LEE CHAOLAN FAQ for Tekken Tag Tournament
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Version 1.0 February 14, 2000
by Raf Kaplan (
[email protected])
Copyright 2000 Raf Kaplan.
This FAQ cannot be reproduced in any printed, electronic or other medium without
the permission of Raf Kaplan ("the author"). The lone exception is that
individuals can copy it to their computers for private non-profit use only. It
may not be placed on a website without my permission. If it is reproduced, the
above copyright notice must be included, and the author credited. If a section
is reproduced that is credited to someone other than the author, then that
credit must be included in the reproduction.
Tekken Tag Tournament and Lee Chaolan are the property of Namco.
Sections:
0. Movelist and conventions.
0a. Lee advantages/disadvantages.
1. Moves, and how to use them
1a. Punch rushes
1b. 3, d+3, WS+3 and d+4 kick mixups, and D+4,4,4,4
1c. Other kicks, plus the tenstring.
1d. Lee special movements.
1e. Sidestep moves.
1f. Throws.
1g. Hitman stance.
1h. Unblockables.
1i. Specials (Mist Trap and Advanced Triple Fang)
2. Basic Lee tactics.
3. A few combos to keep you going.
3a. Okizeme.
3b. Against tagging-in opponents.
3c. Custom strings.
3d. Juggling.
4. "Useless" Lee info.
5. Credits
----
0. Movelist and conventions.
I'm not taking up space in reproducing the movelist and standard Tekken
conventions that can be found elsewhere, and in a much better form.
I suggest the Lee movelist at www.tekken.net, since it lists damage and
properties for each move. The conventions can also be found at www.tekken.net,
or in any number of movelists or FAQs.
0a. Lee advantages/disadvantages
Advantages:
Lee moves very fast, and has a lot of fast attacks. He has a lot of height-
change mix-ups and confusion tactics available. While he doesn't have many mid-
hitting moves, those he has are effective. People are often not familar with
most stuff a good Lee can do. And Lee is a master of getting in close safely
whenever he wants to.
Disadvantages:
No big "high damage move". You have to land many moves, not just a couple of
Deathfists. Lack of mid attacks. High recovery on several otherwise good
moves. Doesn't take damage too well. Not a great juggler. No high damage
throws, no throws that require a 1+2 escape, which weakens his otherwise great
close-in game.
MOVES, AND HOW TO USE THEM:
Note- most of the strategy in this guide is listed under the individual moves.
You have been warned.
Furthermore, this guide is not written by a master player or for master players.
I realise that most people are average to good players, playing average to good
opposition, so I note things that will be good against average players but sucks
against experts, etc. Reading this guide will not make you a Tekken master, but
being familiar with what it says will hopefully enhance your Lee skills. This
will not help too much if your general Tekken skills are weak. Once again- you
have been warned.
Finally, this is my first FAQ. Hopefully, I haven't left anything out, but if
you notice something missing mail me, and I'll add to the next version.
===
1a
Punches:
Use of Lee's punch rushes is required to play any sort of decent Lee. The
reason? Lee's strength is speed, and his punch rushes are amongst his fastest
moves. Plus, they work much better as interrupts than most of his kicks.
Finally, it's always fun to annoy people who pick King and try to use his kick-
reversal on everything Lee does.
1,1,1,1,1 Machine Gun Rush **
Links to the 2,2 or F+2,2,2 combos after all the hits except the last.
All hits high. Has some recovery if blocked (possibly enough to allow a Mishima
1,1,2 but not enough to allow a EWGF). It's very fast, the link to F+2,2,2
allows you to slip a mid hit in, and if the last hit lands it staggers your
opponent majorly, but Lee has better options. Still, using a couple of machine
gun punches before switching to something else is often useful in custom
strings, so the move does have uses.
1,2 Jabs ***
Like most people's 1,2 jabs. Quick, both hit high, reasonable damage for such a
quick two hit move. No noticeable recovery if blocked, either. Nothing
special, but a pretty decent poke all the same.
F+2,2,2 Lee Knuckle Combo *** for first two hits
Hits high,mid,high. Comes out pretty fast. The mid hit will catch out people
who duck Lee's punches. It's often best to just use the first two hits. The AI
(in one of its few good tricks) and expert players will often duck the third hit
even if hit by the first two, and will then get you with a WS or FC move. Even
if they don't duck, they'll stay still a moment expecting the third hit, which
will give you some breathing space.
2,2 Lee Knuckle 0 stars.
Both hit high, comes out slightly slower than the 1,2 jabs, has more recovery
than the 1,2 Jabs, does less damage than the 1,2 Jabs. Absolutely useless.
b+1,1 Fang Rush ***
=2 Triple Fang
=3+4 Fang Rush to Hitman
The first two hits strike high,mid. Like the F+2,2 this will catch out people
who duck. This move starts out a little slower than the other punch rushes,
however, although it's very quick once it's going. To make up for that, it does
more damage. The fact that it can lead into Hitman Stance is what makes it
particularly useful- like the F+2,2 people will usually stay still expecting the
third hit, but instead you've gone into Hitman. Even better is if they ducked-
an immediate 2 out of Hitman will nail them. Of course, you should also use the
2 ender occasionally too, to catach them out if they DO move. Recovery if
blocked is low, but you WILL be close to your opponent, so watch for throws.
There is a special version of the Triple Fang that causes Guard Break, although
the method of doing it is controversial. See the "Specials" section.
===
1b.
3, d+3, WS+3 and d+4 kick mix-ups.
Overused by many, but still a necessary and strong part of Lee play. The
D+4,4,4,4 combo is only the start. Trust me on this.
Infinity kicks ****
WS+3,3 (both hit mid)
>d/f+3 (mid) or D+3 (low)
>3,3,3,3... (mid,high,mid,high)
Hit d+3 during the sequence to make a (low,mid,high) sequence of kicks, or u+3
to make a (mid,mid,high) sequence.
Strong points- high damage, variable height mix-ups, can keep going forever if
opponent is rock-stupid.
Weak points- Bad recovery, pushes your opponent back out of range after a few
kicks which allows for a sidestep or a long-range power move, disgustingly easy
to reverse (and no-one's buffering chickens during the infinity kicks, are
they?).
However, if you only use a few infinity kicks before stopping, you're probably
safe. And they ARE sometimes worth using, due to the damage rate and the height
mix-ups that usually ensure a few hits. But please don't use them against King
(King players seem to keep their fingers ready for a kick reversal at all times
against Lee), please don't use them against opponents who sidestep well, or
against Kuni (you won't stop in time to avoid the u+1+2). Stop as soon as your
opponent is out of range unless they're a bad scrub, and this goes double
against Devil, T.Ogre,or Yoshi (you won't stop in time to avoid the laser/fire
attacks or a quick Yoshi unblockable).
Oh- the WS+3,3,D+3 sequence on it's own is pretty good. If you're in a position
to use a WS move, this is the one to go for- good damage, and a mid,mid,low
height change-up.
3 and d+3 kick combos ***
Starters: d+3,3 (low,high) or 3 (high)
Optional middle bits: 3 or 3,3 (all high)
Enders: f+3 or b+3 (both mid).
Like the Infinity kicks, these do decent damage. The recovery, like with the
Infinity kicks, is not so great (although I disagree with the frame data at
www.tekken.net for these, I can't believe in a -9 frame rating even if the b+3
ender HITS).
The trick with these is to trick your opponent into ducking, and then coming
down upon them with the mid ender. Of course, if they duck the first high kick
and you do another couple, they'll have time to hurt you. However, if they duck
the first high kick and you immediately do the mid kick, they will be the one
that gets hurt. This is not a guessing game you want to play too often.
As for picking between the enders.. the f+3 is slightly quicker, the b+3 does
more damage and it can stun. Your call. Personally, all things considering,
speed is probably the key if you want to catch them before they interrupt, so
use the f+3 more often.
d+4 kick combos ***
D+4,4,4,4 is discussed in the next little bit, since it deserves a space to
itself and doesn't really belong with the rest of the d+4 combos.
The point of the d+4 kick combos is simple- the low hit hopefully hits, and then
you try to do actual damage with the rest of it, using the high versions to set
up for the high damage mid combo.
d+4,N+4,4,4 (low,high,high,high)
The 4,4,4 machine-gun kicks are a useful interrupt by themselves, but are not so
useful here. They're primarily a set-up for...
d+4,N+4,u+3 (low,high,mid)
The u+3 somersault ender does serious damage, and it has very little recovery
(although you will be smashed badly if it whiffs, but one would hope you'd stop
the combo before this if you noticed you were out of range). A lot of people
will eat it, too, since they'll duck out of reflex. Don't overuse this, though-
if the d+4 is blocked low, you'll be interrupted while the 4 high kick is still
in the air. This goes for all of the d+4 mix-ups.
d+4,N+4,3,4 (low,high,high,high).
Slower but with a touch more damage than the N+4,4,4 ending. Easily duckable
and punishable.. although if you use this, your opponent is even less likely to
expect the somersault version next time.
d+4,N+4~3 (low,high,unblockable high)
This is described further in the "unblockables" section. It can be useful, but
it can also be ducked or interrupted really easily (the unblockable remains
slow). Ducked is worst with most characters, who can do evil things to you with
a WS move while you recover.
D+4,4,4,4 Laser Edge Rush *****
=~3 Laser Edge Rush to Hitman Stance.
THE ultimate scrub killer (well, for Lee, anyway). Also really good against
people who don't think to block D/B instead of D, and people who think it's all
guaranteed after the first couple of hits, and against people who like
reversals. It's often called bad by experts. Well, 95% of people you play
aren't experts. A lot of psychological mix-ups (like the d+3 and d+4 things)
won't work against scrubs. The D+4444 rush won't work against experts. It's a
trade off.
Firstly- the 2nd hit is guaranteed if the first hits. The last hit is
guaranteed if the third hits. Like with King's Ali Kicks and many other moves,
you have to active low block (D/B instead of D) to block if you've been hit,
just like you have to hold back to block Baek's Hunting Hawk second hit or the
second hit of Jun's Can-Can kicks. This has tricked many people into thinking
they can't block the third kick if the first two hit- they're only holding D.
If they fail to block this out the first time, you can abuse it until they
learn. It's far FAR less cheap than,say, a Paul Deathfist. Heck, the whole
combo combined does less damage than a counterhit deathfist.
Secondly- when playing against characters with reversals, buffer a chicken on
the mid kick. Every Jin and Paul player will try to reverse the last kick,
since everyone KNOWS it's coming, even though it can be delayed. But if you
chicken, THEY take the damage.
Also, instead of using the whole rush, you could use just the first two kicks.
If the first hits, the second one is free, so you may as well grab the extra 5
points of damage. If the person is blocking, you can stop after three. They'll
probably not take advantage, due to expecting the last kick. Every kick in the
combo is DELAYABLE, so you have a split second to choose whether or not continue
with the combo.
Finally, you can go into Hitman Stance at the end of the combo, which apparently
cuts down the recovery time a little. I'm not sure how much, but it's better
than nothing.
All that said... the recovery time is awful, well and truly allowing a WGF or
whatever if the combo is all blocked (this may not be true if you go into
Hitman, I'll have to experiment more). Even worse, this combo is fairly easy
easy to low parry (not quite as easy as the Jack cossack kicks, but close).
Short reasons why the D+4,4,4,4 is bad, but very STRONG reasons. Do not D+4444
against experts. Period. D+4,4 maybe.
Last point- the D+4444 is Lee's most usual juggling ender, and can be useful in
okizeme.
So because of it's use against scrubs and average players, because of it's
possibilities as chicken-bait, because of it's use in juggles and okizeme, the
Laser Edge Combo does deserve 5 stars.
Whoo, that's it for the D+4444 and for that section!
====
1c.
Other kicks.
The vast majority of Lee's moves are here, and they range from the very useful
to the very useless. Most moves Lee has are of some use, somewhere, though.
d/b+3 Slice Kick *
Hits low AND grounded people- a rarity for Lee's low moves. It stuns on
counterhit, allowing for a 1,2 jab or other really quick move. However, it is
SLOW. It has shocking recovery (I haven't experimented, but I suspect a EWGF
could land). It could be useful to kick a grounded person... but that's about
all. If you find a good way to use this move, let me know.
u/f+3 Quick Silver Sting **
Hits high. Comes out marginally quicker than the Silver Sting, and recovers
slightly better. But only by a couple of frames in both cases. Stay with the
Silver Sting.
f+3+4 Silver Sting ****
LONG range (although don't overestimate it), very powerful. Very useful against
a rushing opponent or one who's tagging in. Negligible recovery when blocked.
Hits high, though, so it can be ducked if you get obvious about it. Doesn't
start too fast, either, so don't use it at close range.
d/f+3 Step-In Kick ****
Hits MID, thus making it highly useful to Lee, since he lacks mid moves. The
recovery isn't great, but it isn't as bad as to allow anything major,
particularly as it usually keeps your opponent a touch out of range. Like Lee's
other mid kicks, this is mainly used to catch out people who keep ducking.
b+3 Mist Wolf Kick *****
=3 Mist Wolf Combo
=~3 Mist Wolf Feint
=~3~4 Mist Trap
Comes out quick, decent recovery. Seems to catch people by surprise a lot. And
it hits MID, again catching people who duck whenever Lee sticks out a foot. And
it does OK damage. Learn its range, and mix it up with things like 4,4,4. It's
Lee's best mid kick, in my opinion. The Mist Wolf Kick also leads to the Mist
Wolf Combo, which may possibly be guaranteed on counterhit. I wish the PS2 was
out so I could buy one and make sure of this stuff.
The Mist Wolf Feint is the way you catch out reversal-happy people. Lee starts
to kick, but he cancels and kicks out again when you hit 3 the second time (the
reason you have to be careful to time the second kick of the Mist Wolf Combo).
The new kick hits high, and according to tekken.net does almost as much damage
as the full Mist Wolf combo. I can't say it looks to me as if it does that
much, but...
Finally, the Mist Wolf Feint leads to the Mist Trap, which is discussed in
Specials.
f,f+3 Axe Kick ***
Not so useful in normal situations, despite hitting mid, because it's slow and
the recovery isn't great. But it's really good for okizeme and it's Lee's best
move against people tagging in because it causes a collapse slow enough to
exploit. f,f+3, D+4,4,4,4 is my personal trademark okizeme/anti-tag combo (I
have literally seen no-one else use it), and it's highly effective and very
damaging.
FC,d/f,d,d/f+3 Dragon Slide ***
Like Law's Dragon Slide, if you can master the motion, the instant slide is
pretty useful, both for hitting grounded opponents and for tripping up people
who are dashing in towards you. Like all slides, you're left in a not-so-good
position if they block, though.
4,4,4 Machine Gun Kicks *****
They all hit high. Despite this, they get 5 stars. Why? They come out like
lightning, only a couple of frames slower than jabs. They do decent damage.
And there's no time to duck once the string starts. There's only a handful of
frames between each kick hitting. Feel free to abuse this, and then use the b+3
kick when your opponent starts ducking at the sound of a finger hitting a
button. Because no-one will be able to duck this on reaction any other way than
that. Trust me on this.
Hands down Lee's best interrupt move. Follow it up with something like a b+1,1
and then throw.
f+4 Silver Whip ****
Lee's OTHER best interrupt move. And you thought the Machine Gun Kicks were
fast. Unfortunately, like the Machine Gun Kicks, it hits high. And it's low
damage. Also, the recovery is slightly worse (although it doesn't allow so much
as a jab).
If it hits, it appears to cause some sort of brief stun which compensates for
the recovery time. Quite often, if you follow up with a second f+4 immediately,
you'll catch your opponent just starting to make a move. However, this pushes
them out of range for a third f+4. Similarly, against mediocre players, this is
a great set-up for the D+4444 (they'll react too slowly after the f+4 to stop
the first one, which guarantees he second one, and if they aren't too good they
then fail to block the rest...) But the main use of the Silver Whip, like the
Machine Gun Kicks, is as a quick interrupt designed to hit your opponent just as
they start a move.
I believe that the Silver Whip is also unreversable. Or at least I've never
seen it done (partly due to the blinding speed, I'm sure).
4,3,4 Shaolin Spin Kicks *
A bit more damaging than the Machine Gun kicks, but there's a lot of time to
duck after the first kick, and since they all hit high.. guess what happens to
you. I'm told that the 3 is guaranteed if the first 4 hits. If that's true, it
might be worth throwing the 4,3 out every so often and I'd give the 4,3 a better
rating.
d,d/f+4 Silver Tail ***
=2~2~1 Silver Demon unblockable (with Kazuya only).
=D/F+4,4,4... Infinite Sweeps
Good part- reasonably quick long range low sweep similar to Nina's Wipe The
Floor sweep. Hits grounded people, making it a good okizeme move. If you keep
holding D/F and you hit 4 as Lee finishes the sweep, he will do another sweep
(obviously, this WILL get you blocked if you keep going for too long). Bad
part: if you are blocked, there's a lot of recovery time.
Oh, and if it hits as a counter, it stuns.
4,u+3 Machine Gun Kick to Somersault ***
A safe move to use- quick, and it recovers fast if blocked. Not quite as useful
on it's own as it is in the d+4 mix-ups, because people rarely seem to duck
after the 4. No time- unless they're silly enough to duck expecting a 4,3,4 or
something, but a 4,3,4 is slow enough that you can wait to see the 3 coming
before you duck. Will probably only catch out people who are ducking as soon as
they see Lee twitch. It might be worth trying if a simple 4 narrowly whiffs,
since the u+3 might catch them as they take a step in.
d,d/b+4 Blazing Kick ** (but very useful with the right partners)
= ~5 (immediate tag out)
Lee's best juggle starter.. and what a starter. Class 1, my friends. Which
would help if Lee had any serious juggles to thread after it that he couldn't do
off something less. On the other hand, partnered with Heihachi or other super-
jugglers, tag out after the blazing kick and put your opponent in a world of
hurt.
Downside- it's slow to come out, and really awful recovery time. If it lands,
great.. but the same could be said for most moves. If Lee had great solo
juggles to do off it, the risk would be worth it more.
b+4 Silver Heel ***
= ~5 (immediate tag out)
= ~3 Silver Heel to Hitman Stance.
Great recovery, pity about the start-up time. Still, it hits mid, and on
counterhit it starts a bounce juggle. Less risky way of juggle starting than
the Blazing Kick. And unlike any other move in Tekken, the tag still occurs
even if the move is blocked. And heck, it looks cool, and one of the reasons we
all play Lee is the sheer style factor, right?
b,b+4 Cutter *
=~3 Cutter to Hitman Stance
Pretty useless high kick. It comes out the same speed as the Silver Heel
(although the movement takes marginally longer), it hits high, it does less
damage than the Silver Heel, and the recovery is worse. It doesn't seem worth
using to me, although I guess you could surprise an opponent who follows in on
the starting backdash... or maybe not.
f,f,N+3,4 OR f,F+3,4 (hold F for a second or so) or while running 3+4,4
Shredder Combo ***
=4 High Shredder
=f+4 Mid Shredder
=d+4 Low Shredder
The f,f,N version isn't too hot (the break for the N just spoils things.. why
couldn't it be f,f+3,4 like Paul's?). But the running/semi-running versions
tend to work well. The first two kicks (both mid) come out very fast, and often
catch out people who try to interrupt with a jab or the like. Even if the first
two are blocked, the final kick often catches people out, whether you use the
mid or low versions, due to the delay and/or the height mix-up.
The recovery isn't that great on any of this, but the force of the kicks usually
leaves your opponent too far back to retaliate. Your greatest danger with these
is being interrupted before they come out (due to the run in or the N part of
the f,f,N version).
f,f,N+3+4 Delayed Dragonslide *
Some people praise this move extensively. But it's only really useful to hit
people on the ground, and don't you have other stuff for that? Like the normal
dragonslide which comes out almost twice as fast? The delayed dragonslide is
slow, and that's even without it's slow f,f,N command. It doesn't even do as
much damage as a standard Dragonslide. And it telegraphs more than almost any
other move in Tekken. Lee takes a big spinning hop into the air- where 95% of
people will hit you, even the AI on the lower levels- and then lands and slides.
If someone hasn't seen it before, you might get them once with it.
FC,(u/b_u_u/f)+4 Lee Flipkick *
= ~5 (immediate tag out)
A juggle starter, does decent damage, hits mid, comes out quickly... and the
recovery if it's blocked will get you belted. Hello, Wind Godfist.
Oh, and it requires you to enter a full crouch before you do it. So I guess
it's an option instead of a WS move if you duck something, but I don't think the
start's quick enough for that.
FC,(U/B_U_U/F)+4 Lee High Flipkick **
Comes out even faster than the normal flipkick, does a touch more damage,
doesn't juggle... and the recovery time is long enough to allow quick
unblockables like Bryan's faster one, even if it wasn't an unblockable. We're
talking half-a-second here. A Tekken eternity. Still, due to the really quick
start, I guess it's a viable option if you duck something. But be damned sure
it's a guaranteed hit. Maybe if you're in FC and block something that makes
your opponent stagger.
FC,(U/B_U_U/F)+3+4 Rainbow Kick **
Lee jumps up high and lands on his back, his legs hopefully hitting the other
person. Less risky than the flipkicks, in that Lee's grounded position should
restrict the available retaliation if the move is blocked (although characters
like Paul and Hei and Nina with quick ground attacks will still do a hefty
amount). Alternately, it's unlikely to hit unless your opponent is trying to
move out of the way or tries some sort of attack against you in the air, or is
stupid enough to duck. Exception- if your opponent feels like staying down,
this move hits grounded opponents, and for hefty damage too. Second exception-
see Eddy or Kuma or Ling or Lei in a weird stance some distance away? Let's use
the U/F version and jump over to land on top of them! I hope you judged the
distance right, though!
d/f+1,2,2,1,3,3,3,4,3,4 Tenstring *
Hits: mhmhhLhhhm
This is NOT hard to block. Your opponent can simply stay low after hit 3 and
nothing will hurt them until hit 10. They should have attacked by then, given
six attacks worth of time. So Lee's tenstring, unlike those belonging to some
other characters, is not usually useful even against mediocre players.
End of the kick section!
====
1d. Lee special movements.
f,N Mist Step
Sort of like a rolling dash in the Nina or Paul style, this moves faster than a
normal f,f dash. Lee, unlike Kazuya, has no special moves off the Mist Step.
However, he can do any normal move while in the Mist Step, including throws.
You can hold B while in the Mist Step to instantly block, which might surprise
people who go for a high-recovery attack when they think you can't block. But
otherwise, the Mist Step for Lee is just a slightly better way to move forward,
and in a way that people won't be so used to.
b,b,N+3+4 Backflip
Lee flips backwards onto his hands and flips backwards again onto his feet.
Very fast way of getting back quickly.
FC,(u/b_u_u/f) Fake Somersault
I have to admit to never using this, since I don't see the point. Law has this
too. But doing a somersault fake-out strikes me as pointless, really. Sure this
doesn't have recovery like the real somersaults, but it doesn't actually do
damage, either. If they don't hit you while you fake, you'll be able to block
or attack as soon as you land, but they can ALSO block and attack the whole
time.
===
1e.
Sidestep moves.
A short section. Sidestep moves aren't too important to Lee.
SS right+3 / SS left+4 Lee Screw **
They hit high. They come out reasonable pace. The 3 version does more damage,
but come out slower and has slow recovery. The 4 version does a little less
damage, but comes out a little quicker and recover is negligible.
Very cool looking kicks, though. I'd opt for the 4 version if you have a
choice, but if you have to SS one way in particular I guess you're stuck with
whichever version belong to that sidestep.
SS+2 Cross punch ***
Also hits high, but it guard breaks and so has good recovery even if blocked.
Comes out marginally quicker than the SS+4. Does less damage, though, so if
you're sidestepping a slow recovery move and can land more or less any SS move
go with the SS kicks.
However, whenever possible, you must go for a side throw. For style points!
===
1f.
Throws
Lee has no throws that do serious damage, and no throws that require a 1+2
escape. However, as a speedy pitbull sort of character, you'll still have to
pull out a couple of throws. For example: F+2,2,2+4 is a personal favourite,
particular since you can button buffer (hold down the second 2 and then simply
hit 4 to perform the throw).
1+3 Neck Fracture **
Causes you to fall to the ground with your opp, which is not necessarily a good
thing.
2+4 Chastisement Punch ***
Also a simple throw, but at least you stay on your feet, able to perform a
Dragonslide or a Silver Tail sweep or the like.
f,f+3+4 Knee Drive ***
=~5 (immediate tag out)
Does less damage than the standard throws, and still requires only a one button
escape, and throws your opp too far for immediate attacks (although you can run
in and try to land a Shredder after they rise). Still, the tag component can be
handy, since tagging means that the tagging-in character will tag in right next
to your opponent, in a position to attack immediately.
It also helps that this throw is a dash-in throw, since an opponent doesn't
usually expect to be thrown by Lee, let alone when he's rushing in.
2+5 Tag Throw ***
Changes damage depending on who tags in. A decent way of tagging in your other
character. But nothing special.
Side/back throws ***
Nothing special. Poor damage for side and back throws, but you don't have much
that's better from those spots. BUT Lee's left side throw is regarded as one of
the best looking in Tekken, so you have to try it occasonally, to humiliate your
opponent!
====
1g.
Hitman Stance
Hitman blocks high and mid. And you can sidestep while in Hitman Stance.
The point of Hitman stance is basically this- you stand there. They have to
come to you. Lee's Hitman moves have deceptively long range, and mainly decent
recovery, so the aim is to try and catch out people as they rush in, usually
with the Hitman uppercut. If it's blocked, you don't lose much. If it hits,
you land some serious damage. There's two main dangers. One- long range low
attacks like slides. This means- look out for Law/Lee instant slides. Look out
for tag slides. Look out for running slides. If your opponent starts the slide
at a long distance, you should be able to sidestep it simply or else MAYBE use
the 4 sweep to hit them as they slide. That last is a risky option.
If they run in to the edge of range before sliding, use the Hitman 2 like you'd
try to hit anyone dashing towards Lee in hitman stance. You'll often catch them
just as they start to drop down to slide.
Second main danger- unblockables. A long range unblockable like Ganryu's
started from outside the range of Lee's hitman moves, and you'll have a lot of
trouble getting there in time to interrupt, or getting back out of range
quickly. This is where you'd better hope your sidestepping is going well.
Still, there are some unblockables which are incredibly hard to sidestep, and if
you're an average player just learning Lee, you don't want to try.
End result- don't go into Hitman when your opponent is at very long range, due
to the risk of unblockables and slides, or when they can be content to just sit
back and wait for time to run out. Do go into Hitman when your opponent is just
out of range, and will likely just dash in, allowing you to catch them before
they can block again. It's also often good to use the link into Hitman of some
moves and do an immediate 2 or 3 to catch your opponent off guard. For example:
b+4~3,2 and if it juggles follow up with f+3+4. An added advantage is that the
Hitman 2 will hit if the b+4 caused a juggle.
3+4 Enters Hitman Stance.
Hitman can also be entered off a couple of other moves, as noted in the move
discussions above.
The following moves assume you are in Hitman Stance-
1,1 Freaker Jabs **
Fairly fast high jabs. Leave you in Hitman- a pity, because they cause enough
stun on hit to allow a standard jab to hit (but not any Hitman move).
2 Hitman Uppercut ****
= ~5 (immediate tag out)
Also fairly fast. Hits mid. Juggles. Low recovery when blocked. Much longer
reach than it looks, since Lee takes a big lunge forward. The primary reason
for using Hitman Stance. Follow it up with f+3+4 for the most simple, yet
stylish, juggle in Tekken. And decent power too. 23 points of damage for the
uppercut, plus 80% of the Silver Sting damage equals 47 points... not bad for
something so simple.
Whether or not it hits, you leave Hitman Stance after the uppercut.
3 Scatter Kick **
Somewhere in speed between the jabs and the uppercut, this kick hits high. The
damage is decent, particularly if it lands on counter, which makes it trigger a
cool throw. Recovery is not so hot, but not so bad it would allow that
benchmark, the WGF. Still, you're usually better going for the uppercut, since
the resulting juggle does more damage than the kick-throw and it's more likely
to land anyway.
4 Ship Slicer *
Another move that lots of people seem to like for no reason. In all fairness,
it's the move to trap people who stay standing against a Hitman attack. In all
fairness, most good players should be able to block this very SLOW low sweep and
then strike back during the really awful recovery. Lee has plenty of other
height mix-ups to attack with. Hitman isn't used for that purpose. Leave this
sweep alone, except against scrubs.
====
1h.
Unblockables
Lee does not exactly rely on unblockables. But his are not completely worthless
either.
d+3+4 Silver Cyclone
The faster of Lee's two standard unblockables, it takes a full second to wind up
and perform, but Lee ducks down and avoids high attacks while winding up. It's
duckable, and has a noticeable wind-up (lightning flashes etc.). It can catch
out someone tagging in if they're a little slow off the mark.
d/b+1+2 Silver Fang
A bit slower, and doesn't duck down while charging. Lee rushes forward and does
a big punch. It can't be ducked. It's basically the same as Law's unblockable
with one BIG exception- no big shiny charge up. Particularly from the 2P side,
where Lee has his back to the camera while charging, Lee doesn't look like he's
doing anything in particular. If done while your opponent is standing well
back, they might well rush into it... you hope.
d+4,N+4~3 Low kick->High kick->Silver Cyclone
Only the Silver Cyclone is unblockable.
The 3 triggers the Silver Cyclone, no different to the usual one. Since you'd
do this combo at close range, you're in even more danger than usual of being
punished if yo try it, but an unblockable in the middle of a string like this
DOES get a big more of surprised value. You might be lucky. You hope.
d,d/f+4,2~2~1 Silver Tail sweep->Silver Demon punch
Only the Silver Demon punch is unblockable.
Silver Demon can only be done with Kazuya as Lee's partner.
If the Silver Tail hits, Lee follows up with an unblockable punch that resembles
Kazuya's Glory Demon Fist. I guess this is meant to be inspired by Lee's anger
with his stepbrother, or something. Useful if you're a Kaz player.
====
1i.
Specials.
Only two at this stage-
Firstly, the infamous Lee Mist Trap.
b+3~3~4
A Feint Mist Wolf kick is performed. If the kick is blocked, and you hit 4 on
the exact frame it's blocked (1 frame=1/60th of a second) then your opponent
grabs Lee's foot, and Lee does a sort of unbreakable reversal- effectively, an
unbreakable throw.
If you can work out a way to get this down consistently, let me know. All Lee
players will worship you. A consistent Mist Trap would make Lee really REALLY
dangerous, since it would effectively become a high-hitting fast unblockable.
Do you duck, risking the b+3 kick, or do you stand and risk taking the Mist
Trap?
Secondly- the Advanced Triple Fang Rush.
The normal Triple Fang is b+1,1,2. It leaves you quite close to your opponent.
The Advanced version guard breaks, and so leaves you in a much better position
when blocked.
Two theories as to how it's done are: B+1 (delay a moment),1,2.
The other is b+1,N+1,2 The only difference in the two methods is whether or not
you hold the lever back. It's possible that both work. Anyway, if you can
confirm the amount of delay necessary to make this work, or whether it needs the
joystick held back or not, let me know.
===
2.
Basic Lee tactics
There are 4 main types of Lee player.
1. D+4,4,4,4 scrubs. They suck.
2. "Law" Lee players. Mediocre.
3. "Hwoarang" Lee players
and > Good
4. "Nina" Lee players.
This is just talking about character-specific skills. A master will play like a
master no matter who he uses, but a master who mainly uses clan Mishima and the
Chang family is unlikely to be too hot on the fine points of Bryan play, for
example. Similarly, someone may be good, and they may be winning with Lee due
to being generally good, but they may have room to improve on their Lee skills.
Get what I'm saying?
The thing about Lee is that he's no-one's first character (except maybe absolute
newbies). Everyone who takes him up seriously comes from some other character.
Most commonly, Law. Lee does not play anything like Law. Law has decent
defensive abilities with his punch parry, and great juggling abilities, plus
some power moves. Lee has none of that, but has many fast pokes and mix-ups
that Law lacks. Nonetheless, Law players see Lee's Law moves and conclude they
can play him much like Law. The F+2,2 punch rush isn't bad, but the rest of the
Law moves aren't so great (Lee's flipkicks are nowhere near as effective as
Law's for the most part, and the 4,3,4 Shaolin Spinkicks are not good). You
simply can't play Lee as a turtle, and that's where Law excels. As such, most
mediocre Lee players are primarily Law players. At least, I've always found so.
The better type of Lee player has come to Lee from Hwoarang or Baek, sensing
another "kick" character. These players play a fast pitbull-type game, not
going for juggles much, but just keeping the pressure going with a mix of fast
punches and kicks. They usually pick Hwoarang or Baek as their second
character, so they can keep the pressure up even when they tag. Lee players
I've known who use this style are noticeably more effective than the Law sort,
since this sort of speedy attack is Lee's specialty. If you play as Hwoarang or
Baek or any other pitbull type, you already know how to do this better than I
can describe it. Basically, you don't use any move that will take a lot of
recovery if blocked, since that would leave a pause in the attack.
The other sort of better Lee player is my own composite style (boasting or
what?). A lot of it comes from Nina, though, since I'm primarily a Nina player
from T3, forced to branch out due to what Namco did to the poor girl for TTT...
grrr. There's still a lot of the Hwoarang-type Lee in there.. it's just that
this style isn't 100% fast pitbulling.
Anyway, as you might have detected from the discussion of the moves, my style
works in a lot more counter-hitting, psychological mix-up sort of stuff. I'm
not the best player, but I know the people I'm playing aren't perfect either.
Throw out f+4 or 4,4,4 a lot and hope it interrupts something. Use those d+4
and d+3 mix-ups. Don't be afraid of D+4,4,4,4 every now and then. Go for fast
bursts of poking, and then back off and jump in again with a f+3+4. Use those
b+3, d/f+3 and b+4 kicks sometimes so that your opponent doesn't feel he can
duck all day. Backflip back, and run in again with the shredder or a throw. Go
into Hitman and make them come to you. Etc. Just don't get predictable. A
Paul or a Mishima can be predictable and still win. A WGF isn't less effective
because you know it will come. But Lee relies on always doing something
different.
Anyway, from practical experience, both the "Hwoarang" and "Nina" style Lee work
very well, so go with whichever one you're comfortable with.
==
3. Some combos to keep you going.
3a. Okizeme
The Dragon Slide and (if at range and you really must) the delayed Dragonslide
are the obvious way to attack someone on the ground, as is the Silver Tail
sweep. The Slice Kick if you're daring and they're close.
However, Lee's okizeme strength is attacking when they're getting off the
ground.
No matter which way they roll, the Silver Tail sweep will get them as they get
off the ground, perhaps even knocking them up for the 2~2~1 unblockable if
Kazuya is your partner. So the Silver Tail is Lee's safest Okizeme.
The D+4,4,4,4 is often seen as useful, but it only hits if they get up. So if
they twitch, go for it. if you're feeling lucky go for it. Use the delays
built in to the D+4,4,4,4 to stop yourself if they don't get up.
If they always roll forward or back or get straight up (the standard behaviour
of most people, in other words), and they aren't right next to you, my favourite
okizeme move is the f,f+3 axe kick. High damage, puts them right back on the
floor, and usually allows for a D+4,4,4,4 follow up for extra damage before they
end up on their back again. And that puts them the perfect distance away to
repeat. If they keep getting up immediately, you can do f,f+3, D+4,4,4,4 to
them all day.
3b. Against tagging in people.
Three choices. f,f+3,D+4,4,4,4 OR f+3+4 OR d,d/b+4
This really depends on how far away you are from the place they tag in. The
f,f+3 combo is usually the easiest. f+3+4 is also high damage, and can be done
from further away. Also, it's guaranteed 30 damage, whereas the f,f+3 combo
relies on the D+4,4,4,4 being possible afterwards (it isn't always) to go above
the basic 23 damage. Finally, if close enough and if you're confident of your
juggling, you might try the blazing kick. A good strong juggle added to the
blazing kick damage might possibly be the highest damage count of all.
3c. Custom Strings.
Invent your own. Unpredictability is the key!
OK- some help. String alternately punch rushes and kick combos to keep your
opponent guessing. Try not to use moves with long wind-up in the middle of a
poking string (although as ender it's fine). Try not to only use high and low
moved (this is where things like F+2,2 b+1,1 and b+3 come in). Remember that
some moves can string to Hitman and an immediate 2. If close, go for a throw in
the middle of a string. Busy holding B and waiting for an opportunity, your opp
will often not see the throw until it's too late. Using button buffering (as
mentioned in the throw section) can be a big help to fit throws in quickly in a
string.
3d. Juggles
Other than the Hitman 2->f+3+4 juggle, no other Lee juggle starters have obvious
continuations. D+4,4,4,4 is the usual juggle ender. You can often fit in some
punches like b+1,1 before you do the D+4 combo. You can experiment with the
plain 4 (or 4,4,4) kick and see if it keeps your opponent in position for
further juggling- sometimes it works, sometimes no. Probably depends on the
timing and the juggle starter. Off the d,d/b+4 Blazing Kick, you're in a
position to try out anything you want. Even another Blazing Kick will hit, for
what good it does.
If you can come up with a particularly good long juggle for Lee, let me know.
You'll be credited for discovering it.
====
4. "Useless" Lee info.
Lee has 3 costumes.
At character selection, hit a punch button to select Lee's sleeveless blue shirt
with black wrist cuffs and black pants.
Hit a kick button to select his open tunic with jeans.
Hit the start button to select his tuxedo costume.
Lee has a couple of win poses, but I forget exactly what they are and I don't
know what buttons you hold to select them. That info in a future update.
Lee also has special intro win or loss animations with a few people, notably
Heihachi and Kazuya. More info on those in future updates.
The basic Lee story is-
Lee was adopted by Heihachi as a young boy, and raised as a brother to
Heihachi's son Kazuya. Lee became the favourite son, and was chosen over Kazuya
to go off and study in America. Fighting style-wise, Lee did not adapt well to
the Mishima karate style, but developed a style of his own that had a bit to do
with his regular sparring partner Marshall Law, but also had a bit to do with
Lee's background fighting on the streets as a kid.
Eventually, at a big tournament, Lee fought in the final of his division against
Law, who he beat. However, Kazuya only drew with Paul Phoenix. Once again,
Heihachi preferred Lee over his brother.
Finally, Heihachi held the first Tekken tournament. Kazuya requested to fight
his brother after the preliminary rounds. Lee accepted- he knew he was faster
than his brother. But charged with rage and with demonic strength, Kazuya
overcame his brother.
After the tournament, Kazuya took control of the Mishima business, and made Lee
his lowly assistant. Humiliated, Lee came to dislike his brother. But when
Heihachi returned for the second Tekken tournament, Lee conspired with Wang to
delay Heihachi, to allow Jun Kazama through to Kazuya.
Lee fought and lost to his adoptive father, but it bought enough time for Jun to
get through- although in the end, Kazuya and Heihachi still fought.
After THAT tournament, Lee was once again his father's deputy, until he was
consumed by the Ogre which was gathering the souls of strong fighters...
For Tekken Tag Tournament Lee is alive again, as are all the other fighters from
Tekken 2 who were meant to be dead, but it is unlikely that they will remain
alive for Tekken 4. Tekken Tag Tournament is believed to be outside the Tekken
storylines.
Credit goes to P. Sartain's Tekken Storyline FAQ for the Lee history
information.
====
CREDITS:
Castel and the staff of www.tekken.net for providing THE best resource for
Tekken on the net, even if they don't have juggle combo lists up for Lee or Nina
at time of writing ;)
Everyone who's talked about Lee at the tekken.net message boards, for providing
me with a few ideas and keeping me enthused about playing Lee.
All the Lee players I've come across for showing me tactics and uses for moves
that I hadn't thought of yet.
And Namco for making Tekken!
