Combos & Hit Confirming

Finally we've made it to combos. Combos are an important part of fighting games but not the most important. When I was a child I could perform amost every combo in every fighting game I owned but I still lost all the time. I knew combos but I had no sense of footsies, neutral, frame data, mixups, defense, anti-airing, throw teching, or okizeme. Don't worry about combos too much. You can make up for being bad at combos by being better in other aspects of fighting games.

Cancels are the most common combo. When an attack is canceled into another attack, its recovery frames are skipped and the next attack immediately starts up. A normal attack canceled into a special attack is the most common cancel.

A chain is a normal attack canceled into another normal attack. A canned string of chained normal attacks is sometimes called a target combo.

A juggle is a combo on an airborne opponent. The attack that starts a juggle from the ground is called a launcher.

The rules for juggles depend on the game. In Street Fighter V, only attacks flagged to juggle can juggle and a character can only be juggled six times before they fall out of the combo. In Tekken, any attack can juggle and the only limit to juggles is gravity. In Marvel vs. Capcom, a character falls out of juggles when they recover from hitstun in the air and hitstun deterioration allows this to happen.

Hitstun is the state a character enters when they are hit. The character starts reeling in pain and is vulnerable until they recover from hitstun. Typically, stronger attacks inflict more hitstun than weaker attacks. More hitstun means more frame advantage for combos.

After Donny hits Setsuka with his attack, he fully recovers from the attack while Setsuka is still in hitstun. Donny can even jump into the air while Setsuka is still in hitstun.

This is a link combo. Donny hits Setsuka with an attack, he recovers from it, then he hits her again before she recovers from hitstun.

In many games, counter hits inflict more hitstun, which means more frame advantage. More frame advantage creates new link combos. Attacks against crouching characters create new combos as well because characters are wider when crouching. This is a combo that is only possible if the first hit counter hits AND the opponent is crouching.

Damage scaling reduces damage of individual hits in a combo. In Street Fighter IV, the first two hits of a combo do 100% of its regular damage. The third hit does 80% of its regular damage. The fourth hit 70%, fifth hit 60%, sixth hit 50%, and so on until the tenth hit and beyond where all hits do 10% of its regular damage. Damage scaling prevents combos from inflicting too much damage. It forces players to consider the quality of hits and not just quantity of hits. You don't want to front load a combo with too many weak light attacks because the damage of the remainder of the combo will be heavily scaled.

Super meter builds when attacks connect for both the attacker and the defender. Obviously the attacker gains more super meter than the defender when attacks hit. Meter gain scales like damage scales and after a certain point, the defender starts to build more meter than the attacker. At this point it may be better to end the combo into a knockdown or reset. Look at how much super meter Seth builds by taking damage.

Buffering

Most combos are only possible on hit. Take advantage of this with a technique called buffering. Whiff an attack at a range where it can't be blocked then input the next hit of the combo while the attack is active. If the attack whiffs it whiffs like normal, but if it connects the next hit of the combo comes out. Buffering is used to hit the opponent if they walk forward or extend themselves with an attack.

Buffering attacks loses to crouch blocking because characters become wider when they crouch.

Hit Confirming

When an attack connects, the screen freezes for a short amount of time. This is called hitstop. Hitstop allows players time to recognize what is happening on the screen. Hitstop does not change anything about frame data or hitstun. Here is a combo and the same combo without hitstop.

Hit confirming is recognizing whether an attacks hits then continuing the combo if it does. Special attacks are typically very unsafe on block and blindly comboing into them is risky. Make sure the first attack hits then you can cancel it into a special attack. Hit confirming can only be performed from attacks that allow enough time for the player to react to whether or not the attack hit.

Hit confirming can be practiced in every modern fighting game's training mode. Simply set Guard/Block to Random. If your attack hits continue the combo, if your attack doesn't hit don't continue the combo.

Players hit confirm with different methods. Some players look at the health bar or stun bar to hit confirm. Other players hit confirm off of sound. I knew someone that hit confirmed by looking at the high score counter.

You should be expecting an attack to hit and reacting to it being blocked. As my attack comes out, I'm already starting to press the directional buttons for the next hit in the combo, but I won't press the attack buttons until I can confirm my attack hit. Don't wait for the attack to hit before starting inputs for the next hit because then it may be too late.

Confirm Windows

Not every attack that is cancelable or comboable is hit confirmable. This is because attacks are intentionally designed this way and because there are limits to human reactions. The amount of time a player has to confirm off an attack is the confirm window. The confirm window is a combination of hitstop, hitstun, and the cancel window.

A good player should be able to hit confirm consistently off of 17 frame confirm windows. Many (but not all) professional players can consistently hit confirm off of 16 frame and 15 frame confirm windows. Hit confirming off of 14 frame confirm windows is something that only the top 1% of competitive players can do consistently. Don't feel too bad if you can't hit confirm 100% of the time. Even the best players miss hit confirms.

Training mode time. Pick Dhalsim for Player 1 and any character for Player 2. Set the Guard setting to Random.

Here are five cancelable attacks and the confirm windows. Street Fighter V runs at 60 frames per second.
Back medium punch: 18 frame confirm window (0.3 seconds) cancel into special attack.
Back medium kick: 17 frame confirm window (0.283 seconds) cancel into special attack.
Heavy kick: 16 frame confirm window (0.26 seconds) cancel into super attack.
Down-back medium kick: 15 frame confirm window (0.25 seconds) cancel into special attack.
Medium punch: 14 frame confirm window (0.23 seconds) cancel into super attack.

Start with back medium punch and work down the list. You can use any special attack. I used Yoga Fire which is performed down, down-forward, forward, punch. Dhalsim's super attack is performed down, down-forward, forward, down, down-forward, forward, punch.

Don't feel bad if you can't hit confirm everything. Even the greatest fighting game players of all time can't hit confirm everything. There might be extra lag from your television/monitor, controller/converter, or console/computer making it more difficult for you to hit confirm. Try to make it to the 16 frame confirm window and consider the 15 frame confirm window optional but something worth practicing. Consider the 14 frame confirm window a superhuman achievement.

Hit Confirming Blockstrings

I believe everyone can consistently hit confirm with enough practice but it may take weeks or months to get to that level. Once you can consistently hit confirm off of single hits in neutral, try creating blockstrings for your character to hit confirm off of.

Here is a more complicated hit confirm training exercise. Pick Karin for Player 1 and any character for Player 2. Set Guard to Random and Switch Guard Direction to Random.

Perform this three hit blockstring: Light kick, crouching medium punch, heavy punch.

Regardless of whether light kick hits or not, continue the blockstring.

If crouching medium punch hits, link combo it into crouching medium kick then special cancel into Tenko (down, down-forward, forward, kick, then punch).

If crouching medium punch is blocked, continue the blockstring.

If heavy punch hits, special cancel into LP Senha Kusabi (down, down-back, back, light punch then down kick).

If heavy punch is blocked, end the blockstring and start from Light Kick again.

I know this training exercise looks convoluted and random but there is a reason for everything. There are a lot of mistakes beginners make hit confirming that I'm trying to address with the exercise.

Mistake number 1: Hit confirming off a blocked attack because the previous attack hit. I see this happen after an attack that is NOT cancelable is followed by an attack that is. If light kick hits but crouching medium punch is blocked, do not hit confirm.

Mistake number 2: Not hit confirming off an attack because the previous attack was blocked. I know your brain wants to tell you to stop attacking when an attack is blocked but resist that urge.

Mistake number 3: Not hit confirming off an attack because the opponent switched guard. I see this commonly happen after a previous attack was crouch blocked then a low attack hits.

Mistake number 4: Continuing a blockstring to the end regardless of what happened during the string. If crouching medium punch hits, don't continue the blockstring, convert it into a combo.

Mistake number 5: Not hit confirming into an optimal combo. If crouching medium punch hits, you will convert it into a different combo than when heavy punch hits. Find the optimal combos for different hits of blockstrings. Don't just use one combo for every hit.

Create blockstrings and frame traps to fill multiple needs. I'll show you a blockstring that does a couple of things. It's a hit confirmable chain combo, frame trap, and sometimes a link combo. The blockstring is light kick, light kick, crouching medium kick.

Light kick can cancel into a special attack but the confirm window is very short, making it impossible to react to. Light kick chain combos into another light kick. If the first light kick hits, the second is guaranteed to hit too. I'm hit confirming by recognizing the first attack hits and canceling the second hit. By the time my brain recognizes the first attack hit, the second attack will have already come out.

The third attack of the string is crouching medium kick. It's a hit confirmable low attack. Light kick into crouching medium kick is a frame trap on block.

Light kick does not naturally combo into crouching medium kick but it does on counter hit because of the extra hitstun. If the second light kick counter hits, it starts a link combo.

If the first attack hits, I'll hit confirm by special canceling the second attack. It's impossible to react to the second attack so I'll continue the blockstring regardless if it hits or not. If the third attack hits, I'll special cancel it. The third attack may hit by itself or because the second attack counter hit and started a link combo.

That's all I have for hit confirming exercises because I want you to create your own exercises for your own character. Create blockstrings for your own needs. I can't consistently hit confirm off of 15 frame confirm windows so I add more chains to my blockstrings. It makes my combo lower damaging because of damage scaling but any hit confirm is better than no hit confirm.

Always remember:
THERE ARE LIMITATIONS TO HUMAN REACTIONS AND IT'S LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO HIT CONFIRM EVERYTHING

Practicing Combos

Here are a couple of hints to help you practice combos:
-Try to recognize if you're doing an attack too early or too late. If you input an attack and it doesn't come out, you're inputting it too early. If you input an attack and it comes out but doesn't combo, you're inputting it too late.
-If there's one particular spot you're struggling with, break the combo into smaller parts and practice the parts individuality. This allows you to practice the rest of the combo past the spot where you are stuck. Then when you feel you're proficient, put all the parts together and perform it as one combo.
-Humans are born with a sense of rhythm so treat combo execution like you're playing an instrument. Listen to your button presses and try to replicate it like a song. Sometimes I sing the hits of my combo and dance when nobody is around.
-On PC I've been using a free program called Eddienput to practice combos. With Eddienput you can script and record combos to play automatically. You can even share combo scripts with other people. I like scripting difficult combos into the program and using the sound cue option to hear the timing of the inputs. (Video has audio)

How To Use An Arcade Stick

Nowadays you don't need an arcade stick to play fighting games. Some of the biggest fighting game tournaments of all time have been won with non-arcade stick controllers. Play with the controller you're comfortable with.
Controlling the stick is about subtle movements and minimizing wasted energy. Don't form a tight grip around the stick. Pro players either leave their hands unclenched or hold their stick gently the way you hold a wine glass. Try to control the stick with just your fingers, wrist, and palm. Do not move your left elbow, that's a common mistake I see new players do.
Tilt the stick until the input registers then let go of the stick and let it return to neutral. After you hear a clicking sound you don't have to extend the stick any farther away from its center. Anything past the clicking sound is wasted movement.
Treat buttons the same way. Tap buttons just enough so that the input registers. Most arcade controller buttons nowadays need only a slight touch to register an input so you don't need to mash the buttons with a lot of force. If you are bending your right wrist too much, you might have to reposition your hand to where it's easier for you to reach the buttons.

Here are some videos of pro players' hands. (Videos have audio)

The End.