If you’ve just gotten into the newest entry in the Tekken franchise, you’re probably wondering how you can reach your full potential. While that’s a long road, it’s not an impossible one to travel. With these handy tips, you should start seeing an improvement in no time. Most of these can also be used to improve in other fighting games. But for the sake of focus, we’re sticking with Tekken 8 for today’s lesson.
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Hit That Practice Mode!
If you haven’t figured it out by now, it’s a better time than ever. Utilizing practice mode is one of, if not THE most important, steps of getting better at any fighting game. Here you’ll be able to see all your available moves, stances, and potential starter combos. In Tekken 8, you can view the main techniques that make up the basis of your toolbelt.
After you’ve become acquainted with these, you can view the advanced section. Here, you’ll find the entirety of your moveset. Don’t be intimidated when you see the sheer number of options though. Most people don’t end up using every single move at their disposal, but it is helpful to start learning many of them. Take the time to learn a few new moves nearly every time you hop on the game. See if you can implement your newfound knowledge in Ghost Battles and pvp matches. In time your knowledge of your character will so far exceed opponents’ that you’ll have the upper hand more often than not.
Use the rest of what practice has to offer if there’s something you feel you’re lacking in. For example, you can use punishment training to improve your ability to cause someone to mess up, and hit them hard when they do. Mess around with the settings and see what’s possible. You’ll surely find ways to improve in multiple lanes.
Download Top Ghosts
In the Super Ghost Battles mode, you can download the AI Ghosts of other players. Since these AI grow from the respective players’ fight statistics, it’s a pretty good way to test your mettle against high ranking players. And the best part is you can do it on your own time. Use this to get an idea of what different techniques exist, and how pros may utilize different mechanics and characters. It may be daunting at first, but it can definitely build confidence and help you learn more about what to do and not to do.
On the opposite side of that same coin, you can use the Ghost Battles to fight yourself. This can be just as beneficial, as it allows you to see where your own abilities may be lacking in a different context. For example, I found that my aggression left me open for some pretty easy punishes. My lack of understanding of Hwoarang’s stances made me an easy target against most characters. I was poking holes in my own defense with characters I never play as. It was a huge wakeup call.
Ranked is Your Friend
To this day, I don’t fully understand why casual multiplayer has the name it does. I’ve never been in a casual match that felt casual. I’ve always faced player way out of my skill level. It’s never felt like a good option starting out, and it makes the learning curve feel overly steep. This is why I can’t recommend ranked enough. Unlike FPS’s, skill based matchmaking is your friend here.
Since you’ll be placed with players closer to your skill set, you can feel the gradual improvement. My best advice is to go into this mode and push through the ranks until you feel you’ve reached a plateau. That’s your sign to hop back into practice and work on learning some more moves and skills. Go back to step one, get comfortable, hop back in ranked, rinse and repeat. Once you reach the yellow ranks, knowing when to do this will be crucial, as too many losses will cost a rank.
Try Other Characters
You may have found your main, and you may be proficient with them, but that doesn’t mean there’s no benefit to changing characters. Playing as other characters can help you in more ways than one. Hop into practice with a character you’re struggling with, and start trying out some of their moves and combos. This Will give you a better feel for what your opponent is doing, what their options are, and how long a combo can go for. This can be very beneficial in understanding match-ups, and if you’re already into frame data, it can help you understand where openings may lie. Also, you may find a new character you work well with. I was having trouble against Lee players, so I tried him out in practice. I’m now approaching the yellow ranks with him.
Find the Fun in Losses/ Watch Replays
I know you’re probably thinking there’s no fun in losing, but that’s where you’re mistaken. Learning to embrace the losses as a part of growth can be a helpful factor in your journey. Don’t let the saltiness take over, as it will take away from the fun and make you want to quit entirely. Accept failures as a step towards success, reframe your image of what it means to lose, and you’ll go far. Furthermore, watch your replays. Just taking a few minutes to analyze your performance and focus on things to improve on. You’ll notice little habits you may need to break, and taking that step will help your growth phenomenally.
My main goal with all these Tekken tip articles is to help others stick with the game. It’s a wonderfully complex series, and it is just as rewarding. If you follow these 5 easy tips, you can reap those rewards and feel like the true badass you are. It’s just a matter of taking time, changing perspective, and training, just like any skill. Just keep pushing and you’ll succeed!
