Coming from SF series... Never played a "Teams" game before.

[Wave]

I've been looking for another game to sink time into... I love fighting games! There have been a lot of games with smaller player bases that I really like... but I think skullgirls has a medium sized player base that I really like. It seems as though people know each other on a first name basis which can get nasty if you're not good at being a considerate human being. Since I have been moving around different street fighter games... spending the most time with street fighter 4 I thought I could broaden my horizons by playing two different types of fighting games. I'm also learning to play SSBM, I think I'll also learn SkullGirls. Since I'm primarily a street fighter playing and I have been trying to get into street fighter 5, it doesn't really have the speed and brokenness that I like in fighting games which is what I love about Skullgirls. I love that everything seems broken and balanced at the same time.

Since I just committed to learning Skullgirls today... I've tried to make myself cozy with the way that my copy of the game runs...audio setting as well as video settings. I'd like to run this game in windowed mode so I can have notes and information on another half of the screen. I wonder if there any caveats to playing in windowed mode?

I played through the tutorial and the new character walk throughs. This game seems really complicated since each I see a theme where each iteration of a special move seems to have a really distinct and unique utility rather than the obligatory..."this one goes further, does more damage -- this one goes shorter but starts up faster." archetype. I hope I can find good information here because I'm really overwhelmed right off the bat about how to circumvent a lot of bad habits that can come from trying to play "catch up" since this game seems already so well established. The path to getting better doesn't really seem clear despite there being a beginners section on this website.

I love parasoul... but my first impression is that she has a hard time moving around the screen.... I just love the way she looks. Maybe I'll come back to her when learning all the characters.

I wanna build a team that isn't like when you see the team you're like... "ugh, not this fucking team" more like the 2nd or 3rd best team in the game... not broken stuff, but not a team where I need to work really hard to succeed.

I think Eliza is strong... I also think filia is strong from playing them in training mode. I'm wondering how steep the tiers are in this game.

When playing Eliza and Filia they all had these L, M, H chains that seemed to do a lot of scaling. It seems like its gonna be a pain in the ass to figure out optimal strings.

I'll watch some video footage of high level skullgirls .

 

[Mike_Z]

No caveats to playing in Windowed mode unless you're Skarmand and can read the Matrix.

I'm wondering how steep the tiers are in this game.

Tiers are basically nonexistent. (I mean, they always exist, but they don't matter at all here.) You don't have to take my word for it, though.

 

[skull person]

No caveats to playing in Windowed mode unless you're Skarmand and can read the Matrix.

My computer is more than powerful enough to run your game in Windowed mode but it gets screen tearing and FPS drops into 55.

You even told me yourself that it will always be better in fullscreen because windows can't mess with the frame draws.

@Wave
I'd recommend playing in fullscreen mode for a smoother more enjoyable experience.

It seems as though people know each other on a first name basis which can get nasty if you're not good at being a considerate human being.

Yeah, we are all very kind and nice to eachother.
It's very hard to get serious beef or salt going especially offline.

If you'd like to come hang out with us, our biggest tournament of the year will be at Combo Breaker.
Which is the best tournament in the world.

I hope I can find good information here because I'm really overwhelmed right off the bat about how to circumvent a lot of bad habits that can come from trying to play "catch up" since this game seems already so well established. The path to getting better doesn't really seem clear despite there being a beginners section on this website.

Most of the things you'll have to catch up on are just habbits like learning to pushblock all the time, apply defensive mechanics and get used to the flow of neutral.

Lots of players including myself have joined the game late and caught up really quick by practicing with good players.
It's really simple to get into and grasp the basics but the late game can get pretty complicated, similar to Melee.

I love parasoul... but my first impression is that she has a hard time moving around the screen.... I just love the way she looks. Maybe I'll come back to her when learning all the characters.

She doesn't stay in the air at all since she has no air mobility.
All of her air movement is sorta locked once she jumps.

She is however the best character for controlling the floor and horizontal space imo.
She has a really good back and forward dash, good pokes, good fireball and good speed + grounded mix up.

She sometimes struggles against characters that are good at staying above her, which can be a fun challenge to overcome.

I wanna build a team that isn't like when you see the team you're like... "ugh, not this fucking team" more like the 2nd or 3rd best team in the game... not broken stuff, but not a team where I need to work really hard to succeed.

Most teams in Skullgirls are "Oh shit it's this team" because everyone is so good.
You can just slap most characters together and pick some decent assists and you've got a good team.

There's a few exceptions which are little worse than others where you take something like Peacock Valentine Squigly in that order, because they don't really benefit from eachothers assists as much as other teams.

I'm wondering how steep the tiers are in this game.

Not steep at all, everyone is in the S to A rank of tiers.
Basically the thought process behind every character design is just because this character is good at one thing doesn't mean they have to suffer elsewhere.
Every character is supposed to have a tool to deal with situations so it's never helpless, even if it costs meter.

When playing Eliza and Filia they all had these L, M, H chains that seemed to do a lot of scaling. It seems like its gonna be a pain in the ass to figure out optimal strings.

Here's a video I made on covering damage scaling and punishes which should help a bit with understanding scaling.

I'll watch some video footage of high level skullgirls.

Go to: https://www.youtube.com/user/kpbfgc/videos
Scroll down until you get to the NEC 2015 Top 16 videos.

That should be a good place to start and you can watch that up to Grand Finals.

 

[skull person]

Also any specific question at all that you need covered and I can point you in the right direction just post here and @Skarmand me.

 

[Mike_Z]

Yeah, we are all very kind and nice to eachother.

Except me and Skarmand.

It's very hard to get serious beef or salt going especially offline.

Except me and Skarmand.

::beef or salt intensifies::

Pardon me, I'll see myself out...

 

[Pickles]

The path to getting better doesn't really seem clear despite there being a beginners section on this website.

The thing about SG is that the basics aren't hard to learn but there are a lot of advanced mechanics once you get into it, IMO going from beginner to intermediate in this game is pretty easy especially if you've played other fighting games before, but going from intermediate to expert is a big gap. I would advise doing all the tutorials first (which it sounds like you're doing already), then after playing a bit vs CPU find people at your skill level to fight. When you're first starting out most players in quick match will be better than you so the most important thing is finding people to play against that are good enough that you are challenged but not so good that you don't really learn anything. There are a lot of matchmaking threads and groups for players of all skill levels so don't be afraid to interact with the community.

I wanna build a team that isn't like when you see the team you're like... "ugh, not this fucking team"

Most teams in Skullgirls are "Oh shit it's this team" because everyone is so good.

Depending on how you look at it, either most teams are "oh its this team" or none of them are. This game doesn't have anything like MSP or zero may cry (if you're familiar with marvel vs capcom teams), there are a very large number of strong teams. Most characters benefit from certain types of assists but since many characters can provide the same types of assists you can play pretty much any team you want.

I'm wondering how steep the tiers are in this game.

Like previous posters said, the worst character in the game is still A tier, the gap between "worst" and "best" character is not very large.

When playing Eliza and Filia they all had these L, M, H chains that seemed to do a lot of scaling. It seems like its gonna be a pain in the ass to figure out optimal strings.

Skarmand posted a video about damage scaling but regarding "optimal" combos: There's a "general bnb" thread in the gameplay forum that lists a handful of bnb combos that are damaging enough and have sufficient reset points that even top players frequently use them. These are considered to be (relatively) easy combos, and the difference in damage between them and super-optimal stuff isn't that big (usually 500dmg or less). You can get VERY far in this game without having super-optimized combos; as long as your bnbs do at least 6-7k you're probably fine.

 

[skull person]

Oops yeah, here's the BnB compendium if you need to find some combos:
http://skullheart.com/index.php?threads/general-bnb-compendium.4072/

The trial mode in the 2nd Encore DLC also has combos that were picked by players.

Also 6-7k is kinda relative. 5-6k is fine.
Parasoul has a hard time hitting 6k with basic stuff, she has the worst final combo damage in the game unless someone shows me otherwise.

Also not sure if you found it but here is the resource compilation for Skullgirls:
http://skullheart.com/index.php?threads/beginner-resources-thread.242/

Lots of useful information in there.

 

[Wave]

I'll begin to do more work in the game and see what I come up with as far as questions.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

[Wave]

In training mode I'm controlling both characters on screen.

Is there a way I can completely clear the controls for player 2?
setting the controls to default doesn't really change anything

 

[Pickles]

if you have a dual mode ps4/ps3 pad or stick, using it in ps4 mode on PC causes this issue, changing it to ps3 mode should fix it

 

[Dime]

@Wave

There are lots and LOTS of things to learn for team games. But for now, stick to the basics. Learn to first spam your assists... Then after that, learn to stop spamming them and start using them more intelligently.

If you don't start off spamming them though you won't be able to tell how to use them intelligently. Or, actually you will, it will just take a lot longer to figure out as a beginner. The thing you want to do in any FG is go out gung ho, get bopped for it and start to learn from being bopped. The faster and harder you get bopped, the faster and more you learn as a beginner.


The problem is getting bopped the right way. If you are doing ot perfectly wrong all the time, your bopping will be less fruitful. So here's a get bopped quick program that will have you seeing much better results via bopping, faster than most anything else:

1. Go duo
2. Pick double or parasoul, or fortune or val or filia or bella as your point character.
3. Pick a DP assist. Preferably L beat extend, or parasoul h pillar or filia updo as your second character.
4. Learn a decent combo from otg after DP assist hits.
5. And this is the most important part for someone that has never played team games:

Learn the pattern of empty jump towards your opponent and call your dp assist just as you reach the apex of your jump. This is a VERY basic yet key pattern of team assist games. The pattern is nowhere near foolproof... But if you take this into games against other beginners (and by beginners I mean people that have played sg less than a week like yourself) you will have a HUGE advantage against them. The reason is because emptyjump plus invincible assist beats a ridiculous amount of options that your opponent can throw at you. If they try to AA you, you will block and your dp assist will blow them up. If they called a dp assist against you, your dp assist will win if you called it later than theirs, more times than not. If they simply block, you have frame advantage (though it's very hard to take advantage of since you will be looking for the assist confirm)


It's just a very basic, yet good all around pattern and the faster you find it, use it, find its strengths and weaknesses... The faster you will start to learn about team games.


I suggest you play that team for anywhere from a week to a month before branching out to other teams. But this team will give you a solid foundation to fall back on as well as certain fundamental skills you will learn from using dp assists.


They aren't all powerful, but they sure as shit help, especially at a lower and intermediate level.

 

[skull person]

Or... ignore everything Dime says and pick an assist that you enjoy.
Most of the tippity top players do not run traditional DP assists at starting order that Dime is describing.

... Taluda, TJ, SonicFox, Dekillsage, SIG... do not run Extend, Pillar, Updo, Hornet L, H Chair etc in the back of their line up, which are the good DP assists.

Try and pick assists that help you play the characters you play better.

The very good defensive invincible assists are picked because the player enjoys what it adds to their play style, or because it's that characters best assist in most situations. (Filia)
They are not a necessary tool at all and the game is not based around them.
They are just an option.

 

[Mike_Z]

ignore everything Dime says

QFT.
::leaves again::

 

[dekillsage]

In training mode I'm controlling both characters on screen.

Is there a way I can completely clear the controls for player 2?
setting the controls to default doesn't really change anything

I have this problem too. I just set the dummy to crouch, or use the "both" setting on select to record the dummy standing.

 

[Dime]

No, just listen to me. You won't know what you like till you try something proven and effective to try something against. Once you get that down, yeah, use whatever.

The best players almost all got there by using invulnerable assists FIRST. Don't let them fool you. After you know how to use invulnerable assists, you can then much more easily move onto using different types of assists.

Skar as an example started out using pillar and peacock.
Mike uses L extend.

Use what you like only after you get acquainted with the invulnerables... Is my advice. Or you could take the advice to not use invulnerables from people... That use them.

 

[Wave]

I'm having a hard time doing filia's midscreen BnB:

c.lk, s.mk, s.hp,
j.hp, adc, j.lk, j.hk,
otg c.lk, s.hp,
j.lp, j.mk (1 hit) xx H Airball, adc, j.mp (4 hits), j.hk,
s.lpx2, s.lk, s.mp, c.mk, c.hp xx H Hairball xx Fenrir Drive.

I'm having a hard time getting the [otg cr.lk] in... it activates IPS when I do the second cr.lk.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[skull person]

I'm having a hard time doing filia's midscreen BnB:

c.lk, s.mk, s.hp,
j.hp, adc, j.lk, j.hk,
otg c.lk, s.hp,
j.lp, j.mk (1 hit) xx H Airball, adc, j.mp (4 hits), j.hk,
s.lpx2, s.lk, s.mp, c.mk, c.hp xx H Hairball xx Fenrir Drive.

I'm having a hard time getting the [otg cr.lk] in... it seems to whiff... I don't know if its because the opponent was crouching?

Crouching doesn't effect anything after a launcher so it should be fine.
Which character are you doing this vs?

This will happen vs heavier characters (Band, Bella, Double, Eliza, Parasoul...) sometimes if you launch but then start the jHP late.
You want to the jHP to be instant by buffering it during Filia's jump frames after the sHP jump cancel.

If you wait too long, you'll launch the opponent too high so that you land too slow to pick up with cLK.

Try it on Filia Peacock or Painwheel first and then try other characters after you get that down.

If you need me to record a video of the combo then I can if you wanna use it for reference.

 

[Wave]

I'm able to get the cr.lk in now... but now I'm triggering IPS with that otg cr.lk

I don't understand how this is a BnB when it triggers IPS... should the combo end after the j.hk?

 

[skull person]

I'm able to get the cr.lk in now... but now I'm triggering IPS with that otg cr.lk

I don't understand how this is a BnB when it triggers IPS... should the combo end after the j.hk?

If the flash is green that's not IPS it's Undizzy.
When you hit someone that green bar fills up under their health.
When it reaches max and you start a new chain they are allowed to burst.

Create a save state with select beside them when Undizzy is empty to quickly restart combos if you make a mistake.
That, or just let the bar fully drain.

If it's a red flash then that's a different issue and something is wrong so record the combo with the red flash and I'll take a look at the issue.

Edit: There is a tutorial for Undizzy that you should check out.

 

[Wave]

If the flash is green that's not IPS it's Undizzy.
When you hit someone that green bar fills up under their health.
When it reaches max and you start a new chain they are allowed to burst.

Create a save state with select beside them when Undizzy is empty to quickly restart combos if you make a mistake.
That, or just let the bar fully drain.

If it's a red flash then that's a different issue and something is wrong so record the combo with the red flash and I'll take a look at the issue.

Edit: There is a tutorial for Undizzy that you should check out.

You're right the color is green when I hit the cr.lk.

I'll take a look at undizzying guide.

 

[Wave]

whiel I'm still not able to do fili'ass BnB doing adc is getting a little easier. I'll have to be really patient while learning this. I am treating it like sf4's FADC but I really just need to keep doing st.hp jc st.hp adc [insert j.normal here]. I think that will help this progress go a little smoother.