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    Killer Instinct

    Game » consists of 13 releases. Released Nov 22, 2013

    The fighting game series that defined high-risk, high-reward combos returns as a free-to-play launch title for the Xbox One, later receiving constant updates with new characters and game modes. It can also be played on Windows 10 systems with cross-platform multiplayer.

    Short summary describing this game.

    Killer Instinct is currently a very popular game… but if it sticks around longer than this console launch window is yet to be seen. It can be very difficult to find information over this game because the main FGC seems to be split over the quality of the game and there doesn't seem to be a lot of unified community support which might be the cause for a lack of information.

    If you are completely new to fighting games I would suggest playing through most of the Dojo first as it is currently the best tutorial in a fighting game to date. In addition to that there is a great youtuber that produces videos over fighting games who put out an intro to Killer Instinct linked here.

    Maximillian Dood

    He’s been covering the game since its announcement at E3 in 2013 so he knows what he’s talking about and is a great source of information. You should also check out the wikis of eventhubs.com & shoryuken.com to help improve your skill with fighting games and lastly a fighting game Glossary

    .

    An intermediate intro to Killer Instinct

    This game has an odd ebb and flow during fights due to the combo system used. This will make it somewhat jarring moving to and from KI from certain games. Mistakes are huge and can lead to a quick loss. This game more than most is more punishing to naivety about mechanics and of course the mechanic most unique to KI is without a doubt the most important to be understood beyond it’s normal means.

    Identifying Auto-doubles

    One of the most important facets of the game is recognizing the characters Auto-Doubles. While this might sound like large undertaking, there are several different shortcuts to help actively recognize each attack. The first tool you will use will be the speed of the attacks. This is something you will pick up naturally but is far from flawless. I find that in the middle of battle it’s easy to lose focus on the timing and you could easily confuse mids and heavies or lights and mids. Also each character has very different timing and if you constantly play against different characters (Like when playing online) you might not be able to switch modes on what kind of timing you are looking for.

    I think the only surefire way to recognize the auto doubles is by learning the animations themselves. This isn't as hard as you think because there are actually patterns that seem to be followed by each character that you might not see without looking for them. As an example let’s take Sadira and break her auto doubles down. Video Here As you can see from the video that both her lights actually start with her ducking down for the first hit of the double. None of her other Autos follow this, so you can easily tell that when she ducks down after her opener or linker that she must be using lights. Moving over to the heavies we see that there is a very large sweep for her heavy punches because you see her entire arm hit twice in very large motions. If we compare that over to the medium attacks, her punches have her much closer and it’s somewhat difficult to identify what is occurring. For the kicks the same thing occurs where there is a very obvious animation between her attacks of her kneeing the opponent’s midsection. Using these 3 tells you can now identify her 6 Auto Doubles. If you are looking to break lights you know to look for the crouching stance, Heavies are the large sweeping attacks and knowing 2 out of the 3 you should recognise the mids as the odd ones out. Every character has these specific tells and to learn them you just need to spend a little time in Training mode as the character you are trying to learn and look for those differences. Now that you know how to look for Auto doubles we can move into the most important rule for KI.

    Guessing Breakers

    This is so damn important if you want to do well in this game you have to figure this out now. You cannot spam and guess breakers. At the low levels online it might work against other players but it will always come back to bite you in the ass. I can’t count the number of times that when I get my first combo on someone and see them lock out immediately that I Counterbreaker the instant before they come off of lockout and get an extra 20% of free damage. Against certain opponents I've been able to get combos as high as 85% because I was able to continue to counterbreaker against them 3 or 4 times in one combo. Even if you don’t get counterbreaker...ed you still get locked out for 3 seconds. That’s 3 seconds of unmitigated heavies. For every character I play I know exactly what I can do to max damage a lockout period and the last moment to start the ender to prevent being broken after the lockout ends. In training mode I set the computer to autobreak everything and learned the length of attacks by trying to counterbreak the AI while doing several different moves. This will help teach timing for maximizing the potential lockout time.

    On the other hand you can’t win games with Counterbreakers. I certainly fell into a trap in the early levels by over using Counterbreakers in the early levels and at later points continued to be too greedy and dropped good combos (and subsequently punished) by going for the succulent counter. Something that can’t be taught is the balance of a game and how to react accordingly, that just comes with time. What I will point out is that the game has great stat tracking in the Fight Records and it’s very useful to monitor those. Make sure you check them out and keep track of things such as counterbreaker bluffs vs counterbreaker lands. It’s important that you don’t miss out on damage because of that aforementioned greed. Also keep track of your match-ups. You can see who you have a tough time against and go after learning how to deal with it. You can check how many combos you have done and how they end. Do you have more that are dropped and interrupted then completed? Check your throws. How many times have you been thrown compared to how many times you've teched the throw? There is a plethora of information over how you play which if used correctly can guide you to more proficient play. But beyond looking at stats there are just certain things you need to know.

    Characters and their play style

    Jago

    Jago is the most all around player that typically plays around mid-close range. He can play a limited zone and can play rushdown but doesn't excel as well as other characters at doing that. He is the shoto character so he is most players first use character and plays somewhat similarly with controller motions and attacks. Things to take note of are his Endokouken, Dragon's Wrath, and Wind Kick. Don’t underestimate any of these attacks because they can often get in when you're least expecting it and especially with the shadow versions of the moves. Against characters that have trouble getting in he can easily throw a shadow fireball after he sees you jump his regular one and land all 5 hits. The same goes for the reversed roles. If you are throwing projectiles at him, his shadow wind kick is projectile invulnerable and will place him right in your face. When playing as Jago the proper enders are his Fireball for his meter ender and DP for damage.

    Jago’s unique combo trait is that he can repeat auto doubles by going down in strength and repeat. So he can: Opener > MP > Heavy Linker > HP > MK > LP > HK > Ender. This is positive and negative in several ways. Using this correctly is easy to mixup with it hopefully getting you a lock out or just keep them from breaking your combo, but it also can be use to make it easier to break your combos if you fall into a telegraphic pattern of using them. Lastly his Instinct meter will cause him to gain life but only if he is being aggressive and pushing forward. Decent at best but still dangerous to cancel frames or extend a combo.

    Sabrewulf

    Sabrewulf is all rushdown and getting zoned is his main and only fear. Sabrewulf should always be up in the opponent's face going for mix-ups and low swipes into openers. His running special (Back-Forward+K) has very strong mix up potential with the LK follow up hitting low and MK follow up hitting high. In addition to that he also has one of the best moves as his shadow eclipse (Down-Up+P) has nearly instant startup and a huge hitbox which makes this a very versatile attack for defense or offence. One of the more important things to know when playing against Sabrewulf is how to properly defend against his attacks. It’s not wise to spam out moves attempting to beat out his moves or stuff his attacks. It’s also very important to know that Sabrewulf is the only fighter who can by default dash through opponents leading for easy mixups and grabs.

    Sabrewulf’s combo trait is that he can spam the same auto double over without using a linker. This isn’t that hot except when get a lock out because it’s super easy for the opponent to break. It’s also worth stating that it can sometimes cache extra button presses for more doubles than expected which would definitely put you in a horrible place if you were trying to just end your combo. His instinct will give him an increase in damage which can turn a countered breaker into an opponent's round losing mistake.

    Thunder

    Thunder is a hulking monstrosity with a killer command grab and always wants to be at that mid-close range. There is always multiple things to be aware of when Thunder is close because of the great range he has on command throw and his special attack Ankle Cutter which is a fairly quick low attack. You can’t jump away from him because his Sammamish attack hits at about 45° and has a very long range which can end with a vertical slam to the ground which would be a 2nd hit or even a possible cross-up. Without a doubt Thunder does the most raw damage but has no projectiles and only OK maneuverability which makes the challenge for him to find a way in. He can still get attacks stuffed by faster attackers such as Saberwolf and Sadira but all his Shadow Moves have Armor so he can brazenly throw out a Shadow against an overly aggressive player or use it to get in on someone attempting to zone him.

    Thunder’s combo trait is that he can automatically go into a combo from the typical LP+LK throw. In addition to that he can use that throw to change the direction he is attacking the opponent. This allows him to position himself in the ideal position of keeping the other player in the corner. His Instinct will give him much better dashes giving him moments of invulnerability and allows him to pass through opponents like Saberwolf leading to great mixup opportunities.

    Glacius

    Glacius is unarguably the best zoning character on the roster and is the only character who can perform a combo at a distance from the opponent. He has plenty of long range pokes standing and in the air with the most important one being Shatter which causes a statue of ice uppercutting the opponent from the ground. This is important to look for because not only does it allow him to start his ranged combo but because it’s unblockable. Glacius will try to zone you out with his in air kicks, standing Ice Lance, Hail, and Shatter attacks where 3 of those 4 will allow him to start ranged combos. Even with that he does do more damage up close because at distance he is restricted to only one linker and ender whereas up close allows him to go for more damage with his puddle punches. He does have a charging shoulder attack which will allow him to get in when the opportunity is ripe. His normal game up close is very poor so he is going to try to zone back out as quickly as he can.

    Glacius unique combo trate is as stated earlier allows him to combo at range. This is limited due to it limiting the auto doubles available to 3, restricts down to 1 special attack as the linker and ender, and all but abolishes manuals. His Instinct is tricky to deal with because it will give him a hit of Armor allowing him to take one hit (like Thunder’s Shadow Moves) without interrupting him. This makes him very dangerous up close because attempts to stuff his attacks will end up with him making the run on you and by the time the combo is over his shield will have regenerated. Expect to have Glacius more aggressive while his trait is active.

    Sadira

    The new member of the cast might prove to be one of the best because of her very different play style not only from other characters but from almost any fighting game. As stated in the game Sadira owns the air and will constantly be jumping around you in an attempt to mix you up. She is the only character so far with a double jump and plenty of utilities to help move her around in the sky. The main attack to watch out for is her knives in the sky which has different versions to help her move around the stage. Her heavies will latch to the opponent and bring her rocketing towards, and starting into a ground combo. This is punishable because she will jump back off them on block but it depends on each character. A good rule of thumb is to only block standing when she is in the air but when on the ground only block low because she has no standing overheads. She has to jump to get a high attack. She also has a horrible wakeup game so one of the best things to do is to go for knockdowns and keep a strong Oki (wakeup) game.

    Sadira’s combo trait is that she is the only fighter who has advance air combos. These are very useful because all of her enders and grabs launches the opponent into the air for free unbreakable damage. In addition to that she has an instinct that borderlines on absolutely broken. The normal use of her instinct allows her to create webs(also HP+HK) in front of her that when touched unblocked will freeze the opponent for a little over a second. This when used properly can create totally new offensive and defensive setups. Even at beginner level of use can make almost every attack safe by throwing the web out afterwards. The real interesting aspect is that this allows every normal attack to be jump canceled and by default you can cancel jumping by attacking. So with instinct active she can use her Heavy Kicks to push the opponent across the entire stage with a blockstun string and at her discretion go for lows and jump over mixups. Now that isn’t easy to execute and it certainly isn’t obvious so I wouldn’t expect everyone online to use that tactic but it’s something to look out for.

    Orchid

    Orchid has strong normals and typically would fight mid range attempting to get in with her 1-2-3 mix-up and low hitting grind (Slide Kick). Her 1-2-3 allows for the 3rd hit to either hit low, mid, or unblockable after so long. The low and overhead are telegraphed enough for you to block the mix-up but it’s generally the opposite that the player would block the first 2 attacks. (Block the first 2 crouching try the 3rd as an overhead. The unblockable requires a long windup but very fast execution once the button is released or fully charged so it’s very easy to see before you make your move. This attack is used to trick you into reacting and having the early release before the full charge stuff whatever attack or movement you attempt to do. The fully charged attack is unblockable and allows for a full combo afterwards and also has you look like a dumbass by standing still staring at her for 2 seconds. Along with that she has the Guile effect of her Sweep (and her overhead) hitting twice. So if you aren't paying attention you might end up blocking the 1st hit but succumbing to the 2nd. Along with that she has a DP knee attack. Still a decent attack but not as good of an Anti-Air as Jagos or Thunders.

    Orchids combo trait is very interesting because she is the only character who can use 2 linkers in a row. She has a great instinct like Sadira's where she can spawn flaming cats every couple seconds which can be used for advance mix-ups or for making attacks safe. Since the cats come from off screen you get enough warning if she's using it for defense or if she's going to try a mix-up on you.

    Spinal

    To be written

    Fulgore

    To be written

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