Consistent strict timings?

[Masquerade]

Does anyone with more experience at learning a strictly timed combo have tips on getting them down? I've been throwing hours at it and I'm wondering if theres anything else i should be doing to try to get consistency.

 

[JagoMIH]

what combos are you having trouble with in particular?

 

[Sutter Pain]

Also what kinda of tv\monitor setup you got goin? Some may think its trivial but it makes a big difference for me. I learn from visual cues on the screen then try to commit that too muscle memory. Well at least thats the approach I am trying to take.

 

[Chris Salinas]

What character you trying to get combos down with?

 

[Masquerade]

i was trying to get some kabal stuff down like the back 121 jump in kick fireball (pretty much has to be buffered, but i cant seem to time up-forward back back correctly, either the jump never comes out or the back back part wasnt fast enough) Also one of noobs corner combos was giving me trouble it was the 212 shadow kick ~ 212 shadow kick ~ 21 shadow kick ~ 21 shadow tackle, the ~ parts are giving me trouble because if you input too early it doesnt come out, and if you input too late it misses, also i've tried somewhat spamming the inputs but it always seems to mess up the next input after the one you spammed out because you have extra inputs there.

Also i have an HDTV setup using HDMI, i have tested it for input delay and it is good, using game mode eliminates the post processing.

 

[Vandal-Vortex]

has any1 had a similar problem to this... ok so i use noob saibot, i do 2,1,2 xx down back 3 (shadow upknee) but if i don't press 3 or press 3 late it uses the last button input for the special so what comes out is down back 2 (blackhole)... so again has this happened to any else ?

 

[Masquerade]

has any1 had a similar problem to this... ok so i use noob saibot, i do 2,1,2 xx down back 3 (shadow upknee) but if i don't press 3 or press 3 late it uses the last button input for the special so what comes out is down back 2 (blackhole)... so again has this happened to any else ?

Yea, its an aspect of how the game reads input, it can be a shortcut sometimes or it can just give you the wrong special link.

My main question is how are people inputting the dial-a-combo system. im mainly having problems when it comes to ending one chain and starting another one, because if you are just doing one chain you can pretty much do the inputs as fast as possible with no penalty, but in order to juggle properly, you have to input the launcher chain, wait until your character resets and then input the next chain, if you dont wait long enough, the first part of the chain is cut-off, but if you wait too long its a dropped combo.

So, is it better to spam out the first part of the chain to ensure that it comes out ASAP with the risk of over-inputting (i think if you push any additional punches or kicks it negates the possibility of the combo going on, or is this incorrect?), or should i just be trying to nail the timing as closely as possible each time, which to me feel less consistent.

 

[water]

Chain Combo Cancelling to Special Moves
MK9's buffering system is unlike any other. It has a large memory buffer that can work for or against you. You just have to learn how it works. The most consistent way of inputting chains to cancels is to input the chain as quickly as you can, then pause, then complete the special move.

i.e. Noob: 212, slight pause, qcb3

Without the pause and without pressing 3 you will get Black Hole! MK will buffer the 2 for you whether or not you let go of the button or keep it pressed. If you do not pause and try pressing qcb3 you have to perfectly time the 3 to get the Shadow Upkick which is difficult in game. To get an idea of how long the buffer window lasts, try this out:

i.e. Noob: 212, qcb

If done quickly, you should get his 3 hit chain~Black Hole without pressing 2 twice at the end. Insert a very short pause and repeat. Increase the pause time until you no longer get the Black Hole. Remember this timing! This is the pause that you want to use to cancel into qcb3.

i.e. Noob: 212, pause, qcb

Also make sure your inputs are "clean". Do not "spam". Excess button/controller presses tend to muck up the combos. Learn to tap out the chain combo quickly in rhythm and pause before specials. If the chain and special command do not share inputs, you can quickly cancel without the pause.

i.e. Noob: 212, bf4 (Needs no pause; just clean inputs)

Linking Chains in Juggles
Linking chains during juggles is all about timing. The best way to do this is to complete your launcher and land the first hit only of the next chain. If you are early, your next attack will not execute since you were still recovering from the launcher. If you are late, you will drop them out of the juggle. Practice this until you get the timing of when you recover from the launcher. Then proceed to complete your chain.

In Kabal's case, this is difficult due to the need to cancel the jumpkick into the bb1 as fast as possible. Go to the corner. First try to land the jumpkick while tapping upback.

i.e. Kabal: b121, ub4

Then add b1 or ub1 after you can get the timing down.

i.e. Kabal: b121, ub4~b1

If you find this timing too difficult, you will probably not be able to do the midscreen version successfully without a large amount of practice since it requires an additional input.

i.e. Kabal: b121, uf~b4~b1

Do not feel bad if you cannot execute this combo well. Kabal is very execution heavy imo and is difficult to use to his maximum potential. He is beyond my execution skills for sure. If you want to stick with him, you can either use water-downed combos or increase your execution skills to match his requirements.

Good luck. I hope this helped.

 

[Masquerade]

Also make sure your inputs are "clean". Do not "spam". Excess button/controller presses tend to muck up the combos. Learn to tap out the chain combo quickly in rhythm and pause before specials. If the chain and special command do not share inputs, you can quickly cancel without the pause.

This is something everyone will have to be getting used to when getting good at this game, In other fighting games you aren't punished for over inputting but MK seems to be very sensitive for this and combined with the mechanic of inputting stuff in advance, it will take some getting used to.

Its back to practice mode for me.

 

[DrDogg]

The only issue I have executing my combos is the ridiculous buffer system. On longer chains, the pause method works well enough. But take Kitana for example. There are many instances in which you need to cancel a single normal into a special. If I pause, I'll drop the combo because it has strict timing. If I go too quickly, the game doesn't recognize my directional notations (I'll see the proper inputs in practice mode, but the special never comes out), and if I don't have the exact timing, the buffer system kicks in and I get the wrong special.

It's already cost me one tournamnet win, and it's enough to make me want to stop playing the game if it's not corrected soon.

 

[water]

The only issue I have executing my combos is the ridiculous buffer system. On longer chains, the pause method works well enough. But take Kitana for example. There are many instances in which you need to cancel a single normal into a special. If I pause, I'll drop the combo because it has strict timing. If I go too quickly, the game doesn't recognize my directional notations (I'll see the proper inputs in practice mode, but the special never comes out), and if I don't have the exact timing, the buffer system kicks in and I get the wrong special.

It's already cost me one tournamnet win, and it's enough to make me want to stop playing the game if it's not corrected soon.

I'm just curious: Which Kitana combo are you talking about? Are alternative combos available that do the same damage?

I've had similar experience with Nightwolf, so I just modify the combo to exclude this situation at the cost of 0-1% damage. I think it is a good tradeoff for the consistency.

 

[DrDogg]

Basically all of Kitana's big damage combos have an instance in which you need to link a single normal into a special.

f+4,1, ff, 2~fan toss, ff, b+3,3~EX fan lift, ff, b+2~air fan, ff, ground fan, ff, 4~df+2

or

f+2,1, u+2, 4~fan toss, ff, 2~fan toss, ff, 2~EX fan lift, ff, b+2~air fan, ff, ground fan, ff, 4~df+2

 

[water]

Basically all of Kitana's big damage combos have an instance in which you need to link a single normal into a special.
f+4,1, ff, 2~fan toss, ff, b+3,3~EX fan lift, ff, b+2~air fan, ff, ground fan, ff, 4~df+2
or
f+2,1, u+2, 4~fan toss, ff, 2~fan toss, ff, 2~EX fan lift, ff, b+2~air fan, ff, ground fan, ff, 4~df+2

Oic the issue: 2~qcf1 fan toss sometimes gets 2~qcf2 cutting fan.

Yeah that is a tough one. Kitana does have alternative combos that are close in damage though, right? Personally, I would avoid 2~qcf1 like the plague. [MAD][/MAD]

 

[DrDogg]

Oic the issue: 2~qcf1 fan toss sometimes gets 2~qcf2 cutting fan.

Yeah that is a tough one. Kitana does have alternative combos that are close in damage though, right? Personally, I would avoid 2~qcf1 like the plague. [MAD][/MAD]

Not really. Pretty much every combo Kitana has that inflicts similar damage either requires more meter (for multiple EX fans) or has a similar situation.

 

[Raidenwins]

Excuse the n00b question, but what do "qcb" and "qcf" stand for? Could it be quarter circle back/forward? If so, I don't understand. There are no circle inputs in MK as there are in Tekken or Soul Calibur.

 

[GNG Iniquity]

Excuse the n00b question, but what do "qcb" and "qcf" stand for? Could it be quarter circle back/forward? If so, I don't understand. There are no circle inputs in MK as there are in Tekken or Soul Calibur.

The inputs still work, some people just prefer doing the entire motion. You can simply do d,b or d,f though. It's just preference.

 

[low_kix]

The inputs still work, some people just prefer doing the entire motion. You can simply do d,b or d,f though. It's just preference.

NOT doing the quarter circle sounds insane to me, haha. Even on the ol SNES I did quarter circles. Had the blisters to show for it

"I am vengeance, I am the night..."

 

[Slego]

a few things to work on when messing around with kabal:

Think of long combos as small combos combining into one string, what I mean by that is that you CAN input b121 as fast as you want and that combo will complete, because it's a defined combo in the moves list. You will however have to wait until this combo animation is finished until you co for another one. Say you wanted to do a f4 into an x-ray, this isn't a defined combo, so you would have to hit f4, wait until kabal finishes his knee animation, then x-ray, think of this as two combos instead of one.

a nice starter BnB for kabal is f32dash->b121(after this pop-up the timing can get tricky, something to polish off in practice)dash forward, f32cyclone slam. give this combo some time in practice to get the timing just right. after you're comfortable with that you can replace f32cyclone with just a f4 to keep the opponent standing at the end, then pressure with simple 50/50 mixups. Kabal's strength isn't really his combos, but more his punishments and the ability to put on a whole lot of pressure, get a simple BnB down, then work on your simple mixups. (11dash, f32dash, 11b4dash, and 11cyclone are good things to start with.)