Eternal Fighter Zero/Advanced Mechanics

Introduction

This is mostly a translation of the omake page on Bamboo Sword, consisting of findings from Japanese players over the years relating to the more specific parts of the game's mechanics, with some additions and corrections found after Revival was released.

Air Throw Ranges and Power

Name	Pixels Above	Pixels Below	Pixels Forward	Attack Power
Nagamori	-15	68	48	1200
Nanase	9	36 ※Bare-handed 40	46	1400
Akane	11	34	49	1200
Misaki	17	28	48	1300
Mio	-3	50	46	1000
Mayu	12	28	46	1000
Unknown	17	35	48	1000
Ayu	17	28	47	1100
Mai	18	34	49	1300
Makoto	6	44	48	1100
Shiori	22	28	47	1100
Nayuki (Asleep)	-6	56	51	1300
Sayuri	10	44	48	1200
Misuzu	11	39	47	1200
Kano	3	44	48	1200
Minagi	24	26	48	1200
Kaori	-1	36	43	1400
Doppel Nanase	9	40	46	1400
Ikumi	6	44	53	1200
Mishio	1	48	46	1150
Nayuki (Awake)	-3	47	48	1200
Akiko	1	49	49	1200

• Excluding Kanna, all characters begin an air throw during frame 1 of jC or j6C. If all requirements are met, the air throw happens on frame 2.
• Air throws hitboxes last 1 frame (frame 2).
• If the air throw fails, your character will perform j6C (or jC if j6C does not exist).
• With some exceptions (Ikumi, Kaori, etc.), characters with slow jumps will have a larger throw box, while fast characters will have a smaller throw box.
• All character’s throw boxes are centered slightly upwards, but you cannot air throw an opponent directly above you, so beware.
• The numbers above are the number of pixels from the top of your character’s hitbox vertically and the middle of your character’s hitbox horizontally that will result in a successful air throw.
• Air throw attack power tends to correlate with character size.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of Recoil Counter (RC)

In general, a move that is Recoil Guarded (RGed) may in turn RG the opponent’s move provided the execution of that move has not ended. As long as the game recognizes all the actions as one move, RG may be performed. This includes RGing before a hitbox is generated, during recovery, during dash-type moves, or during special attacks. This means that, despite their original weaknesses, moves such as DPs or moves with large recovery are actually safer to have been RGed. As such, higher level EFZ players may choose to forego RGing in favor of regular guarding to provide them some benefit.

As you cannot normal throw during RG’s recovery, command throws become extremely powerful.

Moves that have multiple parts (Minagi’s 5C, Ikumi’s jB, etc), or during attacks that overlap with Flicker Instant Charged (FICd) projectiles can have the first attack RGed, and any time during the second attack, RC may be performed. However, during moves such as Akane’s leap skills, Makoto’s Three Burst (j2CCC), or Mishio’s Running Flame (214A/B/C), once an additional input is pressed, the game recognizes this as a completely different move. As such, once the additional input is pressed, you lose the ability to RC.

Moves with multiple hits will continue to retain their ability to RC, even if only the first hit is RGed while the rest are normally blocked. It seems that only moves that require an additional input to advance to another part of the move are affected. There are exceptions to this rule. Some moves lose the ability to RC during the latter part despite having input no additional moves (the latter part is considered a separate move on its own).

E.g.: During the landing recovery of Akane’s Stun Needle, or during the landing recovery of Nayuki’s (Awake) Somersault Spike (RC is doable while in the air), etc.

The first example can be considered deliberate, but the latter example is in opposition to other character’s DPs, and is rather unfortunate for Nayuki.

As an aside, if both an RC and a counter move are performed at the same time, the counter will take precedence. This is only a consideration for characters with both an FIC-able projectile and a counter (Sayuri and Misaki)...

Untech Time Calculation

0.75 x min(1, Power/100) x (Move’s Base Untech Time) (in frames)

Power maxes at 100 and will not exceed it for this calculation. Even if the UI lists 142 Power, the Power will only be 100.

Move's Base Untech Time can be found here under the 受身時間 column.

Using Mayu as an example: Mayu's 5A has 30 base untech time. Let's say the current proration (under Power in the game UI) is 40, we would need to do: 0.75 x 0.4 x 30 = 9 frames.

Untech Time From a Wallbounce

(Wallbounce Move's Base Untech Time) x 2 = Untech Time

This also includes the time it takes to reach the wall, so any time spent in the air to reach the wall is reduced from the untech time after the wallbounce.

Instant Charge

The character that performs the Instant Charge (IC) is actually able to act 1 frame faster.

FICs are treated the same as a super flash. See below for detailed information.

Super Flash Specifics

• Both characters are invincible during the freeze.
• Second player is slower to act by 0.3 frames.
• A character that performs an IC during the super freeze is able to act 1 frame faster (during which they are invincible). However, this is usually a combination of both the freezes, and really doesn’t matter in the end.
• This is also the reason for some moves being guaranteed using the super flash.

Wakeup Time

This timing is only counting from the time that the character hits the ground until they are able to act, and does not include other information such as fall speed, or lingering hitboxes. All characters, excluding Kano, stay on the ground for 33.3 frames. There are various types of wakeups, including ones that appear to be moving but are considered still invulnerable, ones that appear to be waking up but are able to act, etc.

Name	Hitting the Ground ~ Downed State	Waking Up	Total (+33)
Nagamori	18	12	63
Nanase	19	15	67
Akane	19	16	68
Misaki	19	20	72
Mio	18	35	86
Mayu	19	26	78
Unknown	19	26	70
Ayu	15	20	68
Mai	16	22	71
Makoto	17	15	65
Shiori	19	19	71
Nayuki (Asleep)	19	16	68
Sayuri	19	19	71
Misuzu	16	18	67
Kano	19	26	※88
Minagi	19	15	67
Kaori	19	19	71
Doppel Nanase	19	15	67
Ikumi	19	19	71
Mishio	20	15	68
Nayuki (Awake)	19	16	68
Akiko	25	16	74
Kanna	19	43	95

※Kano’s downed time is 10 frames longer than others.

Hitstop

Weak:Medium:Strong = 3f:6f:9f

I’m not 100% sure on this, but years of experience tells me this is probably right.

As the game is running in ⅓ frames, moves with special hitstop (moves that have no recovery time for you) have the above values as positive frames.

During Air Techs

All characters have 15 frames of vulnerability during an air tech.

If you are hit during the first frame of teching, the hit is considered a part of the previous combo.

Time Before Being Able to Attack During a Dash

From dash startup to the time you stop and are able to act. During movement, most characters are able to cancel their dash into a dash attack, special move, jump, or backdash. While it might appear that there is a difference in when characters can dash-up throw, the difference comes from each character’s dash startup (harder to see with slower characters). Characters with hover dashes are listed later.

Name	Dash Duration	Notes
Nagamori	19
Nanase	20
Akane	20
Misaki	19
Mio	19
Mayu	20~32	Special step-dash Distance travelled is affected by holding 4 or 6. If a dash attack is input (after frame 4 of dash), landing recovery is extended by 10 frames.
Unknown	33	Special dash, invincible during part of dash. For more information, refer to the character pages.
Mai	10	Step-dash. Before movement = 2 frames Step movement = 8 frames Landing recovery = 0 frames
Makoto	20
Shiori	19
Kano	19
Minagi	20
Kaori	23	Ducking-type, may cancel into attack. For more information, refer to the character pages.
Doppel Nanase	20
Ikumi	20
Mishio	19	If an attack is input after 20 frames into the dash, the acceleration of the attack is doubled.
Nayuki (Awake)	20

Time Before Being Able to Act During a Hover Dash

Name	Forward Dash	Backwards Dash
Ayu	13F	14F
Sayuri	12F	―
Nayuki (Asleep)	17F	―
Misuzu	13F	14F
Akiko	17F	―

Time Before Being Able to Attack During an Air Dash

Name	Time Unable to Act
Misaki, Shiori, Ikumi, Mishio	12F
Others	14F
Nayuki (Asleep)	18.66F

Misaki, Shiori, Ikumi, Mishio are able to act on frame 13 of their air dashes.

Nayuki (Asleep) is able act on frame 19.

All others are able to act on frame 15.

Unlike ground dashes, air dashes may not be cancelled into any other action during this time. The only exception is Mayu, who may double jump after an air dash.

Character Heights (as of version 4.02)

Name	Crouching	Crouch Block	Standing	Stand Block
Nagamori	56	58	85	85
Nanase	55	56	85	88
Akane	55	54	84	83
Misaki	55	55	91	82
Mio	49	48	76	70
Mayu	44	47	54	57
Unknown	55	55	69	70~73
Ayu	50	51	71~85	68
Mai	52	55	92	87
Makoto	54	57	70	68~70
Shiori	55	55	85	82
Nayuki (Asleep)	50	40	84~89	79
Sayuri	55	55	87	87
Misuzu	56	56	86	86
Kano	51	51	83	83
Minagi	55	55	91	82
Kaori	55	55	89	89
Doppel Nanase	55	56	75	88
Ikumi	46	47	86	86
Mishio	55	55	85	82
Nayuki (Awake)	58	58	89	89
Akiko	58	58	95	95
Kanna	62	62	91	82

The above values are only on the Y-axis.

During actual matches, the X-axis will come into play, so don’t rely on this too much.

Ayu and Nayuki (Asleep) will dance around during neutral standing, so their heights vary greatly.

Button Priority

Note: this section is currently considered outdated and might be deleted, check out Input Interpreter below instead.

EFZ prioritizes buttons in the order of [S > C > B > A].

This property persists no matter the combination or the number of buttons pressed.

This allows for easier execution of longer commands or moves with very small cancel windows.

Example: Ayu -- 236 + C&S → + 236A/B/C

The S button is prioritized, so no special move is performed. As there is no normal move associated with S, standing C is performed.

Once the next 236A/B/C is input, Shining Finger will be performed.

Advantageous Frame Differences Between Block and Hit

Attack Level	On Block	On Hit
Attack Level 1	9F	10F
Attack Level 2	14F	16F
Attack Level 3	21F	23F
Air Block (attack level makes no difference)	19F	Attack Base Untech Time * Proration

Certain moves will have special hitstop, so take note.

E.g. Mai (5B), Nanase (5A), Misaki (5A), etc.

Air block is special in that attack level makes no difference.

After the Recovery of an Action, 1 Frame of Special Recovery Exists

After the recovery of any action, before any other action may occur, there exists 1 frame in which the only action you may take is to block. This includes recovering from being hit or blocking a move, so the player on defense is at a disadvantage in these situations. Whether or not two moves combo may be a result of this slight shift of frames.

Makoto or Mio 66B (both +4f on hit) linked into 2A (4 frame startup) will not combo because of the extra 1 frame of recovery, but Nagamori or Sayuri’s 5C (10 frame startup) will chain from their 5A/2A (hitstop of 10 frames), since chains do not have this extra recovery.

RG Recovery Time and Advantage Difference

	Recovery Time	Normal Move Cancel Timing	Special Move Cancel Timing
Stand RG	20F	1F	1F
Crouch RG	22F	3F	3F
Air RG	22F	3F	3F

First of all, RG recovery occurs from the moment the move is guarded, and applies 20 frames of hitstop to both players. Also, the moment RG occurs, all directional inputs are reset for both players. During this hitstop, no button inputs are accepted. However, directional input is accepted during this hitstop, so players may input directions for special moves during RG recovery.

After RG’s hitstop ends, the player whose attack was RGed may begin input immediately. The player who RGed must wait an additional recovery period (listed above) before they are able to act. Blocking is available from frame 0, while normal attacks and special attacks are available from frame 1 after hitstop (frame 3 for crouch RG and air RG). Jumps, dashes, and throws are not available until the RG recovery is fully gone (in other words, in order to counterattack with a normal throw, you must wait 20+5 frames or more).

Additionally, trades cannot happen after RG recovery, so it is probably correct to say there is ⅓ frame less recovery (able to act earlier).

If you plan on counterattacking from RG, or confirming the RG and preventing a counterattack, it is best to use a move or special that will beat your opponent’s fastest move. ※Example Mio’s Costume-Onmyoji has a startup of 4 frames. If used after a standing RG against a 5 frame normal, Mio’s DP will straight out win. Even from crouching RG, moves such as Ayu’s 5B->f5B that have a 7 frame startup will be cleanly beaten by Mio’s DP. If both were working at the same startup speed, these moves would trade. However, since one move always wins, we can safely assume that a ⅓ frame advantage exists. We can confirm by binding both players attack with the same startup time to the same keyboard press, and this will result in a trade. Therefore we can assume that the ⅓ frame difference exists in the RG recovery.

Concerning the Buffer Window for Specials

Note: this section is currently considered outdated, contains errors and might be deleted in the future, check out Input Interpreter below instead.

Buffer windows for certain moves are listed below. Obviously, the first input is considered frame 1, but note that the window for the buffer does not begin until the second input is pressed. You can use the 6 directional input used in 41236 moves to shorten the time needed for follow up moves.

Command	Buffer Window (frames)	Notes
236	15
214	15
623	15
412	15
41236	20
63214	20
22 (Including IC)	15	Reverse Air Raid and Safety Wall are 10 frames
236236	30
214214	30
2363214	30
2141236	30
641236	25
463214	25
4123641236	45
6321463214	45
222	20	High-End Crash
236236236	35	Sword of Friendship
23693	35	I'm Not Alone
2]5[63	20	Meat Bun
C236236	30	Super Electric Shadow Bullet
236236BC	30	Perfectly Freezing Tornado Strike
666S	30	Silent Pose
Ordered-button types (BA6BC etc)	45	Directional keys may be pressed at the same time as buttons.

Special Property of Input Moves with a Single Direction

There are various moves in the game that can chain from an attack of the same chain level, e.g. Ayu’s step-kick, Mai’s Dispersing, Makoto’s Mako Leap, Kano’s Napalm Beat, etc. If, during the animation of a move, that button is pressed again (for example, Mai 5C -> 5C), then as long as a forward directional input is pressed during the cancel window, the chainable move will come out (Mai’s Dispersing). With the exception of ordered-button inputs, inputting the command during the buffer window of the move will result in the chainable move occurring. However, in this game, most chains require inputting the direction before the button input, so it really is just an odd feeling to end on a directional input. If you try out Nagamori’s [B B6] quickly, you should be able to see what I’m talking about.

Anyhow, just knowing this special property will result in less mishaps, so players using characters with these special moves should take note. As an aside, the next Tasofro fighter, IaMP, also has this special property.

Jump Startup Specifics

The jump preparation generally takes 3 frames.

Frame 1 to 2 is still considered on the ground. Frame 3 is considered airborne, but no action may be taken. From frame 4 onward, RG and normal moves may be used.

In uncommon cases, jump startup can be grabbed. Please refer to the subframes section.

Additionally, during Ayu’s jump startup, she gains invulnerability at her feet.

Sayuri cannot block or RG in the first 2 airbourne frames of her jump, meaning she can only block or RG from frame 6 onward.

Health

Health is the same for every character, and is a total of 10000 points. Guts applies, and is stronger the lower your character’s health is, for a maximum of 50% damage reduction. The RF gauge has a very slight effect on attack power, and will result in 110% damage at max RF gauge.

Using the attack’s base power, the above guts percentage, and the additional RF gauge attack power, you can determine how much damage a move will do.

Buffer Window for RG

• Once back or down-back is pressed, RG will occur within the next 10 frames if a move is blocked.
• On the ground, once the 10 frame buffer window is over, a new RG buffer window cannot start for the next 10 frames.
• When blocking, hitstop time is added onto this cooldown time, so unless there is a very long interval between attacks, you generally cannot RG two moves in a row.
• In the air, no restrictions are in place, so theoretically you could be attempting to RG every single possible moment.

Blocking

As expected when attempting to RG, you must let go of the directional input. During this time your character will not be blocking. During hitstop of a block move you are able to let go of the directional input and still continue blocking. If you attempt to RG moves with a small amount of hitstop (usually low attack level moves), you can lose your blocking status, so be careful.

Unthrowable States

For 6 frames after wakeup or blocking, your character will be unthrowable. Air blocks follow this same rule for air throws. This 6 frames lasts no matter what action the blocker or character on wakeup takes. After a hit, your character is considered throwable on the first frame after hitstun ends. Also, even if you air block a move, the moment you touch the ground your character is considered throwable.

By the way, every character becomes unthrowable during their throw startup.

The first 10 frames of jumps from the ground are invulnerable to throw-type hitbox behavior.

Some Throws Are Considered Unblockable Strike Moves

As they are considered attacks, they can trade with moves (for example, Mai’s ground throw). The throw is considered a zero (0) damage, level 1 attack (same as 2A/5A) in this case. The throw cannot hit if the opponent is in the hit or block states. However, you may combo these moves with either a projectile or other previously set attack, and the hits may occur at the same time (comboing must be done during hitstun).

As a note, all air throws are considered unblockable strike moves.

Properties of Air Special Moves

Generally for special moves that may be performed either on the ground or air, the air version cuts down on the animation needed for the ground version, leading to the startup becoming faster. As an example, Nagamori’s Smash & Prologue and Misaki’s RF Assault Gush follow this rule. An exception to the rule is Ayu’s Shining Arrow, which has the exact same animation on both the ground and the air.

Subframes

EFZ runs at 64 frames per second, while the game logic runs at 192 frames per second. This means that for every game frame drawn to the screen, there are also 2 extra subframes that are not drawn.

Below are some prominent examples of subframes affecting gameplay.

On Superflashes

A superflash is most commonly seen from Instant Charge and super moves, where the background turns black and both players are unable to act for a period of time. Player 1's superflash properties activates 0.3F after the super of Instant Charge input is registered by the Input Interpreter, and a further 0.3F later for Player 2. This essentially adds 0.3F startup for Player 1 and 0.6F startup to Player 2 for all supers and Instant Charges. As the total duration of the superflash properties is the same for both players, Player 2 will recover from these properties 0.3F later than Player 1.

On Zero Frame Duration Animation Frames

Some moves have subframe startups. EFZ shaves off the first animation frame in the frame table, which under normal circumstances isn't an issue as most moves have a first animation frame of at least 2F in duration, which then becomes 1F when played in game. However, any move that starts with a 1F duration animation frame subsequently becomes a 0F animation frame, which EFZ has no way of skipping. The game logic can only play this animation frame for the shortest time possible, 0.3F. Therefore, any move that has their first animation frame last for 1F ends up having 0.3F added to that move's startup.

On Jump Startup

Frames 0.3 and 0.6 are both grab vulnerable. This means that any grab affected by subframes will be able to grab you on these particular subframes of jump startup.

On Rumi's Rapture Full Swing and Big Bang Hitting Method

Rumi's homerun followup to her command grab has a total of 5 frames it can hit the opponent on, each varying in how much damage they do. This damage also changes at the subframe level, making the full damage increments a total of 15. You can read about each subframe's damage values and how to hit these subframes on Rumi's page.

The Game Displays 60 FPS, But There Are Differences Between PCs

Usually not an issue if running the game via EFZ Revival.

The actual correct running speed of the game seems to be about 64-65 FPS.

If you feel something off while playing on someone else’s computer, you should check for this discrepancy.

If You Press F1-F4 During Character Select, You Can Switch Between Button Configurations 1-4

Need to verify this works on Revival.

Even if you change this during the game, the selection won’t be saved. It will boot up the next time with the same button configuration as it did before (starting up with config 1, switching to 2, and restarting will result in button configuration 1).

Pretty useful to know.

Damage Scaling

Damage scales according to the Power displayed under the combo hit counter; the damage of a move is the maximum between the Base Move Damage and Power * Base Move Damage.

Power can increase beyond 100% by using a Blue Instant Charge.

During a combo, Power is computed according to the following equation:

New Power = Old Power - (Old Power * Current Move's Proration Value)

If the factor (Old Power * Current Move's Proration Value) is above 1 (or 100%), then the Move's proration is applied twice. It is therefore more efficient to use BIC later in the combo.

Input Interpreter

Note: You should familiarize yourself with Controls before reading this section.

Note 2: This section is under construction right now, there might be errors.

Overview

Generally speaking, the input interpreter of EFZ is very lenient. Any "garbage" between directions is ignored, and many moves have shortcuts to make inputting them easier, especially on a keyboard. For example, moves written as 41236 are strictly speaking read as just 413, except for Minagi, who has a 4136 instead. However, since misinputs are ignored, inputting the 2 and 6 will not cause the move to fail either, they're simply ignored by the game.

Most of the tricks described here are mere curiosities. Don't worry if you find it difficult to incorporate them in your play.

The following table contains the common buffered inputs used in the game with their strict versions the interpreter actually looks for. It's important to note that the neutral direction (5) can be part of an input, for example, if you perform Makoto's 6B overhead and wish to IC it, you have to first return to neutral direction before inputting the 22C, instead of rolling 632 2 C.

Notation	Strict	Buffer Window (frames)	Notes
236	236	15
214	214	15
623	623	20
421	421	15
412	412	15
41236	413	20	Minagi has a 4136 instead with a 23f buffer
44 / 66	5454 / 5656	15
22	5252	30	Applies to IC for everyone, and other 22 inputs except Misaki/Kano (15f)
236236	236236	30
214214	214214	30
2141236	214136	30	Minagi's buffer is 27f
641236	6413	25
463214	4631	25
4123641236	41364136	45
6321463214	63146314	45

FM inputs are often special, and there's too many to list them here. It's worth noting that some of them require the neutral direction input in the same way as 22 does.

Move hierarchy

When determining which move will come out when pressing an attack button, the game splits moves into three main classes (super, special and normal) which are then split into different priority levels. When the button is pressed, the game will first try to find a super in the input buffer. If there are multiple matches, the one with the highest priority will be chosen. If the input is considered valid but doesn't have a move associated with it (a common occurrence with the S button, more on this later), or the player doesn't have enough super meter to perform the move, or no super at all could be matched, the game will move to the next class. The same process will then be repeated for specials, and if no special move can be performed, the game then looks at the last button that was pressed and tries to perform a matching normal move.

The priority orders for common inputs:

• 4123641236 > 2141236 > 63214643214 = 641236 = 463214 > 214214 > 236236
• 41236 > 421 > 623 > 236 > 412 > 214 > 22
• 1 = 3 > 6 > 2(*) > 4 > 5

(*) 2* normals can be input in different ways, and it can interfere with 4. See both Buffering and button persistence and Command normals for details.

FM inputs can often break these rules, they range from very high priority to below even specials (for example, Makoto's 263S is below 214).

Button priority

Usually the interpreter matches attack buttons in the order they are pressed. An exception is made when when multiple attack buttons are pressed on the same frame. At that time the interpreter will prioritize the heaviest button first for supers and specials (S > C > B > A), and the lightest button first for normals (A > B > C > S).

Buffering and button persistence

When matching special and super inputs, there is no input buffer clearing at all. The interpreter doesn't care when the move was inputted or whether or not the attack button press has already triggered a move. This makes it possible to easily buffer specials and supers before landing (if that move doesn't have an aerial version), making you first perform an air normal, land canceling it and immediately starting the special. This can have some side effects however. For example, one input can make you perform the move twice if your first move was interrupted and you then recover before the input has fallen out of the buffer. It's even possible for a move to be faster than its input buffer length, so if you input it too fast it will be performed twice in a row. An example of this is Rumi's 41236 throw when she has no shinai; when you input the move too fast and whiff the throw, Rumi will immediately try to throw again, which will make it quite easy for the opponent to punish you. To avoid this, you can immediately input a 41236S to avoid the 2nd throw from coming out - see below for why this works.

With normals, things are a bit different. Normals can usually only be buffered when a move allows you to cancel into a normal, otherwise they only come out on the frame they were pressed on, or ignored when that's impossible. The exception is RG, where you can cancel the block into a move, but cannot prebuffer a normal, which makes timing them from an RG usually quite challenging. A button press can only ever produce one normal move. When buffering normals, the interpreter works in reverse order compared to specials; only the button that was pressed last will count. For example, if you did a 5B and buffered a 5C, you can "clear" that by pressing 5A (or 5S, which most characters don't have) if you haven't yet reached the cancel window of 5B.

Command normals

When inputting command normals, the direction you press is read when the move you're performing would start, while for standing/crouching normals, the direction is read at the time of buffering - except if you first input a standing normal, you can change it into a "command" crouching version instead. If you input a crouching normal in the usual way, you can cancel it into command normals as well. Diagonal command normals are also special in that they can be input as either pure diagonals or crouching normal -> left/right. Some examples to clarify:

• 5A 2B will produce a 5A 2B as expected, even if you let go of 2 before the move starts.
• 5AB 2 will also produce 5A 2B if 2 is held when 5A cancel window starts, but 5A 5B if you let go of 2 before that.
• 5AB 6 is similar, produces a 5A 6B if that exists, otherwise 5A 5B.
• 5A 2C 6 is tricky. If you have a 3C (Kano), you'll get 5A 3C despite having a 6C as well. For any other character who has a 6C, this'll be 5A 6C, and everyone else gets 5A 2C.
• 5A 2B 4 is similar. If you have 1B (Mayu), you get 5A 1B. However, for everyone else, even if you have 4B (Mio LR), this is a 5A 2B as per the priority order list.
• 5AB 2 4 because the direction is read when the move actually comes out, this'll be a 5A 4B for Mio (if 4 is still held), and 5A 5B for everyone else.

Note that if you prebuffer a normal and the standard moves aren't chainable, but a command normal is, pressing that command direction at any time during the cancel window of the first normal will produce the command normal instantly. For example, if you're playing Makoto and accidentally press 5B again after f5B, then if at any time during the cancel window of f5B you press 6, Makoto will instantly perform her overhead.

Different move versions

The game always considers all 4 buttons to be valid for a specific input. For example, if your character has a 236 move, the inputs 236A/B/C/S will all be considered valid, even if there's no S version of the move. This can be used to shortcut out of a move class to block or delay an unwanted special input, as the game will keep trying to use the higher priority input each frame until it finally falls out of the buffer.

Examples

• Ayu has a fairly tight timing to link her Shining Finger super (236236) from 5C in a combo like 5AABC 236236A. It's easy to either misinput 5C 236236A as 236C, or miss the cancel window for 5C and drop the combo. However, she can use the fact that she has no 236S move to her advantage, as the game will still register that input, notice that there's no move associated with it and shortcut to normal moves. After the 2nd 236 the game will still recognize the full 236236 input and output the super. The full combo could then be input as 5AAB 236S C 236A.
• Makoto can combo her 5C into 214214 supers, but usually not the followup shots (5CCC) because they come out too fast to input the super in time. If you buffer 214214 before the last shot, the super will come out directly and the combo will drop. To avoid this, she can use the higher priority of 641236S to block out 214214 for some time so it'll only come out after the last shot hits. An example combo input could be like this: 5ABC 641236S C 214214B C (this would be insanely difficult to do in a real match, but probably the easiest way to combo from the last shot).