Combo Practice Help Q~Q

[HindsightOnlooker]

Although i have been just a lurker in this thread for about a month,this is my first time ever posting in this thread so before i start ranting questions or anything i just want to say hi to everyone!.
To start off i have not been playing this game long, in fact this is the first KOF game i have EVER played and had recently found out about it, around a month before the console release(i play the 360 ver), and since i started actually playing the game i loved everything about it from the character/background artwork to the great game play graphics.
But since transitioning from games like BlazBlue(i was never really good at that game either LOL) i found that the game play is a bit different and i'm currently having a really hard time comprehending how to input the buttons/movements for combos when i'm practicing, usually what i do is look up combo vids and try my best to learn from there, but often i see that i cant really keep up at all, its like you have to be ridiculously fast at the inputs or they will never go off, but when i did try it that way after some time i found that if your too fast then some button commands wont even register, which i found frustrating at times. Currently i'm trying to practice using Ash, King and a few others but right now my main focus is learning how to play Ash, hes a fun character to use at times(when i get frustrated and start just spamming his DM on the practice dummy until i cool off), but i'm finding it hard to figure out how fast i should be inputting the commands in the combos when i'm reading them,Any tips would be wonderful and very much appreciated.

[bigvador]

in all honesty its really hard to tell someone how fast to input there command on the forms u would have to see and hear it but really all i can say is keep practicing and stay calm and dont mash (not saying u do)

[Aenthin]

Hmm...Ash is a very tricky to combo though. I would really suggest other characters but if you insist, I'll give you sample combos for Ash.

Before we get started, you know the basic chain for combos in KoF, right? This would be Normals > Command Normals > Special/Super/Neomax. For example, Ash has his cr.B, cr.B > b+B > d_u+K. In some cases, there are times when you can link a light normal into a heavy normal or a command normal/special into a normal, but let's talk about that a little later.

Now going back to Ash. Actually, the combo I provided is a very tricky combo to do. In order to achieve it, you have to hold the down button immediately after inputting b+B. Then from that point, you'll just have to watch carefully when b+B will end. Starting immediately with this combo for a newbie like you may lead to...varying results. Let's just say you might end up spamming more of those DMs.

A better practice would be doing (near opponent) st.C (optional) > b+B > cr.B. This is actually one of the few cases I was talking about earlier. If you are able to combo all hits, you're doing it right. To note, cr.B should be around the same time you should be inputting d_u+K if you use that combo instead.

For Drive Canceling, Ash really only has a few options. His d_u+K > b_f+K has a shortcut (db_uf+hold K) so timing is not much of an issue. It's also rare for you to drive cancel into anything else either.

I'll try to post other combos and their timing next time (so dead tired). Though, to be honest, all you really needed to do is to patiently execute it yourself and see when is the best time to cancel a move and/or follow it up with a juggle.

[HindsightOnlooker]

Wow thanks alot for the useful tips, and yeah i do have a small problem with mashing but i try not to spam because i have a hard time inputting the commands accurately(hoping that it works out) i know its a horrible habit but i have been working on it alot, now the only other problem is being able to pull off long/or otherwise tricky combos(bad hand-eye coordination i guess? lol) but i'm sure like you said  practicing will help with that.

And as for combo'ing in general i was not even aware of what the basic chains for combos for this game was(i haven't yet came accross a tutorial/guide that touched on that subject) but after reading through what you said it's starting to make a lot of sense(the more you know xP). But basically what your saying for some of this is that there will be buttons that you would have to input the second you get done inputting the last one. i have been trying through trial and error to pull off some combos by doing it step by step, it helps for memorization but i often find that some moves take ridiculous(the fun part 8D) amounts of timing to pull off in order to continue, or its just me being either too slow or too fast but anyway it would be best if i get back to practicing with what i have learned here since its easier said than done xD and again thanks a ton for the help i really appreciate it ^^.

[Aenthin]

Np.

If you don't mind, let's continue some combo practice with King. Actually, King is more lenient than Ash when it comes to basic combos. Her standing close D is a two-hit attack, which gives you enough time to react for you to cancel it. Her slide (df+D) also has a good number of cancellable frames, if cancelled from a normal. As long as you don't mash your buttons, comboing her cl.D (2hits) > df+D > practically any special you want would be easy as making a sandwich (arrange the ingredients carefully and you'll have a good sandwich; cram everything on the bread in 2 seconds and it will eventually fall apart).

Practicing Drive Cancels with her is also a bit better than with Ash. In particular, one of her drive cancelable moves is her Trap Shot (dp+K) which is fairly long enough for you to input commands without panicking. As you know, she would first start her combo with a backflip kick. Once she starts doing her flurry of kicks, this is just about the time you should be inputting another special. Let's say for this instance, you should input her Venom Strike (qcf+K). By the time she lands her final kick, that should be the time you should press the K button for your fireball.

Below is a video showing the same combo and when exactly you should cancel the Trap Shot (skip to 6:48):

King of Fighters XIII Presents: The Techincal Reference of Yuri Sakazaki and King

Actually, watching all the old Technical References should provide you the timing for almost each and every one of the moves available. Of course, since these videos were released two years ago, the exceptions would be the console-exclusive characters. Despite the balance differences between the console version and the arcade version, timing drive cancels, super cancels and max cancels should still be the same.