Vox Reaper overview & gameplay guide
Character specification
Character Trivia
Enter the demon: Vox Reaper. This street assassin is dispatched to hunt down and eliminate Kain R. Heinlein—and though the attempt is thwarted, he at least escapes with his life. Kain's bodyguard Grant, having realized the youth's talent and potential, decides to take him under his wing thereafter. Afforded a new lease on life, and intent on fulfilling his dying master's wishes (not to mention Kain's own grandiose ambitions), Vox stalks the bloody battleground that is South Town—a demon reborn.
Difficulty
MEDIUM star star
Fighting Style
Dark Karate + Assassination arts
Vox Reaper Gameplay Trailer
PDF Command List
Gameplay Overview
The spiritual successor to Grant from the previous game, Vox Reaper is a simple, straightforward rushdown character who wants to get in fast and brawl with his opponent.
He does this through a combination of advancing specials, normals with great reach, frame advantage, and cancelability, and so at any moment Vox can rush in and start going crazy with his numerous plus-on-block moves, including some that cost no REV. To capitalize on his plus frames and hard knockdowns, Vox employs a very scary strike-throw game that includes frame traps, spacing traps, a command grab (236K) and a host of great normals that keep the opponent from going very far while he’s going to work. When the brawling doesn’t work out and Vox has to play defense, he has a great DP (623P), strong kick normals and the ability to push opponents back out with his light confirms.
Vox is, however, missing some key things compared to other rushdown characters. The big one, however, is that his mobility without committing is mediocre at best, so winning neutral with Vox lives and dies on picking the right opening to barge in, or calling out whatever the opponent may use to keep him out. Notably, he has to do this with the smallest moveset in the game, limiting how tricky he can be with the advantage.
That’s not to say Vox is weak; far from it, in fact. Not only can he just barge in with his specials, his combo damage is well above average, even without using a super. If your style is getting in and going HAM, then don’t fear the Reaper, give him a try!
Pros & Cons
thumb_up PROS
- Plus Frames: Vox has a whole host of plus-on-block specials, chief among these being the C version of Gou Dangai (236P); a belligerent +3 on block long range lunging tackle that costs no REV gauge to perform which can also be breaked, which means opponents constantly have to be on the lookout for it, adding an immense stress factor when facing Vox in neutral. Vox also has plenty of Rev accel moves that grant him plus frames like the first hit of 214AC and 623AC dive.
- Wall of Buttons: On top of his own strong approach tools, Vox is also good at stopping the opponent from getting in on him. His kick normals and light Kokuen-Ryuu (214A) are difficult to navigate around for most characters and he can convert into massive damage should he score a Wild Punish with far D.
- Command Grab: While Vox's command grab is nothing to write home about in and of itself, having a command grab at all is a privilege in City of the Wolves, as it is both a good call-out tool against JD on offense and a great guard cancel option on defense.
- Corner Damage: With all the moves Vox can fit into a combo on a cornered opponent, plus a DP brake against opponents trying to escape, Vox can do catastrophic damage in the corner from most starters, especially off a Wild Punish or jump-in.
- Dive Kick: Vox has one of the best dive kicks in the game, which is extremely hard to contest and deal with. On counter hit he gets a massive combo which can make opponents hesitate when trying to anti air vox
thumb_down CONS
- Sluggish: Vox is not particularly fast and his advancing specials risk getting checked by a keen opponent or stuffed by random hitboxes, giving him insufficient tools to deal with opponents who like to retreat and play hit & run, which is a strategy that a lot of the strongest and most popular characters both enable and excel at.
- Simplicity: With no unique normal or command combo to his name, Vox has the smallest moveset in City of the Wolves, and is forced to creatively use what few tools he has to break defenses.
- Supers always side switch: All but one of Vox's supers force a side switch on hit, which might not be ideal depending on positioning.