Guilty Gear -Strive- Starter Guide - A.B.A
The following page is an overview of A.B.A's gameplay in the Guilty Gear series. She is a playable character in Guilty Gear Isuka, several iterations of Guilty Gear XX, and Guilty Gear -Strive-.
Overview[]
Guilty Gear XX[]
A.B.A. is initially a very slow character (she has no run, only a short-burst dash) with high defense and decent damage ability. Standard attacks have poor range and combo-ability, but this can be offset by the use of her follow-up sequence of Deletion → Ruin → Condemnation, which has good range and damage, and her projectile Avoidance, which has very little recovery time and can lead into the aforementioned sequence if the projectile hits at its farthest. Both of these can be Force Roman Canceled to recover faster, at which point it is a great idea to use her transformation command throw Bonding.
Sacrifice Mode idle (from Isuka).
The benchmark of A.B.A.'s gameplay is Sacrifice Mode (諸刃モード, Moroha Mōdo?, lit. lit. "Double-Edge Mode"), also localized as Double-Edged Mode[1] as literally translated or Moroha Mode,[2] a state to activate which she must enter by using either successfully hitting the opponent with the aforementioned Bonding, or by using one of her blood transfusion packets via Injecting.[3] (EX A.B.A is permanently in this state.) During this state, A.B.A's speed and attack power increase, but A.B.A herself takes damage in return each time she hits an opponent.[1]
The mode also improves her Normal Attacks while altering her moveset options (as she can then run-dash in this mode with decent running speed): she gains access to Blunder, Engorgement, Eradication, Judgement/Conviction (SA and FB versions), the Evidence: Destruction (Arrival) followup, and a power-up move in Altercation that further improves this state into "Goku Moroha Mode". Self-damage is set to 50% in Moroha Mode and 85% in Goku Moroha Mode, but this scales to A.B.A's defense modifier and guts, so it is never fixed.[3]
Coupled with a constantly depleting unique meter,[3] it lasts for a total of 80 seconds, but each attack that connects shreds a small chunk off the timer. At any point, A.B.A can use Bonding (on hit only) or Displacement (ie. 'Injecting' in Normal) to switch back to her default stance, regaining some of the life lost due to Sacrifice Mode. She doesn't regain any life if she automatically returns to Normal Mode due to its time limit.[1] What's worse, A.B.A when forced to exit the mode through normal time-out, is briefly left vulnerable as Flament Nagel burps up the blood (different from using her Displacement animation) which deft foes can easily take advantage of by landing a valuable knockdown on her that both wastes time and helps them setup even a free Instant Kill for those with such a fast enough IK in general.
Despite the double-edged nature, it is recommended that the player should transform immediately either via Bonding in a combo or simply using a blood pack. Due to health drain, one must learn to maintain long combos, or a strong smart offense, or both, to take advantage of the short-lasting Sacrifice Mode. It is possible to land two "Bonding" finisher combos in a row to switch safely between modes.
Originally in Isuka, A.B.A with Sacrifice/Double-Edge Mode active would still inflict self-damage upon herself if her attacks were blocked; this has since been remedied in XX Slash onwards as blocked attacks in either form of Double-Edge Mode no longer inflicted self-damage. Sacrifice Mode in Isuka would also last indefinitely and only would end if A.B.A chose to exit it herself; XX Slash also fixes this by adding the base 80 second time limit to its duration so that A.B.A cannot continue to reap its benefits for as long as she desires.
Visually, Sacrifice/Double-Edge Mode also changes up. In Isuka, the mode activates seamlessly and A.B.A chuckles to herself as she holds onto Flament Nagel in her idle stance. In XX Slash onwards, using either Bonding or Injecting (or having the time limit run out) has the screen to darken briefly when switching between both modes; A.B.A also instead hyperventilates in her idle stance.
In EX Mode, A.B.A is permanently in Double-Edge/Sacrifice Mode, as aforementioned, meaning that landing attacks will drain her own HP. Her prior standing 
and 
+ 
inputs swap around with her Ruin and Condemnation motions, respectively, and her old Ruin animation is reallocated to her standing 
(which gives her a very fast far-reaching jab confirm). Her standing no longer does two hits and thus can't vacuum in her opponent, but she also gains access to Avoidance to help zone. Bonding is instead reworked into a multi-mashing attack with its ender animation working as a followup input instead of a full-on hit-grab. Though to compensate further for her HP drainage, her Displacement is changed to instead instantly perform its Injecting animation right after, and heals 10% of her HP per use; this is converted into a Force Break in Accent Core along with retaining both Force Break versions of Avoidance and Judgment/Conviction. Her new Evidence: Eradication Overdrive while being one of the most damaging Overdrives in the game if it connects up-close, costs nearly all of her HP and 100% Tension to execute (which can put her in a compromising position).
Guilty Gear -Strive-[]
Details[]
Trivia[]
- When in Sacrifice Mode in Guilty Gear Isuka, A.B.A appears to be laughing maniacally, but starting in Guilty Gear XX Slash, she appears to be exhausted as she hyperventilates.
- One of her Arcade Mode cutscenes in Strive has Testament call love a double-edged sword, specifically using the word "moroha" in Japanese and likely alluding to A.B.A's prior mechanic.
References[]