UMVC3/Wesker

Overview Combos Strategy/Counterstrategy Resources Data

Introduction

Debuting in Resident Evil, Albert Wesker is a scientist and executive working for the pharmaceutical corporation Umbrella, which performs dangerous genetic experiments. The version of Wesker in UMvC3 is based on his appearance in Resident Evil 5, where he has injected himself with one such experiment, granting him superhuman strength, speed, and regeneration.

In UMvC3, Wesker is a character who darts around the screen with a fantastic ground dash and unique mobility options. His ability to teleport, and his ability to cancel several of his attacks into various teleports, give him unique ways to extend pressure and combos, or to remain evasive. He can use these to augment a harassing, keepaway style with his Samurai Edge gunshot command normals, or an aggressive, rushdown style with fast normal attacks and a strong command grab special.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Reach: Long reaching normals, most notably his low hitting 2M, allows him to convert from ranges even some top tiers would be jealous of, and he doesn't need a sword that covers the entire screen to do so. Teleports: Wesker has unique teleports (623+ATK) that travel a set distance rather than positioning you relative to your opponent. Because of this, he can be much more ambiguous with his spacing and teleport mixups. Samurai Edge: (6H, 3H, and 2H in air) Low durability pistol that comes out incredibly quickly and can be cancelled into any teleport strength you desire. This allows Wesker to easily put on the pressure from almost anywhere on screen, approach and retreat at his leisure, and enable combos from stray hits very reliably. Command Grab: A surprisingly good command grab makes him a better grappler than some designated grapplers in the roster. No Glasses Boost: Using Phantom Dance (236+XX) or taking enough damage removes Wesker's sunglasses, enabling a free level 1 X-Factor boost in damage and speed.

Low Scaling: Some of the lowest damage scaling in the game makes it nearly impossible for Wesker to secure kills by himself, even on lower health characters. He's incredibly reliant on his teammates for assist extensions and DHC's that can finish the job after he lands the hit. Needs to Lose Sunglasses: With how much the meta has evolved, Wesker has become more reliant on losing his sunglasses over time. He doesn't reach his true potential without first taking them off, and he needs to spend meter to do so without getting hit and puts them back on if tagged out. Limited Support: Although his Samurai Edge assist is arguably the best OTG assist in the game, Wesker lacks good support value outside of it. Phantom Dance is inconsistent in how safe it is when used as a DHC, and the damage is random when used with a THC. His other assists also don't give you anything you won't find in better characters. Not a Great Anchor: Despite a strong X-Factor 3 speed boost, Wesker has fallen off as a dangerous anchor since the times of vanilla. He is still a viable threat as an anchor, mind you, but most players have learned how to deal with him. This combined with his lackluster support value makes it difficult to place him anywhere on a team but on point.

Unique Mechanics

Wesker with his sunglasses on, with his sunglasses partially damaged, and with his sunglasses destroyed or removed

As a reference to one iconic scene from Resident Evil 5, Wesker can remove his sunglasses during battle. Wesker's sunglasses can be taken off in one of two ways:

• As Wesker takes damage during the fight, his sunglasses become damaged, and then destroyed outright. It usually takes approximately half of Wesker's health bar for the sunglasses to be removed via damage.
• Wesker's 236XX "Phantom Dance" hyper removes his sunglasses during the super flash animation. If the startup of Wesker's hyper completes up to this flash, his glasses will be completely removed, even if the rest of the hyper does not complete.

Once removed, Wesker's sunglasses remain off until he tags out. Being tagged out for any reason (hard tagging, being snapped, DHCs), will restore his sunglasses, but it will not repair partially damaged ones. Also, Wesker's taunt will replace his sunglasses.

When Wesker's shades are damaged or off, he receives a boost to damage and speed. The speed boost is valued at 10% (equivalent to Level 1 X-Factor), and the damage boost is valued at 10%(damaged) or 15%(off) (approximately half of the boost from Level 1 X-Factor). These bonuses also stack with the buffs from X-Factor, which can buff him to incredibly high speed and damage levels.

Health	1,000,000
Invulnerable Reversal(s)	214XX (Physical Hits), 623XX
Grounded Magic Series	Simple
X-Factor Damage Boost (1/2/3)	30% / 50% / 70%
X-Factor Speed Boost (1/2/3)	10% / 20% / 30%
Air Movement Options
Air Actions	Air Jumps?	Air Dash?	Flight?	WallJump?
0	No	No	No	No
Minimum Attack Scaling
Normals	Specials		Hypers
5	10		40

Move List

Assists

Ghost Butterfly
Assist A

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
120,000	42	3	117, 87
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-	Mid
THC Hyper: Phantom Dance. Provides very little coverage and almost no lockdown. Since it causes a wallbounce, it could be useful as a combo extension tool. However, its usually easier to just use Wesker's OTG assist and extend with your point character instead.

Samurai Edge (Lower)
Assist B

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
80,000	39	2	116, 86
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-	Low	, Priority: Low, Durability: 3
THC Hyper: Phantom Dance. This is almost always the correct assist choice for Wesker. Although it has poor range, its OTG property makes it a great tool for combo extensions. This is especially true for point characters with poor solo OTG options, such as Nemesis. Gunshot also hits low, so it can be used to set up high/low mixups or even Unblockables by calling it while the point character performs an overhead attack.

Jaguar Dash
Assist Y

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
40,000 x2 + 50,000	49	5(9)4	114, 84
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-	Mid
THC Hyper: Phantom Dance. Automatically performs the Jaguar Kick followup at the end of the dash. This technically covers the largest area of Wesker's assist choices, but it is quite slow, so Wesker often gets hit out of the startup.

Ground Normals

Stand Light
5L

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
55,000	5	5	8
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
+2	+1	Mid	-
Quick palm strike. Unlike many common point characters, Wesker can not rapid fire his light normals, so it should be followed up with an immediate medium attack. Hits fairly high up (roughly as high as Wesker's head) so its a decent anti-air option. Very strong tool for setting up tick-throws with Wesker's command grab.

Stand Medium
5M

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
73,000	8	2	22
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-4	-6	Mid	-
-

Stand Heavy
5H

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
50,000 x2	12	8	18
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
+2	0	Mid	-
Hits twice. The additional hitstun from the second hit is important for comboing into, for example, Ghost Butterfly (236M). Very safe, and even on whiff it is difficult to punish due to quick recovery, so feel free to throw out whenever. Wesker moves forward during this attack, roughly one character length's worth of distance.

Crouching Light
2L

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
53,000	5	2	11
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
+2	+1	Low	-
Standard fast low attack. Comparable speed and horizontal range to 5L. Lowers Wesker's hurtbox compared to simply crouching, but not by enough to be a practical low profile in most situations. Like with his standing light, it should be chained into a medium attack or used to set up tick throws.

Crouching Medium
2M

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
75,000	8	5	14
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
+1	-1	Low	-
Has very impressive range for a crouching normal. Dash up 2M can suddenly clip opponents who thought they were at a safe range. This attack is important for converting after light command grab, picking up after OTG gunshot, and in other similar combo situations.

Crouching Heavy
2H

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
80,000	10	3	25
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-5	Low	,
Standard sweep attack. In most situations, 5H is preferred due to higher damage and less recovery. Although very difficult to punish, this move should still always be canceled into either 5S (which is less minus on block) or into 236L palm (which can be canceled into teleport to reposition).

Launcher/Special
S

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
100,000	10	3	21
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
Launch	-1	Mid	,
Infamously safe and spammable by launcher standards. 5S moves Wesker forward a significant distance, so it will reliably combo after a 5H or 2H even at max range.

Aerial Normals

Jumping Light
j.5L

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
55,000	5	8	16
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
+13	+12	OH	-
Works as an instant overhead when set up via Fuzzy Guard against normal-sized characters. Against big-body characters such as Sentinel, can instant overhead naturally. Converting this hit into a combo requires X-Factor activation (j.5L -> X-Factor -> falling j.5H), or an assist call. Not particularly notable as an attack outside of this.

Jumping Medium
j.5M

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
73,000	9	5	16
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
+17	+16	OH	-
Upward-angled air attack, which makes it difficult to use against grounded opponents. Mainly used as combo filler.

Jumping Heavy
j.5H

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
88,000	11	7	18
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
+19	+17	OH	-
Airthrow OS attack, mainly. Can hit as a crossup quite easily.

Jumping Special
j.5S

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
95,000	10	5	24
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
+16	+14	OH
Decent air-to-air option, as it is slightly faster than j.5H. Causes a huge amount of hitstun, making it fairly practical to convert off at jump height, and can be used for jump loops or similar combo routes. Hits in a sweeping arc around Wesker, including as a crossup near the end of its active frames.

Command Normals

Samurai Edge (Horizontal)
6H

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
80,000	15	-	30
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-6	-8	High	Deals chip damage, Priority: Low, Durability: 3, scales by 0.9
Fast projectile attack that forms the basis of Wesker's keepaway game (alongside its variants below). Once the bullet is fired, Wesker can press L, M, or H to cancel into the respective version of his Phantom Move teleport. As a command normal, it can not be regularly special-canceled or hyper canceled save for the specific Phantom Move follow-up. However, it can be canceled into a THC. If you have the meter, 6H > Team Hyper will connect even from fullscreen.

Samurai Edge (Lower)
3H

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
80,000	15	2	24
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-1	-3	Low	, Deals chip damage, Priority: Low, Durability: 3, scales by 0.9
Very similar to horizontal gunshot, but aimed towards the ground. Has Phantom Move follow-ups just like the horizontal gunshot, and can be THC-canceled. Mainly useful as Wesker's OTG attack, to pick up opponents after a throw or other hard knockdown. As long as hitstun deterioration has not progressed too far, Wesker can link a 2M after OTG gunshot, allowing him to solo relaunch.

Samurai Edge (Anti-Surface)
j.2H

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
80,000	15	-	Until landing
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
+23*	+21*	Mid	Deals chip damage, Priority: Low, Durability: 3, scales by 0.9
Important keepaway tool alongside horizontal gunshot. L, M, and H follow-up inputs result in Air Phantom Move teleports of their respective strength.

Special Moves

Cobra Strike
236L

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
100,000	10	4	32
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-13	Mid
Fairly quick palm strike that knocks down. Pressing L, M, or H after the palm connects (hit or block, not whiff) allows Wesker to cancel into Phantom Move. On hit, use the 236L > L followup to teleport right next to the opponent as they land, and followup with an OTG gunshot. On block, cancel into any teleport to run away and avoid punishment. Be careful when throwing this out against pushblock-happy opponents; if the normal this attack was canceled from is pushblocked, it will whiff and leave you very vulnerable.

Ghost Butterfly
236M

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
120,000	18	3	25
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-5	Mid
Primarily used as a combo tool due to its wallbounce. Like Cobra Strike, it can be canceled into Phantom Move on hit or block by pressing any normal button, although the cancel window is fairly late.

Jaguar Dash
236H

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
30,000 x5	22	15	24
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-6	-10	Mid	-
After a pause, Wesker rushes forward about full-screen. During the run, Wesker's entire body is a hitbox. Can not be teleport-canceled like Wesker's other 236X specials. It is usually worse to use as an approach tool than simply dashing or teleporting. Has some application in combos using its Jaguar Kick follow-up, but otherwise not particularly important.

Jaguar Kick
236H > H

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
100,000	10	4	22
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-3	Mid
Special follow-up attack to Jaguar Dash. It should basically always be used if you are going to use 236H, as it has better recovery. This move can be canceled into 236L on block or hit, and then 236L can be canceled into hypers or Phantom Move as normal, so this offers a somewhat unique pressure route. Occasionally, Jaguar Kick will cause Wesker to fly behind a grounded opponent instead of hitting them, which can make a tricky cross-up if combined with assists.

Mustang Kick
63214X

L +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	120,000(2 hits)	1	2	26
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-	Throw
M +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	120,000(2 hits)	1	2	26
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-	Throw
H +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	120,000(2 hits)	1	2	26
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-	Throw
Instant command grab that makes Wesker a very serious offensive threat on the ground. Button strength determines range and the effect of the throw. L version has the longest range, and since all three versions are possible to follow up with a combo, the L version is the most useful by far. After landing a 63214L, an immediate dash -> 2M will catch the opponent before they reach the ground.

Phantom Move
623X

"Try facing me."

L +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	-	11	-	20
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-	-	-
M +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	-	11	-	25
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-	-	-
H +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	-	11	-	20
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-	-	-
Wesker teleports a fixed distance in a direction determined by the button press. L teleport moves forward, and can move behind the opponent if they are close enough. M teleport moves backwards, away from the opponent. H teleport moves up and forward. Wesker will always be facing the opponent after H teleport, and can attack with a falling normal if he so chooses.

Air Phantom Move
j.623X

"Do I frighten you?"

L j. +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	-	11	-	35
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-	-	-
M j. +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	-	11	-	40
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-	-	-
H j. +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	-	11	-	25
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-	-	-
Air version of Wesker's teleport. L version teleports forward at Wesker's current height, M version teleports backwards at Wesker's current height, and the H version teleports straight down towards the ground. Wesker can utilize repeated air teleports to stall or run away in the air for extended periods of time, although he is still limited to three special moves per jump state.

Tiger Uppercut
421X

L version (Mid/OH Counter)

M version (Low Counter)

H version (Projectile Counter)

L j. +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	120,000	5	15	11
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-8	Counter	Counters non-low physical hits,
M +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	120,000	5	15	11
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-5	Counter	Counters low physical hits,
H +	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
	120,000	5	13	13
	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
	-	-5	Counter	Counters projectiles,
Counter special. Button strength determines the type of attack countered as well as the follow-up attack if the counter is successful: L Version: Counters any physical hit that is not a low or hyper. If successful, Wesker becomes invincible and performs a launcher with 18f startup M Version: Counters any low physical hit that is not a hyper. If successful, Wesker becomes invincible and performs a wallbouncing attack with 20f startup. H Version: Counters any projectile hit that is not a hyper. If successful, Wesker becomes invincible and performs a wallbouncing attack with 18f startup. This move is very difficult to use effectively, but can catch opponents off guard if used sparingly. The H version in particular can be used to punish projectile assist calls.

Hyper Combos

Phantom Dance
Maximum Wesker
236XX (1 bar)

"You belong in a zoo."

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
28,750 per hit, up to 16 hits	10+1	83	40
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	~-25	Mid	, , mashable, scales by 0.96
Wesker removes his sunglasses during the super flash (this activates his unique mechanic, and the damage boost is already accounted for above). Afterwards, he rapidly bounces around the screen, hitting opponents in his way. This super is notoriously inconsistent and can sometimes do significantly less damage than expected or drop entirely. The inconsistency can also work in Wesker's favor, as this hyper will occasionally hit as a crossup instead of in the intended direction. If Phantom Dance ends with a hit in a very specific way, it is possible for Wesker to follow up with 236L, which will catch the opponent just before they reach the ground.

Rhino Charge
214XX (1 bar)

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
250,000	5	16	28
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-	Counter	Counters any physical hut,
Hyper version of Wesker's counter special. This counters any physical hit, including hypers (but not projectiles or assists). If successful, Wesker and the opponent are pulled into a cinematic, where Wesker deals a single, heavy blow that crumples and allows him to follow up with a full combo. It is very difficult to use this counter effectively, as its startup is not invulnerable, and the opponent can use its super flash to buffer a cancel for whatever attack they were going to use.

Lost in Nightmares
623XX (3 bars)

"Back to you."

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
450,000	6+8	5	30
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-13	Mid	Invuln until frame 16, , uses
Cinematic level 3 hyper. Wesker does a palm strike similar to his 236L special (but invulnerable). If it connects, Wesker begins a cinematic where he deals immense unscaled damage to the opponent. This hyper ends with the opponent knocked down immediately adjacent to Wesker, but he can not pick up afterwards unless he cancels the last portion with X-Factor.

Universal Mechanics

Ground Throw
6H, 4H

Forward Throw

Back Throw

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
80,000	1	1	-
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-	Throw
Standard ground throw that results in the opponent knocked down next to Wesker. Unlike with his airthrow, Wesker can not combo after this grab, so he should try to use his command grab instead whenever possible.

Air Throw
j.6H, j.4H

Air Forward Throw (knocks down further away)

Air Back Throw (knocks straight down)

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
80,000	1	1	-
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-	Airthrow
Standard airthrow that results in a hard knockdown. When connecting this airthrow at any height, Wesker can simply land and OTG pickup with 3H gunshot, making this airthrow a very powerful.

Snap Back
+/

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
50,000	2	4	32
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-13	Mid	Snapback
Animation and hitbox based on 236L.

Hard Tag
Hold 14f /

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery
30,000	-	20	34
On Hit	On Block	Guard	Properties
-	-13	OH
-

Team Position

In the very early days of UMvC3, Wesker gained infamy as an easy-to-use anchor character. The buffs from his sunglasses mechanic stack with X-Factor, including level 3 X-Factor, to get some incredibly strong boosts to speed and damage. Known as "Level 4 Wesker", his high speed was extremely difficult for players at time to defend against, and his high damage boost allowed even Day 1 combos to shred a lifebar in seconds.

However, this usage of Wesker rapidly declined in popularity after the first year, in favor of other anchor characters who were more technical, but ultimately more effective. Today, Wesker is primarily used as a point character, where his relatively simple gameplan can be supported by multiple assists. Wesker's assists are not particularly strong in neutral, but his Samural Edge assist is a very fast OTG hit, which is useful for some characters. Some people run Wesker second, or put him on point and then tag him out early, to use him for this purpose.

Notable Synergies

Sentinel: Wesker, like many point characters, enjoys having access to horizontal long range assists to keep a grounded opponent locked down. Sentinel Force (Charge) assist has a particularly long total duration and a high amount of total durability. Because drone assist consists of three discrete hits that do not form a true blockstring, Wesker can use them to set up teleport or command grab-based mixups. In the other direction, Wesker's OTG gunshot assist can be used to work around Sentinel's slow solo OTG attack, leading to an easy relaunch and significantly increased damage.

Players to Watch: Unknown/Unkn0wn (C.Viper/Wesker/Sentinel)

Vergil: Rapid Slash assist knocks opponents higher and typically causes more hitstun than assists covering similar space like Doom's Plasma Beam. For Wesker, this means easier OTG pickups, especially late in a combo when hitstun deterioration is high. Wesker also struggles to efficiently DHC out of his level 1 hyper, because it leaves both the opponent and himself at an inconsistent spacing that is difficult to gauge. Vergil's Spiral Swords is one of the easiest hypers to use for this purpose, as it is fairly easy to position Vergil underneath the opponent in time, and start a standard swords combo. Finally, like the other characters on this list, Vergil's options following his own OTG attack are limited, and Wesker's gunshot assist can enable significant extra damage after an early knockdown.

Players to Watch Winrich (Vergil/Wesker/Strider)

Nemesis: Wesker is more likely to use THCs than other characters, as it allows him to cancel directly from OTG gunshot. Nemesis' "Bioweapon Assault" hyper is exceptionally strong for this purpose. Not only does it deal high damage, its duration lines up perfectly with Wesker's hyper, such that Nemesis will slam down from the sky just as Phantom Dance ends, causing a Forced Ground Bounce and potentially allowing Wesker to continue the combo (if it didn't kill outright). Nemesis also gets significant extra combo potential when he can replace his own (medicore) OTG attacks with an OTG assist like Wesker.

Players to Watch: Scamby (Wesker/Nemesis/Chris)

Other Players to Watch: Wentinel (Wesker/Dormammu/Magneto), Noel Brown (Wolverine/Wesker/Frank), Alukard (Wesker/Iron Man/varies), ChrisG (Wesker/Ryu/Hawkeye)

Alternate Colors

Color 1	Color 2	Color 3	Color 4	Color 5	Color 6	Alt Color

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