MegaMan Volnutt- Capcom

"Only a few bumps and scrapes, and I hardly wasted any ammo."

TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM BIO:

An excavator who makes his living digging for ancient ruins, MegaMan Volnutt never backs down from a fight, regardless of his opponent’s size or strength. His unwavering courage supplements his wisdom in battle. His weapons are the Mega Buster cannon equipped on his left arm and a detachable right arm that can be swapped for a variety of battle-proven attachments.

CHARACTER ORGIN

MegaMan Volnutt originated in MegaMan Legends. He was found and raised by Professor Barrell Caskett alongside his granddaughter Roll, and he is named after Roll's favorite videogame character. He soon grows up to be a digger, searching for adventure and providing for his family. 

Eventually it is revealed that he was once known as MegaMan Trigger, a Purifier Unit on Elysium and protector of the Master System. MegaMan Trigger was ordered to destroy the Master System but was so badly damaged in the battle that he had his memory erased to save his body. It was then that he was discovered by Professor Barrell Caskett, adopted, and raised by the Professor and Roll.

GAMEPLAY DETAILS

On the surface, Megaman Trigger looks like a pure projectile-oriented character who lacks the ability to combo and deal damage. However in the wacky world of TvC, one should never judge a book by it's cover. With a unique set of specials which allow him to customise his moveset on the fly, Volnutt is one of the most versatile characters in the game, but also one of the most technical. Once a player has mastered his weapon switch he becomes a fearsome combo machine capable of fighting at any range. His versatility balances well with his poor defense and short melee range, but for someone who is willing to put in the time and effort to learn him and has the required execution to handle his constant weapon switching, the rewards are well worth it.

CHARACTER STATS

Difficulty: Advanced

Style: Tactical adaption

Defensive power: His HP is poor and so he takes a lot of damage, but with the shield gun and runaway tricks he can retreat from the opponent with ease and shut down direct offense. Both his level 1 hypers are also very useful for defense.

Offensive power: In terms of single hits he's very weak, but with the right combos his damage output is incredible. His combos seem to go on forever and deal very respectable damage, but they are quite difficult to perform. He can also deal a lot of passive damage just by running and poking with his projectiles.

Approach strength: Unfortunately his melee range is quite short, so he has trouble advancing on an opponent. Volnutt has no problem pressuring from across the screen with his haze of bullets, so it's often better to try to use his superior mobility to force the opponent to make a mistake and then take advantage of any openings that present themselves.

Combo ability: Volnutt's combo opportunities are almost endless. With weapon switch he can flow from attack to attack, changing his normals and then cancelling them into weapon switch to perform a series of speedy links. However the player needs to keep track of a lot of variables while using him due to the nature of his moves, so sometimes it can be difficult to understand what to do next.

Meter Usage: Volnutt builds passive meter alarmingly fast with his keep away and his combos. In general he uses his meter for his speedy Hypers and for Megacrash.

Key Techniques: The primary technique he'll be using is weapon switch to create links in combos. However, there is also an advanced pattern of movement which is known as 'Rock Spam' in which Volnutt uses carefully placed H shots and weapon switches to barrage the opponent with uncharged buster shots while retreating. It's also important to learn how to 'tiger knee' his aerial F+M moves, since it significantly cuts the recovery and makes some intense pressure possible. Players using a classic controller may probably want to adjust their settings in a way that will make it easy for them to charge his buster shot while doing other moves.

Partner Options: For the keep-away Volnutt player, a projectile assist such as Morrigan's or Ryu's would be helpful. He gets along quite well with Tekkaman, who's assist is useful in combos and who's powerful Hypers are  great in Hyper Combinations

SPECIAL MOVES

WEAPON SWITCH (STANDING) - Air OK

DOWN, DOWN + ATTACK

Volnutt is one of the more unique characters in the game. Rather than having a set of completely unique special moves, all of his special moves save for the charge shot are the same. However the weapon switch also allows Volnutt to be one of the most flexible characters in the game despite this, and weapon switch in all it's forms is vital to his overall effectiveness as a fighter. The light version of the weapon switch changes his arm to a machine gun, the mid version changes it to a shield mode and the strong version changes it to a drill. Equipping the same arm twice will switch Volnutt back to his regular arm, which is also what he starts the match with. Depending on what arm Volnutt has equipped at the time, the attack he uses as his F+M or DF+M will change. Because Weapon Switch is considered a special move, it can be used to cancel normal moves and to continue combos due to it's quick activation and miniscule lag.

WEAPON SWITCH (FORWARD) - Air OK
   
QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD + ATTACK

The same as Weapon Switch, except Volnutt does a short forward step while changing, after which a small amount of lag follows, moreso than the regular switch. This is a big part of his ground and aerial combos as it can be used as a mobility option while canceling or even as an alternative to air dashing. It can be used to reverse direction while air dashing backwards, super jumping, anything. This subtle control over his movement is one of Volnutt's key strengths. Doing it in the air is faster than on the ground.

WEAPON SWITCH (BACKWARDS) - Air OK

  
QUARTER CIRCLE BACK + ATTACK

The same as the previous, except with step in the opposite direction. The same strategies apply.

CHARGE SHOT

HOLD

The classic Megaman Charge shot is back. Holding Volnutt's strong attack will charge the blast which can be released at any time by letting go of the button. The charge does more hits and has a larger hitbox the longer it's charged. The fully charged shot is very powerful and blows the opponent back to the other side of the screen even if blocked, which is good news for Volnutt players who like to run away and shoot a lot. It can be charged during supers but will disappear if Volnutt is hit.

WEAPON TYPES

OR

Volnutt's F+M attack is a unique attack that changes depending on what weapon arm he has equipped at the time. In the case of the machine gun and drill arms, DF+M also has a unique attack. Because all attacks that come out of F+M attacks are considered NORMALS, they can be cancelled into weapon switch specials. All weapon attacks can be used in the air too.

NORMAL ARM

Using the normal arm on the ground or the air will cause Volnutt to lunge forward while throwing a haymaker. This attack causes heavy stagger on a grounded opponent and allows him to extend his ground combos. Using this move while slightly above the ground will cancel all of the landing lag, making it a fantastic pressure tool at close range.

MACHINE GUN ARM

F+M attack will make Volnutt fire a stream of lasers in front of him with very little startup or lag.

DF+M makes him fire into the air diagonally or fire at a downwards angle if he's airborn. Eats through most other projectiles and deals respectable damage if it hits. It's a great tool for harassing the opponent at further range. By using this move as soon as a jump starts, Volnutt is capable of firing it in very quick succession, though keep in mind that some characters can duck or use sliding moves to avoid it and approach.

SHIELD ARM

Attacking with the shield arm causes Volnutt to project a green shield in front of him. The attack has some startup but can reflect projectiles and if it hits the opponent it sends them flying back at an alarming speed after which they will slam into the wall for a wallbounce. It also completely negates chip damage from blocked attacks, taking away from his meter instead. Generally this is his most useful arm because it can be used to extend his combos, allowing him to relaunch after an air rave and boost his otherwise poor damage in combos. The hitbox is massive and meaty and will stop just about any frontal assault.

DRILL ARM

Forward plus Medium Attack makes Volnutt do a low drill attack that also hits opponents who are downed. This attack cannot be used in the air. Volnutt can use this move to extend combos, since if it hits a standing opponent it will pop them up into the air. Timing a forward weapon switch to go off just as the attack ends allows Volnutt to pursue the opponent and hit them with a standing M which can then be comboed into a launcher.

His down-forward plus Medium Attack variant is more of an uppercut and can be used in the air. A more substantial damage-dealer attack, Volnutt can actually fit two of these into a single air combo through careful weapon switching.

If he has this arm when hitting the opponent with a tag-in, he can attack them on the switch when they're lying on the ground with the F+M version.



Hyper Moves

MACHINE GUN SWEEP - HYPER COMBO LEVEL 1

    
 QUARTER CIRCLE BACK + ANY TWO ATTACKS

 

Megaman changes to his machine gun arm and points it forward before firing a rapid stream of bullets. The super lasts for some time and can be controlled by holding up or down. Will  halt all momentum if fired in the air. After the attack finishes, he is left with his machine gun arm.

Not very powerful, but this has one of - if not the fastest - startup of any beam-style super in the game. Much of the aiming animation takes place within the superpause and the bullet stream comes out almost instantly, making this super useful for punishing at full screen, combos, just about anything. It also has one of the longest durations of a level 1 super, making it perfect for Variable Hyper combinations when Volnutt is assisting since it can be used alongside a shorter super to allow the point character to continue a natural combo afterwards. It's not a good idea to use this randomly because if the opponent super jumps it they're free to get behind Volnutt and punish him with whatever they want.

MAX POWER DRILL UPPERCUT - HYPER COMBO LEVEL 1

   
FORWARD DOWN DOWN-FORWARD + ANY TWO ATTACKS

Volnutt switches to drill arm and then shoots directly upwards while doing a super drill uppercut, dealing many hits on the opponent and propping them into the air. Puts Volnutt into the drill arm mode.

Just like the machine gun sweep, this super is blindingly fast. It also does very decent damage and has a huge hitbox that covers most of Rock's body and quite a bit above it too. Very useful to punish and to serve as an anti-air. It can only be done on the ground and is punishable on block, so it should never just be thrown out randomly. Interestingly, Rock can do two of these in a row and sometimes combo it into itself on larger characters.

MAX POWER SHINING LASER - HYPER COMBO LEVEL 3

    
QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD + ANY TWO ATTACKS

Volnutt punches the opponent and tosses them into the air before changing his arm to the secret shining laser mode and blasting them with a huge stream of light. Very weak damage but can be made slightly more powerful with mashing and Volnutt can juggle the opponent after it hits. After the attack he will be wielding the normal arm.

This super is often considered to be one of the worst in the game, but it has a few interesting properties that make it worth taking a second look at. While the damage is rather pitiful for a level 3 super even when buttons are mashed to increase the attack's power, this super throws the opponent very high up into the air and allows for them to be juggled further before they hit the ground, which gives Volnutt a chance to ramp the damage up significantly. It also is  not effected by damage scaling as strongly as other supers, so if used to end a long combo it can be relied on to add to the overall output.



Assists

Volnutt's assist is the same attack as his forward + mid drill arm. After using this assist he will switch to the normal arm.

Combos

Bread and Butter Combo (with Normal Arm)

Crouching Light, Mid, crouching Mid, Forward Mid -> Weapon Switch front step Mid -> launcher -> up -> M,M -> jump -> M,M, Forward M -> Weapon Switch forward step Hard -> fall to the ground before opponent -> launcher -> up -> M,M, down + forward M -> jump -> M, down + forward M -> Weapon switch back step Hard