A practical Kyo combo to start of is something like cr.B, cr.A, df.D 1-Hit xx qcf+D > hcb+D. It’s an anywhere combo, easy to confirm off two lights, starts from a low attack, and ends with a hard knockdown attack that gives a free super jump/safe jump set up.
In the corner you could do something similar: cr.B, cr.A, df.D 1-Hit xx qcf+D > rdp+B > qcf+B > rdp+B > dp+A
That’s something a bit more challenging. Dunno, check out the wiki and try to search about things combo related. Most bnbs have hit confirms from light attacks. The general flow is Normals > Command Normals > Specials/Supers, or just plain Normals > Specials/Supers.
Kyo for example could hit confirm and chain cr.B, cr.A together and then combo into something for more damage. In KOF, the player may chain together light attacks and still be able to cancel into other attacks, kind of like Street Fighter Alpha 2 or Third Strike (unlike SFIV and ST.) Most characters could cancel into their command normals, that’s how Kyo could do cl.C > df.D and kinda hit confirm off of that.
Check out my “Rule of 2” video in the KOFXIII Video Thread to see how the general game flow for the inside game of KOF is, it shows a bit of how to hit confirm and continue pressure.
Don’t sweat it, I play pad too and I do fine. The only time I wish I had a stick would be whenever I need to do a HCB x 2 motion (ie Raiden’s super grab, Saiki’s super grab, etc.). Much more of this game is spacing, baiting, and punishing with normals. So long as you can get the movement down and do your character’s basic combos (HD combos are a plus, but you can win games without it or use that drive meter for super cancels/drive cancels), you have the fundamentals. Rest is just practice.
The one my friend always uses goes something like:
d. B, d. A, df+D (one hit), QCF + D, D, HCB + D
Not sure if I got the strength of the attacks right, but it’s basically his low series into upkicks into run up and grab attack. If you want to use meter, I’ve seen other people do his spin kicks(RDP + K?) after his upkicks and cancel those into his Orochinagi super (QCB, HCF + P).
Working on EX Iori’s hit confirms (mainly cr.b, cr.a, f+a xx rekkas), but I’m getting input overlap from the cr.a, f+a because I’m hitting down-forward (so I’m getting cr.b, cr.a xx fireball). Any suggestions on how to beat that input error? I’ve tried releasing to neutral, but I figured there might be another shortcut.
Clean up your inputs, there isnt really any way to make it easier. Just hit training mode and work on just moving the stick straight to forward from down. You’ll get it with a little practice.
Holy shit, thanks a lot. I look forward to more of these.
However, on the character position, I’ve been told that some characters need meter to be effective, like Shen who can’t really threaten you without it, so he would actually be worse off on point.
Also, as a completely new player to KoF, my troubles in brewing a team is not so much as worrying about the MSS equivalent in KoF, but rather being completely clueless on character archetypes and not really grasping the game’s mechanics. Even looking at each character toolset doesn’t help me much, because, for instance, everyone seems to have a fireball and yet they don’t play like a Ryu/Sagat character. Mad_Kof’s videos made me certain I want to play Duo Lon (rekkas, some anti-zoning stuff and a BnB that ends in mixups, plus a slow moving fireball for a pixie character). Didn’t like Kim’s playstyle and I want to pick Daimon up because he’s bad ass. Plus Chin looks fun and has some awesome high/low mixups, but people keep telling me of the technical barrier involved with him and his normals look bad (rangewise), so that might be someone I’ll consider in the future.
Anyway that’s a small problem that gets easily solved with more exposure to the game. Great article again.
The thing with KoF is that everyone in the game can be good with or without meter. You just can’t or won’t be using them to their full potential if they’re really meter heavy. Shen can run truck without meter but he’s best with it since he has a easy way to punish fireball zoners who either don’t respect Shen with meter or simply aren’t spacing right. Or to simply just start his offense in one way or another. He’s still dangerous without meter (not nearly now that he can’t tick throw into his command grab anymore.) but with characters like Shen/Fireball Kyo/Benimaru, they’re more of a threat with stocked meter.
That’s one thing I’ve liked about KoF. You’re not really forced to play a character the way they’re designed to play unlike SF4. It’s not unreal but it’s not also a bad thing.
I haven’t got to run my on point Shen in a long session against another really good player, but I think he can threaten without sitting on a full HD stock. It just means using his *cr.B, cr.C *link or his sweep for lows, but even then I was using him more to brick wall the opponent with cl.C f+B xx qcf+C~D and cr.D f+B xx qcf+C~D and I’m working other blockstrings due to his feint cancel being faster, so I think he may have some new blockstrings like cl.C xx qcf+C~D, walk forward cl.C F+B… and all his feints are totally safe on block so he can either work toward a guard break or encourage the opponent to get out by counterpoking him or hopping or something, all of which can be countered with the right setup. And honestly when he builds even one meter (which is hella easy) you can combo into qcf+BD for 40%, or in the corner do a Drive Cancel into 40% plus a hit reset so he can do nice damage without HD mode, and if he gets a HD bar filled then good shit. Plus his normals are great (st.A and st.B are secret top tier) and between *cr.C, j.CD, *and j.D he can anti-air in most situations and cover plenty of angles on offense.
So although Shen on point doesn’t initially come in with easy 80% from a hit, his basic game feels really good for me and honestly I can’t always save HD for him, and he builds super meter fast enough. Now of course he’s ‘worse’ on point rather than coming in with 2 bars and like 75% drive, but every character gets much better with that much meter to spend at will. And from what I’ve noticed in most situations is that if you don’t spend too much meter in the first round it’s very possible that both players will come in to round 2 with full HD and 3 bar, so if Shen can take out a character on his own he’ll probably enter the next round ready to do big damage. Of course, if you don’t like playing Shen without using meter then placing him in the back will probably be your safest bet. I’m just trying to be able to place Shen anywhere on my team so that I can always find a place for him even when I really mix up my usual team order/selection.
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[LEFT] [/LEFT]
[LEFT]Most characters with projectiles can use their light projectile version and then begin to run forward behind it to get in or to punish the opponent for hopping/jumping/rolling to avoid the oncoming fireball. You can compare this to how Guile is able to walk behind his weak Sonic Boom to limit the opponent’s options. The faster versions have worse recovery and so they’re better suited for poking fast, creating tighter frametraps, and pretty much the same things most fast Street Fighter projectiles can do. The lighter versions are still good blockstring tools and the superb recovery makes them better on block. I covered this here on the SRK Guide.[/LEFT]
[LEFT] [/LEFT]
[LEFT]Duo Lon’s projectiles are a little different from the others: both versions start up slowly, the hitbox is low to the ground, and the recovery and fireball velocity easily allow Duo Lon to move about when it’s out. It’s not a good tool for traditional zoning since it comes out slowly, lacks distance/active length, and the low hitbox allows opponents to hop over it easily. However, as I’m sure you saw from Mad_kof it’s main application is for offensive pressure. Duo Lon can trail behind it and punish the opponent’s attempts at escaping from it, and if they block it he gets in for a free blockstring and I’m sure you can experiment and figure out crossup setups and shenanigans with it (especially the EX version). The main thing is finding time to safely toss it out, but from up close he can sneak it in from a 2-in-1 occasionally and if the opponent blocks then he’s getting right back in to his frametrap game.[/LEFT]
[LEFT] [/LEFT]
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[LEFT]Chin’s great, and he has certain normals (st.C, st.A, j.CD) that function really well. I don’t think he’s as hard to learn as 02 May Lee, 02 Angel, or perhaps 02UM Jhun. It’s mainly getting a feel for his chains, occasional links, combos, normals, and knowing which specials are good in what instances, and bringing it together to figure out how to pressure the opponent: the same criteria for learning any character. I’ve gotten a feel for him on defense, just gotta work offense, but I know Laban knows more and there was a player on one of Sp00ky’s streams on Saturday who won with Chin so you could try checking that out.[/LEFT]
yeah im not giving up lol i like the game its pretty fun im learning as i go on what to do. i just didn’t expect the combo mechanics to be THAT tight. (and i thought blazeblue was tight) thank god you you poke in this game tho lol
Off-topic, although this is general discussion so I don’t know if that really matters…
But I just realized something. I knew the guy who designed SF1 would later go over to SNK - I didn’t know that that same guy originally made Kung Fu/Kung Fu Master.
Kung Fu on the NES was the very first game I ever played - and I played the hell out of it. To this day, I consider it the reason I got into fighting games. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that I’d later become a huge SNK fanboy.
I was initially thinking of doing an FAQ Thread when the game first came out but I was lazy. You or someone else could make it and also have it open for further questions of all types be it beginner questions or uber technical set ups questions.
