JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future/Devo/Strategy

Overview

Movelist

Combos

Strategy

Matchups

Misc

Overview

Devo has the most unorthodox gameplan since he is a true puppet character at it's best. If you're familiar with characters like Eddie/Zato-1 from Guilty Gear and Carl from BlazBlue, you'd get the gist of how Devo is played. The only difference is that Devo is an easier version of them, but he's still one of the most difficult characters in the game.

Doll Placement

You're relying on doll placements since Ebony Devil plays a big part in Devo's general gameplan. You don't want to use the Doll 100% of the time because if Devo is open, he'll take A LOT of damage that will potentially be his death. So, you have to get used to switch from Stand On and Stand Off when the time is right.

He can also pressure the opponent with Stand Off as long as Ebony Devil is behind the opponent. 5C xx 236+A, 2A (dash cancel to 5C or Jump C after 2A) is the main tool for Stand Off pressure, but you shouldn't abuse it too much. Devo can get punished if the opponent makes a correct read. Another option for pressure, if the doll is further, is 5c xx 214c/236c 5c. This is safe unless GC'd, starts combos and doesn't affect ips or scaling, but it's character specific, as your opponent can be too thin for the 2nd 5c to connect. Here's a spreadsheet of whether it's possible or not:

Yellow - you have to do microwalks, if the screen stretches, everything is possible.

Okizeme

When playing Devo, be sure to start fishing for Stand Crashes. If you managed to get one, you can damage your opponent big time, and go for a knockdown, leading to Devo's great okizeme.

Devo has two main options s.off involving the puppet. The first one is, after knockdown, doing 214a, trying to hit it a few frames after the opponent wakes up and pressing 2a just before it hits. Hitting 2a and 214a at the same time is a true unblockable, but only hitstun from 2a will apply limiting your options. There are a few issues with this oki. It's very hard to hit 2a or 214x meaty, as both attacks are active for only 2 frames. 2a also triggers IPS, which means you have to make haste to confirm into a super or end your combo. It's also very risky on characters with fast wakeup time and/or good reversals (Vice, Avdol, Rubber Soul, Iggy, Devo etc.). You can also loop the oki with 214x and 2c.

Your other option is the crossup oki, which is a guaranteed meaty. After knockdown, do 236c and roll. After a successfully hit 236c you can extend the oki by jumping over the opponent and doing crossup j.c 5c, but against taller characters you have to guess whether they'll stand or crouch and do a normal jump or a shorthop accordingly. This is unscaled and doesn't trigger IPS, however you won't be able to perform all combos, as there won't be a lot of space between you and the puppet, it's easier for the opponent to fall out of your grasp. It's recommended to perform a super or end the combo not too late.

Demonstration:

Or just do 2c after doll hits , you can do Spear UB on some characters after that.

Both of these options are viable, with spear oki being easier to combo off of, while still being somewhat tricky to block, at the cost of less consistency and higher risk, while the crossup oki offers a faster, more damaging option, with the drawback being harder conversions to full combos.

Neutral / Footsies

His Stand On pressure involves S.66A and S.5A since he can loop with it, but the timing is rough. He can tick throw with S.66A and start tech chasing his opponent with S.j.C. S.J.6B is one of his best tools. It's an instant overhead if done quickly, and he can combo after it allowing him to get a tandem confirm in. That being said, it's unsafe on block and more experienced players will know how to block and punish it.

He has one of the fastest rolls in the game, but common sense should tell you not to abuse that as well. Rolling can be a nasty habit when using characters like Devo, Hol, and Ice because of how fast they are making it difficult to punish without quick reactions. Don't be afraid to grab your opponent with Devo on Stand Off either. 663A is great tool to tick throw with when you don't want to use the puppet for now. Just keep in mind that Devo has to rely on the puppet considering that he can't do anything without it.

Use 5C to anti-air your opponent and be sure that the doll is right behind the opponent so you can continue pressuring with the doll. J.C is one of the best jumping attacks in the game since it beats the majority of everyone's normals, and at times, will trade depending on the character and it can cross the opponent up as well. PD: If the opponent is waiting to punish your anti air 5c(since it can be 0f teched) then stop doing it or change the timing.

Avoiding IPS

Devo is a character with really long combos, which greatly improves the chance of them dropping due to IPS. Here are a few tips to minimise its effect on your play.

1. Don't use 2a

This might be a bit counterintuitive, as 2a is one of your best normals, used for plinking, extending and finishing combos, however this is one of the 4 normals that trigger IPS for you, the others being 5a, d5a and d2a. As you can see, only 2a really matters and using 5c in conjunction with the double 5c table given a few paragraphs ago completely nullifies any chance of you getting IPS'd.

2. Count your hits

After 2a hits, you have at least 8 more hits until IPS kicks in, watch the video to learn more. This means within those 8 hits, you should end the combo or...

3. Use meter

Using tandem or 214aa turns off IPS, pretty self explanatory.

4. Move specific tips

When you're ending a combo, going for a KD, and you're not sure whether the 2nd hit of 2c won't connect due to IPS (yes, it's possible), you can use 5b, giving you less time for oki, but guaranteeing a knockdown if the combo's 9 hits or longer.

When using s22c to finish a combo, hold forward, IPS triggering during s22c will push the opponent away, potentially making you lose out on damage and making the move more unsafe.

Using 236c greatly increases the probability of IPS kicking in, end the combo immediately after if you ever use it after 2a, preferrably with 5b, not 2c.