How do you become pro at fighting games ?

[Tomoko Kuroki]

Greetings !

 

Alright so hopefully I'll get some replies from some fighting game gods like "tenchu_reppa"

 

I've posted a few questions about fighting games in the past but now I have a more specific question.

 

- What are the steps to improving at a fighting game ?

 

Some people say things like " just practice breh " But practice only gets you so far, you need to know how and where to improve on things. This is the real trick to being good at anything you do. And for fighting games I am not sure how to imrpove.

 

So if we made a step by step list what would it be ?

 

For example,

 

I can learn a characters move list and combo's by heart in a few hours, thats the least of my problems. Practicing how to execute those combos in a real match. Adapting to you opponents playstyle etc.

 

 

I play DoA5 and if I play vs a S player, then no matter what I get pressured so hard I have no idea how to react and then when I lose from 2 flawless victories I sit and I'm like.. I don't know or understand what happened. That's where I would like to know if there are things other then just practicing combo's that could help improve. Sometimes if the guys really good I just kinda spam anything hoping he makes a mistake but it doesn't seem to work

 

 

--I'm really bad at explaining myself, one of my main faults so I'm sorry if this is badly written or something -.-

Edited July 3, 2015 by Tomoko Kuroki

[thegirlruka]

Try playing against a friend that will only use a particular style of attacking. Practice using moves that work well against that strategy. Next have the friend use a different style and see what works in that situation. You can also watch others play and react to different situations. Eventually get to a stage where you know how to counter every strategy and you know how to react. It's kinda like chess, in theory every situation has a perfect reaction and unless the first player makes a perfect move every time, it's always possible to win from both sides of the board.

[ExHaseo]

Everyone telling you to practice is right. That's all you can do to get good at a fighting game.

 

This is what I do, and what I suggest:

I choose a character that I like the feel of, then I go to practice mode and practice combos until I can do them consistently. I don't consider it consistent until I can do them at least 10 times in a row, more than once. This is just to develop muscle memory. Even after hours in practice mode doing the same combo, it's hard to do in a match until you've done it, a lot. 

 

Then, just play against people. You're going to get beaten, a lot. Everyone loses a lot at first, it's a part of learning the game. You just have to keep playing. You'll gain experience and learn to read your opponent. You'll develop strategies on how to fight each character, and slowly but surely, you'll get better and better.

 

There is no quick way to do this. Even if you look up strategies and combos online, it still boils down to your personal level of experience with the game. You just have to keep practicing.

[PipeSwinger]

tenchu_reppa is truly a god at fighting games. I'm not a god, but I'm definitely improving. Practice is really the only way. Also make sure you don't button mash. That gets you nowhere. 

[Goekie]

The harder your oponent beats you down, the tougher you will get. Don't play versus noobs.

Consider picking up an arcade stick

Stick with 2 or 3 characters and master their bnbs - bread and butter

If you want to become a good fighter, don't limit yourself to a select few characters. The more characters you play, the greater your knowledge matchup.

Best tip I can give you is play online ranked matches, observe and you shall learn

[Happy]

It helps a lot if you have a training partner to play with you locally. Playing with another person directly is probably the best way to learn basic stuff like how to read enemy movements as well as approach/defend when appropriate. Learn how to punish your opponents habits and more importantly, learn your own habits and try to mix it up a bit. Trying new things is usually much easier when you're not being pressured by some dude online who was born with 16 fingers. As soon as you've got a good feeling for approaching your opponent safely learn how to make the most of it using combos.

[Zanzarro]

Learn the fundamentals and don't worry if you lose, losing is the key to victory kuz you are learning slowly. Here's SF fundamentals, they will teach you how yo play advance even though you play DOA http://sonichurricane.com/?page_id=1702

If you want to play competitive, learn the fundamentals and apply everything you learn in a match. You'll see how quick you progress. But if you simply want to gitgud at fighters kuz trophies then practice and learn basic stuff. Im no fighting god and for only learning the basics, i almost have done all hard fighting game plats & 100%

[Lord_of_Ra]

Setting a goal might also help. In this case, going for hard fighter's plats. Some of them demand you to complete the challenge mode.

In my personal experience, getting the plat doesn't mean you're automatically pro at it, but you're definitely not new to the fighting system either and this is important in all aspects. It will make your road to "maining" a character easier as you'll have to focus only on learning the best input for combos and practice some found in Youtube.

 

For strategy counterattacks and learning how to defeat various kinds of opponents, all of the above comments have said more than enough.

 

Cheers.

[1973456]

- What are the steps to improving at a fighting game ?

 

" Gitgud " 

 

There are many things that factor into this, personally I would start by analyzing the system/rules programmed in the game you're playing and learning its " tech ".

 

Every fighting game is completely unique in its own way even the ones that are part of the same franchise.

 

Examples:

• Persona 4 Arena's Awakening Mode
• Guilty Gear Xrd's Roman Cancels
• Street Fighter 3S Parry
• How Blocking works in a specific game: Hold Back, Button Based. 
• DarkStalkers' Guard Cancel
• Conditions to Stun your opponent or other altered conditions that affect him/her and if such a feature is integrated in the game.

" Some people say things like " just practice breh " "

 

 

I tend to say this very often as well and I should stop and properly explain in a brief manner, what people really mean by this is to practice your motions well enough that you will be able to dish your combos/moves and react well against your opponents in a battle.

 

Even if its the most stupidly simple quarter circle front motion just practice it a bit every day, on occasions even when I'm not playing I take 30 seconds and practice qcf, qcb, dp and hcf/b motions on my stick lever.

 

 

" I can learn a characters move list and combo's by heart in a few hours, thats the least of my problems. Practicing how to execute those combos in a real match. "

 

 

I'm gonna be straight with you, if you're having that issue you haven't practiced that combo enough. Learn it until you can pull it off with your eyes closed or until you feel cocky enough that you can do it in some silly way like one handed or using the controller face down.

 

 

" I play DoA5 and if I play vs a S player, then no matter what I get pressured so hard I have no idea how to react and then when I lose from 2 flawless victories I sit and I'm like.. I don't know or understand what happened. "

 

Alright this is where it gets interesting and a topic most people tend to ignore (to an extent myself included (too much shit, too little time and interest)(scrub mentality))  " frame data " every single action that goes into play when the characters perform an animation.

 

Dedicated players go into a full study of this:

 

 

Range is also considered when studying a character's frame data as well as other properties that may affect the opposing character like Over-head and Anti-air properties.

 

Other things to consider are: player momentum, round time management, hit trades and actually get to confuse your opponent on a psychological level.

 

Even the hardware used is a factor that is carefully considered and analyzed. Just try and pull off that max damage combo on your living room TV after you practiced it endlessly on your personal TV/Monitor you frequently play on.

 

 

I'm really bad at explaining myself

 

I'm better at explaining this face to face in my native language too so...

 

 

Best tip I can give you is play online ranked matches, observe and you shall learn.

 

Amen to that.

 

 

I guess you could learn notation too, comes in handy when writing down, sharing and reading combos.

 

Notation Guide.

 

If you like, I'd be happy to send you more resources via PM, don't really like linking so much stuff ( Just like my combos heyo) in one reply. 

 

Hope this helps.

[Goekie]

Don't forget to tune in on the upcoming EVO tournament starting July 17-19. For leeks this is basically the WC of fighting games.

It would help if you stated which fighting games you play

[TENCHU_REPPA]

I'm not a god I'm just good with fighting game trophies if that makes sense. I have yet to complete P4A. When I do I might consider that title. Just kidding I don't have those type of egos. Really just practice and watch pros play and research. I'm definitely not a competitive/tournament player. I'm just some guy that enjoys fighting games. I've always considered myself average. Oh and for the question pad or arcade stick? It's really just personal preference. I've played on fight sticks, (I have 2) but I just love the regular ps3 controller. It's great. 

[effdeegee]

Step 1: Hit your opponent.

Step 2: Avoid being hit by your opponent.

but seriously, "practice makes perfect" can replace all answers with only three words. It can also be applied to anything and everything in life, too.

Edited July 4, 2015 by effdeegee

[RabbiAndy]

Honestly, "just practice breh"is probably the best advice. Choose a character or characters that suit you and spend a lot of time in training mode. Test out which attacks work at certain distances, figure out which moves are safe/unsafe, take note of how your character fares against close up opponents or zoners, etc. Knowing your character inside and out, as well as his/her matchups against other characters is what it boils down to.

 

The next step would be to play countless online matches. You're going to encounter rookies who are easy to beat, others who are around the same skill as you, experienced fighters, and players who resort to cheap tactics to win. To be a good fighting game player, you need to experience all of them. 

[DEMON]

Actually practice is the best advice you can get.  No one is good at fighting games overnight.  You could be rubbish at the genre in a competitive scene for an entire year or more.  My advice is, you start with easy characters, characters like Ryu, Ken etc, their mechanics are rather easy to learn, then you move onto more fun interesting characters when you feel like you have those kind of characters down.

 

Playing against people in a way is your practice and your feedback, losing and figuring out where you went wrong with the lost is important.

 

Also, combos are important, knowing the moves is one thing, but you can't usually, unless playing against someone who does the same thing, win a fight based off that alone, you need to work out good openers to use (a few since most players will catch on to you if you keep opening with the same move, back when I was into Blazblue, I would have started each round differently to remain unreadable in that way), then decent combos (ones that would work with Online, not every combo you see out  there, especially the long ones, will work online, lag etc causes issues).

 

Also, S player, that's your answer, to get to that rank, it usually means you know your stuff.  I have played against some of the highest ranks and have won/came close to a victory though, it's all about being fast to figure out their playstyle and try to trick them in a way to get a move or 2 in.  Although, I have also got absolutely destroyed by the highest ranked players too, but any I kept bumping into and kept playing with me, I was starting to get an idea how to fight against them.

 

I have played fighting games for years, although I only really have got good at the 3D ones such as SoulCalibur, Tekken, DoA.. 2D ones are a bit harder for me, I would be more casual with them.

[ReverzerO-]

--Practice

--Patience

--Focus

--Defense

--Distance

--Timing

--Annoying Rhythms

--Find the opponent's weakness asap

--Join Tournaments

--More experience &

--Fight a world class caliber 

[Yukiko Miyamoto]

Try to find a character that can do some easy/high damage attacks, then combine that with some other moves to make a combo. You can always look up a guide for a certain character for combos, then just copy it and practice it.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Kimura Takahashi