hitboxes are super stubby aside from his (IC)s and his 3C. You’re probably picking him to meme on someone. But… how can you win with him?

• 1: You want to try your best to keep pressure off of you, however that happens. Whenever you get a combo, you’re looking to end it in a way to relieve yourself of the opponent’s presence in your face. Use your teleports wisely and try to catch the opponent off guard with them. Your best reversal option is sadly 214B which is something you never want to hear, but it does have its uses. It is actually one of his highest damaging combos if 214B counter hits and gives you a great reprieve when they are finally knocked down.
  
• 2: If you go for the knockdown in your combos or command grab, always try your best to super jump away from them and Oki with j.236B, then jump cancel out of it. DO NOT DOUBLE JUMP AWAY, JUST 1 SUPER JUMP. VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE YOUR OKI IS GUARANTEED SAFE. Remember you can always air dash out of your recovery on it also and go for a second eye laser to catch them dashing in.
  
• 3: If your opponent is turtling, don’t try to get close with 6C, but if they try to run in on you, use the provided 6C combo starter in the previous section. Stay away from them and either 6C or run in with 22B. You generally don’t want to use 22C despite its large damage as its tracking is quite poor and with 22B, they’ll be expecting a run in mix. If you hit 6C at a distance, you CAN combo with j.214B if you want it but I guarantee you, you won’t be happy with the results on that, so it’s overall better to leave them with just the 6C or follow it up with a 214C. That being said, you can j.214B after 6C to see if they’ll disrespect on wake-up because it generally ends with a 214B teleport Counter Hit.
  
• 4: Okay so the Mizuumi wiki says that Neco-Arc Chaos’s gameplan in Half Moon is to get them in the corner and soft knock with j.2C and pressure like crazy but that’s a BIG FAT UGLY lie. You are a shoto with very VERY bad rush qualities that come with being a shoto, so what are your other tools? Zoning. Zone like crazy. It isn’t good zoning, but if you can keep space and run away with a life lead, you need to do that. Now for some in general tips.
  
  • Discourage Dash-Ins with (IC)5C. Safe on block, if they don’t block it in time, you get a combo if they do dash in.
    
  • Discourage air dashing in with 3C. Safe on block and covers a large portion of the skies above you. You don’t combo off of it, but it is still a great way to space them out. That leg’s longer than NRVNQSR Chaos’s.
    
  • Discourage turtling with 6C and 22C. If the opponent tries to call out the 6C with a panic dash in, they’ll get hit and you can combo off of it.
    
  • Birds are your friend. Throw out birds like crazy once you create space between you and your opponent. I prefer 236B personally as it discourages jumping, but 236A can create a scenario where they will try to jump in on you and you can 3C if you feel like the distance is long enough for you to do so safely.
    
  • Teleport when the opponent’s nearby, don’t dash around them and definitely DON’T AIR DASH. Make them try to guess where you’re going. If they whiff a strong hit and you go for 214A or 214C, you can get a good combo off on them.
    
  • If you have them cornered and you’re in THEIR face, don’t go for fancy mixes. Stagger 2A. Just stagger 2A and if one of them hits, convert into any of your combos. Don’t give them a moment to breath. If you think they’ll shield, delay with low block.
    
  • Generally you want to go for your meter combos to get into heat and have your auto burst and healing to try to retain your life lead.
    
  • RUN LIKE A PANSY! It’s scummy and it’s dumb, but you probably won’t win out of raw damage. Get the life lead and run away with the game. It’s your best game-plan for this character.
    
  • Eye lasers are great. You can air dash after them and even double jump after if you haven’t used them all up to cancel the falling recovery. j.236A>air dash>j.236A>double jump>j.236A>Air dash>j.236A. You can literally end the eye laser chain at any time by using j.214B after any of the recovery cancels.
    
  • Neco Rocket is best used at head level. It’s low enough for them to attempt to contest it and fail at doing so, and it’s high enough to avoid nearly every attack they can throw out at you.
    
  • Good luck against AE, Satsuki and Miyako. Those are awful match-ups.
    
  • You absolutely destroy H-Red Arcueid. Low blocking avoids nearly everything she throws out and she struggles to get in on you.