New to Fighters

[Yuel]

I've recently started playing BBCS:EX/P4A and I'm lost at where to start learning to better myself. I've read tons and tons of threads on the forums here, but it's all really overwhelming and I just don't understand where I'm supposed to start. For the time being I just go on P4 ranked and play for the basics. I know this is going to seem like a stupid question, but can anyone tell me a structured way to learn? Like what I should be doing chronologically because I just keep jumping around with random stuff I see and I really don't feel like it's helping. I have plenty of time to play though and have high interests right now so I'm willing to do a lot just to learn these fighters (P4 at the moment). Besides that, my main is Mitsuru if you have any additional tips for playing her. (I mainly play footsies and try to poke a lot with 5As, oops.)

[Silmerion]

So, I don't actually recommend diving headfirst into matches. Take a few days, maybe a week or so, and only ever play in Training Mode. The first things you should practice are your pokes and your combos, but there's some other stuff you should check out too: take a look at my Training Mode guide for tips on how to practice attacks, combos, and more as effectively as possible.

After you've done that, it's time to take your experience to the ring! Unfortunately, if you're anything like me, you'll immediately find that you're suddenly too nervous to do combos and you'll just spaz out and lose. This is, I think, natural! It's just your nerves. From here on out, you ought to be splitting your time between repping your combos, pressure, etc. in Training Mode and learning how to apply them in actual matches.

After your nerves have calmed down, you feel more or less in control of your character, and you can do your character's B&Bs without having to think too much, start analyzing how you move. Movement is actually pretty complicated in airdash fighters; I don't know if you're coming from SF-style games or not, but even if you aren't, this guide is pretty much all about how to play footsies in GG/P4A/BBCS:EX.

Also, watch lots and lots of videos.

[Celerity]

Pretty much just stick to one character, in one game, for at least a week or two. P4A is probably the easier game to start with. Practice your character's normals and specials in training mode until they feel like an extension of your body. If you're new to fighting games, this could take a very long time (multiple days), but that's fine. You need to know what your character is capable of, or else you'll just start mashing when it comes to actual gameplay. After that, worry about basic combos. You don't need to do the combos that are too difficult to you; just leave those alone until later. Find maybe 5 combos off of practical hitconfirms that you like, and go use them in netplay/arcade mode/against friends. Again, DON'T WORRY about learning a ton of new combos. You've got your arsenal for awhile.

For the next week+, alternate between playing real matches and training mode. In training mode, DO NOT practice new combos. Instead, work on your known combos, practice simple things like IAD (Instant Airdash), air turn (for P4A), and general movement until you feel fully in control. Set the training dummy to COM 60-100 and just practice blocking its attacks. Figure out its patterns and when you need to block low or high. New players like you will use similar tactics to the AI, so try practicing against a character that you have trouble with. Practice rolling, DPing, and jumping out of pressure. Every time you do some netplay and feel stonewalled against a certain character, come back here and practice against the computer, or record the dummy to perform some action and figure out how to beat it.

I actually disagree with the advice about watching videos, at least for the first few weeks. You won't understand what's going on. Just do these basic things until you are comfortable with every facet of your character, from basic offense to basic defense. After this, you will be prepared enough to learn more advanced situation-appropriate combos, or pick up a new character in a different game. For each new character you pick up, this process will become faster and faster, because you're applying your newfound fighting game knowledge. Rebel up!

[TransientFaith]

I actually disagree with the advice about watching videos, at least for the first few weeks. You won't understand what's going on. Just do these basic things until you are comfortable with every facet of your character, from basic offense to basic defense. After this, you will be prepared enough to learn more advanced situation-appropriate combos, or pick up a new character in a different game. For each new character you pick up, this process will become faster and faster, because you're applying your newfound fighting game knowledge. Rebel up!

I'll second this. Watching videos is more for 1) learning neutral prior to experiencing the game, so you can develop an idea of how you think you want to play the character, or if you want to play the character (subject to change after playing the game), 2) learning new tricks/options after experiencing the game so you can improve your foundation. It doesn't do that well for true beginners since they probably don't know what to look for at their play level (heck even I don't know what to look for sometimes and I'm not exactly a beginner...)

[KayEff]

if you're planning on playing ragna in BBCSEX, you should check out this sweet kickass guide that i put together

[WolfCrimson]

if you're planning on playing ragna in BBCSEX, you should check out this sweet kickass guide that i put together

What... what have I been doing all these years? I have been playing Ragna wrong all this time... but that guide has shown me the LIGHT!

P.S. It's 623C not 62C3.

[Silmerion]

if you're planning on playing ragna in BBCSEX, you should check out this sweet kickass guide that i put together

brb taking every spot on the Ragna leaderboard simultaneously

[Yuel]

Okay! Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll go in training mode and go practice more of my moveset now. So would you suggest just trying out a couple of combos on the combo threads and seeing which one that I like best out of all the starters (simple ones of course)? By the way, how do I pressure with Mitsuru? Maybe I don't actually understand what pressuring actually is? The games I've played may have little meaning at the moment, but I certainly had a hard time playing against Kanjis and Labryses... I'll just focus on basic stuff first though and then practice blocking and punishing.

So, I don't actually recommend diving headfirst into matches. Take a few days, maybe a week or so, and only ever play in Training Mode. The first things you should practice are your pokes and your combos, but there's some other stuff you should check out too: take a look at my Training Mode guide for tips on how to practice attacks, combos, and more as effectively as possible.

I'll take a look at it, thanks!

[Osuna]

I disagree with the notion that fighting the AI constitutes practice since it encourages bad habits and requires you to relearn the game later, which is difficult, tedious and unnecessary.

I think for someone new it is best to get a mentor. Someone knowledgeable to answer questions as they come up and give feedback. Anyone new to fighters will have a lot of questions and sometimes not even know what it is they are trying to ask without someone's help. It is faster and more concise to have a rapport with someone than have to post and wait in the beginner forums for every single thing.

Maybe check out the match finder threads to see if there is someone local up to the task.

[Circuitous]

Playing AI is okay in small doses, since they can force you to react to a situation in a way that can't be emulated in solo practice. Once you start noticing their patterns, you've wasted your time.

As for getting better in general... play. It's an arcade game, that's how it works. Play more people, play as often as you can. If you come up against a hard spot, ask for help (which you've done!) or dive into training mode to find ways around it.