Practicing Against AI

[Ddawg38]

I had an epiphany while I was fighting a level 9 CPU.

is it even worth it? Can my skill improve AT ALL? obviously the AI doesn't know the meta, for example; ice climbers don't chaingrab, jigglypuff never uses rest, falcon raptors off the side and SDs constantly, Shiek changes into Zelda, none of them ever do advance techniques, etc.

so my point is, why bother? If you're training for a tournament or whatever, it's gonna be totally different from fighting the AI. Is playing by yourself worth anything besides having fun? Obviously you can just brush up on things, like changing your style to be more defensive if you think you need to. But that's about all, right?

 

[EPsilon933]

Practice against bots is for improving ability. The more technical the character someones plays, the more they can improve. Most competitive players recommend level 3. Practicing against level 9s will mostly only teach you how to exploit its AI. There are some people who can't improve by training alone. It's at minimum useful for learning the essential techniques

 

[Ddawg38]

well, that sucks. I don't have anyone in my area I can train with before I sign up for a tournament, so I know I'll get my ass kicked. And if the AI is just for technical training, then I'm screwed.

is there any hacks that gives the bots knowledge of the meta? lol

or just any way for me to train without having to have a real person to play against?

 

[ECHOnce]

Other than more technical training without a bot? Nope.

Try get some friends into smash c if you can't find anyone else! Or start a school/college club. Playing people is a necessity to getting better.

 

[Traivlin]

There's Netplay on www.smashladder.com

 

[EPsilon933]

or just any way for me to train without having to have a real person to play against?

If you can play other fighting games online or Melee (with Dolphin), you can improve your neutral game (prediction, mix ups, spacing)

The 20XX hack changes Melee's AI a bit, I think. It also has a few tools to help players improve

 

[Massive]

If you never play against anybody, you'll never beat anybody, lol.

 

[Clint Jaguar]

I'm surprised there still isn't a dedicated thread for this yet but no, training against bots (especially lvl 9s) offers little reward. Real players move a hell of a lot faster, DI differently and will punish you for making dumb decisions. Low level CPU's are okay for practicing your spacing, basic combos and edgeguarding but you have to be aware that a some tricks that work every time on a CPU won't work on someone who knows how to play the game.

If you can, try to get the 20XX pack and/or netplay which will help you when you have no one to play against. If you're in my boat where you don't have these things, your best option is to practice your tech skill daily and just keep attending tournaments. Also watch plenty of videos of top players and see what they're doing. You'd be surprised how much it can help.

 

[Ddawg38]

thanks guys

 

[EarthCrash]

Bots are nothing more than being Sandbags for handwarmers.