How do you practice with your main?

[Magus-Cie]

I am trying to pick up some tips here because I can't get my Wii to connect with my wireless router. I am doing my best to practice against level 9 computers, and seeing as how I play with Ganondorf, that at least speeds me up a bit. But as far as mindgames and the like go, or practicing and getting the hang of techs while actually playing, it is kind of hard.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I could do better?

 

[Super_Sonic8677]

There is a "Training mode" in the game you knowXD

 

[zaf]

try and play people around you. Human players are much better then cpu's. Besides cpu's will get you stuck into a bad routine, seeing as the cpu's play horribly.

just play with people around you. If you dont have any friends who play, try and find some on this site

 

[SharkAttack]

try and play people around you. Human players are much better then cpu's. Besides cpu's will get you stuck into a bad routine, seeing as the cpu's play horribly.

just play with people around you. If you dont have any friends who play, try and find some on this site

Zaf is right on this. The best practice you can get is by playing other people; especially if they're good. There are some good brawlers on this site that are always looking for a challenge.

If unable to take on other Brawlers though your kinda stuck fighting CPU's for the most part. In this case I train by playing Free for All matches against 3 level 9 computers with 20 stock. This is all I did in Melee and would play everyday until I breached 100 ko's. This method taught me how to better watch my opponents on the screen as well as learning when to attack and when to dodge in a group. After playing each character a few times I quickly learned their moves, what moves hurt my character by them and what moves are most effective. I'm not sure how much of a difference it made in 1 vs. 1's, but in free for alls against my friends I'd always improve with this method. Hopefully the same works for Brawl; however I haven't done many of these

This doesn't mean humans are gonna battle the same way; but any kind of practice is better than none. For me sometimes lv 9's are a better challenge than the "With Anyone" Free for All battles on Wifi.

 

[Charizard92]

Too bad all my friends don't have this game. This is why I use level 4 CPUs. They are much better.

 

[naevorc]

Uhh... i get in the car, turn on the engine, and go to a friend's house. FRIENDS. Cpu training = ****.

 

[x9whitey9x]

Why would you use level 4s? They're kind of a waste, unless you're learning a brand-new character.

 

[Bevo]

I usually get with a friend and go to FD with no time limit. If I'm by myself, lv. 9 CPU. I just try out new combo's and techniques and practice the ones I'm already good at. Getting out of combo's and playing defense, transitioning to offense. It's really helped my game. The best practice is real games by tourney rules though. Unlimited time, on any stage for a while helps me get used to the stages. Just play around with that and have fun with it and try new things. Hope this helped.

Edit: Doubles training is about the same, but sometimes it's hard to get other teams together. Lv. 9 CPU doesn't help much here, they're horrible partners. Just do it whenever you can get both teams together for extended periods of time.

 

[Steel]

Why would you use level 4s? They're kind of a waste, unless you're learning a brand-new character.

If you HAVE to train on CPUs you use level 3 or below. Any above that they have inhuman reactions and get you in REALLY bad habits when you play humans. Don't practice on level 9s.

 

[Bevo]

If you HAVE to train on CPUs you use level 3 or below. Any above that they have inhuman reactions and get you in REALLY bad habits when you play humans. Don't practice on level 9s.

Really? Thanks, this is a helpful tip. What level is the most believable?

 

[Sans Glutin]

I play against Snake in training mode and continuously use uncharged wafts on him and somehow that makes me better

 

[The Dinkoman]

Training 101:

put any character on level nine and beat the crap out of them.

end training lesson

 

[Charizard92]

If you HAVE to train on CPUs you use level 3 or below. Any above that they have inhuman reactions and get you in REALLY bad habits when you play humans. Don't practice on level 9s.

Oh, level 4 CPUs are possibly the hardest you can get without superhuman reflexes (they are "normal" difficulty) and there isn't any way to train with my friends, none of them have Brawl (for that matter, most don't even have a Wii).

 

[Solidix Snike]

Training 101:

put any character on level nine and beat the crap out of them.

end training lesson

I'm gonna have to disagree with that. Taking on any CPU above lvl 4 will get you to develop bad habits, since they can, and will, dodge and deflect with inhuman reflexes. Not to mention that the AI always has flaws.

 

[aznegglover]

So.. max CPU Level 4 for training purposes?

 

[ShaolinAce]

Train with 3 lvl 9's on stock if you don't have friends to come over. Free for all, it does take some skill since all are going to go after you most of the time.

 

[Solidix Snike]

Train with 3 lvl 9's on stock if you don't have friends to come over. Free for all, it does take some skill since all are going to go after you most of the time.

Have you read the topic?

 

[ctk495]

Well I play with my friends online I know that there is a differece between offline and online play but atleast it's not a CPU.

 

[ShaolinAce]

Have you read the topic?

Yes. thats how I practice when theres no person to practice with. dur.

 

[Imp]

I disagree; it isn't impossible to get good training off of lvl 9 cpu's. For awhile; thats all I had to play against. The thing you have to remember is to treat the cpu as if it was a human. Its far to easy to play a cpu as if it were a cpu, since they have tendencies to react the same; thus predictable.

Now, I'm not saying cpu training > humans. I just find it an over exaggeration to say lvl 9 cpu training doesn't work at all.

Also, watch vids of a vet/pro player, and try to catch on to how they play. What works for them is bound to work for you; assuming you practice.

 

[Lucas_User]

I usually practice on SandBag when I'm waiting for WiFi, but I dont think I need anymore training.

 

[Steel]

Really? Thanks, this is a helpful tip. What level is the most believable?

I use level 3. Treat it like it's a real player. Work on your spacing and try not to get hit the whole match.

 

[Bevo]

Thanks Steel.

 

[5yphon]

i had the same problem when i was playing melee. All i did was grab my 2 friends who were bad at the game and played with them everyday until they got good. Now i can play whenever i want and my friends don't even have the game but can probably hold their own against a good player. So basic solution
1. get friends
2. invite them over to play
3. repeat step 2 until your friends are good

 

[iLike2EatPiez]

Like everyone is saying, friends help. But, if for some reason they aren't available, they kinda suck and aren't a challenge whatsoever, or there's another problem, use CPUs. While it takes a while, a good way to familiarize yourself with your main/whoever you're currently using and the rest of the characters as foes is to brawl every character seperately, gradually increasing the levels until you've beaten them at Level 9. And yes, that means one level at a time, not just going to Lv.9 and beating them, as it is true that lower levels have more human reflexes that compare more to actually playing somebody. However, 9's are also good practice since to beat them you need to think faster than usual, come up with better strategies, and excerscise a bit more skill. If you want to practice specific techniques, use Training Mode to learn how to actually do it, then start brawling CPUs at low levels to try it out.

But, between your training sessions, it would be a good idea to be looking for a way to get WiFi. Seriously, CPUs are nothing like real people, and you're more likely to find serious Smashers on WiFi than with friends.

 

[DaJib]

Clearly fighting humans is the best option.

That being said, if you're all alone here's my advice.

I assume that you're already pretty familiar with your characters basics, if not, then practice in training mode for a bit. After you know the basic skills and are comfortable with them get on here and find a few advanced techniques (ATs) for your character and look up which characters are dangerous against your character and so on.

Once you're full of knowledge about your character go and practice the advanced techniques until you can do them smoothly and with ease.

Now that you've done some bodybuilding its time to get in the ring and fight. The best advice is to do everything. I mean everything. Fight computers at all different levels, in singles and in groups. Try applying the new ATs you've learned in these fights. Also try things like multiman brawl to improve your survival skills and boss battles (on very hard or intense). Try to always mix things up so you don't get used to just playing a certain way. Level 9 computers do things that humans don't, same with level 1 computers and level 2, and 3... If you find yourself constantly doing poorly in one area, lets say fighting against fox, then practice fighting against fox(es). You want to try and find any weak points in your game, you never know when the airdodging skills you got from fighting tabuu will come in handy.


Or just fight people. Thats probably better.

 

[I.iZ.nO.1]

Yah, i agree with everyone else, try to find some people around you that you can play against. In my opinion its a lot better. Trust me, level 9s dont mean much, for a long time in melee i considered myself good because i could beat a team of two level 9s or a team of three level 8s with ease. but when i went out to play some of my friends, turned out that meant nothing. it was a lot more difficult fighting humans, expecially since they can change thier fighting style mid battle.

 

[old king coal]

level 9's suck. they were much harder in melee.

 

[Xfactor777]

I train by going into training mode and setting the CPU level to 9 and I make them attack and I fight them for a while

 

[peeup]

I use level 3. Treat it like it's a real player. Work on your spacing and try not to get hit the whole match.

Brilliant, thanks for the idea. I assume beating up a lvl 3 would be a pretty lobsided fight, but aiming to not get hit might make things more interesting.

 

[Grimpeh]

Definately against human players. I like to have fun while i'm practising ;P

 

[Kros]

TL/Link/Lucas/Samus/G&W is against friends
Everyone else I train by level 9 CPU.

 

[Bud]

just play the game, even break the targets will get you better at the game. Training mode helps for learning specific techniques, and cpu will teach you some things. However, humans are much different and require a different playstyle than bots. Nothing beats the real thing, so call one of your friends over and teach him how to play brawl. The better you are the quicker your counterpart will get good at the game. As long as you explain the game well and give them some good first games they will probably want to play more.

 

[gorgon.]

Yeah, I agree to train with humans. Unfortunately, I have no human opponents.

You speak of developing bad habits by playing level 9 CPUs. What habits do you mean? None of you have been very clear. I train against level 9s, and I haven't seen any hindering in my playing style.

 

[DaJib]

Well first off, whenever you're fighting a computer you're never going to see things like (using snake) mortar sliding, c4 recovery, and grenade cooking. So you won't learn to look out for these things. Secondly the computer has a set behavior that it doesn't deviate from and playing against it will cause you to learn to counter against that behavior, which is different from the behavior of humans, which can change in midplay.

You may get used to easily shield grabbing your opponent out of a short hop fair against a computer when a human might simply pass through to the other side of you. They may not be "bad" habits but they are certainly things an attentive player can punish you for.

 

[gorgon.]

Oh, so people are saying in order to be attentive to humans, who are better than level 9s, we must battle level 4s, who are worse than level 9s and humans.

Makes plenty of sense.

But anyway, DaJib, I understand what you're saying and that's one of the reasons I prefer humans, who learn techniques.

 

[Digimonkey]

every time u figure out a computer, then just change them to a different person. until you can beat anyone

 

[DaJib]

Well the whole, fighting level 4's over level 9's thing seems a little screwy to me as well. I guess the purpose is so that you can practice not being hit and spacing and all that but I feel that doing that on a level 9 would probably be more challenging..

 

[dragonsyth1]

Training 101:

put any character on level nine and beat the crap out of them.

end training lesson

as everyone has said...computers are repetitive you can learn their moves and counter them, while real people can do the same therefore fighting style changes constantly. beating 3 lvl 9 computers means nothing if you can't beat humans.

 

[Magus-Cie]

Hmmm. Why wasn't ^he^ banned yet?

Anyway, thanks for all the advice guys. I actually did get to play last night, and I noticed that my game did suffer from the level 9's >.>

As for practicing targets, boss battles, etc. I am actually close to having the entire wall open. 12 windows or so to go and I still have my 5 hammers (which I have no intention of using)

The problem with finding people to play with is that most people here in the bay area seem to play melee...not brawl...