TEKKEN 6 Glossary and Basic Combat Guide ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legal Information Copyright 2009 Christopher Kull This may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any other web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the Author I've been a dedicated gamer for a long time. I've experimented with a wide variety of game Genre's. I'm a bit older now and the decline in my reflexes is more apparant now when I play FPS's and Fighters. As a result I play a lot of RPG's and TBS's. I like to write and I've been building a growing portfolio to launch a writing career. I tend to focus on fantasy fiction short stories inspired by many years of table top RPGs. Despite the educational nature of this guide, I hope to add it to my portfolio. Some alternate facts about me. My name is Chris, my favorite color is royal blue, my favorite foods are seafood's, my favorite video game is Lunar. And more important than all of the other information in this guide is the best piece of advice I've ever received or could pass on... "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." ~Modern variation of The Golden Rule. The Golden Rule was first seen written on the Mahabharata, one of the two great Sanskrit epics. This was around the year 3000BC~ The Golden Rule has been around for over 5000 years and has been assimilated by every major faith the world has ever known. If you have questions or input pertaining to Tekken in general or this guide you can email me at Arc9213@gmail.com. Please title the email Tekken to avoid the spam filter. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the Guide This is my first guide. In all the long years Ive been perfecting and defeating games of all genres I can say with certainty that the GameFaqs community has helped me the most. This guide is my way of giving back to the GameFaqs community. So why Tekken 6? When compared to other fighting games the Tekken series dominates all of them with Soul Calibur taking a close second. Tekken's most pronounced attribute is its sheer depth and complexity. Ive been playing Tekken since the very first installment. Most of the Tekken guides Ive read in the past lacked information on Tekken's many nuances. The nuances create a game within the game. A good example would be the "wake-up game". These nuances are usually mentioned, but rarely do they do more than scratch the surface. So without further adieu, I present a glossary defining Tekken's jargon and a basic but thorough guide to combat in Tekken. Most importantly, this information can be applied to all of Tekken's characters. Lastly, I will cover my own methods on training in both offense and defense that will hopefully make you a better Tekken competitor! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revisions & Updates Version 1.0 Complete Glossary and Basic Combat Guide Version 1.2 -Corrected several spelling errors. -Revised Ground Throws: They can be escaped.* -Updated Attack Arcs: Included Diagonal attack arcs. Includes white attack arcs.* -Updated Super Charge: Characters deal small amounts of damage when supercharged even if their attacks are guarded.* -Revised Starting the Match, Jab Rush: Ganryu has a 12 frame jab.* -Revised Wall Throws: King also has a wall throw.* -Update Glossary: Crushing Attacks have been added.* -Update Back Dash: Back Dash cancel option added.* -Update Running: Running attacks cannot be reversed.* -Revised Throw, Tackle: Tackles are escaped with right punch and reversed with a just input of left punch+right punch.* -Update Glossary: Homing Attacks have been added.* -Revised Ukemi: The kick buttons are used to ukemi into the foreground.* -Update Combo: Natural Combo section added.* -Update Glossary: Filler Attacks added.* -Update Juggle: A variety of details have been added to the juggle section of the guide.* -Update Wall Stun: Wall Splat added to Wall stun section. -Update Chicken: Reversals that reverse attacks that use both the left punch and right punch simultaneously are chickened with left punch+left kick.* -Update Rage: Rage activates at 11% health. Attacks do approximately 34% more damage during Rage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents 1. Glossary 2. Basic Combat Guide 2a. Mix-Ups 2b. Juggles 2c. Wake-Up Game 2d. Starting the Match 3. Training Regiment 3a. Offensive Training 3b. Defensive Training 4. Tekken Sites Reference List ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 1 Glossary The purpose of this glossary is to make you aware of what the many terms of Tekken mean. I advise looking it over once to make yourself familiar with all of the terms. It is my hope there will be enough additional information on each term to be used as a reference should questions arise as your skills improve. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- Attack Arc: Attack Arc is the path of an attack. This was a very dominant element of the Soul Calibur series. In Tekken attack arcs arent nearly as important or influential. They do deserve some mention though. Typically, horizontal attack arcs are harder to side step while vertical attack arcs are easier to side step. The attack arc is also a good indicator as to whether a medium attack will hit a grounded opponent. Thrusting or poking attacks that travel directly to the opponent rather than up/down or side to side are also more easily side stepped. Many attacks also have a diagonal attack arc, but in most cases they are evaded in the same ways as horizontal and vertical attacks. Lastly, some attacks will have a white trailing line behind them during their animation. These attacks are also referred to as homing attacks because they cannot be side stepped. Advantage: Having the advantage in Tekken means you are in a position to act while your opponent is not. Its important to note that in the fast paced fighting that is Tekken your advantage will last for less than a second in most cases. Aggressive: This is usually a reference to a play style, but can also be a reference to a character. An example would be, "Kazuya is an aggressive character". When discussing play style it generally means that the player tries to remain as offensive as possible attacking very often even while at a disadvantage. It is usually better to play defensively against experienced opponents as they will often know all the kinks or moments of weakness during attacks and strings. The less predictable you are the less effective an aggressive play style will be against you. Balanced: Another reference to play style. A balanced style combines both an aggressive play style and a defensive play style. Balanced players will generally be very aggressive when they have the advantage, and be very defensive when they are at a disadvantage. Balanced is also used to describe one character in comparison to another. As of now the general consensus is that all of the characters in Tekken 6 are very balanced. This means players of similar skill levels should have close matches regardless of which character they use. It is widely believed that Nina in Tekken 5 was very unbalanced or "broken" because of programming flaws such as making her too fast, ect. Bounce: Bouncing is a new state of incapacitation in Tekken 6. Bouncing occurs when certain attacks slam a player into the ground. Bouncing is now an integral part of Tekken's juggle system. In previous installments of Tekken, the idea of getting the most damage out of your juggles was to find the perfect balance between the damage of some attacks and the lift or propulsion of other attacks. Powerful juggles of earlier versions of Tekken looked impressive, but they were fundamentally simple. With the addition of bouncing, it is another element we must consider when creating juggles. How much of a juggle's potential will be increased or diminished by adding an attack that will cause a bounce? Despite being shorter in length because of a bounce, does it net greater damage than I could accomplish without a bounce? Ultimately, this makes the juggle system more complex, but because launchers and the number of options you have to use on an opponent in the air are very limited, Tekken's juggle system should remain relatively simple. Buffer: To buffer in Tekken is to input commands for your next action while your performing another action. Chickens are one of the most commonly buffered maneuvers as they are very difficult to do without buffering. Cancel: Canceling is the option of stopping an unblockable attack before it finishes. This is typically done to bait an opponent into acting, or to avoid putting yourself in an unfavorable position by completing the unblockable attack. The command input for canceling each unblockable is different, but they are posted on the characters move list next to the unblockable attacks command input. Secondly, canceling has also come to refer to the act of stopping a string prematurely to use an attack that isnt part of the string. This is called "canceling into". For example, Jin's 5 hit Kazama style combo hits low with the final hit and has no variations. Players familiar with this attack will either guard low or parry low to stop the final hit from connecting. To avoid giving your opponent the advantage by finishing the combo, you instead cancel into a hop kick or some other medium attack to hit them as they crouch to parry or block the attack. Granted there is some delay in this, and you are in fact at a disadvantage. The idea of canceling like this is to regain your advantage by attacking before your opponent realizes he has the advantage. Lastly, it is often wise to cancel 10 hit strings prematurely as they have many guard points. Chain/String: A chain or string is a series of attacks or motions. Many chains are already programmed as part of a characters move selection, but it is possible to create custom strings assuming each move or action you take leaves you with an advantage against your opponent. Chains are not to be confused with combos. The difference being that the attacks of a combo are guaranteed to connect while those of a string are not. Chicken: The term chicken doesnt reference a bird in Tekken but rather a defensive action. When a standard reversal is used against one of your attacks you can perform a chicken to negate the reversal and deal a small amount of damage to your opponent. Note that the window to perform a chicken is very small. The command input for a chicken is always the same regardless of character or which standard reversal is used. The command input for a chicken is determined by whether the attack being reversed is with a left limb or right limb. If your left punch or kick is being reversed the command input would be forward+left punch+left kick. If your right punch or kick is being reversed the command input would be forward+right punch+right kick. If you use an attack that requires you to press 2 or more buttons simultaneously you must make a mental note as to which of your characters 4 limbs are actually forming the attack. It is sometimes easier to find this out by having these multi-button attacks reversed by the computer during defensive training. Not to be confused with attacks using 2 buttons simultaneously are attacks that attack with 2 limbs simultaneously. These attacks, almost always employing the left and right punches are chickened with a command input of forward+left punch+right punch. The reversal animation will be different depending on which limb is being reversed. seeing the reversal animation is the most definitive way of determining which command input to use for a successful chicken. Note that many special reversals look just like standard reversals. Clean Hit: Some attacks in Tekken can hit more directly or cleanly than others. Clean hits do more damage and often have an added effect such as knocking your opponent away or down. Clean hits are achieved by connecting with an attack at very close range even when it would be possible to connect with the attack from a greater range. Combo: A combo is a series of attacks or strings that are guaranteed to connect after the first attack connects. The first hit of most combos usually incapacitates your opponent. Juggles are the most common example of a combo. Combo, Natural: Some of the pre-programmed strings that many characters have are natural combos. This means that if the first hit in the string connects some or all of the other attacks in the string will connect. Other strings may function as a natural combo only if the first hit is a counter hit. Natural combos are quick ways to retaliate dealing a lot of damage, but you must be sure to confirm your first hit, be aware of the evade points and whether the string is safe if its blocked to avoid taking unnecessary damage. Counter Hit: Any attack can be a counter hit. An attack becomes a counter hit when it connects with an opponent who is in the midst of an action other than simple movement. Counter hits do more damage and often have an added effect such as knocking your opponent down or farther up into the air. Most, if not all, characters have one or more attacks that incapacitate their opponent on a counter hit providing you with combo options. A super charge will cause your very next attack to be a counter hit if it connects. The command input for a super charge is... left punch+right punch+left kick+right kick. Crouch: Crouching in Tekken is the act of kneeling. Crouching will avoid high attacks and allow you to guard yourself against low attacks. It also puts you in a position to perform "while-rising" attacks. Crouch Dash: A crouch dash is a combination of both crouching and dashing. A crouch dash will avoid high attacks, but you will not be able to guard against low attacks. Note that not all characters have a crouch dash. Those that do will almost always have several moves they can only use out of a crouch dash. These crouch dash moves are in addition to the "while-rising" attacks they can normally perform while crouching. The command input for most characters crouch dash is forward, down, down+forward. Crush: Some attacks have the benefit of avoiding a particular hit type during their animation. These attacks are called crushing attacks. A hop kick for example is a low crushing attack as it will completely avoid low attacks during its animation. Similarly, characters with a high crushing attack can easily crush opponents who try to lock them down with unpredictable jab strings. Dash: All characters can dash. A dash is a quick movement towards your opponent. Most if not all characters have several special attacks or motions that can be used during a dash. The command input for dashing is forward, forward. Dash, Backwards: All characters can dash backwards. A back dash is a quick movement away from your opponent. There are no attacks or moves that are used out of a standard back dash that I'm aware of. There are however some attacks that move a character back while attacking. The command input for a back dash is back, back. Despite the backward movement of your character, you are vulnerable while back dashing. To mitigate your vulnerability while back dashing you have 2 options. First you can hold back the second time you press it. This will result in a shorter back dash, but you will be able to guard sooner. Your second option is a back dash cancel which is done by tapping back and down just after you input your second back. Your character will crouch for a split second in the middle of the dash. Only during the very tiny window of the crouch are you vulnerable making this perhaps the best way of back dashing. Dash, Special: Not all characters have special dashes. Most special dashes are back dashes. Special dashes will usually cover more ground than standard dashes. Some characters have attacks or motions that can use out of their special dashes. The command input for most special dashes is up, up+back. Another less common command input for special dashes is down, down+back, back. Defensive: Like aggressive, this usually references a play style. A defensive play style revolves around guarding your opponents attacks waiting for mistakes to take advantage of. Any offensive maneuvers used by a defensive player will usually be "safe hits". The drawback to this play style is that you will be voluntarily giving your opponent the advantage for the majority of the match. This puts a lot of pressure on one's defensive skills, but if they are good enough, defensive players can be extremely difficult to defeat. Note that if guard damage is turned on a defensive play style is not as viable. Delay: Some moves in Tekken can be delayed. Delaying a move is a type of feint or deception. If used properly in conjunction with other attacks it often gives your opponent the impression that they now have the advantage. Naturally you attack when you have the advantage. Therein lies the deception of a delayed attack. In actuality you still possess the advantage. Almost all delayed attacks that connect are counter hits. Disadvantage: Being at a disadvantage means you are not in a position to act before your opponent. Having the disadvantage isnt as bad as it sounds at first. Advantage and disadvantage shifts rapidly during a fight. It is also important to note that you are still able to attack and even connect while you are at a disadvantage. However, successful attacks while at a disadvantage usually involve evading your opponents attack. In fact many characters have attacks that seem to have been specifically designed to be used while at a disadvantage such as Jin's Low Spinning Back Kick (back+down+left kick). This attack hits high while evading high attacks. As you might have guessed the majority of counter hits during a game occur when you or your opponent attack while at a disadvantage. Escape: Escapes are performed in response to throws. Standard throws cannot be blocked, only escaped. Almost every single throw in Tekken can be escaped. When an opponent begins a throw the animation usually looks 1 of 3 ways. They will lead or reach out with their right or left arm or they will not lead with either and reach with both. This all happens very quickly so it isnt uncommon for escapes to be guessed. The good news is you will usually have a 50/50 shot of guessing right. Several characters do have a third type of throw they can do easily from the front reducing your chance of guessing correctly to 33%. If your opponent leads with their right arm, press right punch to escape, if they lead with their left arm press left punch to escape, and if they dont lead and reach for you with both hands press left punch+right punch to escape. Be aware that even after escaping most standard throws your opponent will still have the advantage. With linking throws however, neither of you will have the advantage after an escape. Escape Points/Windows: Some throws can be escaped at multiple points during its animation. If your first attempt at escaping fails, try a different escape. With more experience, the throws with multiple escape points become very easy to escape. Filler Attacks: Filler attacks are used as the first hit of a juggle. The first hit of all juggles deals 120% damage where as all of the other hits of a juggle deal 60% damage or less. Most characters only have 1 or 2 filler attacks and they can usually only be used after very high launchers. The idea behind identifying your characters filler attacks is to find the attack that allows you to do the most damage with that single hit and allow you to continue the juggle. Frames: Each and every action in Tekken can be broken down into frames. Frames determine the wind-up and recovery of your actions. According to Simon Parkins review on Eurogamer Tekken 6 flows at 60 frames per second. Knowing how many frames it takes for an attack to connect essentially gives you proof of just how fast or slow that attack is. This knowledge is attained on a much more instinctual level just by playing however. For more information on frames try... http://sdtekken.com/t5dr/frame-data-guide/ Ground Break: New in Tekken 6 is the ability to smash your opponent through the ground in certain stages. At first glance this may seem like no big deal, but as with most things in Tekken, first looks are very deceptive. The individual being smashed through the ground will take a very small amount of damage upon hitting the floor on the level below. The damage seems on par with the extra damage you take when smashed against a wall. More importantly is the fact that your opponent will likely be very close to you when hit the ground. Further more, he'll be standing and have a considerable advantage. Though it may not seem it, the person standing after a ground break can get off a small combo if you start inputting commands as soon as you start to rise from the crouching position. Your options seem to be the same as you would have if you just low parried one of your opponents attacks. Range and whether your opponent is facing you feet first or head first will determine how much of your combo will succeed. The ground can be broken in 3 of the 18 stages; they are... Anger of the Earth, Cemetery, and Fallen Colony. Guard: Guarding against attacks negates the attack's damage and effects. All attacks with the exception of throws and unblockable attacks can be guarded against. The command input for guarding is simply back or to guard against low attacks back+down. Guard Lock: Guard lock occurs when you are guarding against a string or chain. Severe guard lock prevents you from taking any action but guarding. A less severe guard lock will allow you to crouch. Guard, Neutral: If you do nothing when an opponent attacks you with a high or medium attack you will still guard the attack. This auto-guard is neutral guard. As with past installments, neutral guarding will leave you at a disadvantage after some attacks while active guarding will not. Guard Points: A guard point is a moment during a string that allows you to guard even if you were struck by all the strings previous attacks. If you managed to guard the attacks up to the guard point in the string you may be able to launch a successful attack even though you have a disadvantage. Knowing the guard points of your strings as well as the strings of your opponent is an important step in mastering Tekken. Guard Stun: Some very powerful attacks can cause guard stun. You will see an animation of your character staggering after guarding the attack. During this time you will be unable to do anything but guard enabling your opponent to begin another string. In Tekken 5 there is a very small number of attacks that cause so much guard stun as to leave one completely helpless. These attacks could be wildly abused to score gauranteed damage. As of now I'm unsure as to whether attacks like this are present in Tekken 6. I'd appreciate any feedback regarding said attacks. High Risk: A high risk attack is one that has amazing damage potential for both you and your opponent. If a high risk attack connects, you should score big damage, usually in the form of a juggle or throw. If the high risk attack misses, or even if its blocked, then you can expect to take a great deal of damage instead. So what makes an attack high risk, first is damage and second is bad recovery time. Dont be surprised if your character doesnt have many high risk attacks as in some cases, that is one of a characters strengths. An attack that has a lot of damage potential, but isnt risky is called a punisher. Hit Type: Every attack in Tekken falls into 1 of 3 types. These are high, medium, and low. High attacks can be avoided by a standing guard or crouching. Medium attacks can be avoided by a standing guard. Some medium attacks can be avoided by jumping though this isnt usually practical. Certain characters have special moves or stances that will allow them get low enough to avoid medium attacks. Low attacks can be avoided by a crouching guard or jumping. Note that jumping over low attacks is practical. Also worth noting to a lesser degree is another attack type, special medium. Special medium attacks can be blocked either standing or crouching making them very hard to connect with. A crouching jab is the most commonly used special medium attack. It can be used to thwart many 10-hit strings as well as jab strings. Hit Confirmation: A term better known in Soul Calibur, but no less important in Tekken is hit confirmation. Hit confirmation is the act of visually confirming that an attack connects before you continue with one string or another. As mentioned in guard points, you can leave yourself open to devastating counter hits or even worse counter launchers if you dont confirm your hits. A good example of putting hit confirmation to use is Jin's Evil Intent attack. The first hit is medium, the second hit is high, and the third hit is medium. If the first hit connects you'd want to finish it as the other 2 hits are now gauranteed. If the first hit is blocked however you should use the second variation. This variation is only 2 hits and does considerably less damage, but it will hit the enemy who crouches in preparation to launch you after the second high attack of Evil Intent whiffs. Hit Properties: Many attacks have special properties that go into effect when they connect. Knock-down is an example of a specific hit property that knocks the victim of the attack down. There are a great many hit properties in Tekken. How to capitalize off of some of the more common hit properties will be covered in the basic combat section of this guide. Homing Attacks: Homing attacks are new to Tekken 6. These attacks are easily identified by the white trail they leave in their wake. Unlike most attacks which can be side stepped to the left or the right or both, homing attacks cannot be side stepped. Homing attacks are important to keep in your mental attack arsenal for when your dealing with highly evasive characters such a Ling Xiaoyu. Hop: Hops are very small jumps. Many characters have hops built into some of their attacks. Hops will avoid most low attacks and leave you with a nice frame advantage. The command input for a hop is to tap up or up+forward or up+back. Juggle: Juggles are a form of combo. A juggle involves launching an enemy into the air at which time you can unleash any number of strings to score huge amounts of damage. Tekken 6 has many more bouncing juggles than its predecessors. This means that the potential for the juggle to continue after the enemy hits the ground doesnt end, but in most cases grows. It also means that many moves that knock down rather than up can still result in juggles. Juggles are perhaps one of the major things that separate veteran players from intermediate and novice players. The good news is there are juggles for all skill levels. More damaging juggles tend to me more difficult than less damaging ones, but not always! It is crucial for any would be Tekken master to know the most damaging juggle that can be used after all of their character's launchers. Jump: A jump only goes a bit higher than a hop, but it takes much longer to finish, leaving you with less of an advantage. A jump will keep you in the air longer than a hop however. All characters take much less damage from attacks while in the air, approximately 50% less damage. All characters have the same attacks during a jump. Right punch at any point during the jump will result in a downward punch that will hit medium upon landing. Left punch will result in a jab while in the air. If your jump was accidental or unintentional the jab is best for protecting yourself. Right kick will result in a sloppy looking front kick. The kick knocks down on a counter hit and leaves you at a disadvantage if blocked. Lastly there is left kick. the left kick is probably the only move you will use intentionally during a jump. The left kick will cause crumple stun on hit allowing for a combo. If you delay the left kick until after the peak of your jump you will kick low after landing. Jumping attacks that hit low can be very deceptive and difficult to guard against. Note that no one can guard while in the air. Just Impact/Input: Another term more often associated with Soul Calibur. Just Inputs have become more common in Tekken since the release of Tekken 4. A just input is to press the appropriate button the moment the first attack in the sequence strikes your opponent. Lee's Mist Fang Throw is perhaps the most commonly known just input attack. The command input for this attack is to double tap left kick and then press right kick button the moment the left kick connects. The window for just input attacks is extremely narrow, but these attacks often tack on extra damage that is gauranteed. Lee's Mist Fang Throw for example will connect and deal damage even if the opponent blocked the initial left kick essentially making this attack unblockable without the signature colorful warning or delay. Launcher: A launcher is an attack that incapacitates the enemy by launching them into the air. During this time, any number of attacks or strings can be used on the enemy without fear of retaliation; this is called a juggle. All characters have a limited number of juggles. A very big step in mastering Tekken is to know all of your characters launchers and when to use them based on their range, wind-up, recovery, and how much lift or hang time they provide. Typically, the higher the attack launches the enemy the bigger the juggle, and the greater the damage. Mind you, launchers that create a lot of height are usually high risk attacks. Mix-up: Mix-ups are a tool used by many characters and in some cases is more of a style than a tactic. Some characters rely very heavily on mix-ups for damage. Mix-ups is simply the art of changing the hit type of your attacks and strings. Some strings have several variations that serve as mix-ups. Those characters lacking in string variations will have to have more customized mix-ups devised for them. Mix-ups like wake-up games and juggles are one of the major sources of damage in Tekken. Mastering the use of mix-ups and how to counter them is yet another important step in mastering Tekken. Parry: Many characters in Tekken have parries. Unlike reversals, parries do not deal damage, but they cant be chickened either. Parries simply grab the attackers limb for a moment disrupting any chains they may be in the middle of. More importantly parries will either leave you with the advantage or leave neither you or your enemy with the advantage. Either of these is better than being at a disadvantage. Note that standard parries cannot parry throws, knees, elbows, or headbutts. The command input for most but not all parries is back+left punch+left kick or back+right punch+right kick. Ling Xiaoyu for example parries differently. Her parries command input is back+left punch+right kick. Parries are very powerful tools that should not be underestimated just because they do no damage. Parries must be timed to intercept an incoming attack. As mentioned earlier, not all characters have a parry. Parry, Low: Low parries are not new to Tekken 6, but their effect has been changed. In previous Tekken installments the low parry put your opponent in an off balance state giving you a serious advantage often resulting in combos. In Tekken 6 they seem to have been toned down a bit. Now they throw your opponent to the ground causing a small bounce. This can be taken advantage of with shorter less damaging combos, but most characters will not be able to launch their opponent after a low parry for juggle damage. Note that even though a low parry looks painful on the receiving end, it deals no damage. The command input for a low parry is forward+down timed to intercept an incoming attack. All characters can perform a standard low parry, but not all low attacks can be parried. Low parries will be covered in greater detail in the basic combat section of the guide. Parry, Special: Some characters have special parries that function differently than standard parries. The most common special parry is an attack that has a parry built in to it. Asuka's Raging Storm attack is a good example of a special parry. If the parry motion succeeds in parrying her opponents low attack, the 2 mid punches that follow it are gauranteed to connect. Like standard parries, special parries cannot be chickened. Unlike standard parries, many special parries gaurantee damage making them among the very best defensive options at a characters disposal. The disadvantage to most special parries is that attacks are built into the parry, and the whole sequence must play out. If you miscalculate your special parry, your opponent will have a much larger window in which to retaliate. Poke: A poke references an attack. A poking attack type is one with a quick wind-up and a quick recovery. A jab for example is a poking attack. A poking game or style refers to using a variety of poking attacks hitting high, low, and medium with varying ranges to widdle down your opponent. Most importantly, pokes are safe even when guarded and usually stop and go. A poking style benefits most from a strong defense because the idea of poking is to do damage and take none in return, which is something strings arent as good at. Priority: Priority determines an attacks impact window. The more frames in which an attack can connect and deal damage the more priority it generally has. In Tekken 5 one such move was King's Convict Kick. Almost any action other than guarding that is taken during the attack's animation results in the kick connecting and then following up with a DDT due to the counter hit. Whether the Convict Kick still has amazing priority in Tekken 6 I'm unsure. With experience will come knowledge of many high priority attacks. The more comprehensive your understanding of priority, the greater your advantage when dealing with any opponent. Punisher: A punisher references an attack that is used when an opponent misses completely with an attack. The most important factors in determining which punisher to use in your arsenal is range and wind-up. Your opponent may whiff with an attack and wind up close to you, or perhaps he attempted to bait you and attacked leaving some distance in between you. It is important to know many punishers for the many situations that arise in Tekken. What separates a punishing attack from a standard retaliatory strike is damage. You may be able to go into a jap string when your opponent misses but this is not a punisher since almost any attack used after the first or second jab will be blocked. For this reason, most punishers are either fast hard hitting strikes that knock your opponent down and starts the wake-up game, or a launcher that starts a juggle. Rage: Rage is fairly new to Tekken series, though it first appeared in Tekken Tag. Your tag partner would become angry if you suffered to many hits. In Tekken 6 Rage is activated when your health meter is lessened to a certain point. As of now, Im unsure what the percentage is or if its the same for all characters. Any detailed information on rage is appreciated. Range: Range is usually a reference to the amount of distance an attack can cover. It can also reference a characters optimal range. Understanding the maximum distance that each character can attack from is important in helping you remain at the distance that is best for you and your character. Among the very worst mistakes you can make in Tekken is to come up short with an attack. This leaves you completely open to your opponent. Recovery: Every attack or motion in Tekken has a recovery time. This is the number of frames it takes for the move animation to finish after it connects. Moves with quick recovery times are often called "safe moves". Moves that have long recovery times are called high risk. It is important to note that just because a move has a long recovery time doesnt mean its high risk. Many attacks with long recovery times cause guard stun when blocked. In most cases this will allow you to recover at a disadvantage. In some cases these attacks will even leave you at an advantage allowing you to continue attacking. Reversal: This is a defensive technique that several characters have. It allows the character to stop a string or attack by grabbing the enemy's limb. Following this the character will usually perform some type of throw animation resulting in damage to the attacker and almost always knock-down. Elbows, knees, and headbutts cannot be reversed. The only protection characters have against reversals is a chicken. Reversals must be timed to intercept an incoming attack. Reversal windows vary by character. It is important to note that it is not always in your best interest to reverse attacks. Experienced players have been known to bait players to reverse an attack so they can chicken it. Reversal, Special: Some characters have special reversals either in addition to or in lieu of standard reversals. Wang for example can reverse left punches without fear of being chickened. The fact that his left punch reversal cant be chickened makes it special. King can do the same with kicks and right punches. So despite looking and functioning just like standard reversals, they are much more dangerous. The only low reversal I'm aware of is the auto reversal that Anna does out of her Chaos Judgment stance. It is rare enough to be considered special, but if more low reversals have been added to Tekken 6 I'll create a separate section for them. Some characters even have reversals that can be used during a tackle. There are likely many more instances in which reversals can be used that I will add after I discover them. Running: The act of running in Tekken is much deeper than most players initially realize. Most characters can perform 6 special moves that can only be done while running. Note that unlike previous installments of Tekken, running attacks of any kind can not be reversed. -Left kick will perform a jump kick that hits medium, causes guard stun when blocked, knocks down on hit and does considerable damage. Some characters have variations of this attack. Feng's animation for example looks different and hits high instead of medium. Most female characters fall to the ground instead of landing on their feet after this attack, but more importantly it causes far less guard stun than the standard running jump kick. The jump kick can actually be performed without running at all. Tapping forward 3 times very rapidly and then the left kick will result in a jump kick so long as your opponent isnt so close he disrupts your forward momentum. -The second move is performed with right kick. The attack is a sliding trip attack. If done earlier enough during the run to hit your enemy at maximum range this attack will avoid medium and high attacks. If it is blocked you'll be at the feet of your opponent inviting him to start the wake up game. IF you do this move late during the run, it is harder to anticipate, but easier to thwart with a jab. More importantly though, is the fact that if the slide trip hits late, u will slide beneath your opponent and get a free gauranteed wake-up sweep. Note that not all characters have this attack. -The third attack is a cross-arm dive. It hits medium and knocks down upon connection. It causes guard stun if blocked. Lastly it evades high attacks and has astonishing priority. If you initiate this attack late in your run when your almost on top of your opponent, they will recover from the guard stun before you recover from the dive giving them a hefty advantage. If on the other hand you initiate this attack early during the run and it gets blocked very late during its animation, you will recover from the dive before your opponent recovers from the guard stun giving you the hefty advantage instead. Note that this attack can hit opponents lying on the ground if performed early during the run so that as you go into the roll to stand up out of the dive you land on enemy. Alisa has a modified version that has different hit properties. The command input for this attack is left punch+right punch while running. -The fourth attack is a standard tackle. If less than 3 steps is taken while running you will tackle your opponent. After the tackle characters will mount their opponent. Most characters have the standard 5 hit punch combo. Characters with special tackles or tackle moves will still have access to these expanded options. Marduk for example will have his take-down options instead, since he doesnt have the standard 5 hit punch combo. -The fifth attack is a shoulder tackle. The shoulder hits medium and is unblockable. You must take 3 steps or more while running to initiate a shoulder tackle. A long range attack is perhaps the best way to thwart the shoulder tackle. It can be side stepped, but the timing is critical. Special side steps are much more practical. As a last ditch effort to avoid a tackle, you can jump backwards. If its late enough, you can avoid the tackle altogether, even if it hits, your in the air and take reduced damage. Note that there is no command input, after 3 steps your character will shoulder tackle. Note however that if your opponent moves towards you before you finish the third step, you will perform a standard tackle instead. -The final Special run move is the running step. For this attack to occur, your opponent must be lying down. And you must have taken at least 2 running steps. The attack is unblockable. Rolling to the side with the right timing will avoid the attack. A spring kick or toe kick can also thwart this attack, but all of these things with the exception of the side roll must be performed early. Note that this is not a good move to use for wake up games as after the step, your opponent will have ample time to recover. Also, be prepared to get away from the wall after this move connects as this attack will often leave you with your back to the wall. Note that Ganryu doesnt have the trip, jump kick, or dive. I need to confirm if he has a tackle. Safe Hit: A safe hit put simply is any attack that recovers before your opponent can use any attack on you. The best way to test this if you dont know the frame count of your attacks recovery is to have a friend block the attack while mashing the jab button as fast as possible. If you get hit by a jab after he is done blocking the attack, the move is not safe. If you block it, then it is a safe attack. Note that some attacks may create more range than a jab can cover, this does not mean the move is safe. If this happens, find the fastest attack you can with a longer range. Side Step: Side stepping in Tekken is the act of quickly moving to the side of your opponent. This is done by tapping either up or down on the control pad or joystick. Tapping it twice and holding will result in continuous movement to the side. Many attacks can be side stepped in Tekken. Some are side stepped very easily, while others are more difficult, and still others can not be side stepped at all. Three things come into play when determining whether a side step will be successful. First is when the side step is initiated. Typically it is best to wait as long as possible to side step as this gives you the best chance of evading the attack. Secondly is the direction you choose to side step. Some attacks are easily side stepped by moving to your characters left while others will guarantee you get hit by side stepping left. Lastly, each attack has a tracking rating. The higher this rating, the better the attack tracks. Attacks with excellent tracking simply can not be side stepped, while those with poor tracking can be side stepped even with poor timing. Note that continuously moving to the side by tapping twice and holding will not evade attacks. This function is most often used for maneuvering away from a wall or to circle an opponent in the middle of a long string. Also note that you can not guard while side stepping. Finally, many characters have special attacks that are used during a side step. Side Step, Special: Some characters have special side stepping movements. Usually these side steps will move farther to the side, or move more quickly. Other special side steps have attacks built in. These side step attacks evade while counter attacking all at once. Stun: Stun is a hit property at its simplest. There are so many forms of stun however that it deserves a special section of its own. Stunning no matter its form will incapacitate your opponent giving you a lot more freedom in how you can proceed to thrash him/her. -Crouching stuns can occur when some attacks connect. They leave the defender in a crouching position when they recover. Usually the defender will have ample time to guard when stunned in this fashion. It does severely limit the stunned individuals offense however as they can only use crouching and while-rising attacks from this position. -Crumple Stun is perhaps the most beneficial form of stun. The stunned individual doubles over slowly falling to the ground head first and face down. It gives the attacker ample time to start a combo with medium or low attacks. -Guard Stun is perhaps the most common form of stun. After guarding against a powerful attack you will see yourself stagger a bit. Usually when suffering guard stun it just takes longer to attack. In previous installments of Tekken it was possible to create guard stun with some moves that recovered very quickly. If you could attack again before the stunned individual recovered enough you could guarantee you connect with your next attack. I have yet to see any attack accomplish this in Tekken 6 however. It is important to try attacking during different degrees of guard stun from different attacks as often times you can attack before it looks as if the guard stun animation is finished. -Lifting Stun is a fairly useful as far as stuns go. A Lifting Stun attack will slightly lift your opponent off the ground. This gives you a serious advantage, but not enough to guarantee your next hit. If your next hit does connect however, the opponent immediately is subject to a juggle. Even a simple jab will propel your opponent into the air if it connects just after a Lifting Stun. Attacks will rarely connect after Lifting Stun, but the fact that you have such a large advantage is not to be overlooked. -Topple Back Stun is similar to crumple stun, but the enemy doubles over and staggers backwards to the ground. Topple Back Stun gives less time to start a combo, but its still plenty if your expecting it. This type of stun will sometimes require a longer range launcher or combos starter than with the crumple stun. In any case this is the second best form of stun you can have in your favor. -Turn Stun knocks the victim sideways. This type of stun rarely leaves the attacker with a significant advantage, but it forces the defender to act while at a disadvantage. Since this stun leaves the victim facing away from his opponent he can not guard attacks unless he acts in some way. Note that this stun can occur even while guarding, though the disadvantage isnt as severe. -Wall Stun is something all characters can utilize assuming the stage your in has walls. Most hits that would knock a character down with the exception of most sweeps will cause wall stun instead of knock-down if they connect. Characters are incapacitated and at the the mercy of their opponent while wall stunned. -Most stuns will fall into one of the 7 types covered above. It is important to note that each stun is unique however. Each character has different ways in which to capitalize on the various forms of stun. Practice so that you can use the most damaging attacks or strings at your disposal without thinking when a certain type of stun is created. Super Charge: A super charge takes a little over a second to perform. While charged your characters hands will emit a yellow glow. The charge will last for around 5 seconds or until you successfully strike your opponent. When the first hit lands the charge ends. Any attacks that connect while charged are counter hits even if the standard requisites for landing a counter hit havent been met. The down side to super charging is that for as long as it lasts you will be unable to guard at all. If your opponent blocks your string and your still charged when he gains the advantage you will not be able to block. Some characters have expanded strings or attacks that are only accessible while charged. The standard input for a super charge is left punch+right punch+left kick+right kick. Some characters, usually those possessing additional attacks while charged have a special command input for their super charge. After connecting with certain powerful attacks the character need only hold left punch+right punch or down+left punch+right punch. Certain characters have more uses for a super charge than others. Either way, you must have strong evasion or feint skills to avoid getting struck while charged. Last but not least is a very special property that a super charge adds to all of your attacks. Your opponent will suffer a small amount of damage from each strike even if he guards those strikes. Further more, it is possible to kill your opponent with this guard penetrating damage. Be ready to both employ and deal with super charges once health meters get low! Note that if you are struck while charged, the attack will also be a counter hit. Super charging is a double edged sword if ever there was one. Throw: Throws are a type of attack that deserves some special attention. This is mostly because unlike other attacks, throws can not be blocked. They also have some of the highest damage that any character can inflict with a single attack. Almost all throws leave your enemy on the ground allowing for an additional hit in some cases or immersing them in a wake-up game. Standard front throws can be used in conjunction with a forward input to vastly increase their range, and throws from the side and back do even more damage! Standard throws do have some drawbacks however. Standard throws are high attacks and can easily be punished by while rising attacks, many of which are launchers. And as far as I know all standard throws can be escaped. Throws are a major part of any characters mix-ups precisely because they cant be guarded. Some players rely very heavily on throws, and some characters like King and Nina have an absolutely lethal throw game. Knowing when to use throws and how to protect yourself from them is a vital step in mastering Tekken. Throw, Back: Back throws, or throws used to grapple an opponent from behind typically do twice the damage of standard throws from the front. More importantly, they can not be escaped! Be careful any time you put yourself in a position where your back is to the enemy. If you find yourself in this precarious position, it is almost always your best option to crouch an attack. Doing this will avoid the throw in most cases and turn you around. Throw, Side: Side throws do about 40% more damage than standard front throws, but they are the easiest to escape as there is no guessing. If a throw is attempted to your characters left, then the left punch button will always escape it, and if the throw attempt is to your characters right the right punch button will always be used to escape it. Throw, Special: Special throws are some of the most dangerous attacks in all of Tekken, right up there with launchers. Special throws fall into several different categories. -Aerial Throws can be used against characters in the air. They can not be escaped, but tend to do less damage in comparison to standard throws. Very few characters have aerial throws. -Crouching Throws do about as much damage as standard throws, but they hit medium making them ideal for throwing opponents who crouch to avoid standard throws. Those characters that have crouching throws will have their default high throws as well giving them mix up options purely with throws. Crouching throws can be escaped in most cases. Not all characters have crouching throws. -Ground Throws are yet another tool that can be used in the wake-up game for those very few characters that possess them. They often have to be used before your opponent falls to the ground completely. In previous Tekken installments ground throws were notoriously difficult to connect with. Certain attacks ensure you can get them off, usually attacks that create crumple stun. Ground throws can be escaped. The escape method is based on the character employing the ground throw or your position on the ground. Among the very few characters possessing ground throws are King, Armor King, and Marduk. -Impact Throws are not really throws at all, but they have an animation similar to most throws. certain characters have attacks that will add a throw to a standard attack if it connects. These throws can not be escaped. -Linking Throws or chain throws are similar to strings in that they come in rapid succession. An escape attempt can be made for each throw in the chain. If the chain is escaped, the remaining throws in the chain are not performed. Typically, the throws at the start of the chain do very little damage, while those throws towards the end of the chain are very strong. If all the throws in a throw link are successful they can easily deplete half of a characters health. Despite their amazing power they have many escape points making it unlikely for someone who is actively trying to escape to suffer the entire throw chain. Note that it takes considerable practice and memorization to learn the variations of many linking throws. These variations are essential to using throw links effectively. If you only know a single variation for a throw, it becomes very likely it will be escaped if the player has fought you before. Unlike standard throws, if you escape a throw chain neither of you will have the advantage. -Running Throws are usually performed like standard throws, except they are performed while you are running. They usually do more damage than standard throws. Only a handful of characters possess running throws. Those characters who attempt to throw during a run and dont possess these throw types will use a standard throw instead. -Tackle Throws come in 2 phases. First is the actual tackle which hits medium. Almost all characters can tackle while running, but many also have stand alone tackles. Almost, if not all tackles are escaped by pressing right punch. The tackle itself does very little damage, it is the second phase of a tackle that causes the majority of damage. Most characters have the 5 hit mounted punch attack. The mounted punches have an escape point before the first punch and before the fourth punch. Mounted punches also have 2 variations creating a guessing game for both escape points. The punch series can start with either a left or right punch and are escaped by pressing the opposing punch. If for example the tackle starts with a right punch, it is escaped with a left punch. The fourth punch can be changed up to be either a left or right punch and are escaped in the same manner they are during the first escape point. Some characters can perform throws or linking throws during a tackle. In most cases these throws can be performed after the third punch in the mounted punch sequence. It could be hasty to say so, but in my experience most throws during a tackle are escaped with left punch+right punch. So while tackles hit medium and almost if not all characters can use them, they can have up to 3 escape points severely limiting the amount of damage you can hope to achieve with them. Tackles also have a point in which they can be reversed. A just input of left punch+right punch just before your characters back hits the ground will reverse the tackle leaving you on top. Marduk is an exception to this however. His tackle can be escaped, but not reversed. Furthermore if Marduk's tackle connects you will only have one opportunity to escape his next attack. The escape method for his attacks is the same as it is for characters using mounted punches. If he initiates the attack with his left arm, escape with right punch. Marduk has some mounted attacks that use both arms, to escape these attacks you must either press nothing or if you prefer you can press left punch+right punch. -Tossing Throws are best employed near a wall. This allows you to tack on additional damage by entering a wall game. Tossing throws not only have the initial escape chance, but some can have their damage reduced with a well timed ukemi/tech roll. Some tossing throws allow you to juggle your opponent instead of letting them hit the ground for the full throw damage. The proper juggle will almost always yield more damage than letting the throw finish. -Wall Throws are new to Tekkken 6. To my knowledge, only Lili and Marduk and King have wall throws. Wall throws can only be used on opponents who are wall stunned. There damage is on par with back throws. Also like back throws, wall throws cannot be escaped. Tracking: Tracking refers to how well an attack will succeed against evasion. Tracking is a property of attacks. Some attacks have very good tracking while others have very poor tracking. Some attacks only track well to the left or right making side-stepping in the other direction a viable form of evasion. For characters or players who rely heavily on side-stepping for defense, understanding each attacks tracking is essential. Ukemi/Tech Roll: Tech rolls or Ukemi is a defensive maneuver used when you are knocked down. It is a form of rapid recovery from knock-down. Press either punch when you contact the ground to quickly roll and recover to your characters left. Press either kick when you contact the ground to quickly roll and recover to your characters right. Pressing forward will spring your character up the moment he touches the ground. Most of the time a rolling ukemi will be your best option when knocked down, but they arent completely safe depending on the recovery of the move used to knock you down. Ukemi's can only be used when you make contact with the ground with your back first, though there are a few exceptions to this such as Paul's Thrasher. In addition, many attacks that violently smash you into the ground dont allow for the use of ukemi. You can't use ukemi during bounces either. Despite its limitations, this is still a great defensive tactic and one you should use at almost every opportunity. As mentioned under throws, certain throws such as King's Giant Swing can be tech rolled out of to negate some of the throws damage. Unblockable: All characters have at least 1 unblockable attack. The most obvious difference of unblockable attacks is that they can not be guarded against. These attack simply ignore guard. Most unblockable attacks have a very long wind-up time that is often accompanied by colorful electricity or swirls. Unblockable attacks also tend to be extremely powerful. Some are so powerful in fact, that it would only take 2 of them to kill a character at full health. Unblockable attacks have unrivaled priority. During the frames in which an unblockable attack can connect, no normal attack can hope to strike by advantage of priority. Unblockable recovery is average to slow, but in no way as terrible as their wind-up. Most unblockable attacks hit medium and have good range. Despite having so many strengths, their wind-up is in most cases more than enough to make up for all of these strengths and then some. Unblockable's with even an average wind-up are practical to use in more situations. Those with the terribly long wind-ups must be used carefully and in conjunction with their cancel commands to achieve any success that isnt derived from pure luck. Wake-up Game: Wake-up games dont vary much from character to character, but remain a good source of damage if your wake-up game is good. Your wake-up game is essentially your skill at dealing as much damage as possible before your opponent is able to stand back up after being knocked down. In its purest form the wake-up game is no different than fighting a standing opponent in a typical Tekken match. It is just far less complex because your opponents options while on the ground are severely limited and at the same time your options for striking them is more limited. High attacks are useless in a wake-up game, so you must omit all of those moves as options. The wake-up game will be explained in greater detail in the basic combat section of this guide. Wall Break: Wall Breaks are similar to ground breaks. After smashing an opponent into a wall with a powerful attack it will be completely destroyed revealing an additional portion of the stage. More importantly are your options available against an opponent who has just been used to destroy the wall. The victim in this situation will be in a very rare and unique state. They will be in a complete state of wall stun, but there will no longer be a wall behind them. So the attacker must switch to a type of combo or juggle instead of going into their wall game options. It is likely that characters who excel at juggles will do more damage where those who excel at wall punishment will do less damage. Because wall breaks are so new to Tekken new methods of dealing optimal damage in this rare situation are still being discovered/created. It seems unusual to me, but so far Ive only found a single stage with a breakable wall. That stage is the Temple Grounds. I suspect there are other stages with breakable walls and Id appreciate emails that have verified other stages with breakable walls. Wall Game: Unlike the wake-up game, wall game doesnt refer to a smaller less complex game within Tekken, but rather it refers to how well a character can utilize the walls in a stage. For example, Anna has an excellent wall game where as Asuka has a very poor wall game. The strength of a character's wall game is determined primarily by how much damage they can inflict while their opponent is in a state of wall stun. Another less important element of a character's wall game is how well a character is able to maneuver their opponent into a wall. Wall games are very similar to juggles. Once you are aware of which strings or attacks you can use to dish out the most damage to a character in a state of wall stun you have mastered this particular element of Tekken. Note that the height at which a character becomes stunned will often result in being able to connect with a larger or more powerful string. The time it takes for a character to slide down the wall after being popped up into a wall adds to the standard amount of time that wall stun lasts. This in turn allows for longer strings or slower more powerful strings. While Rising: While rising is a state you will often find your character in either intentionally or unintentionally. You are in this state whenever your character is rising out of a crouch into a standing position. All characters have unique attacks or movements they can use while in this state. The advantage of while rising attacks is that most of them are pretty potent. They have nice hit properties and do decent damage. Many launchers in Tekken come from this state. The disadvantage of this state is that your options to act are limited. Some enemy attacks may force you into a crouched state that in turn forces you into a while rising state if you dont hold down to remain crouched. -While Rising, Instant: To use while rising attacks and options deliberately and quickly you must use the command input of down+back to crouch and immediately release. Simply tapping down will result in a side step rather than a quick crouch. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 2 Basic Combat Guide In the Basic Combat section of this guide I will cover the primary forms of damage that characters in Tekken utilize. I will also touch on a personal theory of mine that determines the strength and skill of a player. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- What makes one Tekken player better than another? What does one focus on to become a better Tekken player? The answer to both of these questions is PATTERNS. We now know that the primary function of the right side of the human brain as it relates to growth and development is to find patterns in everything we perceive. Some minds will perceive patterns differently than others, but for the most part, less complex patterns will be more widely accepted and easier to identify. Tekken is no exception to this. The creators of Tekken perceive with patterns just as the players do. That said, we can establish that Tekken like all things is a game of patterns. I have noticed in my many online matches of Tekken that ALL players fall into predetermined attack patterns. The main reason for this is again that the mind perceives through the use of patterns. The second reason is that Tekken has a finite number of possibilities for any given situation. These possibilities are vast, but still limited and therefore easier to perceive. So how exactly can we use patterns to improve our play? To improve your offense in Tekken you should strive to identify your own attack patterns. Once you identify your attack patterns, you can work on making them more complex and harder for other players to perceive. To improve one's defense you should strive to familiarize yourself with as many attack patterns as possible. Take a random attack string of your primary character and all the variables of that string. These are programmed attack patterns already built into the game. Even with variations the patterns of a single attack string will rarely exceed 3 or 4. Because there are only 3 or 4 variations of this attack strings pattern it is very easy for players to perceive and defend against. To counter this limitation, we must deviate from the pre- programmed strings and create customized attack sequences. Focus on your opponent's attack sequences, no matter how complex or random his attacks, there must inevitably be a pattern. Even a button masher subconsciously conforms to patterns when he presses the buttons. Because multiple command inputs are not registered by the Tekken program, it makes the attacks of a button masher seem completely random and yet they are not random. Because Tekken is a game of finite possibilities, if you play enough players and identify enough patterns in their play styles your defense will vastly improve. Also, to maintain a strong defense do not fall into the trap your own mind will sometimes set for you. I have been caught in this trap many times and Ive seen countless others get caught in this trap as well. The trap occurs when you get an attack sequence, string, or pattern in your head and you try to connect with it and it fails. Your opponent sees right through it. Many people have an instinct or a need to connect with that same attack that failed. If this happens, you have fallen into the trap. By revolving your play style around this particular attack or sequence or what have you, even if only temporarily, you are simplifying your patterns. By simplifying your attack patterns, you severely weaken your offense. A recap... To improve your offense, make your own patterns as complex as possible. Even if it means giving your opponent a momentary advantage, it prevents them from determining what you will do next. After all, if they know what your going to do next, there is no need for reflex or coordinated skill. To improve your defense, identify as many patterns as possible. The objective of any match is to penetrate your foe's defenses to deal enough damage to deplete all of their health. So we are going to cover the primary forms in which damage is dealt. Almost all damage in Tekken comes in 1 of 3 forms. It comes from either juggles, mix-ups, or the wake-up game. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- Mix-ups Mix-ups are a direct representation of one's ability to create patterns. The more complex your attack patterns the better your mix-up game will be. Mix-ups are comprised of 4 attack types, high, medium, low, and throws. The idea of a mix-up is not to hit with all of your attacks, but to hit with just 1 of your attacks. That attack should always best serve your goal of depleting all of your opponents health. For example, if your opponent has most of his health and he isnt familiar with your attack patterns you should use a mix up that will allow you to connect with either a launcher or a knock-down attack. If however this situation is the same except that your opponent has very little health, you should use a mix up to connect with a single hit that is more difficult to anticipate or block than a launcher. Launchers tend to have poor recovery, and are unsafe if blocked. If you only need one more connection to defeat your opponent dont risk your defeat by using an unsafe attack. Here is a very simple example of a mix-up so you have a place to start. Bruce Irving has a simple low kick called Trident Low with a simple command input of down+right kick. Its completely safe whether it connects or is blocked. Poke your opponent with this attack at every opportunity until they start guarding low. When they start guarding it, use his Knee Launcher. The command input for the Knee Launcher is back, forward+right kick. This attack has similar range, and animates only slightly slower than the Trident Low. On top of that, it uses the same limb, Bruce's right leg, making it even more difficult to see coming. The Knee Launcher hits medium and is a great launcher for high damage juggles. Congratulations! you just mixed up your opponent. You used an attack the Trident Low not with the intention of dealing damage with it, but with the intention of getting your opponent to alter his defense. This in turn left him vulnerable to the medium hitting Knee Launcher which starts a massive juggle. So step 1 of our offense is to use mix-ups to connect with attacks that will either start a juggle or start a wake-up game. The reason for this is because your opponent has no options while in the air, and his options while on the ground are severely limited. Just as importantly, in both the air and the ground your opponent is unable to guard. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- Juggles Juggles are a reliable form of damage for all characters. There can be no juggle without a launcher, so that is the most important part of a juggle. Different launchers allow for different juggles. The juggle command input should be second nature whenever a launcher connects essentially making them one attack. Almost all characters have 7 juggles on their command list. Juggles themselves are very very simple because at most you only need 2 juggles for each launcher your character has. The first juggle for each launcher is to deal as much damage as possible before your opponent is rid of his incapacitation. It will take practice and experimentation to find powerful juggles that you are comfortable with. The second juggle should be used if your opponent will hit the wall of a stage before the juggle finishes. By using a standard juggle near a wall, many of the juggles hits will miss their mark. Your second juggle should be short and sweet and allow you to move seamlessly into your characters wall game to optimize your damage. Typically, the more lift a launcher has, the stronger the juggle that can be used with it. Juggle resetting is a form of mix up that can be used during certain juggles. A juggle reset point occurs when your opponent almost fully lands on the ground. When this happens your opponent will have the option to ukemi and recover. You as the juggler need to guess whether your opponent will ukemi or attempt to fall completely to the ground. If he attempts to fall to the ground you should begin another juggle with a low attack that will lift your opponent off the ground. If your opponent uses an ukemi in hopes of recovering, you should use a preemptive attack to strike or even launch your opponent. Bouncing is a new aspect of the juggle system exclusive to Tekken 6. You should strive to bounce your opponent just as they hit the wall as this will ensure additional wall hits. The other time you might consider using a bounce is to smash your opponent through the ground in those stages you are able to. Note that despite the long pause after a ground break, the juggle counter will not be reset. Lastly Ill be covering juggle properties. Each hit of a juggle will add to what is called the juggle counter. The juggle counter determines how much forward momentum an attack will generate. For example, an attack used early in a juggle will not propel your opponent as much as the same attack later in the juggle. The juggle counter ensures that juggles are not infinite. The juggle counter also determines the amount of damage each attack will deal. Each successive attack of a juggle will have its damage diminished by a percentage. Despite the many restrictions imposed by the juggle counter, juggles remain the most reliable form of damage for the majority of characters in Tekken. As mentioned earlier, examples of juggles can be found on your character's command list. It just takes practice and experimentation to master your juggles. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- Wake-up Game It comes as no surprise that more people struggle with their wake-up game than anything else in Tekken. The main reason for this is that there is no way to practice your wake-up game without actually playing. Now after playing Tekken 6 online for several weeks I know more than ever before just how important a good wake-up game is. I have beaten players that were superior to me in most other areas. Because I was able to knock them down once or twice in a round, I was able to snag victory. It wasnt even so much that they got knocked down, but that they didnt know what to do while on the ground to minimize the damage I could inflict on them. The wake-up game begins the moment either you or your opponent hit the ground without a successful ukemi. The person still standing has almost all of their attack options with the exception of high attacks. The person on the ground has severely limited options. To keep this section simple, yet informative we will be covering all of the options you have when your on the ground. We will learn what each of these options does for the individual on the ground and how they are defeated by the individual standing. There are 4 ways of being prone in Tekken's wake-up game. We will cover the options of each state. -Face Up, Feet First(Lying on your back with your feet towards your opponent) First is to simply remain motionless on the ground. This state will avoid a great many attacks. This is probably the most overlooked tactic in most players wake-up games. The standing player assumes the grounded player will try to recover from this state as soon as possible and will attack with medium attacks or low attacks to intercept most actions the player might take. Because the attacker has the advantage, these attacks will often succeed. By waiting for the over eager attacker to whiff and then rising you not only avoid the damage, but in most cases rise with the advantage! Even if the attack hits you on the ground, you can often recover right after it without fear. To sum it up, doing nothing is a great option especially if you are in the lead. Next is the Toe Kick. The command input for the toe kick is down+left kick. Its strengths are that it is safe whether it hits or is guarded and that it is perhaps the fastest attack you have available to you while on the ground. Its weaknesses are very low damage, very short range, very low priority, it has no hit properties, and lastly you are still at a disadvantage even if this attack connects. Despite its many weaknesses the toe kick definitely has an important place in the wake-up game. Its speed and safety are something none of the other attacks on the ground can match. The toe kick will succeed against most running attacks, but should the runner stop a bit early and launch a medium attack the toe kick will be punished. In fact most medium attacks with a vertical arc like heel drops, while rising upper cuts or kicks will almost always succeed against the toe kick due to its low priority. The toe kick can also be low parried. With a little practice it becomes easy to tell when this attack should be used. Next is the right and left ground rolls. These rolls will evade some attacks and not others. The command input for ground rolls is left punch to roll into the background or down+left punch to roll into the foreground. By holding down the left punch button you will roll to either side twice. By holding down after initiating either roll, you will remain on the ground in a face down, feet first position. If down is not held you will rise normally after your roll. If a viable attack command input is entered, you will perform the appropriate attack while rising. As discussed above, your opponent will have a predetermined pattern that is even more simple during the wake-up game. If he is using the same attacks often, do some defensive training to determine if a ground roll will avoid any of these attacks. The best thing about the ground roll is that it only removes 1 option from your wake-up game. After a ground roll you cant use another ground roll, but you can still use any other action while on the ground. So, ground rolls have a place in your defense when dealing with predictable attackers and most running attacks. They are especially good at avoiding attacks with vertical attack arcs. As for dealing with ground rolls from the attackers point of view, quick low sweeping attacks work best, most other attacks are hit or miss. Note while rolling your only vulnerable to attacks that hit grounded opponents. Now for a fun one, the Spring Attack. A little known fact is that there are 2 command inputs for the spring attack. First is back, right kick, left kick all in rapid succession. This will result in a very quick spring attack. The second command input is back, right kick+left kick which will result in a delayed spring attack. The spring attack has medium range, hits medium, and has good priority. It is a rather slow attack however, and is easily punished if it is blocked early in its animation or if it misses altogether. The idea is to hit with the spring attack as late in its animation as possible or with a counter hit. If this is accomplished, it is even possible to do a very small juggle with some characters. Those struck by the spring attack can recover using an ukemi leaving them at a slight disadvantage. The spring attack is best used against opponents entering medium range from long range with a dash, not a run. Because the initial part of the spring attack's animation is leaning back a bit, it is very useful against overly- aggressive opponents. It is important not to over use this tactic as the punishment if it misses can be brutal. Note some characters lack the standard spring attack and instead spring into a cross arm dive. This option functions like a normal cross arm dive with a significant increase in wind-up The rising sweep is next on our list. The command input for the rising sweep is a simple tap of the left kick. The rising sweep has been toned down in Tekken 6. In previous Tekken installments the rising sweep would knock your opponent down on hit. In Tekken 6 the rising sweep only knocks down on a counter hit. Still its pretty quick and is safe on block(verify) and hit. The rising sweep is ineffective against almost all running attacks. It is best used after an opponent misses you with an attack because you remained prone. For attackers dealing with the rising sweep the lack of knock down vastly reduces the danger of this attack. Most speedy medium hits will defeat the rising sweep. Feints or attacks with a very quick recovery are also good options. After the feint, a low parry will set the grounded player up for a bounce juggle. The rising round kick is a players next option from this grounded state. The command input for the rising round kick is a simple right kick. It has decent speed, good range, and it hits medium. The rising round kick will almost always defeat most running attacks except the shoulder tackle, the cross arm dive and the sliding trip if used at maximum distance. It is safe on both hit and block, and knocks down on a counter hit. This attack is especially good at thwarting the running jump kick. Due to the jump kick's long wind-up, the rising round kick will almost always win out even if its started late. Attackers should keep in mind this is one of the rising players safer options. A very quick medium attack will defeat it and simply blocking it will leave you at an advantage. Next in line is the forward and backward rolls. The command input is forward for a forward roll, and back for a backwards roll. These movements are used to give yourself more distance between you and your enemy or to close the gap instead. These rolls are considered rising actions, so you will always be standing when you finish any action out of a forward or backwards roll. Your attack options are the rising sweep, the rising round kick, and a final option that is only available from a forward or backward roll, the cross arm dive. Rolling forward is a great way to mess up your opponents wake up game. Attackers often use running attacks during the wake-up game to stay on top of their grounded enemy. By rolling forward, you deny them a step or 2 which often times makes their planned attack fail. A backwards roll is fairly ineffective against running attacks and in many cases will grant your opponent a free shoulder tackle. A backwards roll is effective against characters who are at medium range and lack long range medium attacks. Forward and backward rolls are something for attackers to keep an eye out for as they are very slow and can be punished with medium hits that often lead to small juggles and a continued wake-up game. The cross arm dive is next on our list and can only be used as part of a spring attack for certain characters or during a forward or backward roll. The cross arm dive is simply an excellent attack. It hits medium, avoids high attacks, has amazing range and priority, and causes guard stun if guarded and knock down on hit. If the cross arm dive is guarded very early in its animation you can be punished as your opponent will recover from the guard stun before you recover from the dive. If on the other hand the dive is guarded very late in its animation, you can guarantee your next attack hits if its fast. The later you hit in the dives animation the more of an advantage you give yourself while the opposite is true the earlier the dive hits in its animation. Attackers can use a back dash or special back dash to avoid the dive altogether if they already have a fair distance between them and their opponent. If the dive misses, the recovery is long enough to easily capitalize on. The most reliable way of dealing with the cross arm dive however is to simply side step it. It is very easily side stepped, and the better your timing with the side step, the greater the advantage you give yourself. At close range, a side step will avoid the dive, but due to the dives rapid movement across the screen you wont be able to retaliate. Side stepping the dive at a greater distance is a bit more risky, but allows you to punish your opponent. Last but certainly not least is to simply stand up and guard. This leaves your opponent with the advantage, but is safe against almost all forms of medium and close range attacks. The rising guard is most ineffective against running attacks. The grounded player also has to be prepared for a low attack instead of a medium attack. Attackers have the advantage so they can do almost anything they like. The idea behind the standing guard is to guard the wake-up attack and retaliate with the advantage. As an attacker, be prepared to follow up into a mix up from your medium wake-up attack if you have one to retain your advantage. -Face Down, Feet First From this state you lose several options and gain none. You lose the toe kick, the cross arm dive, and the spring attack. You retain your side rolls, forward and backward rolls, rising sweep, rising round kick, standing guard, and of course you can opt to remain prone. The rising sweep and round kick seem to be faster from this state while the rising guard seems slightly slower. It is possible to use a slightly delayed version of the rising sweep and round kick by tapping up to rise before hitting the kick button. Note that the rising sweep has a bit more range if it is delayed. Despite having even more limitations in this state, the properties of your options doesnt change. -Face Up, Face First This is perhaps the worst grounded state you can find yourself in. You lose access to the toe kick, the cross arm dive, and the spring attack. You retain the rising sweep and round kick which both seem to be a bit faster from this state. While you retain your standing guard, but it seems even slower than the rising sweep. As in the previous state, you can delay your rising sweep and round kick by tapping up before the kick button. The sweep again has greater range if it is delayed. As with all grounded states, you can remain prone. -Face Down, Face First This state has some good and bad things about it. The good news is you only lose the toe kick and the spring attack. The bad news is, almost all of your rising actions have increased wind-up making them very slow. Your best option in this state will most often be a simple rising guard. Forward rolls seem a bit slower as do the rising sweep and round kick. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- Starting the Match Unlike the previous combat tactics Ive discussed, the start of a Tekken match doesnt have nearly as much impact. It is however a game within the game that can provide you with the extra sliver of damage you need to claim victory. In this section I will cover all of the typical tactics you will see at the very start of the match. -Jab Rush In Tekken 6 all but 2 characters have a 10 frame jab. This means a jab will strike in 1/6 of a second. Because of its speed and the many variations characters have from jab rushes this is a very popular way to start the match. This tactic is countered by crouching at the start and using a while- rising attack. If the jab rush is mirrored, both players will be struck and it will be as if the match just started after both players recover from the initial jab. Ganryu and Jack-6 are lacking a 10 frame jab. Ganryu's jab is 12 and Jack-6's is 11 frames making them a bit more risky to start the match with. Alternately Ganryu has a head butt that is 10 frames and Jack-6 has a long range high palm strike. They both knock down on a counter hit. These attacks stand alone however and have different ranges than a jab making it more suited for string breaking rather than starting the match. -Hop Kick Most characters in Tekken now have a hop kick or some variation of it. The hope kick from my experience is just as fast as a jap, but it hits medium instead of high. Most hop kicks also act as launchers making them far more dangerous than the most sophisticated jab rush. Quick side stepping attacks will punish most hop kicks as they usually have poor tracking. Simply guarding is another viable option to punish the hop kick as most are not safe on hit. If the hop kick is mirrored both opponents will strike one another and then fall to the ground. Note that hop kicks and jab rushes also mirror one another resulting in both players falling to the ground. Do note that the hop kick does more damage than a jab. -Crouching Attack Crouching attacks are not just attacks you use while crouched. For purposes of starting the match they also describe attacks that evade high attacks during their animations. Crouching attacks are slightly slower than the standard jab rush or hop kick. Crouching attacks thoroughly punish jab rushes and throws. The down side is that crouching attacks are punished by hop kicks. If that hop kick connects you can expect to start the match with a third of your health or more missing. Crouching attacks vary widely making it very unlikely for them to be mirrored. -Low Poke Low pokes tend to be universally slower than most attacks typically used at the start of the match. Note that if a low attack crouches during its animation its properties would be more in line with crouching attacks covered above. Low pokes defeat guarding assuming they have sufficient range as well as reversals and parries. Low pokes may or may not defeat crouching attacks, side stepping attacks depending on several factors. Low pokes may defeat throws, but this will largely depend on the poke's speed. -Reaching Throw The reaching throw sees some use despite its many counters. Almost any attack will defeat a throw at the start of the match, but the throw does defeat one very important starting tactic. It defeats a standard guard which is by far the safest tactic and perhaps the most common way of starting a match. If reaching throws are mirrored I assume that the one with greater priority would win, but I am unsure as to what the exact outcome would be. Any input on this is appreciated. -Guarding Guarding is perhaps the best way to start a match, especially if your not familiar with your opponents play style. The good thing about guarding is that it will protect you against almost every typical starting attack. The bad news is you will be voluntarily giving your opponent the advantage for this security. A reaching throw will defeat the guard and using a crouching guard to avoid the throw is worse than a crouching attack. At the start of a match crouching without attacking leaves you more vulnerable than attacking. Most low attacks that a crouching guard would stop are slower than a crouching jab making it superior to a crouching guard in every way (at the start of the match). Even without a crouching option, you can still effectively protect yourself from throws while starting the match with a guard. Be prepared at the start of the match to input a left or right punch to break the throw at the start of the match. You will have a 50/50 shot even if you cant determine which hand they reached with. Special throws that use both punches to escape do not reach for the most part so you only have to contend with a characters 2 standard front throws. Lastly, the damage from a standard front throw is far less than even a simple juggle further enforcing the theory that guarding at the start of the match is the best option. Guarding cant be mirrored as the match doesnt actually start until someone attacks. So aside from increasing your distance from one another, this changes nothing. -Parry/Reversal Characters with the option may start the match using a reversal or parry. They are fast enough to stop jabs and hop kicks. A jab string that is reversed would be nearly impossible to chicken. A hop kick that was reversed could be buffered with a chicken input. Starting the match with a parry or reversal will stop jabs, hop kicks, most crouching attacks making it very practical. Throws will punish the reversal and parry, and guarding will often leave you with enough time to strike your opponent after the reversal window closes. Mirroring reversals will do nothing, and the match will begin when one player attacks after recovering from their reversal animation. -Side Step Attack Attacks with side steps built in are another great way to start the match. Against jabs, hop kicks, and most crouching attacks a side step attack will come out on top. Because they are slightly slower than the jab and hop kick an immediate reversal's window will usually close before the side step attack connects. Throws will likely win out over a side step attack making them one of the only reliable offensive methods of winning the start of the match. This is not always the case though, throws are also slower than the jab and hop kick putting them on par with side step attacks. Whether the throw or the side step attack connects can literally come down to fractions of a second. Guarding of course will avoid the the side step attack and switch the advantage. A rare few characters have side stepping attacks that also crouch for a moment or more during their animations making them among the best ways to start the match. Side stepping attacks can also counter themselves unlike mirroring the other starting options. Because side stepping attacks dont rely on speed for success, but rather evasion; certain side stepping attacks will defeat another side stepping attack every time. -Miscellaneous Tactics Many characters will have other options that work well at the start of the match. Lei for example can start the match by entering his various grounded stances enabling him to avoid almost all starting options except guarding. Knowledge of these miscellaneous tactics is no less important than the standard starting tactics. Methods to defeat them will only come from experience in dealing with them, so experiment. -Things not to do at the start of a match I will finish up with a few things you do not want to do at the start of the match. Dont start the match with a back dash or special back dash. Back dashing doesnt happen as quickly as it appears in the middle of a match and it leaves you vulnerable. There is a window during a back dash where guarding is impossible. Even should the back dash succeed, it doesnt give you the advantage unless your opponent used a slow attack which brings me to next piece of advice. Dont use anything slow at the start of the match. Go fast or guard, anything else is likely to get you hurt. The advantage of slow attacks in a match is to change up the speed or tempo. If your change up is successful, your opponent will think he has the advantage when you in fact have it. At the start of the match, there is no tempo, so there can be no change up. This makes those slow attacks very easy to see coming. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Training Regiment --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- Offensive Training Offensive training is the easier of the 2 forms of training in my opinion. First determine your play style. Do you like power, speed, finesse, balance, eccentricity, ect? Once you know that you should be able to narrow your character choice from 40 to around 5-8. Next you want to jump into freestyle training mode and open your characters command list. Start with the first move and hit the demo button to see what it looks like and get an idea of the input speed. Dont skip this step as this is your only way of ensuring your doing the move properly. Now exit the demo and do that move manually 10 times IN A ROW. This means, if you make a mistake, start counting up from 0 again. Why do I advise what some might call insanity? First, if you can do the attack 10 times in a row, then you can do it on command whenever you want without any doubt or hesitation. Secondly and more importantly this ensures you have the discipline to reach your potential. Now work your way down the command list skipping nothing. Keep a note pad nearby and note the command input of any moves that take you into another stance. Keep a separate list for each stance. Once you get to the bottom of the command list you should have all of the attacks that will take you into alternate stances listed. You should also know and be able to perform all of these attacks at will. Give these stance changing moves another set of 10 cycling through all of the variations. This ensures you dont come to rely too heavily on any one stance or any one stance's attack or move set. Becoming intimately familiar with a characters alternate stances will give you a big advantage even against players who know them. Remember not to skip anything, every move on a characters command list should be performed. Now for the hard part. Do this once a day for 4 days straight, then switch to doing all of the attacks on the command list 3 times in a row at least once a week. Each week you go through the command list you will come to recognize certain attacks or moves that you neglect in actual play. Do these neglected moves 10 times in a row instead of 3. This will ensure that they remain in your mental arsenal even if the moments where they are useful are far and few in between. Some command lists are huge I realize. If you dont have the hours it may take to finish a large command list with many difficult moves just make a note of where you left off so you can come back. Dont start over your next practice session as this is like telling your brain that it only has to remember the first 40 moves. You can never have too many options in Tekken. In fact, after a time, you may find the command list of your character has to few options or variation. Playing more skilled opponents will make you aware of the shortcomings of pre-programmed strings. When you find yourself trying to find ways to change pre-programmed strings you have officially risen above novice status. At this point you should still do all of your characters moves 3 times in a row at least once a week, but the majority of your training will be focused on customizing the pre-programmed strings to add more complexity to your attack patterns. You should also start expanding and changing your juggles, wall game, and wake-up game to optimize the amount of damage you can inflict. With improved juggles, wall game, and wake-up game, you can better take advantage of the complex custom strings and mix-ups you've created. Eventually your wall game and juggles will peak, not because of flaws in your style, but because juggle and wall game options are one sided and finite. When you can deal no more damage with juggles or wall combos and your training becomes solely focused on your wake-up game and your mix-ups you have mastered your offensive game. Playing the computer is one last thing to consider. The computer, even at the highest difficulty shouldnt pose much of a challenge once your good, but it will help condition you with good habits. Firstly it conditions you not to rely on throws. A high difficulty computer will escape or punish almost every throw you use only slightly more often than a veteran player. The difference is the computer may strike you where as a human opponent will juggle you for a third of your health. Next the computer will punish your strings. This gives you a heads up of all your string weaknesses before playing against live opponents. Playing the computer is a great tool for testing your custom string's effectiveness. Lastly the computer will condition you to rely on medium attacks over high and low attacks. Medium hits are easily guarded, but they are directly linked to the foundation of your defense. Despite being easily guarded against, most of them are also safe on hit or guard. The computer like veteran players will punish your high attacks with while rising strikes. And your low attacks will be blocked and countered with a while rising attacks or a low parry juggle. Its also important to note that the computer may condition you with some negative tendencies. You will quickly identify this negative conditioning when players repeatedly punish you for relying on something that was effective against the computer. Then its simply a matter of breaking those habits. Note: Every character has several moves that are not on his command list. These moves should be written down and manually added to your characters move list as you discover them. Special Note: In Tekken 4 there was an option to toggle the command input on a characters command list to instead show the percentage in which one move is used in comparison to all of the other attacks on the command list. It is my hope that this option is available somewhere in Tekken 6, perhaps burried in sub menus or something. Any information on move use percentage options would be appreciated. Defensive Training: Defensive training is not something that any one player can hope to master. Because a players defensive ability is virtually without limit, it is often the most influential factor in determining his skill. The best way to train defensively is to train offensively with each and every character. Proof of this will come when you master your own characters offense. You will notice that mirror matches are either very easy to win or they come down to the wire. Almost never should you be completely destroyed in a mirror match with a characters who's offense you've mastered. Despite being the best way to train defensively, this is not always practical. It'd likely take a couple years at least to master every character in Tekken 6. A more practical method of defensive training is to keep filtering the online Tekken community so your always fighting players as good or better than yourself. As you play against better and better players you will identify attack patterns that will consistently penetrate your defenses. If these attacks are pre-programmed strings, you can go into defensive training and take all the time you need to dissect them. For customized strings, you will need to note them as they come and find out their command inputs. Then you can go into defensive training and input the custom string yourself and use the record option to record it and play it back repeatedly experimenting with ways to punish or avoid it. With experience you will likely be able to skip the step involving the recording of a string and work out a counter or defense on the fly after enough exposure to the custom string. Note: The record option in training will be added in the next patch. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tekken Site Reference List 1. iamtekken.com ~ This would be the first site I'd check if your serious about getting better at Tekken. This is MYK's personal site and he has the tournament victories to prove he is among the best Tekken players in the country if not the world. Furthermore, more than any other Tekken player he generously gives a great deal of his time to the Tekken community. 2. tekkenzaibatsu.com ~ This is your site for numerical information. For every character the Tekken Zaibatsu has complete move lists as well as each moves special properties, hit type, ect. And there are enough links to different Tekken match videos to keep you busy analyzing for hours maybe even days. 3. Level Up Your Game ~ This is a link you can find at iamtekken.com. This is the ideal place to start if your just getting into Tekken. There is a short series of Tekken Youtube videos that explain the fundamentals with visual demonstrations. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Id like to thank everyone who has read this guide. I hope it was of help in your efforts to become a better Tekken player. As stated many times in the guide, I welcome questions and input. I expect to learn a great deal from my readers. In an effort to further immerse myself into the Gamefaq and Tekken communities I expect to be reading and posting on the Gamefaqs Tekken message boards. If you post any questions specifically for me on the message boards please put Arcylis in parenthesis like so... (Arcylis) in the title. For questions, corrections, or information related specifically to this guide please email me at Arc9213@gmail.com with Tekken in the title.