starter characters

just picked up kof XIII and i’m learning fundamentals and game mechanics mostly right now. right now I’m using maxima, shen, hwa. Please recommend characters that would be good to start the game with and learn it unless you think my team is ok for that. I like to play grapplers and not be execution heavy for characters which is why I picked max and shen. hwa just reminded me of adon.

If you like playing grapplers, why not trying Clark instead of Maxima ? I don’t use him, but he doesn’t feel execution heavy.

Clark mainers, feel free to correct me of course.

Otherwise, the rest of your team is ok, as Hwa and Shen are quite monsters in 2d and 3d position. Can’t go wrong with them.

Vice is a nice choice for a grappling character too.

Grapplers. Probably Goro is the easiest one to just pick up and start wrecking shit, better to put him on 1st or 2nd because a lot of characters can easily keep him out. After him either Raiden or Clark. Vice is easy as shit if you keep her on 2nd or 3rd and just spam jCD into her EX grab… Effortless.

Characters that are not execution heavy but are good. I’d go with Ryo. Really good fireballs, they AA, they’re totally safe on block and hard to punish unless you’re predictable. Good corner combos, great damage, SRK is gdlk, and if he jumps in and combos into fireball he can easily take off 25% guard. Moreso if he has you in the corner.

I really don’t like the typical SF shoto like ryo. I heard shen was low execution and high dmg but i want to stick because I like his brawler style and specials.
I’ll look at the grapplers you guys mentioned but are there any easy starter characters that aren’t shotos. Are duo lon or elisabeth low execution? maybe mature? She looks fun just getting in your face and scratching it off.
I’m also wondering if it’s not reckoned to have 2 grapplers on your team or if that’s playable. I don’t think kof is a heavy zoning game like SF but I’m worried if I have 2 grapplers ppl will easily counter pick me with heavy zoners or something.

Liz is probably low execution but hard to get used to. She could be described as aggressive keepaway. If you throw out a projectile and jump at her when she wants you to she can make you hurt, not nearly as much as arcade though.

Duo is anything but easy to pick up. Mature is fun to use, maybe check her and EX Iori out.

I dont know why ppl are saying duo lon is hard to pick up. He is probably the easiest character in the game to get effective with, and one of the absolute best points. I think your team looks fine as it is, both hwa and shen are strong and easy. If you want to swich out maxima for another grappler (tho you dont really need to) i would recommend daimon, he is super easy and great as well ^^

There’s more to Duo than Rekka into teleport. Anyone will tell ya’ that.

Maxi (pad) is anything but easy. He does MASSIVE damage if he gets in but it’s so hard to do that that your work is more than cut out for you.

Maxi reminds me of Q from 3S. They both have certain advantages and do massive damage but they’re so slow and lack everything else that’s an uphill battle to win with them.

Do you have any preference to command types? like do you prefer a character to be all command moves with no hold moves?

Maxima isn’t for everyone…

so right now I’m trying clark, ralph, shen/maxima in that order but I’m still haven’t gone through anyone yet or ruled anyone out. thanks anyone for all the advise so far. haven’t played as much as I want to lately so hopefully that will change next week.

and Zx-tole. I’m not sure what you’re referring to so I’ll say I don’t prefer command normals but i’m not apposed to them. I don’t like to have to hold and release like raiden.

haha sorry I wasn’t sure how to word it. charge moves like say guile’s sonic boom or flash kick. I play raiden and when I first started playing him his charge move the shoulder tackle always turned me off but I eventually got used to it.

If you were the same way I wouldn’t have suggested someone like clark or raiden. but I’m guessing you don’t mind that much judging from your choice of clark.

Have you tried Terry? he is pretty basic and pretty low on execution (aside from a few tricky stuffs). Personally i would go with Clark as my grappler, he has way too many options and while i like Goro too, i prefer Clark’s more speedy style, however most grapplers in the game are perfectly viable is mostly about personal preferences, for example i just don’t like Maxima at all but that’s just me.

You could also try Ex Iori, he is a terrific character both for beginners and experts and it can be played in almost every style you choose to play, i would personall use Clark on point, Ex Iori on second and Shen as anchor…in fact that sounds pretty good, gonna try this team later XD.

Duo is not that hard to pick and play at a basic level (rekkas and teleport all day), but he is arguably one of the hardest to master and i’m agree, he is one of the best point characters in the game (probably second to King and maybe Ex Iori), but you need to work pretty hard in order to not only be effective, but annoying too.

IMO he is not by any means the best option for people learning the game.

can all specials be drive canceled?

No. Only certain specials. Check the wiki to see which.