| Model Number: AGE-2DH | Pilot: Captain Ash (Asemu Asuno) |
| Cost: 2500 Hp: 620 Transform: O Form Change: X | |
The Gundam AGE-2 Dark Hound is a modified version of the Gundam AGE-2 Normal. After the AGE-2 was heavily damaged by Sid in combat, the Earth Federation salvaged both the AGE System and the AGE Device, while the Space Pirates Bisidian took the remains of the suit and it’s pilot, Asemu Asuno. Choosing to hide the fact that he was alive he took on the identity as Captain Ash, and remodeled the suit as the Gundam AGE-2 Dark Hound.
Mobile Suit Ability Summary
| Ranged | Armament | Ammo | DMG | Notes |
| Main | DODS Gun | 50 | 6 ~ 108 | Beam Machine Gun |
| Charged Main | DODS Lancer (Throw) | – | 90 | Strong downward-tracking projectile |
| Sub | Shaldoll Rogue Assist | 2 | 55 ~ 132 | 5AB: Fires 3 BR shots |
| G-Exes Jackedge Assist | 80 | *AB: 2 consecutive slashes | ||
| Special Shooting | Beam Saber (Throw) | 1 | 9 ~ 82 | Boomerang |
| Burst Attack | You.. Idiot! | – | 300(F)/279(E & S) | Melee Rush combo |
| Melee | Input | DMG | Notes |
| 5B | 5BBB | 188 | Standard melee |
| 5B(B)~8B | 113 ~ 160 | Launches the enemy | |
| 5B(B)~2B | 217 ~ 234 | High damage | |
| 8B | 8BB | 124 | Beam Saber stab |
| 4/6B | 4/6BB | 127 | 2-stage melee |
| 4/6B~8B | 115 | Same derivative as 5B~8B | |
| 4/6B~2B | 219 | Same derivative as 5B~2B | |
| 2B | 2B | 100 | Counterattack with a jump kick |
| CC8B | CC8BB | 168 | Standard slash-through for a CC8B |
| BC | 5BC | 10 | Melee Property Anchor |
| 5BC~A | 121 | Derivative electric shock, hitting A repeatedly will cause the target to explode | |
| 5BC~2 | 0 | Pulls the enemy towards you | |
| 5BC~B | 105 | Pulls the enemy towards you and kicks it | |
| 2BC | 141 | Spins the Anchor, has shooting guard |
Mobile Armor Ability Summary
| Ranged | Armament | Ammo | DMG | Notes |
| Main | Beam Vulcan | 60 | 20~113 | Forced Down after 7 hits |
| Charged Main | DODS Lancer (Throw) | – | 90 | Transforms out to attack with the MS mode CSA |
| Sub | Shaldoll Rogue Assist | 2 | 132 | Shares Ammo with MS Mode |
| G-Exes Jackedge Assist | 80 | |||
| Special Shooting | Hyper Boost | – | – | Dark Hound dashes towards the enemy. Cuts Tracking |
| Melee | Input | DMG | Notes |
| B | B | 100 | Changes back to MS mode and slashes |
| BC | BC | 113 | Charge into the enemy while in MA mode |
| BC~B | 122 | Drills the target | |
| BC~A | 214 | Fires a beam barrage |
Cancel Routes:
A: AC
CSA: *BC
AB: A, *BC
AC: AB, *BC
MA-A: AB, AC, B, *BC
MA-AB: AC
MA-AC: BC, MS-B
5/4/6B after the 1st or 2nd stage: BC(any)
Overview
The Gundam AGE-2 Dark Hound is a transformable, close-range Mobile Suit that comes with a Beam Machine Gun as its main weapon. It has good maneuverability and a good turning rate, and has easy-to-use options such as the boomerang, anchor, and counter for simple yet effective self defense. In addition, it has a freefall cancel route that forces the unit to face forward allowing it to fire its Main while landing. AGE-2DH is equally proficient at escaping as well as directly intercepting incoming enemies, and it is a unit that brings to life the phrase, “the best offense is a good defense.” It’s also exceptional at keeping one target occupied for long periods of time.
The reload times and general availability of its tools is not bad, and its beam machine gun fires projectiles that cannot be erased. It’s a potent tool for giving enemies no room to breathe. Playing Dark Hound at the midrange like a shooting-focused all-rounder is impossible, so it’s important for Dark Hound players to not get caught up in playing a passive shooting battle. Dark Hound’s tools also do not down enemies quickly, and you will normally have to use a variety of tools to get the job done. For this and other reasons it is not suited for 1v2 situations, so if you find yourself being double locked it’s recommended that you just make like a banana and split.
Among its 2500 cost brethren, Dark Hound’s self-defense capabilities are best in class. It is recommended as an introduction suit to players that want to pick up machine gun-type units as it has good landing cover, mobility, and overall tools. It’s a great unit for supporting a teammate in the neutral, and occasionally forcing favorable 1v1 situations. Show those landlubbers how crafty a Pirate can fight!
Mobile Suit Ability Details
Ranged Weapons
Main: DODS Gun
A Beam Machine Gun that fires a pair of projectiles simultaneously. It fires 3*2 shots per click, and up to 10*2 on a button hold. Reloads in 5-seconds on empty. 8 shots (or 4*2) need to hit the enemy for it to be staggered.
This machine gun has superior performance with projectiles that track very well and travel quickly. The shots also stagger an enemy easily compared to other machine guns, however it can be hard to score consistent knockdowns due to it having no reliable cancel routes in the mid range. At closer ranges you can cancel into your boomerang, or use the Second Impact technique to cancel into your CSA.
Charged Main: DODS Lancer (Throw)
DH Verniers and throws its DODS Lancer at the enemy in a style similar to Red Frame’s CSA. The Lancer travels in a parabolic arc and has frighteningly-good downward tracking. 2.5-second charge time.
The charge gauge carries over into MA mode, so even if you hold down the A button while transforming DH will retain its charge and continue charging.
The charging time is slightly long but merely firing your machine gun on enemies does not create enough pressure on the enemy, so use this together with your assists when in the rear guard position to throw a variety of projectiles at your foes. Learn to charge this while firing your machine gun. This is also one of your highest single-hit damage sources, so you can use this as a quick combo ender.
Sub: Shaldoll Rogue / G-Exes Jackedge Assist
“I have friends that I can rely on”
Calls out Shaldoll Rogue on 5AB or G-Exes Jackedge on *AB. Reloads in 10 seconds on empty. You can cancel from this into Main to freefall. Upon summoning, AGE-2DH will face towards the target making it easy to follow up with a Main to freefall, but if one assist has been called out the other cannot be called out until the first one leaves the field. The reload only begins after the last assist has left the field, so the actual reload time is longer than 10 seconds.
-5AB: Shaldoll Rogue
The Shaldoll Rogue fires three beams from the DODS Cannon on its right arm.
The beams are thin, but the muzzle correction on each shot is good, tracking well even if the target is above you. Even if the target boost dashes sideways the Shaldoll will continue facing the enemy while firing its shots. All in all this is a very good triple shot-type assist.
It’s easy to follow up with this from a hit boomerang to knock your opponent down.
-*AB: G-Exes Jackedge
G-Exes Jackedge charges at the enemy and attacks with its DODS Rifle IIB bayonet in a 2-stage slash and uppercut. .
Its dashing-in speed is decent but it tracks very well, catching enemies rising upwards or boost dashing horizontally. However its range of travel is short and it disappears after it reaches a certain distance. Also note that depending on how many Main shots you have hit prior you might not score a confirmed hard knockdown after comboing into this.
This is an effective counter against enemies using melee attacks with active shooting guards.
Special Shooting: Beam Saber [Throw]
Throws a double-edged Beam Saber in front of AGE2-DH which acts as a non-destructible boomerang that spins in place for a certain duration before returning. Reloads in 6 seconds.
DH inherits a good amount of inertia prior to throwing this move. As useful as this move is, its biggest advantage is its cancel routes to Sub and BC. Being able to freefall from a boomerang is a great advantage that many other units with boomerangs do not have.
Melee Set
5BBB: Beam Saber > DODS Lancer Thrust
Standard 3-stage melee with good damage. There is a viewpoint change in the third melee stage. Can be cancelled into derivatives 2B, 8B, or BC after the 1st or 2nd hit.
5B(B), 4/6B~8B: Slash-through
A quick attack using the DODS Lancer. Despite having low power, it puts the target into an untechable state, making it easy to follow up with another attack.
5B(B), 4/6B~2B: DODS Lancer Stab > Point Blank Barrage > Explosion
DH stabs with the DODS Lancer and fires a barrage with the DODS Gun at point-blank range. Forced PoV change. While AGE-2DH is firing, it remains stationary leaving it vulnerable to being cut, but in exchange this is a highly damaging derivative. It is good to use it when you want to quickly deal lots of damage to your enemy.
The DODS Gun point blank shots are beam-based, so if an ABC Mantle is hit, it shaves off the ABC mantle’s endurance instead before causing the explosion, dealing less direct damage but damaging the ABC mantle..
8B: Stab > Kick
Dark Hound stabs with its Beam Saber before kicking the target away. This attack has high priority, so in situations where your CC8B won’t be fast enough as a melee intercept this may do the trick.
Although it is not very powerful, this attack is one of Dark Hound’s melee attacks that is not a multi-hit, making it useful as a combo ender, for example after a 5B~8B.
4/6BB: Left-handed slashes > Uppercut with Lancer
Slashes using the Beam Saber then uppercuts using the DODS Lancer. The first stage is a two-hit melee attack using the Beam Saber, and similar to the 5B’s derivative, you can cancel into 8B, 2B, and BC after the 1st hit.
It has good dash-in speed, wraparound, and tracking, and its fast startup makes it useful for rainbow step wars. However the priority on this attack is only about average, which means you will often lose out in direct clashes with dedicated melee units. Against such enemies lead with the boomerang or CC8B instead.
2B: Counter
DH holds the DODS Lancer vertically, and when the counter is successful it activates its Flash Eye, stunning the target before jumping upwards to perform a high-power jump kick. Dark Hound has no shortage of tools for intercepting melee attacks, many posing a lower risk than this counter, so you might not have as many chances to use this as you may think. However it can still be a potent tool for discouraging enemies with whip attacks from freely flailing in front of you. You can also bait out such moves to punish with 2B by chasing down such enemies flying above you, hovering just within their whip range. You can step forward after the kick to continue a melee combo. The kick bounces on hit so even if you do this in Overheat you don’t have to worry about your enemy teching and retaliating.
This is generally a high-performance counter even if there are often better options available.
CC8BBB: Thrust > Kick up > Slam
Charges and thrusts the Lancer then kicking the target upwards before slamming it down with the Lancer. There is a forced PoV change in the third stage which also causes a Bounce Down. This melee has great reach and chase speed, and above all it has very high priority, even being able to beat out Master’s notorious 4/6B even when used second.
However the damage proration after the second hit is very heavy, making it difficult to deal good damage following up after. The cut resistance is also poor after the second stage. It is recommended that you cancel out after the first hit into other combo attacks.
BC: Anchor Shot
Fires the Anchor Shot in front of AGE-2DH similar to X1-Kai’s AB. It is possible to rainbow step out of it and there is no viewpoint change. If you use it during a green lock it will shoot towards the direction you are facing instead of facing the locked-on target. Its maximum range is slightly shorter than your maximum boomerang’s range. On hit the target is captured, and you’re able to perform the following various derivatives.
BC~A: Electric Shock > Explosion
Shocks the captured target. Mash A for more hits and more damage. After a certain number of hits, the target will be detonated and launched upwards in a Forced Down state. You can link into any of the other derivatives below before the final explosion, and you can also keep a target tied up for a long period of time by taking your own sweet time to add the additional A inputs.
BC~2: Reel In
Pulls the target over, note that the input is 2 instead of 2B.
You can follow up with a melee combo after pulling the target towards you. You can also freefall by canceling into Main.
BC~B: Pull to Flying kick
After pulling the target over, AGE-2DH follows up with a flying kick, putting the target in a Dust Down state. If you don’t cancel out, DH performs a somersault after the kick. You can link into the Anchor Shot again by boost dashing forward towards the opponent after the kick.
2BC: Anchor Shot (Spinning)
Swings the Anchor Shot in front of the unit similar to Raider’s 2B. This is a melee attack with an active shooting guard. The duration of the spin can be extended by holding down the input. It is also possible to rainbow step out of it but does not inherit inertia. This is best used as a counter of sorts against melee attacks.
The damage proration on this attack is good but the down value is extremely high, so it’s not suitable as a combo part. At the very least you can use this as a means to counter enemies with shooting guards and ABC mantles. This is especially useful against F Burst enemies who cancel from shooting to melee attacks, or regular enemies canceling from shooting attacks to CC8B since this move will block the shooting attack as well as crush melee attempts.
Melee assists, boomerangs, high-priority melee moves— this move beats all of these options, and can be thought of as a melee counter. In addition, even super armor melee attacks and projectiles are easily negated by this move, so you can say that it will beat out pretty much anything in the close range. However on the other end on the spectrum, if you rely on this move too much you become easy to read. In particular this move consumes a lot of boost and inherits zero inertia, meaning that you will not get off scot-free for making a misread..
Mobile Armor Mode Ability Details
Ranged Weapons
Main: Beam Vulcan
Fires Beam Vulcans from both of the shoulders in front of the unit. Ammo is not shared with the DODS Gun.
You can press and hold to fire continuously up to 20 shots in one go. Maneuver the MA mode and swerve sideways to spray your shots in a wide arc to catch enemies.
Charged Main: DODS Lancer (Throw)
Changes back into MS form to throw the DODS Lancer.
Shares the the same charging gauge with the MS form, but the charge in this form is faster at only 2 seconds. However this is a minor difference that is not worth switching into MA form just to take advantage of.
Sub: Shaldoll Rogue / G-Exes Jackedge Assist
Shares ammo with the MS mode’s Sub.
Summons the same assists without canceling the transformation. The assists perform the exact same way they do as when summoned in MS mode. However do be careful as you can’t freefall from it.
Special Shooting: Hyper Boost
Dark Hound performs a high-speed dash. Directional inputs influence the dash motion.
-5AC: DH dashes straight at the target.
-4/6AC: DH Barrel rolls to the side while charging towards the target.
-2AC: DH flips backwards and dashes away from the target.
If you use this move in green lock you will simply dash towards the direction you are facing. However, if you fire your Main or other moves on an enemy who moves from red lock into green lock and you then cancel into this move, this move will inherit the red lock attribute and dash towards the enemy.
You can cancel from this move into the melee moves of your MS form, however 8B and BC inputs will perform the MA mode attack variations instead.
Melee Set
B: Strike
Dark Hound transforms back into MS mode and charges at the enemy, slashing with its Beam Saber.
Can be cancelled into MS mode’s BC. However it is recommended to delay the followup BC input slightly to avoid whiffing the target. It’s hard to follow up after the hit with your other melee attacks.
This attack has good priority, chase speed, travel distance, tracking, and deals good damage. You can use this for sneak attacks.
BC: Charge
Charges towards the enemy and rams into it using the DODS Lancer in front.
There are two types of derivations, if there are no inputs pressed, DH will release the enemy and return to MS mode.
BC~A: Point Blank DODS Gun Beam Barrage
While moving forward, AGE-2DH fires a barrage using the DODS Gun causing an explosion on the final hit, causing a Forced Down. While the DH is technically moving forward while performing this attack it moves very slowly, meaning you get very little cut resistance on this. This can be used to deplete an enemy’s ABC mantle.
BC~B: Drill Assault
Drills the opponent hard. Immediately after the animation, the transformation is canceled.
This move launches the target upwards, the attack has low down value but poor damage proration. However you can still use it in a combo, for example after the last hit of a CC8B combo.
Burst Attack
You…Idiot!
“This is the power of a Super Pilot!!”
A melee rush special. Dark Hound stuns the enemy with a slash-through, follows up with a lance thrust, a saber stab, and then fires the Anchor Shot to pull the enemy to punch it hard.
There is super armor on startup, and the first stage has good reach and cut resistance. As with all combo Burst Attacks this is best used when you are certain you have some private 1-on-1 time with your target and you won’t get interrupted.
Recommended Combos
| Ranged Weapons | ||
| Input | DMG | Notes |
| A~AC>>A | ~140 | Mid range basic combo |
| CSA>>A(10hits) | 150 | |
| CSA>5BBB | 180 | |
| CSA>CC8BBB | 173 | |
| CSA>>(BC~A,4hits~2~)5BB~2B | 200 (211) | Extend the combo and do more damage by including the bracket input |
| *AB>>[BC~A,4hits~5B]*3 | 198 (227) | Loop the BC sequence 3 times |
| Melee | ||
| 5BB>5BBB | 224 | |
| 5BB~BC(~A,4hits)~2~5BBB | 218 (234) | Overheat combo |
| 5BBB>BC(~A,4hits)~B>MA Mode BC~A | 271 (293) | Big damage |
| 4/6B (1hit) > BC(~A 4hits) ~5B> BC (~A 4hits)~2~5B~2B |
275 | Much easier to do than the death combo |
| 8BB~CSA~BC~A | 206 | Overheat combo |
| 8B>BC(~A,4hits)~B>BC(~A,4hits)~B> | 230 (252) | |
| {4/6B,1hit~BC~A,4hits~2}x3~4/6B, 1hit~BC~A,4hits~5B |
280 | Long restrain combo. No boost necessary |
| 4/6B>4/6BB>CSA | 205 | |
| 4/6B>5BB~2B | 222 | BnB |
| 4/6B(1hit)~{BC~A,4hits~5B}x2>MA Mode BC~5B | 290 | 4/6B death combo |
| 2B>5BBB>5BC(~A,4hits)~5B | 277 (283) | |
| CC8B>5BB~2B | 216 | BnB |
| CC8BBB>BC(~A,4hits)~5B>BC(~A,4hits)~5B | 248 (259) | |
| MA Mode B~BC~A,4hits~2~5BB~2B | 270 | |
Strategies
- Take advantage of Dark Hound’s high mobility and freefalls to pursue the enemy. Dark Hound has one of the best defensive loadouts in the game, so you can force yourself into the enemy’s face and then defend yourself from them until they die.
- However, this playstyle requires your teammate to not fight at ranges where it can be easily taken out. Remember that you and your teammate should be the ones dictating the pace and controlling the spacing to your benefit, something which Dark Hound is capable of doing thanks to its good mobility.
- In 1-on-1 situations, DH’s boomerang and other close-range moves are great for pushing the offensive.
- Against raw melee attacks you have your boomerang and counter, against shooting barriers and super armor you have 2BC— DH has an answer for every conceivable melee situation. If your enemies choose to leave you behind and focus on your teammate instead, sneak attacks with your MA mode are effective.
- There are actually many enemies that are weak to your beam machine gun. Enemies that vernier often like FAZZ, cherudim, and gunner zaku, enemies that use physical projectiles often like those from IBO— a beam machine gun gives such enemies very little breathing room. If you encounter any such enemies, relentlessly bully them, and if you get into a double lock situation simply run away and reset the situation until the heat dies off.
- E Burst is the meta burst choice, and with Dark Hound’s good self defense capabilities it’s easy to half burst twice.
- Dark Hound pairs best with many of the best 3000 cost partners, including Reborns. Good self defense is what frontline team partners want most, which is what Dark Hound has in spades.