Kill la Kill – If is a fun anime-style fighting game based on the anime that ran for a single season in 2013. The anime has since been gaining steam with world-wide audiences and the game has garnered a small but dedicated player base.
This rude and crude game can be complicated for new fans to pick up and the dedicated fan base can make online play rough for even the most skilled fighters. So here are some general tips to help you climb the rankings.
10 Master One
Becoming good at this game requires you to find a character you like and quickly master that character’s combos and movements. It may be tempting to pick the character that consistently dominates the leader boards, but you’ll go farther if you pick one with a play-style that feels natural for you.
Metas change all the time as players find ways to counter them and developers make changes to the game. Not to mention you’ll do better mastering an average character that makes sense for you, then struggling to handle a powerful character that feels awkward for your playstyle.
9 Combos Are Key
While combos are beneficial in any fighting game, they have much greater prominence in Kill la Kill – IF. If done properly combos can essentially stunlock an opponent, forever. If the other player doesn’t have enough in their special bar to break the assault you can continue battering away at their health bar until you win.
Learning to master you character’s combos and finding ways to quickly string them together is huge for getting ahead in this game.
8 Zig When They Zag
Given how important combos are for dealing damage it’s critical to learn how to move across the screen to reach your opponent to initiate a combo or keep the train rolling by dashing into another combo. Air dashes and ground dashes are important for getting in your opponent’s face quickly to deal a flurry of attacks.
It’s also important to learn how to dance around your opponent and back off when they try to initiate a combo. Like the dashes, learning to sidestep attacks will help you avoid dangerous charges that can get you trapped in their combo cycles.
7 Valor Breaks
If you find yourself trapped in a vicious combo cycle and you’re health bar starts dropping it’s important to put a stop on the assault with a Valor Break. A Valor Break requires two bars in your special meter and will disrupt any attack that hits it.
After disrupting the assault you can either launch one of your own, or back off and give yourself room to breath and plan your next steps. It’s also important to note that the enemy has this ability too, so stay on your toes even if you have them locked in a combo, all it takes is a well placed Valor Break with a follow up and you’re the one trapped in a combo.
6 Bloody Valor Strategy
During Bloody Valor the attacker has a chance to heal if they win with Mock, deal extra damage if they win with Taunt, or increase their meter with Provoke. Knowing this you can anticipate your opponent’s likely move, if they’re low on health then odds are they’ll throw a Mock.
But keep in mind that veterans are well aware of this weakness and will likely throw something else to trip up the defender. Basically, if you’re winning and they’re desperate go with the likely move, if they’re good players and Bloody Valor is more of a perk than a necessity, counter the less likely option.
5 Always Initiate Blood Valor
Being the attacker in a Blood Valor contest has tremendous upsides and little downsides. If you win you can get a massive boost to help you win the battle, if you lose you’re only out your special meter and a little bit of your health bar, so don’t hesitate to start Blood Valor if you could use the boost.
It can be tempting to pick the move that will provide you with the most benefit, but honestly it will go better for you if you pick the second-best option for yourself. There’s not enough room on this article to explain game theory, but it’s in your best interest to go with your second-best option when facing beginners and third best or your best option with experts.
4 Singleplayer First
An odd quirk with this game, apart from the outfits, is that many aspects of the game are only available after unlocking them in singleplayer mode. This includes important features like the Training Room or even multiplayer mode.
It may be annoying, but singleplayer is a great way to gain some valuable skills and learn the mechanics. It’s recommended you beat the game on 2-star mode before replaying in 3-star if you’re a beginner. The game can be brutal at 3-star and very annoying if you’re still trying to get a grasp on mechanics and haven’t unlocked the training room yet.
3 Live in Training Mode for Mechanics
Speaking of Training Mode, this is where you’ll live and breath to learn the mechanics and movements of your characters. Your meters will reset while in this room so you can employ combos back to back and other feats while you get the hang of things.
It’s a great spot for getting a feel for all the characters and determining which one you want to master so as soon as this is unlocked get comfortable and start experimenting.
2 Find Friends
If you want to get good at actually fighting though you’ll need to face human opponents. Unfortunately this can be a little difficult as the player base is on the small side and many of those players are really, really good at the game.
Having a friend or two to battle with is a great way to get your feet wet without getting overwhelmed and frustrated by the pros. Especially if you let them know your goal is to improve as a fighter and not necessarily to win the round.
1 Read Your Opponents
The best pro tip you can take away from this article is the importance of learning to read your opponent and react accordingly. In real-life competitive sports the best players aren’t the biggest and the strongest, they’re the players who can counter and react to their opponent’s moves.
Learning to spot combo openings, gameplay strategies, attack patterns, default dodge moves, and so on will go a long way to making you a better fighter. You’ll notice recurring popular tactics that you can exploit and you’ll find yourself winning more and more rounds as you play based on what your opponent is doing and not by following a meticulous series of steps in your head.