Impulse Gundam

Model Number: ZGMF-X56S	Pilot: Shinn Asuka
Cost: 2500 Hp: 620 Transform: X Form Change: O

With the Junius Treaty restricting the number of Mobile Suits each faction can possess, the Impulse Gundam circumvented this restriction by swapping its backpacks and armaments to fit a wide range of combat situations. This also allowed a single ace pilot to have access to a variety of weapons that it could switch on the fly in the midst of combat, making the Impulse both a jack of all trades as well as a master of one.

Force Impulse Ability Summary

Ranged	Armament	Ammo	DMG	Notes
Main	Beam Rifle	8	75	Reloads slowly
Charged Main	Beam Rifle (Reflect)	–	50/90	Reflects a BR shot off a thrown shield. Dmg indicates shield/BR
Sub	Body Split	1	70~119	Splits torso and legs, fires up to 2x BR
Special Shooting	Swap Silhouette Pack	–	–	4AC: Blast 6AC: Sword
Special Shooting	Pack Swap: Kerberos Recoil Shot	(2)	150	2AC: Swaps to Blast, fires Kerberos with heavy recoil
Burst Attack	Excalibur Charge			Throws a Shield as a starter

Melee	Input	DMG	Notes
5B	5BBB	156
	5BB~ 8B	148	Resistant to interrupts
	5BB	118	Stop all input after 5BB for this autocombo
8B	8B	117	High priority
4/6B	4/6BBB	126	Go-to melee
2B	2B	75	Inflicts Down with 1 hit
CC8B	CC8B	125
8AC	8AC	94	Swaps to Sword for a stab attack
BC	BC	80	Jump melee

Cancel Routes:

A: AB, all AC

CSA: AB, all AC, BC

AB: all AC, BC

Any melee (except BC) during Force: 8AC, 2AC

Pack swap cancel routes (applicable to all forms)

5AC: Force’s AB

6AC: Sword’s A, Sword’s BC

4AC: Blast’s 2B

8AC (on hit): Sword’s any melee

Sword Impulse Ability Summary

Ranged	Armament	Ammo	DMG	Notes
Main	Flash Edge	1	16	Throws 2 at once
Sub	Beam Rifle (Rapid)	3	60	Fires up to 3 shots by pressing A
Special Shooting	Swap Silhouette Pack	–	–	4AC: Blast 5AC: Force
Special Shooting	Pack Swap: Kerberos recoil Shot	(2)	150	2AC: Swaps to Blast, fires Kerberos with heavy recoil

Melee	Input	DMG	Notes
5B	5BBB	212	High damage
5B	5BB~8B	192	Slash-through
8B	8B	80	Bounce
4/6B	4/6BB	143	Go-to melee outside of BC
2B	2B	76
CC8B	CC8BB	174	Multi-hit on the last stage
8AC	8AC	94	Stab
BC	BC	115	Shoryuken

Cancel Routes:

Any melee: 2AC

5B(B), 4/6B, 2B, CC8B(B): BC

Any part of BC: 8B

Pack swap cancel routes (applicable to all forms)

5AC: Force’s AB

6AC: Sword’s A, Sword’s BC

4AC: Blast’s 2B

8AC (on hit): Sword’s any melee

Blast Impulse Ability Summary

Ranged	Armament	Ammo	DMG	Notes
Main	Kerberos	2	75~150	Fires a pair of thick beams
Charged Main	Kerberos (Gerobi)	–	20~220	Can be swept around
Sub	Hyper-Velocity Rail Cannon	2	65~130	Fast railgun
Special Shooting	Swap Silhouette Pack	–	–	6AC: Sword 5AC: Force
Special Shooting	Kerberos recoil shot	(2)	150	Fires Kerberos with heavy recoil
Melee	Quadruple Missile Launcher	24	39	Fires 2 missiles, doesn’t vernier
BC	Quadruple Missile Launcher (Full Salvo)	24	20~133	Fires 8 missiles, verniers. Better than default B missiles
2B	Beam Javelin	–	40	Stuns

Melee	Input	DMG	Notes
8AC	8AC	94	Swaps to Sword for a stab attack

Cancel Routes:

A:AB, 4/5/6 AC

AB: any AC

2B: 4/5/6 AC

BC: any AC

Pack swap cancel routes (applicable to all forms)

5AC: Force’s AB

6AC: Sword’s A, Sword’s BC

4AC: Blast’s 2B

8AC (on hit): Sword’s any melee

Overview

Impulses three forms each serve a specific purpose: Force for mobility, Sword for close-range melee combat, and Blast for long-range shooting and support. However unlike the Strike Gundam which stays in each form according to the range in which it is fighting, Impulse’s best playstyle requires constant switching between all three forms and utilizing the 2/8AC cancels for immediate attacking from a form switch. You could say that Impulse’s main strength is having all the tools of 3 forms accessible from 1 core form.

Unlike the rear guard playstyle that most 2500 cost units prefer, Impulse is built for setting up and excelling in 1-on-1 situations. And even if things do not go according to plan, Impulse has the ability to escape to the back line and continue to support from a distance. Much like its namesake, Impulse is built to take the offensive and force the enemy to play its game, rather than adapting to the circumstances.

Force Impulse Ability Details

The form which you’ll stay in the most. Force comes with great mobility, access to a good pyonkaku, and a sneaky CSA. Despite its lack of weapons, you can still dish out damage by using the Pack Swap attacks. Force also has great survivability thanks to AB and BC, and is able to air stall for a long time. Get into position with Force and transform into the other forms for damage.

Ranged Weapons

Main: Beam Rifle

This BR’s damage and ammo pool are average for a 3000 cost unit, but it has a slow reload of 4sec/shot. You’ll be using this a lot as your only non-vernier weapon, so don’t spam it too much.

Charged Main: Beam Rifle (Reflect)

1.5-second charge time. Impulse throws a shield and fires a BR at it which reflects the beam at the target. 5CSA will throw the shield directly forward, while 4/6 will throw the shield towards the input direction. The beam’s speed after reflecting off the shield is faster than your Main’s, but the tracking doesn’t keep up as a result. Hitting the shield itself does 50 dmg and the beam does 90. This move inherits inertia prior to the attack, and the shield works like a boomerang which can penetrate certain shooting guards and assists, like The O’s AC. You can guard even if you have thrown out your shield (assuming you boost dash before the BR shot). You can also cancel into other moves before the BR shot. The shield itself also can be destroyed.

Use 4/6CSA to make the beam reflect off into your target’s blind spot to land a hit. The beam can reflect to any direction, even directly below and above the shield. The muzzle correction and startup on this shot is good enough to make it viable as a self-defence tool in the close range. This is an important tool for messing up your opponent’s camera by using BC to jump over your target then firing CSA, before linking into other cancel routes.

Sub: Body Split

Splits the torso and leg parts, with the torso flying upwards while firing a BR shot. Hold A to fire once more. Takes 9 seconds to reload. Each shot does 40 damage when canceling from another move. After splitting, your hurtboxes are on the torso and legs separately. Impulse will get an instance of yellow lock during the split, and any incoming projectiles fired at you prior to the body split will target your last position before the split. Use this to dodge standard BRs and some thin attacks. Know your enemies well to be aware of what you can dodge with this move. This move will also help you to down enemies without wasting your Main ammo.

Special Shooting:Swap Silhouette Pack

Same move in all 3 forms. Impulse verniers to transform into its other packs. You can even ‘transform’ into your current pack as a cancel route.

5AC:Force Silhouette

6AC: Sword Silhouette

4AC:Blast Silhouette

8AC: Sword Silhouette with a Excalibur Stab

2AC:Blast Silhouette with a Kerberos recoil shot

Down Special Shooting: Pack Swap-Kerberos Recoil Shot

Swaps to Blast and fires the Kerberos while moving backwards slightly. If done when you have no Kerberos ammo, you’ll transform but nothing will be fired. Great to cancel into this move as a combo ender for the damage and the instant down. For details of the projectile, check the Blast Impulse section.

Melee Set

5BBB: Beam Saber

PoV change on the third stage. Low down value and long animation on the second stage. Average melee with okay startup but fast swing speed.

5BB~8B:Somersault>Slash-through

PoV change. Launches high, and the slash-through action is very nimble. Impulse dashes slightly downwards if used at at a certain distance off the ground. This does the least damage of all your 3-stage combos but it is the standard derivative finisher from 5B.

5BB:Cleave

A very unique melee. By not inputting the final 5B, Impulse will auto combo into an untechable cleave. The 8B derivative is arguably better so there’s not much of a reason to use this.

8B: Stab>Cleave

A multi-hit stab into a cleave. Launches the target slightly upwards and away, making it hard to combo into another melee attack. Good priority, but the startup is average.

4/6BBB: Diagonal Slash

Launches on the second stage. Your go-to melee for Force Impulse with its good curve, startup, and priority. The launch makes it not suitable to combo into 4/6B again.

2B: Shield Uppercut

Launches. Instantly inflicts Regular Down on the target. Use this to force your target’s all-range attacks to be canceled. Low priority.

CC8B: Slash-through

Cleaves, then follows up with a slash-through. The startup is decent, and the slash-through has good cut resistance. Only inflicts a regular down, so follow up with another move after hitting this.

Special Melee: Jump Slash

Impulse jumps up and forward extremely quickly and slashes downwards. Impulse’s (infamous) pyonkaku. Bounces on hit, and has a landing property on hit but the downwards movement speed is fairly slow. The initial movement is fast and the hitbox appears quickly too, allowing for it to be used in clashes against sneak attacks. Cancel into CSA when above your target to attack them from their blindspot. However, do take note that Impulse consumes boost throughout the whole animation.

When used in green lock, Impulse will jump towards whatever direction it’s facing. You can spam BC to jump away from danger really quickly using this technique.

8AC: Pack Swap: Excalibur Stab

Transforms to Sword Impulse and dashes forward with the Excalibur raised for a multi-hit melee attack. The reach is not that great and the dash speed is also only average. However it has good priority and startup, and is suitable for intercepting incoming melee attacks. The down value and proration are also low, allowing for big damage on follow up combos. Cancel this early for even more damage by getting less heavy proration.

Burst Attack

Excalibur Charge

Impulse throws a weapon to stun the target, grabs the Excalibur from the Sword Silhouette, and charges into the target. What weapon is thrown depends on your current form, and you’ll always transform into Force to perform the stab, then swap back to whatever form you were in. Throws a shield while in Force.

There is super armor during the initial weapon throwing animation. The effective range is about the same as your melee range (red lock with the 4 small triangles pointing inwards) as the charging with Excalibur only travels that far. However, the tracking during the charging animation is terrifying, and Impulse can even perform a 180-degree turn. No super armor during the charge, and on hit Impulse performs a multi-hit attack before stepping back before the target explodes. This is a great way to rack up damage, and is an easy-to-use Burst Attack due to the two-part tracking.

Sword Impulse Ability Details

The melee-centric form that will be the source of most of your damage. The downside is that Sword Impulse has terrible boost efficiency, and only has a boomerang as a reliable ranged attack. Try not to stay in this form for too long as you’ll be vulnerable to being out-ranged.

Ranged Weapon

Main:Flash Edge

Throws 2 boomerangs forward. Reloads in 1.5 sec after the boomerangs return. Causes vernier, but the boomerangs’ hitboxes are big and they come out really quickly. The max range of the boomerangs are slightly shorter than your maximum red lock range. Despite the short range, you can use this as your default ranged attack. It’s great against incoming melee attacks, and also good against enemy units who have their own melee attacks for intercepting your melee attacks.

Be aware that this only reloads after the boomerangs return to Impulse. The boomerangs reload instantly if you threw the boomerangs, changed into another pack and back into Sword, but this consumes a lot of boost. Also, the recovery from this move is very long, so you’ll almost definitely need to Boost Dash cancel out.

Sub:Beam Rifle (Rapid)

Verniers to fire the Beam Rifle. Press A to fire up to 3 shots in total. Reloads constantly at 4 sec/ammo, and has weaker tracking compared to a regular BR. You only get muzzle correction on the first shot, so if your target performs a cut-tracking move after your first shot, the 2nd and 3rd shot won’t track anymore. Due to this, there will be times where the 1st shot hits but the 2nd and 3rd won’t. You can opt to cancel out after the first hit, then fire 2 more after confirming a hit.

Special Shooting:Swap Silhouette Pack

Same move in all 3 forms. Impulse verniers to transform into its other packs. You can even ‘transform’ into your current pack as a cancel route.

5AC:Force Silhouette

6AC: Sword Silhouette

4AC:Blast Silhouette

8AC: Sword Silhouette with a Excalibur Stab

2AC:Blast Silhouette with a Kerberos recoil shot

Pack Swap: Kerberos Recoil Shot

Melee Set

5B: Excalibur

Standard 3-stage melee, with the last stage being a multi-hit. Doesn’t have good reach nor startup. Does good damage, so try to use this as after a hit confirm.

5BB~8B: Slash-through

Launches the target directly upwards into an untechable down. Possible choice of a cancel route when you are out of boost.

8B: Cross Slam

Fast startup with average reach. Bounces on hit. High damage, and one of your combo enders as the bounce allows you to stall for time or to follow up with another attack.

4/6B: Cleave

Swings a sword downwards vertically despite being a side melee, thus this attack won’t hit enemies coming from the side by accident or if the target steps to the side. However the parameters for the first stage are on the same level as a melee-centric unit.

2B: Upswing

Upswing that does 2 hits. If you are intending to cancel this into BC you’ll need to be quick with the input.

CC8B: Slash-through

Out of all of Sword’s melee attacks this has the best dash speed and reach, but low priority. Forced PoV on the last stage. Doesn’t track well vertically.

8AC: Excalibur Stab

Impulse dashes forward with the Excalibur raised for a multi-hit melee attack. The reach is not that great and the dash speed is also only average. However it has good priority and startup, and is suitable for intercepting incoming melee attacks. The down value and proration are also low, allowing for big damage on follow up combos. Cancel this early for even more damage by getting less heavy proration.

BC: Excalibur Shoryuken

A multi-hit rising attack that pushes both you and the target upwards. On whiff, Impulse will only dash forward and spin on the spot without going upwards. Good dash speed, tracking, and reach. This is also useful as a movement tool for Sword who has low mobility. You can even close in on enemies by using this move, then sidestep and boomerang for extra pressure. This move can’t be easily interrupted due to the fast upward movement, but it consumes a lot of boost.

While you can cancel this from almost all of your melee attacks, this will easily miss if the previous melee inflicts Regular Down. It also tends to miss when near a wall. On hit, you can cancel into 8B at any time. Your typical combo will be BC~8B~2AC for lots of damage plus launching the target away.

Burst Attack

Excalibur Charge

Blast Impulse Ability Details

The artillery form of the Impulse, that comes with a longer red lock range compared to the other two forms. Swap to this form when you need to catch landings fast or force some movement using a variety of attacks. While the Main weapon Kerberos has a long reload time, all your weapons will still reload while you’re in other forms. Switch into Blast Silhouette, fire off your dazzling array of projectiles, then quickly swap out.

Ranged Weapon

Main: Kerberos

Fires a pair of thick beams. Impulse inherits a good amount of inertia prior to firing, and the attack itself has decent startup, a fast projectile speed, but sub-par tracking. This can be fired while grounded. Constant reload at 8sec/ammo. Each beam has an individual hitbox, and will knock the target away if only 1 shot hits. Forced Down occurs instantly if both beams hit as each beam has a down value of 3.

While this weapon itself is pretty good, the long reload time plus the fact that you would be using this ammo for your 2AC from other forms makes it less desirable as a tool to try and hit raw. Only use this raw for self defense in Blast or when you’re certain you’ll hit. For self defence in Blast, fire A~AB.

Charged Main: Kerberos (Gerobi)

Fires gerobi version of Main that you can sweep around. Has a high sweeping speed, but also has a long charge time of 3 seconds, slow startup, and weak muzzle correction. This can be fired while grounded. Each beam has an individual hitbox. This can be used for okizeme, but note that the full damage is dealt over a longer-than-average period of time.

Sub: Hyper-Velocity Rail Cannon

Verniers to fire a pair of railguns. Reloads on empty after 10 seconds. The projectiles are thin, and the speed isn’t exactly ‘hyper’, but it’s good enough to hit enemies who get staggered in the mid range. The tracking is pretty bad against targets below you. Unlike with your Main, this doesn’t cause an instant down so you can still follow up after. Remember that this is a physical projectile which is effective against ABC Mantles.

Special Shooting: Swap Silhouette Pack

Same move in all 3 forms. Impulse verniers to transform into its other packs. You can even ‘transform’ into your current pack as a cancel route.

5AC:Force Silhouette

6AC: Sword Silhouette

4AC:Blast Silhouette

8AC: Sword Silhouette with a Excalibur Stab

2AC:Blast Silhouette with a Kerberos recoil shot

2AC: Kerberos Recoil Shot

Melee: Quadruple Missile Launcher

Fires 1 missile from the launchers mounted on each shoulder. This is a non-vernier move that can be fired while grounded. Shares ammo with BC, and reloads on empty after 18 seconds.. The missiles will be fired as long as Impulse is facing forward in about a 160-degree arc, and the missiles will fire forward in the direction you’re facing before homing towards the target. If Impulse is out of that arc, it will face front before firing. Simply put these properties are similar to that of a Beam Rifle, without the muzzle correction. The tracking on these missiles is much weaker compared to those fired with BC, and can’t be used against incoming melee attacks due to the firing arc.

Blast’s only weapon that doesn’t cause vernier while facing the front. Don’t forget to use this during Shooting Burst for a freefall. Combine this with 2AC to get the backwards movement while free falling.

BC: Quadruple Missile Launcher (Full Salvo)

Impulse verniers to fires 4 pairs of missiles for a total of 8 missiles. Can be fired while grounded, shares ammo with B, and reloads on empty after 18 seconds. Forced Down if all 8 missiles hit. The firing animation for this is slow as Impulse fires the missiles consecutively. The missiles travel in an arc, and thus are unable to hit targets close to you.

Fire this weapon to force your opponent to move. You have plenty of ammo available for this, so you can repeatedly boost dash cancel this move into itself to release the missiles in volleys. Don’t forget to empty the clip with B when you are low on ammo so you can get the reload started. You will be in Blast mostly to fire this and 2AC.

2B:Beam Javelin

Verniers to throw a beam javelin almost directly forward, does not inherit momentum. Unlike the other weapons, Blast will throw this attack out normally while not grounded. The projectile travels slowly so it isn’t reliable even when throwing it out randomly. The startup is also slow, but has somewhat acceptable tracking. It can even destroy missiles coming at you directly from the front.

Melee Set

8AC: Excalibur Stab

Burst Attack

Excalibur Charge

Recommended Combos

Force Impulse

Ranged Weapons
Input	DMG	Notes
A~AB (2 hits)	119	When you need to save Main ammo. 152 if you boost dash cancel
A~2AC	138	Fast down. 180 if you boost dash cancel
Melee
5BB~8AC~5BBB	230	5BBB is Sword’s
4/6BB~8AC~BC(2/3hit)~8B	220	Can be done in Overheat. Needs some practice in timing
BC~8AC~5BB~8B	247	Bounces

Sword Impulse

Ranged Weapons
Input	DMG	Notes
A>>5BB~8B>2AC	244
A>>BC~8B	188	Stall combo. Delay the 8B a little bit so the boomerang will come back first
A>>BC>BC~8B	223	High damage and launches. 237 if your step before the 8B instead of performing a direct cancel
Melee
5BBB>BC~2AC	297	313 damage if you step before the 2AC instead of performing a direct cancel
5BB~8B>2AC	274	Boost efficient, high dmg, launches
4B>5BB~8B~2AC	251	271 if you step before the 2AC
4/6BB>BC>2AC	277	High dmg but high boost consumption
BC>5BB~8B>2AC	288
BC~8B~BC	234	No boost required. Time the 2nd BC after the target bounces up from the 8B
8AC~5BB~8B>2AC	290~	Needs about 10% boost only. Great combo from other forms
8AC~5BBB>BC(1hit)>2AC	300~	About 40% boost needed. Great combo from other forms

Strategies

Stay in Force for the mobility, and only swap when necessary to perform damaging combos or for the knockdown. Staying in Blast will get you into trouble easily due to its low self defence, and Sword can be easily ignored by staying at range.
Once you get the knockdown and are in range, swap to Sword for the okizeme using your boomerang. Sword will also allow you to push for massive damage. Close in with Force, and deal damage with Sword. Once your target escapes out of range, swap back to Force.
Force has BC and AB to dance around with and waste time during 1-on-1s, and it mobility is top class for a 2500 cost. BC gains height and can be used to air stall when used together with CSA, and AB can be used to dodge any projectile that travels laterally (most BR, Beam CSAs, and flat or smaller-sized gerobis).
Use Force’s AB~BC to escape into green lock. Do the same when in other forms by transforming into Force , then use AB~BC to escape especially when you’re out of boost.
In Blast, you will mostly be using BC missiles to force movement from your opponent or using Main to score knockdowns. The reload on Blast’s Main is long, so manage the ammo well between using it as a combo ender from other forms, or using it like a sniping attack (although Blast’s red lock range isn’t sufficiently long to do so regularly).
At the start of the match or when you’re going very back, use Blast’s CSA for okizeme.
F Burst gives the best benefits to Sword, and allows you to cancel directly from your shooting attacks into melee attacks. It can be useful if you’re going up against enemies that are weak in melee self defense. E is the safest Burst you’ll be using when tagging with 3000 cost units, just to give yourself that extra insurance to not overcost your teammate and also survive longer S is probably the best Burst if you’re taking the front role, giving you the ability to blue step your boomerang in Sword, chain your Blast shots together seamlessly, and freefall easily in Force. Chaining attacks together in Force gives you great mobility and beam spam capabilities.
Impulse can function relatively well in both the front or back roles, but with its slower-than-average reload times it can struggle to fulfill its role well as a rear guard. However it can also have a hard time going up against 3000 cost front units that have more boost and better performance overall, and also struggles when double locked. In other words, this is not a unit that you would play in a standard front and back team. For this reason, Impulse is best played in a “double front” style with the goal being splitting the enemies to form two 1on1 situations.
If you are playing Impulse as a rear guard, it is best to aim for catching landings or going for surprise attacks on the enemy team’s weakest link.