Heihachi

Rushdown Mishima

Heihachi is a rushdown Mishima-style character who excels at pressuring opponents and wearing down their defense with some of the strongest mid attacks in the game. His combo damage is extremely high, he has tremendous chip damage potential in Heat, and his new stance options grant amazing mixup opportunities. The classic Mishima staple moves such as Electric Wind God Fist and Flash Punch Combo (1,1,2) are as strong as ever, and his new i18 Indra's Kick (b+4) is a devastating long-range safe-on-block counter hit launcher. These tools grant him an extremely potent defensive capability that synergizes perfectly with his aggressive gameplan. Upon entering Heat three different times over the course of a match, Heihachi is able to activate a powered up state known as Warrior Instinct for the remainder of the round. Upon activation (1+4), he receives several major buffs to his kit. He gains Ultimate Muso Renken (df+2,1) as an i13 launcher, his hellsweep can lead into follow up attacks even when blocked, and Left Splits Kick (f,F+3) becomes +1 on block. Several other moves such as Flash Punch Combo, Demon Breath (1+2), and Demon God Fist (f,F+2) are granted enhanced damage and wall splatting properties. After the round ends, Heihachi is no longer able to access Warrior Instinct for the rest of the match. Heihachi's strengths come at the cost of having lackluster lows and a demanding execution barrier. He can struggle against patient opponents, and is forced to use his unrewarding and launch punishable lows in order to open them up. Many of his pokes are linear, and his Mishima tools are weak to SSL as expected. The King of Iron Fist necessitates strong fundamentals and a good sense of timing in order to be played optimally.