Some beginner questions (Who should I play?)

General Discussion
1

Hello everyone.

I’m relatively new to Killer Instinct and have a couple of questions I was hoping you might be able to help me out a bit.

  1. I saw the other day that Maya was on sale for $0.99. On the game start menu where it tells you news and also on the news section here, there was no mention of this. I saw it from the most purchased in-app purchases on the Killer Instinct page in the Windows 10 store. Do individual characters go on sale for $0.99 frequently?

  2. I don’t know who to play. I’ve been messing about with my friends who has some characters bought already and I’ve been looking into the free characters each week, but I haven’t found someone I really clicked with yet.

In Street Fighter V, the main fighting game that I’m playing at the moment, I mostly play Necalli and Ken to some extent. I know a lot of people suggest Fulgore if you like Ken (seems like Fulgore has a better zoning game than Ken does, Ken can’t do to well with his fireballs outside of v-trigger.)

But I’m wondering about who I might be interested in if I like Necalli? Necalli kind of being characterize by powerful frametraps, big damage on counterhits, decent mobility (god-tier mobility in v-trigger), and somewhat stubby normals.

My friend who is currently competing for Top 32 (he’s around 35-40 right now), suggests that if I’m looking for a Necalli like character that I might find it in Tusk, who does look interesting. He also knows I liked Makoto in 3s and 4, so it generally seems to be Tusk (Necalli), Fulgore (Ken), and Hisako (Makoto) as his suggestions.

Also I enjoy Iron Tager in Blazblue and Potemkin in Guilty Gear, but I’m not particularly interested in that kind of style in this game I don’t think.

But before I throw money down, I do wanna know what you all think on the matter and also if characters go on sale often and if so how frequently.

Thanks in advance everyone. I know you all probably get these questions a lot, but I still appreciate any thoughts or opinions that might help.

2

Last week Aganos was on sale for for .99 so maybe next week it will be another character.

3

Dang, I’d have liked Aganos for .99. But its still good to know that characters do in fact go on sale, seemingly weekly.

So thanks for the heads up!

4

Sadira! Main Sadira! She’s the greatest character EVER!

5

Stubby normals and decent frame traps? If you’re into a type of grappler, I’d recommend General RAAM.

6

They have done these 99 cent sales before but they won’t cycle through the cast at any reasonable speed. I couldn’t promise you that you will see characters that interest you on sale anytime soon.

Buying individual characters is ultimately not the best way to get the game, unless you really expect to only use a few of them. The bundles go on sale relatively often and there is a $40 “definitive edition” disc coming in September.

As far as the characters, it’s tough to relate characters directly to other games and I’m not sure if you care more about visual design or fighting style.

In any case if money is really so much of an issue for you then I would recommend trying out the free character for a while. This rotates every week or two and will give you a good idea about how the game plays in general.

7

General RAAM did occur to me for a second, but honestly he doesn’t seem too far up my alley. His lack of mobility doesn’t quite appeal to my sensibilities. Not completely writing him off, but I would need to try him out first I think. He certainly seems to have a lot of damage output, that’s for sure.

I do actually want to try out Sadira at some point, she seems like she’s pretty interesting. I don’t see myself maining her but she definitely has my interest.

As for money being a concern, let me put it this way… I’m not exactly sold on the game. It seems pretty fun and like its a good fighter, but Street Fighter V is the main game I want to dedicate myself too right now. My friend really likes Killer Instinct and I want to play with him and the game is free. I don’t mind dropping a few dollars to get a character or two, but I don’t really see myself buying the whole game.

So far I’m having the opposite issue of Street Fighter V. In that game I basically want to play like 70% of the roster and have a bit of trouble committing to a single character. In Killer Instinct there doesn’t really seem to be any characters I’ve played so far that I really find compelling to main.

I think so far I’ve tried Cinder, ARIA, Mira, Orchid, Spinal, Shago, Sabrewulf, Maya, and Rash. Cinder is actually the first character I played the week he was free and is probably the character I had the most fun with. Shago and Rash are also okay, but only okay. Spinal is serviceable and everyone just feels meh to me.

So yeah I’m basically on the quest for a character that I click with for the cheapest price possible since I’m not that into the game yet. If I find one that really sticks, maybe I’ll end up liking the game more, but so far no real luck. So far I’m half way thru the silver league, so not too far into the game, but I’m hoping I find someone before I hit gold.

I appreciate everyone help so far, and I will consider your suggestions. Also nice to know that the 0.99 deals have been around for a while and it wasn’t just a completely random thing.

8

Dojo mode till you can blast through it fast on each side…

Do tjis till september :wink:

9

Jago is quite simple to start with. But that’s just my own opinion :smiley:

10

Sadira if you don’t know how to do Shoryuken motions. I started of with her because of that.

11

If you like Ken and Necalli, I’d wholeheartedly recommend Jago. He might seem like a boring Ryu clone but he’s actually really intense to play. He has great frametraps, great range on his pokes, absolutely beast pressure, deals damage like nobodies business, and has every single tool you need. He has a good amount of moves that leave him plus on block, a fireball you can charge and dash cancel like Ryu in SFxT, a midscreen wind kick that controls neutral extremely well, and has easily one of the best Instinct’s in the game since not only does he gain health for each fireball landed, but he also gains +2 frame advantage on every move he has.

I’d definitely recommend giving Jago a try. Just remember, he’s easy to pick up but hard to master so just having him will give you a lot to wrap your head around.

1 Like
12

Jago, wulf or thunder. Easiest characters to play.

13

First off it’s always awesome to have a new fighter willing to give KI a try. It’s a very fun fighting game and I hope that you have lots of fun on your (hopefully) long journey through the game this forum loves.

I know it has been said here before but the advice I would suggest is to keep trying each character that is in the free rotation for the week. It will allow you to try out each character for a week and see if you like them or not. Who knows you may try a character that you think you might not have any interest in but you may grow to enjoy them. That’s how I felt about Aganos at first. I was a bit intimidated by his slow speed with his moves and just getting around the stage but it turns out I have had so much fun with him. Especially after watching what others can do with him, in the right hands, he is a absolute monster.

Best of luck to you out there OP! :grin:

14

Kim Wu. She’s a struggle, but she’s probably the closest character to SFV you’re going to get (besides Jago, obviously).

15

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Still considering my options, but perhaps working with what I have now while trying out the free character each week and also on the look out for the 0.99 characters is probably in my best interest.

Just to clarify, I’m a beginner to Killer Instinct, not to fighting games as a whole. I can deal with pretty much any motion: quarter circles, dragon punches, 360s, 720s, hell even Tager’s 1080, pretzels, deltas, hell I can even do Rock’s Neo Deadly Rave and HOS’s Dragon Install: Sekkai reliably. I feel like my fundamentals are pretty solid as well, its pretty much what’s carrying me in ranked since I have like no matchup knowledge.

So yeah don’t hold back on suggesting a character just because they might have hard inputs.

16

No character has hard inputs lol. The hardest one is shoryuken motion.

17

I kinda figured but I still felt it necessary to clarify that that sort of thing isn’t a concern for me.

OH YEAH. How is TJ Combo? If I recall he’s rushdown with a lot of target combos right? If so he would in theory be a good alternative to Ken in SFV, who is very much in that way (I feel like comparing him to Balrog would probably be the obvious and potentially wrong comparison).

He doesn’t really look as satisfying as Balrog in terms of impact and damage, but I do appreciate the car noises when he does his moves, like its some Hajime no Ippo nonsense.

18

  1. In the interest of cash, it’s probably a much better plan to grab one of the bundles. They may not go on sale as often, but they’re generally a good deal. The Supreme Edition comes with All 3 Seasons of content fro $50 on PC, and starting on September 20 the Definitive Edition for the Xbox gets you all that and a few bonus items for $40 (plus it’s a disc!)

  2. If you’re new to the game, it’s probably best to find a character that has a straightforward game plan that doesn’t rely too much on specific resources or set-ups.
    Jago and Sabrewulf are both popular beginner’s choices, since Jago is flexible enough to to handle virtually every matchup in the game without much issue, and Sabrewulf’s simple controls and potent rushdown style make him good for going HAM.
    Riptor works really well, too, since she’s got some basic commands and a highly mobile playstyle that lets her close distances fast.
    For S3 characters, Tusk and Rash have pretty good movesets for beginners, though Tusk can be much more difficult to win with in some situations. Rash is fast and has a lot of moves that close distance and seem safe/can be made safe. Tusk, on the other hand, can spend most of the game simply hitting buttons rather than trying to go for combos since his sword normals (Heavy and Medium Punch) can do stupid damage (example: I was playing ranked today and someone kept trying to jump at me. I hit them with 3 crouching HP attacks and took 60% of their lifebar. They stopped jumping after that.). He’s much more of a mid screen character than a straight rushdown, though.

Be warned, though, Tusk and Sabrewulf can have a lot of issues fighting against zoning characters. Their gameplans rely on getting into range to use their awesome normals or to go for hard knockdown or a mixup, so someone who can keep them out (i.e. Shotos like Jago, Shago, or Fulgore; or dedicated zoners like Kan Ra or Glacius) can be a serious issue.

Really though, it’s best just to hop around the cast and see what you like.
I’ve got personal favorites that don’t do well in a lot of situations, but I just really like them. Find something fun, that’s what matters.

19

Contradict yourself much? You used he and she in the same sentence while referring to the same character.

With that said, @EternalxEquinox - go to ki.infil.net. It tells you a lot about the characters and who they most resemble from SF and other FGs. :wink:

As someone who mains him though, I heartily recommend Aganos. :slight_smile:

1 Like
20

Typo noted and edited. Thank you, sir. :slight_smile: