Issues with mobility (evasion/defense)

Hello everyone,

Excuse me if this is a topic that's already been discussed, but I noticed that a huge part of the game that I'm lacking is mobility. I have a VERY hard time maneuvering the stage and evading attacks. I know practice mode allows you to make the computer counter-attack and all, but even then I still have issues. I've done all of the drills but I still have issues. Is it something that just comes with playing? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Part of it will come from experience, part of it is VF is forward-biased (I tend to categorize Sega-design as pro-forward design).

Something to know about movement is, like everything in VF, it can be hard-countered by your opponent if they anticipate what movement you are doing. That said, I'll just list a few things that might help you understand the movement better and become a more nimble Virtua Fighter.

(BTW, above all, I advocate that all players in VF must learn how to fight toe-to-toe with high punch, elbow, low punch, throw, sidekick, and a low poke--even if you want to be the footsie master, you must master these skills to be good at just about any strategic approach to the game--even footsie).

Before my list though, I will refer you to the VFDC VF5 System Wiki - Movement Section. Some aspects of this are, at the time of this post, out of date because of the tweaks made in VF5R and Final Showdown. HOWEVER, I assure you if you read this, it WILL lead you in the right direction towards understanding VF's movement system and you can find a lot of the changes listed here in this Arcadia article translation. Combine the two together and you will have a great grasp of the movement system in Final Showdown!

* You can easily G-cancel forward dash and crouch dash.

* You cannot easily G-cancel backdash. Your opponents long-range attacks are likely to hit you if you just backdash (even if you try to Guard). To deal with linear or half-circular attacks from your opponent, you will have to evade-cancel your backdashes (and in some cases will have to do more to survive).

* Backdash from semi-close range is okay at avoiding short range pokes. But as implied above, be prepared for long range attacks that are targeting your backdash because you'll be in a world of hurt if you get hit.

* Learning to cancel backdash with attacks and also backdash buffer (built in b,b input) is very effective for a nimble VF game. This is better offline than online (at least if your connection isn't great online). But you can whiff punish easier with backdash buffered attacks if you get good at using them

* (pro-tip: for attacks that include either b,b or b,f--there is often a good reason they have these types of inputs, one of the reasons is likely to be that they are ideal for backdash buffering).

* Evading is something you do when you are frame-trapped, not something you do "just because" and not something you do because you're timing your evades.

* If you are going to evade in open space, then I recommend you do it via evade-cancelling your dashes. This way you framelock yourself and it increases the chances your evades will happen during an opponent's attack.

* Dash cancelling helps mitigate some of the risk of open-space maneuvering. That said, overuse of open space maneuvering can get you punished.

* Whatever your most effective or favorite attacks are, make sure you really nail down their actual ranges. Also nail down the ranges of most high punches, elbows, sidekicks, sweeps/circular kicks, and the most popular moves for each character. Understanding ranges will help you be more mobile and, if you really want to apply a spacing game, will allow you to play that way better.

* Don't attack too much when moving around. This isn't Soul Calibur where that serves a pretty good purpose. I am not saying to never attack, but choose your attacks carefully and let experience tell you the consequences. Everything in this game can be hard-countered one way or another, even movement, and even empty poking.

* Improve your poking game. This goes back to my point about learning how to fight with the building blocks of VF: high punch, elbow, low punch, throw (and a low poke and a mid-range attack). I repeat, these are the building blocks of VF.

* Improve your whiff punishing game.

* Learning how to fuzzy-guard is huge! Practice it at least 10 minutes a day and practice your options after fuzzy-guard at least 10 minutes a day. Fuzzy-Guard in the standard situations (your elbow is blocked, you get PK'd, etc...) is the most important.

* Fuzzy Guarding in open-space is also very good actually, it becomes the split-step/triple-threat of VF in that you use the time you're locked in the crouch dash to observe your opponent and ready yourself to buffer the best response you can to the incoming threat. You don't want to do this into danger (experience will tell you what that is), but the crouch-dash fuzzy guard technique is extremely useful almost all of the time in VF. Because of the Split-Step (Tennis) or Triple-Thread (Basketball) effect of CD-Fuzzy Guard, you might even find yourself responding to low attacks better (at least offline).

* All option selects whether it is G-Yutori-Throw-Escape, Evade-G-Yutori-Throw-Escape, or Reversal-G-Yutori-Throw-Escape are good and help your movement game. Always apply option selects (mainly YTE) when Guarding or Whiffing in general. The trick is to let these techniques happen without causing you to stand and guard longer than you normally would.

* General Tip: If you can get good at doing an option select when someone interrupts you with a basic poke, you'll be in excellent shape. This is also something to keep practicing, even if it has to be against AI.

Anyways, I just gave you my personal boat load of tips for becoming a better and more nimble player. A lot of these tips are just general advice that applies even if you just want to stand your ground or you only want to fight toe-to-toe too. But I feel that to be a more nimble player, you have to master a lot of concepts in VF. But it's very fun!

Cheers!

 

Thank you for taking the time to break everything down. I'm still reading, but it looks like it will be very helpful. Thanks again!

 

allow me to help..


cancels , and .

cancels

cancels .

/ cancels , and ,

anything cancels /. (except for )
(, , , )

attack cancels anything except for /
(, , , )

this is your mobility system, use the function, you will
move smoothly. use it wrongly, you will have long strides and alot of pauses inbetween movement.

you can do something like:
attack without any delay in movement, ...

enjoy

 

in fs we can no longer cancel with

 

oh yeah, whoops - cant find the edit button

i guess what i mean is / or just "evade" - my bad-