Monsieur Derp
[08] Mercenary
I am currently in the process of writing an article on how to get good at fighting games. I have already created the main points I wanted to focus on and created a rough outline on what the article will discus. I would really appreciate any of your feedback, be it positive or negative.
Terminology
Low- in most fighting games you must block low in order to properly defend yourself against a low.
Mid- in most fighting games a mid attack can be blocked by either a low block or a high block
High- a high can be blocked high, but should be crouched under, with either low block or an attack that gives you a low hurt box, similar to if you where low blocking or lying down.
Overhead- In order to defend against this kind of attack you must block high. Blocking low will behave as if you are not blocking at all.
Counter hit- If your opponent tries attacking, but you hit him first, you preform a counter hit. This means that his attack won't come out and yours will. In some games, you can get big damage from landing a counter hit, and so they are quite valuable.
Unblockable- you cannot block this attack, and so you must either evade it, or get a counter hit.
Grab- Grabs cannot be blocked, and are usually very quick. There are to ways to evade a grab; evade it ( in some games you can duck under grabs, but for the most part they cannot grab you if you're in the air) or break it ( at the beggining of the grab you have a very brief window to also grab ( In some games hitting a random attack button will also work). This will create a grab-breaking animation and both players will be reset at sanding position). If you break a grab you will suffer very little, or sometimes, depending on what fighting game your playing, no damage.
Trade- when both players hit each other at the same time, both players get hit, and both suffer the effects of the others attack (loss of health, stun or knock down are a few examples).
Whiff- when an attack misses
Combo- when you follow up a successful attack ( you hit the opponent) with another attack for guaranteed damage.
Knockdown- when you use an attack ( a sweep is a prime example , found in most fighters) that knocks your opponent over and he gains a lying down hurt box, or some times not even a hurt box at all ( not a beneficial thing)
Wake up- After being knocked down a player might preform a wake up, which is either an attack to try to counter the other player, or a defensive maneuver ( for example, a guard impact in soulcalibur).
Safe- For something to be safe, simply means it cannot be punished.
Punish- If your opponent does an attack with a long recovery time ( time it takes until they can block again also referred to as being "un-safe") and you block it, you can then use an attack of your own to land a free hit. This can, depending on a number of variables like what attacks are being used, or even what fighting game your playing, even lead into a full combo. An example of a punish is a heavy uppercut by Ryu or Ken in street fighter. This move has a lot of recovery time and so you can punish it with a heavy uppercut of your own.
Whiff punish - similar to a regular punish, a whiff punish only can be applied if the opponent whiffs. Whiff punishes are important, because an attack that may be safe on block, may not be safe if it whiffs.
Mix-up- this is a situation you force your opponent into, making him to guess on what your going to do next. If he guesses right your usually safe ( during an effective mix up ) , however if he guesses wrong, you have an opportunity to capitalise on big damage. ( a simple example of a mix up would be, a low kick to mid punch, followed up by either a low or an over head. In this example your opponent is forced to guess if your third attack is a low or an overhead. If he ducks low and you put out an over head ( remember if he's blocking low and you use an overhead, you get the hit) , than your mixup was successful.
Cross-up- this is only found in fighting games that do not have a block button and walking backwards is block. A cross up is when an attack forces your opponent to block in the opposite direction in order to successfully defend himself. ( a good example is if you jump over an opponent and preform an attack that crosses up. If your opponent was previously blocking back, they must switch directions and block forwards. If not they will get hit, almost as if the attack were unblockable.
Read- this is when you make a guess as to what your opponent might do next. Reads are usually based off of that players experience and apparent in game habits.
Reset- this is when you drop a combo ( stop your combo) in order to mix-up your opponent, so that you can capitalize on damage and start a new combo. In some situations this can effectively double your combo damage, or even turn a simple 3 hit combo into a 20 hit combo.
Bait- this is when you preform an action that causes your opponent to retaliate in a specific manor, so that you may counter it. This usually leads to extremely damaging combos, as you have mentally prepared for it.
Cancel- this means in the middle of performing certain actions (dashing, or certain attacks) you can input another action (dashing, jumping or even another attack) to "cancel" the first action and instead preform the second. Examples of this can be found in pretty much every fighting game. In the newest street fighter games (4-present) you can do a focus attack, and while holding down the buttons (medium kick and medium punch), dash in either direction and it will cancel the focus attack. In soulcalibur 5 you can cancel some unblockable attacks by pressing G ( Ivy's B+K canceled by G is a realy easy one to practice) . A final example is in Mortal Kombat 9, where certain moves by characters can be canceld by inputing a special move ( scorpions Light punch - light punch - light punch combo can be canceled after any one of the hits with his 44 light punch (his "Get over here!" Move ))
Buffer- this is when you can preform a special attack ( any attack that requires a directional input ) or super after another input ( be it dash , regular move, throw, or special move ) and input the directions during the animation of the first attack. This is most often used in higher skill levels of gameplay, when players throw out an attack, of which they can combo after using super, however the super is unsafe and the first hit goes by to fast to react to. They "buffer" the direction in for the super but only hit the button to activate it if the first attack connects. If their opponent blocks it then the player will not hit the button that activates their supper, and hence they remain safe.
Finally you must learn and understand the terminology that is fighting game specific. Examples of this include Guard Impacts or Just Guards from Soulcalibur, FADC's from street fighter, or combo breakers from Injustice, Mortal Kombat, or Killer Instinct.
Understanding and applying terminology is key to becoming good at fighting games
Subjects
- When you first get into a new fighting game, play as one character and only one character. Practice doing combos and mixups of that character, than practice doing those on a CPU. Gradually increase the difficulty until you can beat the CPU on the second highest difficulty, consistently.
- develop the urge to look at your openers character. Your inputing moves, and so you know what you're doing. However, you don't know what your opponent is doing, and so you must rely on visual ques.
- learn how the rest of the other characters work.
Learn to avoid prejectiles
- play online, all the time. Playing people is better than playing computers
- learn how to effectively engage in footsies
- look at professional gameplay. They absolutely know what they are doing, and so you might learn new tech.
- if you come across people who consistently defeat you, do not rage quit. Instead invite them to a private game, and learn from your mistakes.
- develop a unique and effective fighting style. The biggest part of doing well in fighting games is being unpredictable. If your opponent can predict what your doing he will have a huge advantage. In some situations he might even be able to punish you for big damage.
Terminology
Low- in most fighting games you must block low in order to properly defend yourself against a low.
Mid- in most fighting games a mid attack can be blocked by either a low block or a high block
High- a high can be blocked high, but should be crouched under, with either low block or an attack that gives you a low hurt box, similar to if you where low blocking or lying down.
Overhead- In order to defend against this kind of attack you must block high. Blocking low will behave as if you are not blocking at all.
Counter hit- If your opponent tries attacking, but you hit him first, you preform a counter hit. This means that his attack won't come out and yours will. In some games, you can get big damage from landing a counter hit, and so they are quite valuable.
Unblockable- you cannot block this attack, and so you must either evade it, or get a counter hit.
Grab- Grabs cannot be blocked, and are usually very quick. There are to ways to evade a grab; evade it ( in some games you can duck under grabs, but for the most part they cannot grab you if you're in the air) or break it ( at the beggining of the grab you have a very brief window to also grab ( In some games hitting a random attack button will also work). This will create a grab-breaking animation and both players will be reset at sanding position). If you break a grab you will suffer very little, or sometimes, depending on what fighting game your playing, no damage.
Trade- when both players hit each other at the same time, both players get hit, and both suffer the effects of the others attack (loss of health, stun or knock down are a few examples).
Whiff- when an attack misses
Combo- when you follow up a successful attack ( you hit the opponent) with another attack for guaranteed damage.
Knockdown- when you use an attack ( a sweep is a prime example , found in most fighters) that knocks your opponent over and he gains a lying down hurt box, or some times not even a hurt box at all ( not a beneficial thing)
Wake up- After being knocked down a player might preform a wake up, which is either an attack to try to counter the other player, or a defensive maneuver ( for example, a guard impact in soulcalibur).
Safe- For something to be safe, simply means it cannot be punished.
Punish- If your opponent does an attack with a long recovery time ( time it takes until they can block again also referred to as being "un-safe") and you block it, you can then use an attack of your own to land a free hit. This can, depending on a number of variables like what attacks are being used, or even what fighting game your playing, even lead into a full combo. An example of a punish is a heavy uppercut by Ryu or Ken in street fighter. This move has a lot of recovery time and so you can punish it with a heavy uppercut of your own.
Whiff punish - similar to a regular punish, a whiff punish only can be applied if the opponent whiffs. Whiff punishes are important, because an attack that may be safe on block, may not be safe if it whiffs.
Mix-up- this is a situation you force your opponent into, making him to guess on what your going to do next. If he guesses right your usually safe ( during an effective mix up ) , however if he guesses wrong, you have an opportunity to capitalise on big damage. ( a simple example of a mix up would be, a low kick to mid punch, followed up by either a low or an over head. In this example your opponent is forced to guess if your third attack is a low or an overhead. If he ducks low and you put out an over head ( remember if he's blocking low and you use an overhead, you get the hit) , than your mixup was successful.
Cross-up- this is only found in fighting games that do not have a block button and walking backwards is block. A cross up is when an attack forces your opponent to block in the opposite direction in order to successfully defend himself. ( a good example is if you jump over an opponent and preform an attack that crosses up. If your opponent was previously blocking back, they must switch directions and block forwards. If not they will get hit, almost as if the attack were unblockable.
Read- this is when you make a guess as to what your opponent might do next. Reads are usually based off of that players experience and apparent in game habits.
Reset- this is when you drop a combo ( stop your combo) in order to mix-up your opponent, so that you can capitalize on damage and start a new combo. In some situations this can effectively double your combo damage, or even turn a simple 3 hit combo into a 20 hit combo.
Bait- this is when you preform an action that causes your opponent to retaliate in a specific manor, so that you may counter it. This usually leads to extremely damaging combos, as you have mentally prepared for it.
Cancel- this means in the middle of performing certain actions (dashing, or certain attacks) you can input another action (dashing, jumping or even another attack) to "cancel" the first action and instead preform the second. Examples of this can be found in pretty much every fighting game. In the newest street fighter games (4-present) you can do a focus attack, and while holding down the buttons (medium kick and medium punch), dash in either direction and it will cancel the focus attack. In soulcalibur 5 you can cancel some unblockable attacks by pressing G ( Ivy's B+K canceled by G is a realy easy one to practice) . A final example is in Mortal Kombat 9, where certain moves by characters can be canceld by inputing a special move ( scorpions Light punch - light punch - light punch combo can be canceled after any one of the hits with his 44 light punch (his "Get over here!" Move ))
Buffer- this is when you can preform a special attack ( any attack that requires a directional input ) or super after another input ( be it dash , regular move, throw, or special move ) and input the directions during the animation of the first attack. This is most often used in higher skill levels of gameplay, when players throw out an attack, of which they can combo after using super, however the super is unsafe and the first hit goes by to fast to react to. They "buffer" the direction in for the super but only hit the button to activate it if the first attack connects. If their opponent blocks it then the player will not hit the button that activates their supper, and hence they remain safe.
Finally you must learn and understand the terminology that is fighting game specific. Examples of this include Guard Impacts or Just Guards from Soulcalibur, FADC's from street fighter, or combo breakers from Injustice, Mortal Kombat, or Killer Instinct.
Understanding and applying terminology is key to becoming good at fighting games
Subjects
- When you first get into a new fighting game, play as one character and only one character. Practice doing combos and mixups of that character, than practice doing those on a CPU. Gradually increase the difficulty until you can beat the CPU on the second highest difficulty, consistently.
- develop the urge to look at your openers character. Your inputing moves, and so you know what you're doing. However, you don't know what your opponent is doing, and so you must rely on visual ques.
- learn how the rest of the other characters work.
Learn to avoid prejectiles
- play online, all the time. Playing people is better than playing computers
- learn how to effectively engage in footsies
- look at professional gameplay. They absolutely know what they are doing, and so you might learn new tech.
- if you come across people who consistently defeat you, do not rage quit. Instead invite them to a private game, and learn from your mistakes.
- develop a unique and effective fighting style. The biggest part of doing well in fighting games is being unpredictable. If your opponent can predict what your doing he will have a huge advantage. In some situations he might even be able to punish you for big damage.