General training and information gathering info inc. Editing this post.
Ok, I am not a Jax main, so I cant help with him in a specific sense, but I can (hopefully) give you some general character learning advice that you can apply to Jax, or anyone else for that matter.
Firstly,
@juicepouch linked his great guide. Start there. The first step I take in any kind of character learning endeavor is to search out a couple guides. I will usually try to find more than one. Some guides will conflict with one another, but most will overlap quite a bit, if they are done well and of a high quality. The previously linked guide absolutely *is*. Conflict in guides is nothing bad, it just shows the authors opinion, but overlap is what to really look for. Overlap tends to hit on the core of the character. The fundamental stuff that is absolutely required to play that character effectively.
Secondly, I grab a pad of paper and a pen. I use literal writing and not Notepad.exe or copy and paste, because writing to me acts as a mnemonic device and aids me in memorizing whatever it is Im writing down. Im also grumpy and I like things on paper.
Third, in MKX, I begin data gathering. I look around for notable players of the character Im trying to learn and I YouTube their matches. I read forum posts and the guide(s) Ive dug up and I start to suss out the following things and commit them to paper:
Notable Normals. -
Are there certain normals you always see, and others you dont? Find out which normals are worthless and which are strong. Write them down.
Notable Strings -
For the most part, every character is going to have his or her useful strings, and his or her not-so-useful strings. Figure out which ones you see being used, and WHEN they are being used. Often times a character will have strings suitable to use in the neutral game but they don't necessarily lead to a combo. I try to make a list of strings with little notes on how they seem to be used. Pressure string? Combo starter? Forward advancing? Does it start up fast and lead to something, so its suitable as a punish? etc. Depending on character this list can be long and detailed, or short and to the point. Some have lots, some do not.
Notable Combos-
My favorite thing. Do people focus too much on combos? Yeah.. and especially new players, BUT, the combo system is what I love about MKX and what makes me want to play it over my main game, SFIV, and its what keeps dragging me back (that and the amazing sound work), when I ultimately become frustrated over one thing or another and storm off in a huff swearing I wont come back. I do though. I'm a masochist. Anyway, combos. Watch your notable players. Read the appropriate threads and read your guides, they will all have a ton of info on combos. Usually way too much info on combos. There is so much to keep track of, that it can be overwhelming. I'll try to give you my method for parsing the information and getting to the important stuff quickly.
I ask. Look over the character threads here and you will see my name pop up asking for practical BnB's for very nearly every character. Just because the combo thread lists 15 combos, doesn't mean you need them all necessarily. By just asking players what they find themselves actually using in a match, you can narrow down the field quite a bit.
I lean towards ease of use and consistency. Sure, a 47% combo is bad-ass, but if its a huge setup, starts off an impractical starting string or normal, and requires pro-level execution, it is not a practical combo for a new player. I would MUCH rather have consistency that absolute optimal combos IN THE BEGINNING. You learn 50x more by playing the game, than by sitting in training mode repeating inputs, so the faster you get a few basic combos down and head out in to real matches, the faster you will build the skills and confidence to transition to the really gnarly stuff.
I keep it simple. I look for a relatively easy (some characters do not have easy combos, even if you 'optimize' them for simplicity. Jax is one of those. You aren't going to get Cryomancer easy combos on him no matter what you do, but there are degrees of difficulty) Metered and non-metered BnB combo suitable for midscreen use. I then look for the same thing, but for corner use, then I look for a punish combo. Armed with those combos, on most characters, you will have all the damage you need as a new player. Now, 5 combos still sounds daunting, but most combos follow a pattern. They format out to look something like:
{Starter} x Special x [Universal Extender] x Ender.
In most situations the entire combo is the same, metered, or non and they even share many similarities in the corner a lot of the time. What differs is the {Starter} and in certain situations the Special and more rarely the Ender. The difference between a metered BnB and a non is often times nothing more than the {Starter} x Special part. Using meter on your Special will allow you to launch off starters you may not be able to use for that purpose otherwise. A quick example are a couple Cryo BnBs (just thrown together for the purpose of a visual aid, please dont get upset that they are simple and I dont mention ExHammer to extend certain ones further, etc etc)
{Starter} x Special x [Universal Extender] x Ender.
(With meter)
111 x (ex)IceHammer x F42 1+3 x IceHammer**
B21 x (ex)IceHammer x F42 1+3 x IceHammer
B33 x (ex)IceHammer x F42 1+3 x IceHammer
..etc
(Without)
F122 x B2 x RC x F42 1+3 x IceHammer
B2 x RC x F42 1+3 x IceHammer
B33 x Ice Ball x F122 x B2 x RC x F42 1+3 x IceHammer
..etc
**Starts quickly, is a High on first hit, but suitable for punish and can be hit confirmed easily.
Now, I just listed 6 combos, that are all very very similar. They begin differently in most situations but the rest of the combo is the same across the board. Obviously this makes it a hell of a lot easier to learn. It looks daunting but its not so bad when you realize its all mostly the same thing.
So yeah, I kinda went off on a tangent about combos, but that's how I collect combo information and how I parse it. then I just practice the crap out of it in training mode as time and motivation allow. I do want to say again though, your goal should be to play the game, not live in training mode. Some people will advocate just learning the *perfect* combo, even though it may be SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult than a combo that does 3-5% less. I strongly strongly strongly feel like learning consistent, easy combos to get you out in the 'world' and fighting matches is by far the superior way to go about this. Once you have the basic version your characters combos down to the point you can hit them any time you want, under pressure in a real match, and whip them out on reaction, absolutely start chasing down that max damage with much harder stuff. Just dont do what a lot of people do and turn in to a training mode warrior who ends up saying "Ok, I'l debut this character as soon as I can hit (insertgodcombohere)" and burn yourself out looking at the training stage and never play any matches. I have a sneaking suspicion a *lot* of people here spend a thousand times more time in theory and training that actual game play. Dont get me wrong, I'm one of them... But its not because I wont go online, its just that I kinda cant, lol.
Notable Strats, setups, etc -
I tend to finish off my basic research by writing down notable strategies I see being used on the character. Tactics and things to keep in mind. Do you see pros often doing a less-than-optimal damage combo midscreen, when you yourself know one that would have done more? There is a reason they did that. Maybe it ended in a restand, maybe the combo they chose had superior corner carry, so they sacrificed damage for screen real estate. Maybe they are on a hyper meter hungry character and it builds a little more all-important bar at the cost of a few % of damage.. Do you see patterns to the play of the pros? Consistent little things they are doing? As you develop your eye for the game and your character you will start to be able to read what they are doing, or trying to do. You will see certain characters have specific gameplans, specific strategies and spacings, and so on and so on.
Learning this stuff will help you a great deal. This mostly exists in the realm of theory and its something that can be difficult to impossible to actively practice as a newb, but as you get better and more comfortable, you will find everything slowing down and you will realize you are thinking about more than just the next split second. When this happens, it usually marks a solid evolution of you as a player too. I literally remember exactly when it happened to me. I was playing SFIV, and I AA'd with Yangs St.MK, the moment they popped up, instead of my usual DDDDDDAAAAAMMMAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE mentality, everything felt slower and I thought to myself, ok, this guy has shown no ability to block my crossups and he seems to get flustered easily, so I'll jump and do a ji.RH, which will cause me to land directly under and in front of him, but by stepping forward just as he lands, I will cross him up on landing, which I doubt he will block correctly, I will gain excellent positioning as he will now be very close to the corner, I will start with a low, instead of going max damage with a cl.fp because an ambiguous cross-up attack that also starts low will be that much harder to block, then transition in to my Rekkas, I should finish building my second bar of meter on or before the first Rekka so I will FADC the second one in to ultra for the win.
All that popped through my head in a split second, literally as I kicked the guy then followed him in to the air. Now, I dropped the FADC and he blocked my ultra, (LOL I was o salty) but an OH and a throw later I still took the match.
Ok, this has been a wall of text and Im sorry for that. Im bored and my internet is being douchy so i cant do much at the moment. Im listening to an audio book and writing this as things come to me. I'll try to wrap this up with a tiny bit more advice, then I'll shut the hell up.
Once you have gathered your information, just set aside time to practice every day, in addition to actually playing your character. I did a great deal of advising along the lines of "Ask or watch someone else" and that's great to get you started, but never feel like you cant do something because you dont see someone else do it. A lot of these games are preference and as you play your character you will learn what YOU are comfortable with. Enjoy yourself and play how you want. Use other, more experienced players to help guide you, but that doesn't mean you cant detour and play how you want.
Do NOT over-train yourself. If you are in training mode spamming a combo and your consistency starts to get WORSE all of a sudden, like you go from 6-7/10ing that sucker to 2-3 or whatever, *STOPPPPP* either train something else entirely or take a break. Sometimes you go on tilt and if you keep spamming that combo you are now building incorrect muscle memory. The easiest way to correct this is just stop. Take a break for a bit.
Sleep. There have been numerous studies on how sleep helps cement tasks we have learned the previous day. Its actually super interesting and applies to all aspects of your life, you should google it and read up on it some. But in the case of fighting games, if you are struggling with something and going crosseyed trying to get out this or that combo, or setup, or whatever and have been grinding the hell out of it with not much improvement in a while, just stop completely and come back to it when you've had a full nights rest.
Thats it for now. I play on PC, you can hit me up here or on Steam or whatever if you need anything, or if something i said wasnt clear,or, if you're on PC as well and want to test our connection. I'd love to actually get games in on MKX =/
