The Quintessential 5 Beginner Characters in GBVSR

It has been almost a month since the release of Cygames’ latest project, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, and it has been a blast. The design is great, the animation phenomenal, and the cast of characters is bigger than what you’d find in many games even throughout their entire run, and this is only the beginning as DLC characters will also join the roster. 

The game has generally positive reviews, and it is pretty easy to get into as a newbie even if you have never picked up a fighting game before now. To aid newcomers, the game added a simplified input system that enables players to execute moves more easily. While some are usually quite critical of simplified inputs, it seems GBVSR did a great job of putting in some drawbacks to the simplified input system to ensure that they are not too strong. For instance, your specials have a cooldown that takes longer when using a simplified input. 

That said, players might still struggle to figure out who to pick amongst a very diverse cast of characters with some being particularly technical. So, even with simplified inputs, newer players might have a hard time choosing who to use. 

Not to worry, this guide has you covered as we will cover some of the easiest characters to use in Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising. 

Why Pick an Easy Character?

Some players love a challenge and live for it, so they pick up a game, select the hardest difficulty, and get started. They struggle for a bit, but soon find their rhythm and they get good at the game. However, such people are in the minority and most people will rather play around in the shallow end before venturing farther. Easy characters are a great way to help newbies get into the game. 

Most easy characters require strong fundamentals and compel players to learn these necessities before getting the best out of them. 

Easy characters can also be fun to play as they have simple gameplans and encourage players to get creative on how to win rather than relying on any gimmick or the other that might exist. Titles like Street Fighter have characters like Lily, and Marisa which can help rookies get into the game. For Granblue, there are a few recommendations we will get to, starting with…

Gran

Gran is the main character of the game and is the typical shoto archetype with the moves at his disposal. As with most fighting games, the main character is also one of the easier characters to play as they embody all the fundamentals that the new player will need to learn and implement. 

A shoto character is one that is modeled after the Street Fighter character, Ryu. This means that the character is usually equipped with a fireball, a Dragon Punch (commonly called a DP), and some advancing kick move that can propel the character across the screen. 

Gran is equipped with all three. His projectile is really good and goes full screen. The medium version (↓→ M or SK) sees Gran slash upward before releasing the projectile. This swipe is capable of absorbing other projectiles (if they aren’t multiple-hitting) and then firing off one of his own. 

He also has a DP (→↓→ + L, M, H or → SK) which is a reliable anti-air. His advancing kick (↓← + M, H or ↓ + SK, ← + SK) is a good move which can sometimes have an advantage on block when spaced right. 

His Unique attack can be charged and when released will knock the opponent against the edge of the screen with complete guarantee. With all these tools, Gran is a great option for those new to the game or even new to fighting games in general.

Djeeta

In the original game, Djeeta was simply the gender-swapped version of Gran. This means that they share almost everything from story, to playstyles. So, if Gran is easy to use, Djeeta is definitely easy to use. 

Like Gran, she has all the things that a shoto needs. Her projectile differs from Gran’s in that she is actually able to charge it up for a bit before unleashing it. This works like an EX move in fighting games. Therefore, her projectile can absorb another and still damage the opponent. 

While Gran has an advancing special move (fondly called boot), Djeeta is a little different as she has a rekka. A rekka is a series of hits that continue with each button press, have different properties, and advance the character forward. Hers (↓← + L, M, H) can be chained and varied to keep the opponent on their toes. 

She also has a charge move, but instead of an almighty slash, she instead does a hop-kick attack that hits the opponent over the head. 

Djeeta is a lot more measured than Gran who is fast-paced (or rushdown). So, if you like more steady, considered gameplay, Djeeta is an excellent choice.

Anila

Cutesy and a little silly, Anila is a darling. She is also a beginner’s dream. The Divine General might not look like much, but she is very formidable and will kick you into next Tuesday. 

Anila’s gameplan is simple and she is great for newbies because of how versatile she is. With her toolkit, she can easily play keep away with the opponent, but can also go in when necessary. One of the biggest assets Anila has is her huge buttons. Her normals go really far and hit hard. Her ↓ + H can hit opponents out of the air with ease and she has a sweep that is insane. Her sweep has a range like you can’t believe and can catch opponents almost at half screen which is incredible when you think about it. 

Her projectiles are also very notable considering how many different ways in which you can use them. She has the standard version which sends out a sheep that rams into you and causes damage. Then, she can also hop on the sheep and charge at you which acts as both a projectile and a way for her to close the gap. Then, even deeper, she can charge at you, stop midway to get off, have the sheep keep going at you, and then attack from where she stopped. She can also send the projectile and chase after it to land follow-up attacks. 

Those are all pretty impressive and with all these tools, she is an excellent choice for those new at the game and want someone to play as.

Katalina

When it comes to easy characters, Katalina is arguably the easiest of the bunch to pick up. Like Gran and Djeeta, she is a shoto, equipped with a fireball, a DP, and an advancing attack which in Katalina’s case is a lunge. This move enables her to close the gap on an opponent and hit them. 

The lunging move is unsafe from close but is relatively safe from a further distance. Like Anila, Katalina has big buttons that help her control neutral and she excels at keeping opponents away from her. 

Most importantly, she has a shield as a unique attack. This shield can be held, and you can cancel into a dash either forward or backward from it. If the shield is fully charged, it hits the opponent and crumples them which then lets you go to town on the hapless villain. 

 For Katalina, the game plan is to ensure that opponents don’t get too close to her. Her great normals make her an excellent option for people new at the game who need someone a little ‘cheap’ to deal with your friends or adversaries.

Yuel

Yuel is an interesting one because she has a unique action which is a stance. Traditionally, stance characters are difficult to use, but with Yuel, there’s nothing to worry about. The stance is called ‘3rd Dance’ and she starts to hop on one foot. The remarkable thing about the stance is that it automatically counters any attack on Yuel save for overhead, lows, and fireballs. This can be a bit of a problem for opponents who are unsure of how to approach her. 

Furthermore, the stance does not stop Yuel from throwing and while the properties of her moves change, they are still pretty great. 

She also has good normals and a lot of her hits are advantageous on block meaning she can heap up the pressure like no one’s business. She can cancel almost anything into the stance which makes her very unpredictable, and she can get the better of the opponent by getting in their face. 

She is not without faults as she has poor mobility, but considering everything else you get, the trade-off is well worth it. Yuel’s stance should not worry new players and it is a great way to start getting used to characters that have stances. 

And that’s it, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is a very fun game with a large roster that will only get bigger, but you need not let the various characters worry you as they are all viable and can be a great pick. Even if you do not fancy any character on this list, don’t fret, as long as you like who you pick, you can be certain you will find your own way to play them.