Laguna Loire (Dissidia 012)

Info
Name	Laguna Loire (ラグナ・レウァール)
Original game	Final Fantasy VIII
Weapon	Swords, Daggers, Greatswords, Guns
Armor	Shields, Bangles, Hats, Helms, Clothing, Light Armor, Chestplates
Base ATK (LV100)	111 (High)
Base DEF (LV100)	110 (Low)
Run Speed	9 (Slow)
Dash Speed	81 (Below Average)
Fall Speed	75 (Above Average)
Fall Speed Ratio After Dodge	35 (Above Average)
Exclusive weapons	Machine Gun, High-Power Machine Gun, Ragnarok Pistol

Combos page

Strategy page

Overview

Laguna is a midrange zoner with a balance between keepaway and rushdown tools. His strengths lie in his wide range of pokes to chip away at the opponents bravery and unique move properties, which allow him to have some unconventional strategies to play around his opponent.

His variety of ranges to work at gives Laguna the potential to always be able to threaten with something, wether its long range with Homing Bazooka, midrange with Ricochet Shot, or close range with Pummel and Electroshield.

However his biggest weakness lies in his long recovery on alot of key moves, making him easy to whiff punish on a mistake. Mixing up your options to throw off the opponent constantly is key to staying on defense with him, and watching the opponents resources to decide risk-reward accordingly.

If you like midrange play, poking away and cashing out huge with the right hit, and playing keepaway neutral, Laguna is your Man with the Machine Gun.

Bravery Attacks

Ground

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
1 x 32 (32)	31	Physical	Ranged Low	3x32 (96)	None	30 (15)

[Mid] Fire machine gun. Move with analog stick while holding button.

Run'n'Gun, literally. After startup Laguna can move while firing but and slightly track opponent while firing.

It has relatively low range but good EX Force gain, and alot of characters can't swing right through it if they come at you headfirst. Combined with Electroshield you can punish ground dash attempts or force the opponent away into a more favorable position for you to Ricochet Shot from.

It's possible to assist convert from aswell, but its finnicky and has very little hitstun to work with.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
Main Bullet 35 (35)	37F, 1F after release 54F Half / 70F Full Charge	Physical	Ranged Mid	60	None	30 (15)
Split bullets 5 each		Physical	Ranged Low	3	Chase	30 (15)

[Long] Fire shots that break into smaller pieces after hitting stage.

Fire a shot that ricochets off the ground and walls. Your grounded main tool with alot of applications in neutral. A swiss army knife for his mid- to longrange pressure.

The main shot is Mid priority while the ricochet bullet is Low priority.

The move can be charged for more ricochet bullets while all hit seperately. Half Charge is 3 split shots, Full Charge 5. Only the main shot tracks the opponent after ricocheting, making it excellent for dodge punish, shooting past projectiles or behind them, and firing right above him.

Blocking this move can still reflect the ricochet, something to be mindful of. Same happens if it clashes and gets reflected by a move.

The chase effect will cancel out if hitting someone with a full charge and only a single split bullet

Solid move, a staple of grounded zoning, keepaway and mixups to pressure the opponent. Paired with Electroshield can be hard to contest and punish for the opponent. Don't overuse it, but do use it as much as you can.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
15 (15)	81F / 91F / 99F	Physical	Ranged Low	0	None	30 (15)

[Long] Throw grenade at foe. Change distance with button presses.

Probably the lowest recovery move he has. Slow to come out but can be cancelled into block/dodge very quickly after the throw for mixups. Low recovery also makes it less committal to build assist meter with.

It can intercept moves with long startup aswell to force them to engage you, and you can combo off of it if you assume its gonna hit, or hitconfirm with an assist if you don't want to commit to an HP/Ricochet prior.

Can also be used to add a nice little bit of damage at the end of an assist combo when available.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
6, 14 (20)	13F	Physical	Melee Low	90	Chase	30 (15)

[Close] Strike with machine gun hilt. Low power, quick strike.

Close range melee low to round out his all-range playstyle.

Makes for a fast poke, as defense after dodges, great EX Force gain and decently low recovery after. Can be cancelled into itself faster than into block or dodge.

Has some vertical tracking but mostly horizontal move. Ground version makes Laguna go airborne after.

A staple move in his moveset to have since it rounds out his close range game and helps out in a pinch. Learn to love this move.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
4 each, max 6	23F	Physical	Ranged Low	2 (36)	None	30 (15)

[Long] Fire multiple missiles. Charge to fire six missiles.

Laguna pulls out a rocket launcher and fires up to 6 missiles, hold down to fire more. The missiles themselves are very small, fire one after another and have terrible tracking. While they do home in on the opponent, they first stray off in different directions and have an awkward turn radius. Can be dashed through and blocked aswell, making them not very useful to stop setups or threaten dashes. Although they do halt and limit movement due to the scattered tracking. Low hitstun with low damage however makes it hard to convert into more.

Likely his worst move and far too niche for how good some of the rest of his moves are. There might be some scenarios worth trying it out, but a ranged low property and horrible homing make it hard to consistently capitalize on.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
10 (10)	37F	Physical	Ranged Mid	0	Wall rush	30 (15)

[Close] Deploy electromagnetic shield. Can deflect weak attacks.

Your Bread and Butter for keepaway, controlling neutral and slowing down approaches to build meter It's a straightforward move. Laguna deploys a shield infront of him which launches the opponent away on contact and wallrushes, leading to potential assist conversions. Due to it's Ranged Mid priority will win over Ranged Low and Melee Low moves. Laguna can't fully cover himself while standing inside it, be aware of moves with large hitboxes and space yourself accordingly.

Notes about Reflect properties: If a Mid Projectile clashes with it, it does not reflect, and the shield can't reflect the same projectile twice. If this move is blocked, the opponent can dash through it.Melee High moves/blocks will destroy the shield, Ranged High will go through.

Laguna goes airborne during the ground version, giving him access to air dodges/air moves when done out of its recovery. Good for potential mixups or set up low to the ground Bazooka shots.

A staple in Laguna's kit that can only be neglected in select few matchups. Acting as both a tool to slow down the neutral, potential mixup on heavy blocking, and to build meter safely. The ground version can be switched out for niche tools, as Laguna can set up a very low to the ground shield to still fulfill the same purpose. Can be handy in some matchups to have a ground shield set up without additional inputs though

Aerial

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
1 x 6, 1 x 6, 3 x 6 (30)	21	Physical	Ranged Low	2 (36)	Wall Rush	30 (15)
Charged Version	55	Physical	Ranged Mid	2 (36)	Wall Rush	30 (15)

[Close] Fire shotgun. Charge to change its strength.

It's a shotgun! It fires like one! (except when charged)

Takes 55F to be charged and turned into a ranged mid priority. Slow and ranged low otherwise, but it has good range and can be dodge cancelled fairly early. Can't be dodge cancelled while charging.

Can be shot up to 3 times, helping conversions into assists. The last shot also wallrushes. It's tracking is limited as it only follows the opponent around you with limited vertical tracking. After the first shot it will also not track aswell anymore.

Not a very well-rounded tool, but it can have it's use in some matchups. It's very niche properties and slow startup are a crux without shield up though, make sure to use with care.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
36	41F	Physical	Ranged Mid	0	Wall Rush	30 (15)

[Long] Blast foe with bazooka. Press button to change strength.

Big Missile.Tapping it up to 2 times makes the missile accelerate later and increases its range.

it has amazing tracking horizontally up until the initial shot and can be aimed slightly away from the opponent. The missile starts homing in with a huge turn radius once it accelerates.

Uniquely, the explosion on contact is the actual Mid Priority projectile, so it goes through other projectiles until it hits something or gets blocked. The explosion hitbox still appears when it hits a wall and knocks away.

The knockback is directly related to the angle its hitting from. If it hits them from behind, it will always send them straight towards you. Crucial to know for wallrush confirms.

Great anti-zoning tool and to disrupt the opponents own neutral setups. However it is fairly easy to get a hang for an assist punish on it, so use carefully considered and with meter behind it. Despite its risk, it's effective at what it does and shouldn't be used for reckless zoning on a savvy opponent.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
20 (hits twice if explodes at max range without latching)	29F / 42F / 62F (charge), 9F (release)	Physical	Ranged Low (bomb), Unblockable (explosion)	0	-	30 (15)

[Long] Throw a sticking time bomb at foe. Charge to increase distance.

A bomb that sticks to the opponent on hit and explodes after 186F (roughly 3 seconds). Fully charged it will blink and can be held a little while after. Charge time affects both the speed and range thrown.

The thrown bomb is a ranged low, but the explosion triggered after max distance and after sticking time is unblockable and can be converted off of with a variety of assists.

If the explosion hits at max distance without sticking to something it will also hit twice for double damage.

The sticking time can be used effectively for mindgames and it also makes for a somewhat fast and safe horizontal midrange check against neutral setups. Overall a fantastic tool to round out midrange presence in the air.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
6, 14 (20)	13	Physical	Melee Low	90	Chase	30 (15)

[Close] Strike with machine gun hilt. Low power, quick strike.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
4 each, max 6	23	Physical	Ranged Low	2 (36)	None	30 (15)

[Long] Fire multiple missiles. Charge to fire six missiles.

Laguna pulls out a rocket launcher and fires up to 6 missiles, hold down to fire more. The missiles themselves are very small, fire one after another and have terrible tracking. While they do home in on the opponent, they first stray off in different directions and have an awkward turn radius.

Can be dashed through and blocked aswell, making them not very useful to stop setups or threaten dashes. Although they do halt and limit movement due to the scattered tracking. Low hitstun with low damage however makes it hard to convert into more.

Likely his worst move and far too niche for how good some of the rest of his moves are. There might be some scenarios worth trying it out, but a ranged low property and horrible homing make it hard to consistently capitalize on.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
10 (10)	37	Physical	Ranged Mid	0	Wall rush	30 (15)

[Close] Deploy electromagnetic shield. Can deflect weak attacks.

Throws out a shield infront of Laguna that stays out for a while as a lingering Mid priority projectile. On contact launches them away and wallrushes.

Laguna can be barely fully covered when staying right inside, very consistent on the ground. Some moves may still hit him due to hitboxes however. Space accordingly for the matchup.

Due to being a projectile, blocking it makes it act as if reflected, so they can walk through it after. Mid Projectiles also don't get reflected but redirected.

If hit by a High priority Melee the shield is destroyed.

Laguna goes airborne during the ground version which is convenient for positioning right after with backdodge.

Bread and Butter move for keepaway, slowing down approaches and as a mixup tool. Hard to assist punish too, good for assist meter building.

HP Attacks

Ground

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
1 x 7 (7)	53F~172F (charge), 3F (release)	Physical	Melee High	21	Wall Rush	40 (20)

Mid] Bombard with lasers. Charge to adjust timing.

Laguna pulls out a grounded laser that unfortunately does not have infinite reach. TIME TO UNLOAD! Most of the time used to as combo ender and get a wall rush or distance, but has its uses on ground-to-ground interactions. The tracking is just enough to catch grounded side dodges and low air dodges with high fall speed e.g. Kain. At specific spacing it can also catch a grounded forward dodge.

At long range it still remains fantastic for huge whiff punishes against grounded HPs. Holding the move does not increase damage, but has a niche use in faking out against high priority blocks and against Exdeath's Maelstrom / Holy.

Less niche than Satellite Laser, but still not strong enough to be thrown out at all times.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
2 x 6 (12)	83F	Physical	Ranged High	36	Wall Rush	30 (15)

[Long] Fire laser from orbiting satellite. Stopped by terrain.

One of the longest startup HPs, and a clutch tool for Laguna's matchups. BOMBS AWAY!

Awful to use as a raw HP as it can be dashed through by the entire cast, but it has some good properties. It has infinite vertical range with a big horizontal tracking range, making Laguna able to threaten the opponent from ground to regardless of the opponent's altitude.

Useful for a few matchups and to prevent easy stalling. When this move hits an airborne opponent, it will drag them down, and at most heights cause ground wall rush for an assist combo. Together with Sticky Bomb and other projectiles it makes for a tricky dodge-punish mixup, and sometimes even guaranteed one if they don't nail the perfect evasion.

His worst raw HP, but a staple in the areas it shines. Give it a try!

Aerial

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
-	43F	-	Melee High	0	Wall Rush	30 (15)

[Long] Chop with energy blade. Effective against any height.

Laguna lifts up the Ragnarok and cuts down vertically with a long energy sword. An absolute staple of his punish game. GET EM!

One of Laguna's fastest HPs. At a distance, the hitbox appears instantly right above him, and it has amazing horizontal tracking. Due to these properties it's fantastic for punishing other whiffed HPs and moves with high recovery / startup safely out of range.

Because it starts right above him, it can also be used to get matchup specific punishes where others can't, or without risking getting punished themselves. Ragnarok Blade has good knockback and thus a fairly big wall rush radius. The knockback angle is based on where Laguna hits from.

No matter where Laguna will always rise a little, making it something to be considered when used in tight spacing or with shield up.

Damage multiplier	Startup frame	Type	Priority	EX Force	Effects	CP (Mastered)
-	35F~117F (charge), 3F (release)	-	Ranged High	60 per hit	-	40 (20)

[Long] Fire high-pressure energy bullet. Hold button to continue fire, release to split laser.

Laguna fires out a particle in front of him, which splits into 3 homing energy orbs on release. The other risky, but still staple HP attack.

The lasers all have a minimum travel time, making their initial turn based on distance between the initial shot and opponent. All 3 shots can be hit fairly consistently with assist setups. Homing is based on the opponent's current location with limited turn radius, making this a good dodge punish albeit not so good to chase them with.

Laguna is stationary for the entire duration of the move, making it easily punished. Be aware of this and your opponents spacing before using it, you can still pop the laser early to try and catch the opponent's assist before it punishes.

EX Mode: Look, the faeries are here!

Effects:

• Regen
• Critical Boost
• A Faerie's Miracle

A Faerie's Miracle

[Always active while in EX Mode] The recovery time after bravery attacks can be cancelled by performing any attack.

EX Burst: Desperado

A furious bombardment of bullets. Take aim and press R to shoot or hold down the button for rapid fire.

Damage multiplier (initial)	Damage multiplier (rest)	Type
7 x 3, 11 (32)	1 x 40, 2 x 14 (68) (100 total)	Physical

A shooting exercise minigame, hold down the R button to fire. Every hit you will drift off of them based on the center. The best way to deal with it is to stick to the edges and fire away. Land 40 hits to fill the gauge and unleash THE GREATEST ATTACK EVER.

This is actually a notable EX Burst. While the max damage with 100 is average as usual, the 32 base at the start before defense multiplier is the second highest in the game, tied with Lightning. Extremely useful for bravery breaks and subsequently tacking on extra damage.

Builds

Builds here.

Stats
HP	9377
CP	450
BRV	956
ATK	180
DEF	184
LUK	60
Max Booster	x6.9

Special Effect: Judgment of Lufenia

Equipment
Assist	Kuja / Jecht
Weapon	Lufenian Axe (CP Glitch)
Hand	Lufenian Shield
Head	Lufenian Helm
Armor	Auto Crossbow (CP Glitch)
Accessory 1	Muscle Belt
Accessory 2	Sniper Eye
Accessory 3	Battle Hammer
Accessory 4	Empty EX Gauge
Accessory 5	Summon Unused
Accessory 6	Pre-EX Mode
Accessory 7	Pre-EX Revenge
Accessory 8	Grounded
Accessory 9	Opponent Summon Unused
Accessory 10	Side By Side
Summon	Rubicante

Stats
HP
CP
BRV
ATK
DEF
LUK
Max Booster

Special Effect:

Equipment
Assist
Weapon
Hand
Head
Armor
Accessory 1
Accessory 2
Accessory 3
Accessory 4
Accessory 5
Accessory 6
Accessory 7
Accessory 8
Accessory 9
Accessory 10
Summon

Assist

Laguna's assist data

Type	Attack	Startup	Position	Spawn	Damage multiplier	Effects
BRV	Machine Gun	31F	Ground	Opponent	1 x 31 (31)	-
BRV	Shotgun	55F	Air	Opponent	1 x 6, 1 x 6, 3 x 6 (30)	Wall Rush
HP	Satellite Laser	83F	Ground	Player	2 x 8 (16)	Wall Rush
HP	Ragnarok Blade	43F	Air	Opponent	-	Wall Rush

Assists

Yuna, Jecht, Aerith.