Need Help Dealing with Pressure

[MegaMegaMike]

I'm a new player to DOA (and this board), and I'm having a good time. I play many other fighting games, and while I'm not a great player, I understand the mechanics of them and at least understand why I win or lose. I'm having a bit of a hard time in DOA though.

A buddy of mine introduced me to the game, and I've been learning it since. I understand how to use the triangle system and how the game works overall. He plays Kasumi mostly, and is a rushdown type of player. I can generally win the neutral game, but when he sneaks through, I can't handle the pressure. Any tips?

I know I need to stagger escape more, but I have lots of trouble punishing moves when they're blocked. I understand it's largely also because I don't know Kasumi's moves well enough to know where strings end or something, but it's still a little tough to understand.

Any advice would be appreciated! I play Mila by the way.

 

[KasumiLover]

I'm a new player to DOA (and this board), and I'm having a good time. I play many other fighting games, and while I'm not a great player, I understand the mechanics of them and at least understand why I win or lose. I'm having a bit of a hard time in DOA though.

A buddy of mine introduced me to the game, and I've been learning it since. I understand how to use the triangle system and how the game works overall. He plays Kasumi mostly, and is a rushdown type of player. I can generally win the neutral game, but when he sneaks through, I can't handle the pressure. Any tips?

I know I need to stagger escape more, but I have lots of trouble punishing moves when they're blocked. I understand it's largely also because I don't know Kasumi's moves well enough to know where strings end or something, but it's still a little tough to understand.

Any advice would be appreciated! I play Mila by the way.

You mean punishing Kasumi when you block her attacks? The answer is simple: Throw punishment. Kasumi isn't really the type of character you can punish with strikes, if she finished her string or you know your friend will free cancel a string, you punish them with a throw.

Even if your friend is delaying a string, its best to wait Kasumi out since ultimately unless you try to hit her while she's delaying, she's at a disadvantage unless you try to hit her during the delay. Kasumi is definitely not a pressure character because while fast and deadly at fishing for a counter hit, she doesn't have the frame safety to back it up, and her GBs are pretty linear and unreliable. As long as you're waiting your friend out and knowing what you can punish via a throw(All throws are guaranteed unless its a 5T neutral throw or the follow ups to most combo throws) and knowing not to strike during a delayed string unless you know your strike is fast enough to stop it you should be fine since Kasumi is actually very punishable and unsafe xD

Ayane is also a good character to use against her since her range and zoning is far better than Kasumi so if you don't want to deal with Kasumi at CQC you can zone her out and focus on keep out with Ayane's ranged attacks. Mila has OH(offensive holds) which you can use to negate pressure since they can stop attacks, like 66T iirc is an OH, and these are generally annoying for Kasumi players to deal with, but be careful since OHs still count as holds so if your friend sees it coming they can throw you to shut it down.

 

[MegaMegaMike]

You mean punishing Kasumi when you block her attacks? The answer is simple: Throw punishment. Kasumi isn't really the type of character you can punish with strikes, if she finished her string or you know your friend will free cancel a string, you punish them with a throw.

Even if your friend is delaying a string, its best to wait Kasumi out since ultimately unless you try to hit her while she's delaying, she's at a disadvantage unless you try to hit her during the delay. Kasumi is definitely not a pressure character because while fast and deadly at fishing for a counter hit, she doesn't have the frame safety to back it up, and her GBs are pretty linear and unreliable. As long as you're waiting your friend out and knowing what you can punish via a throw(All throws are guaranteed unless its a 5T neutral throw or the follow ups to most combo throws) and knowing not to strike during a delayed string unless you know your strike is fast enough to stop it you should be fine since Kasumi is actually very punishable and unsafe xD

Ayane is also a good character to use against her since her range and zoning is far better than Kasumi so if you don't want to deal with Kasumi at CQC you can zone her out and focus on keep out with Ayane's ranged attacks. Mila has OH(offensive holds) which you can use to negate pressure since they can stop attacks, like 66T iirc is an OH, and these are generally annoying for Kasumi players to deal with, but be careful since OHs still count as holds so if your friend sees it coming they can throw you to shut it down.

Nice advice thanks! I know that throws are the primary punish tools in DOA, but I was always either slow to do them or didn't know when the string would end. Most times I try I just get punched out of it, but I realize that it's my unfamiliarity with her moves.

 

[rximmortal]

Nice advice thanks! I know that throws are the primary punish tools in DOA, but I was always either slow to do them or didn't know when the string would end. Most times I try I just get punched out of it, but I realize that it's my unfamiliarity with her moves.

Add me in discord.
rximmortal #2400

I will help u there as much as i can

 

[KasumiLover]

Nice advice thanks! I know that throws are the primary punish tools in DOA, but I was always either slow to do them or didn't know when the string would end. Most times I try I just get punched out of it, but I realize that it's my unfamiliarity with her moves.

Yeah you just have to be quick with the throw punishment is all, if you're unfamiliar with the strings and how unsafe they are you can use move details in training mode to see her frames, throw punishment is the big thing to punish but you can also sometimes be jabbed out of a throw if you use a throw that's say 12 frames to punish a string on block that's like -9, in which case you're overpunishing xD Once you know her strings and such it becomes much easier to punish her

 

[MegaMegaMike]

Yeah you just have to be quick with the throw punishment is all, if you're unfamiliar with the strings and how unsafe they are you can use move details in training mode to see her frames, throw punishment is the big thing to punish but you can also sometimes be jabbed out of a throw if you use a throw that's say 12 frames to punish a string on block that's like -9, in which case you're overpunishing xD Once you know her strings and such it becomes much easier to punish her

I'm mostly sticking to just 6T for Mila, as it's quick and is the standing reset one. But punishing things is harder for me in this game compared to others I've played because it seems I need to do it way faster than I think.

 

[DestructionBomb]

I'm mostly sticking to just 6T for Mila, as it's quick and is the standing reset one. But punishing things is harder for me in this game compared to others I've played because it seems I need to do it way faster than I think.

It's likely from blockstun situations. There are moves that are like -15 but with a 17 or 16 recovery speed (Rig, Pai etc.)

Like someone mentioned previously, getting the habit of knowing when to throw punish as well as the memory of when to throw the moment it lands on block. You are even allowed to tap the throw button consecutively during that situation and your throw will still register because DOA's inputs are pretty lenient. For recovery and blockstun, here's an example.

17 (2) 24 = -12 on block
17 (2) 16 = -12 on block

The one with the 24 recovery has a bigger window time to throw punish compared to 16 when it lands on block. As well as to mention that if you are playing on the net, the chances to throw punish moves are reduced and have to be even more spot on. There are moves in the game that are like -10 but the recovery is like 15, so it's usually not worth the risk going for the throw because you'll likely get hit in a HiC state or someone will likely fuzzy under your throw option despite being unsafe unfortunately (this is something where you'd have to play the game for a while and remembering each character attack details regarding frame data). Throw punishment is one of the most important things to do in DOA because it's guaranteed damage and resets opponent's momentum, but you also have to absorb the note that not every move has to get thrown. You'll likely get to the point where if you see a move tossed on you over a million times, you'll adapt and throw it on reaction every single time it lands on block. Everything starts off from somewhere. At the moment, it's still unknown to tell if you are losing out on throw punishment because of recovery off block stun, lag, or still not familiar on a particular attack where you feel comfortable on throwing due to not absorbing the feedback all the way yet. Player dependent here so it could vary.

 

[MegaMegaMike]

It's likely from blockstun situations. There are moves that are like -15 but with a 17 or 16 recovery speed (Rig, Pai etc.)

Like someone mentioned previously, getting the habit of knowing when to throw punish as well as the memory of when to throw the moment it lands on block. You are even allowed to tap the throw button consecutively during that situation and your throw will still register because DOA's inputs are pretty lenient. For recovery and blockstun, here's an example.

17 (2) 24 = -12 on block
17 (2) 16 = -12 on block

The one with the 24 recovery has a bigger window time to throw punish compared to 16 when it lands on block. As well as to mention that if you are playing on the net, the chances to throw punish moves are reduced and have to be even more spot on. There are moves in the game that are like -10 but the recovery is like 15, so it's usually not worth the risk going for the throw because you'll likely get hit in a HiC state or someone will likely fuzzy under your throw option despite being unsafe unfortunately. Throw punishment is one of the most important things to do in DOA because it's guaranteed damage and resets opponent's momentum, but you also have to absorb the note that not every move has to get thrown. You'll likely get to the point where if you see a move tossed on you over a million times, you'll adapt and throw it on reaction every single time it lands on block. Everything starts off from somewhere. At the moment, it's still unknown to tell if you are losing out on throw punishment because of recovery off block stun, lag, or still not familiar on a particular attack where you feel comfortable on throwing due to not absorbing the feedback all the way yet. Player dependent here so it could vary.

That's interesting. Yeah, I'm sure there's some lag, but I'm very new and still learning. I don't try to throw every time I block something, but I lose my patience a bit when it feels like I'm trapped in pressure for a really long time. My buddy is good at getting under my skin and causing me to slip up, but I do that to randoms online too, so I guess I need to work on patience in general

 

[AlexXsWx]

I once wrote a post about safety, I think it's good way to start punishing unsafe moves without memorizing safety of each individual move:
http://www.freestepdodge.com/threads/common-sense-behind-safety.6677/
Basically if you see several signs of unsafe move, you should try to throw-punish it. Sometimes it won't work, and then you can memorize that move as safe.