I really need help.

[DreadZero]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this site and new to GG in general. I have recently purchased Accent Core and at first I liked the game, though I am now tempted to throw it in the trash or inflict harm on it out of frustration. The reason being that I cannot beat the Arcade mode under any circumstances. I have managed to luck out five times but thats it, and its taken a weeks worth of effort to do that. Each time I did manage to beat I-No, I usually spent around 2+ hours worth of continues on just her stage. I feel pathetic, not just because I can't beat her, but because I've been told that she is easy, and that I "must really suck" if I can't defeat boss I-No. Now before you offer advice on how to dodge Megalomania, I already know how to. Megalomania is not what is killing me, but rather the fact that I can't land more than a few hits She either blocks or FD's all of my attacks or she is too busy combing me to let me get an attack off or even block for that matter. As such, I am usually at half life or less before I actually land a hit. Further compounding this problem is the fact that she breaks out of whatever I'm doing to her once she loses 1/4 or more of her life to do Megalomania, thereby destroying any kind of positive momentum or initiative I had. I have come close to killing her several times, but she usually ends up pulling something out of nowhere to win, something like a surprise 9 hit combo being the most frequent, and in a close second is her aerial overdrive that takes away 1/2 of your life bar. There have been several times where she has simply used her overdrive twice, the second time hitting before the knock back animation for the first one has even finished. Also, if I ever, ever find myself in a corner, I might as well stop playing, since she never lets me out. Even FD'ing while in that postition doesn't help, since she usually just waits a few seconds before pushing me back into the corner and raping me again. I know you'll probably call me an idiot for complaining about her, but I am distinctly convinced that a few of her moves are broken. Two specifically, the one where she slides along the ground to lead into a low-hit vertical attack, and her aerial move where she sends two forks of energy toward you. The first renders her seemingly invincible, since I have been in the middle of attacking while she does it, and she goes through my attack to hit me. Case in point Sol's 6H, the overhand slash that hits from high to mid, will just go right through her unless you catch her at the absolute beginning of her attack, or hit her at some arbitrary point, I've also seen her go through k's and s/6s in the same manner, through the she clearly hasn't gotten any smaller since the last I've seen her, she only seems to be vulnerable to low hits. Usually its too late for those by the time she uses it though. The aerial energy fork thing can hit all the way across the screen, and if there is a safe zone away from it, it is very, very small. This effectively prevents me from doing any kind of rush-in or approaching her in an aggressive manner, since she can always just pop the move off when she sees me coming. I cannot take to the air of course, since she has her aerial overdrive or any of her other awesome aerial moves. Thus, I'm forced into reacting instead of setting my own pace for the match. I really like the rest of the game, but theres no point to it if it means that I'll suck at it. I didn't buy it to not be able to beat the arcade mode on fucking normal, and I know that if that is something I can't accomplish, then it also means that I have no hope of being able to stand up to a decent player, let alone a good one. Also, since you've probably been wondering, I play Sol and Eddie, and have beaten the game twice with Eddie and 3 times with Sol. Since Eddie has been said to be a top tier character I feel even worse since I am unable to beat something people claim to be easy with a character some would call overpowered. Any advice is appreciated. I am really, really, really upset over this. There is no excuse for me. I can get through SFIII 3rd Strike just fine. Gil is a pansy. I am also a veteran of the Soul Caliber games, and consider myself decent at them at least. I can't understand why Guilty Gear is giving me so much trouble, and that truly bothers me. So, please enlighten me as to what I am doing wrong, or what I am missing, since it seems I am unable to grasp something fundamental. Or, you could simply sneer at me for being a weakling, whichever takes your fancy.

[Chomite]

Firstable, don't get upset or cry or stressed over just a video game. That is just stupid. I don't understand people getting stressed over a game. Sure, GG is a competitive game but try have some fun out of it. If you are new, of course you are going to do bad at it. You will lose. When I was playing soul calibur for first time, I lost to this one guy like 30-40 times in a row but I didn't get upset. I was actually tremble over joy of fighting somebody superior. You are new. Of course it will take time to get better. Practice is only advice I can give it to you. There's a training mode in every fight game for a reason.

[shtkn]

I honestly don't know why you're stressing out over this. I presume your eventual goal is to fight people right? Beating Boss I-No doesn't help you with that at all. She's a boss with special boss moves and has a significant stat boost. IMO, all playing arcade mode will help you with is executing combos on a moving target, getting used to how your character moves around, and maybe practicing some basic attack strings. Beating Boss I-No doesn't accomplish anything, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Mike Z]

I agree with the posts above - beating the computer won't help you improve against humans since you can just figure out what always works, and it'll always work (witness Makoto's [Karakusa->Fierce->Hayate]xN beating any level of AI in Third Strike). Doubly so in GG because the characters' 'endings' are just a static picture with the credits rolling over it, and the special character-vs-character intros are much more awesome. However, if you absolutely have to beat her to continue liking GG, throw her a lot. Throw her as soon as you're allowed to after Megalomania (you have to wait a bit), and especially with Sol, Wild Throw her and combo. Learn how much of a combo you can do before she'll break out into Megalomania, and stop right after she breaks out. Use the bit of lag after her super to start pressuring her again, and it's almost like you never stopped. Also, you can hit Stroke the Big Tree (ground slide into spike up) with any low move, but it dodges mid and high - or you can throw it. You can FD if you try to advance in the air and she attacks, which is a good thing to be able to do properly against humans as well. Or you can play Potemkin, where [slidehead 5k 2s Heat walk back]xN is almost as bad as Makoto vs the computer. Mike Z

[Teyah]

I wouldn't worry too much about not being able to beat the AI. Instead, work on learning strategies such as blockstrings and combos with your character of choice. Once you get a basic idea of how to apply and reset pressure, you'll do ok vs the CPU, since even they aren't programmed to act correctly every single time. Some basics for Sol and Eddie can be found in their respective forums. The Sol forum doesn't yet have a gameplay guide, though there is some useful info to be found in the 101 threads. The Eddie forum has two gameplay guides available: one AC Eddie beginner's guide and one intermediate/advanced #R Eddie guide that still contains some useful info for AC (just ignore the parts that speak of the shadow and its combos). P.S. For easy wins against any level CPU: Sol - any gatling to 5H, jump-cancel to instant air dash with j.S-H, repeat till something hits. Don't use if Boss I-No has tension. Eddie - gatling to 236K, run up and 6K-214S. Instant guardbreak, 100% of the time. Tap and release K after the reflector hits, then continue the combo.

[Honnou]

I used to instant kill her, that being the only way I could beat her. Even now as a competitive player, I honestly sometimes lose to her or Order Sol in the arcade, but it really depends on which character I am. Also, if you just look for patterns, it doesn't matter how strong the computer is. Some times they always backdash on wakeup (order sol) or with I-no, a lot of times she doesn't block after getting out of Megalomania. As for chemical love (the move that goes across the screen), many characters dash under (faust, chipp, millia, sol, etc.) and for tall characters (Slayer, Johnny) many have moves that go through/under (Johnny: 6k, 6hs, 6p, Slayer: 6p, mappa hunch, dandy step, dash). If you're faust/testament, poisoning I-no is a super easy way to beat her, especially when she goes into megalomania. As Sol, gunflame is obviously a great move against I-no cos she can't dash over it until a way late point, and she can't slide under either. Just be careful cos you're vulnerable doing it. VV goes through anything, always great, and yeah throw a lot like Mike Z said. Eddie....dunno drill spam, abuse Anti-air (6p, 2hs, 6hs) and long pokes that take up space. And if she blocks everything, you can command throw her during shadow pressure. >>>Teyah: LOL, yeah I remember the funny strings that the computer never tries to break out of. I remember using Sols 6hs BB x N, in AC, Johnny 6k MC 6k x N, with I-no, 41236S x N, Ky 6hs x N etc.

[DreadZero]

. What character are you using?

I'm using both Eddie and Sol, since I've become ok with both characters.

I use Sol because I can do most of his special moves on command (though I can' t his Fefnir or Tyrant Rave Beta for the life of me. Sidewinders are also hard for me to do), and my strategy usually consists of stringing them together as opposed to comboing with normals.

I switched to Eddie after reading through the faqs on the Eddie forum long before this post. One of the things I'm certain leads to my defeat while using Eddie is my inability to summon the shadow. While I can do it with when fighting the other characters, when I'm playing against boss I-No I rarely have a chance to summon the shadow, and provided I do, I usually get hit or have to block before I can get him to do anything, and judging by the faq, not being able to use the shadow gets you killed as an Eddie player.

In regards to dashing under her Chemical Love, I have personally tried dashing at her with Eddie and having her use it on me. Multiple times. That was the reason why I said something like that, though I will try it again, or maybe just try Braking the Law when I see her jump up. Hopefully I'll be able to cancel out of the dash in time.

Lastly, I do believe that there is something to be gained from beating her. Regardless of whether or not beating her prepares me for human competition, I view the ability to beat her as a milestone to be surpassed. Unrealistic as it may seem, if I can beat her on normal, and begin to be able to do the Arcade mode consistently on normal, then I can begin to step up the difficulty to the next level. I'm probably just being stubborn, and I apologize for that, but that is the self-imposed goal I've set for myself, stupid as it may seem.

Anyway, my record is now 3/3 Sol/Eddie. Thank you for your advice so far, and I'm looking forward to more.

[Van Buren]

boss i-no is full of shit and you shouldn't get upset over losing to her... I have a hard time with her and have been playing gg a while, though not ac. Anyways, if im in the mood for arcade... when i get to i-no i tend to quit lol.... it doesnt help me improve at all. The AI in accent core is limited to reading your command input and reacting accordingly. So in other words, it "cheats". Sometimes you can get through or they wont react but thats because thats how they are programmed... so in essence, you must have a degree of luck to beat i-no... or just have her patterns laid out well in your mind. Or find some tactic that the AI is oblivious to. My advice is... don't bother. Boss i-no is good only for a head ache.

[rtl42]

since you're new, you may not have known, but the CPU reads your inputs, so don't bother trying to mix up or whatever. you have to learn the quirks of the AI.

[Hellmonkey]

I'm pretty sure she won't block an overhead in an attack string- so with eddie just get her into blockstun with ]k[ and you get a free 6K reflect into knockdown and unblockable.. lol. But like others have said, it's not really an accomplishment to beat the computer, the game is really only worth playing against other people- so while playing against the computer might help you learn the engine and such at first, your main goal should be improving your gameplay/execution/combos/spacing etc. for when you play other people.

[DreadZero]

Well good news, I just spent all day yesterday working on it, and when I came home today I was able to beat her with Sol using no continues (though I did lose a match against her, so no Boss Order Sol for me) and with Eddie after expending one continue. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up on a consistent basis. Anyway, thank you for all your help. You may see me around the Eddie or Sol forums from here on. EDIT: Of course, I've probably just jinxed it by saying I can do it, but whatever.

[Doomscyther]

I tag you the best sol player in the US.

[Van Buren]

Seconded.

[Doomscyther]

A ky player giving out sol tips, ill be damned.

[DreadZero]

I tag you the best sol player in the US.

Seconded.

Lolwut

And thank you Blade, a good portion of that was suprisingly helpful, though I knew some of it already.

I've been watching some match vids on youtube, and have found a glorious lack of Grand Viper. This worries me since I use it fairly often. I know that on block, your going to take a beating, but I've seen many opertunities to use it safely passed by in an attempt to start a js-sidewinder loop, or a simple and unsuccessful air combo. I've never been a terrible fan of mid-air juggling in any kind of fighting game, though I have no qualms about juggling someone from the ground. Is Sol stronger on his air game or can he be used from the ground just as well? Also, is it wiser to play Sol conservativly and completely forget about Grand Viper except in the one instance where its guaranteed to hit, which occurs once in a blue moon?

Also, I have read the opinions on the Dragon Install in the Sol forum, but I actually think its quite useful. That doesn't mean I'll rush out to use it each time I get 50% tension, but I do kind of like what it does to the Gunflame and the H-VV. I have been told by a friend of mine who plays Slayer (and is apperantly fairly good with him, I haven't played him yet,) that nobody uses Dragon Install. If nobody uses it, that would suggest that its a useless move. Thoughts on this?

Oh, and in case any of you were wondering, it usually takes me a few continues but I-No is no longer half as much of a problem as she used to be. Hurrah! Still hoping I can get to Boss Order Sol to see what all the fuss is about...

[koogy]

"I've been watching some match vids on youtube, and have found a glorious lack of Grand Viper. This worries me." i think this is a new quote of a lifetime.

[Spirit Juice]

Watch Isa and P.C at Tougeki for your Grand Viper fix. Then you'll see why there's a "glorious lack of Grand Viper."

[Hatred Edge]

Dude Dragon Install sucks. Use it if you want but soon you'll discover why Dragon Install is the WORST Overdrive in the game. Sol only has it because he's a gear. Look at Dizzy and Justice. They got that big-ass-end-the-world-no-sex beam. So Sol has something like that. This is Dragon Install. It is to simply show Sol's power in gear form.

[Rift]

So...I'm the only one that finds boss HOS easier than I-No?

[tsukihimeblood]

Sol's Dragon Install is just a glorified taunt

[Hatred Edge]

Boss HOS is an asshole. TWO DRAGON INSTALLS? Madness.

[Soul]

Dude Dragon Install sucks. Use it if you want but soon you'll discover why Dragon Install is the WORST Overdrive in the game. Sol only has it because he's a gear. Look at Dizzy and Justice. They got that big-ass-end-the-world-no-sex beam. So Sol has something like that. This is Dragon Install. It is to simply show Sol's power in gear form.

Though I'm not a hardcore Guilty Gear player, I have to disagree with this..

Maybe this is because I only play with a keyboard, but Dragon Install is the only overdrive I can do, yet I kick as with it. Gun Flame becomes one big spike, use that on a wall, and you can get the enemy stunned for a sec, prepare for a dust or the Dragon Install Volcanic Viper for the 12 hit combo, yeah your gonna expend your Dragon Install, but if you use that as a finisher and you know how to recover well from a Dragon Install, it's epic. I've beaten some people outside of Guilty Gear Scenes (Friends) and it kicked ass.

But its only my opinion

[Spirit Juice]

Seriously. Don't ever Dragon Install in competitive play.

[Hellmonkey]

Doragon insuto-ru is the best overdrive in the game.

[Spirit Juice]

Only if you lack O.