Dragon Ball FighterZ Vegeta Guide Featuring ShaudL

Vegeta Guide

There are many reasons to like Base Vegeta. His personality combines the energy of a former villain, the arrogance of a noble prince and a mighty warrior, and the aspiration to become the best fighter in the Universe (certainly better than Kakarot).

In the fights, Vegeta is pretty solid. He has good tools to find an opening and keep the pressure. Learn how to play DBFZ Vegeta with this guide, created by ShaudL, a professional player, content creator, and coach. The video highlights many aspects of playing this character, so feel free to delve into the details and then take them to your playing practice.

Dragon Ball FighterZ | Vegeta Guide by ShaudL

Best Buttons

ShaudL says that Base Vegeta has good buttons for his gameplan.

• 5M has 9 frames of startup. It’s -2 on hit and only -5 on block. If you use proper space so the attack hits late, it will be even -2 on block. The range is not that impressive, but this 5M is decently fast, with low recovery.
• 2M is a bit slower, and it’s unsafe on block. But the range here is bigger than 5M. It connects where 5M whiffs. The startup is 10 frames. The recovery is also fast.
• 5L is also a very good jab.
• j.2H is plus on air block. This attack helps you make Vegeta’s air movement really tricky as you can treat it as an extra jump. The attack is strong. It does the Smash effect on hit. 
• j.M is essentially the same thing as 5M but in the air. It’s low commitment, so you can do two hits during a jump. The attack has a big hitbox — especially for a button with no recovery frames. It’s one of the fastest normals in the game, only 9 frames of startup. j.M has a lot of hitstun.

Ki Blast

This is the core of Vegeta’s gameplan. 

• 5S is a really good, fast ki blast. It travels across the screen in 27 frames, which makes it one of the fastest in the game. Vegeta’s 5S has the highest fire rate among all the ki blasts in Dragon Ball FighterZ, so the opponent can’t jump and land between ki blasts. Also, Vegeta can control the fire rate and create those gaps. 5S frame traps into 236M from most ranges. This might be useful because after blocking ki blast, people often use their jump options. Also, Vegeta can use L Rocket Kick after 5S, be +8, and then continue with something like jab.
• 2S, 1S, and 3S — they all have the same startups. And all of them are plus on air block. That means 5L can catch the next jump. Or you can even continue with a true string. It cancels into 2H. It’s a good tool to check opponents who are directly above Vegeta. On hit, these ki blasts combo into 214H.
• j.S is a glue of Vegeta’s moveset. You can vary the angle by doing j.7S or j.9S. 

Vegeta’s Blockstrings

Here, Vegeta has his own unique options. For example, he can do ki blast into 5H twice. If an opponent blocks, Vegeta can do 5S-5H-1S. The first ki blast is a Reflect bait, and you can use delayed 5H to beat Reflect and Super Dash. 

j.2H can be canceled into j.S. It’s a true string with +12 frames. 

You can do j.2H-1S-5S. It’s good against jumping opponents as you bring them back to the ground. This string works both in the corner and midscreen. 

j.2H into Super Dash is also a true string. It gives you 50/50 in the corner.

Such moves as Rocket Kick might give Vegeta a chance to have his next turn instead of finishing a string. For example, you can do 236L/M/H into falling j.S. Depending on the opponent’s actions, you can change it to 236L/M/H into j.2H and catch their jump. You can pick up options that beat their options. The same is true for 236S, which can be followed, for example, by jab. ShaudL recommends going to the Training mode and experimenting with stuff you can have. 

BnB Combos for Vegeta in DBFZ

The video guide contains quite a few Vegeta’s bread-and-butter combos.

Gameplan for Base Vegeta

The main goal of this character is to make an opponent block, having at least one assist. He has such moves as 236S that gives him 50/50 true strings with every attacking assist in the game. This mixup is very strong. 

If you use ki blast, you can bait Reflect, and if they do that, they die. 

ShaudL emphasizes the importance of ki blasts for Vegeta’s gameplan. And the player demonstrates some examples — for cross-up or the same side options.

Ki blast is a powerful tool in neutral. You could use it from Super Jump — and that is also a mixup as you can use different options after that Jump, such as Rocket Kick or air dash-H, air dash-back-S. That makes your ki blast unreactable. 

Vegeta can frame trap ki blast into ki blast. 

The major weakness of Vegeta is that he is as strong as your reaction and your awareness are. You should look for many options simultaneously to not let your opponent get in. And if you are focused on one of them too much, you risk missing something else. You should be proactive in the match and still reactive to everything opponents do.

Meter Spending for Mixups

ShaudL recommends going to Level 3 Oki if you have the meter. It’s very advantageous. You are +43 afterward. And midscreen, you get probably the best mixup in the game. You can remain on the same side or go cross-up low/high. This Level 3 is so strong that if you have three bars you should always go for it. 

This is a key part of Base Vegeta’s gameplan — dumping the meter into mixups. You need to understand when and how to go for mixups with him.

Wow, that is a very detailed guide, and we thank ShaudL for sharing his knowledge and experience.

DashFight continues creating character guides for Dragon Ball FighterZ and other fighting games — please, subscribe to our YouTube channel to not miss new videos.

We have already published quite a few DBFZ guides. Check out this video on Z Broly by KnowKami or this one on Gogeta SS4 by Tyrant.