What's new

Initial Impressions

One thing that caught my attention is that Scorpion's "Misery Blade" stance might be a problem against newbies. It seemed really strong, in this no-training mode environment. I couldn't really figure out any effective counter-play against it, other than block the the mix-up or escape a throw attempt.
It doesn't lead to big damage, it's a nice tool but has plenty of gaps
 

VSC_Supreme

TYM's #1 L taker.
After finally getting more matches in and getting a better feel for it, I really like this and I'm hype for the full release.

One funny thing to me is all the scorpions on wifi who never stop pushing buttons, some things never change lol
 

Shyguy

Ol_Jibbs
We have moderators on the forum complaining about game modes ffs...it's a STRESS test. Jesus christ what are the reqs for mods here?

For those concerned about "slow" gameplay. It plays faster than it looks, and it's much more strategic than MKX. It does feel a bit choppy from the start, but once you get a few mechanics down that feeling goes away quickly.

For nobody at all other than NRS, get rid of ranked/unranked/% bullshit. Just give the ability to accept or decline based on connection. SFV did a really good job of moving up tiers rather than worrying about your fucking win/loss percentage.
 

LawAbidingCitizen

Bomb Setups & Ball Rolls(Mileena/Cyrax)
Very disappointed in the lack of training mode.
This I agree with, it is a stress test but it would be nice to see players have lab experience and have proper neutral.

Scorpion has an overused teleport move that every Scorpion player I've fought against in my 8 hours of playing just spams (painfully similar to MKX).
His teleport is very punishable maybe your issue is not knowing what strings have what range or not using flawless block to punish. These mechanics will take some time to master. You will have to put the time in to play competitively.

Not to mention the wakeups are extremely inconsistent
I don't think that is the case, I watched REO's, HoneyBees, K&M and Aquaman's twitch streams and they all where consistently using wakup roll/stuff. From what I can tell is you have to press direction+MB just as you are getting up for wake up roll and the launcher wakeup is a different timing.

If I'm going up against a projectile spamming Baraka, it's difficult to close the distance and attack without a run/armored dash like in MKX.
Baraka is by no means a zoner at all he is an up close/footsie grappler. You don't need an armored anything to get in nor do you need a run. Look at thier twitch streams I watched Baraka get in on very solid Scarlet's both pros. Maybe try ducking the highs, block the mids and work your way in with advancing specials/mids.

Without a run button, the only way to close distance in a match is to jump, but even that is not reliable cause you can just get uppercutted all the way across the map and then it's back to playing dodge with the projectiles.
You are supposed to avoid jumping in when at jump in distance. You can duck most projectiles and the ones you can't you need to block and use your characters special moves to close gap.



(At least compared to MKX)
MkX was never a zone heavy game there where characters that where better at it but rushdown dominated.

Does anyone know how extensive the weapon/clothing system will be? I'm very worried every character will be limited to 5 items for each category, I thought it'd be more varied like Injustice 2 but I'm assuming we're limited to 5 just until the full game comes out).
From the available info and leaks we had a screenshot showing Noob Saibot has 50 masks so I'm positive there will be much more than 5 outfits. At least 20-30 costumes.
 
This I agree with, it is a stress test but it would be nice to see players have lab experience and have proper neutral.


His teleport is very punishable maybe your issue is not knowing what strings have what range or not using flawless block to punish. These mechanics will take some time to master. You will have to put the time in to play competitively.


I don't think that is the case, I watched REO's, HoneyBees, K&M and Aquaman's twitch streams and they all where consistently using wakup roll/stuff. From what I can tell is you have to press direction+MB just as you are getting up for wake up roll and the launcher wakeup is a different timing.


Baraka is by no means a zoner at all he is an up close/footsie grappler. You don't need an armored anything to get in nor do you need a run. Look at thier twitch streams I watched Baraka get in on very solid Scarlet's both pros. Maybe try ducking the highs, block the mids and work your way in with advancing specials/mids.


You are supposed to avoid jumping in when at jump in distance. You can duck most projectiles and the ones you can't you need to block and use your characters special moves to close gap.




MkX was never a zone heavy game there where characters that where better at it but rushdown dominated.



From the available info and leaks we had a screenshot showing Noob Saibot has 50 masks so I'm positive there will be much more than 5 outfits. At least 20-30 costumes.
thank you for the clarifications. i confess that most of what I was typing stemmed from frustration of the game. I trust that that in time I'll get use to it and my opinions will change.
 

Espio

Kokomo
Lead Moderator
I wanted to play a while to analyze some things and get a feel for the game. I've tried the roster, played a bunch of people of various skill levels on and off for the last five or six hours.

I really like the way the game flows overall the walk speeds feel good, the strings, normals and pokes like maybe it's just me but the down 1's and down 4's don't seem to have as crazy range. I like that the really good advancing normals are minus enough that the person doing them doesn't just get free reign to do whatever they want (like Baraka's forward 4,4 is like -6 or -7?).

The way overheads and lows are generally done is perfect. Scorpion and Baraka's overheads splatting and leading to no real damage on hit is a nice change of pace. Skarlet's overhead being punishable is also good.

The game feels more nuanced because I feel like a lot of thought was put into risk/reward for moves and overall character ethos. I like that there's no rush and it allows for more nuanced mind games.

Even as a seasoned player playing MK9 and X, the new wake up, amplify, flawless block, hops and other elements I feel like I have barely touched on and they will enrich the game as we learn the timings for gaps, strings, player patterns and so on. Very excited to go on this journey with everyone.

Nothing new, but the customization is amazing and the fact that NRS stated, "this is just a sample of the many options" makes me super excited. I'm just glad they embraced customization to such a huge degree of allowing extreme artistic freedom and combinations in this game. It's a HUGE step up from Injustice 2 where a lot of it felt very so-so or lacking.


Only things I'm not big on/criticisms

I really would like to see Fatal Blows to be gone if you whiff them/the opponent blocks them. They seem relatively safe and do a lot of damage, I think it would make them more hype that way because you can't just stall the clock for them to return and have to be very particular about when you let them rip.

Back dashes: I feel like these currently don't have any real notably viable applications because while I was experimenting it seemed like even backdashing down 1's wasn't feasible cause you get punished for doing those. Not saying I want absurd backdashes, but I think in their current state they kind of lack any notable utility to where you have another layer to the post blocked meta game.

Overall though, I am excited for the full beta/game and hopefully we'll have access to at the very least the rest of the reveal characters in it.
 
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Espio

Kokomo
Lead Moderator
Can you elaborate more on this?I'm not sure what you mean?

BTW great post and analysis of the game, very well said.
I meant to say FATAL blows, not krushing blows. The names make me sometimes forget/interchange them.

What I mean is once your health drops lower you get your fatal blow which is like your x-ray, but unlike those when the opponent blocks it, there's still a possibility for it to regenerate. I don't think it should regenerate if you bait it out or make a read on a mix up or combo canceled into fatal blow.
 

The Celebrity

Professional Googler
I'm mixed on it -- I love my combos so it being less combo-based makes me not quite as happy. Footsies and low profiling seem extremely important. Gaps also seem very prominent.

Overall I think its pretty sweet. I look forward to fundamentals being as strong as they look. Hope there's still some big combos to find.
 

kevkopdx

Noob
I'm mixed on it -- I love my combos so it being less combo-based makes me not quite as happy. Footsies and low profiling seem extremely important. Gaps also seem very prominent.

Overall I think its pretty sweet. I look forward to fundamentals being as strong as they look. Hope there's still some big combos to find.
I’m with you... I miss the big combos... most big combos mid screen seem redundant, not a lot of variety outside of the corner. I do like the footsies and think it actually plays pretty well, faster than it looks.
I hate fatal blows tho, they need to make them go away if you fail an attempt, I’m already bored watching the animations.
Krushing blows aren’t as bad as I thought they would be.
Dashing seems pointless.
People trying to keep good win loss records for a beta = lol
 
What gives you the impression combos are toned down?
What is your longest and highest damage combo with Scarlet so far? The best I've seen so far is 16hits at 46% damage midscreen.
So much this. I was watching Tweedy play on twitch and these guys are doing high damage, one bar midscreen combos with Baraka already. PND K&M already do epic Scorpion combos. SonicFox had some long ass, high damage Skarlet on his stream too.

mK11 HaS nO CoMbOs

I guess the troll cucks won't shut up until they see Cryax 100 hit 27% damage combos.

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk
 

LawAbidingCitizen

Bomb Setups & Ball Rolls(Mileena/Cyrax)
I meant to say FATAL blows, not krushing blows. The names make me sometimes forget/interchange them.

What I mean is once your health drops lower you get your fatal blow which is like your x-ray, but unlike those when the opponent blocks it, there's still a possibility for it to regenerate. I don't think it should regenerate if you bait it out or make a read on a mix up or combo canceled into fatal blow.
I can agree with that. Maybe it should go away on block but if it wiffs it regens?
 

kevkopdx

Noob
So much this. I was watching Tweedy play on twitch and these guys are doing high damage, one bar midscreen combos with Baraka already. PND K&M already do epic Scorpion combos. SonicFox had some long ass, high damage Skarlet on his stream too.

mK11 HaS nO CoMbOs

I guess the troll cucks won't shut up until they see Cryax 100 hit 27% damage combos.

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk
The developers themselves said combos aren’t as big.. of course there are still big combos but the whole combo system is entirely different. There is no neutral jump punch, no armor, combos don’t have the same versatility as they do in every other nrs game. Nobody is saying there are no combos lol.. ya’ll are acting like this game is no diff from any of their others. It is. A lot different.
It’s not bad if some people like the other combo system, NRS has been doing it the same way for years, so why act like people are whiny bitches because something they like has been drastically overhauled. If you don’t care, move on Jesus
 

SaSSolino

Soul Stealing Loyalist
oh also fuck the dumb fucking win% thing. 4 out of every 5 people refuse to play me in casual matches in a freaking stress test cause my win rate % is too high and they are scared. That shit needs to go.
Yeah I hope that goes away. I had like 5 smurfs in MKX because nobody would play me outside of my friend list.
 

Bloodfang

The Immortal Tiger
I got stomped at first Scorpion vs Scarlet whenever the player got agressive and got me cornered with pressure I have NOT found Scorpion's means of hitting out of it yet. His startup frames were killing me on top of how unsafe he is, lol. If we were in neutral and I had time to work and space things I did a bajillion times better. He's got some crazy mix up still and alot of it can special cancel so that's great. Did any Scorpion players figure out what his best get out of pressure option were? He's his usual unsafe and punishable on everything self as far as I can tell. If you have the momentum they are in serious trouble but if you lose it and they start pressuring you all seemed lost, lol. I know I probably just suck but any advice would be helpful.
 
I'm not someone who generally plays online but I will say so far I'm loving the game. I like the pacing better than MKX for sure and it just feels great to play overall. One thing I notice is that it's not as sharp on the PS4 Pro as injustice 2 was, not sure if the stress test includes Pro/One X enhancements or not but it does look a little blurrier.
I was at the event in person in LA, and I'm playing a lot of the beta today. For sure, I immediately noticed graphically it's a bit grainy and a bit more washed out in my opinion than what i saw at the event, which of course is expected since its a stress test of a beta. The game in person completely blew my mind graphically, and I think the retail version will look significantly better than the stress test. It's the best looking videogame I've ever seen (the version i saw in LA)
 

JTC

ABILITY TO FREEZE
The game is great so far and online is pretty solid.

My only complaint right now is what is the point of forward/back dashes? You're just better off walking. Wish there was more to the movement in this game.
 

DragonofDadashov24

Let’s see whose fire burns hotter
My biggest complaint from watching the first day of games: the Scorp/Skarlet dialogue that goes

"You remind me of Quan Chi."
"My magic rivals his."
"I find you both loathsome."

Should have been

"You remind me of Quan Chi."
"My magic rivals his."
"I killed Quan Chi."

That's my biggest beef with MK11 so far.
We don’t know if it’s current Scorpion. In story trailer current has beard, this one doesn’t
 

LawAbidingCitizen

Bomb Setups & Ball Rolls(Mileena/Cyrax)
There is no neutral jump punch, no armor, combos don’t have the same versatility as they do in every other nrs game. Nobody is saying there are no combos lol
NJP, Armor doesn't have anything to do with versitility.

Look it's different than MKX and 9 is that such a bad thing. MK9 was different from X just as every game was different from the last, this is nothing new aside from 1&2. People need to quit expecting MK11 to be anything like MKX, nothing wrong with comparisons but judging the meta based off a game that is completely different is not accurate.

Literally many where saying combos where neutered that it didn't exsist. These replies are not out of the blue. They where very warranted. I have no agenda and was actually someone worried about combos lacking. My fears where put to rest during OST beta.

Evidence of combo diversity and length:
There are long big damage combos and I've seen them being in REO's HoneyBees and K&Ms streams. Krushing blows add depth and versitility. You need to take into account that noone has practice mode right now. No one has the capability to lab stuff up, range of normals, what triggers KBs and which ones pop up he'll most of the pros don't even know thier move list or the frame data this means they can't play neutral properly = you won't see optimal combos.

Scarlet Zoning Character:
16 hit combo from normal string popup
2 bars
46% damage no fatal blow.

Big Combos that's recorded:
That's insain damage and a pretty long combo. BTW I was a regular Cyrax player among many other pockets I cleared 40% midscreen 1 bar with most characters in MKX and I'm telling you even though it's different than MKX the potential and exsistence of long versatile combos is in MK11.
If you are not pulling it off right now that's likely because we lack game knowledge of many aspects of the game. (Not an insult to anyone) even the competitive players lack proper knowledge of MK11.

Subject to change:
This is a OST build that is only partial of the game in all it's glory. Many things will change including normals, special moves, range of moves and speed. For this build they removed Special Cancel on Scorpion's B141 string when it was available in reveal. NRS is testing different things out and has openly addressed this.
"Many aspects of the game are placeholder and will be changed accordingly" - Ed Boon
Game mechanics first impressions:
So far I'm seeing an improvement on many mechanics over the absurdly unbalanced MK9/X (Even though I loved both those games). My boi Cyrax was Broke AF in 9.

My conclusion:
I see it's a wonderful game that has incredible depth. Here are some new features that create both depth and positives in neutral based gameplay forcing players to the no about what they do B4 slapping out random mix-ups for free.

  • Regenerating meter
This allows players to focus on Neutral more and other game mechanics. Allows players to play the way they want without being forced to use a specific playstyle to gain meter
  • Fatal blow
Previous games had X-ray which was shit to be frank. Now we have a very strong tools that isn't broke and requires actual thought to put it out there since it can be interrupted at startup. Game changing move.
  • Defensive & Offensive meter
Self explanatory, allows you to do more helping defensive players and zoners as well as rushdown.
  • Krushing Blows
This forces players to learn thier character in and out while also having to learn more about thier matchups since they need to watch out for moves that KB. It adds depth to combos in a way we have never seen before in mk games. You have to adjust to using other strings based on what you used previously and what you need to do to meet requirements for KB.
I think it also helps characters that normally wouldn't have damage or lengthy combos suddenly have the capability.
  • Flawless Block
This helps fight against strong zoning and rushdown. It rewards players who put in the time to perfect block on reaction and reads. You won't see random casuals landing it consistently which puts additional focus on neutral based gameplay at higher levels since they are worried they will get blown up for throwing unsafe strings that have gaps or spamming the same projectile predictively. This allows counters for both styles of gameplay.

Final Thoughts:
There is so much more to MK11 than I can write here. There is much more to be seen and I'm eagerly waiting to have the full version of the game with at least a month in lab before advocating serious change unless it's something broke viewed by most of the community.

I hope I addressed some of your concerns and if I haven't and you still think combos are lackluster or limited or absent then I hope the massive amount of streams can shed light on that concern so you have a clear understanding one way or the other.
 
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pure.Wasted

'ello baby, did you miss me?
We don’t know if it’s current Scorpion. In story trailer current has beard, this one doesn’t
It's at least MKX Scorpion, since he hates Quan Chi.

If they're actually giving characters dialogue from different timelines in intros, that's gonna be really fucking confusing. Casuals who are trying to follow the story will have no idea what's going on.

Kabal: "Hey Kano let's break into Special Forces HQ."
5 minutes later: "Hey Sonya I got your back invading the Netherrealm."
5 minutes later: "Hey Liu Kang, who do you want me to kill?"

Messy as fuck.
 

DragonofDadashov24

Let’s see whose fire burns hotter
I thank God there are almost no armor. Baraka and Kano shouldn’t have armor too. Either give every character a good armor or don’t give it at all. Kung Lao had the shittiest armor teleport in the game.