Renny Flame and the Launches of Doom

Renny Flame
The steps to becoming a great renny F are long and arduous, taking time, practice dilligence blah blah blah...
I would reccomend Frenny as a great second character buy, after getting a simpler character like elrath (seriously, go buy elrath for your first character, simple moveset, very deep mechanics with what she can pull off with practice)
this guide is intended to have players understand renny F over a course of time
in the guide when i talk about these letters i mean...
L: Left Mouse button
R: Right mouse button
Shift: Shift key
J: Jump (Space Key)
Alt: Holding the alt key while hitting R
F: Renny's Rally
Q: Deathless Armour

Most of AB's micro with attacks are to do with camera controls, renny is one of the most reliant when it comes to this (dan mei, ridika, renny G come to mind for the same skillset and probably a few others i'm forgetting). Renny F is certainly an advanced character.

This is your most important move in your whole moveset, the FIRST thing you need to do is learn to hit with it. it doesn't matter if you can't quite get the hang of the first sidestep attack, what matters is that you are practicing hitting with LR.

the principle behind RturnR is hitting the person from behind with the tornado after summoning it, knocking them airborn letting you do what you like to them while they are mid-air.
"but maje, there's an ability that already does this better, RaltR hits them without me having to turn around!"

Quit whining and do as i say!

R turn R may seem a little outdated with RaltR on the field, but it's a very good habit to get into not wasting SP. It will also drastically improve your aim with RR and RaltR.

RaltR is also designed so that renny can throw a speedy tornado at a distant enemy while still launching your target of your first R, and shouldn't be used frivilously, more to do with that in SP management section.

when beginner Rennys looking to move forward out into more complex plays, they will need to learn how to add a second pattern to hurt an enemy after the knockup beyond a the addition of R on LR. rennys looking to go further should try to use RturnR, then either LRR or JLLR

LLL: a few are shocked when i tell Renny Flames in training to never use LLL, LLL itself is really situational, and doesn't lead on to other high damage combos or any "stepped" learning curve. it also has a lot more punishment opperuntities on a miss. generally avoid using it.

The only real time to use LLL is if you're enemy is in the air (preferably on first knockup) and they are low enough health that they will die from the LLL damage (which is considerably high if you hit with all 3 attacks). It juggles them for the entire combo, but even if they're on the ground it's fairly easy to stagger them to death.

Shift R im adding another section on this, because it's special like that

JL, JLL & JR for starting out, and are great to pick up while transitioning from the basics to being pro. they are getting their nice roomy section to themselves as well

Shift R is one of the counter attacks that can be devastating when used properly, used poorly it will result in a quick execution against most players.
What's it to your toolkit?
shift R is one of the best distance closers and guard slips you have at your disposal, it really should be played in 2 teirs of thought against different opponents (Pro's react to shift R differently than less experianced peeps)

If your opponent can't block a Shift R to immediately behind them, then they fall into this category.
Against these opponents, Shift R will be a free knockup most of the time.
Shift R LRR is your basic attack when using the gap closer and can be used "whenever" against these tier one opponents.
if chasing a panicked enemy, shift until you are within a R distance if you were stationary, Shift R to knock them up, once, then shift R again through them to seemingly cut off their escape, causing them to want to change direction. the target is likely going to be able to be hit with a third shift R from this distance and let you get a LRR off as you catch them.


If an opponent can block a shift R immediately behind them, they fall into this catergory
Shift R is now primarily a counter attack, some remaining uses from teir one carry over, but it's effects greatly diminish

Shift R is most effective when it's a counter attack, here is the list of things you should counter attack if you can, as they have near stationary targets and non radial attacks (don't hit behind them)
Renny F: during RR, LR, LLL (but, good Frennys dont use LLL)
Valle: end of RRR. at any point in her main attack strings except a charge, end of JR.
Elika: LL, after LLLR, shift R, RR (they should stop at R).
Dan mei: LL, LLL, JR, LR.
Hyde: LL, LLL, LR, LRR, any bow shot (remember they have to travel in a straight line while jumping)
Tiac: during any point except a charge/golden mode
Ridika: LLR, RR (ridika is strong agianst renny)
Cezanne: any point except when he's shifting
Renny G: only if she's starting a L combo at range, RRRing or JRRing
Renoah: any time :D

JL and JLL are the primary tools used to keep combos going. Generally landing a knockup (LR, RR or ShiftR) then immediately jumping and hitting LL will do a few things;
1. It increases the duration of the knockup you applied to them, which can mess up their timing and give you more time to follow up with something else (LR or RR)
2. It does a reasonable amount of damage.

JL Is better for "safe" hits. it's deals a lot of damage for the ammount of time devoted to it's attack, it lands you both on the ground and any misses aren't going to screw you over

Continueing to JLL will do more damage and keep them up longer, but it gets risky as it has a tendancy to not hit as often as it should, JLL keeps them in the air longer and is perfect for comboing into a JR for maximum damage out of a single juggle.


JR itself is pretty risky, it has a long windup, terrible range (without a slope), sloppy recovery frames, clunky combo end, yes it should be used at the end of every successful JLL, no, it should not be used as a spam ability. it can only ever hit one target making it terrible in a team comp

JaltR deals on average 28 points of extra damage in burn and 115 damage to a total of 143 damage more than JR. The extra damage is nice for the combo, though insignificant in comparison to the damage boost from renny G's LLaltR.

What makes it worthwhile is that it gives her divekick the "safeness" it needs, it has a gigantic knockback, the ammount that you can shift to them after recovery, but have the distance so that they can't intimidate you.

it should be noted that the "empowered burning" debuff that it applies is unique to JaltR, dealing an average of 8 more. while "empowered burning" is applied your normal attacks cannot "replace" burn while it's active, nor can other renny Fs (that aren't using JaltR).

JR and JaltR can be used from an elevated position (such as on the stairs) to great effect as it knocks them away from you to allow for a second attack to be set up.

As LRR ends you in an elevated position it's fine to attack an enemy with JLLaltR, be warned that you can be blocked after LRR completes. If the JR misses, you can expect a swift retribution from a not so friendly enemy.

Against good players after an LRR combo, it's be advisable to R as a disengage from combat, it may just save your life. :D

(from here out RR will assume that you are turning to the suitable place that you need to turn it to)

i hope to get videos for this but for now these descriptions will do

(to catch a second target while sustaining the first)
( it's still pretty special that you can do this), this combo is best if you are facing the guarding enemy front on.)
this combo is best for interupting a player front on,
this combo is best if you can catch an enemy from behind that's in a combo or through a successful guard slip
this is a combo to disable a still dangerous enemy (like, a spinning ridika) from range and then combo them
same as above, but if from behind or if inable to reach with LR after knockup
great for a counter attack after hitting an enemy in the front
great for a counter attack after hitting an enemy in the back

While your enemy may be in front of you for now, there are many that will want to guardslip or teleport behind you, especially as you are charging R. surprise them with a R heading behind you, 90% of the time you will get hit while pulling this prediction off, this is fine, you are trading usually 300 damage on yourself for a knockup and burn on your enemy, leading into a nice combo that punishes them.

Renny's most important stat is stamina, Shifting to escape takes a lot out of you, so you need to be careful on how fast your stamina bar depletes

As you can't really "teach" SP managment, only suggest improvements and let people figure out their playstlye for themselves, here are just a set of guidelines to set you on the right path.

Shift "ONCE" to get away per attack, a few rennys go overboard and shift till they are out, leaving them with so little time once

Shift shiftR as a counter attack is just too expensive, and there are better counter attacks

JaltR is a good idea to do when you can, JR without knockback can leave you open if blocked. if you don't have SP for JaltR while mid air, JR in another direction away from your enemy.

To really do well at FFA in general you need to have these goals in mind:
get the last hit
survive to get more last hits
prevent others from getting last hits.

these two people are going to be denying kills that you "deserve" but of course, they don't know any better. targeting them means they can't killsteal themselves can they? (select the ones that can aim first)
. Frenny can't handle a lack of control
(if you are feeling confident you are about to get a triple kill on three targets that start on full hp, feel free to use F)
most other characters like it when you are on the ground, and you will recieve less damage if you are outside of cursory attacks, if you can bring opponents up with you with LR JLLR, the more likely it is you won't be killstolen by ridika popping in.
players descend on low HP characters like wolves, remaining above 50% is critical to you not being focused by the entire server. make sure stop after chaining combats to collect health pickups.
Q an elrath an elika are dueling a small while off. elika has the upper hand and elrath is 35% and dropping fast, what do you do?
A, RaltR knocking the two of them up, then shift R in, knocking them up again, LRR elrath while elika is still falling.
you will be thankful you didn't use that Ralt R when you escape from gaspars Q.
JaltR spam clears stairways like nothing else, its also hillarious when you managed to kill people only using the divekick.

solo play is casual play, many are there to iron out the finer points in their champions mechanics without the stress of letting down a team. feel free to ask others for help with things (most of the rank 40+'s are nice will oblige you on the ins and outs of your character if they have the time).

Renny F is a strong pick for team play due to the ammount of tornados that will disrupt the enemy's teamfights and the high ammount of launch time for enemies she can be brutal.

Roles to fill:
assasin/ranged occupier: she can chase down characters like renoah and hyde with liberal use of shift. even if the ranged character is great at kiting, it means that your team has far more managable teamfight with the pin point hitstuns gone. remember you can still send a tornado in the direction of the teamfight with RaltR to aid your allies occasionally

mid range moniter:
making sure that characters like elika, ridika, dan mei and others with large AoE orented abilities are harrassed with tornados, so that your teammates can turn the tide

Assasination brawler:
RR, shift R LRR LLR is impossible right? they block after the LRR? not if a teammate helps :D
140+37*5+340 + 180+160+300+380+500+230+210+590+48*5 = 3455 damage (This will kill almost any character that's not designed to avoid this . if your team mate can get these combo extending hits off, which they don't even need to devotethat much effort into it, dirverting their needed attention elsewhere. A renny G, ridika, gaspar, ♥♥♥♥, (elika, cezanne and sewon can help as well, they just need a little bit more preparation)/ would be a reasonablelystrong pick for a teammate to help you do this.

even without the level of co-ordination, you can still do some serious damage to the enemy AoE characters (elika, ridika, cezanne,)

(assuming nodupchamp and informal group)

from most complimentary to least complimentary

Cezanne
where do the synergies stop? they can apply team wide dots, renny can hide between cez's team stunning Swathes of mercury, renny can take advantage of the blocking opponents. renny can chase down and deal with opponents that cez could never touch.

Ridika
placed higher than Elika on the list due to overlapping debuffs and higher mobility.

again, crazy area control the advantage she might have over cez in certain situations is her high mobility, she can deal with mobile combats a lot better than cezanne can.

blind love is probably the only part of her kit at odd's with frenny

Elika
elika has some crazy area control, and that's all there is to it, she combos well with everyone.

Dan mei
F's are crazy :D nice lockdown, dan mei's playstyle causes his enemies to be sporadic, but he's still nice.

These four are bread and butter teamfighters, and fit well with nearly every other team comp out there. all four are countered by ranged hitstun characters, elika's Team hitstun has a slow buildup, cezanne gets left behind in mobile teamfights. ridika's RR is just buggy and can't be trusted to work 100% of the time. Dan mei's teammates can break hitstuns critical to his combos and is a HUGE target for those ranged hitstuns. pick your poison.


Sewon
Alt R is really strong as a teamfight ability now, renny enjoys the HP, targets under the effect of damage over times are likely to die instantly when sewon uses cycle of death and rebirth

Hyde & Renoah

Hyde and Renoah do the same job in a teamfight, which is to save friends from long hitstuns and make breaks in combos so they can be freed and turn the tide with. Hyde is more mobile but less reliable for saves and Renoah is caught easilly, but can turn the tide with a Q in a teamfight. Both are equally valuable.

Tiac
Tiac is your go to man for when you need to have group hitstun resist. If you get caught in ridika's RR, tiac is the man to save your team and attempt to turn it around. You also help him deal with his weakness to cezanne

Valle
to frenny, valle is a knockoff version of elika and ridika, crossed with tiac, RRR keeps enemies moving while hitstunned/blocking, which isn't good for incoming RR's. this said, heals, hitstun resist do make her a fine substitute for when an elika and ridika aren't around/being focused too hard.


not saying these characters can't be played together, some can work well in a full team, and for non-Deathmatch modes, they just don't have the same "synergy" as the others

Elrath
Elrath's strong points are medium ranged damage in an area of effect, Elrath likes characters that hold groups together, and is more suited to a hitstun ground AoE team/long distance defence groups, which renny F isn't suited for.


Gaspar
gaspar wants people on the ground more often to suffer his mines, his LLR electric fields and his LLL combo, Renny F knocking people into the air doesn't really "help" him.

Dic
frenny and dic play very, very diffferently and have different ways of winning games, armour regen is "helpful" but not as helpful as a chaser or an aoe hitstunner, something characters like sewon and valle help fill the role of better.

Same things with Gaspar, Dic likes his enemies to be on the ground unless he himself is comboing.

Renny G
Renny G being on your team and your team doing well is highly situational on enemy team composition, neither of you like a grand melee, glacier enjoys ground hitstuns more than you,


Sewon
his shift can be really scary when used effectively, countering most Shift Rs, RRs and JRs.

Skilled Elika
They have to be pretty damn godlike to reach this level, but by focusing on kickdashes (R) and JL they can very heavily shut a renny F down, making sure she is unable to do much at all.

Ridika
Theres a reason her lore includes torturing renny.
Her mobility can screw you over really, really badly, JRR, shift L's, guard slips. Your teleport's just can't save you from a good ridika.

Summary vid
always kinda disliked that renny F's first L sidestepped to the left, attacking right? well now you can move in any direction with it you want! twist your camera to suit your needs, the attack isn't a locked in place one, so you can any direction with it, here's a video example.

a little finnicky with it's function, Jump forwards, then hold back and mash shift, when you get the shift mid shift animation press R, if you get a guy chasing you knocked into the air with this, he will be too stunned that you pulled this off to even continue the fight.

this one is just for the vain. i would be very happy for people to link me footage of this in more common use, if someone can get an unscripted Jshift(back)(pause) LLR on a mid air target on footage, i will devote this guide to them and try to immortalise them in AB history as best i can.

get beneath your target (somehow), then LRR so that they are knocked up a significant ammount, land atop them after the R. Now enjoy the elevated view (you will need to move with them if you want to continue staying on top of them good luck)!
(not in vid)

(At range) RturnR shift R (behind)
they can't block in front and behind :D ( most players see this coming sadly)
(not in vid)

Have you tried: Same level of mobility, really bursty, better pursuit of fleeing
characters. she lacks the same level of juggling prowess that renny F does .

all the mobility, all the Aoe, a lot of the damage. she gets invis mechanics to play with too, only at the cost of increased launch control.

seems like a weird jump, especially with his lack of mobility, but people that like to control and shut down their enemies with tornados and aerial combos will love Cez's toolkit. while his aerial control is relatively weak his ground control is second to none. his taunt also has vocals so you can truely let your opponent know they have been dominated as they are afflicted with 2 heavy damage overtimes.