ded
Elder God
In this thread I want to show people the advantages of playing this game on keyboard (MK1 too, and probably all arcade MK games). I know, some even consider the kbd as a cheating, but the truth is, that it is the best controller for this game and it is completely legal.
First thing to know is that you will need a COM2 or a gaming kbd. Regular USB keyboards have built in delay, at least in MAME. Second, you need, if you use a regular keyboard, a layout that will allow you to do moves like forceballs, fans, grab and etc without locking the keys.
And the third, which is my personal opinion, is that you need a silent kbd and not flat buttons, why? I know a lot of people will laugh at this, but wake up moves on stick are really loud, and believe it or not, sometimes (when playing offline) you can actually use advantage of this, while on keyboard you can do wake up move without any noise. The flat buttons, imo, don’t have that good input, when it comes to more complex juggles and the distance between buttons is closer, so you could fuck up a decisive combo sometimes.
One of the few (if not the only?) pluses of the stick is this multi-holding moves trick, which was recently found. It is harder on kbd, easier on stick and a lot easier on pad. Also, don’t forget that you can buffer all fireballs and special moves on keyboard while you are ducking or block ducking (spear, hat, choke & grab, etc.).
Kabal’s low air fireballs are without a doubt easy as hell on keyboard, and requires way more skill to be performed on stick. They are used a lot and play big part of his gameplay against some characters. Buffering the spin while ducked or during runjabs is also easier on keyboard. Same applies for Kitana’s low Air Fans.
There may be not that much of a difference for Human Smoke and Scorpion, but I think the Teleport Punch and the Spear after JK is easier on keyboard. Should be noted, that Human Smoke’s HK, D+LP, D+HP combo could break on pad btw.
Kung Lao’s low Div Kicks are easier on stick, hands down, but you could buffer his Spin move on keyboard, and the fact that it involves “quarter-circle” input makes it harder to perform on stick. This applies for Ermac’s TKS and Kano’s vRoll too.
Kano’s Grab and Knife Uppercut could be very useful for punishing basic moves, and the keyboard is the better choice here again. A plus for the stick here is that holding LK will not affect your game that much as it would on keyboard. Same applies for Mileena’s Sai Throw.
For Reptile, be sure you can do Forceballs on each side, because with some keyboards/layouts you could do it from one side only, and when you are in the second, it could lock keys. Same applies for Kitana’s Fan Throw.
Also, his Slide could interrupt blocked autocombos, by just adding LP and LK while holding back+Block. I’m not sure how it works with Usub and Csub, and if there is an actual difference on stick, but I just wanted to mention that. It works with Sonya’s Leg Grab too but its more risky.
Nightwolf, Robot Smoke, Sindel, Stryker and Jax all have a special wake up move that involves a direction twice. I said that at the beginning that the keyboard is the best controller for buffering such moves, even while ducking or block ducking.
Sonya is probably the only character I think that makes no difference what controller you will use. And the only thing I could think of for Jade is the Projectile Protection and Boomerang buffering.
Liu Kang is a character that plays a lot better on keyboard than on a stick. First it’s the Air Fireballs I mentioned earlier, but using his Flying Kick you can punish almost everything and use it for escaping runjab pressure and corner traps. I will not go into deep scenarios, but it is a fact.
Something I forgot before is that corner glitch when you block jabs, and the opponent performs blocked knee. If you are with Sektor or Robot Smoke and do immediately after that a TPU, the opponent will freeze in its knee animation and you will ALWAYS get a free TPU. I don’t know how it works on stick, but imo its easier on keyboard.
Cyrax’s grenades, which I think are his main weapon, are also way easier on keyboard and I often get questions how to throw a Grenade while ducking, while the answer is simple – using keyboard. I think his Air Throw is also easier using kbd.
Shang Tsung can buffer Fireballs and Eruption, but I really don’t see how this could help him anyway. The only useful thing I could think of is that the Double Fireball sounds easier on keyboard.
Mileena’s roll is another wakeup move which if buffered could punish HKs and LKs, a plus for the stick here is the Sai Throw, which requires holding HP.
As for Sheeva, the only thing I could say keyboard being better is her Ground Stomp, which is also “quarter-circle” move, which is kind of moves I think are easier to be performed on kbd.
First thing to know is that you will need a COM2 or a gaming kbd. Regular USB keyboards have built in delay, at least in MAME. Second, you need, if you use a regular keyboard, a layout that will allow you to do moves like forceballs, fans, grab and etc without locking the keys.
And the third, which is my personal opinion, is that you need a silent kbd and not flat buttons, why? I know a lot of people will laugh at this, but wake up moves on stick are really loud, and believe it or not, sometimes (when playing offline) you can actually use advantage of this, while on keyboard you can do wake up move without any noise. The flat buttons, imo, don’t have that good input, when it comes to more complex juggles and the distance between buttons is closer, so you could fuck up a decisive combo sometimes.
One of the few (if not the only?) pluses of the stick is this multi-holding moves trick, which was recently found. It is harder on kbd, easier on stick and a lot easier on pad. Also, don’t forget that you can buffer all fireballs and special moves on keyboard while you are ducking or block ducking (spear, hat, choke & grab, etc.).
Kabal’s low air fireballs are without a doubt easy as hell on keyboard, and requires way more skill to be performed on stick. They are used a lot and play big part of his gameplay against some characters. Buffering the spin while ducked or during runjabs is also easier on keyboard. Same applies for Kitana’s low Air Fans.
There may be not that much of a difference for Human Smoke and Scorpion, but I think the Teleport Punch and the Spear after JK is easier on keyboard. Should be noted, that Human Smoke’s HK, D+LP, D+HP combo could break on pad btw.
Kung Lao’s low Div Kicks are easier on stick, hands down, but you could buffer his Spin move on keyboard, and the fact that it involves “quarter-circle” input makes it harder to perform on stick. This applies for Ermac’s TKS and Kano’s vRoll too.
Kano’s Grab and Knife Uppercut could be very useful for punishing basic moves, and the keyboard is the better choice here again. A plus for the stick here is that holding LK will not affect your game that much as it would on keyboard. Same applies for Mileena’s Sai Throw.
For Reptile, be sure you can do Forceballs on each side, because with some keyboards/layouts you could do it from one side only, and when you are in the second, it could lock keys. Same applies for Kitana’s Fan Throw.
Also, his Slide could interrupt blocked autocombos, by just adding LP and LK while holding back+Block. I’m not sure how it works with Usub and Csub, and if there is an actual difference on stick, but I just wanted to mention that. It works with Sonya’s Leg Grab too but its more risky.
Nightwolf, Robot Smoke, Sindel, Stryker and Jax all have a special wake up move that involves a direction twice. I said that at the beginning that the keyboard is the best controller for buffering such moves, even while ducking or block ducking.
Sonya is probably the only character I think that makes no difference what controller you will use. And the only thing I could think of for Jade is the Projectile Protection and Boomerang buffering.
Liu Kang is a character that plays a lot better on keyboard than on a stick. First it’s the Air Fireballs I mentioned earlier, but using his Flying Kick you can punish almost everything and use it for escaping runjab pressure and corner traps. I will not go into deep scenarios, but it is a fact.
Something I forgot before is that corner glitch when you block jabs, and the opponent performs blocked knee. If you are with Sektor or Robot Smoke and do immediately after that a TPU, the opponent will freeze in its knee animation and you will ALWAYS get a free TPU. I don’t know how it works on stick, but imo its easier on keyboard.
Cyrax’s grenades, which I think are his main weapon, are also way easier on keyboard and I often get questions how to throw a Grenade while ducking, while the answer is simple – using keyboard. I think his Air Throw is also easier using kbd.
Shang Tsung can buffer Fireballs and Eruption, but I really don’t see how this could help him anyway. The only useful thing I could think of is that the Double Fireball sounds easier on keyboard.
Mileena’s roll is another wakeup move which if buffered could punish HKs and LKs, a plus for the stick here is the Sai Throw, which requires holding HP.
As for Sheeva, the only thing I could say keyboard being better is her Ground Stomp, which is also “quarter-circle” move, which is kind of moves I think are easier to be performed on kbd.
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