[KOFXIII] Maxima

Reiki.Kito

KoF XIII Hyper Guide - Maxima
"KOF XIII Technical Reference" Chapter 11 - pt. 2: Maxima
DDTC Combo Video: Maxima - The Armored Trooper

Maxima is called "The Armored Trooper" for one reason. This cyborg deals as much as he can take. Maxima is at base-level is a physical based character, specifically a grappler, and operates at fairly close range. Maxima does not do long and complicated combos, but he excels at doing damage in his small and basic strings, averaging at about 25% life without spending any meter. Not only does he deal a great deal of damage, he has a heightened guard bar and full use of KOF XIII's "Guardpoint" Mechanic (Explained in a separate section) which most of Maxima's normals and specials have. Another avenue for victory is Maxima's Vapor Cannon and "Wiring" which is the act of bouncing an opponent off the wall. Maxima can do this using a counter hit vapor cannon, counter hitDM Double Vapor Cannon, or EX Vapor Cannon on hit. Although limited in moves, his versatility with meter is frightening.

Guardpoint
So, in order to fully understand Maxima's guardpoint mechanic, I made it a separate section. Guardpoint is caused when someone attacks a person with a guardpoint move as they do said move. The start-up of the move is slowed, but the person who is being attacked takes no damage until the animation is complete. One might think of "Super Armor" in other fighting games, but the key differences are the following:

• You do not take damage when you guardpoint a move
• You can be grabbed out of the guardpoint move
• Unless the properties allow, two different hits will interrupt guardpoint
• Guardpoint moves are first in, last out. First person to do a guard point move when both are trying to do one is the last in priority.
• Some guardpoint is not full body.

Now, for Maxima, he has 5 normal moveswith guardpoint. His C vapor cannon has guard point on start-up. EX Air Vapor Cannon has 360 degree guardpoint as well as his EX M19 Blitz Cannon (dp+BD). His regular DM has 360 degree guardpoint. Learning when and how to use guardpoint is a very important aspect. For example, only 1 normal move (d.C) can guardpoint low moves. Far D and close D can guardpoint mid area moves like fat fireballs. Far D can guardpoint multi-hit moves like Joe's Screw Upper or Ash's Thermidor as well as C Vapor Cannon. st.C (Far or Close) can stop jump-ins and can hit confirm into DMs. You can guardpoint attack grabs like Kyo's Kototsuki You (hcb+k) and any move that requires a hit. You can't guardpoint grabs like Leona's V Slasher DM or Vice's Splash.

In console, you will be able to cancel your normal specials while in guardpoint state into specials for an easy hit confirm. This makes learning the properties and uses of guardpoint even more important!

KOF XIII Console Changelog, Part 4: Maxima

Console changes:
-df.C has better recovery
*No recoil after air vapor canon
*Guard points on normal are now cancellable by specials
*Hit box on the follow up to EX Maxima Press improved. Can now hit from counter CD.
-No bounce back when EX Maxima Press is guarded. He’s now more vulnerable to punishes.

Basic combo starters:
Below are basic set-ups that I use in matches. Keep in mind that these are combo starters, how you'd start a combo. I only list combo starters because I feel you should decide what to follow up with on which situation. You can practically follow up anything though.

*NOTE* If your opponent is crouching, you will sometimes whiff df+C. Unless you're in the corner or you know they're not crouching, it might be best to try the [Any] combos.

[Non-crouching or Corner only] Hop. C, d.B, d.A, df+C =>
[Non-crouching or Corner only] Hop C, d.A, d.A, df+C =>
[Non-crouching or Corner only] Hop C, st.C (2 hits), df+C => *Note* Cancel df+C on first hit to do on anybody.

[Any] Hop C, d.A, df+C =>
[Any] Hop D, st.D, df+C => (BIG DAMAGE starter)
[Any] Hop C/D, d.A, d.A => (Only EX moves will work)
[Any] d.C, df+C => (Low guard point for the d.C and d.C also whiff cancels into specials and command normals like df+C)

Combo finishers or extenders:
=> qcb+A (Vapor Cannon)[Super cancellable]
=> qcb+AC (Ex Vapor Cannon) (Bounces off a the wall)[Super Cancellable]
=> qcf x2 A/C or AC (DM or EXDM)
=> hcb+B or BD (Maxima Press if really close and EX in any situation)(Combo extender)
=> hcb x2 AC (Neomax)

Here's a combo video from Persona featuring Maxima. You can apply a lot of the pieces from his combos into general strategies like juggling an aerial opponent in the corner with EX Air Vapor Cannon into constant df+C.

phoenixnl

Don't put DDTC combos in the opening post. People might start thinking that they're useful.

Reiki.Kito

It's not bad. It gives a range of combo potential for Maxima. However, as I wrote, Maxima can do a lot of damage with just 4-5 hits.

Drizzle Bubble

Reiki, you're the best Maxima player!
"SCRUB CANNON!" xD

I might play Maxima when I pick this game up.

Reiki.Kito

I dunno, some people don't like how I play Maxima, but I really enjoy him and it's important to use all types of strategies. I'm learning to play a Combo Maxima when I can get in. Definitely though, he's a great character and gets even better!

Drizzle Bubble

Oh, he got buffs! Kinda suprised.

Even more reason to play him.

col skirmish

short maxima bit taken from the ON show kof workshop. which i streamed awhile ago.

Reiki.Kito

Will put this on the front. Thank you!

col skirmish

no problem mate. the orochinagi crew are gonna be doing some more workshops (if the people can come together) i'll be sure to beg for more maxima stuff. and get them vids up asap.

Nybb

So, it looks like you can option-select specials into standing D -- i.e., if the opponent hits your armour, the special comes out, and otherwise, nothing happens since s.D is not normally cancellable. This probably isn't news to the experienced players, but for anybody else just starting out on KOF13 with the console version, it seems to be pretty useful. I usually buffer in 214AC since it allows for an easy confirm into good damage.

Reiki.Kito

214BD? I'm not sure what you mean? Are you saying you do qcb+BD and press a button or did you mean you did 63214 (hcb) + BD to do EX Maxima Press? If the latter, it's a really great move, but the damage on it was greatly reduced.

Nybb

Reiki.Kito, post: 6187002, member: 46145 wrote:

214BD? I'm not sure what you mean? Are you saying you do qcb+BD and press a button or did you mean you did 63214 (hcb) + BD to do EX Maxima Press? If the latter, it's a really great move, but the damage on it was greatly reduced.

I meant 214AC = qcb A+C, i.e. EX Vapour Cannon, for the wallbounce. Sorry for using anime notation =/

Reiki.Kito

Ah, lemme clarify. EX Vapor Cannon is 214AC = qcb+AC. Gotta use light and heavy punch. It's okay, no problemo.

Tizoc

FYI: Maxima's trials are the easiest to complete, so if you're trying to get the Trophy/Ach for completing any one character's trials, Maxima's the one to go for.

I think the counter hit combos in his wiki page need to be seperate from his other combos.

Tizoc

FYI: Maxima's trials are the easiest to complete, so if you're trying to get the Trophy/Ach for completing any one character's trials, Maxima's the one to go for.

I think the counter hit combos in his wiki page need to be seperate from his other combos.

Nybb

Reiki.Kito, post: 6187061, member: 46145 wrote:

Ah, lemme clarify. EX Vapor Cannon is 214AC = qcb+AC. Gotta use light and heavy punch. It's okay, no problemo.

Oh whoops, haha. My bad, edited my posts. Punches, kicks, whats the difference in the end?

Reiki.Kito

Added in basic combo starters on the main page. Lemme know if I missed anything.

You should take it with a grain of salt, but I figure this will be helpful for those trying to learn how to play Maxima and don't know the many different ways and situational things to start combos with him. Anyway, good luck everybody and hope this helps!

Tizoc

Some Maxima combos into NEOMAX I tried out in training mode, sorry if they were already known >_<
Jumping C-->St. C-->HD activate-->St. C-->NEOMAX does 597 damage

Jumping C-->St. C-->HD activate-->St. C-->HCB+B, QCB+PxxQCFx2+PxxNEOMAX does 794 damage
^The timing for the input is a bit tricky so practice inputting it so it comes out after Maxima hits the opponent

Zx-tole

kinda late, but I think persona's vid should go in here too.

Reiki.Kito

Added, thank you for the post!

Zx-tole

yeah he used HD activations in ways that I never even thought about haha.

YogaHarmony

Hello all, my brother and I just picked up this game last week. Granted I suck at fighting games anyways, I feel especially awkward using Maxima, should I be jumping in and confirming a BnB (which I don't know what to do anyways haha) or should I be poking with normals that have guardpoints hoping to cancel to vapor cannon C for a wall bounce?

And how and when should I be using his B and D versions of his command grab?

What do I do when cornered?

Reiki.Kito

Okay, lemme try to answer that!

So for your first question: Both! You should always jump with some intention of getting a full combo. My method of choice is to get a cross up with full jump C (Body splash) and do a BnB. You don't have to do that as j.D and j.B cross up as well so it's easier to hit. You can also play more defensively. You need to be more prepared for the opponent though and that might take some practice. However, you can easily get some damage in with some meter if you learn when to guardpoint and with what. As well, you should learn what to cancel with in certain situations. When you use d.C as a guardpoint, keep in mind that d.C is ALREADY special cancellable. You can let the whole animation go through and hit someone and free cancel it into a special or even df+C. It's a nice little option select for cross ups. You hold d.B and hit C. If you don't GP them and they cross you up, you can press C again and it'll hit them.

For neutral game though, you really want to abuse his j.CD. Remember, on block, your jump CD is special cancellable. So if you jump at someone, they block your jump CD, you can cancel it into qcb+A/C/AC, whatever suits your fancy. This helps a bunch because you gain meter, stay safe, and maintain pressure because they're in blockstun.

For jump-ins, you are probably gonna want to use meter unless they did a jump CD. If they do a jump CD, chances are they did it early and you can do slow moves like his D Maxima press (Command grab) to get them. You can GP early jump-ins and use fast moves like EX Vapor Cannon or EX Maxima press to get some damage. If you're GPing fireballs, cancel it into B command grab when you're far away or A vapor cannon if they run after their fireball.

You use B command grab as a 1-frame punishing move. Unless they're positive, too far away, or jump, you can usually react with this and grab someone. You use the D command grab to trick people. Both of these are cancellable after normals, but D moves you forward. You can setup really silly tricks like do a st.C and cancel RIGHT before they get hit with the second hit of close st.C, you'll do the command grab. Any where in your string where they're not expecting it, you can throw this out and they'll run out of blockstun before you hit them. You can tick throw with d.A, d.B and run up to command grab them. This is where people get scared of your Maxima's command grabs. Every time you grab them, you pin them to the wall. You can safe jump (Hop up and down) to get them to do a DP in response or you can not do the follow up and they fall to the ground. If that happens, you can set yourself up to jump OVER them and do a cross up, fake the cross up, do nothing, etc. You basically have total control over what happens next in that situation.

So, you want to get that grab off, a lot. It's super cancellable too so you can get some easy damage using meter. It's ONLY super cancellable so don't go wily nilly with EX moves, that won't work.

When you're cornered, try not to get predictable. If you think someone is gonna stay in your zone and keep poking you on make up, grab him. If you think he's trying to bait a grab with some sort of jump diversion, throw out df+C and cancel it into A vapor cannon. Keep wary of what they want to do or have done in the past. It helps a lot to pay attention to the player as much as the opponent's characters/capabilities.

For the most part, st.A and st.C will be your best friends in the corner. Use st.A to poke people out of the air or gain ground. If they're standing, and it hits, be ready to smack them with EX Vapor Cannon to gain back momentum. If they keep jumping at you, use st.C. Don't wake up with normals. React. If they don't even bother doing anything, you should grab. Maxima's normals are slow and he barely has any guardpoint moves that cover lows. Good players will meaty lows to get in combos if they can help it. Don't give'em that option, stay vigilant. Your whole goal in the corner is to get out an inch, you can bumrush the rest.

YogaHarmony

Thanks so much! I'll be re-reading this post for a while, I'm so terrible at this game but I can't put it down. I noticed a lot of your advice advocated using meter, so should I be putting maxima 2nd? If it helps I'm also trying to learn Clark.

Reiki.Kito

Yeah, you should probably put Maxima second or last until you feel more confident with him. You can play him first, but then it becomes more aggro than defensive. He won't deal much damage without getting a lucky jump-in or capitalizing on mistakes. Most of the time, if Maxima is first, he'll use his long range normals to poke or throw out moves to keep you in blockstun/bully you to the corner. Also, first character Maximas tend to use the command grabs a lot more to get in for damage.