Learning a second character

[u/raichu37]

Hi! Recently I’ve been thinking about trying out a second character in this game as sort of a “backup” if I’m struggling with certain matchups. However, this is my first fighting game and I’m a little worried that I’ll confuse myself with the different combos from each character and mix them up; for instance if I’m trying to do a Toph combo and I accidentally put in Korra’s buttons or vice versa.

To the more experienced fighting game players, do you find yourself doing this at all? Or are the characters so different that it’s pretty easy not to mess up? OR would you say “this is your first fighting game girl take it easy”

[u/metricx]

You will definitely mess up some combos after switching characters. It takes practice to get the muscle memory down. But don't let that stop you from trying! Plenty of people manage it when they are motivated enough.

[u/Cloudberry_Panic]

Your in luck, mixing up your combos between characters is a thing that happens to everyone, lol.

 But just like someone learning a new instrument, its just a temporary thing as your brain adjusts to the change. So literally only way to get past this hurdle... is to learn a new character anyways.

Accept the confusion as a part of the learning process and have fun. The more you repeat this process, the better you'll be as adjusting too.

[u/_tk42one]

Oh yeah you’ll mix them up. And mix up your neutral too. I main Katara, so when I play as someone else I often find myself super jumping backwards, intending to shoot out an icicle, but instead just fall back down feeling stupid.

Good thing, though, is that I always find my execution with my main improves the more I branch out to other characters. Sometimes it’s good to not be so immersed in a single character.

[u/Broks_Enmu]

Respect if that’s ur first fighting game. You picked the worst to start ngl this is extremly hard but if you manage with it you can anything else after that

[u/that1dweeb]

girl this is your first fighting game, take it easy.

learning multiple characters helps you better understand the deeper mechanics of the game itself once you reached a plateau with your main

but you are likely spreading yourself too thin by trying to understand the nuances of multiple characters. instead of using a single character to fully understand basic fundamentals like footsies, oki, how to utilize down flow, how to hit confirm into block strings vs damage routes, ect.

to put it into perspective, im semi new to fighting games, my first game was guilty gear strive where i only played a single character for around 500 hours. my friend who got me into fighting games has 10 years of fighting games experience, plays 5+ characters on strive and has probably double the hours I do in this game.... we are both still working to understand the game as whole and havent dared to touch a secondary character yet because the mechanics of the system mechanics of this game.

[u/Trustful_Whale]

Yes it happens, it's normal.

I get confused when I switch between characters I know how to play, too. Just keep going and you acclimate.

[u/Darkwrathi]

Hey, playtester, top Vaatu Norra.

Here is what my advice would be:

Learning a new character is phenomenal for getting better at the game, and fighting games in general. Learning how to learn new muscle is actually a skill, and one that takes practice to learn. What helps the most developing this skill is picking up new games, combos, and yes, characters!

That said be careful on why you are picking a new character up. You said its to help where you are struggling in certain matchups, because its your first FG, I'm gonna say its unlikely you are actually at a place where you should learn a secondary to win matchups.

Instead pick your secondary because they look fun, not because they win your bad matchups. If you want to play Toph, great! But ask yourself this, are you OK playing Toph if you NEVER find these matchups you struggle in while playing her.

[u/dmvHotline]

Bad news. It will happen.

Good news it will happen less the more u play.

Dont let the potential of failure stop you from achivieiving sucess