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Clairen new
Attributes
Weight:
Normal (1x knockback)
Ground speed:
Normal
Aerial speed:
Normal
Falling speed:
Normal (base)
Normal (fastfall)
Jump height:
Normal (base)
Normal (double)

Clairen is a black panther and the third fire based character in Rivals of Aether. She was initially released with Ranno on October 17, 2017 as DLC, but is now part of the base game roster in the Definitive Edition. Clairen will also return in the sequel "Rivals 2", which is scheduled for a late 2024 launch.

Attributes[]

Clairen's sword deals much more damage, hitstun, and knockback when the tip of it hits opponents. The added hitstun lets Clairen combo the opponent and string together different moves easily.

Strengths[]

  • Can create a force field that destroys projectiles on contact
  • Her grab cannot be punished by parry, sets up combos, and is very fast
  • Her sword gives her disjointed and large hitboxes, and does not count as part of her hurtbox
    • Combined with the force field, this makes approaching Clairen difficult for many characters
  • The long hitstun of tip attacks lets her combo more easily
  • Her Jab is extremely safe

Weaknesses[]

  • Attacks that are not landed on the tip of the blade have little stun / knockback
  • Has lots of endlag on some moves, meaning she can be punished
  • Recovery is weak, covers little distance, and can be parried or countered
  • Often struggles to kill at higher percentages, due to many of her kill confirms having lower % windows

Techniques[]

  • Falling Grab - Mashing down on the control stick to fall short distances while grabbing an opponent. This can let you possibly land back on a platform, restoring your double jump and air dodge. This can only be done 3 times per grab.
  • Chain Grab - Near the edge, you may be able to jump and grab the opponent multiple times since they will tend to DI inwards. If they DI outwards, a Down Aerial can be used to spike them.
  • Sweetspot Down Air - By doing a fast fall Down Air above a low platform, you can easily land a sweetspot on an opponent underneath it, which leads to many follow ups including Neutral Special grab.
  • Edgeguarding - Use Side Special into a wall to create an explosion on top of you. This can be used to edgeguard opponents or attack edgeguarders. This does leave you helpless however if you do not land a hit with it, so to recover in this case you must still have a wall jump.
  • Back Air Reverse Hit - Back Aerial will hit an opponent away from Clairen's center, meaning it can hit them forward.
  • DACUS - This is her most important tool for getting early kills. By inputting Dash Attack, then Up Strong within the first 3 frames of startup, she slides forward while doing Up Strong, allowing her to combo off of many aerials

Gameplay[]

In-Game Info:[]

"The tip of Clairen's sword is supercharged and can stun opponents who are hit by it. Clairen can use her Down Special to counter attacks and create a projectile nullifying plasma field. Clairen can use her Neutral Special to grab opponents and throw them either forwards or backwards."

Elemental Powers:[]

  • IONIZED TIP – Unlike the other future soldiers, Clairen manipulates her blade to be two-toned. The end of Clairen’s sword is super-charged, allowing her to stun enemies who are hit precisely with the tip.
  • PLASMA ECHO – Clairen dashes forward with her Side Special to quickly escape. The deadly plasma resonance left behind can damage enemies and even KO opponents with its sweet spot.
  • ENERGY FIELD – Performing a Down Special right before an attack hits Clairen will trigger her energy field. This field damages and pushes other Rivals away on activation. The zone that remains will nullify all projectiles that try to enter it.

Moveset[]

Move Damage Description
Dash Attack 6%, 9% (tip) Clairen spins around before swiping in front of her. This move has a lot of startup lag, making it easy to miss and punishable if used too much. The tipper deceptively sends above and behind her rather than forward. She doesn't leave the ground despite her animation suggesting that she does.
Neutral Jab 3%, 5% (tip) A quick stab. This move is very useful due to its long reach and resistance to parries.
Forward Tilt 7%, 9% (tip) Leans outward to swing her sword in a large arc.
Up Tilt 7%, 10% (tip) Swings her sword over her head in a wide arc. Fast, effective "get off me" move.
Down Tilt 5%, 9% (tip) Stabs toward the ground while crouching. This move can be useful for edgeguarding and spacing
Up Strong 7% - 11% (ground), 8% - 12% (sword), 13% - 20% (tip) An upward stab. There is a small hitbox around Clairen to hit enemies on either side.
Forward Strong 9% - 14%, 14% - 20% (tip) Clairen spins around and slashes downwards. The tip of her blade is extremely strong.
Down Strong 9% - 14%, 13% - 20% (tip) A sword swing in front of Clairen on the ground and then behind Clairen on the ground. The first hit doesn't lead into the second hit. This move has a lot of end lag.
Neutral Air 1% (x5), 3% (final), 7% (x5, tip), 8% (final, tip) A multi-hitting sword spin. This hit is extremely useful for comboing your opponent, as it can lead into forward strong, forward tilt, up tilt, jab, and neutral special grab. Getting a tipper on one of the multihits causes the other multihits to miss.
Up Air 6%, 10% (tip) A large overhead slash. This move has little horizontal range but huge vertical range.
Forward Air 3% (1st), 4% (2nd)

7% (x2, tip)

Clairen swings her sword in front of her twice. Both hits can touch the opponent with the tip, however this is very difficult (slight backwards drift). This move is also very useful for comboing opponents.
Backward Air 5%, 8% (tip) Turns around and slashes opponents. This move hits opponents away from Clairen (horizontally).
Down Air 5% (front), 7% (center), 12% (tip) Clairen swings her sword underneath her. The tip of this attack will spike opponents and is deceptively large.
Neutral Special 2% (initial grab), 3% (throw) A command grab that reaches right in front of Clairen. You can either throw the target forward or backward. Choosing no direction automatically throws forward. This move works in the air and will freeze Clairen and the target in mid-air before the throw and grant Clairen an extra jump.

This move can grab multiple opponents at the same time. The 'throw' part of this move can also hit multiple opponents, even ones not grabbed. Also, this move doesn't grant invincibility like Ori's Bash.

Clairen will not take parry stun if this attack is parried, but the opponent will still gain invincibility, similar to a jab.

Up Special 1% (x6), 6% (final), 9% (tip) Clairen leaps upward with her sword in front of her. This part of the attack has no ionized tip. Holding the button causes Clairen to spin around and unleash a massive slash. The second part is optional and grants a slight upwards boost, as well as having a tipper.

Her sword's appearance changes to look more like fire in this attack.

Forward Special 8% (weak hit), 13% (tip) Clairen teleports forward. A plasma burst is left behind that heavily damages opponents. The burst has a sweetspot that launches opponents. While this move has a lot of hitstun, it is hard to follow up as the move also has a lot of endlag. If this move doesn't hit an opponent, Clairen enters the helpless state (like Orcane's Side Special).
Down Special 9% Clairen prepares to counter an attack. If she is hit, she will not take any damage and an energy field will be created, sending opponents flying and removing burn and poison effects. This field can destroy projectiles and lasts for 15 seconds. (This includes Forsburn's smoke and clone attack, Etalus' ice, Sylvanos's grass, etc.)

This move cannot be used if a force field is already active.

Costumes[]

Special Costumes[]

Background[]

Story[]

Clairen is a seasoned warrior from a distant future where both Zetterburn and Forsburn have vanished and never return. In her time, Loxodont grew to become a powerful emperor and expanded his domain over nearly all of Aether. Through the years the fire people lost their connection with the flame and could no longer control it. To offset this, their soldiers were issued plasma weapons as the Fire Empire became reliant on technology to retain its power. One young girl realized she could still control the flame and plasma. After enlisting in the Imperial Guard, she hatched a plan to destroy the endless Loxodont hoping that it would return the flame to the people. But Loxodont had grown invincible over time and his corporeal form was replaced with fortified machinery. Clairen was defeated in the throne room and was set to be executed. But there were others who also despised Loxodont, and Clairen’s bravery motivated them. An unlikely ally helped Clairen escape using a machine to go back to a time when Loxodont was still vulnerable.

Now Clairen is on a mission in the past to find the missing heroes that inspired her resistance and to destroy the endless emperor before he becomes invincible.

Clairen is the granddaughter of Claiyen and Forsburn[1] through her mother. Before joining the millitia, she used to live in the Ashenvale reservation with her mother Clairessa, her father Dohren and her two younger siblings, Ren and Issa. She already knew of her heritage through stories, although she has never met her grandparents.

Trivia[]

  • Clairen was first revealed October 1, 2017 at GameTyrant Expo 2017. She is the 10th original character to be in the game and represents the element Plasma.
  • Clairen's name comes from "Clarent", a magical fire sword from King Arthur's mythology.[1]
  • Clairen has the first counter in Rivals of Aether, the third (counting Bash) command grab in the game, and is the only sword-wielder.
  • The tipper hitboxes are blue in the practice mode.
  • Despite not being playable in Abyss Mode until Definitive Edition, Clairen still had an unused Abyss color in the game's files before the update.
  • Clairen's design bares a striking resemblance to the protagonist from Hyper Light Drifter.
  • By taunting and pressing the parry button at the same time, Clairen will remove her visor and keep it off until performed again. If you hold the parry button when a stage is being selected, Clairen will start the game with no visor.

Character Reveal[]

Clairen_Character_Reveal

Clairen Character Reveal







Gallery[]

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