Which Character Would be the Best With Infinite Instinct?

General Discussion
#1

Had an interesting KI-related thought while sitting in the taxi today (sitting in a lot of taxis here in Singapore - heck, writing this in a taxi). If every character in Killer Instinct had a permanently “on” instinct, who would be the best character in the game?

Have to omit Gargos and Shago because of operational quirks (stoneskin explosion and annihilation respectively), but which character with permanent instinct would be the strongest in the game? Fulgore with a max reactor regardless of what he was doing? Sadira or Orchid with functionally unpunishable pressure? Hisako with an omni-counter and guaranteed full combo resets off basically anything? Plus 2 Jago with one touch->life regen fireballs->manual->etc? Mira with everpresent vampire mist capability? How about Raam, with permanent view blinding kryll and steadily accruing potential damage?

Just seems like an interesting question to me - I’m curious to see the discussion! slight_smile:

  • Jago
  • Glacius
  • Thunder
  • Sadira
  • Orchid
  • Fulgore
  • TJ
  • Maya
  • Kan-Ra
  • Riptor
  • Hisako
  • ARIA
  • Cinder
  • Kim Wu
  • Arbiter
  • Tusk
  • Rash
  • Mira
  • Eyedol
  • RAAM

0 voters

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Poll list can only be so long, so I tried to somewhat self select which instincts might not be in the running for top billing, but feel free to write in your pick if they aren’t there. Curious to see who comes out on top.

Poll: What's the best grounded normal/command normal of the game?
#2

Gotta be between RAAM and Eyedol for me. Jago’s plus frames and healing makes him a contender, but there’s way more nonsense happening with the former two.

#3

I was going to make a poll for this after the shadow move one xD

Eyedol, since his instinct makes him basically the best character in the game.
He gets great zoning, great rushdown, great defense, everything better.
Some characters with great instincts can only take advantage of their instinct situatioanally:
Jago, Wulf, Sadira, Hisako, Raam: they can’t take advantage of their instinct when fullscreen. Every second they are not applying preassure or hitting their opponent is “wasted time”. Jago doble endokuken doesn’t serve as good zoning tool, Wulf and Sadira needs to be pressuring to take advantage of it, something similar to Hisako, and without being close, Raam instinct has just a potentialy good reward for a combo, but if you success running away, he gets nothing

Top instincts IMO(no particular order between same line)
-Eyedol (best in class)
-Jago, Wulf, Sadira, TJ (without considerating second breath)
-Orchid, Hisako

Edit: can’t believe that Wulf instinct is not in the poll, but Riptor does. Albeit her instinct serves her well, compared with the rest is one of the weakest

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#4

I’ll be honest and say that I don’t think S3 feral cancel is all that great. The added breakable window on FC’d manuals, increased FC recharge time, and lack of bonus damage just knock it down a ton of pegs IMO. I was going to leave Riptor off too, but then I remembered 3/4 screen sweep and meth-addled run. Long story short, I actually think Riptor in instinct has pretty insane neutral. As a thought exercise, how well do you think permanent-instinct Wulf does against permanent-instinct Riptor? I think the dino wins that going away.

#5

Wulf in Instinct is no match for Riptor’s flame and tail enhancements. I dunno if he gains any speed but he can be easily shut down by any option Riptor wants. I don’t think it would even be close.

#6

Wulf gets no speed buff in instinct. His instinct is still good, don’t get me wrong, but I think it pales in comparison to what some other characters could pull if they had a permanent instinct.

Riptor also gets damage buffs to her flame and tail attacks, giving her extra damage in neutral as well as combos, and forcing nasty counter break gates as well.

Actually, the more I talk about her instinct, the more I become convinced that it’s really, really good. I think Riptor’s instinct being commonly thought of as bottom tier is less about how good it is per se, and more about how good it is in the situation under which it’s popped, namely under pressure or to make a comeback. Riptor’s instinct is about dominating neutral, which is fantastic, but not necessarily a “comeback tool”. If Riptor had infinite instinct I think she’d be amazing, but it’s not necessarily going to turn her fortunes around in a short span of time. Overpowering neutral is sometimes about patience, and patience isn’t exactly synonymous with being on a 15 second timer.

1 Like
#7

Eyedol, Mira, Sadira or Jago for me.

1 Like
#8

Tusk canceling everything into everything so you can’t do anything XD

4 Likes
#9

I’d say Aganos because of his near full-screen reach, big damage on neutral hits, ability to still use close range attacks, as well as easy access to mixups, recaptures, grounded heavy normals (for armor destruction), hard knockdowns, command grabs, a near vertical full-screen projectile, projectile destruction, armor, and walls. It’s just such an amazingly versatile pressure tool.

#10

As a note, I think Tusk is probably one of the sleeper gods of this little contest. He could literally cancel DP->DP->DP without limit if he wanted to, and he can’t be shadow countered ever. I actually meant to remove him from the running, but forgot :sweat_smile:

2 Likes
#11

I put Tusk but also think special consideration should be taken for Omen, who gets additional projectiles both on the standard special and his shadow moves, gains +2 on everything and can lock out shadow meter usage just by hitting a fireball.

1 Like
#12

My previous post about “best instincts” only considers the normal duration. Even so, IMO Eyedol is still the best, but Tusk is a special one

Since Tusk has to spend a portion of his instinct to do the cancels, an infinite Instinct would not have this issue, making his instict even more powerful.

About Wulf instinct, he can basically be safe on everything he has, mixing high/low left/right mixups, and canceling his multi hit strings to avoid shadow counters.
Maybe he is affected by a bit of… negativity. I mean, S2 instinct Wulf was totally unblockable. I remember somebody saying “I didn’t knew about Sabrewulf having increased chip damage on instinct”, and someone brilliantly replied: “That’s because you coulnd’t block at all”. S2 Wulf was insane, and could open anybody in seconds. On top of that, his damage boost was also present, so high chances of opening you+big damage=OP as ■■■■

Maybe, since we remember how he was, somewhat he can be seen as “weaker”. But his feral cancels are IMO still one of the best tools of the game

Although Aganos gets improvements in his instinct, I can’t agree about it being the best of the game.

Of course it compliments Aganos gameplay. Easy access to peacemaker means everything you already listed, but also he doesn’t have all the time the peacemaker. There is a time lapse between each peacemaker, and that can be abused. If Aganos is knocked down during instinct, there is no difference between him and his non instinct version. He has to play exactly the same way the wake up game, where he struggles. Other characters like Tusk or Sabrewulf, can make their reversals totally safe, so even when they are playing defense, they take advantage of it.

Aganos’ instinct buffs his neutral and offense, but not his defense(or at least, the improvement is much lower).

Don’t get me wrong, his instinct is GREAT, and works with his mechanics. But it has weak points, while other instincts doesn’t

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#13

Tusk, eyedol, fulgore and glacius.

Honorable mentions: sadira (try to give infinite instinct to the cpu and see what happens), thunder (he can be almost untouchable)

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#14

I guess I’ve just found in S3 that the refresh on his FC’s makes him blockable. He gets one unsafe mixup, and then he has to play more or less normally in my face for the next 2 or 3 seconds. S2 Wulf got his FC’s back super quick, so you spent all your time in blockstun as he set up the next unreactable mixup. Now he gets one of those, and after that you’re just blocking normal Wulf stuff. And if he does hit you, he gets one FC (that has an expanded break window), and then he’s back in the standard combo game for probably the rest of the combo. His instinct is dangerous, but it’s not all that scary anymore IMO.

#15

Aria with infinite instinct would take 1/3rd damage off everything while having a DP, one of the best fireballs in the game and air mobility all in the same package. Don’t forget the drones can’t die while in Instinct, so they’d hang at 1 hit point forever while still absorbing damage. That’s so OP it’s scary.

#16

Well, I think there are different kinds of awesome instincts across the cast. The kinds that spring to mind are a)instincts that basically just make the character do what they already do but better, and b)the ones that give them something completely new.

In category A), I think the winners would definitely be Fulgore, TJ, and Eyedol.
Fulgore’s nullifies his only weakness (his unique meter mechanic, which leads to a lack of Shadow availability) and actually makes it his greatest strength. He’d have non-stop rapid meter building, and the ability to charge it on Juggle States and Hard Knockdowns. He’d basically be a combination of S1 and Modern Fulgore thats high off of some really awesome meth. He could go nuts with Pip Cancels, Shadow Moves, Dev Beam, or just utilizing the buffs to his movement.

TJ would be freakin NUTS. He’d be safer on everything, he’d have mad juggle opportunities, insane manual combos… Even without taking Last Breath into consideration, he’d just be so damn fast I don’t think people realize how scary it’d be.

Eyedol is obvious: He gets the best of both worlds. Big thing you could say is that he has an invincible reversal that’s also an overhead projectile. He’s got a command grab and a teleport that both give him buffs. His damage potential is much higher thanks to the combined moves, and his meter is more efficient as a result.

In category B, Sadira and Orchid are pretty obvious contenders. Having an assist for your pressure is a really nutty thing, especially when it’s a projectile with special properties.

1 Like
#17

Eyedol is obvious, RAAM was my first thought, but who wants to play like that all the time :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

I’m going with mira on this, constant harressment from a bat and more health to counter her weakness…

Special mention for Sadira…

Also, Hisako would be mad annoying now that I think about it, people would be afraid to attack :thinking:

#18

Eh, not too worried. Maybe its different on Kyle but most of the time, AI Sadiras that catch me with one web will just place webs until the KV blows out. Its a real waste of one of the stronger Instincts in the game.

#19

ARIA, I could just soak damage forever (noone could build a level 4 or even barely a level 3 off me in one combo), I’d get a mini assist all the time, I’d have all my goodies in one forever. So canceling normals into mini assist then all the other stuff. Yeah I’m good.

On that note actually ARIA coudl put you in infinite blockstun (and not be shadow countered in the process) since the mini assist will just lock them down and ARIA can continue pressure for free while doing chip with normals. Ahhh life would be sweeter then.

#20

Hands down fulgore every opener into devastation it’s over.:wink: