OzzFoxx
Hardcore gaming poser.
Does anyone else have any passion for breaking down the Hard/Very Hard AI learning ways to beat it consistently with every character? It might be because I'm a software developer, but this is a true passion of mine - beating the old-fashioned computer. To do this, I created a spreadsheet (that constantly requires updating with each patch), that I can use to calculate the best tools to use against each character. This is possible because the AI runs the same script each round.
The most important thing I've been able to calculate so far is that almost every character's 1,1 or 1,2 combos are better than blocking a running opponent. Having a 1,1 combo that leads to 25+% damage is incredibly important. These combos are almost always safe and if you can find a character that has a safe special move to juggle with, you are essentially unbeatable. A 1,1 combo will hit the CPU about 43% of time if its running towards you.
Secondly, you need to somewhat abandon your traditional understanding of the on-wake mixup game. The CPU will block your mix-up over 70% of the time, and its much harder to find a safe mixup so you will be punished often. Its better to add some mixups in place of the 1,1 for a running opponent to increase that original 43%. Still... your 1,1 mid/high will hit more often... speed beats unpredictability in this case.
What's better on AI wake up is to initiate a safe attack, then block their punish attempt when your hit is blocked, then do a mix-up. Collecting data on this is difficult but it amounts to something like a 60% success rate.
Third, take advantage of CPU jumps. It is very easy to get the AI to jump over any obstacle if you have one - Sonya's bombs, Erron Black's caltrops, Reptile's acid, etc. They do not attack until late after the jump and you can juggle in air, but I find its better to uppercut and gain advantage.
Fourth, AI meter - if AI has meter, it will use it at the perfect time. If AI has 2 bars, don't punish, it won't come out before they armor through you. What you can do instead is drop your block for a frame, then put it back, it will bait out the armored attack and then you can punish. This takes practice to get right but is worth the effor.
Fifth, wake up - When you're waking up, especially in the corner, and you don't have an armored attack ready, always block low. AI will mostly attack low first and when they don't, you can usually poke them before their overhead hits. Poking without blocking has about the same success rate but the punish is worse when you fail (this shouldn't be the case, but I will keep looking into it). This is a pretty important step, especially against both shinnoks.
Sixth, Neutral Jump Punches - If you have a character that has a njp that can hit on the way up, the AI is quite a sucker for it. It hits around 40% of the time as a punish, less so otherwise. This is OK though because njps lead to so many strong combos. Even if you just add an uppercut, that's 18% with a safe-block-mixup (#2) chance.
Seventh, Pokes - Pokes are the best way to create space for most characters. If you have a really fast poke like Kotal Kahn's d1, use it alot. You can usually get 6 in a row and then f1 when they backdash to punish. Use pokes more to create the space for your mixup. D4 usually creates space and lets you attack. I use the safe combo-block-mixup routine with this.
Eighth, use the fundamentals - Make sure you are going into the match with good knowledge of your safe attacks. I find about 2/3 of every character's arsenal is almost useless against the AI. The AI will always punish unsafe attacks... there is no reading them and taking advantage of something it doesn't know. Manage your uppercut use to only when you need it and it will hit more often.
This is what I have gathered from my playthrough. I am working hard to get myself into the top ten rank on klassic tower and these tools have helped me get close. To illustrate how different AI is than humans, Kitana is so far the best suited against the AI IMO. If anyone has interest, I can break down any character against AI as I would play using these tools.
The most important thing I've been able to calculate so far is that almost every character's 1,1 or 1,2 combos are better than blocking a running opponent. Having a 1,1 combo that leads to 25+% damage is incredibly important. These combos are almost always safe and if you can find a character that has a safe special move to juggle with, you are essentially unbeatable. A 1,1 combo will hit the CPU about 43% of time if its running towards you.
Secondly, you need to somewhat abandon your traditional understanding of the on-wake mixup game. The CPU will block your mix-up over 70% of the time, and its much harder to find a safe mixup so you will be punished often. Its better to add some mixups in place of the 1,1 for a running opponent to increase that original 43%. Still... your 1,1 mid/high will hit more often... speed beats unpredictability in this case.
What's better on AI wake up is to initiate a safe attack, then block their punish attempt when your hit is blocked, then do a mix-up. Collecting data on this is difficult but it amounts to something like a 60% success rate.
Third, take advantage of CPU jumps. It is very easy to get the AI to jump over any obstacle if you have one - Sonya's bombs, Erron Black's caltrops, Reptile's acid, etc. They do not attack until late after the jump and you can juggle in air, but I find its better to uppercut and gain advantage.
Fourth, AI meter - if AI has meter, it will use it at the perfect time. If AI has 2 bars, don't punish, it won't come out before they armor through you. What you can do instead is drop your block for a frame, then put it back, it will bait out the armored attack and then you can punish. This takes practice to get right but is worth the effor.
Fifth, wake up - When you're waking up, especially in the corner, and you don't have an armored attack ready, always block low. AI will mostly attack low first and when they don't, you can usually poke them before their overhead hits. Poking without blocking has about the same success rate but the punish is worse when you fail (this shouldn't be the case, but I will keep looking into it). This is a pretty important step, especially against both shinnoks.
Sixth, Neutral Jump Punches - If you have a character that has a njp that can hit on the way up, the AI is quite a sucker for it. It hits around 40% of the time as a punish, less so otherwise. This is OK though because njps lead to so many strong combos. Even if you just add an uppercut, that's 18% with a safe-block-mixup (#2) chance.
Seventh, Pokes - Pokes are the best way to create space for most characters. If you have a really fast poke like Kotal Kahn's d1, use it alot. You can usually get 6 in a row and then f1 when they backdash to punish. Use pokes more to create the space for your mixup. D4 usually creates space and lets you attack. I use the safe combo-block-mixup routine with this.
Eighth, use the fundamentals - Make sure you are going into the match with good knowledge of your safe attacks. I find about 2/3 of every character's arsenal is almost useless against the AI. The AI will always punish unsafe attacks... there is no reading them and taking advantage of something it doesn't know. Manage your uppercut use to only when you need it and it will hit more often.
This is what I have gathered from my playthrough. I am working hard to get myself into the top ten rank on klassic tower and these tools have helped me get close. To illustrate how different AI is than humans, Kitana is so far the best suited against the AI IMO. If anyone has interest, I can break down any character against AI as I would play using these tools.