When is it good to use meter, specifically drive cancels
What is hyper drive mode? Is that simply when you press c+b and your drive meter depletes over time? Also, what good does it do to be in this mode?
What is the standard button layout for this game? right now I have it set to
Light Punch, Heavy punch
Light Kick, Heavy Kick
I assume they represent:
A,B
C,D
respectively
are Max Cancels only when you cancel into the Neo Max move from another move?
Feel free to give additional info, even if I didnt ask for it at all (anything you would want to tell to a KOF newbie, say it!). I really like this game and want to get good at it.
The arcade version lets you choose between:
(A = LP B = LK C = HP D= HK)
A C
B D
or
B C D
A
The latter being the oldschool SNK layout.
As for game systems stuff, honestly I can’t really help you much. I got raped twice and moved back to AE. You might want to check this thread for more information:
1). So, when is it okay to use meter? See, that’s really a good question. You can use stock meter to get out of sticky situations like using a guard cancel blowback to get out of corner pressure or guard cancel evasive roll. However, the best time to use stock meter is to do a great deal of damage. If you know, with confidence, you can get that damage in with that meter you just earned, do it. Every bit of damage helps, especially in competitive play. Drive meter is about the same, do more damage.
2). Hyper drive is a mode activated by pressing B and C together. You can only activate it when you have a full drive meter (2 bars). From that point on, any time you could have drive canceled into a combo, you can do it for 10% of that bar. It goes down by approximately 2-3% per second which means you couldn’t complete anywhere between 6-7 cancels in one set. This mode is damage personified. It allows you to do your neomax for 2 stock bars as well as get out a long juggling combo. Very useful to learn. Another quirk to it is that you can cancel normal moves that you normally couldn’t with specials. For example, Maxima normally cannot cancel his far standing C (Heavy punch) into Vapor Cannon (qcf+p), but in HD mode, you can. This also is the same for super cancels, but standard rules apply (You can’t super cancel a super and you can’t drive cancel the same move unless it’s an ex)
3). Starcade Rip did an excellent job telling you about this!
4). Max cancels are caused when you cancel a super move into a neomax. You can only do this in HD mode.
Best advice I can give you is play, read up, watch, and never give up! Be sure to check out other fansites as well as the popular Hyper Guide. Hope this helps!
yeah, this game is a lot more complicated than Street Fighter, but its kind of refreshing in a way, its very fluid and the combos are pretty satisfying. In SF I actually dont really like to do combos for whatever reason.
Also, is Kim a viable character? I know hes considered “B Tier”, but that has different meanings for different games. In some games ,B Tier is perfectly fine, others, not so much. Basically, Kim is easily my favorite character in this game at the moment and would really like to always have him on a team
Big thanks to you guys who responded.
EDIT: Also, I noticed you can cancel some moves to go into hd mode, what benefits does this offer?
It basically lets you use the special cancels (special to special, special to DM (DMs are Desesperation Moves, the name for supers in KOF games), and DM to neomax) multiple times while the HD bar depletes, so it allows you to do huge combos you couldn’t do otherwise because of the HD gauge limitations (outside of Hyper Drive mode, each of those cancels costs half the bar, except for cancelling a DM to a NeoMax, which costs the full HD bar, so you can only do that with a full HD bar or while in Hyper Drive mode). Here are some Kim combos that you can learn:
As you can see in the video and in the challenge trials in the game, you can basically activate HD after confirming your combo while you’re in the middle of it, to extend your damage potential. It’s a great option if you want to make sure your current combo will be extremely damaging.
@Necrotrophic: Think of HD mode as a, and PLEASE don’t take this literally, a comeback mechanic. However, the only way you’ll benefit from it is if you’re hitting somebody. Now if we’re playing each other in UMvC3 for example, and I see you X-factor, I’m going to make sure you don’t hit me because I’ll die if you do. Now, if you X-factor in a combo in UMvC3, you’re insured victory.
This is essentially the same idea. You do HD into a move because it’ll cancel the cooldown of your move and allow you to combo again except now you can “Go for broke” and rip your opponent to pieces. Sometimes, it’s okay to not do HD mode in a combo, sometimes you can benefit from just using the neutral effects of HD mode like canceling specials from far normals. It’s generally better to combo into it though.
In response to your question about Kim, he’s worth playing. He can pressure you pretty well, has long range and high priority normals, and some pretty tricky special moves. He can be played a number of ways so he’s very versatile. He can also be put anywhere on the team. He’s better with meter, but it’s not necessary to win.
@NickGuy: In XIII, the hit stun for jump-in normal moves has been lowered. That means you have to land it meaty and time it really quick in between or you won’t link it. It’s not your stick, but it could just be timing. Take it slow! You have the game now so just relax and try it a couple of times. This is somewhat character dependent as some command normals like roberts j. back+B is a command cross-up and has some decent hit stun in it. In any case, practice makes perfect. Just keep at it!
on a competitive level, you should NEVER just activate HD mode raw outside of a combo, unless you’re doing something really gimmicky like activating for access to a 2 bar neomax with fast startup in reaction to a jump or something. every character has HD combos, and doing the correct number of loops in said combo will coordinate with exactly how long HD mode lasts. in addition, if you activate outside of a combo, you risk wasting your entire hyperdrive bar, which will be a big deal once you’re proficient at the game.
the most standard way to activate HD mode is close standing C or D into command normal. these two normal moves should give you plenty of time to hit confirm and activate. activating HD like this will actually push your character forward on the screen, so you can easily do the same normal, command normal into drive cancelable special move to initiate your HD loop. hope this was helpful.
like reiki said, hit stun off of a jump in is much less in this game compared to games like sf4. personally, i find it much easier to link after a hop or hyper hop rather than a jump or super jump. remember that the lower you hit them, the easier it will be to combo. if you jump in and hit someone on the top of the head, generally it will be impossible to combo right afterwards. however, if you do hit someone at the top of the head, that’s a great opportunity to go for an overhead or tick throw when you land, since most people will be blocking low right afterwards.