There are numerous “tells” when it comes to breaking light, medium, and, heavy (I bolded this because I don’t want it to be confused with the word high, which indicates WHERE it hits, not HOW it hits, such as with high-low mixups) auto-doubles:
- Your opponent’s animation.
- Your own animation as you get hit.
- The speed of the attack.
- The sound of the attack as it hits.
- Your or your opponent’s voice as they get hit/deliver the hit.
You can even use these very same methods to also learn how to read and break manuals, linkers, shadow moves that are used as linkers, and enders during opener-ender combos.
The reason it’s hard is simply because the game has a very large cast, as do most other FGs, and it’s a lot to memorize or figure out over time. I learned the ADs character by character simply by going into practice and doing each character’s ADs myself for, like, 30 minutes, and then breaking them as they were performed using the record function. I did this before there was even a combo-breaker mode too, which can actually help you recognize it under pressure, or during mixups, and is wonderfully customizable to your skill level (so use it, and adjust to it!). You simply need to break it down into baby-steps so it won’t seem so daunting and go from there (similar to how you would break down music, for example).
I recommend you learn the heavy ADs 1st, since they’re the slowest and most damaging. Then work on learning the mediums. Also, learn each character 1 at a time, starting with the characters you have the hardest time with. Unlike the medium and heavy ADs, light ADs are NOT reactable, which means if you see it, you’re already too late to break it and will likely get a timing lockout, but you still need to learn how to see it so you can more easily identify your opponent’s patterns to break it as he does it, rather than as you see it (in other words, all light ADs are basically guess-breaks). They’re the hardest, since they’re so fast, but they do very little damage and add the most to the KV meter, meaning their combo will be shorter and potentially blow out, or drop, the combo without cashing out the damage with an ender.
ADs are easily identifiable because your opponent will always hit you twice, as part of an AD (which is why it’s called an auto-double - with 1 button, they automatically hit you twice) and it will also follow an opener or linker (openers are special moves at the beginning of the combo or jump-in attacks* and linkers are always special or shadow moves). Conversely, manuals only hit you once, but do less damage, and are as hard to break as light ADs, if not moreso (but there are other rules that govern them and help make them easier to break). Linkers usually hit anywhere between 1-10x depending on strength, character and move used - generally speaking though, the more hits, the heavier it hits; lights only hit a few times and heavies always hit more.
I recommend you learn the opponent’s animations for breaking ADs, since those are the most reliable, and for the medium and heavy reactable ADs, you can read it BEFORE it hits you, giving you a larger window to break the move. You can learn fewer animations by observing your own character, but then you have to wait until the hit, which gives you a smaller window. Listening to the audio is somewhere in the middle and is only recommended if you’ve got good ears or are willing to adjust your audio settings, such as turning off the music. Learning by the speed of the move is largely the hardest method, but if you can learn it, your break speed will be virtually instantaneous.
*there are a few special exceptions to this rule such as Tusk and Glacius, who have some normals that act as openers.
In regards to an instant break button, 1 of 2 things would happen if this was implemented:
- it would break the game as it would completely eliminate the need for reads or even guessing, and basically be an auto-read button.
- it would do nothing, because it would not be an “auto-break” as you would still need to break using a different button for each strength.**
**this actually already exists in the game with the right joystick on your controller - simply press down to break light, left or right t9 break medium, or up to break heavy ( and it can be disabled in the options menu under controls).
