What makes Kitana not very good in comparison to top tiers?

[Action Kungfu]

I guess i'm kind of at the point of knowing kitana a lil bit enough to talk some theory?

Is it cause of Kitana's damage output that she's not rated in the top 10? I'm saying like #10 character in the game. I dont know, cause I dont have super experience in the game to be honest. I've only started really playing the game when it was released on live arcade.

I had just read the character guide on her, and it says that if her fan lift didnt damage scale that her tier rating would be considerably higher. This lead me to believe that the reason she's rated where she is right now is because of her damage output.

I dunno, sometimes she seems to be impossible to hit. Like i'm just judging from my matches I've had in the rank matches against some of the good players, and from playing the great players like Konqrr, Klisp and whomever else.

The only things i see that's holding her back is damage, if the majority of her combos did like 15% more damage, where would she be tier wise?

She seems to be really safe, outside of sweeps, fan lift and wave punch(without air fan throw assistance).

I guess what Im saying is, i'd really would like to know what her terrible weaknesses are, that way i can try and not put myself in those situations.

 

[auctionguy5]

Ninjas that teleport are her weakness. Her air fan throw is her best move. Regular fan throw is very risky and not worth it. Fan lift and Square wave punch are okay anti-air attacks but many people don't need to jump. If you block a teleport or something fan lift is the best option (I think).

I like Kitana but I think Jade or Mileena (favorite) might be better in some cases.

 

[dreemernj]

Her comboing is limited. That's the main thing that holds her back but she is still a good character. Her fan is big and can lead to combos. Her square wave punch can be handy. Plus she has the unique female ninja hitboxes so some combos don't work on her.

Against something like a blocked teleport, her fan lift probably isn't the best idea because of the damage protection. aa.HP, HP, jump kick, fan, run in. aa.HP square wave punch should break 50% and can be done midscreen if necessary. The same done after a fan lift probably does like 30%.

 

[abadizzilithium]

(-)
The 25% button chain combo with no popup definately sets her below the majority of characters.
The recovery time on her Fan Lift is ridiculous, as is the damage protection...
A Square Wave whiff will definately result in massive damage if you are attacking someone who knows the meaning of AAattacks.
Ground Fan isn't worth using.
(+)
Tiny female collision detection
Decent zoning with air fans (delay between fans isn't fantastic, isn't bad)
Great Deep JK combos
Decent punisher capabilities (make those teleport ninjas look like chumps)

Weighing the Pros and Cons, You really must be DEAD-ON with the usage of special moves in order to play a Kompetitve Kitana, No room for mistakes.

-Looks like you beat me to a good explanation there dreemer.

 

[Shock]

A little combo note:

Vs all male characters except Shang Tsung: JPS, HP, HP, B+LP, F+HP, sweep = 41%. Very useful, unblockable, decent ground damage and can be done midscreen.

 

[Action Kungfu]

A little combo note:

Vs all male characters except Shang Tsung: JPS, HP, HP, B+LP, F+HP, sweep = 41%. Very useful, unblockable, decent ground damage and can be done midscreen.

Yeah that's probably my most useful combo. I'm suprised that i actually connect the sweep online sometimes.

You guys mentioned the ground fan as a weakness.
I'm talking about if Kitana is played extremely safe, how does she lose?
IMO she seems to be one of the safest characters in the game, i've only gotten into trouble if i get HK'd before i leap for a fan or get teleport punched or frozen before the fan comes out.

Once the fans out, she seems to be in total control. It's like that with Reptile too isnt it, with the force balls? But on reaction you can toss a air fan to Reptile's force ball and block the ball and he cant block the fan in time.

 

[dreemernj]

The ground fan can be used if done correctly, but its still kind of a weakness because why take the risk?

Reptile's forceball has recovery time on it but look at the combos it sets up. Kitana's fan if done on the ground is big and fast but doesn't lead to anything since you can't do anything after it.

And looking beyond damage, doing it on the ground makes it easier to avoid. Get it in the right location in air and it'll be difficult for them to run under or jump over it.

 

[Shock]

Using her ground fan throw is like using Kabal's ground purple ball, or in MvC2, like using Cable's ground Hyper Viper Beam. It's much better and safer to use the air versions of all these moves. Basically you leave yourself seriously open to counter combos and it's just not worth it since Kitana cannot cause much damage in return to make up for it.

The best way to play against a turtling Kitana without a teleporter is to run in a bit, kara jab, and sweep mix up. Whenever Kitana throws a fan you should always sweep under it incase she tries to rush down, ducking LKs also work to an extent.

She is definitely a mid card talent, and she gives the other characters above her a run for their money, but ultimately doesn't have all the components to be top tier. Combo damage is definitely one of her main set backs.

 

[Action Kungfu]

IMO whenever the ground fan comes out, it's a mistake. Flat out.
Sometimes if i can time my air fan throw oppurtunities correctly, in accordance with my run meter and have it so i have another air fan oppurtunity(5 sec on timer) again, then she's too hard to touch.

She is definitely a mid card talent, and she gives the other characters above her a run for their money, but ultimately doesn't have all the components to be top tier. Combo damage is definitely one of her main set backs.

So i guess it's like, once your opponent can dodge your fan atleast twice then she's done, cause all those above her have easy access 50% combos.

If only she didnt have a limit on her fan tosses, and fan lift, plus no damage scalling.

I gotta admit, that if Im going up against Robot Smoke and Human smoke, i have alot of trouble getting things started.

Like the air fan, is there a timer limit cap on how often the male ninjas can teleport?

 

[Konqrr]

I think the Ninja Telepunch has like 1.5 seconds inbetween uses, I was using it earlier today one after another when people kept rushing me.

 

[Action Kungfu]

I think the Ninja Telepunch has like 1.5 seconds inbetween uses, I was using it earlier today one after another when people kept rushing me.

that's not enough time for me to be able to safely place a fan in that time limit. by the time you actually get to them if they teleport safely they could do it again =\

 

[Konqrr]

Against the teleporters, you have to rushdown with her l33t jabs and hk hk lk combo. Don't do that combo too much though, or you will get scouted quickly...when you think that will happen, finish the combo. What I like to do is mix run jabs with knee lifts (hk only so if they jump you will catch them) then after a few of those mix with the hk hk lk. When playing against the robo-teleporters, bait out the teleports by doing kara-jabs (lp~block), then do her run in aahp hp jump kick air fan combo.

 

[Shock]

If she didn't have DP on the lift, but still had it on the fan throw she would have been a force because that would have been Fan Lift, aa,JK, fan throw to finish on everyone, roughly 42-50% depending on the character and what you can do. Now it's 25-30% standard, pretty miserable. It wouldn't be so bad if the other characters didn't have those 50%ers obviously.

 

[Konqrr]

One thing that I notice you do a lot AKF, is when you connect a grounded jump kick to air fan, you always run in and do a HK or aaHP Square Wave for 29%. While that is all well and good, you should either do a run in uppercut for 33% or a jump kick so you can keep up the run jab/knee lift pressure.

Playing your Kitana makes me want to pick her up, she's almost as fun as usub.

 

[Action Kungfu]

haha yeah she's too fun.

Well about the uppercut finish in the combo, alot of the time im worried they're getting pushed back too far with the fan and i'll whiff it, other times i'm afraid that it might be too slow etc. we'll see though. i should really add the uppercut instead though cause it'd give me more time to have another air fan ready.

 

[Konqrr]

Very true. I didn't think about how you are playing on the "d-pad from hell"...you'd probably try to uppercut and get a Square Wave instead setting up your opponent for an uppercut themselves.

 

[Shock]

JK, fan throw, aaHP, wave punch and JK, FT, uppercut are both 55 pixels (33.1%) so that either is worth doing in terms of damage. Try and aaHPHP JK or wavepunch on certain characters for 36%, or ever aaHPLP, SWP for 35% on male ninjas where the aaHPHP doesn't always work.

 

[DAVE101]

Very true. I didn't think about how you are playing on the "d-pad from hell"...you'd probably try to uppercut and get a Square Wave instead setting up your opponent for an uppercut themselves.

So that doesn't just happen to me?

 

[abadizzilithium]

hahah, I'm the king of screwing up Kitana's moves on that damn D-Pad... that's mainly why I quit playing XBLA religiously.

 

[Bob Dole]

i was thinking of going to get a dermeal or whatever i found one for 30 bucks. thats cheaper then 99 dollars what they usually cost.