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Who is the best character for a beginner?

Thanks for all the responses guys. Super helpful thread. Looks like the most votes go to Ermac, Kung Lao, and Kano.
 

Lord Beef

Death Metal and Trance
I disagree with Sub-Zero. He may be a great charcter, but he is probobly one of the hardest characters to learn effectively.
Very true. Ill continue on the band wagon by saying KL, Kano, EasyMac, Smoke to a lesser extent.

-b_s- :headbang:
 

Robotic

Gentleman.
@Organelle

It depends on what your trying to do for her and what she wants. Is she a casual player trying to have fun online? Is she casual and just wants to play against you and your friends? Is she seriously into the game and wants to level up? Do you want her to level up and she has the capacity to do so? Does she want to be the ChocoBlanka of MK9 (female blanka player from japan, beasly!)?

That might help everyone out here and everyone can come up with a short list for you.
 
@Organelle

It depends on what your trying to do for her and what she wants. Is she a casual player trying to have fun online? Is she casual and just wants to play against you and your friends? Is she seriously into the game and wants to level up? Do you want her to level up and she has the capacity to do so? Does she want to be the ChocoBlanka of MK9 (female blanka player from japan, beasly!)?

That might help everyone out here and everyone can come up with a short list for you.
She is shooting to be a chocoblanka for sure. She knows it takes time but hopes to be competitive eventually.
 

GNG Iniquity

#bufftaquito #punchwalk #whiffycage
My girlfriend can barely play Little Big Planet, let alone a competitive fighting game. She gets pissed off at LBP, can't imagine how angry she'd get from any fighter lol :p
 
My girlfriend can barely play Little Big Planet, let alone a competitive fighting game. She gets pissed off at LBP, can't imagine how angry she'd get from any fighter lol :p
Lol mine started the same way, but after building my arcade cabinet she got hooked. She still gets pissed when she loses but she keeps coming back to the game which is all I can really ask for ;D haha
 

PANDEMlC

El Psy Congroo
Ermac or Subzero

Both slower characters with easy setups, punishes and combos.

Especially online, most people kill themselves. Just throw a clone out or use TK grab or slam whenever someone whiffs a move and you've got yourself a nice amount of damage.
 

STORMS

Co-founder
Founder
Premium Supporter
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!
Kung Lao.

Tell her to sign up.
 

Robotic

Gentleman.
She is shooting to be a chocoblanka for sure. She knows it takes time but hopes to be competitive eventually.
There we go! now we're talkin'! She wants to take this game fuckin seriously then! Where do you place her skill level right now? Does she know not to spam spears and teleports with Scorpion? Does she know not to teleuppercut all over the damn place unless it's in a combo with Sektor? Can she instant air anything?

Basically, is she above a beginner and, hopefully you take no offense by this, but if I play her online will I be surprised I just played a girl?
 

GNG Iniquity

#bufftaquito #punchwalk #whiffycage
Lol mine started the same way, but after building my arcade cabinet she got hooked. She still gets pissed when she loses but she keeps coming back to the game which is all I can really ask for ;D haha
That's good, you should record her playing, that way once she cools down she can review what she needs to work on.
 
My gf got second place in a small local MK tourney recently with Kitana, which surprised the hell out of me. But if she really wants to be competitive, I'm going to have to agree and say play an easy character like KL or Ermac. After she gets the hang of it more, she can gravitate towards a character that fits her playstyle more.
 

PimpUigi

Sex Kick
I would perceive beginner characters as the ones that need less skill to play as, and potentially reach their characters ceiling faster.
So, maybe...

Kano, Sektor, and (moving up the skill list) Mileena...then once she's ready for something more, give her Reptile, since IMHO Reptile is one of the easier really good characters.
 
There we go! now we're talkin'! She wants to take this game fuckin seriously then! Where do you place her skill level right now? Does she know not to spam spears and teleports with Scorpion? Does she know not to teleuppercut all over the damn place unless it's in a combo with Sektor? Can she instant air anything?

Basically, is she above a beginner and, hopefully you take no offense by this, but if I play her online will I be surprised I just played a girl?
She has no problem using specials, and she even has some decent juggles. She just can't do the tricky stuff like spam dash cancels, which is why kabal is looking less like an option for her.
 
Best beginner character has to be Raiden or Scorpion
Raiden is an easy character to get to mid-tier player status with. You need exceptionally good reads at higher levels as you have to make them respect superman and know how to do that without spamming it to your own death.

Sub-zero would probably be next, another character whose easy to get mid-tier with but has the potential to be great. Easy juggles are a plus, almost all of them are string xx freeze xx jump in xx string slide

Ermac is probably the easiest character in the game, period.

Stay away from the females all of them have technicality and a long road through frustration before you reach the plateau of being competant with them.

Kabal is a bit hard because you need dash cancels and tk fireballs to make him effective.

Personally i'd recommend sub, she'll get some easy wins to keep her self-esteem going and the potential for greatness is still in the character when she starts having problems and needs to up her game. Learning fighting games is a long process of annoyances and revelations that makes for a bumpy ride.
 

Robotic

Gentleman.
She has no problem using specials, and she even has some decent juggles. She just can't do the tricky stuff like spam dash cancels, which is why kabal is looking less like an option for her.
Based on what YOU know, would you say she is above jumping in with Scorpion right now?
 
Based on what YOU know, would you say she is above jumping in with Scorpion right now?
Oh definitely, she just needs a character who isn't insanely difficult to play at high tier. She is def a solid mid tier. She understands the moves, mechanics, spacing, and all that jazz.
 

Robotic

Gentleman.
Oh definitely, she just needs a character who isn't insanely difficult to play at high tier. She is def a solid mid tier. She understands the moves, mechanics, spacing, and all that jazz.
Based on everything you've said then, my vote is for Sektor, Noob or Lao.
 

PimpUigi

Sex Kick
I say Reptile based on what I've read now.
He has really easy juggles, and great mind games that are simple and easy to set up.
He also has one of the only useful X-rays.
 

Vilén

too smart to play MKX
I don't think Reptile has a dash cancel... He has dash spam for sure, though. Haha.

I personally think all the characters in this game are pretty easy to just pick up. But I come from a primarily Guilty Gear background, so my classifications on difficulty might seem a little skewed in comparison to those who are new to fighters.

I'd say in terms of required executional skills, Liu Kang is probably the easiest, just because of how his combos just flow out of your fingers. On the other end of the spectrum, Kabal probably has the highest required execution level, but it's not as bad as you'd think. It's mostly just pounding exceptionally awkward inputs into your muscle memory.

She should just find who she likes and play them, though.