Just ordered the game

[Butt Soup]

Alright. I have just this second ordered the game and it should be coming through my mailbox by tomorrow.

Before I go into my set of questions I would just like to give a short introduction. The first real fighter that I ever played was SFIV. It was also this game that sparked my interest for fighting games in general. It wasn't long before I also started dabbling in other games of the capcom franchise like 3rd Strike, Alpha and Turbo (my personal favorite). I never really wanted to become competitive, but I took it quite seriously and would sometimes spend most of my day playing (if work or school didn't intervene). I would never consider myself 'good' at any of them, but I definitely grasped most of the fundamentals. Lately however I don't have as much time as I would like for playing games, uni, work, social life and what have you.

Because of my lack of time, I am really wanting to know how I can most efficiently spend my time learning the game. This doesn't mean that I'm asking for help regarding what character to play. I have already found out that there generally isn't a 'best' character to play when starting out with a new fighter. All I want to know is, when I have decided which characters I want to play, which skills are regarded the most important to have so I can finally start playing against other opponents. Obviously it'll consist out of a hitconfirming, BNB's, meter usage and anti-airing. But because KoF is so radically different from anything I have ever played before (heavy emphasis on being on the offensive), I'm not quite sure how to approach it. What would be the best way of going about to learn the game? It's not that I'm looking for some sort of miracle solution (it'll require hours of gametime regardless), but it's just that I don't want to go learning anything that isn't really required at a starting level. And seeing as there is so much to learn, the chance of me doing just that is very big.

I hope I'm not being too vague.. Anyway, any input is greatly appreciated!

[Alucard-XII]

Welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy KOF. Fortunately, KOF13 is a great game to start the series with.

Regarding your question, my personal answer is "combos".

You would want to spend a lot of time experimenting with your characters. The process is very fun and enjoyable. Generally, the first 5 trials of each character in Mission mode gives you a general idea of what is possible to do with the character, but they don't represent the optimum combos. You would still need to find the right combos that suit your style. Ignore the more advanced trials for now. They are just meant to drive you nuts.

Even after learning combos in Practice mode, you would still need to get used to them in actual matches. Arcade / Story mode will help a lot on that regard.

I don't need to mention this, but Tutorial mode should be your very first step before all of that. You can also check the videos posted here. They are very informative, and they even cover some basics for the combos system.

You would also need to get used to the game's "flow". A lot of Capcom players struggle with KOF, so try to give it a chance and expect it to take some time with you. You may want to focus on the different jump types and rolling.

I would like to add one thing. There are few things to consider when picking up your team. This thread contains some valuable tips regarding that.

Finally, you can use these two guides for some general information, as well as character-specific details and tips:

http://dreamcancel.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_King_of_Fighters_XIII

http://wiki.shoryuken.com/The_King_of_Fighters_XIII

I hope that helps.

[solidshark]

Welcome to the site Butt.

Per your situation, I agree with Alucard on the combo focusing. But I'll say even before you put time into comboing, make sure you can perform the jumps, hops, rolls (AB - weak punch and kick), blowbacks (CD strong punch and kick) and guard cancel roll and blowbacks which are meter-dependent systems. And while this game has lots of momentum and rushdown, that's certainly not the only way to play it. Use rushdown, but don't always use it.

Hope this helps you too.

[Butt Soup]

Thank you both for your quick replies. Alright, combo's. Makes enough sense. I remember that trying to do combo's in Marvel not only helped me understand the combo system, but also the game mechanics as a whole.

Regarding practicing combo's, I've already contacted some people from my fighting community and there's actually a couple of people who play KoF. They also host small tournies, so that'll definitely help with upping my game. More surprising is that one of them actually helped contribute a shit ton to the shoryuken wiki apparently.

Those youtube videos were entertaining as well as informative, thanks!

I'll most definitely will be spending most of my time learning the game mechanics (jumps, rolls, etc.). Movement seems to be VERY important.

Are there any useful things that you guys know now, that you would have liked to know when you were starting off?

[Mr Bakaboy]

Personally combos are VERY important in KOF XIII, however it's also what gets most people frustrated when they learn them without anything else. People who go into it thinking it's like Marvel vs Capcom 3 and combos set you up for everything get really frustrated when playing veterans online.

To me before you get around to playing people online I would get familiar with the spacing of the game. Looking at the list of games you've played the closest I would interpret it to is 3rd Strike. How whoever controls the spacing between the 2 characters (meaning when you jump their jump always beats yours, when you move forward, they seem to be one move ahead and hitting you before you can do anything. That's spacing) is going to be at a severe tactical advantage in this game much like 3rd Strike. Rolls are also vastly different then anything Capcom offers giving the opponent a way out of a sticky situation, but remember they are still punishable if used unwisely.

If you really want to get good at spacing the advice I usually give players is to play without jumping whatsoever. You'll understand how spacing works really fast if you give yourself that handicap.

[Butt Soup]

To me before you get around to playing people online I would get familiar with the spacing of the game.

If you really want to get good at spacing the advice I usually give players is to play without jumping whatsoever. You'll understand how spacing works really fast if you give yourself that handicap.

Wow, that is actually the exact same tactic that I used in Turbo. Because I couldn't recognise situations where it wasn't safe to jump I got DESTROYED. After I eliminated jumping from my game completely, I had to focus on footsies to get into my opponent's face. That eventually ended up making my groundgame really strong, forcing my opponent to start jumping at me for a change. I guess KoF is no different.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to playing some KoF. I always enjoy learning new things, esspecially in the beginning when it's still easy, haha.

[Mr Bakaboy]

KOF XIII kinda works similar to what you described for the most part. A good ground game supports jump ins. Without a good ground game you will be squashed pretty hard.

[solidshark]

Are there any useful things that you guys know now, that you would have liked to know when you were starting off?

Two things for me: how important combos were, and how much time I should've given to the game to really be proficient. KOF was the first game I wanted to take seriously, but never did. Getting beat by mid-level players as a beginner is always an eye-opener, but fortunately got me deeper into the whole game.

You can take this to any fighter honestly, but it's never felt more important than in an KOF/SNK fighter.

[yamazaky96]

for me KOF is not about HD combos
drive cancel combos are much better because of the high damage and less scaling plus u will not find your self with 0 meters and 0 HD in the next round
I can do a lot of 100% HD combos but I just dont like depending on them.

try making your own style of game play
also when you are cornered use guard cancel blow backs and dont worry about the meters

[Sharnt]

The best way to improve is to found someone near you and to play as much and as often as possible.

And I don't like break CD, for me break roll are much better (impunishable and might allow you to punish something).