In a previous article, I wrote about how someone could earn good money playing Street Fighter at professional tournaments. This is a more in-depth guide on how to play well with the character Dhalsim. He was the winning character at last year’s EVO- the biggest professional video game tournament for the fighting game genre.
Dhalsim’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Dhalsim, the yoga master with limbs that extend, excels at long-range attacks. More than any other character in the game, he can easily attack and counter-attack from a distance.
Many characters have fireballs or other projectiles that fly across the screen. Dhalsim has these as well, but he also has quicker attacks with his arms and legs that stretch almost the same distance. His strong attacks can counter nearly every move in the game, if timed correctly.
Another advantage to playing as Dhalsim is that he can slide under all projectiles of medium height or higher. This works especially well if you are close to your opponent when they throw a fireball, as they will not have time to block your slide.
Because Dhalsim can stretch his limbs across long distances, his recovery time from these attacks is longer than other characters’. This leaves him open to attacks, particularly from opponents that are close to him.
Because of this, whenever you use one of his long range attacks, you should be ready to pull off a defensive or counter maneuver directly afterward. This includes blocking, sliding, or jumping backwards while punching or kicking in the air. Dhalsim’s jump+medium punch attack is great for a retreat maneuver.
Designing Strategies
The best strategy with Dhalsim is to keep your opponent at bay with long range attacks, then surprise them with quick, close range combinations. It is difficult for Dhalsim to maintain a close range battle, so any close range maneuvers should be done quickly and then should be succeeded by a hasty retreat.
When fighting at close range with Dhalsim, you should make use of his teleportation to confuse opponents, as well as his extendable hold move, which can cause loads of damage.
Mix up your attacks, especially when fighting at long range, since opponents can see them coming earlier. Mix up low and high attacks, like the strong punch and strong kick, to keep your opponent off balance.
Keep enemies on the defensive as much as possible, by constantly assaulting them with long range moves. Even if they block them all, it keeps them busy defending while you look for an opening to launch a close range assault.
Finally, know your opponents. While you may not know how the gamer you play against will fight, you should know what their character is capable of. Know whether each character can throw fireballs and whether Dhalsim’s long range attacks can knock out their super moves. Also learn how to avoid each character’s ultra attacks. Most can be either blocked (Ken’s), jumped over (Akuma’s), or taken out with a sweep (Fei Long’s).
With Dhalsim, distance is key. Keeping some between you and whoever you are fighting will be the best way to make use of Dhalsim’s unique moveset.