SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream Guide | Heathcliff Breakdown

The Sword Art Online series, its franchise explosion, and its transition into the gaming industry are something to withhold. To anyone who isn't familiar with it, it's a series where you'll feel the presence of high-stakes gaming in the world of virtual gaming. This guide breaks down Heathcliff in SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream.

Heathcliff is classified as a tank character in Fractured Daydream, and to be honest, when I first picked him up, I didn't expect him to be much fun. However, after playing him for a few hours, I can confidently say he's one of the most enjoyable and versatile characters on the roster. He essentially plays like a DPS with extra health, thanks to his insane combo potential.

The coolest thing about Heathcliff? It's definitely his air combo. As I mentioned, he has almost infinite combo potential in the air. His airborne hold-heavy attack acts as a combo extender, but only when you're attacking a target. He has the standard air combos like other characters, but what makes him special is his ability to extend those combos.

The most basic combo starts with jumping into four light attacks, which you can end with a hold light attack that triggers a sweeping energy attack. You can extend this by using a dash after the first four lights and go into another set of four light attacks. You can then finish with a hold light attack for the energy wave at the end. Alternatively, holding the heavy attack at the end of any four-light sequence results in a more powerful combo.

What's really great about Heathcliff's aerial hold-heavy attack is that it lets you extend your combo almost indefinitely as long as you continue hitting your target. He also has some interesting ground combos. One ground-to-air combo starts by tapping heavy twice to launch your target, then holding a triangle to air dash toward them, where you follow up with four lights and finish with a hold light attack.

On the ground, he has a combo that ends with a ground slam: tap light three times, then finish with a tap heavy. The first light attack performs a vertical slash followed by a horizontal one, the second light does a shield bash, and the third light hits with angled horizontal slashes to the left and right. After the slashes, tap heavy to perform the ground slam. You can extend this by immediately holding light after the ground slam to trigger the energy wave attack.

Using the same combo starter, you can create a longer ground-to-air combo: tap light three times, tap heavy for the ground slam, which launches your target, then hold a triangle to dash up and follow with four lights, ending with a hold light.

While Heathcliff has more combos to discover, these are the basic ones I’ve found so far, and almost all of them can be finished with two of his three skills. Divine Circle is his basic skill, usable on the ground or in the air, and can be added to the end of nearly any combo. On the ground, you can hold it to increase the damage, and Heathcliff gains a shield while charging, granting him super armor.

You’ll still take damage while charging, but you won’t get interrupted, and the attack can hit multiple targets if they’re close enough. His Shival Phalanx, which can be used on the ground or in the air, also finishes combos. It sends an energy shield as a ranged attack that blocks and deals damage.

His Paladin's Provocation draws enemy aggro while increasing Heathcliff’s attack power, which scales based on how many enemies are provoked. Using this in combination with Divine Circle to control enemies is a strong strategy. Heathcliff’s ultimate Avenger unleashes a series of powerful attacks.

His unique ability, Holy Shield, activates when his gauge is full, providing damage reduction for him and his teammates, and it reflects damage back at attackers when you guard. His passive Immortal Armor is excellent, too, granting automatic damage reduction when his HP falls below 25%.

Also, check our SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream review below and other guides below:

• SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream Guide | How to Get ReoNa Outfit
• SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream Guide | How the Effect Sphere Works
• SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream Guide | All Character Passives Values
• SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream Guide | Eugeo Breakdown
• SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream Guide | Alice Breakdown