Taokaka Guide - Guide for BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

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BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
For Xbox 360

Taokaka Guide by KOSRebirth

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~~ Table of Contents                                                         ~~
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----[00.00] Version History
----[01.00] Tao and the Guide
----[02.00] Pros and Cons
----[03.00] About Proration
----[04.00] Move Notation
----[05.00] Normals
--------[05.01] A Command Moves
--------[05.02] B Command Moves
--------[05.03] C Command Moves
--------[05.04] D Command Moves
----[06.00] Throws
----[07.00] Specials
----[08.00] Distortion Drives
----[09.00] Astral Heat
----[10.00] Combos and Ideas
----[11.00] Arcade Strategies
--------[11.01] Vs. Ragna the Bloodedge
--------[11.02] Vs. Jin Kisaragi
--------[11.03] Vs. Noel Vermillion
--------[11.04] Vs. Rachel Alucard
--------[11.05] Vs. Litchi Faye-Ling
--------[11.06] Vs. Iron Tager
--------[11.07] Vs. Carl Clover
--------[11.08] Vs. Bang Shishigami
--------[11.09] Vs. Taokaka
--------[11.00] Vs. Arakune
--------[11.01] Vs. Hakumen
--------[11.02] Vs. V-13 (Nu)
----[12.00] Credits and Copyright

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~~ Version History                                                   [00.00] ~~
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Version 1.0 -- Guide mostly finished, still lacking Arcade section
Version 1.1 -- Added small bit about move damage proration
Version 2.0 -- Added Arcade section.

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~~ Tao and the Guide                                                 [01.00] ~~
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BlazBlue and its predecessor Guilty Gear are among my favourite fighting games
of all time. As such I felt that I would try my hand at a guide for my personal
favourite character; Taokaka. Tao is essentially BlazBlue's May along with
channeling a little bit of Faust a-la her Kitty Litter Special which hurls
random items at the opponent. Though this is purely offensive rather than for
really setting up anything big. Some say she but she's fast as all get out and
her combos come out very quickly.

As this is my first guide this will be a work in progress as I am still myself
learning about Tao and refining my play style as I get more and more used to
pulling off her combos and I start feeling the flow better. This might not be
the best guide in the world but I'm going to try my hand at it and attempt to
keep it updated as I learn more about the resident catgirl and any input is
uch appreciated. Just contact me at [email protected] with
something in the subject line to let me know it isn't spam and that I should
actually read it. Now a little about Taokaka.

Height: 165 cm
Weight: 42 kg
Blood Type: O
Origins: KaKa village
Birthday: February 22
Hobby: Naps & Food
Likes: Friends
Dislikes: Twisting

A young catgirl of the Kaka tribe who live in the lower class part of
Kagutsuchi. Taokaka wants to get back the sky above her village that was sealed
off with an enormous plate by humans who came to the land and started building
a big city. She left her village in search of someone called Ragna after she
heard that you could gain a lot of money for defeating him.

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~~ Pro's and Con's                                                   [02.00] ~~
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Pros:

+ Extremely fast
+ Drive cancelling makes her very unpredictable
+ Can air dash twice and Drive cancel twice in the air
+ Fairly high damage output

Cons:

- Has the lowest Guard Libra at 80%
- No real anti-air

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~~ About Proration                                                   [03.00] ~~
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Proration is the damage scaler in BlazBlue. What it means is that after an
given attack the subsequent attacks will do less (or more in the case of some
attacks.) damage than their standard damage. There are two types: Initial and
Scaled Proration. Initial proration works like this; if an attack has say 60%
proration initially and your second attack does 200 damage. That second attack
and any that follow will only deal 60% of their normal damage, in the case of
that second attack 120 damage. Scaled proration takes into account not only the
initial proration of the first hit, but also the scaled proration of the first
and every attack thereafter. Meaning that you multiply all of the proration
scalers of the previous attacks to get the modifier for the damage to the
current attack.

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~~ Combo Notation                                                    [04.00] ~~
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I will be using the numerical notations for Tao's moves and just in case newer
players aren't aware or you have just never seen this notation before just take
a look at the number pad on your keyboard.

7 8 9
4 5 6
1 2 3

The number positions correspond to the eight directional inputs on the
controller with 5 being neutral. Any j's followed by a letter, (Ex: j.a) means
jump 'attack button'. It takes some getting used to but it's a very easy
concept to grasp once you've been exposed to it long enough. Anyway on to the
main event.

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~~ Normals                                                           [05.00] ~~
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~~ [A Command Moves]                                                 [05.01] ~~

5a - Standing Paw attack (165 Damage) - A decent normal, a fast attack that
combos into most of Tao's other attacks.

6a - Standing Upper Paw slap (320 Damage per Hit, 2 Hit) - One of Tao's anti-
airs, can cancel into a drive or jump cancel after either hit. Mainly used
to bait a burst or to get your opponent into another combo. Will not hit
low crouching characters or ones that push you back from Instant Block.

2a - Low Paw Swipe (165 Damage) - Quick poke that can only be blocked low. It
prorates a lot so you do less damage but it's very useful for initiating combos
and can gatling into any other one of Tao's moves.

j.a - Jumping Paw Attack (165 Damage) - Quick aerial paw swipe, can be used on
grounded characters to open up a combo or to get more hits after a drive loop
before ending with Cat Spirit 2.

~~ [B Command Moves]                                                 [05.02] ~~

5b - Standing Knee attack (340 Damage) - One of Tao's best standing normals,
very good proration. Has a very good frame advantage meaning you can counter or
clash most of your opponent's normals. Useful for mashers and obviously combos.

6b - Overhead Somersault (440 Damage) - Useful overhead, can cancel into her
Hexa-Edge super or just combo with Cat Spirit 2 for a few strikes. Can lead to
a very punishing combo should you counter hit with it.

2b - Slide Attack (210 Damage) - Fast, block low only normal. Can gatling into
stronger normals, extend combos or be used for throw gimmicks.

j.b - Aerial High Kick (385 Damage) - Haven't really experimented much with
this but seems to work as a first strike after starting a juggle and for
comboing into Cat Spirit 2. (Ex: 3a -> j.b -> 236bbb)

~~ [C Command Moves]                                                 [05.03] ~~

Almost all of Tao's C moves are chargeable, this doesn't increase their damage
but it does increase their guard crush values.

5c - Standing Claw Attack (550 Damage) - Delayable, can combo into almost any
other C normal, jump cancel, special, or drive attack. Not a very fast
execution but can be combod from a B normal fairly easily. (Like 2a -> 5b -> 5c
etc.)

6c - Forward Palm Strike (700 Damage) - Easily Tao's most damaging normal,
delayable, knocks opponents back for an easy drive loop start or comboing
into a Cat Spirit 1 or 3. All combo's started with this are highly damaging
but it's a big risk, most every character has something they can do for it.
(Ragna can ID, Tager can backdash 720.) I personally use this to start
drive loops and usually as a response when I see someone trying to pull a
heavy move that whiffs, (I.E. Tager's 2d if I know they're too far out) but
be careful with it.

2c - Claw Strike (575 Damage) - Delayable, can gatling into 3 or 5c, specials
or distortion drives. Like all of her C attacks it has a slow start up and
high damage.

3c - Low Paw Combo (390 Damage 2 Hit, 440 Damage 3 Hit) - A low, 3 hit claw
attack with a third hit that can only be blocked low. Can gatling into
drive, specials, or supers at any strike. It's also used to start up a
drive loop, one of her main BnB combos. According to some this can serve as
anti-air if you position right but I haven't experimented much with that.

j.c - Jumping Claw Strike (480 Damage) Basically an air version of 5c, I have
used it to continue an air drive loop before finishing up with a Cat Spirit
2. Useful for causing damage to an aerial enemy before finishing up with a
faster attack.

~~ [D Command Moves]                                                 [05.04] ~~

2d - Diagonal Forward Dance (650 Damage) Diagonally drive forward, used to
catch airborn enemies. Only applies on ground.

5d - Forward Dance (560 Damage) - Drive parallel to the ground. Common in drive
loops for gatling after a 3c.

4d - Backwards Pounce Dance (720 Damage) - Tao jumps backwards and then pounces
forward in an overhead drive. Timed correctly this can either catch airborn
enemies or bait a super. Slowest of all Tao's drives.

j.d - Air Forward Dance (570 Damage) - Just like 5d, except in the air. A lot
of drive loops have at least one j.d in them.

j.2d - Air Down Dance (600 Damage) - You drive down diagonally from the air,
used in taunt combos.

j.4d - Drop Down Forward Dance (680 Damage) - Tao plummets downward and then
drives forward. It has been said that v-13 (Nu) cannot hit Tao with her
standing drive during j.4d, that Tao will fly right over it.

j.8d - Air Diagonal Dance (580 Damage) - Tao does an aerial 2d, sometimes
interchanged with j.d in certain drive combos depending on how high the
opponent gets off one hit.

Drive Cancel - Tao has the ability to cancel any of her drives at any time
(Even after she has hit the opponent if you time it right.) these are done
by pressing A, B, or C.
A - Midair stop.
B - Tao turns ninja and passes through the opponent.
C - Midair Jump
6 - Bounce towards your opponent instead of ricocheting back.

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~~ Throws                                                            [06.00] ~~
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5b+c (1050 Damage) - Tao grabs a hold of the opponent and kicks them away.

4b+c (1100 Damage) - Tao grabs the opponent and slams them into the ground, if
no inputs are pressed then she does a pose holding her arm up in the air while
looking back at you.

j.b+c (1250 Damage) - Tao does a piledriver on the enemy from midair crashing
them into the ground.

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~~ Specials                                                          [07.00] ~~
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236a Cat Spirit One! (370, 330 Damage) - Press A for more hits. Decent thing to
end gatling combo's with, fairly easy execution.

j.236b Cat Spirit Two! (380 Damage) - Press B for more hits, used for ending
air drive combos.

236c Cat Spirit Three! (560, 580 Damage) - Press C for more hits. Like all of
her C moves this is slow, highly damaging, and possibly a big risk. Block high
only.

214a Kitty Litter Special! Diagonal (216 Damage) - Tao throws either an apple,
pillow, or bomb at the enemy. Pillow and Bomb hit twice.

214b Kitty Litter Special! Forward (216 Damage) - Tao throws either a puppet,
fish bone, or baseball that will fly from one end of the stage to the other
unless you get hit.

214c Kitty Litter Special! Heavy (288 Damage) - Tao throws a bowling ball that
travels across the floor of the stage.

22c Slashy-Slashy! (80 Damage per hit) - Tao crouches down and attacks with the
nails from her paw, press C for more hits.

214d Cat Jump! - Tao leaps forward allowing for some great mix up opportunities.
You are vulnerable to counter hit through the entire leap though.

j.214d Sticky Kitty - Delayable, at the end of the screen Tao jumps and sticks
to the wall as long as you hold D. End by letting go of D to drop straight
down, useful for getting enemies out of corners if correctly placed, or to
confuse enemies by landing high and keeping them in the corner. If ended
with 6 Tao leaps off the wall.

Charge 2 -> 8d Trick Edge! (780 Damage) - Tao slides backwards, moves
diagonally up, then drives straight forward. Press 2 or 4 for an extra
move.

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~~ Distortions                                                       [08.00] ~~
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Tao's distortion drives are her only reversals (other than throw counter if you
can manage it.)

236236d Cat Person's Secret Art: Hexa-Edge (450 4 Hits, 1900 5th Hit) - Tao
slashes for 4 hits before knocking the opponent back on the fifth.

214214c I'mma Beat the Crap Outta You! (2957 Damage) Tao pounces on the enemy
and claws them for an impressive 40 hit combo ending with her sending them
flying. Being a throw it is unblockable (I don't believe you can tech out
of this like Tager's Gigantic Tager Driver or Genesic Emerald Tager Buster)
and you can gatling into it as well as snatch opponents out of the air.
will not hit crouching enemies.

236236b Almost Becoming Two! - Tao gains a doppleganger for a short time.
According to many of the boards I've read, damage is halved in this mode
but proration is locked at 90% (Meaning you get better damage off of all
moves in the combo) so it's a trade off. You can actually get much more
damage like this if you can get you opponent into combos because of the
fixed proration.

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~~ Astral Heat                                                       [09.00] ~~
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As with all Astral Heats there must be three conditions met before it can be
used: It must be the final round of the match, you must have 100% Heat, and the
opponent must have no more than 20% of their HP remaining in order to perform.

Charge 4 -> 1 -> 2 -> 8d Attack Meow Pow! (Instant Kill) 100% Heat Required,
Tao jumps to the edge of the screen and dashes forward. The scene then switches
to a strange field with Tao and various other Kaka bouncing the opponent
around the screen ending with Tao leaping up and slashing.

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~~ Combos and Ideas                                                  [10.00] ~~
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This section is where I will be putting the combos that I have worked out, or
have seen on other forums and have tested. (Credit given where needed.) The
first few are from the limited editions bonus disk

c -> c -> 236aaaaa -> 6d

9c -> c -> c -> 236236d -> 66 -> c (Requires 50% Heat)

4b+c -> 236cc -> 3d~3 -> c -> 9d~9 -> 236bb -> c -> 9d~9 -> 236bbbbb

6c -> 236cc -> 3d~3 -> c -> 9d~9 -> 236bb -> c -> 9d~9 -> 236bbbbb

c -> 9c -> b -> 3c -> 6d~6 -> c -> 6d~6 -> a -> (c -> 9)x2 -> c -> 236bbbbb

236236b -> 66 -> b -> 66 -> taunt -> b -> 66 -> taunt -> 236236d (Requires 100%
Heat)

214214c -> taunt -> 214214c -> c (Requires 100% Heat)

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~~ Arcade Strategies                                                 [11.00] ~~
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In this section I will be putting my personal strategies that I used for going
through Arcade mode on the Hell difficulty with Taokaka.

~~ Vs. Ragna the Bloodedge                                           [11.01] ~~

I haven't fought too many Ragna in Arcade mode but the strategies for normally
fighting him should still apply. Watch out for Inferno Divider as it can be
used out of many of his attacks and interrupting in your combos if he's quick
about it. Any of his drive attacks can be annoying as they leech some of your
health and give it to him.
	
~~ Vs. Jin Kisaragi                                                  [11.02] ~~

This guy gave me some problems, mostly the freezing moves and the fact that his
crouching upslash has invincibility frames for most of the attack. Meaning that
you could think you're interrupting with a Hexa-Edge only to have him take no
damage and whack you into the air causing you to lose a combo opportunity and
50 Heat. It can be difficult to do but if you can get him into a drive loop you
are set for some good damage. This one isn't as bad as it could be because of
Tao's ability to crawl under most all of the game's projectiles by holding 3.
If you can get it off a 6c -> 5d -> (j.c -> j.d) x3 -> 236bbbb will give very
good damage though the Cat Spirit 2 at the end whiffs a lot because he recovers
too quickly. If you aren't throw countered or countered by the upslash then 6c
despite the slow startup is a rather good move. The back throw (4b+c) would be
a good choice too if it wasn't for the ice moves he has up close.

~~ Vs. Noel Vermillion                                               [11.03] ~~

The main thing to remember here is to stay out of her drive attacks. Getting
caught in a combo of these makes for some pretty heavy damage. As always watch
for openings and punish accordingly. Definitely use Tao's speed to your benefit
in this fight as most of your attacks (Other than the C attacks) will usually
beat out her moves. Delayed right a C attack can catch her in the recovery from
her attacks and can lead to a pretty damaging combo string. All in all a pretty
simple fight.

~~ Vs. Rachel Alucard                                                [11.04] ~~

Rachel isn't all that hard either, avoid the frog and lightning rods and get
quick combos off on her and she should drop fairly quickly. Most drive chains
will work on her as well as most ground combos though I did have some trouble
getting the full drive chain to connect all the time. She may be rather fast
but if you get the first strike in you can usually go the full length of a
combo without much trouble.

~~ Vs. Litchi Faye-Ling                                              [11.05] ~~

This one is really annoying, throw counters help a lot and a well placed Hexa-
Edge can be a lifesaver. Her reach is insane, being able to beat out Tao's
drive attacks with a kick or that pole of hers. Catching her in her breakfall
is a really good way to keep the pressure on her so you don't wind up on the
receiving end of a corner juggle. Keep her in the air as much as possible and
possibly play a bit more defensively than you normally would here. Switching
between low and high attacks is a very effective way to start combos as she has
a little bit of trouble stopping the changed up attack. That being said 3c is
very good at this being that unless she's already guarding low your third hit
(The one that is block low only.) will almost always get through leaving you
a nice opportunity to start a drive loop on her. Also if you can manage it a
Hexa-Edge teamed with catching her on her breakfall after the wall bounce works
rather well.

~~ Vs. Iron Tager                                                    [11.06] ~~

After much working and many frustrating fights I have defeating Tager down to
almost a science. The main point here is to keep him off of his feet as much as
humanly possible. This means 6c and anything else that will pop him into the
air are your best friends here. A method that has yet to fail me is to move to
the other side of the screen from Tager and wait for him to perform his 2d move
(The tackle where he covers himself in that yellow energy.) and hit him with a
6c. From there it's really up to you as to where you take the combo as you can
do almost anything from this position. Another is to hit him when he breakfalls
as after the flip he is vulnerable again and cannot stop your attack. The only
thing to watch out for is getting throw countered by Gigantic Tager Driver or
at 50 heat by the Genesic Emerald Tager Buster as these do very big damage.
Other than that Tager shouldn't have an answer for any of your moves if you
time it right.

~~ Vs. Carl Clover                                                   [11.07] ~~

This wasn't too hard of a fight for me, as long as you don't forget where his
puppet is and keep some fairly good pressure on him he should go down rather
easily. His size was the most annoying part, when most of my drive loops would
catch any other character they would whiff against him. Other than that and the
puppet occasionally catching me in the startup of a combo nothing really else
to say about this one.

~~ Vs. Bang Shishigami                                               [11.08] ~~

First off watch out for his parry moves and try not to let him get too many
seals for his Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan. Quick combos are your friend here, get in, hit him
quick and get out. Don't get greedy and give him chances to parry your moves.
If you see him about to and have enough time to do so a quick drive
interrupting your combo will usually give you enough time before the actual
attack to hit him and stop it. A 2b into a 2c or 3c is usually fairly good at
catching Bang off his guard.

~~ Vs. Taokaka                                                       [11.09] ~~

Whether or not it can happen I'm not sure but I have yet to run into a Tao in
Arcade mode.

~~ Vs. Arakune                                                       [11.10] ~~

This fight can get real old real quick if you get cursed, so try to keep that
to a minimum if at all possible. In the event you do get hit with Arakune's
curse, try to hit him as fast as humanly (Catly?) possible to dispell it. If
you don't you will find it getting harder and harder to find an opening to do
so. The main thing for this fight is to find an opening and punish Arakune for
leaving it. Keep the pressure on him and he won't have the chance to curse you
leading to a pretty easy victory. (Provided you don't get cursed and make
things a hundred times harder for yourself)

~~ Vs. Hakumen                                                       [11.11] ~~

This guy can be pretty annoying because of his high defense and his insane
damage, but don't worry. All is not lost when you reach the inevitable ninth
fight with the man in the iron mask. (At least I think it is inevitable, I have
yet to not fight Hakumen in Arcade mode as the ninth fight.) All you have to do
is not getbaited into his counters and avoid that sword as much as possible.
Hakumen is a damage factory but he is a little slow in some of the startups, if
you can catch him at the end of one of his counters or swords swipes and don't
get too greedy you should pull some pretty good damage. Don't be close to him
more than you have to and remember that you can cancel drive attacks at any
time so you can avoid a counter you might run into.

~~ Vs. V-13 (Nu)                                                     [11.12] ~~

This will probably be the most annoying fight you will ever face. (Aside from
the one with Arakune if you let him curse you.) Nu has extreme power, her range
is insane and she is pretty fast. As much as you want to avoid the swords up
close it is best you stick as close to her as possible and use fast combos to
keep the pressure up on her. For this Cat Spirit 1 will be your best friend.
Most of your problems will come from the fact that she can juggle you with
little to no effort and take about half your health if you're not careful. I
ended up having to forgo the drive chain entirely here and just pray that I
could get her trapped in a corner and combo the everloving out of her. One way
for some pretty good damage is to get Nu into the corner however you can, then
Cat Spirit 1 until you are almost outside of your claw range, then follow up
with a 5b overhead flip, this should hit Nu unless you waited too long from
which you should be able to keep going with another Cat Spirit 1 restarting
the loop.

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~~ Credits and Copyright                                             [12.00] ~~
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~ BlazBlue Zetaboards for move damage and proration info.
~ Arc System Works for making such an awesome game.

Copyrighted to Matthew Taft(KOSRebirth) on GameFAQs, this guide is only to be 
posted on GameFAQs. It may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for 
personal use. It may not be placed on any website without my consent. Use of 
this guide in whole or in part without that consent is prohibited.

If you would like to post my guide somewhere else then simply email me at
[email protected] saying so.

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~~                                       END                                 ~~
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