Hollysmoke

-Rhythem and Timing : Make sure you don't input everything super fast or super slow. Figure out if what you're doing is a chain or a combo. Chains can cancel animations and are easier to combo. Links mean you're linking one animation after another, right as the first one ends; not cancelling the recovery animation. Links will be something you'll have to practice regardless for the timing. You can use audio or animation cues to help learn these. -Execution: Make sure you can input everything cleanly; go to training and just keep doing the motions 10 times over. Look at the input. Is the game shortcutting for you or are you inputing it cleanly? This is important because in some games during a combo there is no input correction or buffering. -Game knowledge: Know what you can do, when you can do it. Make sure you understand the spacing of your moves when you're using them, and what you can follow up with accordingly. Using Sol as a quick example, If you gunflame from afar and land a hit, you can RC into Bandit Bringer. If you're really close and you do it as oki and land a hit, Bandit Bringer will fly over their heads, but you can do c.S into an air chain instead. You'll mash out a lot less if you're more composed, because there's less guessing and more "okay I know what to do now" and not "Oh shit I landed a hit what do I do WHAT DO I DO?" How people learn things is different for everyone. If you want to develop a physical skill such as execution, you'll have to know what you're trying to execute first. This is just about as much advice as I can give on the subject.

Learn frame data, know when to punish with throw. He wants to learn something, he's asking how go about doing so.

Harshly spoken, but true; he's just asking HOW to do it right. It took me two weeks of just grinding out IAD jK links for I-No before I started landing them consistently. BB and P4 have buffer input which makes it a lot more forgiving so like I said, pick a game and just feel it out. I've given you plenty of points of observation that can apply to any game you choose to play; whether or not you choose to heed them is your own prerogative.

That's my point; each play games differently and you're not developing a feel for it before you jump to the next. Just like anything else in life, if you have to commit time to get good at something. Do you like UNIEL? Okay, that's fine. Feel out the speed of the game so you don't mash out combos.

Yes, just practice is a general platitude but it is true. What you're looking for is HOW to go about practicing it. First off, make sure your inputs are clean in training mode. QCFs, Z-motions, etc. Try and avoid shortcuts as much as possible because you'll avoid input errors in the future. One thing to consider is that certain inputs in combos are stricter, so you might be able to do a special raw, but can you do it cleanly in a combo? I noticed that Ramlethal is your Xrd main so you'll want to make sure your input are clean for when you want Green or non-green Dauro. The next thing to get a feel for is timing. Using Sol as an example, when you want to dustloop, you can't mash it out; it'll drop. You have to 6P > delay > 5H > cancel into jD as soon as possible. Some combos you might have to delay certain moves, so you'll want to double check that. Also you mention you've been playing FGs for "several months" but you're practicing between 4 games judging by your signature. Roll it back a bit. There's a reason why most people only play 1 or 2 characters in only a couple fighting games; it lets them develop muscle memory for the character they main. So narrow down your range of play. Each character has a different style of play and execution. Chipp and Ramlethal play and execute differently which makes picking up a rhythm more awkward. Some people can, but they've also been playing FGs for years.

Bobbo, please. I-No is already getting buffs, too much power and she might get wheelchaired.

Just do what most SF IV players do: Blame it on the stick :B

You know what would be cool? If each progressive CL in a combo played a different riff, rewarding you with stylistic music for styling and not dropping your combo. Just a thought :U back to your regularly scheduled combo discussions.

With or without training that just comes from natural experience of playing the game. At that point it's not a matter of what you learned, but learning when to use what you learned. That's the second half of learning the game. Did I not mention this? I thought I mentioned this.

Then go for it. No reason not to learn them - at least it's fun to do so.

Sorry didn't mean to come off so strongly. I've been around for awhile and I've seen people give great advice as well as poor advice. You're right, I worded it poorly. I didn't mean to imply it's the ONLY way, but it definitely is the safest. Being able to press any button you want in training mode is a sandbox method of learning; it's like giving a child a lego set to let them be as creative as they want. Going into matchmaking would be the equivalent of using the lego manuals; now you have to play in accordance to a specific gameplay you dictate with respect to your match-up. The bad habits are the equivalent of stepping on a lego block. The pain teaches you. Three and oh on the Lego analogies *fist pump*

Good habit to get into is practicing what you can low profile with it and getting punishes with it.

Was this a corner or near corner combo?

Your average player will not pick up on more intermediate/advanced techniques without practicing in training mode. Not to mention GG tends to have character-specific combos moreso than other games, so it's good to practice certain nuances in training mode otherwise you won't understand WHY something isn't working. The day someone can do I-No's 6FRC6 mechanics in XX without practice/knowing the timing is the day I'll eat my flippy flops. You can learn fundamentals both in training and in matchmaking but that only takes you so far. Grinding out BnBs, character mechanics, etc in training in combination with experience in matchmaking to practice your footsies/offense/defensive play and strategies is how you become a good player. You completely missed the point I was making. Certain players such as LK do almost nothing but training mode so they understand almost everything their character is capable of. Stop telling people not to learn their character properly, it's bad advice.

I disagree. You SHOULD be training first because you should be understanding your normals and specials on a most fundamental level. Matchmaking doesn't teach you what's safe or unsafe on block, nor does it teach you simple things like what gatlings/cancels into what. Learning how to get an opening is what you feel out when playing against other people, but knowing what to do with that opening is what you practice in training. Learning and practicing more complex mechanics such as Sol's Dustloop or Venom's Ball Formation or I-No's IAD jK link isn't something you'll naturally pick up from matchmaking, especially at a beginner level. Even if you see it and get blown up by it yourself, you won't know how to do them until you feel it out yourself in practice.

You mean supers? Some are depending on the character.

You know what's a good way to break any habit? Put an elastic band on your wrist. Flick it whenever you catch yourself doing it. It's how I got out of the habit of sacrificing virgins for the glory of Satan spamming Bandit Revolver as a block string ender on Sol. Then when you stop playing and you're doing chores or whatever, you see the red marks on your wrist and you question it, reminding yourself "Oh yeah, I did that because of [insert bad habit here]. I should stop that". You subconsciously condition yourself to stop doing that action then. This is just some life advice you can apply to anything really.

I think he's looking for a cheap yet effective 3rd party alternative since those controllers cost like $50-60 depending on where you live.

66956 = Dashing after your hoverdash. You can use it when you want to go airdashing into people's face for whatever your gameplan is. 663 = Situational air dashing upwards at a higher angle. You can use it as a psych out (Start airdash, they try and do something, you fly above their head) or bait (maybe you throw a note low on the ground, they try and jump over it and you use 663 to meet and greet in the air).

I-No wins because she's got a guitar and 3 inch platforms I'm completely jealous of. Aigis is just some janky-ass robot. My bias for character design has no bearing on this discussion.

Yup yup. Typoed that. I fixed it.

Just a polite reminder to keep stuff like this in the Q&A/101 thread please; this one is used to post combos or the discussion of creating combos or combo theory. As far as basic combos go, the challenge mode does a good job of teaching you some chain routes off 6P and corner dive combos. As far as mix-up options; a lot. You can dash jK and mix up into either a jD overhead, or land and follow up with 2K. The easiest combo you can use in most situations mid-screen is a confirm off 2K or 6P > 5HS > jK > jS > jc > jS > jHS > HCL ~ D. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGJ2yfxvpQQ is a good video demonstrating some useful beginner combos for her.

I only play ASW fighters / airdashers so they all tend to have a global feel for me. GG is the only one I take seriously though, since P4U is easy to learn.

Playing anything but GG is the worst habit of all

No, you're not; I was just explaining what the intention behind the mechanic is. That's why its so janky at the moment.