Killer Instinct is now live on iebattlegrounds. Playing at Super Arcade in Walnut, Cali.
SHoutouts to Rich doin an 118 Ultra with Jago xD
When you see someone has a meter you have to consider they will want to use a shadow counter and change up your strat. If you have a bar you can bait out a shadow counter with your special and then punish with a shadow move.
During the stream Filthy said they will be refineing the breaker system. This is good news, im excited to see what they do with it. Initial lockout when a combo starts, a small meter cost for breakers, or maybe both… Should be interesting 
I doubt they’re going to make them cost a meter. They didn’t cost meter in the oriiginal games and there’s a lot of ways to work around them.
Initial lockout wouldn’t be bad. That would make the most sense although it remains to be determined if any of it will matter high level a year from now.
Even though Jago is the Ryu of the game, his ultra combos are mad swag. That like 6xHK manual during the instinct cancelled ultra was just nuts.
Yeah I’d rather have an initial lock out. This stops stuff like Jab > C-C-C-Combo Breaker from happening.
Yeah… but Jab>lockout can also happen.
Personally, I think if they added initial lockout, then the game will just focus on unbreakable strings.
Then again, I don’t really have a problem with the current system. Maybe they just need to tighten up the break windows or let you alter your timings more.
Yeah I think it just seems like the game needs stuff because the level of play is really low still.
Initial lockout is dumb. Then were back to short unbreakable combos and we’ll never see breakers or long combos ever.
well lets see what they do. It needs something, they thought so too that’s why they’re making the change
Good point.
Not really. Players aren’t going to be satisfied with 10% combos. Plus you would still be able to break early enders, just not break jab jab.
Yeah, can’t say I’m a fan of Initial Lockouts, either. It takes away some of the strategy and honestly makes it more like Street Fighter. There would be no fear of your combo being broken on the second hit like the old days, and like truendymion said we’d never see any normal breakers or Insane/Killer/Godlike combos.
Well I’ll say one thing…this game doesn’t need a damage increase any time soon. Land counter hit with meters up, old game damage.
Opponent got locked out twice on a counter hit combo where he burnt all meters (including instinct), got fucked. So basically combo break wrong twice when they’re stocked on meters, you’re almost dead. Using Sabrewulf.
Maximillian claims he got 80% with Sabrewulf. 2 lockouts and a counter-breaker plus he burned his 2 shadow bars.
Sounds like they’ll just adjust the breaker window. Hopefully nothing so drastic as initial lockouts or meter requirement for breakers.
I still wish they had old game damage.
I also think the current combo break system should be meter based or healthy based.
NEW 8/4
- Sabrewulf’s 75 percent damage, counter hit, 2 meter+instinct meter/mode, double lockout (opponent guessed wrong on combo breaker twice) combo.**** May not need to up the damage quite yet. http://www.twitch.tv/iebattlegrounds/c/2686684?t=3m40s
- For those worried about the online play, in the Evo panel it was said that the company is going to be using a rollback netcode similar to GGPO (do not admit to using the exact same coding/brand). They are directly consulting with Tony Cannon/Pond3r (the creator of GGPO and one of the founders of SRK) on how to utilize the netcode.
- Extra info on how Killer Instinct One’s gameplay will work and what you should be thinking about that may be different compared to other fighters. In a game where combos are long and regular, the idea is to make a game where not every stray confirm is always leading to damage. Not to mention also stop people who try to break you out of your damage. The combos right now may seem like they don’t do enough damage or the combo breakers may seem to occur too often, but once you read the below and add in top level players…you may want to think a bit. Especially since doing the below successfully adds A LOT damage to combos.
Basically…you’ll want to have played poker before if you want to understand exactly how this game works compared to other fighting games. It’s a constant mind battle even during the combos and works around the idea of bluffs and reading that someone will bluff.
Bluff in poker = a bet or raise made with a hand which is not thought to be the best hand. To bluff is to make such a bet. The objective of a bluff is to induce a fold by at least one opponent who holds a better hand. The size and frequency of a bluff determines its profitability to the bluffer. By extension, the term is often used outside the context of poker to describe the act of making threats one cannot execute.
The idea is to read people and ALSO to read that the opponent is trying TO READ YOU. Reading that the opponent is trying to read you in this game is called a bluff (specifically utilized with the counter breaker). The bluff is the “I know you’re trying to stop my combo, so I will stop you from stopping my combo” strat. You make the opponent think you are going to bash them with your super duper strong hand of rapid auto doubles with Sabrewulf that are easy to read and counter break. You go for a counter breaker by pressing MP+MK when they try to combo breaker, you blow through their combo breaker and continue your combo. Which stops them from being able to combo break for a few seconds during the “lockout” phase.
Essentially from the Evo panel there’s a triangle of strategies as you’re being put in a combo. More akin to a real fight, there are no true combos and you don’t get anything guaranteed just because you are swinging attacks in succession. This is very radical in ideology compared to most 2d fighting games (or fighting games in general) where everything is rigid. You win a position in the spacing game, you get all of the damage from what you just hit confirmed. The only chance to get out being a burst mechanic in some anime/air dash games that recharges very slowly (on average will get access to the burst twice in a match at most) games and can be baited rather easily.
This in some ways in controversial, because in the past, no fighting game that has worked around these types of mechanics has been heavily successful in tournament turnouts and general competitive player recognition. Dead or Alive has never gained a huge following in the tourney scene mostly due to this and it’s aesthetics. The closest to that is probably 3S, but your combos in 3S are always rigid with no breakers. It’s mainly the neutral game in 3S that only keeps adheres to the system and does so with not as much consequences as what is in KI.
Killer Instinct looks to change that. Keeping the neutral/footsies mostly rigid while allowing a lot of dynamics to be had during long combos instead of the typical “anime game style get put in a youtube video 1 player game” situation.
**The triangle of strategies/yomi during a combo is
1.Breakers beat Attacks
2.Bluffs beat Breakers
3.Attacks beat Bluffs**
Example of each scenario during a combo:
- Typical KI1/2 anime game combo breaker/burst strategy. You know the opponent is doing a combo on you and you know they’re doing the same canned part with the same move to maximize damage. You use a combo breaker/burst to get out of the combo. In Killer Instinct combo breakers are part of the engine in the same way that special moves are. There is no limit to how many times you can break a combo. There is only a penalty aka “lockout” for guessing a wrong breaker. In the older KI games there was no penalty as long as you eventually guessed right. Not anymore. Which is why knowing or feeling a pattern will be better than guessing.
Knowing this is typical for beating people who mash on easy execution HP/HK auto doubles (similar to chains) just to maximize damage quickly without much combo theory. Auto doubles can be broken much more easily than manuals (basically links) since you can break auto doubles during frames outside of their hit stun. Higher level play will revolve around the use of LP/LK, MP/MK auto doubles or manuals (links) to give the opponent less time to reaction break you and force it more towards a read or a guess. With the lighter doubles and manuals they will have to guess the type of attack and do it at the right, strict timing which will make the success rate for the breaker really low at that point.
- This is where things get interesting. As you’re doing combos you may be getting used to that typical heavy auto double combo or manual that gets you the damage. Let’s say you haven’t practiced the game enough to understand how to switch up your combos too much and the opponent gets pretty solid at catching the strict timing for your manual that you always use. You can then go “alright, you’re screwing me out of my max damage, so I’m going to catch you trying to break my combo and use your breaker against you”. If you press MP+MK you go into a stance mid combo. This stance does nothing, but break combo breakers. If successful you’ll blow through their breaker, be able to continue your combo as normal with a damage increase. On top of the damage increase they will be locked out of being able to break a combo again for 4 seconds. Giving you time to throw in your heavy auto doubles, rapid doubles or manuals and activate instinct mode for maximum damage.
This will be one of the key tools to use for those that think the game is too combo breaker heavy and want to keep their combos going against novice to average players who abuse the break system.
- Attacks beat bluffs. This is where the yomi during combos comes full circle. This won’t be necessary or seen a whole lot until high level play really kicks in. This is when you’re done going through all of the “I knew you thought I was going for max damage, so I stopped your attempt to stop my max damage”. Now the opponent can turn that table back on you again. “I know you knew that I thought you were going for max damage, so now I know you think that I think you’re going for max damage so you’re going to bluff and actually not have any real cards. I know you don’t have any cards and will punish you with my hand of combos instead. You thought I was a combo breaker masher, but I am beyond that and know you are scared of me mashing breakers.”
This is essentially the idea of setting the opponent into thinking you are going to break their combo, because you may have tried once or twice and succeeded or failed and got counter broken/bluffed. You catch their bluff and know they really don’t have an arsenal of weapons or big set of cards to throw at you. They try to catch you escaping their big combo, but you are patient and force them to whiff their counter breaker and now you are putting them in a combo. The circle is complete.
Lockouts: Lockouts are a new thing to strive for in Killer Instinct. Now that everything is breakable there’s a lot more incentive to get out of long combos. Well…as long as you don’t get locked out. Unlike the older KI games, you can’t just guess forever on getting out of a combo. If you really love combos and want to put someone in a big damage “put em in a movie” combo, you can still do so. You’ll just have to read into if the opponent is trying to break the combo or if you’re trying to stop the opponent from breaking your combo. If the try to break the combo and you mix up your doubles and manuals well enough, they time the breaker wrong or use the wrong breaker and get locked out. If they guess right on the combo breaker, BUT YOU KNOW they are going to combo breaker, you can counter breaker and they will also get locked out.
Once the opponent gets locked out, they can’t combo break again for 3 to 4 seconds (I believe it’s 3 for missed combo break, 4 for abusing combo break and getting counter broken). This also ups the damage and if a counter breaker caused this, resets the KV meter (potential hits you can do before person breaks out of combo without any penalty).
Anyone got a link to the 118 Jago ultra combo?