Need help and advice soo much

[KisukeOboro]

Been trying really hard on becoming good at this game (especially since I just suck at fighters), but it's proving to be so difficult and frustrating that I'm just about to depressquit. Apparently I'm doing something wrong, like learning things that I should learn later instead of first, but I don't know where to start.

I guess that I should probably at least show some examples of my gameplay in order for some of you to get a general idea of what I'm doing wrong.

I'm trying to learn Lambda. Felt that I was too inexperienced to post this in the Lambda thread.

vs. Bang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RemcrKihOaw

vs. Jin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Dzq-mzQFk

vs. Lambda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QTuCxvTjsQ

vs. Litchi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irxVqiEf6NQ

vs. Noel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJwKucnKh2c

vs. Platinum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLVfovbKo1A

vs. Ragna

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDUT7Z8XnmY

vs. Tsubaki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAnDyQdis0g

vs. Valkenhayn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYexDPfmDGM

Obviously I need help, but I don't know in which areas I need to improve on or where to go to improve, so if anybody can point me in the right direction or offer specific advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

I dunno, maybe I just need to try out a different character for awhile instead of Lambda.

[mAc Chaos]

First thing's first: play more calmly. You run around hitting buttons desperately a lot, and when you hit buttons without thinking you're leaving your character wide open without being aware of the consequences. Every time you try to do a move, you give the opponent a chance to hit you, so you should only do moves when you're aware of what's going on instead of just running up there and hitting buttons hoping it'll hit.

The Lambda forums can help you with the Lambda stuff.

[KisukeOboro]

So, then that means that I should be completely reactionary and that I move only when my opponent makes a move?

[Delrian]

Not completely reactionary, but what your opponent does and where your opponent is should have a lot of influence on what you do. Your goal is to hit them a lot, after all.

[Airk]

Lambda IS a pretty reactionary character though - you shouldn't, for example, just be throwing out 2D or 6D and hoping your opponent obliges you by jumping into them; You need to be able to react to them jumping with 6D, airdashing with 2D or j.2D, and dashing in with 5D or j.2D. Once you can score a hard knockdown from a combo, you can set up your sickle storm oki (or if you're lucky and you can sneak out a sickle storm on an opponent at neutral) then you can start some offense and go in and start pushing buttons proactively, but Lambda's main business at neutral is to react and frustrate the opponent into making a mistake.

[Circuitous]

I'm trying to learn Lambda. Felt that I was too inexperienced to post this in the Lambda thread.

You're never too inexperienced to ask for help. If you want to learn Lambda, posting for help in her board should be your second course of action. (The first is to read the stickied threads, of course.)

That said, your problem does seem to be more of a general gameplay issue. One I don't think I can really help with, so I'll just leave it at that.

[destruction_adv]

In general, there is a situation where most moves in the game are best used, knowing these situations can help you know what you need to do. Check the Lambda boards for what move to use when though cause I don't play Lambda at all.

[KisukeOboro]

First thing's first: play more calmly.

Any ideas on how to do that? Whenever I play I tense up a bunch and am the complete opposite of calm and I have no idea how to reverse this.

[Rhiya]

Any ideas on how to do that? Whenever I play I tense up a bunch and am the complete opposite of calm and I have no idea how to reverse this.

Familiarity.

Play the game more, spend time in practice mode, etc.

[Airk]

Familiarity.

Play the game more, spend time in practice mode, etc.

Mostly this, but also, try to consciously think about what you're doing instead of letting your hands go into autopilot reflex mode. Even if you react too slowly, you'll be cognizant of what's going on and be better able to deal with it mentally.

Do not allow THIS to happen. Remember - even if you lose, you don't lose anything, so there's no point in getting too worked up.

[Manta]

Just looked at your lambda mirror match you posted there. You have two big big flaws, that, if you were to correct, you'd improve hugely.

• Whenever you get into trouble, you mash. Every. Single. Time. Usually, when an opponent scores a combo on you, they usually have frame advantage at the end of it, meaning they will always beat your mashing and get yet another combo, and then and another and another. Your default action on the defensive should be to block and occasionally attempt to jab your way out with an appropriate move.
• Your combo execution is way too tense. You can tell by the fact that you keep cutting short your multi hit attacks (like 6C, 3C etc) and throwing away damage for no reason. You also don't end combos well, sacrificing momentum. (E.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDUT7Z8XnmY&feature=player_detailpage#t=60s - that 236C was very poorly chosen)

Edited June 16, 2012 by Manta

[KisukeOboro]

So, I looked on Lambda's frame data and her fastest normal attack is 2B at a 0 frame adv. So, when somebody ends a combo, hit them with that, right?

[Mcgreag]

No her fastest normal is 5A, you need to look at the startup value. Frame Adv is how much you are ahead or behind if they block that attack and you let it recover (instead of canceling to something else). But you shouldn't do 5A either, most of the time after a combo you should just block.

[destruction_adv]

So, I looked on Lambda's frame data and her fastest normal attack is 2B at a 0 frame adv. So, when somebody ends a combo, hit them with that, right?

No, you misunderstand, frame advantage refers to how soon you recover if the opponent blocks. negative numbers mean if an attack is blocked the opponent can move/attack first, 0 means you both move at the same time, and positive means you can move first (take advantage of this when the opponent blocks.) I beive Lambda's fastest normal is 5A at 5 frames of start up. 5A is generally a character's fastest normal. Though you may want to take range into account as well (some times they'll be out of your 5A range). If you have 50 meter and want to escape from an opponents offense use her Calamity Sword super (I think that's the name, 632146D is the input) has inviniciblity on start up and is pretty good to escape with, and you can do it mid-air if you end up wanting to escape while in mid air.(I think, I don't play Lambda.)

[KisukeOboro]

Oh, okay, I get it now. Now I guess what I need to do now is to learn the other character's combos to know when a combo ends so I know when to counter attack?

Sorry if I'm asking obvious questions, but I don't know what the steps are to learning how to play this game well, as in I haven't seen a step-by-step guideline on what to learn first and what to learn next after that and then after that etc.

[destruction_adv]

Oh, okay, I get it now. Now I guess what I need to do now is to learn the other character's combos to know when a combo ends so I know when to counter attack?

Sorry if I'm asking obvious questions, but I don't know what the steps are to learning how to play this game well, as in I haven't seen a step-by-step guideline on what to learn first and what to learn next after that and then after that etc.

It varies from person to person what you need to learn first. I could give a suggestion though. For Lambda, I'd suggest learning her neutral game first, it's infuriatingly strong, and it will carry you a long way, once you have it down, combos are good to learn, and then pressure and blockstrings afterward because you won't need them too often at beginner level. Learning defense, you will have to work on it, but just starting out, it's not a priority because you won't face offenses where yoiu will need advanced defensive skills, if you insist on learning early though learn instant block, and I suppose learn when to barrier too. With Lambda, I can see barrier as being really good (cause you put them out further and into Lambda's really effective range). Keep in mind that it takes times for all of these things, and if you're like me, you'll likely be mixing the steps, which is perfectly fine. You might want to take reccomendations from someone who's a Lambda player though (I sub Mu, and this has been my progression, the two seem fairly similar so it might be helpful.) Oh, and welcome to BB.

[Airk]

Oh, okay, I get it now. Now I guess what I need to do now is to learn the other character's combos to know when a combo ends so I know when to counter attack?

Well, it's important to differentiate between a 'combo' and a 'block string'; The former is what happens when you are getting hit. The latter is what happens when you are blocking. And though they might look similar at first glance, they're really not. At the end of an opponent's combo, you are probably lying on the ground (or, occasionally, teching in the air.). Usually, your best bet after THAT is just to try to block whatever they do next, or maybe, maybe wake up with Calamity Sword.

Blockstrings are a whole lot more nebulous, and you're really mostly going to need to learn from experience - there will usually be gaps in an opponent's block string (i.e. places where you are not actually in block stun.). Depending on the size of these gaps, you may be able to backdash out, jab out, or jump out... and you need to know what you can do when. Generally:

#1: If you're not in the corner, you can backdash out of any gap that doesn't lead into an attack with lots of range. Lambda has an excellent backdash - it moves her fairly quickly and a pretty good distance. You should definitely learn where to backdash out of blockstrings. Once you have backdashed, you are pretty close to back in neutral and can proceed from there.

#2: If you ARE in the corner, you can backdash out of gaps that are small enough that the next attack whiffs on your backdash invulnerability. This is a pretty small window, but lots of blockstrings have these sorts of small holes. It's going to take some learning to figure out when this is. Once you have backdashed and caused one of these attacks to whiff, you will generally then need to jab or throw the opponent out of their recovery, because you're still very close, but they can't cancel their attack since it whiffed. Note that if the attack they are using recovers quickly, backdashing won't help because they may be able to recover and hit you before your backdash ends.

#3: Anytime you notice a place in your opponent's blockstring where they like to dash in (usually because you've been using barrier to push them back) is a good time to try jabbing them out. This may or may not be safe depending on the move they used prior to dashing in, however. (You can also backdash these gaps)

#4: You can also jump or IAD backwards in some gaps; If you don't IAD, you should try to barrier ASAP because many grounded attacks can't be blocked in the air without it.

Sorry if I'm asking obvious questions, but I don't know what the steps are to learning how to play this game well, as in I haven't seen a step-by-step guideline on what to learn first and what to learn next after that and then after that etc.

There isn't really any such thing, but I always advice beginners to check out James Xie's "Beginner Mode" series. It does an excellent job of teaching about the game, though it's still not a 'step by step' guide.

[KisukeOboro]

There's something else that I'm having trouble with.

Whenever I play against the computer (on Hell difficulty, even though it really doesn't matter since the computer doesn't accurately reflect other players, but whatever), for some reason I play just fine (as in I don't freak out and I'm calm), but whenever I play online, I always freak out. Can someone help me out or give me some pointers on how to improve?

[destruction_adv]

There's something else that I'm having trouble with.

Whenever I play against the computer (on Hell difficulty, even though it really doesn't matter since the computer doesn't accurately reflect other players, but whatever), for some reason I play just fine (as in I don't freak out and I'm calm), but whenever I play online, I always freak out. Can someone help me out or give me some pointers on how to improve?

This comes from playing a lot, the more you plat the more natural it becomes the less nervous you are.

[Airk]

There's something else that I'm having trouble with.

Whenever I play against the computer (on Hell difficulty, even though it really doesn't matter since the computer doesn't accurately reflect other players, but whatever), for some reason I play just fine (as in I don't freak out and I'm calm), but whenever I play online, I always freak out. Can someone help me out or give me some pointers on how to improve?

Play more. Eventually it stops being "OMG! It's another person!"

Also, relax. :P Cultivate a healthy "who cares?" attitude.

[Manta]

Just to clarify, what I meant by frame advantage after a combo is that. When you tech after a combo is done on you, you have to wait a bit to return to standing position before you're able to start doing a move. If, at that point where first able to do a move, your opponent's foot is already rammed down your throat (Because they weren't having to tech), then you will always be beaten out unless you did a move with completely invulnerable startup (of which calamity sword is lambda's only choice) or just blocked. Expect your opponent to do this, and just live with the fact you have to block most of these times. Similarly, learn the timing to do this yourself when you do combos, Lambda is exceptionally good at this particlarly with sickle storm.

[KisukeOboro]

Just thought that I'd give a couple of videos along with my new question.

vs Rachel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwdKiNY6luw

vs Relius

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7-c_de7RM0

One of my biggest problems is not knowing what to do when I'm backed in a corner, which is a lot more obvious in the Relius fight. Any tips?

I know that my reaction time to things is low, which is due to me still using a pad, I think. I ordered a stick and it should be delivered soon, so hopefully after awhile, I'll be able to have a better reaction time to things.

I felt that I was a little bit calmer with these fights, but I still feel tense at some points in the fight, but it isn't as bad now as it was before, I think.

[Kivorav]

To warn you right now that going from a pad to a stick isn't necessarily better. The only real difference is, depending on your button scheme, that you can have four fingers on all four buttons at the same time. I remembered that from March 2011 back to July 2010 (release of Continuum Shift in states I believe), I was playing on a pad. On release of Marvel vs Capcom 3 in February 2011 I was playing on pad also until a month later I decided to get a stick. Once I got it, I had to relearn how to play both games and that took me a while. So once you go to a stick, be prepared to taking some time to play with it.

Anyhow, to comment on your two recent matches. For your Rachel match, you've been holding on to the barrier guard a little too much than needed. The barrier guard is there to give a little push your opponent away. When used correctly a little at a time, it gives you some breathing room. This is especially important to be mindful of how you use it as you will be finding yourself in block time. It's fine to use it, but once you confirm you are blocking, release the guard and block as normal, react to overheads and lows by blocking correctly. Another thing is that you used your burst way too late when you're at a crumb of life. It is okay to burst if you're in a clutch. This is good as alot of players are basing their playstyle on momentum. A burst is a common way to break their momentum and shift it off a bit. Be aware though that players will sometimes drop a combo or blockstring to bait you on a burst, which if you take it, they will block or it will whiff and you will get punished.

Same case on the barrier guard during the Relius match. However, you did good in going to the offensive when the Relius player lost Ignis. with Relius, you will have to be patient and block while Ignis is active. Last match however, it seemed you panicked a bit shortly after the Astral was blocked but Ignis is still active.

Other than that, play more just to be comfortable with the game. You also have other tools in your arsenal. Such as if you have 50% meter and you're just stuck in an endless blocking phase, you can counter assualt to break momentum about the same way as bursts, and there's very rare cases that a counter assualt will be punished, much less than bursts. You also have Lambda's 236A as a quick way to get away and gain distance. Don't go using it so much though as you will most likely get punished the same way as them baiting a burst.

[Delrian]

I know that my reaction time to things is low, which is due to me still using a pad, I think. I ordered a stick and it should be delivered soon, so hopefully after awhile, I'll be able to have a better reaction time to things.

Arcade sticks are simply another controller, it won't fix slow reaction times. Time and practice will though.

Also, should you get an arcade stick, you might want to check this thread if you haven't: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?8397-The-quot-Help-Using-a-Joystick-quot-Thread

[Airk]

Just thought that I'd give a couple of videos along with my new question.

vs Rachel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwdKiNY6luw

vs Relius

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7-c_de7RM0

One of my biggest problems is not knowing what to do when I'm backed in a corner, which is a lot more obvious in the Relius fight. Any tips?

I know that my reaction time to things is low, which is due to me still using a pad, I think. I ordered a stick and it should be delivered soon, so hopefully after awhile, I'll be able to have a better reaction time to things.

I felt that I was a little bit calmer with these fights, but I still feel tense at some points in the fight, but it isn't as bad now as it was before, I think.

Now, admittedly, I only watched the Rachel fight, but I don't really think your problems are what you think your problems are.

You lost the Rachel match because:

A) You have a poor sense of the range/hitbox of your attacks - you did some 5D's while Rachel was right up there in your face and some 5Cs when she was a long way off

B) Your combo execution was lacking - the Rachel player had at least a couple of combos that they could finish, whereas I think you finished one once. It's hard to beat an opponent who can do 3.5 per combo when you're struggling to make it to 2.

C) You took a bunch of damage from randomly hitting buttons/doing moves when there was a projectile about to hit you.

A) Will be solved by practice. Keep playing.

B) Will be solved by practice as well - though spending some time in training mode looks like a good idea.

C) Will be solved by...practice.

Your blocking and patience were actually much better than your opponent in the Rachel video, at least.