Ms. Fortune Help Me-owt!

[queerdeer]

I'm sort-of-new-but-sort-of-not; like, I've basically been stalking Skullgirls tournaments since 2015, and the amount of knowledge I have on this game (and its meta/community; seriously, you guys are great) is actually pretty disgusting, considering that I haven't. Really played it much. I've screwed around with a few characters in Lab (for sixty hours, yes) and that's about it, but my friend had me give him a play-by-play on some Combo Breaker 2016 vids I showed him because I was screaming and he didn't understand. Good times.

Anyway, my problem basically boils down to: I know the terminology. I know what things are. Buuuut I'm a little confused on where to start learning how to make these plays myself, especially when it comes to Fortune (who looks hella fun to play, but how even).

A few specific question I had are:

- should I learn head-on Fortune first, head-less Fortune first, or both at the same time? I know definitely that I want to do both, but since she half-becomes another character when she switches from rushdown to puppet, my brain sort of goes !!¿!¡¡?!?¿

- should I git gud with Fortune first, or also try to learn a secondary/assist character at the same time?

- speaking of, how viable is a solo-Fortune these days (shout-out to KhaosMuffins)? I know that in SG assists are a++ (and I feel like the game was sort of built with them in mind, to help compensate for weaknesses) but colour me curious.

- should I practice in the 'main' game, or should I learn on Endless Beta? (I play PC). Or does it really matter so much?

- has anyone managed to come up with a good way to input DP on a 360 controller without twisting their thumbs into a demented claw?

- similarly, what's the best input for instant-air dashes?

- c.hp vs l.fiber combos. thoughts?

A video on some BnB combos would also be pretty helpful. So would general Fortune tips anyone might have. I've been obsessed with this game for, like, a year - it's about time I learned how to play it.

 

[Ninja]

most people learn Head On Fortune first. For Headless takes a little bit more skill and management [especially now due to her beta changes where she can manually control the head]

Learning a single character first and then branching out to teams is a good way to start off. This way you'll have a strong character to back up on learning a second or third character.

uh... Solo Fortune is still floating around from time to time, so I would say that you can make her work by herself, it's just more common to see her on a team of some sort.

For Right Now I suggest Beta because of that MAJOR change to her headless form. Just something you're going to learn. Now the second the Beta changes jump to the Retail then Endless will hold little purpose. [unless Mike comes out of the blue with something else, idk.]

Ouch, Sorry man I use PS3 controllers but I understand how uncomfortable a 360's d-pad can be. If anything it might be best to save up for a stick or a hitbox. or just swap to another controller like a duel shock or something. SG has that hot plug feature where you can plug in pretty much any controller and the game can read it.

Best input for air-dashes for Fortune? Double Punch. Tapping can lead you to mis-timing links mid-juggle.

uh fiber loops are good. in fact fiber itself is super good. use fiber.

BnBs can be found here on the community threads on Fortune. Now if you need extra help on her you can also jump over to the community SG discord server where you can ask for help at pretty much any time. heck even get in some practice matches.

 

[CaioLugon]

So to answer your questions:

- should I learn head-on Fortune first, head-less Fortune first, or both at the same time? I know definitely that I want to do both, but since she half-becomes another character when she switches from rushdown to puppet, my brain sort of goes !!¿!¡¡?!?¿

I'd say whichever have more fun with. Early on it's fine to just stick to one or the other, some people say head-on is better first because she's more straightforward, but I wouldn't say headless is hard really aside from requiring some more versatility with combos. Especially since you're still starting out, difficulty shouldn't really be much of a factor.

- should I git gud with Fortune first, or also try to learn a secondary/assist character at the same time?

It's fine to play solo if you're not interested in any other character, but assists are fun, and every character has assists that can help you in some way.

- speaking of, how viable is a solo-Fortune these days (shout-out to KhaosMuffins)? I know that in SG assists are a++ (and I feel like the game was sort of built with them in mind, to help compensate for weaknesses) but colour me curious.

I mean if you're gonna try to beat sage and sonic on next major then maybe pick another character... but really, don't worry about that, solos are good, fortune is good, and everyone in this game is good. Right now the only thing that matters if how good YOU are. Just pick what you like and try to have fun, don't overthink it.

- should I practice in the 'main' game, or should I learn on Endless Beta? (I play PC). Or does it really matter so much?

You might have trouble finding people to play against in the beta if you're not friends some other players already (you should join the discord btw) but it's also the version I would recommend since it's more up-to-date even if some things get reverted. And also beta fortune is great.

- has anyone managed to come up with a good way to input DP on a 360 controller without twisting their thumbs into a demented claw?

Rip. I play on ds4 and never had a problem so I can't really help you out on this one... but iirc sage himself used to play on a 360 pad so I guess just practice? idk

- similarly, what's the best input for instant-air dashes?

Skullgirls makes it come out on the first possible frame if you button dash during the jump start-up so it's very lenient for IAD's, but it's the only case I ever button dash, for every other scenario I double tap forward (but it's just preference, button dashing is fine).

- c.hp vs l.fiber combos. thoughts?

I do both, but in general fiber loops are more consistent and, in optimal scenarios, more damaging (just her first combo on the BnB compendium is really all you're gonna need for head-on for a while).

And make sure you check the Fortune compendium if you haven't already. :)

 

[Pickles]

- should I learn head-on Fortune first, head-less Fortune first, or both at the same time? I know definitely that I want to do both, but since she half-becomes another character when she switches from rushdown to puppet, my brain sort of goes !!¿!¡¡?!?¿

this depends a little on retail vs beta, headon on its own is better in retail than beta but overall you can get very far without learning headoff (at first) though of course if you get snapped then you are forced to deal with it.

- should I git gud with Fortune first, or also try to learn a secondary/assist character at the same time?

you'll want a team eventually but limiting yourself to one character at first is fine. if you don't think it would be too overwhelming though, since again you will want a team eventually then learning two chars isn't a bad idea.

- speaking of, how viable is a solo-Fortune these days (shout-out to KhaosMuffins)? I know that in SG assists are a++ (and I feel like the game was sort of built with them in mind, to help compensate for weaknesses) but colour me curious.

about as viable as any solo, which is to say ehhhh. headless fortune was a lot better back when khaos played solo fortune so the head kinda filled the role that assists generally play. nowadays while i wouldn't necessarily say solo fortune is UNVIABLE you'll almost certainly want a team.

- should I practice in the 'main' game, or should I learn on Endless Beta? (I play PC). Or does it really matter so much?

beta is going to be the final version of the game eventually, so playing on it will better prepare you for when the changes go to retail. that said, beta does have a few downsides: since it changes relatively often i would imagine it might be harder to learn the game on, as well as the fact that retail is still more popular, particularly in quick match. in the end it's up to you though tbh for a new player i'd lean towards recommending retail.

- has anyone managed to come up with a good way to input DP on a 360 controller without twisting their thumbs into a demented claw?

- similarly, what's the best input for instant-air dashes?

uhhh idk 360pad is tough lol.

- c.hp vs l.fiber combos. thoughts?

L fiber builds more meter and has better corner carry as well as resets, c.hp combos have more damage. usually people do fiber combos i think.

this thread has bnbs for every char with videos, fortune included. its a great place to start.

khaosmuffins had a guide for fortune but it got hit with copyright claim idk what else is out there for video, the ms fortune forum has a compendium thats pretty nice

 

[Rizil]

Ooooohhh can I join in on this? Just my own experiences starting out as Fortune was my first character as well picking up the game.

Head On I feel is much easier to handle early on and does more damage, so start learning that first. Head Off relies on a lot of positioning of the head and you also tend to lose a bit of overall damage, but head off's pressure is crazy good so eventually you'll want to dip your toes into it. I'm trying to do that myself with some surprising success.

Stick with Fortune first. Trying to pick up 2 characters simultaneously is pretty hard starting out and can be tough. Once you start to get comfy with Fortune start branching off to other characters to see if you find someone else you can get into.

Solo's are viable, especially Fortune, but life will definitely be a rough road. Best advice I can give is keep your eye on your red health and snap if your opponent has a character at lower health and get your own health back. Seriously this is such an overlooked mechanic that was added that can really save your bacon especially from characters like bella or beowulf that do a lot of throw damage that is recoverable in red health.

As for retail vs. beta, yea you might be hard pressed to finding random matches in beta, but Fortune in beta form I think is pretty much going to stick around, which means getting used to moving the head around while walking/dashing.

DP motions unfortunately I can't help with. I play stick and any time I did play pad was on a DS3/4. I find the 360 Dpad to be just a mess. Maybe you'll have better luck with the analog? I know that's how sage played way back before he switched to a DS4. Also idk how the xb-one dpad is. Maybe they improved on it?

How I do instant air dashes is always always ALWAYS press up and 2 punch buttons at the same time. Comes out instantly, no fuss, no muss. I also use a dash macro but I only use it for fiber loop bnbs. Never try to do IAD with a double tap. It's just way too much effort when there's an easier method right in front of you and gives better results.

As for the bnb I never learned the c.hp combo. Just couldn't get the timing down. Fiber loops is pretty much your go-to bnb, has good damage (was great but mike nerfed scaling on l.fiber), great corner carry, and super leads to a hard knockdown for oki shenanigans, or go headless and let the corner mayhem begin.

Caio and Pickles already posted the BnB compendium, which all the combos on there are still used and haven't really changed much, if at all. Best way I felt when practicing bnbs is to kinda find a rhythm. Kinda a big reason I still can't do Big Band's bnbs >:( but that's a whole nother story.

 

[queerdeer]

Thanks everyone for your advice! I'll be starting with a solo, head-on Fortune in Beta. Assists later. Though this does raise the (probably silly) question for @Pickles: if solo Fortune gets snapped, does she still lose her head? I doubt anyone would snap a solo, but it can happen and I'm actually just pretty curious lol. (If it does than that might be a good tactic against a newbie who's unfamiliar playing head-less!)

For the DP and the instant-airs, I guess I'll just have to suck it up until I get a stick. I'll save up and buy a Qanba... and the questions I have on that are probably better put in the Hardware forum, pfft, so I'll stop there.

 

[Ninja]

yup Snapping Fortune will knock her head off. It's really dangerous for her.

 

[Pickles]

if solo Fortune gets snapped, does she still lose her head? I doubt anyone would snap a solo, but it can happen and I'm actually just pretty curious lol.

fortune loses her head when snapped even as solo, yes. aside from removing the head, snapping a solo fortune (as a team) could actually be more useful than you might initially think since snapping a solo removes their red life (thereby preventing them from regaining it with their own snap). you'd be much less likely to see a snap in a solo v solo situation, but vs fortune it could be useful since the only way to get a comboable wallbounce from snapping a solo is if you are playing a solo as well, so a solo character snapping fortune would take off her head and allow them to continue a combo on a character who just lost their best reversal (invuln h fiber). as you mentioned though this is probably mostly just theory, most people would probably not bother spending the bar but in some situations it could be useful

If it does than that might be a good tactic against a newbie who's unfamiliar playing head-less!

i know good players who i would snap fortune against to take the head off because i believe their headoff game is much weaker, really solid head-on players are not all that common (though top fortunes I think are starting to really try to learn headoff since people are starting to punish them for it)

 

[Ninja]

actually if you're wanting to be extra smart you can do a snap slap on Fortune and keep her in a combo while knocking her head off to get that sweet sweet bonus damage.

Spoiler: So old. So un-optimized. Yikes... At least it gets the idea across...

 

[Fizzxwizz]

skullgirls has fun characters with fun assists try them out if you ever consider wanting to play a team. Beta changes to fortune aren't huge. Solo works pretty well as fortune, there are one or two people who still play her solo right now, @Red Savarin is one of them I think. Playing solo should kinda encourage your to play both head on and off, because there are some matchups where one is bad and the other is good, but that can alternate fast in matches against duos or trios.

 

[Pickles]

actually if you're wanting to be extra smart you can do a snap slap on Fortune and keep her in a combo while knocking her head off to get that sweet sweet bonus damage.

what you did in the video still works i think, but in the context of vs solo fortune, this no longer works; if a team snaps a solo, the solo is put into invincible knockdown state and flies fullscreen (no wallbounce) so you cannot get a combo with any method. fortune still loses the head in this situation though.