EXVSFB/Kshatriya

NZ-666 Kshatriya

Pilot: Marida Cruz

Cost: 2000

Durability: 600 (Tier 1)

Red Lock Range: 8.0 (Long-Range)

MA Mode: No

Equip Change: No

Dustloop Thread: Kshatriya Discussion

JP Wiki: Kshatriya (Moveset) Kshatriya (Combos & Tactics)

Common Nicknames: Ksh, Kash

Introduction

While in EXVS Kshatriya was a considerably gimped suit with horrid performance in the costly 2500 tier, the drop to the 2000 cost tier in FB along with some armaments adjustments has propelled it to the top of its class.

Kshatriya is an all-purpose, ranged-focused support suit that centers mostly around using its Subweapon funnels in coordination with its Sub→Main freefall cancel (hereafter referred to as "samekyan" or "SMC"). The funnels boast 4 different formations with differing speeds that are often easy for opponents to misread and fall victim to. Its [4/6Sub] "funnel fences" are particularly notorious in the battlefield for restricting enemy movements. In addition to funnels, it also carries a top-class gerobi armament for burst damage, and maybe surprisingly strong melee given its primary role.

Surprisingly, despite the cost down change, a lot of the damage from its attacks went unchanged, and so Kshatriya has considerably high damage for a 2000 cost unit, and its proration rates are near 2500 cost tier levels. Furthermore, many of its attacks hit multiple times, allowing it to easily strip ABC cloaks and shooting barriers.

In addition to its high damage capability it also has surprisingly high mobility given the appearance of her size. Moreover, even if caught by an enemy it boasts one of the top health pools in the 2000 cost tier. Both of these areas are enforced in Blast Burst in which it can blue-step its ranged armaments, and also gains an omni-directional guard (commonly referred to as "bell pepper" because of its shape and color).

So clearly, offensively Kshatriya is all-in-all a very strong unit now, and really doesn't have any stand-out weaknesses.

From a defensive perspective though, its large size and "floaty" movement and playstyle can be pointed to as drawbacks. Also, her playstyle and armaments are pretty habitual in how they are used and so they can be easy to predict, but are just difficult to counter.

So in summary, Kshatriya's strengths lie its ability to provide very strong pressure in a shooting war while itself being difficult to hit, and also reading and reacting to enemy movements, but suffers from being highly predictable and so requires a high degree of execution. If you can master its armaments and movements though you can expect high returns.

Changes from EXVS
Cost 2500→2000 Turning and BD speed reduced CSa and [AC] attacks swapped 8Sub and 2Sub attacks added Directional Subs will not hit partner Sub→BR cancel route added

Terminology

• Sub→Main Cancel: may be seen as "samekyan" or "SMC" in this wiki page

Moveset

• (Purple values) indicate cancel proration

Ranged	Name	Ammo	Damage	Reload/Charge	Down Value	Notes
[A] Main (Reverse-Fire)	Beam Gun Wing Binder MPC	8	80 55 x2	1 ammo/3s	2.0	High-damage BR Forced Down?
[CSa]	Chest MPC (Scatter-shot)	--	25/hit	2.5s	0.5/hit	2hit is a Strong Stun, but scatter pattern is random and poor Best damage ~150?
[5AB] Sub	Funnels	3	20-129 (12-79)	6s	0.4	Standard funnel behavior deploying 8 funnels that fire thin gerobi beams 3hit stun
[4/6AB] [8AB]	"Beam Fences"	(3)	24-??? (14-???)	(6s)	0.5 0.5	[4/6AB] deploys 6 funnels that set up a vertical wall of thin gerobi beams parallel with the direction you are facing [8AB] sets up a vertical wall slightly overhead Stun Does not affect partner
[2AB]	"Beam Trap"	(3)	30/hit (18/hit)	(6s)	0.5	Deploys 6 funnels that deploy a field of gerobis similar to Providence's [BC] Stun Large backward momentum
[AC]	Chest MPC (Gerobi)	1	235 (197)	10s (+2s CD)	5.0 (0.5 x10)	Top-class performance gerobi

• "Reach" is based off of how many blocks in the Practice stage the attack will go across

Melee (Input)	Name	Total Damage	Total Proration	Total Down	Reach	Notes
5BBB	Beam Saber	167	53%	2.9	2.1
6BB	Spinning Slash	156	60%	3.0	2.1
8BB	Stab x2	149	65%	3.0	2.0
2B	Subarm	95	80%	2.0	2.75	Main melee; favorable startup and reliable for punishing close-range landings
2B~A	→Wing Binder MPC	239-279	??%	??	--
BD8B	Rolling Tackle	95	80%	3.0	4.75
[BC]	Subarms Grab	169	50%	4.0	3.5	Better reach and startup than 2B, but weak priority and tends to leave you exposed
[BC]~A	→Point-Blank MPC	240	30%	5.0	--	Go-to followup
[BC]~5BBB	→Beam Saber	201	??%	??	--

Cancel Routes

[A] BR (both normal and rear-firing) → any Sub, AC, BC

[AB] Sub → BR (freefall cancel)

Ranged Moveset Details

Overview

Kshatriya's bread-and-butter ranged tools are its various Funnel arrangements and BR, especially utilizing samekyan. If you spot a bad landing by an enemy, or have one stunned by the beam fences, you want to unload burst damage from the [AC] mega particle cannon. CSa has some benefits but is a considerably difficult tool to use.

[A] Main - Beam Cannon/Wing Binder MPC

Stand-out damage and ammo count among 2000 cost BR's.

You need to take to exercise some discretion in using it though that you don't quickly burn through all your ammo with frequent samekyan use.

In addition, Kshatriya has a unique non-turnaround-firing attack as well that fires 2 thick beams from the wing binder mega particle cannons. This causes you to vernier, and the firing startup is slower than normal BR, but the beam speed is faster. It's a fundamental tool for enhanced Zundas, and for more quickly stripping ABC mantles.

There are some words of caution though:

1. If you are firing at an enemy and they move out of your angle of fire during the startup, it will cause standard off-angle turn-around BR firing instead of the MPC.
2. There are instances where if you are doing a retreating samekyan and target swap during it, you can wind up performing the rear-shooting MPC instead of the standard beam gun.

[CSa] - Chest MPC (Scatter Shot)

Fires the chest MPC but in a shotgun-style spread.

The positive aspects of this weapon are 1) now that it is on CS instead of [AC], because it doesn't have an ammo limit you can fire it whenever you want, and 2) it causes a Strong Stun. But that's really about all that you can say is good about it...

The long charge time is somewhat prohibitive of making frequent use of it; even more prohibitive though is that once it is charged, you can't just hold onto it, as it prevents you from using all of your other ranged armaments - crippling your output. So while yes, you can now fire it "whenever you want", arbitrarily and recklessly charging is a bad tactic. To add further damnation, the range is limited (and so as with similar armaments it has basically no tracking or muzzle correction), the startup isn't so great, and nor is the barrage density. While yes it does cause a strong stun, previously only one beam had to hit the opponent to stun them, and now at least 2 or more must hit to produce the effect (which isn't so easy when you, again, consider the poor barrage density). Even if you do get the stun, the length of time of the stun is awfully short despite being a strong stun, and you can't even follow it up with a melee combo. It's all-around an undeniably poor, low-efficiency armament.

Its best use is said to maybe be periods of time when you have exhausted your other ammos and are struggling with an opponent...

Also, you must exercise caution to not hit your partner with this armament.

[AB] Sub - Funnels

Deploys a number of funnels which will change their behavior according to various lever inputs. Note that regardless of the number of funnels launched with each formation, the ammo consumed is just 1:

[5AB]: All-Range Mode

Deploys 8 funnels in standard funnel fashion, chasing after the enemy, but slightly non-standard in that they fire a thin gerobi beam with stuns with a 3hit, rather than the standard BR-style beams.

[4/AB]: "Beam Fences"

Deploys 6 funnels which will stack vertically and fire thing, long horizontal gerobi beams (which are often used to "fence in" an enemy) on either side of Kshatriya, depending on which direction you input.

[8AB]: "Beam Ceiling"

Deploys 6 funnels which behave essentially the same way as 4/6Sub but establishes a horizontal spread of beams slightly above and in front of Kshatriya instead of a vertical spread.

[2AB]: "Beam Trap"

Deploys 6 funnels which will then create an arrangement of gerobi beams similar to Providence's [BC] armament midway between you and the enemy.

The finer details and tactics for using each of these armaments will be discussed in the Tactics and Info section.

[AC] Special Shot - Chest MPC (Gerobi)

While it was deplorably bad in EXVS, Kshatriya's cost drop and armament realignment has turned this armament into the leader of the pack among 2000 cost MS gerobis

2000 Cost MS Gerobis

Suit Button Available every Max Damage Notes Zeong AC 11s 194 Thin beam Hyaku Shiki AC (hold) AC (detach) 20s 303 261 Bendable Messala Sub 12s 166 Medium-thickness beam One extra ammo during EX Burst Hambrabi CSa 3s 159 Thin beam Mk II Super Gundam Sub CSb ??s 5s? 200 135 Only available during Super Gundam, so long CD must be considered Can shoot while moving Sumo Sub 8/2AC 5s 10s 119 123 Quickly whips around body (non-standard use) Short range, actually fired by assist (non-standard) Launcher Strike CSa 3.2s 241 Bendable Gunner Zaku CSa 2.5s 231 Bendable Rozen Zulu CSa 2s 40 Thin beam with very short range Sweeps across the body (non-standard use) Kshatriya AC 10s 235 Short range X2 AC 10s 195 Medium-thickness beam

At 30 dmg/hit (235 overall) it does top-class damage; even when canceled into for 25 dmg/hit (197 overall) it still beats other gerobis in its class. It has a thick beam, strong muzzle correction, and a fairly fast startup given its nature. Even the reload rate is respectable given its performance and output. It can be employed extremely effectively in a number of tasks from punishing landings/attack stiffness, cutting melee, denying approaches...

If there's any negative point to be found in it, it's that it does have a limited range that you have to keep in mind. Also it has a forced camera change, but this can be canceled via [2AC]. That said - the animation time of the camera change is longer than average, and if you don't keep holding down you can wind up not canceling it.

There are also a couple of nuances to using it during EX Burst you should be aware of: typically the number of hits from gerobi armaments is just over the amount needed to Force Down an opponent. However, when Kshatriya is in EX Burst, a full hit from this armament will not Force Down the target (likely due to a combination of this armament using a low 10hit number in addition to the reduced Down values of attacks during EX Burst?), and so you have to beware of enemies recovering and counterattacking you even after you've lit them up with the attack.

Melee Moveset Details

Overview

From EXVS the damage values and movement on her melees have undergone some changes.

In short, Kshatriya's melee is bulky and slow, and has basically no cut resistance, but if you connect with an attack you can put out some high damage quickly.

5BBB - Beam Saber

Standard 3-stage beam saber attack:

5B Attack Properties
Stage Hit# Attack Total Damage Total Proration Total Down Notes 1 1 Stab 60 80% 1.7 Stagger 2 2 Slash 116 65% 2.0 Stagger 3 3 Slash 167 53% 2.9 3hit grind. Down.

Compared to other standard 5B attacks, the reach on this attack is terrible, so you need to use this either at very close range, or following a BR shot. The startup and other attributes is the same as her 8B, and for a staggering melee the damage returns on this are not great, so this is not your go-to melee.

Despite the whole thing feeling very sluggish overall, up until the second stage it's actually one of Ksha's fastest melees, and its damage is not bad, so you can certainly use it to follow up from a close-range BR shot.

The last hit knocks up very slightly but it's hard to follow up on.

4/6BB - Spinning Slash

Two consecutive slashes followed by a very large spinning slash with all of the binder sub-arms:

4/6B Attack Properties
Stage Hit# Attack Total Damage Total Proration Total Down Notes 1 1 Slash 61 80% 1.7 2hit grind. Stagger. 2 2 Spinning Slash 115 66% 2.9 Down 3 Final Hit 156 60% 3.0 Special Down

Note that the first stage of the attack happens on first melee input, and the spinning slash requires second input.

During the second stage the sub-arms expand and you do a spinning slash while rising upward slightly. The final hit of the second stage has a massive range so it's easy for nearby units to get hit by it as well.

From start to finish the attack is a special Down which will blow the enemy upward for a significant period of time. Because of your unit size it's very easy to catch surrounding enemies in the attack, but the problems are the damage proration and overall offensive power of the attack. The better option is to confirm a hit with 4/6B and then go into a combo.

You can rainbow step while the subarms are activating and when the subarms are closing you can shoot (same as 2B and BC), but it is thought that this is only visual and has no influence on your actions.

One particularly interesting note: if you fly very high up and use 4/6B over and over you can effectively infinitely hover. Because at the end of the attack you glide upwards slightly you don't need to shield, because you can just keep gliding upwards. During the interval you can also fire off your sub and so you can keep attacking while using 4/6B to hover.

8BB - Stab

2-stage thrusting attack wielding 2 beam sabers:

8B Attack Properties
Stage Hit# Attack Total Damage Total Proration Total Down Notes 1 1 Stab 80 80% 2.0 5hit grind. Down. 2 2 Stab 149 65% 3.0 5hit grind. Down.

Note that both strikes are multihit grinds.

The reach and hitbox are both poor, so it's mostly a tool used for self defense against carelessly attacking opponents. The second stage particularly has slow movement and poor cut resistance. If there's a positive to be found, the proration is fairly good so the damage return is alright. Still, if you hit with it you probably want to immediately after the first stage switch to another attack for a combo.

2B~ - Wing Binder Sub-arm

One of the sub-arms does a sort of reaching uppercut motion, grabbing the enemy and then throwing them into the air. After the throw there is a shooting followup option:

2B~ Attack Properties
[Table]

This is Kshatriya's primary melee due to it's strong first-stage performance, good damage, and ease of use for punishing. You can use it as a combo part for combos that knock enemies up in the air.

Regarding the shooting followup, from the time you grab them to the end of the beam the number of hits is 8. Because of the way it fires and downs, depending on your enemy the damage value may be irregular. Because of this peculiarity though you can do things like instantly Down enemies, and it also has enough firepower to instantly destroy Nu's Fin Funnel Barrier.

The beam does about 20 damage per each hit, receives -7% damage proration and 0.15 down value. Despite the fact that the damage value of the beam can drastically vary depending on our enemy, you can still calculate the damage value. If you use it to end a combo the damage value's instability increases. The most powerful usage of the attack is when you land 2B outright - not as part of a combo. So, depending on the situation, it may be better to consider BC instead of 2B or A to finish a combo.

Be aware that being in Burst has nearly no effect on the Down value of the attack. However, also be aware that in Blast Burst the upper damage limit on the attack does not change.

BD Melee - Rolling Tackle

Spreads out the binders and flies forward while doing a barrel roll motion:

BD8B Attack Properties
Stage Hit# Attack Total Damage Total Proration Total Down Notes 1 1 Tackle 95 80% 3.0 10hit grind. Down.

Jokingly referred to as "pepper attack".

The hitbox of the attack is larger than it would appear to be. The damage proration and down values are excellent and so if you hit it and go straight into an AC etc. you can get some big damage returns.

After the assault part is open you do a back-step. Naturally, this puts you in the air, so you need to be careful of accidentally overheating. If you did NOT manage to down the enemy they are highly likely to shoot you during the back-step, so you really want to make sure you're going to down them if you use it.

The attack time is a bit short, but because of the hitbox you can use it for okizeme.

[BC]~ Wing Binder Subarms

Grabs the target with the sub-arms of the 4 wing binders, then has a number of followup derivations:

[BC]~ Attack Properties
[Table]

Boasts a longer reach than 2B, and still has favorable startup, but the priority is poor and will often lose clashes. Because of this it's much better to use it either after a BR shot or another melee attack instead of trying to hit with it raw. That said, when you do use it as a followup it is an excellent Down tool with high damage output.

Take caution though that no matter which of the three options you choose, all of them have basically no movement during the attack, so you're totally vulnerable to enemy attack if your partner does not have them handled.

No Followup

With no button input Kshatriya simply tosses the enemy away.

~A Followup: Point-Blank Chest MPC

Unusual for a shooting followup, this attack doesn't consume boost, and it can be side-stepped, making it really easy to use while having high damage output. The hit number limit is the same as [AC], and shares the same attribute that if used during EX a full hit will not Down the opponent.

One word of caution: if you wind up Downing the opponent with the grab, the followup will still occur, not hitting and doing no damage, but leaving you vulnerable to enemy partner fire.

~B Followup: Beam Sabers

Slashes two times with the beam sabers and then ends with a helm divider attack.

The performance has been pretty nerfed from EXVS, although the Down value has been reduced. Still, the ~A followup is generally the more preferred for combos.

It does though have an interesting attribute that, unlike other grab attacks, any forced Down hit will cause Kshatriya to freefall.

EX Burst

hikari...subete wo yakitsukusu...jouka no hikari...

kono kitai no jitsuryoku...sono tamashii ni kizame!!

EX Attack

minna...kieteshimae!!

kore de, owari da!!

Full Funnel Barrage

246?/230?

A camera change lasting ~1s occurs showing Kshatriya deploy all her funnels, then it cuts back behind you while the funnels fire beams at the target.

Specifically, there are two types of beams in this attack - the funnels that deploy in front of you and have tracking on your enemy (21 dmg/hit), and the funnels that deploy AROUND you which have no tracking and simply fire straight ahead (12 dmg/hit). The beams are basically the same as a regular BR shot, and can be cut with one simple step.

Of all of the units in the game, this is one of the most horrendously bad Burst attacks there is; it may seem good on paper, but even if you use it as a throw-away attack it's anybody's guess how much damage you'll get out of it, if any at all. Enemies can commonly evade it without even noticing that you used it. The Down value of the beams is so low it almost never downs the enemy, and so only staggers them. The stagger is so brief that you can't try to combo into it, and the minimum distance requirement means that you can't use it as a combo finisher either. The total amount of time the attack takes to finish is somewhat long and the recovery period is also long, so even if you think you've got a clean shot for many beams to hit, there are many times it can backfire on you.

One other problem is that, unlike Providence, there is no forced funnel recovery, meaning that the number of funnels used in the attack is actually decreased according to how many are missing from using Sub; you actually cannot input this attack when all of your funnels are depleted.

The long and short of this attack is you never EVER want to use this, especially not in Blast Burst (which you should be using), as doing so will end your Burst early and deprive you of invaluable time you can be doing blue-step Subs.

The only time this attack is anywhere near useful is if you want to recreate the fight from Episode 1 of Unicorn between Unicorn and Kshatriya (which did not fair well for Kshatriya), and that should tell you everything you need to know.

Burst Selection

Assault Blast: +8% Damage, +20% Defense

Hard to justify, typically being employed by suits seeking to up their melee performance or access some explosive burst fire power - neither of which Kshatriya really wants or needs to do - and so the only true benefits left remaining are the greater instant boost recovery, and damage buff.

Even when considering half-bursts, when comparing Assault to the high performance of blue-step weapons for Kshatriya, there just simply is no comparison.

Blast Burst: +0% Damage, +28% Defense

Without question the preferred Burst type for Kshatriya. Your red lock distance is increased for better harassment, you can blue-step your armaments for even greater mobility and boost efficiency, a great defensive modifier, and the longer Burst time permits you longer access to the omni-directional bell pepper shield

Info and Tactics

"Ike! Funnel!"

As already mentioned in the introduction, using Kshatriya's various funnel formations is absolutely essential to its gameplay.

• Sub→Main Cancel (SMC/"samekyan")

Despite Kshatriya's bulky appearance it boasts considerable mobility, and the large amount of that mobility comes from its SMC freefall cancel, and you should always be ready to use it.

Furthermore, because BR→Sub applies cancel proration to the already low-damage funnels, you should pretty much always be using SMC instead of the more widespread BR→Sub cancel route.

The only catch here is that as strong of an attack pattern as this is, you can't allow yourself to burn up all your BR ammo early in a match, and also must remember the 6s reload window for Sub.

• 5Sub: All-Range Mode

With 8 funnels, great tracking speed, good muzzle correction, and a 3hit stun, 5Sub is your principle harassment tool. Even from green lock these guys will make their way to your target.

Also, the attack carries side-step and BD momentum into SMC, and has a slight degree of recoil in the movement as well.

• 4/6Sub: "Beam Fences"

Don't discount the damage potential of these funnels if they manage to hit an enemy just right, but this tool is more for restricting enemy movement than forcing it like 5Sub, allowing you to split enemy formations. With both offensive and defensive applications, it's paramount that you learn how to make best use of this tool and look for opportunities to use it - don't just ignore it in favor of spamming 5Sub, especially with the change that it no longer hits your partner, even if they go right through the middle of it. This allows you then to create great stun opportunities for your partner to effortlessly punish.

The position the beams are set up can of course be changed according to left/right input (changing which side of Kshatriya they appear on)

The multi-beam + multi-hit nature of the attack makes it extremely effective at stripping off ABC mantles and shooting barriers as well.

It's not as good in samekyan as 5Sub and 2Sub though because it stops you dead in place instead of carrying momentum (though you of course still get the freefall out of it).

• 8Sub: "Beam Ceiling"

Essentially the same thing as 4/6Sub, but spread horizontally instead of vertically (thus restricting vertical movement rather than horizontal movement). But because you can really only use it against mid-air opponents and can't punish landings with it really, opportunities for using it effectively are much more scarce compared to 4/6Sub.

• 2Sub: "Beam Trap"

Offensively this tool is pretty poor; both the range of the attack where the beams are deployed and the arrangement of the beams makes it really unlikely to hit someone. Even defensively, if you are wanting to ward off an approaching enemy and use it too early, it's just a minor annoyance they will go around. If you use it too late, well, it's too late.

The hidden value of this tool is that it carries a much stronger recoil and rear momentum than 5Sub, and so is actually an excellent retreat tool with SMC. And since Kshatriya is often seeking to maintain space between itself and its enemies, don't feel shy about using this tool for such, even if at first glance it looks worthless.

Tactics

Kshatriya's job is providing ranged support by means of taking advantage of her Subweapon funnels that function at any lock range, including greenlock. However, just because your funnels work well in green lock this doesn't mean you are going to win matches if you all you do is sit back in green lock and constantly spam funnels. Her effective firing range is quite long and so if you are careless you can wind up inadvertently isolating yourself, this risk even further exasperated by the fact that the recoil from Sub pushes you a little backwards each time. This will in turn only create more work for your partner, so you need to constantly keep an eye on both your weapon usage and the distance you are from your partner.

Once you are in your ideal safe distance though, you want to constantly force boost usage by using your [5AB] funnels, and then use [4/6AB] to restrict and control that movement, and possibly set up opportunities for your partner in the process. Or furthermore, you can use [4/6AB] to force a split in a team that will grant your partner a 1-on-1 opportunity. When the opportunity to use it appears, your AC gerobi is a top-class tool that is great for punishing landings and melee cutting among other things, so you should always be on the lookout for these moments.

Your melee isn't the worst, but most of them have iffy hitboxes, and you really prefer ranged fighting to close ranged fighting, even to protect yourself. Your BC's reach is pretty good, but the priority on it is weak, so if you are in a close-range situation you can economize your BR ammo by using it as a BR followup, while also getting some nice damage out of it. But do not recklessly approach an enemy or you will likely quickly find yourself constrained and in a bad situation.

When somebody is trying to approach you, you want to fend them off using your various Sub options and fuwasteps. If your opponent is a melee specialist you can use your [4/6AB] and then quickly move behind the beams to try and get them to crash into the beam fence. Your very last resorts in these situations are your melee and BC, but these are still risky.

Finally, there are some key cautions you want to keep in mind:

1. Your turnaround fire option is useful once in a while, but by itself it's not an exceptional tool for self defense; if you wind up accidentally firing it you can easily put yourself in a position to be counterattacked and Downed. So it's imperative that you don't accidentally do turnaround firing while you're doing your samekyans.
2. You are extraordinarily weak against suits with strong close-range shots (God's main, Heavyarms main, Gunner Zaku main, etc.) and if they manage to get on top of you, you have very few separation tools at that point and can easily end up being killed. Needless to say, it's best for Kshatriya to simply stay far away from such suits that are strong at close range.
3. Kshatriya's Sub options are certainly excellent, but it reloads only when empty (rather than the more standard "normal" reload method of 1 ammo/2s), so you must exercise careful ammo regulation because there are going to be many times when you can't use them. Moreover, your opponent knows this as well, and will be explicitly looking for this window of time, so you need to fight in a way that makes it harder to discern how much sub ammo you have left, and also make sure you're not out of ammo at a critical moment. That said, you of course shouldn't be too conservative with ammo or you won't be able to get much done in the match. Against a 3k MS pressuring you especially, it can be very scary to run out of Sub ammo, so you may want to leave one Sub ammo expressly for allowing yourself a chance to samekyan and runaway so you can sit safely while waiting out the reload. You just need to be flexible across a number of situations, and try to plan ahead rather than act on-the-fly.

In summary, if you work together with your partner to take advantage of your various Sub tools, you can easily split and bind an enemy team. Although your Sub and AC are truly fantastic tools, don't forget to mix in Main as well to fill the reload gaps and add variety to your barrage; the best time to use it when you've started moving again just after using Sub or AC. Kshatriya has some handicaps due to its large size and underwhelming melee, but once you get used to it and learn its nuances, it is one of the very best support units in the 2000 cost class.

Do your duty, control the enemy, and bring news of victory to Princess Mineva.

Partner Considerations

Because of its high performance, Kshatriya performs well with just about anyone except for very picky units, and even in those matchups it still has tools needed to stabilize the match and get by. Against ranged units she can use her neutral funnels to force movement and boost usage, and against melee units she can use her funnel walls to split up an enemy team.

You do need to be careful though if your partner is a pure melee unit because of the high risk of friendly fire your 5Sub and 8Sub funnels have (remember 4/6/8Sub though will not hit your partner).

If partnered with a timed power-up unit, you want to defend them while they're outside of transformation.

3000 Cost

• Master/Quanta/FC

The iconic front suits

These suits operate by hunting down the easiest enemy to lock down and bullying them 1-on-1, and Kshatriya facilitates this by dividing the enemy team and wasting the enemy's time.

It goes without saying, but you absolutely must not commit friendly fire or die first.

• Banshee Norn

All-purpose 3k suit with firm defensive capacity from neutral and absolutely unmatched in the Line formation. At its core a shooting push-back suit but also boasts strong 1-on-1 performance. Its maddeningly good 5Sub provides focused damage, and 4/6Sub can force splits in enemy formation. That said though the ability to mutually deal out forcible damage isn't so high, and so Norn does need to be the one that forces red lock attention onto himself while precisely reading enemies. As long as the two of you cooperate and play a steady game, you should naturally over the course of a battle wear down the strength and will of an enemy team.

2500 Cost

• Banshee

Team Marida. Because both of the suits are high-performance, high-affinity MS, you can actually expect this to be a very strong team. It will be important at the beginning of a match to not take unnecessary damage while Banshee builds up NT-D gauge and is unable to be a solid front for you, but once she has NT-D up the two of you can unleash hell on an enemy, forcing movement, splitting them, and letting Banshee deal some high damage.

2000 Cost

2k/2k in general is often a comp that suffers from low firepower in exchange for no overcost penalty. That being the case, this composition will lean heavily on your ability to land hits from your [AC] for best chance of success.

1000 Cost

Not a team you want to seek to make. In shuffle if you end up with a 1000 cost unit it can be really tough, but because of your strong firepower you still have a fighting chance.

Notable Matchups

Troublesome Matchups

Of all the changes Kshatriya has received in FB, maybe the main thing that has not changed is the suits it is weak against. Kshatriya is fundamentally extremely poor against suits that are able to aggressively push forward and upset your formation with body pressure.

• Unicorn

Just like in Episode 3 of the OVA when Unicorn beat her black-and-blue, the two are natural enemies in this game. Already a pain in EXVS with its barrage performance and Psychomu Jack that can stop your funnels dead in their tracks, the buffs Unicorn has received in FB has made him even more menacing. Especially when NT-D is active, your best tactic is honestly to just stay the hell away as best you can, because if you get caught by its BD melee, before your very eyes you will witness a recreation of Episode 3...

In short, you won't win this matchup without your partner.

• Turn-X

His CSa will truly test how well you shield yourself and will be your undoing if you fall short. In addition to this, his Sub BZ armament boasts great tracking, his [BC] provides a great range of motion and damage, his 2B anchor can help secure his final approach, and once in melee range he will lay down extreme damage.

• WZC

Kshatriya is simple ill-equipped to take on his excellent Main TBR performance. Maybe not as bad a matchup as Turn-X, but rough all the same.

• V2

Particularly, rather than worrying about how to damage V2AB, you need to think about how to AVOID damage from V2AB just like all other units need to, because of your large size if he goes after you it can be extremely dangerous. If you try to simply flee you will be shocked to find how he can catch you in the blink of an eye, so it's imperative that you use various Sub attacks to try and cover your retreat. Once he enters a certain range, you really don't have any other avoidance options and need to immediately shield up. If he downs you with just his main shot consider yourself lucky you didn't get hit with his gerobi. (his main is painful enough by itself.) While often spoken of in jest, using bell pepper shield in Blast Burst can actually be invaluable to your survivability in this matchup. After his AB Mode has ended you can try to recover and fight back.

That said, while the matchup is certainly dangerous, it's not SO dangerous that it is unwinnable compared to the previously mentioned matchups if you play well.

• Heavyarms/Blue Destiny 1

As one would expect, gatling/MG armaments are easy to harass with, and are easy to wear you down with. Your directional Subs will not destroy live ammo, and even missiles can manage to squeeze through the gaps. Many 1k suits also carry MGs, but their low mobility compared to these two MS make them more of a non-factor comparatively.

But again, not an unwinnable matchup, just one that you can't afford to underestimate. If you can manage to keep the fight a mid-range shooting war you will have better success.

Besides the above-mentioned suits there are some other difficult matchups, but these are basically all melee suits that you should just know how to anticipate and fight against. Fundamentally you'll always be praying for a shooting war to fight, but that's not to say that even a shoot war is always a surefire win for you, especially against high cost shooters. Against these opponents, it's honestly best to just comm that you are in danger to your partner, then shield up wait for his support.

Combos

Normal Combos

• In this section the rear-firing MPC will be denoted as "RBR" (Reverse/Rear Beam Rifle)

Input	Damage	Notes
[A] BR Starter
BR>>BR>>BR	168	Zunda
BR>>BR>>RBR	180	Enhanced Zunda
BR→BC~BBB	199
BR>>5BBB	184	Unforced Down
BR>>2B~A	209
BR>>2B~B>RBR	210
[5AB] Starter
5Sub>>BR 5Sub→BR	119-155 149-162	Compared to cancel version, BD version has a tendency to knock the target backward, out of the path of the funnel beams, reducing the damage Does not down, and long stun permits followups (1 hit)
5Sub>>BR>>RBR
5Sub>>5Sub	177
5Sub>>5Sub(?hit)→BR	176?	Freefall finish, but BR basically does nothing for extra damage compared to above
[4/6AB] Starter

Input	Damage	Notes
5B Starter
5BB>5BB>BR	211
5BB>5BB→CS	203	Lower damage but doesn't spend BR ammo
5BB>6BB	205
5BB>2BB~A	235
5BB>BC~BB→CS	223
4/6B Starter
8B Starter
2B Starter
BD8B
[BC] Starter

EX Combos

Input	Damage	Notes
[ABC] EX	???/???	Damage Reference

External Links

Original Google Doc

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