Help a new player.

U

UltimateUnknown

[08] Mercenary
Hey guys (or gals), I just picked up SC5 the other day and came across this site in the process of trying to learn more about the game. The community here seemed very friendly, so I decided to open up an account and ask for a few hints in getting started with the game. I hope you will bear with me.

Just wanted to firstly say that I have been playing fighting games for a while (SF, Blazblue, KOF 13) so I do know some of the general stuff about them. I finished playing the story of SV5 to unlock most of the characters and to get a feel for the controls. As soon as I opened up the game though I got a title update (turns out to be a patch), and if I know anything about fighting games then patches pretty much change the whole game. Most combo videos/guides I found around the net seem to be null and void since they are pre-patch it seems.

So my question to you guys is what character (or characters) would be good for a beginner like me to start off with? I would prefer a character who is all around good (decent tier placement) besides being easy to use . That is my only preference, other than that I am completely open to trying anything out. I hope to look at the individual character sections on this site once I decide which character I should start with.

Thanks in advance for any help I may get :)
 
The general "All Around" characters are Patroklos (not Alpha), Pyrrha, and Mitsurugi. They're all solid characters too, no noticeable weaknesses besides Pat's short range. Pyrrha has medium-short range and Mitsu has medium range. Mitsu has simple combos and great damage. Pyrrha is great at punishing people at negative frames. Pat is a mix of the two if you put it very simply and not technically at all.
 
I am also a beginner who was struggling to pick a character a few days ago. I was advised to test out everyone that I could potentially use, and I did. The members of this site were very helpful and listed pros/cons that come with each character, so I wasn't surprised. I would recommend trying everyone that you are considering and choosing whoever feels "right" to you. My final two were Cervantes and Mitsu, and I ended up picking Cervantes because I ultimately had more fun with him and he felt more natural even though I get punished when I miss his inputs and Mitsu was considered more of the newer player friendly character. Anyway, I hope my story helped because I thought you might like to hear from a new player's point of view. Try out different characters. Who you pick may surprise you.
 
Tiers shouldnt matter. Knowledge and Simple Skills are enough to get by in the world of Calibur.
Also since I dont know your playstyle, it'd be impossible for me to recommend a character for you.
Mostly people tend to use Viola, Xiba, Nightmare, Natsu....
Since Aggressive play is pretty much only rewarded and not punished like in the previous installment of Soul Calibur you might have an advantage due to the aggressive nature of 2D players. Your best bet is to probably use Natsu, Voldo, Mitsurugi, Pyrrha or Patroklos (which one you like the most, hey...I can't make the choices lol)
 
Like the poster above me said. Don't worry too much about tier lists. I think EVO proved that the tiers don't mean much as it was won by a Tira player while many considered her to be low or bottom tier (after her nerf) and "lacking the tools to win a major"

Finding a character that fits your personal play style will probably work out better in the long run than picking someone because other people think that character is good.
 
Tira won Evo because Decopon was the better player. Why is this so hard to understand?

And yes leixia or Hilde could win a major if the user would be the better player.

It's the odds of winning a huge ass major like this that are slim. Gotta be extremely solid.
 
Wow thanks guys. All your comments were very helpful. Normally fighting game communities can be kind of harsh to newbies, but this forum is definitely one of the kindest and welcoming I have seen so far. Hope to learn more.

I tried out the beginner characters as recommended by others and ended up really liking Mitsu. I have to say his critical edge attack (whatever it's called lol) that picks people off the ground is insane. I just love that move because of the combo potential, even though it might be considered nooby.

I tried Patro and Pyrrha but both of their ranges seemed kind of too low for my liking. Mitsu's was just right so I just stuck with him. Hopefully once I become a bit better at the handling of the game I can move on to some of the more complex characters. Definitely loving everything so far.

Oh and to the above posters, I actually saw the EVO finals before buying the game. That was the match that really made me want to play it. Didn't know back then that Tira was low tier. Indeed skill does trump all.
 
I have recently met about 5 people online and have became friends with them. try and help them with moves and such, but, they get mad they don't win, I'm not sure how to handle this because I do enjoy playing with them. I'm not that good but i have move matches then them.
 
There's really nothing anyone can do about another person losing their cool or doing any other kind of stupid shit, unfortunately. There is no universal or even remotely reliable method of teaching someone how to keep their cool because the change absolutely must originate from within or it simply cannot happen. We can all try, but it's futile if the person that can't control themselves isn't putting forth the effort, can't, or whatever. The best one can do for such people is either leave them be or dismantle their excuses: both of which are equally prone to failure.

Leaving them be is surrendering and discarding your ability to influence them positively: if they can't help themselves, how can you? There's no sense in provoking someone who'll go to blows over the smallest thing and since the smallest thing does set them off, why bother? I mean it's obvious nothing you try is going to help them do anything but get angrier so isn't trying to help them just a detriment to all parties involved?

Dismantling their excuses and crutches for losing control forces people to confront the issue directly. Yes, it's going to piss them off but if they don't look beyond excuses themselves why allow them to get away with hurting themselves in such a way? It's not going to do you any good just allowing that sort of behavior, it's certainly not going to do them any good. Take their crutch right when they're relying on it instead of thinking and break it into a hundred pieces right in front of them. Do not employ subtlety, piss them off with your destruction of their crutch and the weakness it represents. They'll look for another one, break it too. Keep on doing it until they're out of excuses, in their desperate attempt to blame something or someone other than themselves they may even realize that it's their fault alone that they're angry. And if they're not forced into a position where they're thinking about it, how will they ever learn? Obviously they're unwilling to slow down and think for themselves, but in their desperate search for crutches they may employ a modicum of critical thinking and be able to accept responsibility for their own actions finally.


But of course both of those are prone to failure, like I said. Apathy has a low success rate but at least keeps your hands clean, forcing someone to confront their issues can result in violent outbursts or just having them RQ and leave. Peachy, huh? Well these are just my personal favorite tools for dealing with it. There's a myriad of possible solutions people can suggest just as kooky and shortsighted as these that are equally unreliable. It's not some kind of zen philosophy or anything, it just is what it is and change always must come from within. What finally triggers the change is happenstance and ultimately moot in itself.

I can say though that giving people outlets for frustration is basically reinforcement of negative behavior. Stress toys, them finding a way out of the situation that they blame for their loss of control, and the similar sorts. Stress toys reinforce the idea that it's okay to let out frustration in a negative manner(in a subliminal way), allowing an escape will resolve the immediate situation but what happens when they have no escape and must confront it themselves? If they aren't figuring out how to deal with things, giving them a crutch or an escape will be a bad idea in the long term. If they can't figure out how to cool down and stay in control under pressure on their own then they simply won't.


EDIT: And another viable, though more long-term and time-consuming method I like using is to earn the person's trust with a facade of knowledge and friendliness then gradually presenting the issues with their behavior to them in a very graceful manner that gets them to think. It's as likely to fail as any other, but it's very gratifying to make progress that way, lol.
 
Wandrian said:
There's really nothing anyone can do about another person losing their cool or doing any other kind of stupid shit, unfortunately. There is no universal or even remotely reliable method of teaching someone how to keep their cool because the change absolutely must originate from within or it simply cannot happen. We can all try, but it's futile if the person that can't control themselves isn't putting forth the effort, can't, or whatever. The best one can do for such people is either leave them be or dismantle their excuses: both of which are equally prone to failure.

Leaving them be is surrendering and discarding your ability to influence them positively: if they can't help themselves, how can you? There's no sense in provoking someone who'll go to blows over the smallest thing and since the smallest thing does set them off, why bother? I mean it's obvious nothing you try is going to help them do anything but get angrier so isn't trying to help them just a detriment to all parties involved?

Dismantling their excuses and crutches for losing control forces people to confront the issue directly. Yes, it's going to piss them off but if they don't look beyond excuses themselves why allow them to get away with hurting themselves in such a way? It's not going to do you any good just allowing that sort of behavior, it's certainly not going to do them any good. Take their crutch right when they're relying on it instead of thinking and break it into a hundred pieces right in front of them. Do not employ subtlety, piss them off with your destruction of their crutch and the weakness it represents. They'll look for another one, break it too. Keep on doing it until they're out of excuses, in their desperate attempt to blame something or someone other than themselves they may even realize that it's their fault alone that they're angry. And if they're not forced into a position where they're thinking about it, how will they ever learn? Obviously they're unwilling to slow down and think for themselves, but in their desperate search for crutches they may employ a modicum of critical thinking and be able to accept responsibility for their own actions finally.


But of course both of those are prone to failure, like I said. Apathy has a low success rate but at least keeps your hands clean, forcing someone to confront their issues can result in violent outbursts or just having them RQ and leave. Peachy, huh? Well these are just my personal favorite tools for dealing with it. There's a myriad of possible solutions people can suggest just as kooky and shortsighted as these that are equally unreliable. It's not some kind of zen philosophy or anything, it just is what it is and change always must come from within. What finally triggers the change is happenstance and ultimately moot in itself.

I can say though that giving people outlets for frustration is basically reinforcement of negative behavior. Stress toys, them finding a way out of the situation that they blame for their loss of control, and the similar sorts. Stress toys reinforce the idea that it's okay to let out frustration in a negative manner(in a subliminal way), allowing an escape will resolve the immediate situation but what happens when they have no escape and must confront it themselves? If they aren't figuring out how to deal with things, giving them a crutch or an escape will be a bad idea in the long term. If they can't figure out how to cool down and stay in control under pressure on their own then they simply won't.


EDIT: And another viable, though more long-term and time-consuming method I like using is to earn the person's trust with a facade of knowledge and friendliness then gradually presenting the issues with their behavior to them in a very graceful manner that gets them to think. It's as likely to fail as any other, but it's very gratifying to make progress that way, lol.
Click to expand...

Ummm, I appreciate you formulating different philosophies in dealing with people, but this is just a game lol.

No sensible and mature person would deal with issues in aggression, because it never works in real life. I like your edit part though. If I had to deal with someone, I would deal with them kindly rather than utterly shatter them in return for them choosing the wrong way of conduct. If then it fails, then I'd probably leave then alone.
 
houndDog75 said:
I have recently met about 5 people online and have became friends with them. try and help them with moves and such, but, they get mad they don't win, I'm not sure how to handle this because I do enjoy playing with them. I'm not that good but i have move matches then them.
Click to expand...

Wow that's sad. I have been playing the game online today for a while and have been on a complete losing streak. Lost like 11 matches in a row and have yet to win a single match on XBL. But I have had a ton of fun nonetheless.

This is how fighting games work from how I know them. You go in as a newb, make mistakes, get utterly annihilated, learn from your experience and get better. Same here. I can understand it can be a bit frustrating to lose but just playing the game and facing others is the fun of the game. Losing is part of the equation.

That said, if you want to destroy some more noobs then add me on XBL. I might even be able to learn a few things and get some pointers. My XBL is the same as my username here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom