How do you good players think when playing Smash? (or any other fighting game)

[sgdo]

Yep, another wow I'm awful at Super Smash thread.

I've always been the button mashing type, but when playing with my button mashing friends, I've never felt too awful at this game. Enter For Glory. I think I'm 0-22 right now, having only killed someone once. Yep. 2 stocked 21 times.

But what I've never understood is what should I be thinking about when playing fighting games? I'm pretty good at MOBAs, but they aren't really a twitchy reflex game, more thinking through/knowing what to do at what time. Anyone can guide me to the right article/post? Or just have some tips?

Appreciated.

 

[Nasreth]

Well the first bit of advice I can offer you is to stop just button mashing and spamming. You have to know exactly how to control your character like it's a reflex, until you're able to do that you won't really be able to outplay anyone. Once you've at least got a rudimentary understanding of your character's moveset you move onto the next step, which is watching and predicting your opponent's moves. Observe his patterns and try to punish them. Good players will use multiple approaches and defensive maneuvers to throw you off, but most people will repeat the same 2-3 patterns over and over again and you can just destroy them for it.

 

[SwoodGrommet]

I've always been the button mashing type

Well there's your problem!
Basically what Nasreth said. Smash also requires you to think through/know what to do at a certain time, but it should go through your head and be processed in a few seconds or preferably less. How do you think people get good at twitchy reflex games? It all becomes natural in time. You'll get faster at reading your opponents and seeing faults in their playstyle. Don't get discouraged, if you really keep at it, you'll see that win percentage rise over time

Of course, maybe stop focusing on actually winning, but more on improving your game. You can improve your game by vast amounts, and still not win. But you should notice an improvement, i.e, not getting hit as much, living longer, making better plays etc. I'd also advice you to find some Smash youtubers/twitch streamers. Just watching people can really help you see how to improve your character. Also, pick one or two characters you really really want to improve with. You'll get better faster than if you were constantly switching back and forth from five or six.

 

[sgdo]

I guess the next question is, how do I play to improve?

Will playing games against the AI help to an extent? For reference I'm about 50/50 against level 7s right now. It sounds like there's not really a fixed gameplan of sorts, mainly understanding how your character moves, how your opponents character moves, and essentially dancing around their play? Predicting a smash and dodging, baiting out their dodge, chaining a combo, etc?

 

[SwoodGrommet]

Well, I practiced against level 8 cpus until I could beat them consistently enough. I wouldn't worry about level 9s too much; they're ridiculous with their reaction times, you'll never find somebody that quick to react online. I think solo training is all about learning your character's moves, while For Glory is all about learning how to properly utilise them. You may think you know your moves right know, but really before you go online, you only know what buttons trigger them, if you understand what I'm saying.

You can get good to an extent if you play against cpus, but it doesn't compare to online fighting. I learned my moves and then dived straight into For Glory. I think it helps to just throw yourself into the deep end. Believe me, by playing online you'll see how people can be similar in their fighting styles with particular characters, and you can exploit this as you gain experience. For example, if a Link/Bowser/Kirby etc is falling right above you, you can bet that 9/10 times they will use their powerful down air.

You'll get trashed around the stage a lot, but hey, it's a good way to learn. Don't be afraid to jump into For Glory and leave solo mode behind for a while. I don't know why, but I always get really nervous before playing an online match. I suppose the anticipation is good for you, haha. Basically, if you play the game, you'll improve. If you don't play the game, you can bet you won't be getting anywhere fast.

 

[TechieWidget]

When playing fighting games, learn how to dodge, grab or block. If you are the kind of person who button mashes, players who use characters that have counter moves like Marth, Lucario, Peach, Shulk, and Little Mac can easily take advantage of you and quickly KO you. When you get hit by a counter, IT HURTS A LOT. Grabbing is vital since you can grab opponents that are shielding.Lvl 9 CPUs are ridiculously difficult, even I have a hard time fighting time. For improving your skills, I recommend training mode.

 

[WakerofWinds]

I remember watching an interview with Scar (or maybe he was just commentating) and he said that, ideally, he wouldn't be thinking at all during a match. Once you've mastered your character, knowing which buttons to press when become second nature.

While you're learning, I would say that attempting to think about which move is right for the particular situation you're in is best. I tend to try and find patterns in my opponent's style that I can exploit.

 

[Nasreth]

I don't see anything wrong with playing against computers as preliminary training. You have to learn how your character functions and which moves leave you open to get punished, and computers are good at doing that. I don't think a level 9 computer is excessive either, like others have suggested. I didn't bother with for glory mode until I was able to consistently beat a level 9 random computer in a 3 stock match with my favorite character.

Something to note is that computers will not play like humans. Humans will tend to follow a pattern much more than a computer, which tends to use whatever move it can hit you with at the time. That's where positioning and watching your opponent's movements really start to come into play, which is something you won't learn from a computer. EX: Playing a computer will teach you to use your characters movements well, but it won't teach you how to beat annoying things such as people who roll around constantly, wait for you to attack, and then dash attack you. After awhile you'll learn that you can punish these players by faking a movement to bait out the dash attack - something that has a generally low success rate against computers - and then you can punish them during their dash animation that whiffs or hits your shield.