From: lhuynh@sloth.Reed.Edu (Falcon Feather)
Subject: dhalsim
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 08:53:48 GMT
Reply-To: lhuynh@reed.edu


                            ============
                            =  dhalsim  =
                            =============

           "first i will meditate.  then i will destroy you"


all opponents
(offensive)

dhalsims can attack aggressively or play reactionary.  the long reaching 
punch is one of the best methods for setting up any of his other moves.  
fireballs work well, because they are very hard to jump over (dhalsim has 
no delay after firing, so he can react to anyone jumping over his fireballs).
slow fireballs often nail opponents, because they are so slow, characters 
will miss time their jumps and get burned.

a good tactic for dhalsim is his fireballs.  if the opponent is jumping 
over the fireballs, launch some slow ones.  if he  manages to start jumping 
over these, walk in after throwing a slow one and kick him out of the air 
or punch him just as he lands (when he'll be unable to block).  learn to 
fire fast, and make sure just to move from crouch to offensive crouch to 
forward + punch to fire.  pulling back further to defensive crouch will 
cause him to breathe flame instead.  also, offensive crouch to forward + 
punch can be sufficient to fire fast.  learn it well.

if the opponent is jumping a lot from a distance, use the middle kick 
button to kick him back.  the roundhouse kick is too slow and strikes at 
a lower height, so isn't very good  against jumping opponents.  another 
good tactic is to use the  punch just as the opponent lands (if he jumps 
from a far enough distance away from dhalsim).

between dhalsim's reach and fire, opponents are forced to  approach dhalsim, 
allowing for a reactionary game for dhalsim. dhalsim's spinning attacks are 
generally only good when following up from having knocked down your opponent.
  dhalsim has a very high priority for his throws, and his headbutt works 
  well against opponents.

a good combination for dhalsim is to slide into his opponent  with the 
middle kick button, and then throwing or head butting the character.  when 
the opponent is down, spinning in, or using a short kick/throw combo will 
work well too.  of course, moving back to your advantage distance is always 
fine.

(defensive)

as dhalsim has no problem from a distance defensively, he only has to 
consider what to do at short range.  basically, if the opponent is close 
but on the ground, just block his next attack, and push him back with a 
punch to get back the fighting distance dhalsim has the advantage for.

if a character is jumping in, a few options are available to  dhalsim to 
defend against this.  one is to simply use the medium kick to knock them 
out of the air.  if the character has jumped in too close for this to work, 
the head butt, fierce knee blow, or openhand (middle punch) uppercut can 
work (you need to practice with these moves to see where they work in 
position to the two characters and against what characters they work).  

another good tactic is for dhalsim to jump straight up, or back, and to 
kick up with the roundhouse kick.  this works well against all opponents, 
and if timed correctly, no character will be able to get in close.

an agressive countermove is for dhalsim to slide into the  opponent, just 
as the other character lands, knocking them off their feet.

if the character is too close for these to work well, either walking 
underneath the character, turning around to fight, or sliding underneath 
the character to turn around, or simply just blocking should work well.

dhalsim shouldn't jump a lot, as that tends to degrade his defensive 
capability (against good opponents).  stay on the ground (except where 
otherwise noted).

dhalsim also has a sacrifice throw, or grab move as well.  to do this 
(only when an opponent is in the air and very close), allow the opponent 
to hit, and go for either the throw or grab at the moment contact is made.  
as dhalsim has a very high priority for this move, it will work well.  
also, if dhalsim is knocked down and the character is close to follow up 
with some attack, go for the throw right away as his reach is very good.
if they get in close, defend a lot, and go for the throw when they do.  
dhalsim generally wins throwing contests.  slide into them with the middle 
(or even short) kick and then throw them.

ken/ryu ---

ryu/ken have a very difficult time getting close to dhalsim.  if they jump, you can  
most easily kick, knee, or head butt them out of the air.  you can fire as fast as  
they can, and you can slide underneath their fireballs to knock them off their feet.   
if you are too far away to knock them down with the slide, then be ready to jump  
back and kick up and out if they jump in quickly on you after sliding underneath  
their fireball.

use the punch a lot to keep ryu/ken honest and at a distance, forcing them to jump  
to get in close.

as long as you block while in close, and push them back with the punch buttons  
(whether ryu/ken blocks or not), then dhalsim has a great chance to win.  

e. honda ---

e. honda simply has a hard time getting in close to dhalsim. his jumps are slow and  
he can always be kicked out of the air.  fireballs work well against him, and when  
he jumps, then using the medium kick to knock him down again works well. 

against his flying head butt, you can block, jump straight up, and upon landing  
again, throw e. honda, or slide into his head butt for counter moves.



as long as you defend well if he somehow manages to get in close and learn to throw  
(which is very easy with dhalsim), you should have little problem with e.honda.

blanka ---

blanka is probably the hardest character for dhalsim to fight, but he can defeat  
blanka with some very basic moves.  use of punches is important here to keep blanka  
back as well as hitting him when he lands from jumping to get in closer (these need  
to be timed well so that you aren't hitting his kicks and getting hit in return).  

kicking blanka right when he begins his jump is very effective as well.  another is  
to jump up or back and kicking out and up to hit him. otherwise just block a lot,  
and when he is in close and jumps again, walk under and turn around to head butt or  
throw.

fireballs don't work too well on blanka, except when he is at a distance where the  
fireball/medium kick combo will work (as it does against all characters).

lastly, you need not fear blanka's rolling ball, since, you can simply block and  
then strike out with the punch or kick buttons to hit blanka before he lands  
(damaging him heavily).

guile ---

although guile can be a very dangerous player, dhalsim can handle him if played  
right.  he cannot fire as quickly as dhalsim, he cannot effectively jump in, and he  
suffers from all of the problems ryu/ken suffer from.  play reactionary and you  
should have little problem here.  use of the "all opponent" tactics apply well here. 


the only combination that works poorly against guile is the spinning attack/throw  
move.  a good guile will use his razor kick against this move.

guile's best tactic to get close is to fire a sonic boom to meet dhalsim's fireball  
and then jump as dhalsim goes to fire another one, so that he can get in quickly  
before dhalsim is ready.  it doesn't work all the time for guile, but as dhalsim you  
have to be prepared for such a tactic.

chun li ---

chun li cannot throw anything so she must get in close to do any damage.  fireballs  
work only when she is at a good distance because she jumps in well.  the best method  
is to attack with the punch and kick buttons until she jumps in, and then jump back  
and kick up (the roundhouse button), or, if she is closer, go for a head butt,  
throw, or kick

her best chance is to play reactionary to dhalsim, to time her jumps when he makes  
his moves.  to counter this, dhalsim has to play more reactionary and not  
predictably.

as dhalsim you must play patiently and defend often.  don't just keep on hitting  
buttons to strike out, but strike the  proper blows at the proper time, and  
opponents will not get a chance to time their counter moves to dhalsims.

chun li's throw combinations work poorly against the superior throwing ability of  
dhalsim, and dhalsim doesn't have to go for the sacrifice throw, as he can block and  
still react sufficiently

though chun li is fast, every closing move she can make can be countered, mostly  
with the ground medium kick button and the jumping roundhouse kick button.  blocking  
is often sufficient otherwise.

zangief ---

zangiefs basically hate dhalsims as much as e. hondas do.  they cannot get in close  
and the only thing they can try to do is trade blows with dhalsim, mostly by jumping  
and kicking in the air.

simply timing the kicks, punches and/or using slides will counter zangief's jumping.   
slow fireballs work very well against him.

if he gets in close, jump back and kick or punch down, or go for the throw to get  
some distance again, where dhalsim's  advantage is.


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Internet: lhuynh@reed.edu              
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