how do I anything

[peepo2399]

like
I've been playing this game for a little over 40 hours or so, but I mean
I still feel pretty bad at this game
so like, my mains are fortune, filia, and peacock
so, yeah
any
tips?
people have told me that I just need to play more/get more experience with the game and fight advance players, but jesus christ it feels like I'll never get any better lol

 

[Fumako]

So, first off, it would be very much appreciated if you actually told us what you're having problems with.
What are you having problems with?
> Neutral?
- Are you having problems getting into a situation where you can start your offence or you let the opponent start their pressure too much or do you have no idea at all what neutral is?
> Offence?
- Are you having problems keeping momentum? Don't know how to keep applying pressure? Pushblock too effective at keeping you out?
> Defence?
- Not satisfied with your defence? Don't know when and what moves to pushblock? Can't PBGC? HOW DO I BLOCK MIX-UPS AND RESETS?

But now that your here, just go read the appropriate sub-forums and once you've read enough either go to matches and try to commentate on your play or watch videos of people.
I think it's very helpful to watch different matches from different skill-levels. It's very helpful seeing the difference between these players, seeing what flies at what skill-levels and, eventually through pure osmosis or dedicated practice/studying, why those things don't work as well the higher up you go.

 

[peepo2399]

So, first off, it would be very much appreciated if you actually told us what you're having problems with.
What are you having problems with?
> Neutral?
- Are you having problems getting into a situation where you can start your offence or you let the opponent start their pressure too much or do you have no idea at all what neutral is?
> Offence?
- Are you having problems keeping momentum? Don't know how to keep applying pressure? Pushblock too effective at keeping you out?
> Defence?
- Not satisfied with your defence? Don't know when and what moves to pushblock? Can't PBGC? HOW DO I BLOCK MIX-UPS AND RESETS?

But now that your here, just go read the appropriate sub-forums and once you've read enough either go to matches and try to commentate on your play or watch videos of people.
I think it's very helpful to watch different matches from different skill-levels. It's very helpful seeing the difference between these players, seeing what flies at what skill-levels and, eventually through pure osmosis or dedicated practice/studying, why those things don't work as well the higher up you go.

I see
sorry, I should've specified what I was trying to say
mostly my issues have been about my defense, so I guess I'll just read about that, watch others play, and just practice more
I guess?
thanks

 

[Waifu Collector]

I felt pretty good about myself after 40 hours so maybe you could try doing what I did then.

-Don't play online, lmao. Unless you really want to of course, it's more important to have fun than to do what other thinks of as 'right'. Personally I didn't start playing online until I felt confident winning versus Nightmare bots.

-Learn a sweet combo, a really long one. I learnt my first combo without a guide because I thought it was fun to experimentate and doing so I encountered some stuff that I didn't know why it happened. This is how I learned about mechanics such as undizzy, combo stages, ips, damage scaling etc. and to make my combos even better I had to google on how they worked and then I continued to perfect my very OWN combo! Training room is THE best way for a beginner to get good.

Then when you go online just try and get one hit in, do your sweet combo and look at that! You might lose, but you managed to take a quarter of his health down, just three more to go. ;)

 

[HiroProtagonest]

-Don't play online, lmao. Unless you really want to of course, it's more important to have fun than to do what other thinks of as 'right'. Personally I didn't start playing online until I felt confident winning versus Nightmare bots.

Don't do this. Nightmare bots are pure gimmick that don't work against real players. Except when learning how to apply defensive techs, since they can put on block pressure.

Jumping right into online is also a real bad idea. It's like going mountain climbing without knowing how to use a rope and pylon. And it's not just combos. It's resets and defensive techs. Resets are at the center of Skullgirls along with combos. Knowing when to Pushblock is huge for Absolute Guard and Pushblock Guard Cancel. Also Chicken Blocking. Look stuff up. Practice it. You can't apply tools to the neutral game if you can't use them in the first place.

 

[Waifu Collector]

I feel it's more important to have fun while improving than getting good quick. Playing versus bots might not resemble playing versus humans but it leaves room for improving while actually playing the game instead of studying it.

 

[Magma442]

Disagree. not on the fun improving part but on the fighting bots

Fighting people can be fun too but thats not even the quick route. You need to find people of your skill range (hit me up and we can fight to see what your skill level is at.)

the problem with AI's is that you wont learn ANYTHING and you'll at best plataeu bellow the online skill range or at worst not be ready at all.

 

[HiroProtagonest]

I feel it's more important to have fun while improving than getting good quick. Playing versus bots might not resemble playing versus humans but it leaves room for improving while actually playing the game instead of studying it.

No, fighting bots is terrible. You know what's fun? Practicing combos in training mode. Fiddling with the dummy's defense settings and practicing resets. It's like solving a timing puzzle that looks awesome. If you don't have fun with that, Skullgirls is not a game you should be playing.

I beat Nightmarecrest Filia with only two attacks. That was less fun, and now I can beat her AI every time. No way I could take my Fukua into online and do any good with it.

 

[Lex]

Practising against bots has its benefits and downsides. Sure, nothing can replace playing vs a real person, but playing vs bots can be useful for a number of things at a base level. If you want to practise a combo or reset or something similar in a setting where there's more pressure than in training mode than playing vs a bot gives you a good chance to practise confirming into that combo off of various hits without the intensity and variance of playing online. Fighting vs bots is also good for familiarising yourself with your characters tools and the basic mechanics of the game. Sure, you're unlikely to learn how to properly utilise PBGC or alpha counter out of bursts, but you will be able to get used to stuff like throws, blocking, pushblocking and your character's mobility options.

I'm not saying that playing vs bots is the only way to learn or that it is even necessary, just that - like everything else (including grinding training mode btw) - it has its pros and cons and will only take you so far but it is still a worthwhile tool to use when you are still learning.

No, fighting bots is terrible. You know what's fun? Practicing combos in training mode. Fiddling with the dummy's defense settings and practicing resets. It's like solving a timing puzzle that looks awesome. If you don't have fun with that, Skullgirls is not a game you should be playing.

I beat Nightmarecrest Filia with only two attacks. That was less fun, and now I can beat her AI every time. No way I could take my Fukua into online and do any good with it.

People find different things fun and just because people learn in different ways and enjoy different things than you does not mean that they shouldn't play Skullgirls. There isn't some checklist with "Must enjoy grinding training mode" on it for being able to play Skullgirls, especially when you are just starting.

 

[Pickles]

You know what's fun? Practicing combos in training mode. Fiddling with the dummy's defense settings and practicing resets. It's like solving a timing puzzle that looks awesome. If you don't have fun with that, Skullgirls is not a game you should be playing.

i personally find labbing pretty boring, i dont really use it for much besides checking to see if stuff works and grinding combos/resets until i can do them reliably, guess skullgirls isn't the game for me whoops 2k hours down the drain wish someone had told me sooner

on a more serious note, I do think that playing vs ai repeatedly will teach you a lot of bad habits, but for a new player its not bad as a way to just get more comfortable with your characters. I wouldn't do it for long though, but at the same time I'd also highly recommend against quick match. find beginner groups or ask around in the skullgirls discord for people at your level to play against, by playing against another person at about your level you (hopefully) won't get overwhelmed but you also won't fall into "works against AI" habits.

 

[HiroProtagonest]

and grinding combos/resets until i can do them reliably,

...That's what I said. Did I ever say labbing to find new things? I said practicing combos and resets.

 

[Pickles]

...That's what I said. Did I ever say labbing to find new things? I said practicing combos and resets.

but i didn't say that practicing combos and resets was something you should enjoy, and that if you didn't enjoy it you shouldn't play the game. for a lot of people its just something you grind out so you can do it in matches (which i find to be the fun part)

 

[mcpeanuts]

Don't do this. Nightmare bots are pure gimmick that don't work against real players. Except when learning how to apply defensive techs, since they can put on block pressure.

Disagree. not on the fun improving part but on the fighting bots

Fighting people can be fun too but thats not even the quick route. You need to find people of your skill range (hit me up and we can fight to see what your skill level is at.)

the problem with AI's is that you wont learn ANYTHING and you'll at best plataeu bellow the online skill range or at worst not be ready at all.

Actually, I think fighting the bots is fine. When I'm learning a new character or team that's usually the first thing I do outside of training mode. They don't teach you anything about neutral or defense but they're good to have as a moving target to practice combos on. It can also help with learning situational things that you didn't know you didn't know, like "oh my midscreen combo doesn't actually work in the corner" or "oh I actually don't know a combo off air throw with this character" or whatever. Also since the AI just sort of does things arbitrarily it does give you a sense of what your good neutral options are, at least insofar as "this button is good against someone who is just facerolling on the buttons". Eventually you get to a point where you plateau and fighting the nightmare bots is boring, but until you hit that point I think it's fine to use them for practice.

The important thing is to just fight the AI in good faith. Resetting the AI with a mid is as good as resetting it with a low or overhead, but you can't apply that to a match with real people. I don't think there's a lot of stake in the idea that "fighting the AI gives you bad habits", but this is one area where it might. Just make sure to use actual mixups, even though you don't need to and they aren't more effective.