DoA 4 Guide: Helena

Posted by: -Radical-

Now following the Dead or Alive 4 character guide of Lisa, the Male player from Stockholm Magnetik; Aissani "Neji" Meziane gives the ins and outs of his character; Helena. Helena was first introduced into the Dead or Alive series in the 2nd edition, where she was searching for the person who killed her mother. She also inherited her fathers company known as DOATEC, which the ninjas are trying to destroy due to a powerful clone of Kasumi being made.

You can read this guide below, if you have any questions about using Helena feel free to put it as a comment, and Neji will try his best to answer it from his own knowledge.

---

The basic tecniques for Helena are the same as using Miss, which you can read here

Strategies to use Helena:

Neutral position
- P + K one of the best crushers of the game (dodge high attacks and some mid)
- Down forward P, a very good mid punch, stun easily, dodge high and some middle attacks too
- K + F the only correct move she has at distance, it's a high but it breaks the guard so you can hit first after
- Forward forward P, a safe mid punch, very useful when you are a short distance from your opponent
- PKK a fast move you can delay very easily, each time it forces the enemy to take a risk


Back
- Back Kick, a perfect mid kick launcher, nothing to add
- Forward forward, a low kick, best Helena's low move, after this move you can put yourself into Bokuho stance
- P + K, mid punch launcher (one more!!), interesting because it can touch the enemy at half distance
- Back P after this mid punch, you have an infinity of follow up (mid kick launcher, mid punch launcher, low punch) and you can delay easily too
- PP, it's the same but maybe slowly and more risked (mid punch, mid kick launcher, high kick guard break, low kick but it's very slow)


Bokuho Stance (low P+K)
- Low low, escape all the high and mid moves while you're in Bokuho, it's a huge advantage on the opponent, the only way to stop it is to do a low move. And even if you're touched with a low move, you won't be stunned.
- Forward kick, it's a true mid kick launcher, impossible to crush and hard to punish because it has a follow up after (a low kick that put yourself in Bokuho stance again), very efficient because it's a good way to vary because Helena has too many mid punches
- P+K, very fast mid punch launcher, dodge a lot of moves, but be careful it's punishable with a back grab
- Forward PP, one of her fastest moves, great for attacking/pressing during the stun, and it's safe
- Back Kick, the second (and one of the only) best low move of Helena, stun in neutral and allows you to stay in Bokuho to press well or to stay in neutral position


Grabs
In neutral position, Back quarter circle P+F is her best, after it you're in Bokuho stance in front of an enemy that is back, here again it's all about your mind game, either you hit first if you think he will try to hit (but he can stay in guard) or you grab if you think he will stay in guard (but he can try to hit you), you take a risk but its worth it because you make your enemy nervous and you force him to make a choice.

When she's back, she only has P+F, a grab that that put the enemy back instead of you, so you have an interesting mind game after it, with the same principles than back quarter circle P+F

In Bokuho stance, she only has P+F, but this grab is damn gorgeous!! It launch the enemy so you have a lot of choices, the best combo is Back PPK F Up forward K. But you can also do an "untechable" (a combo that prevents the opponent from countering) Down back K (stay in Bokuho stance by pressing low) F Back Kick (stay in Bokuho stance again) then you can either grab again to reproduce the situation endlessly (it only works if the enemy is blocking), or you can do P+K if he tries to hit (can't be counter and gives a free air combo). This grab is Helena's best strength, the reason why she's so good, use it with any moderation :)


Tactical Situation
Okizeme (hits you have to do if the character is on the floor) : Back K & Down Back P, you're back and you can press easily, mainly you have the choice between back grab (with another mindgame)/low sweep (stun evrytime)/P+K or Back K (2launchers).

In front of a wall, there's forward P+F/ If the wall is behind you, there's Back P+F, it does more damage than a classical grab thanks to the wall. For the Bokuho grab, if there's a wall behind you, the enemy will be more launched, so you'll be able to do Punch F Punch Punch Back K (keep low pressed to be in Bokuho stance) F Forward Punch Punch Kick, it's pretty hard to do, you can do another one easier Punch F Forward Forward Kick Punch Punch.

If you feel that the enemy wants to do a high or mid rising kick, you can dodge it by putting yourself in Bokuho Stance and then you do Low Low. After you can do the Bokuho Grab if you're fast enough, but it takes some practice!! If you feel he or she wants to do a low rising kick, you can try Up Forward Punch, you will dodge the low kick, and the opponent will be stun.


Combos
Contrary to Lisa, you can launch very often with Helena:

- The basic air combo is PP Back KP, always works on all the characters (even Spartan and Tengu)
- If you launch high enough, you'll be able to do Forward forward KPP, damages are better thant the first, and you'll have more chances to make the ennemy exploded on a wall.
- When you do a full critical (the highest level of stun), you can do, by being focused, quarter circle P F PP Back KP. But it doesn't work on heaviest characters.
- If there's a wall in front of you while the ennemy is launched, you can do PP Back K (press low to stay in Bokuho) F Forward PPK. Again, it doesn't work on heavy characters.