Also, I would suggest not ONLY playing one character (That seems to be what you were telling me?). Despite what you may think, playing numerous characters will help you get better at Kirby
so, so true.
Anyway, here is a guide to the things that helped me improve. It's lengthy, as a forewarning, but I believe it to be useful.
1)
FIGURE OUT EXACTLY HOW TO USE A MOVE.
Learn your moves like the back of your hand: range, knockback, etc. know in what situations a move will work. Keep in mind, also, this may vary slightly from offline to online. Overall, this step is the easy part.
2)
NOW THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO USE A MOVE, KNOW WHEN TO USE A MOVE.
This is the hard part, and this is the part where playing with other characters helps. Its tricky because the situations in which you
can use moves with a character can overlap. For example, when someone is in front of you in the air with kirby, youve got options. should I use hammer? fair? nair? cutters up swing? inhale? airdodge? you get the idea: youve got choices. The battle here is learning when to make which choice.
How does playing as other characters help you improve as
kirby? It helps with the basics, because you have to incorporate a similar move into a new moveset, giving you new ways to use it that you may carry back to kirby. Lots of moves in this game, though different in characteristics, have the same basic purpose. for example, look at kirby's utilt. When do most characters use their utilt? when they need a quick move, usually after a spot dodge, usually as a punisher, that can hit both sides. Also, it is usually done at lower percents so it can combo. Once you know that, you apply it to kirby, and...hey! kirby's utilt works perfectly that way! same can be said for kirby's down tilt, and other moves throughout this game.
Aside from helping you learn similar moves, you can better learn how often to roll dodge, spot dodge, airdodge, etc by playing as other characters. Think you spot dodge too much? play as someone else for a little while, and practice it with him. Eventually you will reach a good balance.
Watching and PLAYING good players also helps in this step, quite a lot. You will notice which of your habits work well and which dont, and therefore which you may need to change. Also, notice which of THEIR habits work well.
3)
BREAK HABITS THAT PREVENT YOU FROM USING A MOVE WELL.
Example: Now that you know using utilt to punish your opponent after you have spotdodged their move is better than using dsmash, you need to get your mind to stop instinctively telling you to use dsmash, and start instictively telling you to use utilt. If youve been playing as kirby for a while, some of these habits are probably pretty solidly ingrained.
To teach yourself a habit, there are 2 things that I used to try that simply DO NOT work. First of all, dont try to get yourself into a habit by doing it against computers. computers are dumb and will present you with wrong situations for moves. Also, dont just go into a competitive match, and start trying to incorporate your move. You need the speed of instinct in competition, so you will either lose trying to incorporate the move, or you will do as well as always without incorporating it.
So how did I break my habits?
By accident.
All you have to do, is take a break from playing the game. A week should suffice. But, keep thinking about the game a little bit.
This works because you lose the mechanical habits that come from repeated play and keep mental ideas that you should be able to apply IMMEDIATELY next time you play. I dont care how dumb this may sound to you, it works.
About 5 months ago, I was on summer vacation in florida with my family, and had no wii. When I returned...I was suddenly extremely proficient at spotdodging the NEXT time I played, out of nowhere. I didnt make the connection at first. But during a stressful week of school this year, when I had no time to play, I still thought about how I needed to break my dsmash habit and start using utilt, and still watched my roommates play a little. When I finally played again, I was doing it. Effortlessly. At this point, I realized the breaks from playing were breaking my habits.
I saw nynjalink write in here the other day, that he only plays this game like once a week, and no one could believe it. Well, believe it, because time off can help you improve if you have a sound mindset about this game.
Sorry this was so long guys, but this is basically my guide to improvement, and it made me the player I am today. Maybe I should post this some other places too.
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