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Who is the best character for a beginner?

My lady is potentially hunting a new character since many folks told her kabal is rather hard to learn well.

A lot of folks asked me why I recommended such a hard character to her.

So I was hoping you guys could give me your opinions on which characters are the most accessible for someone newer to fighting games so I can pass the info down to her.

Thanks!
 

Eight

I am the salt
I always perceived Ermac as a trickier character. Some of his combo strings are pretty rough, and with his nerfed damage, it seems like a noobie would struggle with him.
His BnB is pretty simple. I don't know, what about instead of going for a so-called easy character, maybe just find one she really likes and encourage her to learn that one no matter how tough?

Thats how I started.
 
kano is really easy to play with as a zoner or maybe raiden you can use a really easy bnb for decent damage when you start with such as
b3,1,2 dash 3,3,4 superman for 28% plus his tele\fly moves are flashy and easy for new players.
 
His BnB is pretty simple. I don't know, what about instead of going for a so-called easy character, maybe just find one she really likes and encourage her to learn that one no matter how tough?

Thats how I started.
That is what I did, and she ended up liking kabal. Problem is, lots of folks keep telling me kabal is very difficult to play correctly, so I wouldn't mind her having an alt that can help her get solid game mechanics down.
 

zaf

professor
ermac definately ermac.

his strings, moves etc are not hard at all
if she is someone who rather out think and trick your opponent, then definately pick him. He is more of a mind game character then a technical character like kabal.

Im not saying kabal doesnt have mind games, or that ermac can not be technical, but im just stating that if you can fuck with your opponents head, ermac is great for that
 

Eight

I am the salt
That is what I did, and she ended up liking kabal. Problem is, lots of folks keep telling me kabal is very difficult to play correctly, so I wouldn't mind her having an alt that can help her get solid game mechanics down.
Oh well that makes more sense lol.

How about Smoke? He isn't particularly complicated. Or like that guy above suggested, Raiden perhaps.
 

chrisisnice

I'm a lover, not a fighter
I think Liu is probably the best by a mile... he has fairly standard, simple moves and is user friendly. Even Boon said that the point of him from the start was to give people an easy entrance to the game. I think he is by far the easiest to learn .

If she wants a girl character, Kitana has easy specials which are fairly logical and is probably one of the more forgiving characters when you are learning.

I like Ermac, but I think he is a little complex if you are new to the game JMHO
 
kung lao is the best character for biginners and to learn the basics of mk9 his max combos are mid hard and he has a few other combos that do less damage that are easy to do
 

salvificblood

Worst Sub-Zero Ever
Ermac because he has a playstyle built around simple punishes.

If she wants a girl character, Kitana has easy specials which are fairly logical and is probably one of the more forgiving characters when you are learning.
Kitana is the opposite of easy to learn. If you can't IAF with her, you probably shouldn't be playing her. She's a very complex character with difficult combos.
 

McNasty

Moist.
ermac, sub zero, kung lao are all pretty easy as far as set ups and combos

sindel and mileena are probably the easiest female characters to use.

edit: forgot NOOB is pretty easy too he doesnt have long combos
 

evansgambit

Guardian of Outworld
Best characters for beginner, should have a simple game plan. Easy execution combos, easy timing, minimal juggles, with as less dash cancells as possible. Less use of mixups as this I perceive as "too advanced"

This character should also have a containment move, as its a good opportunity for beginners to land combos.

Not saying you'll win with this kind of character, but its a start to learn the basics.

I vote scorpion.
 

hardwire

Noob
as much as i hate to admit it sence i use him


smoke


very ez combo strings very well rounded defence and great pressure


he is not lag friendly thow
 
I'd have to say Liu Kang and Noob. Both have pretty straightforward gameplans and are also pretty easy to use after a little practice.
 
Ermac and Kung Lao are the most noob friendly characters. Ermac is great for learning spacing and set-ups, Kl is great for learning combos and rushdown. I have a couple friends who never really played fighting games before and I taught them to use those characters in less than a day. After she gets the fundamentals, tell her to pick a character who's style fits her best.

FYI, I do not recommend Sub Zero. His baiting tactics and slow pace are too unique, so it may cause new players to start habits that would be bad for other characters.
 

salvificblood

Worst Sub-Zero Ever
Ermac and Kung Lao are the most noob friendly characters. Ermac is great for learning spacing and set-ups, Kl is great for learning combos and rushdown. I have a couple friends who never really played fighting games before and I taught them to use those characters in less than a day. After she gets the fundamentals, tell her to pick a character who's style fits her best.

FYI, I do not recommend Sub Zero. His baiting tactics and slow pace are too unique, so it may cause new players to start habits that would be bad for other characters.
I agree on Sub-Zero. Sub is a character you pick up once you've played around with other characters and realise Sub's style suits you. I see few people online playing Sub-Zero anywhere near correctly. It's a bit like Scorpion, lots of people play him online but they're terrible with him. They just teleport or try to spear. Scorpion is too high risk for new players and Sub-Zero requires work even just to be played at mid level.

Ermac and Kung lao, for sure. What doesn't Kung Lao have?
 

VIDA

Focused Grace and Intensity
I vote Raiden for sure. His 3,3,4 into electric fly for 23% can be learned literally in less than 2 mins. You simply dial the 334 and then you have AGES for Raiden to tell his opponnt to "pick out a dog" (what he sounds like hes saying during his e fly lol). His teleport is immense and simple, not alot of risks for beginners twicthing for TP's. Even f4~E. Fly is great against learning how to beat chars who block low alot.
 

Subby

Frost Warrior
ermac, sub zero, kung lao are all pretty easy as far as set ups and combos

sindel and mileena are probably the easiest female characters to use.

edit: forgot NOOB is pretty easy too he doesnt have long combos
I disagree with Sub-Zero. He may be a great charcter, but he is probobly one of the hardest characters to learn effectively.
 

GNG Iniquity

#bufftaquito #punchwalk #whiffycage
Kano, Ermac, Smoke, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Noob, Raiden and Johnny Cage.

I don't know why people are listing Scorpion and Sub-Zero. It's true that mashing 111 into leg sweep, teleporting, throwing out spears and using hellfire with Scorpion is easy; most people play him terribly wrong. Sub-Zero isn't easy either, sure, throwing down clones and doing the 212 slide string is easy, but that doesn't work with high level play. You can't just stand in the corner with clone.