CarteBlanche
[09] Warrior
I made a quick search and could not find any general tutorial for brand new players through google. Then I made a quick search here, and found nothing that is quick, clear, general, and easy to find.
I tried to make it as short as I could, and clearly I have failed on that front... At the same time I feel that this is not going to be very helpful, but it's my attempt anyway, so feedback, especially negative, is appreciated...
On Xbox, ABKG = XYBA.
On PS3, ABKG = Square Triangle Circle Cross.
A for horizontal attacks that typically track side-steppers, B for vertical attacks that typically deal more damage and hit crouch blockers but are typically less safe, K for kicks, G for Guard.
The minimum that you need is a combo starter, typically 3B. (3 = Down + front.)
You use 3B after blocking an unsafe move that is punishable by 3B or by side-stepping a vertical attack and punishing with 3B.
You can also use mixups, which means using 3B when the opponent crouches because they expect a low or high attack.
3B is unsafe on block, so even though it's not very risky, it's still much wiser to not abuse it continually. Keep it for those times when you think it will hit.
To put some more pressure, you can mix in some low attacks, either 1A or poke 1K or 2K. Those are generic attacks that everyone has. Your specific character has more and better options. Find them, learn how to use them. 1A is strong, but very unsafe if blocked, so it should be used rarely.
For more pressure, incorporate some throws/grabs in your game when you expect that the opponent will be blocking while standing. It's mostly after a hit or counter hit that leaves you close to them. It won't work if you're fighting terrible players who just spam random attacks, but normally these terrible players should be easy to beat anyway.
Plan some quick attacks like AA, BB, 3A, 2K to interrupt the opponent or to punish attacks that are barely unsafe.
Learn which attacks have built-in crouch and side-step properties and find ways to use them.
Learn which attacks have long range for pressure, poking and punishment.
Prepare a punishing move for situations where you crouch block an unsafe low or high attack because 3B does not work from crouch.
Know which of your attacks will track side-steppers. Typically it's almost every attacks that are performed with A. (X on Xbox, Square on PS3.)
Have a good understanding of which of your attacks are safe and which are very unsafe. Very unsafe moves should not be used too often unless you're sure that it won't be blocked. If they do work because the opponent can't defend against them, you still should not abuse them because you will pay for it in the long run by depending on bad habits.
I personally like to have a go-to move that works any time and is mostly safe, decently quick, and has good enough range.
When you are near the ring's edge or wall, play safe, stand block, and if you can, memorize which throw to break if your opponent has a throw that can ring you out. The most important ones are Ivy, Natsu and Viola can ring out with their A throw if they have their back to the ring edge, while Nightmare, Siegfried and Xiba can do it with their B throw. (Sieg/NM crouch B+G, Xiba 1A+B.)
Learn your character's combos, they are listed in your character's sub-forum on this website.
In those same sub-forums, ask for specific questions about your character.
Defense is partially about being smart and partially about knowledge. Keep playing, study your character, and study the characters that you hate fighting against.
Learn which attack strings can be crouched, side-stepped, back-stepped, interrupted, or Just Guarded, and learn how your character can best profit from those situations. (In other words, punish with maximum and consistent damage.)
This is the most important part, but also the shortest because there's not much room for shortcuts with defense. Just practice, both against players and in Training mode against the characters that you have troubles against.
Some more stuff that is good to know...
Force Crouch. Some attacks have a special property on block that force the opponent to be in a crouching position. Those attacks are safe on block, and if followed by a quick attack, they will usually counter-hit any attack attempt by the one who was forced to crouch, because While Rising attacks are typically slower.
CH Properties. Some attacks have additional or completely different properties on counter-hit. Some attacks will stun, some will knock down, some will launch.
Air control is when you move around while in the air. A combo is a series of attacks where air control is impossible. An example of air control is Pyrrha's 3B, AA, 3B. If you don't air control, it will deal 55 damage. If you air control to Pyrrha's right, you will eat the whole combo. If you air control to Pyrrha's left or away from her, you will only take 33 damage.
On the other hand, 3B 236B is a combo because you can't air control out of it. So if you eat 3B, you automatically eat 236B too, for a total of 50 guaranteed damage.
Wake up.
You have multiple options when you have been knocked on the ground.
First option is to stay on the ground and do nothing. You will avoid many attacks, and the attacks that can hit you will usually deal reduced damage. It should be safe to get up after the opponent has either hit you or whiffed.
Roll by tapping or holding a direction. If you roll at a certain speed, you will be forced to get up after 3 rolls, but if you're slow enough you can stay down indefinitely.
Stand up and block by holding G.
Get up and block low by holding 2G.
Quick roll by holding a direction and tapping G when you hit the ground. It doesn't work against all types of attacks. It has its advantages by attacking some attacks that would otherwise hit you, but it can also force you to eat some attacks that you would otherwise be able to avoid, if the opponent guesses correctly.
Attack to get up with A or B, but it's almost always a bad idea, except in some very rare situations.
Typically it's safer to either stay on the ground and roll up or down, or stand block. Crouch block is usually safe to do if you clearly see a low attack coming, though in some rare situations you might end up doing an unwanted quickroll.
Unblockables are usually slow, so it can be a good idea to interrupt them if you can. In some cases you are forced to Just Guard them but it's rare.
Just Guard (JG) is when you tap and quickly release G a little before an attack hits you.
Guard Impact (GI) is when you do a green flash. It's performed with 4A+B+K and costs 1 meter.
Guard Break (GB) is then an attack creates a blue lightning ... spark ... thing ... you know? After you blocked such an attack, you should almost never attack back because you will most likely eat a counter-hit. So you need to keep blocking, or side-step, or back-step. Of course, stand blocking and spamming A or B is the safest thing to do in that situation.
Side-Step directions ... Every character has a strong and weak side. So if a character's strong side is on their left, they will have an easier time catching you if you side step to their left. In some situations it doesn't matter, you can step both ways, but in other situations you don't have any choice but to step in that one direction.
Frames in short is ... there are a set number of frames per second, set by the game. It's probably 60 frames per second. Each attack takes a set number of frames to execute, so it if takes 15 frames, it will hit the opponent 15 frames after you hit the button. After the attack was executed, there's a delay before the character can do anything else - attack, move, or block. This delay is further modified depending on whether it was blocked, or it hit, or it counter-hit.
What you need to know is that after your attack was blocked, it's usually wiser to stop attacking or else you will eat a counter hit... Unless you used an attack that is especially good on block. It also means that if you got hit and you didn't successfully block, it's even wiser to stop attacking because the chances of getting counter-hit are even higher... with some very rare exceptions.
So, uh, résumé : Make sure you have ...
A basic combo
Some mixups and setups
A quick punisher for most blocked attacks
An interrupt
Some low attacks
Long range attacks
Anti-step attacks
Attacks that automatically crouch (avoid highs) or side-step.
...And it wouldn't hurt to know which attacks to use when your opponent decides to lie on the ground instead of getting back up.
Never use random attacks.
Side-step and whiff punish are probably the main ways to start a combo with 3B and similar combo starters.
Practice solo against the computer until you can use a satisfactory amount of attacks without needing to actively remember the inputs and never use random attacks. Also keep practicing until you successfully perform your combo(s) all the time from both the left and right side of the screen.
...Please let me know if something was unclear.
I hope it helps someone, though somehow I'm a bit doubtful that it will.
I tried to make it as short as I could, and clearly I have failed on that front... At the same time I feel that this is not going to be very helpful, but it's my attempt anyway, so feedback, especially negative, is appreciated...
Understand notations. 2 is down, 8 is up, 6 is front, 4 is back.
On Xbox, ABKG = XYBA.
On PS3, ABKG = Square Triangle Circle Cross.
A for horizontal attacks that typically track side-steppers, B for vertical attacks that typically deal more damage and hit crouch blockers but are typically less safe, K for kicks, G for Guard.
You need to plan your moves.
The minimum that you need is a combo starter, typically 3B. (3 = Down + front.)
You use 3B after blocking an unsafe move that is punishable by 3B or by side-stepping a vertical attack and punishing with 3B.
You can also use mixups, which means using 3B when the opponent crouches because they expect a low or high attack.
3B is unsafe on block, so even though it's not very risky, it's still much wiser to not abuse it continually. Keep it for those times when you think it will hit.
To put some more pressure, you can mix in some low attacks, either 1A or poke 1K or 2K. Those are generic attacks that everyone has. Your specific character has more and better options. Find them, learn how to use them. 1A is strong, but very unsafe if blocked, so it should be used rarely.
For more pressure, incorporate some throws/grabs in your game when you expect that the opponent will be blocking while standing. It's mostly after a hit or counter hit that leaves you close to them. It won't work if you're fighting terrible players who just spam random attacks, but normally these terrible players should be easy to beat anyway.
Plan some quick attacks like AA, BB, 3A, 2K to interrupt the opponent or to punish attacks that are barely unsafe.
Learn which attacks have built-in crouch and side-step properties and find ways to use them.
Learn which attacks have long range for pressure, poking and punishment.
Prepare a punishing move for situations where you crouch block an unsafe low or high attack because 3B does not work from crouch.
Know which of your attacks will track side-steppers. Typically it's almost every attacks that are performed with A. (X on Xbox, Square on PS3.)
Have a good understanding of which of your attacks are safe and which are very unsafe. Very unsafe moves should not be used too often unless you're sure that it won't be blocked. If they do work because the opponent can't defend against them, you still should not abuse them because you will pay for it in the long run by depending on bad habits.
I personally like to have a go-to move that works any time and is mostly safe, decently quick, and has good enough range.
In general your attacks should have a purpose. You should NEVER use random attacks if you don't know which attack exactly is going to come out. You should not rely too much on AA and BB. Vary your attacks, use quick pokes and moves with high damage potential. You should learn when it's time to BLOCK. You should get the habit of holding G and spamming A or B to break throws, when you sense that a throw might be coming. Seek damage opportunities by side-stepping, back-stepping, and crouching, all that to make the opponent whiff an attack. Crouching is usually a bad idea unless you specifically expect a high or low, and even then it can be quite risky.
When you are near the ring's edge or wall, play safe, stand block, and if you can, memorize which throw to break if your opponent has a throw that can ring you out. The most important ones are Ivy, Natsu and Viola can ring out with their A throw if they have their back to the ring edge, while Nightmare, Siegfried and Xiba can do it with their B throw. (Sieg/NM crouch B+G, Xiba 1A+B.)
Learn your character's combos, they are listed in your character's sub-forum on this website.
In those same sub-forums, ask for specific questions about your character.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STRONG AND A WEAK PLAYER IS HOW THEY DEFEND THEMSELVES.
Defense is partially about being smart and partially about knowledge. Keep playing, study your character, and study the characters that you hate fighting against.
Learn which attack strings can be crouched, side-stepped, back-stepped, interrupted, or Just Guarded, and learn how your character can best profit from those situations. (In other words, punish with maximum and consistent damage.)
This is the most important part, but also the shortest because there's not much room for shortcuts with defense. Just practice, both against players and in Training mode against the characters that you have troubles against.
Some more stuff that is good to know...
Force Crouch. Some attacks have a special property on block that force the opponent to be in a crouching position. Those attacks are safe on block, and if followed by a quick attack, they will usually counter-hit any attack attempt by the one who was forced to crouch, because While Rising attacks are typically slower.
CH Properties. Some attacks have additional or completely different properties on counter-hit. Some attacks will stun, some will knock down, some will launch.
Air control is when you move around while in the air. A combo is a series of attacks where air control is impossible. An example of air control is Pyrrha's 3B, AA, 3B. If you don't air control, it will deal 55 damage. If you air control to Pyrrha's right, you will eat the whole combo. If you air control to Pyrrha's left or away from her, you will only take 33 damage.
On the other hand, 3B 236B is a combo because you can't air control out of it. So if you eat 3B, you automatically eat 236B too, for a total of 50 guaranteed damage.
Wake up.
You have multiple options when you have been knocked on the ground.
First option is to stay on the ground and do nothing. You will avoid many attacks, and the attacks that can hit you will usually deal reduced damage. It should be safe to get up after the opponent has either hit you or whiffed.
Roll by tapping or holding a direction. If you roll at a certain speed, you will be forced to get up after 3 rolls, but if you're slow enough you can stay down indefinitely.
Stand up and block by holding G.
Get up and block low by holding 2G.
Quick roll by holding a direction and tapping G when you hit the ground. It doesn't work against all types of attacks. It has its advantages by attacking some attacks that would otherwise hit you, but it can also force you to eat some attacks that you would otherwise be able to avoid, if the opponent guesses correctly.
Attack to get up with A or B, but it's almost always a bad idea, except in some very rare situations.
Typically it's safer to either stay on the ground and roll up or down, or stand block. Crouch block is usually safe to do if you clearly see a low attack coming, though in some rare situations you might end up doing an unwanted quickroll.
Unblockables are usually slow, so it can be a good idea to interrupt them if you can. In some cases you are forced to Just Guard them but it's rare.
Just Guard (JG) is when you tap and quickly release G a little before an attack hits you.
Guard Impact (GI) is when you do a green flash. It's performed with 4A+B+K and costs 1 meter.
Guard Break (GB) is then an attack creates a blue lightning ... spark ... thing ... you know? After you blocked such an attack, you should almost never attack back because you will most likely eat a counter-hit. So you need to keep blocking, or side-step, or back-step. Of course, stand blocking and spamming A or B is the safest thing to do in that situation.
Side-Step directions ... Every character has a strong and weak side. So if a character's strong side is on their left, they will have an easier time catching you if you side step to their left. In some situations it doesn't matter, you can step both ways, but in other situations you don't have any choice but to step in that one direction.
Frames in short is ... there are a set number of frames per second, set by the game. It's probably 60 frames per second. Each attack takes a set number of frames to execute, so it if takes 15 frames, it will hit the opponent 15 frames after you hit the button. After the attack was executed, there's a delay before the character can do anything else - attack, move, or block. This delay is further modified depending on whether it was blocked, or it hit, or it counter-hit.
What you need to know is that after your attack was blocked, it's usually wiser to stop attacking or else you will eat a counter hit... Unless you used an attack that is especially good on block. It also means that if you got hit and you didn't successfully block, it's even wiser to stop attacking because the chances of getting counter-hit are even higher... with some very rare exceptions.
So, uh, résumé : Make sure you have ...
A basic combo
Some mixups and setups
A quick punisher for most blocked attacks
An interrupt
Some low attacks
Long range attacks
Anti-step attacks
Attacks that automatically crouch (avoid highs) or side-step.
...And it wouldn't hurt to know which attacks to use when your opponent decides to lie on the ground instead of getting back up.
Never use random attacks.
Side-step and whiff punish are probably the main ways to start a combo with 3B and similar combo starters.
Practice solo against the computer until you can use a satisfactory amount of attacks without needing to actively remember the inputs and never use random attacks. Also keep practicing until you successfully perform your combo(s) all the time from both the left and right side of the screen.
...Please let me know if something was unclear.
I hope it helps someone, though somehow I'm a bit doubtful that it will.