So what's next for Raam?

Save me

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Fair point. LOL!

@GalacticGeek i think this is what are you looking for to understand the frame table.

Ding!

Safe is not applied to the defender. Itā€™s applied to the offense.
-If his move was +x, he is safe.
-If the move was -X but unpunishable(up to -4), itā€™s negative.
-If he is -6, he can be punished by 5 frames lights(which anyone has), so he is unsafe

i wish i could use that vid better. i always get deer in the headlightā€™s or just dont react fast enough. Especially against shago commanf overhead

If you want to get into the nitty gritty of how fighting games work, then yesā€¦ you can calculate frame advantage on block/hit by taking the difference between the block stun and the recovery frames, then taking the integral of that number with respect to the amount of time Keits does his hair in the morning.

But if you just wnat to know ā€œhey, am I gonna get punched in the face if this move is blocked?ā€, then you just look at the result of all that math, which is the block advantage number.

  • If it is between 0 and -4, you are genreally safe. This means if your opponent presses a button, you will be able to block it. Maybe you wonā€™t block it because you take your hand off the stick to eat a banana, but you could have blocked it if you were playing well. (Note: some characters have moves fast enough to punish stuff in this range but it is not the norm).
  • If it is -5 or worse, and you are close enough to your opponent, your opponent is guaranteed to have an opportunity to hit you, and you will not be able to block or avoid it. 5 is the ā€œmagic cutoff numberā€ because every character has a move that starts up in 5 frames. The bigger this number gets, the harder you get punished because the defender can push a slower (but more damaging) move.
  • If the number is greater than 0 (ie, positive), that means not only are you safe, but YOU get the advantage. You can ā€œkeep your turnā€ by pressing more buttons and your opponent probably has to keep blocking or else risk getting duffed in the facearoonie.
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I meant safe in the general sense, not in the FG terminology senseā€¦

You are safe as in ā€œsafe from retaliationā€

@Infilament I ran out of likes, so have a post with a yellow thumb! :+1:

I already ā€œkind ofā€ know this, itā€™s just not solidified in my head, and Iā€™m constantly being reminded of it. I know that the fastest attacks are 4/5 frames (your method vs. everyone else further confuses me at times). Itā€™s when numbers get very big that it confuses me, because I almost feel like weā€™re talking about something entirely different. Also, when moves have similar frames (throw vs. jab, for example), and the priority system takes over - Iā€™m definitely not familiar with that yet (havenā€™t committed it to memory). By that same token, and slightly off-topic (more so anyways), I also donā€™t remember the typical ender/linker damage priority for ender/linker type.

Letā€™s talk bear grab.

I try to use it a lot as a prediction since it absorbs a hit while moving forward. Problem is that many moves like air shotgun knee just let them hold jump back after landing which makes the grab whiff. Its like if i completely predict the jump and they fall into raam with a normal they get got but if theyre falling a slight bit ahead but still grab range he still whiffs, especially against specials. Also thereā€™s no way to bear grab continuous empty jumps.

Regardless, when you do land bear grabs, be it off staggered strings into it or when the prediction works or when you shadow bewr grab through a projectile, what do you do? do you keep up the + frame bear grab train? or do you go for a grab? All these are oltions but theres not really much setplay, just try to act before your opponent realizes whats going on. Which is quite the strength in itself, especially if you can do something random like heavy emergence predicting a dp(always feels good off flip outs too)

Range does come into play as well. If you look at, likeā€¦ Eyedol mage L bolt strike (the low lightning), I believe it is -12 on block or something like that. But because he often does it from full screen, usually out of range of your moves, he can use it without getting punished. If he does it from half screen away, then some characters can catch him (Jagoā€™s shadow wind kick, for instance, is 8 frames of startup and can punish if Eyedol does it too close).

But the vast majority of moves in KI leave the opponent close enough to risk getting punished if they are worse than -5.

Basically, the point we want you to get out of this is that being negative on block is never good, and that if a move is TOO far negative (-5 or worse, usually), you actually canā€™t stop your opponent from getting a guaranteed hit. Being plus on block is actually quite rare, thoughā€¦ not very many characters can be plus on block for a prolonged period of time. Most of the time, you will have to eventually commit to a move that is in the 0, -1, or -2 on block range so that the defender has a fighting chance to do anything.

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As a player, Iā€™m not in the habit of holding a direction after a move - itā€™s the same reason I canā€™t move Kan-Ra effectively backwards or forward during his CG. I let go of the directional inputs and then do something else.

The very idea that you could hold back upon landing to cause a move to whiff is entirely foreign to me. Upon landing, Iā€™m either attacking, blocking, or throwing - never walking backwards or even back-dashing, although I recognize the utility of the latter in regards to throws (another aspect of the mechanics Iā€™m still adjusting too, especially since I main the golem, who canā€™t really utilize it) from witnessing it in-game as well as from various discussions on here. The very idea that you want to back up after getting in seems counter-intuitive to me, even though I understand why it might not be.

I think you misunderstood. I predict aria will jump back and air shotgun knee, so i preemptively bear grab. My prediction is right, and aria flies back from air shotgun knee which gets absorbed by kryll armor. However when she lands, rather than being grabbed, she holds up back as she lands to keep jumping, making the bear grab whiff.

At this point even though raam is ā€œinā€ since heā€™s very close to aria, he is extremely easy to punish due to the long recovery of bewr grab

I see. You werenā€™t clear enough in your example before. The thing I donā€™t like about her shotgun knee, whether itā€™s the j.MK or the special, it ALWAYS pushes her back away from danger, which makes it safer than a lot of other moves.

Hi people.

Keep it to the thread topic please. Regardless if this was late or not, keep it to the topic.

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So itā€™s fine heā€™s very middling because you want to be a low tier hero?

Not even on topic really this is about trying to figure out whatā€™s next for raam not trying to teach you basic fighting game principles like frame advantage. Or trying to instantly dismiss attempts to improve as ā€œdurr you just want buffs,ā€ and then try to act completely innocent. Canā€™t have it both ways.

Then again it takes a whole village and all that

Lol. Let the record show that I also managed to get myself reported in this thread :joy: I was actually mildly amused as I thought ā€œok, safe vs unsafe explanation, off topic in the Raam thread, thatā€™s fairā€, and then proceeded to read 80+ replies about the particulars of frame advantage. Iā€™d encourage you to be more sanguine about your flagged posts - I got a good laugh out of mine :slight_smile:

But back on topic, yes, the future of Raam is disgusting set play following any normal throw or command grab. He has a ton of time to set up dirt off both his light and shadow grabs, and he can frame trap grab after some of his pressure options even if he gets blocked. Thatā€™s a very powerful tool to have, as it means that he can make people afraid to take their turn back after heā€™s on top of them. Learn to mix that conditioning in with his setups, and I think he becomes a serious threat to most characters in the game.

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