| Health | Double Jumps/Airdashes | Dash Type | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,500 | 1 | Hop, Two-way | |||||||
| Overdrive Duration (in frames) | |||||||||
| 100 – 90% | 89 – 80% | 79 – 70% | 69 – 60% | 59 – 50% | 49 – 40% | 39 – 30% | 29 – 20% | 19 – 10% | 9 – 0% |
| 180 | 210 | 240 | 270 | 300 | 390 | 420 | 450 | 480 | 600 |
Overall, not much has been changed for Valkenhayn, but it's been clear that several other characters have overshadowed him in some aspects.
Valkenhayn's Overdrive is Endless Wolf, which dramatically increases the Wolf Gauge's recharge rate. Note that this Overdrive cannot be activated in his wolf form.
Valkenhayn is an offensive, but frail character who focuses on pressuring the opponent relentlessly while switching between both of his forms to confuse the enemy and break their guard. He has a very solid neutral game with both forms: his human form grants him very solid poking normals that are safe on block, while his wolf form grants amazing mobility and the potential to bring consistent damage off of any hit confirm through complex management.
When he was first released as DLC, general consensus was clear: Valkenhayn was too powerful. With damage surpassing that of Bang's, mixups and pressure surpassing those of Litchi, and ease of use surpassing that of Ragna's, Valkenhayn cemented his position at the top of the BlazBlue: Continuum Shift tier list.
All that changed when BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II was released. With the gameplay shifting to a more corner-carrying metagame, Valkenhayn saw several nerfs. His wolf transformation was made slower and more risky, and he could no longer cancel into it from many of his moves. His potential damage was also heavily nerfed, now amounting only up to 6500 damage off of a 100% meter combo. The biggest nail in the coffin, however, was Nacht Rozen being changed. No longer an overhead, and already requiring strict timing to combo into it, his mixup and potential wolf combos were severely weakened. Players must now learn to use both modes in tandem with each other, not just using the wolf form as a means to an end.
Extend has given him several buffs in terms of damage output as well as his ease of use. He has new combo potential off of throws as he can now cancel it into Nacht Rozen instead of having to use it after a Rapid Cancel combo or when the opponent is crouching. While nowhere near as powerful as his BlazBlue: Continuum Shift incarnation, Valkenhayn has once again claimed the S-tier throne, albeit while being a more fair and balanced character than before.
In terms of overall weaknesses, Valkenhayn suffers from having fairly low vitality as a glass cannon, and his damage isn't too strong most of the time due to the proration a good number of his moves. He also is technical in terms of needing to manage his Drive, Werewolf. This allows him to transform into a wolf with a new moveset but with limited capabilities compared to his human form, and getting hit will transform him back. He also lacks decent mobility due to his dash being a short-ranged hop, while his wolf form is much more mobile (thus players need to access their options depending on the wolf gauge amount).
Last but not least, Valkenhayn also suffers from a lack of solid mixups while grounded. While his j.C is great for instant overheads due to its solid downward reach, he suffers from having to compromise his neutral game in order to apply pressure (though he has a fair amount of options to do so). His 6C is also rather slow for an overhead as well, and some characters may even be able to duck under it.Command list
Basic moves
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Throws
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Counter Assault
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Crush Trigger
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Drive
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Overdrive
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Exceed Accel
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Special moves
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Distortion Drives
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Astral Heat
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