| Model Number:XXXG-01H2 | Pilot: Trowa Barton |
| Cost: 2500 Hp: 620 Transform: X Form Change: X | |
The Endless Waltz version of the Heavyarms Kai loses its shield and combat knife for melee confrontations, but is instead equipped with more missiles, two more chest gatling guns, and uses a pair of double gatling guns as its main weapon. It is still as much a heavy artillery specialist as it has ever been, if not more.
Ability Summary
| Ranged | Armament | Ammo | DMG | Notes |
| Main | Double Gatling | 240 | 14 ~ 158 | A high-performing machine gun. |
| Melee | Micro Missiles | 40 | 45 ~ 154 | |
| Charged Melee | Homing Missiles | – | 45 ~ 181 | Strong tracking. |
| Sub | Full Salvo | 2 | 223 | AB: A full salvo with missiles and chest gatling gun. |
| 201 | 4/6AB: fires the chest gatling guns and 5 missiles while moving back. | |||
| 30 ~ 81 15 ~ 124 |
2AB: Will do a somersault while firing 4 missiles and the beam gatling. | |||
| Special Shooting | Sandrock Kai Assist | 2 | 123 | Sandrock Kai charges at the enemy. Can be cancelled into Main to freefall. |
| Special Melee | Forward Somersault / Side Vault | – | – | 5BC: Somersault in direction Heavyarms is facing
4/6BC: Side Vault to the left / right 2/8BC: Somersault backwards / forwards |
| 2B | 8-way Shooting | 2 | 191 | Fires the gatling gun and missiles in 8 directions. |
| Burst Attack | Bullet Dance | – | 296(S)/259(F & E) | Fires a barrage of missiles that cause large explosions. |
| Melee | Input | DMG | Notes |
| 8B | 8B | 80 | Pyonkaku. |
Cancel Routes:
A: *B, *AB, AC, *BC
CSB: *B, 8B, 2B, AB, AC, *BC
AB: 8B, 2B, AC, *BC
AC: 8B, 2B, *BC
B: A
2B: 8B, AC, *BC
8B: AB, BC, 4/6BC (Can be done after the attack’s hitbox is active, cannot be done in overheat)
5BC: *B, AB, 8B, AC, 4/6BC
4/6BC: *B, A, 8B, 2B, AB, BC, 4/6BC
Overview
Heavyarms is a ranged combatant which uses physical ammunition. This means that everything it fires can be erased by beam-type projectiles, especially the likes of gerobis. On the plus side, ABC mantles and other anti-beam guards will be ineffective against your attacks. But what makes Heavyarms truly unique is its wide array of acrobatic movements that allow it to dance on the battlefield like a playful Pierrot, staying in constant motion while releasing a barrage of attacks. By using its 8B pyonkaku and BC zusakyan Heavyarms is one tough suit to punish on landing, which is its greatest strength.
Heavyarms has a very long red lock range, but it prefers the closer ranges that allow it to take advantage of the muzzle correction and spread of its attacks. Strong missile tracking is also most potent in the close to mid range. As such, Heavyarms most effective playstyle is high-risk, high-reward, constantly defending itself in the close to mid range while attacking.
Playing Heavyarms effectively requires one to master all of its many cancel routes, and how to be void of any landing rigidity. This playstyle requires frequent inputs and fast fingers. One also has to take into account how to actually hit with its attacks, and preserve one’s HP in battle. Basically much like an actual Pierrot, juggling is something you will need to do constantly while playing this unit.
As a special warning, Heavyarms is extremely difficult to play on a pad/controller as opposed to a fight stick. This is because it requires constant inputs and a lot of charging of CSB.
Heavyarms might seem like a dud if you pick it up for fun and just play a few casual rounds, but if one puts in the time and effort to mastering the unit it can be a force to be reckoned with. It’s recommended you practice in training mode and CPU battles before moving on to real matches.
Ability Details
Ranged Weapons
Main: Double Gatling Gun
A pair of gatling guns with 240 ammo. Reloads on empty, taking 6 seconds to reload back to full. Each shot fires two projectiles. Tapping the A button fires 5 shots (10 projectiles). Hitting 5 shots staggers the enemy. You can hold down the A button to continue firing. Hitting 14 shots will down the enemy. Muzzle correction is applied after the first 4 shots, all subsequent shots fired in that barrage will continue to track the enemy.
While firing your Main you can press B to fire missiles while continuing to fire your double gatling gun. This costs missiles ammo. Firing missiles together with your gatling guns increases damage dealt and downs the enemy more quickly, so it’s recommended that you do so.
While you’d think Heavyarms would have one of the best machine guns in the game, this one actually has its weaknesses. At the mid range or further it performs poorer than an average machine gun, tracking poorly and being very difficult to hit. However, in the closer ranges this move has an abundance of cancel routes to rely on and a fast fire rate, making it a strong tool. Attacking an enemy constantly with this machinegun puts it in a constant state of alert because of the never-ending flashing red arrows that appear on its screen. This is also a very strong tool for dealing the finishing blow on a low-HP enemy, and is also great on self defense. All in all, this is one of Heavyarm’s main tools. If you’re ever low on ammo, try and finish off the magazine so you can force the tool to start reloading.
This is a great tool for staggering opponents, but because the rapid shots can cause the opponent to be incapacitated for a long time you can use this to effectively down enemies as well. Compared to a traditional unit firing 3 BR shots, damage dealt with this move to down an enemy is very high compared to your average zunda from even 3000 cost units.
Because the muzzle correction on this weapon is frequently re-applied after the first 4 shots, this is an effective tool against enemies that constantly cut tracking, even the likes of F91 with MEPE active.
Plenty of cancel routes are available to this move, which you should be abusing frequently. This is especially important when you accidentally fire your Main while facing backwards.
While firing your Main in long sequences can be effective, even short bursts of 5 shots can be effective. You can use this, for example, to keep an opponent guarding so that you can dash behind it to hit it proper.
Melee: Micro Missiles
Fire up to four missiles by holding down the button. Reloads on empty, taking six seconds. If you want to fire only one missile before charging CSB, tap the B button once, then quickly press and hold B a second time to begin the charge.
Hitting four missiles knocks the enemy down. This actually has poorer tracking compared to your other missiles. Firing this while facing away from the enemy causes vernier, but you can cancel into Main to freefall. You can use this for freefall landing, or you can use BC to land, then sidestep and fire B~A to refill your boost gauge while attacking.
You can fire missiles while firing your Main, CSB, BC, or 4/6BC. This derivative fires one missile which causes a strong stagger. You can only hold down the B button to fire 4 missiles when using 4/6BC.
Charged Melee: Homing Missiles
Fires out 6 missiles from both legs. 1-second charge time. 5CSB fires the missiles straight, 2/8CSB makes the missiles spread out, and 4/6CSB fires the missiles towards the input direction. 2/8CSB is best for covering a wide area making it easier to hit enemies, while 5CSB is best for scoring fast knockdowns.
This does not consume 5B ammo and has a very short charge time, making it a great move for offense and defense. You also have an abundance of cancel routes available after firing this. However, it’s important to use the regular B missiles in conjunction with firing your Main, so you shouldn’t be charging this every chance you get. Also of note is that this move causes vernier, although this can be mitigated by using cancel routes into other maneuvers.
The missiles travel slowly but have strong tracking. As such, this is a move you can just throw out and fish for hits with. The horizontal tracking on these missiles is especially strong, curving up to 90-degrees in the close range. However, the vertical tracking is average.
Sub: Full Salvo
Reloads on empty, taking 7 seconds to reload 2 ammo. There are 3 types of input for this weapon. Note that missiles released during this input track better than the regular 5B missiles. You can also input B to release missiles while performing any of these actions. All of these attacks lead to big damage, so you should be looking for opportunities to land these attacks. If you’re out of ammo and you fire this move you can still fire the chest gatling guns.
5AB: Stands still and fires the double gatling gun, chest gatling gun, and missiles at the enemy. The startup of this move is slower than with 4/6AB, but this fires everything simultaneously. If you want to charge CSB after firing your Sub, you have to re-tap B to begin the charge instead of simply continuing to hold B. If you do so, you will only start charging once the move has been completed.
The projectiles only travel as far as your max red lock range. While it may be risky to fire this move because you stand still to do so, this is still one of your best damage options so look for openings to use this.
4/6AB: Heavyarms fires a burst of gatling gun shots before retreating a great distance backwards to release missiles. The startup of this move is faster than with 5AB, but because you fire the shots separately with intervals in between there are times where this move will fail you in self defense situations. However, the missiles have a nice spread when they do come out, making this move good in self defense in the right situations. However, note that this move costs boost gauge to perform as well, so be mindful of your situation when you use it.
2AB: Heavyarms leaps a great distance backwards and into the air, firing missiles and raining down gatling gun shots. The missiles fired with this move have very good upwards tracking. You can use this move even when you’re out of boost, allowing you a bit of extra mobility. You can cancel into this from anything except other AB moves, so you can use this to remove rigidity from moves that vernier, such as a rear-fired Main shot. However you can’t sidestep cancel out of this. You can cancel this into 8B which you can sidestep cancel or use to land, so it’s easy to slot this into your cancel route sequences.
Special Shooting: Sandrock Kai Assist
Reloads on empty, takes 14 seconds to reload back to full. Sandrock Kai rushes at the opponent, slashing it on impact. Sandrock appears very quickly and has excellent tracking. You can use this both with the intent to hit or simply force movement. Sandrock Kai also has an active shooting barrier when charging at the opponent, which you can use to protect yourself or simply break through an enemy’s assault. Note that Sandrock Kai will still be destroyed by the likes of gerobis or projectiles with explosions, like bazookas or missiles.
Sandrock Kai knocks down an enemy if all of its hits land. This is a strong move to use when playing shooting battles thanks to its shooting barrier.
Special Melee: Forward Somersault / Side Vault
There are 3 types of input for this movement:
5BC: Moonsault. Heavyarms leaps acrobatically into the air and falls towards the ground with its arms and legs spread out. You cannot do this maneuver when in Overheat. 5BC makes Heavyarms leap towards the direction he’s facing.
2/8BC: Leap more towards the input direction before falling. Heavyarms cuts tracking when leaping into the air.
You move more slowly with this than with 8B, but you travel a greater distance upwards. A good Heavyarms player will know when to use either of these moves. You can sidestep cancel out of this move once you start falling. You can repeatedly loop [5BC~sidestep~5BC~sidestep..] to cut tracking multiple times, as long as you have enough boost to do so.
When executing this move you can press the boost button at any time to start falling. You can cancel from A or B into this move to evade and immediately start your next offense. However, you fall very slowly with this move which makes it easy to punish when done in the wrong situation, so be careful.
You can input B during any part of this move to release missiles which track the enemy well. Cutting tracking while firing missiles is very effective, especially in the close range.
You can cancel this into almost every other movement skill you have, so you can mix things up by canceling into 8B or 4/6BC to travel in a pattern that is hard to read. When using 2BC to land, you can cancel to a sidestep to B to A to refill your boost instantly. You can do the same with 8B, and you should be using both of these cancel routes to land with almost no rigidity. By doing so constantly you will be one tricky clown to pin down. If you Burst while performing this moonsault you can show everyone your cool Pierrot mask that Heavyarms only wears during select moves.
4/6BC:Side Somersault. You can evade attacks coming straight at you using this move. Even if you perform this move from the ground you will not land after executing this move, and you cannot use this move when in Overheat. It also does not cut tracking. However you can cancel into this move from everything except B missiles, so you can use this as a movement tool. However whether you can actually evade an attack or not depends on how strong your opponent’s move’s muzzle correction and tracking is.
You can fire up to 4 missiles consecutively with B while performing this move. You can also input A to freefall while firing your gatling guns. The missiles have a very fast startup, making this maneuver very effective in self defense from melee attacks. The missiles also cause a heavy stagger, making them easy to follow-up on. A good anti-melee defense route is 5BC>4/6BC~B, which releases the missiles at an angle that is difficult for enemies to get through. You can also cancel this move into many other moves including another 4/6BC, but to do so you will need to reset your lever to the neutral position first.
2B: 8-way Shooting
Heavyarms spins in a circle while firing missiles to the front, and gatling gun shots to its back and sides. Reloads when both ammo have been used, taking 8 seconds to reload back to full. This is a good move for self defense because even one gatling gun shot staggers enemies. If you want to fire a spread of missiles but you’re out of Sub ammo, you can use this instead. You also have a lot of cancel routes available from this, making it easy to slot into your offense or defense.
Melee Set
8B: Somersault Kick
Heavyarms somersaults forward with a kick, much like M.Bison’s Scissor Kick. This is in essence a pyonkaku, but getting the timing right to be able to leap over attacks in the close range requires more finesse than with your average pyonkakus. Forced PoV change.
The actual hitbox on this move is small, but hitting with this move is not your main priority. You will be using this primarily for movement, sidestepping into B~A upon landing in order to refill your boost quickly. You can also cancel into this move from many of your other moves, making it easy to end your attack sequences with a safe escape.
This consumes little boost to perform and moves you fairly quickly. Even if you do not use the sidestep B~A afterwards to refill boost, landing with this move has fairly little landing rigidity even in Overheat. This is one of the best landing moves in the game, making it very hard for enemies to punish your landings. If you’re being chased by a particularly dangerous target you can switch targets and use this move and other moves to fly towards the second enemy to evade the first.
Burst Attack
Bullet Circus
Heavyarms leaps into the air and fires multiple projectiles that cause large explosions. When leaping upwards Heavyarms has super armor. You can use this as a self defense move against melee or as an okizeme, or even for breaking through shielding enemies. Just be careful not to blow your teammate up as well.
Strategies
- Heavyarms is very strong in the self defense department, easily fending off melee attempts as well as being one difficult acrobat to catch. However, this can put a burden on your teammate as the opponents are likely to give up on hitting you and instead double lock your partner. This can be a big problem especially on larger stages where you may end up constantly trying to chase down enemies with your weapons that only show their true worth in the closer ranges. Heavyarms is also a character that has a high likelihood of hitting its own partner with its wide-spreading, exploding weapons.
- The best situation you want to set up is forming an L formation together with your teammate, using high-tracking moves to hunt down the enemy. However, be mindful that in this formation it can be hard to save your partner if it runs into trouble.
- The following is the preferred match flow for Heavyarms:
- Phase 1: Evade. Use BC and 8B for landing or running away. Guard immediately after landing with 8B.
- Phase 2: Brawl. Engage the enemy in close-range shooting combat. Stick close to your partner but also try and create 1-on-1 situations. If the enemies ignore you, chase down the lower cost enemy.
- Phase 3: Shoot, or Intercept. Trap the enemies together with your teammate within an L formation. Use CSB missiles for their high tracking, same with the Sandrock assist. Force the enemy to guard then hit them behind their guard.
- F Burst is not as useless as it might seem, as it allows you to cancel any of your shooting attacks into your 8B for even more confusing movement. Your mobility is also improved. But of course, in the end you’re not getting any damage buff using this.
- E Burst is the option to use if you don’t know how to blue step with S Burst. This Burst does not fix Heavyarms’ issue of finding it hard to score consistent hits and chase down enemies. Heavyarms is already plenty slippery even without E Burst as well.
- S Burst allows you to chain all of your shooting attacks freely, charge CSB quickly, and sidestep cancel your shooting attacks. Your self defense skyrockets with this Burst. Your damage also increases. You get new cancel routes, such as landing with 2AB and canceling it into A to cancel landing rigidity. Once mastered, this is the preferred Burst for Heavyarms, even beating out E Burst.
- 3000 cost partners can be tough for Heavyarms because it prefers the frontline, but there are some pairs that work. Nu Gundam is one tough survivor that can force enemies to move, allowing you to catch them with your machine guns and missiles. Full Saber is an enemy that many do not one to engage directly, and because you’re one slippery customer too the enemy will ideally be at a loss of who to attack, with both options being equally nasty.
- A 2500 cost partner might be the best option for Heavyarms, where both partners take the frontline together instead of aiming for a front/back position. It’s best if you can pair up with a teammate that can match Heavyarm’s high survivability.
- A 2000 cost partner that can survive as well as Heavyarms is alright, but in reality that might be hard to find. Avoid having a 1500 cost partner, if possible.