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Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai
Author- [email protected]
Version 1

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Introduction

Hi, I'm Nnamz. Some of you may already know who I am from the work I've done 
on previous DragonBall Z games throughout the years. (My resume includes 
several characters threads in Budokai 2 as well as aiding in the Tier List 
development , several character threads in Budokai 3 as well as constructing 
the first Tier List and aiding in maintaining it and the Piccolo thread and 
FAQ in Shin Budokai as well as constructing the Tier List for that game as 
well) I'll take advantage of the boards early activity and start making 
character threads so I can help as many people as possible with this game. 
So I decided to start with my favorite and signature character in the Budokai
games, Piccolo, like I always do.

***SINCE THE MOVE LISTS FOR CHARACTERS WERE VIRTUALLY UNTOUCHED FOR RETURNING 
CHARACTERS, SEVERAL STRATEGIES FOR SHIN BUDOKAI PICCOLO ALSO WORK ON ANOTHER 
ROAD PICCOLO. So I'll simply reuse some of my old strats that apply. Sections
in which I'll use them will have a *** next to it's heading and be written in 
lower case, so Shin Budokai veterans who are familiar with Piccolo can skip 
those part. New sections that apply to another road will not have any ***'s, 
but will have a heading written in CAPITAL LETTERS so everyone will need to 
read those parts. If you are new to the series, new to Piccolo in this series,
or simply want to finally play this game at a higher level, read all 
sections.***

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PICCOLO'S MAIN ADVANTAGES


- Piccolo has more reach on his main combo starter then anyone else does in 
the entire game....again. In fact, it reaches about 3 times as far as the next
farthest reaching starter in the game. This is Piccolo's greatest strength in 
this game, it makes him virtually untouchable in the hands of skilled players.

- He is a very damaging character. I haven't constructed a combo list yet, 
however it's clear that most characters cannot exceed (or even come close to) 
3000 damage in one combo. Piccolo can hang with the big boys in this aspect as
well, getting over 3200 damage per combo.

- Piccolo is one of the few characters with the regeneration move in his 
arsenal. Most burst charge moves range from useless to harmful to you if you 
use it. Regeneration gives you a free 1500 health after activation. Hands down 
the best move of it's type in the game.

Now, with these huge advantages, one would think he'd have a game breaking 
weakness....

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PICCOLO'S MAIN DISADVANTAGES


- ..............

Like in Shin Budokai, Piccolo literally has no shortcomings. Nearly every one 
of his attributes ranges from "highly above average" to "brokenly above 
average". His lowest stat (scraping the bottom of the barrel here) would have 
to be his close range combat. However this is because it's his only area where
he isn't leaps and bounds ahead of almost everyone else. He's merely average 
here. His long range "SSS" chain can also be used as a mid range starter and 
gets the job done. He's not as effective as Vegeta, Krillin or Trunks (armor) 
but he's still better then most characters here and can hold his own close 
range.

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***Piccolo's main strategy

In this game, Piccolo's main combo starter is his "S" smash attack starter. 
Like all smash attacks, this attack is chargeable and nullifies 1 hit when
used. If used against a rush attack, it will get priority. If used against 
another smash attack, depending on the timing and range, one attack will win, 
or they will cancel each other out. But unlike all other smash attack starters
, Piccolo's "S" starter can reach someone who is halfway across the screen! No
other move comes close to reach like that. 

For a demonstration, go into training mode with Piccolo. Once you're in walk 
right up to his opponent. Now take 4 full steps back. (His legs coming
together, then opening again is counted as 1 step) Now use his "S" starter. 
It connects and can be comboed by adding on "SS" after it, charged or not 
charged. 

And to top it all off, the following two "S" after his initial "S" starter, 
track his opponent. So if your opponent decides to side step, side-dash, or 
Aura Burst side-dash away from the initial "S" starter, Piccolo doesn't have 
to stop and defend himself since the next the next hit will be telegraphed 
at his opponent as soon as it comes out. I've even managed to hit opponents 
who have tried to Aura Burst side-dash to avoid it. Sometimes they will 
manage to avoid it, depending on the timing of "S" thrown out and when they 
used them move.

ANOTHER ROAD TIP


With the inclusion of the guard bar, defending against Piccolo's offense 
becomes much harder and puts much more pressure on his opponent to try 
something risky instead of playing it safe. Your opponent can't keep blocking 
anymore, because along with taking the full damage of the move in recoverable 
guard damage, they'll lose chunks of their guard bar. Once it runs out, they 
can't block at all for about 4 seconds and will have to run away. Every try 
running away from Piccolo? It doesn't work....

Now, all that may make Piccolo seem invincible, but there are some ways crafty
opponents can find a way around it. While there will undoubtedly be more to 
come, I'll list the ones I've encountered.


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***Countermeasures against Piccolo


#1. Opponent uses perfectly timed Aura Burst side-dashes to avoid all 3 hit's 
in the "SSS" combo chain and rushes into your face before you could cancel and
start it again.

Counter: Well if your opponent actually manages to do this then they deserve a
pat on the back, since they not only have to time their moves properly, but 
anticipate your timing of when you'll let go of "S" as well. But if this does
happen don't attempt another "S" chain, since the "S" chain isn't very fast 
and they will get priority with a fast move if they are smart. Instead, go for
the nice, quick "PPPP" chain. If you land it as they are trying to attack you,
you can combo off it since "PPPPS-" is a combo chain. If they anticipated it 
and blocked it, the fourth "P" in the "PPPP "chain will blast them back into 
"S" range, back to square one. Now if your opponent anticipated it and dodged 
the fourth hit as to not get blasted back out of range, take a quick look at 
their ki. They just used a bunch of ki using Aura Burst side-dashes to avoid 
all of your "S" hit's and used even more ki dodging the "PPPP" chain as to 
avoid getting knocked by while blocking. If they still have enough ki to TC, 
they will attack, so defend yourself accordingly. If they don't, which they 
probably won't, they are in no position to attack you since if you TC their 
move they are at your mercy since they can't counter TC it back.


#2. Opponent fires a ki blast at you and catches you as you are charging an 
"S" chain, which counts as a counter hit and sends you into the air. Opponent 
then rushes at you to close the gap before you can get to your feet and is 
ready to attack once you stand.

Counter: This is the best method of countering Piccolo's range games that 
I've gone up against. The first and best thing I could say to avoid this 
situation is to not be predictable and always charge your "S" chains. Try 
just letting some fly out uncharged once in a while to avoid being predicted. 
You might even catch an over zealous opponent trying to blast you even if you
didn't charge it full, which in that case you'll auto deflect the blast and 
nail him with the combo starter.

But if you do get caught by the blast, the best thing you could do is pick a 
wake up maneuver. You have Back+Guard which will cause you to do a back flip 
and send you half way across the screen and safely out of range of their 
combo starters. Or you could use Up or Down+Guard which will make Piccolo 
sprawl off to one side or another as he's getting up, making your opponent 
whiff potential combo starting attempts.

But at this point it's guess work. If your opponent guesses right as you 
perform a back flip, they will dash at you as you are doing it, killing any 
distance you might have gained if they didn't. At this point there isn't much 
you can do besides defend yourself. If they guess right as you perform a side 
sprawl, they will hold guard and follow your sprawl until it stops then attack 
you. There isn't much you can do in this instance either besides defend. So 
the best advice I could offer is to vary your charged and non charged "S" and 
vary your defensive wake up games.


ANOTHER ROARD TIP

Activating Aura Burst Guard is NOT a good way to deal with Piccolo's "SSS" 
chain. If your opponent uses it, quickly fully charge one of your "S" and it 
will kill their whole guard bar.

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COMBO SECTION


As I said before, in terms of his platform, Piccolo was largely untouched from
the original Shin Budokai. So players familiar with him from that game can 
skip right ahead to the combos marked "NEW". Players new to Piccolo please 
read on the proceed to the beginners section.

I'm aware of the different skill level of players on this board and the last 
thing I want to do is to scare people away. So if you don't know the first 
thing about canceling, stunning and juggling in combos, please read through 
Goryus excellent Cancel Combo FAQ by copying and pasting this link 
http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/file/924588/42016

After reading that please proceed to the beginners section. If you are still 
having trouble understanding and need 1-1 help, ask and I'll provide it. 
Nobody should walk out of this FAQ not knowing how to cancel combo.

Legend:

R = Rush attack
S = Slam attack
> = Towards opponent
< = Away from opponent
/\ = Up on the D-pad
E = Energy Button
- = Cancel
* = Stun
' = Fully charge upcoming move
[AB] = Aura Burst
-[AB] = Aura Burst Cancel

***ALL COMBOS ARE PREFORMED ON GOKU AT BASE LEVEL AT 3 KI BARS***

Beginner Combos:
(Cancel knowledge not needed)

#1: S'S'S*, <S.>R*, <RRRR>E [Destructive Wave] 13 hit's, 1111 damage. Opponent
gains .9 ki bars

#2: S'S'S*, <S.>R*, RRRR<E [Maou Shot] 21 hit's, 1111 damage. Opponent gains 
1.2 ki bars

NEW #3. S'S'S*, <S.>RR^, /\EE [Hellzone Grenade] ***activate second E on 19th 
hit*** 24 hit's, 2254 damage. Opponent gains .7 ki bars

Intermediate Combos:
(Kara Burst Cancel Knowledge not needed)

#1. S'S'S*, <S.>R*, >RRRS-, <RRRRE [Destructive Wave] 17 hit's, 1241 damage. 
Opponent gains 1.2 ki bars

#2. S'S'S*, <S.>R*, >RRRS-, RRRR<E [Maou Shot] 25 hit's, 1246 damage. 
Opponent gains 1.5 ki bars

NEW #3. S'S'S, <S.>R*, >RRRS-, RRRRS-, /\E [Hellzone Grenade] ***activate 
second E at 26th hit*** 31 hit's, 2461 damage

Advanced Combos:
(Full combo system knowledge required)

#1. S'S'S, <S.>RE-[AB]S*, [AB]R*, >RRRS-, <RRE-. RRRR>E [Destructive Wave] 21 
hit's, 1459 damage. Opponent gains 2 ki bars

#2. S'S'S, <S.>RE-[AB]S*, [AB]R*, >RRRS-, <RRE-, RRRR<E [Maou Shot] 29 hit's, 
1478 damage. Opponent gains 2.3 ki bars

#3. <RRE-, >RRRS-, S'S'S*, <S.>RE-[AB]S*, /\E [Special Beam Cannon] 16 hit's, 
1717 damage. Opponent gains 2 ki bars

NEW #4. S'S'S*, <S.>RE-[AB]S*, [AB]R*, >RRRS-, <RRE-, RRRRS-, /\E [Hellzone 
Grenade] ***hold forward and R1, then right after Piccolo aura burst dashes 
forward....*** <E [Explosive Wave] 32 hit's, 3223 damage. Opponent gains 2.3
ki bars



That's it for now. As usual, expect a whack load of updates all the time.

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Special Thanks

CJAYC - For creating the n00b infested boards in which the depth of this 
series was created.

Dimps - For continuing this series.

Drunken Pilot, Zejitox, philff138, cml64, Brogeta, Goryus, Sjsman, vegeta1, 
kekken5 - and the rest of the users on the Shin Budokai: Another Road board 
who give a damn about the games depth.

Copyright 2006 Nnamdi Wosu