Hi everyone, I new round these parts and kinda new to the game in full. Started playing in season 1 but soon dropped out and came back as Arbiter dropped.
I play primarily in Lobby mode with a friend on an evening who has a similar play time to me (Season 1 then drop out until 3).
When we came back the Combo Assist feature was a thing, and by default was enabled. It did help, particularly having missed not played for around 18 months.
I have recently tried playing against him without it and whilst it is more difficult and I drop every 3rd combo I am definitely in more control of what my characters do. He’s much more reluctant to budge and keeps it on at all times. Am I at a disadvantage playing with it off, or will the long term benefits outweigh the pastings his button mashing assist can dish out?
I wouldn’t say either of us are bad, but I felt cheap using it and wanted to git gud.
In short, should I drop the assist or keep it rolling?
It doesn’t really matter. Combo assist is fine. If you like it,use it. If you enjoy doing combos normally and the execution is something you WANT to learn,then you can turn it off and learn it normally. If you don’t,then it is fine. It isn’t doing the combos that matter. It is landing the combo,and choosing the right combo to do and when to break/counter break that matters.
the only disadvantage you have against your friend is that he may not drop as many combos as you will and he will probably always be able to go to opener>Ultra without ever messing up like you might.
Besides that every thing is equal.
I say leave it off when playing your mains and turn it on when using a character you dont know very well.
Just do whatever keeps it fun and keeps you smiling and laughing.
It’s totally a preference thing. At a level where you’re still regularly dropping combos, having combo assist mode (CAM) on will definitely be an advantage your friend has over you. Once you get beyond that dropping combos phase though, it really doesn’t matter anymore, and you’ll probably find that you prefer having it off. CAM is nice at lower and intermediate levels, but you really do lose a bit of input and combo freedom by having certain parts of it on.
This is what I like about KI. The mind games you play are great, and I get the out-foxing your opponent is a much bigger advantage than the combos themselves.
The combo assist just feels like riding a bike with training wheels on.
This sounds like a good compromise. Helps finese the timing whilst not getting bludgened with my lesser characters. Only draw back is I always hit random when I play in lobby mode. Variety is the spice of life and all that.
This is what I like about KI. The mind games you play are great, and I get the out-foxing your opponent is a much bigger advantage than the combos themselves.
The combo assist just feels like riding a bike with training wheels on.
^ this
Being good in a fighting game is not just about doing large combos, is about having the best reads. But that comes with time and practice. Of course like any other game reactions and executions are quite a thing.
When you use assist mode and the other player makes mistakes you can cash some nice damage. But in the end you won’t be in total control of the combo you may be looking for.
Maybe the problem with KI, for starters, is the “freedom to choose” they have for their combos. I happen to see people that told me “I prefer MK combos because I just have to execute the key ones and don’t come up with nothing different all the time” (and of course, they aren’t afraid of being broken most of the time so they can punish a bad decision from the other player)
At the same time I still felt KI was cool with the combo system, when I got into it making combos wasn’t that hard whit the auto doubles, but it took some practice to get them well (with the ender and stuff). Once you get the “opener, autodouble, linker, autodouble, ender” you will be able to change the strenght of the linkers and autodoubles. But as any figthing game you will have to understand the inputs and have them on point (I still believe KI is friendly with this). I totally think you will be able to get it =)
I got it kinda. Got to gold in ranked. Qualified silver and climbed to gold by using assist against gold / killers and turning it off for bronze / silvers.
Just to add. I love the variety and fluidity of KI combos. MK is alright but does get stale.
My suggestion is to keep using Combo Assist until you get to the point where you need to turn it off to keep improving because you require increased input accuracy and combo options.
Combo assist lets you play casually quite easily. You can mash buttons and enjoy the entire game, and maybe win a few games.
But if you are interested in getting better at the game, you will have to practice and train.
HOW practicing / training happens is VERY different depending on which one you pick. (CA off, or CA on.)
Getting better while using combo assist requires you to start paying attention to how your combos are constructed, so that you can start putting in different moves at different points in the combo. Doing this is a SAFER option, because if you ever get confused, you can just keep mashing and at least finish the combo.
But having combo assist OFF means that you need to get good at performing the stick motions. This may be hard at first, but in the long run, will make it easier to keep track of your combos structure, and will allow you to make changes to your combo that werent possible with combo assist on. If you get confused in the middle of your combo, you are more likely to drop it.
When you get to a VERY HIGH level of playing, there are still some mechanics to learn that are not easier or harder with combo assist, so it is a good thing to keep in mind that: Eventually, you will have to get very precise, no matter which option you choose.
It doesn’t matter too much for starting out. It depends largely on preference. It makes opening up a combo from pokes easier, combos become harder to drop, and ultras are a much bigger guarantee.
In my experience though it makes certain options much more difficult, such as target combos and certain combo traits. And you’ll still need to use inputs for certain moves since it only gives you access to a limited number of linkers and enders, often suboptimal ones.
I run with it off since I’ve been practicing the “legit” way for too long to quit, and most people I know keep it on since it makes it much easier for them to get into the meat and potatoes of the game (i.e. neutral and breakers).
The best part about it is you can kinds have it both ways with the Custom option. You can turn off certain parts of Combo Assist and leave others that you like. Like say, you want to play normally, but you want a guarantee that you can do Opener>Ultra. Turn on the Ultra Assist and leave the rest to classic controls.
It’s flexible and it’s there if you need/want it, and you can ignore it if you don’t.
I would say it depends on if you understand how the combo system works or not. When I first got the game I didn’t, and after playing with it on for like a month I started to understand it, so i turned it off and have been fine ever since. It took me a couple days to get used to the switch, but the transition wasn’t all that hard.
I’d say to leave it off, honestly the game is super easy to learn. It would be better to learn it the right way than have to unlearn the lazy combo assist way of playing.
In your opinion, the game is “super easy to learn”. Just saying. Personally, before combo assist, I had trouble landing combos and ending them etc (though the KV meter audio cues helped with that0, I still find I play worse with CA off than on, as I can’t concentrate on the combo I’m trying to do, options within it, counterbreaker bating etc whilst still focusing on keeping the combo going.
The developers made KI specifically to be an easy entry level game, easy to pick up and challenging to master. That’s why the inputs are as simple as dirt and the combo system is so forgiving. Do a special > Press literally any button > Do a special > Press literally any button > Do a special to end the combo. When it comes to any other fighting game out there, KI is incredibly easy to learn in my opinion yes.
To each their own, I’m not going to say having it off is better for everyone but it is considerably more simple than any other fighting game you’ll play, even more so than the original Killer instinct games. I’m a pretty mediocre player and I’ve adjusted pretty well, doing a combo as I said before is nowhere near as complex as playing Mortal Kombat or even Street Fighter, combo assist to me is like using training wheels and only limits your options in the long run. Special, auto, special, auto, etc. Its muscle memory, doing random combinations of specials and autos eventually becomes second nature and you have plenty of time to throw out breakers, etc.
