Discussion MKXL Character Learning Curve Rating System

[Boss Savage]

Characters

This will be the list of all characters and their current learning curve rating. Remember that these rating will change over the course of time. Clicking on a character's name will lead you to that characters forum page.

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Alien​

• Acidic - [ Easy | Normal ]​
• Takartan - Normal | ???​
• Konjurer - ??? | Hard​

Bo' Rai Cho​

• Bartitsu - Normal | ???​
• Dragon's Breath - Hard | Expert​
• Drunken Master - [ Hard | Expert ]​

Cassie Cage​

• Hollywood Normal | ???​
• Brawler - Easy | ???​
• Spec Ops Easy | ???​

D'Vorah​

• Brood Mother - Hard | Expert​
• Swarm Queen - Hard | ???​
• Venomous - Beginner | ???​

Ermac​

• Mystic - Easy | Hard​
• Spectral - ??? | Expert​
• Master of Souls - ??? | ???​

Erron Black​

• Marksman​
• Gunslinger - ??? | Expert​
• Outlaw​

Ferra / Torr​

• Ruthless​
• Vicious​
• Lackey​

Goro​

• Dragon Fangs - Easy / Hard​
• Kuatan Warrior - Easy / Hard​
• Tigrar Fury - Easy / Hard​

Jacqui​

• Shotgun - Normal /​
• Full Auto - Easy / Normal​
• High Tech - Hard /​

Jason​

• Unstoppable - [ Easy | Hard ]​
• Slasher - [ Beginner | Expert ]​
• Relentless - [ Easy | Hard ]​

Jax​

• Pumped Up - [ Normal | ??? ]​
• Heavy Weapons - [ Normal | ??? ]​
• Wrestler - [ Normal | ??? ]​

Johnny Cage​

• A-List - Normal | Hard​
• Fistcuffs​
• Stunt Double​

Kano​

• Cybernetic - Normal | Hard​
• Commando - [ Normal | Expert ]​
• Cutthroat - Normal |​

Kenshi​

• Kenjutsu​
• Balanced - [ Beginner | Expert​
• Possesed [ Easy | ??? ]​

Kitana​

• Mournful​
• Royal Storm - Easy /​
• Assassin - Easy /​

Kotal Kahn​

• Blood God - ] Easy | Hard ]​
• War God - Beginner / ???​
• Sun God - Beginner / ???​

Kung Jin​

• Shaolin - Normal | ???​
• Ancestral - Normal | Hard​
• Bojutsu - Easy | ???​

Kung Lao​

• Buzz Saw - [ Normal | ??? ]​
• Tempest - Normal | ???​
• Hat Trick - [ Hard | Expert ]​

Leatherface​

• Pretty Lady - Easy | Hard​
• Killer - Normal | Hard​
• Butcher - Hard | Expert​

Liu Kang​

• Dragon's Fire - Hard | Expert​
• Flame Fist - Easy | Normal​
• Dualist - Normal | Expert​

Mileena​

• Ethereal​
• Piercing​
• Ravenou​

Predator​

• Warrior​
• Hunter - [ Easy | Hard ]​
• Hish-Qu-Ten - [ Normal | Hard ]​

Quan Chi​

• Warlock - Normal | Hard​
• Summoner​
• Sorcerer - Normal | Hard​

Raiden​

• Thunder God​
• Displacer - Normal | Expert​
• Master of Storms Hard | Expert​

Reptile​

• Noxious - Easy | Normal​
• Deceptive​
• Nimble - Hard | Expert​

Scorpion​

• Ninjutsu - Beginner | Hard​
• Hellfire Hard |​
• Inferno - Normal |​

Shinnok​

• Necromancer - [ Normal | Hard ]​
• Imposter - [ Easy | Expert ]​
• Bone Shaper - [ Easy | Normal ]​

Sonya Blade​

• Special Forces - [ Normal | Expert​
• Covert Ops - [ Beginner | Easy ]​
• Demolition - ??? | Expert​

Sub-Zero
​

• Cryomancer - [ Normal | Expert ]​
• Unbreakable - [ Hard | Expert ]​
• Grandmaster - [ Normal | Hard ]​

Takeda
​

• Ronin​
• Shirai Ryu - Beginner | Normal​
• Lasher​

Tanya
​

• Kobu Jutsu - Normal |​
• Pyromancer - Normal |​
• Dragon Naginata - Hard | Expert​

Tremor
​

• Aftershock - [ Hard | Expert ]​
• Crystalline - [ Hard | Expert ]​
• Metallic - [ Hard | Expert ]​

Triborg
​

• Smoke (LK-7T2) - [ Easy | Hard ]​
• Sektor (LK-9T9) - [ Easy | Hard ]​
• Cyrax (LK-4D4) - [ Hard | Expert ]​
• Cyber Sub-Zero (LK-520) - [ Normal | Expert ]​

Introduction
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This is a rating system designed with the sole purpose in mind of identifying and labeling a character's entry level from a casual to competitive level prospective. This rating system will be based on how easy, or difficult it is for a character to be picked up, practiced with, learnt, mastered, and played. Starting all the way down from casually; a beginner playing online with friends or randoms, going all the way up to competitively; playing in local or big name tournaments. These character ratings will be based on the communities inputs and opinions and will most likely change over the course of time several times over x infinity + 2. If you feel that a character's rating is wrong, or simply disagree with said rating. Then please civilly discuss it in the comments below...​

​

Hello, and welcome to whatever the fuck stupid idea I got myself into. Today I'm going to desperately and foolishly try an attempt to explain fighting game terminology (that I honestly don't know anything about and are literally googling right now as I type this) because of an idea that I had posted by accident online.

So while I am stuck here trying not to sound like a complete and total jackass scrub (to a community where using a certain character makes you literally worse than Hitler), I'm going to try and attempt to explain my half-assed idea so that maybe it will at some point in time make coherent sense.

The Rating System*
*This rating system is subject to change periodically and chaotically due to the fact of me not knowing WTF I am doing​

The rating system will be based on a 5* Tier system. Each tier would describe the level of skill a character would need in order to be picked up, practiced with, and played with from either a casual or competitive prospective.

From easiest to hardest, the 5* tiers are: Beginner, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Expert.
​

A rating will be assigned to each side of the skill curve spectrum. So for an example, from a casual standpoint, a character can be very beginner friendly and thus very easy to learn and play. So with this in mind, a character like this would most likely begin with a Beginner rating.

While from a more competitive and / or tournament standpoint, that same character could need extensive match up knowledge and highly optimized combos in order to function properly at a higher, more competitive level. That being said, an Expert rating could be giving to that same character to better describe the amount of work it would take in order to use that character at a more competitive tournament level.​

Examples:

Scorpion: Ninjutsu - Beginner / Hard

Sub-Zero: Unbreakable - Hard / Expert

Below I will take the time to better explain each rating tier. From easiest to hardest:


Beginner

I still need help with this


Easy

I still need help with this


Normal

I still need help with this


Hard

I still need help with this

Expert

I still need help with this


How to Evaluate a Character's "Rating"

When evaluating a character's rating, casually or competitively, you would take into consideration all of the basics that make up a character, as well as all of the more nuanced character specifics that would be need to be eventually learned later on. Keep in mind that the less that you need to know casually and the more you need to know competitively will decide how low or high the rating begins or ends.

Basics would include: Basic Attacks (Normals), Strings, Specials, and BnB Combos.

More nuanced information would be: Punish Ability, Mix Ups, Conversion Potential, Armor, Mobility, Safety, Hit Confirms, Space Control, Counter Zoning, Pressure, Corner Carry, Meter Building, Meter Reliance, Damage, Set Play (Meterless / Metered), Run-Cancels, Special-Cancels, Required Match-Up Knowledge, Role Type (Rushdown, Zoning, Grappler, Balanced, ect.), and so on and so forth.




Writer's Notes (Thank you Page)

Thanks to:
@xSamuel​

 

[Generalbit]

Easiest is Kotal... Or Kenshi (balanced), this is gonna be a good thread

 

[STORMS]

Easiest is Kotal... Or Kenshi (balanced), this is gonna be a good thread

I agree. I'm looking forward to this.Props @Boss Savage the pressure iS on now. ;-)

 

[Eldriken]

No poll? ;_;

I'd say Kotal is the easiest for sure.

 

[xSamuel]

Can't wait to see what you post. I think Displacer and Flame Fist have been the hardest characters for me to optimize damage/pressure with consistently.

 

[CrazyFingers]

I agree. I'm looking forward to this.Props @Boss Savage the pressure iS on now. ;-)

The pressure really is on man.

 

[Second Saint]

No poll? ;_;

I'd say Kotal is the easiest for sure.

I don't know, man. Venomous D'vorah still exists. The path to competency with that variation is pretty short. I feel like I could teach someone how to Venom with in 15 minutes or less, if they have a decent grasp of how MK works already.

Stagger f1, make them guess if you're going to spray or puddle after a string, vary spray timing so you might not get punished, throw alot, d4/d4~spray is your best mixup, Get them to the corner and do lows and overheads. f34, d1, f34, 112~db4/ df1 if in corner. The official motto is Et Orate RAMULUS. Done. You now can play Venomous.

Used to be quicker before f2 was made a mid.

 

[Mista_Snacks]

Ninjitsu Scorpion was pretty easy to pick up as well, I'd put him up there with kotal and venomous

 

[scarsunseen]

I vote Cyrax for most difficult.

 

[ILuvFightGames]

I think slasher is easiest. Hardest I'd say sonya because of the reload combos, or any run cancel character.

 

[Vigilante24]

Mystic, Ninjutsu, and Bojutsu are the easiest variations in the game.

 

[UGL Preon]

Easiest: Master of Souls, Venomous, War God Bojutsu

Hardest: Hat Trick, Dragon Naginata, Cyrax, Displacer

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Full baked potato: Ninjutsu, Bojutsu, Venomous, War God, Master of Souls, Mystic

Good luck playing them on that piece of shit PS4 pad: Brood Mother, High Tech, Cyrax, Displacer

 

[CrazyFingers]

Full baked potato: Ninjutsu, Bojutsu, Venomous, War God, Master of Souls, Mystic

Good luck playing them on that piece of shit PS4 pad: Brood Mother, High Tech, Cyrax, Displacer

I'm glad that slasher and butcher are in the middle of these two sections. It's like "their combo execution is pretty easy but you need to condition the fuck out of people and space perfectly to do shit."

 

[Wigy]

Easiest to play at an effective level.

Mystic ermac and GM sub.

Hardest, hard to say, isnt tanyas pojo variation tricky as balls to use effectively?

Prepatch flame fist was super fucking braindead but now its more respectable.

Drunken master might be up there, the awareness with drink management alone makes him harder to do well with than most of the cast.

All of bo's variations are tricky to use due to his slow as balls moves.

 

[Boss Savage]

Again this is just a rough draft. I'll work on the wording and explanations later tomorrow. This should just give people a rough idea on how this would work. I'm open to suggestions on how to improve the formula / system. Thank you.

 

[CrazyFingers]

Easiest to play at an effective level.

Mystic ermac and GM sub.

Hardest, hard to say, isnt tanyas pojo variation tricky as balls to use effectively?

Prepatch flame fist was super fucking braindead but now its more respectable.

Drunken master might be up there, the awareness with drink management alone makes him harder to do well with than most of the cast.

All of bo's variations are tricky to use due to his slow as balls moves.

Yea I'm surprised no one else brought up DM Bo. God bless people who use that.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

GM Sub used to have some higher execution corner combos but with the faster F1, everything he does is very easy now, you just need to understand the gravity on the shatters.

 

[CompleteMadness]

Very diverse game in characters.

But i would put Cassie in the difficult section. All her combos use run cancels and are air specific. Definitely a strict learning curve to get timings on flip kick combos, and if you're usuing hollywood have to learn instant guns.

Pretty much every run cancel variation deserves a mention as well. Takes time to get those down then more time to learn how to jail with them.

 

[chrisisnice]

No one should be in low learning curve if they rely on run combos, instant air anything and charge cancels. Bye Cassie, Raiden, D'vorah etc etc etc

 

[IrishMantis]

Goro be easy too

 

[Boss Savage]

Tomorrow I'll add a poll for each character and their variation. I feel like this will be easier if we go by each characters variation and how easy that is to pickup that up instead of going by each character individually.

 

[Pan1cMode]

Tomorrow I'll add a poll for each character and their variation. I feel like this will be easier if we go by each characters variation and how easy that is to pickup that up instead of going by each character individually.

You have to go by variations though.

For example with Jacqui:

Full auto = low moderate
Shotgun = moderate
High tech = strict (probably hardest in the game tbh)

You can't paint them with the same brush.

 

[Boss Savage]

You have to go by variations though.

For example with Jacqui:

Full auto = low moderate
Shotgun = moderate
High tech = strict (probably hardest in the game tbh)

You can't paint them with the same brush.

Exactly! that's the point I was trying to make.

 

[Karma]

I found kitana RS or Assassin the easiest to learn.