Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising is a fighting game developed by Japanese studios Arc System Works and CyGames. A sequel to Granblue Fantasy Versus, the game has players engage in combat through ranked and casual online matches.
One of the characters players can get is Katalina, and in this article, we give you a complete guide on Katalina in Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising.
Complete Guide On Katalina in Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising
Katalina isone of 28 characters you can play in the paid version of Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising. She’s one of the more beginner-friendly characters with a solid kit and lends herself well to any fighting style.
As an all-rounder, Katalina’s approach to battle will depend heavily on her opponent. With a rapier that gives her decent range, she thrives most when cornering opponents and dealing maximum damage. She has a great balance of defense complementing her offensive attacks.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Katalina has anti-aerial moves that can take down jumping opponents mid-air, shutting down their attacks and making mobility difficult.
All of her buttons are also excellent poking and whiff-punishing moves for pressuring opponents into a corner. These are great for attacking opponents at range.
Katalina is particularly at an advantage because her reach is faster and longer than most characters’ normal range.
Due to her extended range, Katalina can also force wall bounces from a further distance. This can be further improved with Rush.
Katalina can also use fireballs after a close-range combo and medium attack to further extend combos and approach the enemy. She also has great high and low attacks to intercept enemies and inhibit their mobility.
She can use microsteps to pressure her opponent and inflict punishing ranged damage with her heavy attacks.
As a knight, Katalina has a shield that she can use for defense and armor. Her unique skill is the Light Wall wherein she raises a shield and begins charging for as long as you hold the U button. The shield can absorb 1 hit of armor and any damage taken is reduced by 40%.
When the U is released, Katalina steps forward with a powerful slash, releasing the force gained by the charge. The strength of the slash will depend on the charge accumulated. There are 3 levels of charge possible.
Lastly, Katalina is above average when it comes to dealing damage in the game. All of her pokes convert to okizeme at any range and extended combos hit pretty hard compared to most characters.
Cons
For all of Katalina’s strength against aerial attacks, all of Katalina’s pokes and fireballs are susceptible to low pokes and other low-profile moves. She has no real way to deal with this so Katalina is prone to getting low-profiled.
Against characters with better Neutral than she does, whiff punishment and footsies will be important.
Katalina also lacks the ability to change her fireball timing. Players won’t be able to time this with charging unlike with other characters, which lends to Katalina’s more fast-paced fighting style.
She also only has three special moves, so committing to an EX move is more high stakes as opposed to the rest of the character roster.
General Tips
Katalina excels in spacing when positioned at the tip range of her effective f.M. This distance allows her to utilize 2M for roll prevention and leverage f.H to establish a defensive wall.
Frozen Blade is the tool for controlled spacing at greater distances, while her overall projectile zoning is generally below average.
Players will want to gradually wear down opponents and maneuver them toward the corner. There, Katalina capitalizes on the increased damage threat to assert control.
Katalina’s sweeping moves are also some of the bests in the game. Use this to your advantage to pressure your opponent and keep them on the ground.
She also has fireball moves for controlling the space and setting up combos.
Normals
Katalina’s Normals synergizes very well with each other. Use her quick M buttons for quick pokes and counter-poking.
Beginner Combos
Katalina can do great beginner combos. These will work against almost every character in the game and be performed from most positions in the match area.
Close Range
Katalina can end close combos with either 214L, 214M, or her DP. Her DP will do more damage but will be harder to execute.
Poke Conversions
This is her most common combo. When playing Katalina, converting to Enchanted Lands is a core skill. If you’re confident with playing slower cooldown combos, she can also execute her 2S.
Hard Knockdowns
Katalina relies a lot on her Enchanted Lands for knockdowns, so spending a cooldown for a hard knockdown will be a high investment play for her. Save Enchanted Lands for when the opponent is pressured into a corner for better odds.
Links
Use her to 2L/c.L and follow up with c.M, or 236H to f.L. All her light attacks link well into each other for fast attacks. Use her light chains to pressure opponents and end with a core medium (c.M) to end the chain.
Core Combos
Katalina’s pressure will often force opponents to go into a crouch block. Katalina’s core combos will work best against characters with a selected weight and hurt box type.
236H should only be used to extend combos when the opponent is crouching, as 2M > 214L is much more consistent than the equivalent combo from f.L.
In her block strings, Katalina commonly uses f.L > 2M, which not only serves as a standard sequence but also functions as a frame trap. This setup makes it notably easy for her to confirm a special move.
For a Close Range Low Confirm, Katalina relies on her light buttons to apply pressure because her c.M lacks good frame advantage and range. Unfortunately, at max range, f.L doesn’t combo into 214L, so she has to use a cooldown.
Corner Extensions
Katalina relies on 214H as her primary launcher, but its cooldown limits her ability to secure distant knockdowns. In the corner, though, 214H provides a useful wall bounce for strategic play.
Managing cooldowns lets her maximize damage.
After the 2H > 5U combo, using 623L sets up a safe c.L meaty with a c.M frame kill. Alternatively, 623H brings more damage, an extra meter, and a traditional safe jump.
Here is a list of all of Katalina’s enders:
623L (okizeme)
623M (damage)
623H (okizeme/meter gain)
236236H/236236U (closing rounds)
Specialized Combos
These combos will require advanced knowledge and familiarity with Katalina’s kit. Executing these will require specific match conditions.
If your dash is fast enough, the first combo can allow for a left/right mixup.
Miscellaneous Rush Uses
Anything > 6MH > 236H
Anything > 6MH > 214H > c.H > ..
Her standard ender choices usually revolve around Rush, but 236H stands out. Just like in the first game, this move grants a significant advantage on hit.
It enables Katalina to dash and position opponents for a 214H wall bounce from almost any distance. This is effective against all characters except Charlotta, Lancelot, Metera, Soriz, Djeeta, Uno/Anre, and Seox.
It lasts long enough to loop cooldowns if started with 2L > 2L > f.L and ended with 623H, however, any other combo ender will work here. Ending with 623H also gives an easy safe jump with c.Lw > 9j.U, but that’s only helpful if Kat isn’t in meter cooldown.
And that’s everything you need to know about Katalina. We hope that this complete guide On Katalina in Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising is some help as you figure out which characters suit your play style best. Drop your thoughts down in the comments below and let us know which character is your favorite so far!