Feanor

Fixed it for ya.

There is, and it's been described in one of the stick threads here on DL, and the question has been asked numerous times. Doing it though requires soldering skills, base knowledge of electronics and of course specific resources (MC Cthulhu PCB is the most commonly used one for such mods), so you might start looking around your neighbourhood for someone experienced in electronics if you haven't soldered anything yourself.

That's quite off topic, isn't it? Anyway, if you're saying a newcomer to the game has to work for his victories with Ragna just as hard as one who chooses to play as Jin I have to ask: have you played CS? Hazama is more like Ragna in this matter, but my sig doesn't suggest my characters are particularly hard to use (on low level), on the contrary actually.

You should be able to find a Hori Real Arcade Pro for something like $75 I think. Try amazon.com, bought my HRAP3 for $60 from there. Also, keep an eye on shoryuken.com, if there's another sale on MadCatz TEs they'll have a thread on their forums about it. Since you've already got a stick I think SE wouldn't be a good idea. SE has all parts made by MadCatz, so the quality varies from model to model and isn't very high altogether. HRAP has an original Sanwa JLF joystick, so you'll probably never need to switch it out. Its buttons are made by Hori but mine are rather fine and besides, buttons are cheap and easy to switch out in those models because of Quick Disconnects. MadCatz TE is usually really exoensive, I think it might be cheaper to mod a HRAP with Sanwa buttons to get the same effect. TEs are like HRAP SAs in that they're all Sanwa parts with the feel of real Japanese arcades. They're really wotth the money. You say you realize the cheap fightpad doesn't feel right. If you try anything below those three models you'll feel the same way about it too. $60 ain't that much for a controller that you absolutely need to play a whole genre of games properly. My Force Feedback wheel was more expensive and I got it just to play Colin 2007, TDU and GT5. It's really worth the investment, a good joystick in your stick is vital.

Let me keep on dreaming!! Dreams are so sweet.

If you enjoy playing as Rachel don't look any further, just keep doing what you enjoy and you'll keep getting better. Rachel is quite possibly the hardest character to play as in CS2 due to how hard you have to work to get any decent damage in, but she's supposed to be a solid mid-tier character in CS2 so it will probably pay off if you stick to her. And don't expect to win against mid-level or - hell - even low-level players if you just bought the game last week. Give it some time, keep doing what you enjoy, that's what gaming is about. If you find yourself liking another character along the way (I recommend you to beat Arcade mode with every char before you actually settle for your main) you can always sub him and if he fits you more you will find out he's become your main anyways. That's what's happening to me with Jin/Hazama right now. Watch some tournament videos if you haven't already done so - there you can more or less see what all the characters are about. Gatlings, pressure, mix ups and priority you say? You might want to try out Bang. As much as I love his character design I haven't been able to like his moveset myself though, so if you don't enjoy using him stick to Rachel.

Yeah it is. You might want to start learning it with some definite combos, meaning no freestyle, just training combos/challenge mode stuff. If you know how a combo should work then you know what the combo counter is when you start sekkajin. It helped me to watch the combo counter and then I would stop mashing C just before the number indicating the 8th sekka hit would appear. So if you're doing just dash 6B>sekka you need to stop just before you see a red 9 on the counter. After you do it enough times you kinda get a feel for the timing and know exactly when you need to stop mashing no matter what combo you're doing. Also it helps to get a feel for the 6th hit etc. - the ones that you can stop with less recovery. Just in case you screw up and start sekka when they're blocking. Edit: As a sidenote, I suppose it's even easier to memorize the timing with Unlimited Jin, since he flashes white before the 8th hit. If you happen to have UJin you might want to check it out.

The green ones. I thought about making a thread like this myself when I first heard the news a few days ago. Their launch titles are kinda crappy (except for Metal Slug) since they're all first parts of a series, but once they get to SamSho5Sp, Last Blade 2 and KOF - fuck yeah! - 98 I'm gonna need a PSN card cause I can't imagine missing out on those! I'm hoping they don't fail at netcode, that would be a shame. :/

Jin a rushdown? I'd characterize him more as a "tricky" character since he doesn't really have decent pressure or fast combo starters and has to catch the opponent off-guard to do anything ("tricky" because of the nature of 2D, j.5D and EX moves; high-level players don't really play him as such but for low-level play he's rather gimmicky). When you're in the corner against a Jin he might seem like a rushdown char since that's where Jins can do real damage so the Jin player might seem desperate to get a starter in, but that's exploitable. Also I may be wrong but I think there's only one character in the game for whom you can buffer moves into combos and that's Ragna. I suppose Makoto's hitstop on some moves makes it easy to hitconfirm/follow them but I'm not sure exactly how beneficial it is for the player. The difference in difficulty between Ragna and the other characters is rather huge. Hazama is also an extremely interesting character, who might be called "rushdown" though it's not entirely appropriate for him. His basic BnBs are very easy to learn and his drive allows many possibilities during a match. Since his execution isn't Ragna-level easy I think it's easier to pick up subs if you main Ragna, I know some Ragna players who only play their main cause they find other characters difficult.

The "if you like" stuff never got grouped, it's extremely subjective, and TBH if there are certain things you like in your fighting game characters you'll notice them yourself when playing through their respective Arcade/Story modes. Here's one though: * If you like other people to decide how you should try to have fun with your game, expecting to be a pr0 in a week, and then quitting cause "they said I'd like it/it would be easy for me/this game is stupid", go to dustloop.com and look for the "Picking a main" thread.

You can't go wrong with that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0cFs5mHQC4&feature=related If practice sounds bad for you than just play, play and play even more. You'll be losing a lot, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Especially when you're a beginner sometimes you will do the wrong things even when you know what the right thing to do is. Just try to learn something from every match you lose. You might also try looking around the matchup thread for other beginners from your area. When you're asking about character-specific stuff it's no longer about fighting game fundamentals I think. At least in a game like BB where every character specializes in something. Edit: BTW if you live in Europe and play on PSN add me, I'll gladly introduce you to some of the basics since I need some vs Tager matchup knowledge anyway (and I suck at teching throws).

Remember you're probably going to pick up subs somewhere along the way and you need the same button layout for all characters, so just stick to what seems natural to you. From what I've seen a vast majority of players (pros and amateurs alike) prefers Type B layout and I must say I'm one of them. Having A under my thumb (strongest finger) seems like a bit of a waste for me, and in Type B I find myself pressing C with two fingers (ring and pinky) when I'm unsure I'll get input right. That's for playing with stock Hori buttons though, as soon as my Sanwas get here I'll be alright pressing it with just one. But really, all the reasons in the world are just worthless theoryfighting, both layouts are pretty comfy (yep, tried using A for a while) so find the one that comes naturally and stick to it.

Fast, rushdown, piss-easy to pick up and play: Ragna. Don't know about high level though.