Where to start?

Jayrad

I've been watching some videos of UMVC3 on youtube, and I finally decided that I want to get into it. So I go buy the game, turn on the game, and suddenly realize that I have no clue where to even start. I spent forever just trying to figure out who to pick and I'm feeling really overwhelmed by all the characters, assist types, combos, etc. When I got into mission mode I can barely get passed mission 3 with any character. I have some experience with fighters. I've played mostly 3D fighters like Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Sould Calibur etc. I mainly just picked one character to master and I could at least hold my own.

So basically I would like some advice on a team to use that would at least help me get comfortable with the game. I dont really care who the characters are or the style of the team. I just need a basic team that is somewhat easy to use and can give a me good place to start. Any other advice you could give me would be great.

Thanks,
Jayrad

Momochuu

First thing you should do is pick a somewhat easily accessable character. Like don't pick Dante or Viper as your first character or something. After that, pick two characters that compliment the character. Learn the normals of every character on your team in and out. See if they're low or high, check the frame advantage of them to see which ones are safe for blockstrings. I see way too many new players do their full magic series on block and get blown up for it. This team you picked to learn the game doesn't have to be your main team. After you get some experience with the game I'd recommend looking around the roster and seeing what character suits you the most. From there, go to the respective character board and see what kind of team setup is ideal for your character. Everything past that is just experience playing people and excessive amounts of training mode.

Training mode is your best friend in this game. Use it. Don't be like the fraud Vergil players still DHCing into Dimension Slash or whatever that hyper is.

AceKillah

Depends on who you are playing/want to play.

hybreezy

Go to mission mode, attempt the missions of characters you want to play (and even the ones you don't really) regardless of tier and/or execution barrier. If it seems too much keep working your way down the imaginary list you've decided on and you'll eventually find something. If you feel you want to play an execution heavy character and can't cut it that can always be a goal to work towards. The most important thing is play who you want first, if you can't make it work then you should consider looking elsewhere. Once you've decided that hit up the forums and training mode, get down their movement, BnBs, team synergy, and the rest is mostly the grind to level up.

Khubbo

personally i think amaratsu/vergil/ryu & spencer is a nice character to start off with. for me i started off with characters i liked chris/spencer/shehulk but i replaced spencer with vergil in ult.mvc3 as i liked him in dmc.

I always mess around in training mode. i usually find new combos or something extra you can do with a hyper (chris' medium grenade and grenade launcher hyper does 400~500k damage alone) but getting people into that isint possible unless they mess up.

NJRiptide

Check out the hyper guide. A good place to start in my opinion is just the basics. First thing to do is to learn what the magic series is and how / why it works. When I started, that's the one thing that really opened up the game for me. It was like things started to click. Learn that and how to link it to a super to do real damage. That's a great place to start.

Also something I wish I knew, hitting L M H S at the same time (which on a pad is right trigger and X) activates X-factor. If you've watched videos you know what x factor is. It can be used to extend combos or make unsafe moves safe or restore health. If you learn some basics like that and just keep playing, especially against other people you'll start to pick up more of it. Eventually you'll start learning how to use assists to extend combos and flashier combos that build a meter to dhc right off the bat to kill a point.

But mainly just keep playing and learning one thing at a time. You can't expect to pick it up and just be good. It takes time. And this is fr one noob to another.

Jayrad

Wow thanks a lot for all the feedback. I went into mission mode and it seems like I'm decent with Super Skrull and Ghost Rider. Are these characters a good starting point?

SupaRubz

Personally I would just pick characters I like, it keeps you more motivated when winning with your favourite characters but if thats not the case, I would suggest Hulk, Ryu and Deadpool. Pretty simple characters and easy to use IMO

KiinkeyTwinkie

Alright. First things first.
1) Pick a handful of characters you like.
2) Go on the forums or youtube and research on them.
3) Pick 3 that you think are the best and you would like to see youself using.
(Important: Look up what characters have synergy with each other)
4) Go into training mode and practice the basic ABC combo. Almost every character has it:
, , , (after the push your stick up to jump after your opponent) then do the air series:
j:m:, j:m:, j:h:, j:s: and land.
- This is the basic combo for begginers and that almost every character has.
In the end it should look like this:
, , , , jump, j:m:, j:m:, j:h:, j:s: and land.

- After you have that down, you can start by practicing individual character combos.
Go on the character forums and look up the combo thread. Practice simple B&Bs, dont go for advanced stuff because you will get frustrated.

- After you have your B&Bs down, try using your assists to extend them for more damage. Look up videos or ask in the character team builder thread. Usually people will help you and the assist picking and might explain how to use them.

If you truly want to get good at the game, get used to the training mode. This is your best friend.
Practice, practice and more practice.

If you have any question please feel free to PM me on the forums.
If you have an Xbox go ahead and add me: Kiinkey Twinkie
More than happy to help out and answer any questions you might have :)

Jayrad

This is a lot of really helpful info. I've been playing around with the Hulk, Ryu and Deadpool team. I like all three characters and they're combos aren't too difficult. I've been going into training mode, turning the CPU to Normal or Easy, and just trying to spam the magic combo. It works sometimes while other times it seems like I cant get close enough to land the first L, and then when I try to move in with a wave dash or jump they hit me before I can recover. How do I fix this? Also I'll definitely be adding you on XBL my gamertag is l Jayrad l.

Thanks again!

El_Maiz

You don't have to start the combo with . For example, with Hulk you want to be using M or H.

Jayrad

Just a quick update on my progress so far. I'm still practicing in training mode I've also jumped into online play (probably too early for that, but meh). I lose a lot but I think I am getting through playing online. I've used my team of Hulk/Ryu/Deadpool, but I've also played around with some other teams. I tried Tron/Hagaar/Raccoon and Hagaar/Akuma/Ryu. I still feel like I'm having trouble landing the magic combo especially under pressure. I feel like I'm never sure when or if the first strike will hit. I'm also having trouble getting close enough to even touch them. I'm at the point where I'm fearful of venturing out into new combos because I can barely hit the most basic ones. What should I do?

Rokmode

I personally wouldn't do mission mode for a while. Most of the missions are useless combos imo. For example, when in god's name will I ever need to combo into air disruptor then xfactor air dash o_O. If you're okay with just doing those combos once then not practicing them again then go for it though.

Thirtyfour

Pick the 3 characters you like and make them work.

That's how real winners do things.

SupaRubz

Jayrad, post: 6461941, member: 62621 wrote:

This is a lot of really helpful info. I've been playing around with the Hulk, Ryu and Deadpool team. I like all three characters and they're combos aren't too difficult.

Told you, a simple and effective team!!

Jayrad

Today was dreadful for me on this game. I'm getting really frustrated and I'm not sure what to do. I go into training all the time and practice my combos/general combat skills, but I am still unable to execute such simple combos as the magic combo in real matches. (I am even getting owned by the CPU on Normal difficulty). I'm having trouble first of all even getting in close enough to even touch the opponent(especially with Hulk). I've tried everything; I've tried dashing and jumping both while using Ryu's Tornado kick assist, but to no avail. It seems like I'm either not close enough, I whiff, or I get hit before I'm able to react. This occurs with all 3 of my characters Because of this I find my self often button mashing and praying that the first strike connects, but it rarely does. Then I get punished and then its all downhill from there. I guess I'm just kind of ranting/venting right now lol, but any other pointers or ideas would be great.

poryon2

Remember you don't have to start with L in a combo, and if you didn't know Hulk's H has a ton of super armor on it allowing you to punish opponent for pushing buttons, and his M has some armor on it too. If you can't quite land combos close up try zoning a bit. With Ryu just throw out some hadokens to get the opponent frustrated, and then try and attack them. Or you can run away until they call an assist or press a button and do Ryu's Shinku Hadoken super to punish them and maybe even the assist. With Deadpool focus mostly on hit n run style tactics. Zone with his guns (Air M guns is the best), throw out a super to catch assist, and try and hit them with his normals (his cr. H is a slide), but watch out because his S is very unsafe.

Jayrad

Still pretty awful at this game. I practice and practice but when I get into a real game I still struggle to even hit my opponent. Perhaps I'll try to record some gameplay so I can get some critiques. Also if you want to add me on xbl my gt is l Jayrad l

L33tKinGzzz

Just stick with it. Don't give up.

When I started play SF4 I was terrible. I couldn't throw a fireball most of the time. I would continually lose to Easy CPU characters. Got my ass handed to me by friends for months, but I kept at it and eventually started understanding the fundamentals.

Movement is the biggest part in Marvel in my opinion. Once you learn how to move around the screen easily and can keep up with everything that's going on is when the game becomes a whole lot easier. And it's not bad to just sit in training for hours and just practice your execution, I still have to practice doing srk motions on player two side in Marvel.

WalkTheAgony

Eh..I would say you need to watch alot of Stream/Combo Video and get use to the basic Command. like the :qcf:or the

K_For_Kimura

This game has a pretty steep learning curve tbh, especially if you go online and get a bunch of people from Vanilla that know BnB's up the ass.
But I've only played MvC since this one came out and I can win some matches online it just takes time.

Bonuspokus

Jayrad, post: 6474507, member: 62621 wrote:

Today was dreadful for me on this game. I'm getting really frustrated and I'm not sure what to do. I go into training all the time and practice my combos/general combat skills, but I am still unable to execute such simple combos as the magic combo in real matches. (I am even getting owned by the CPU on Normal difficulty). I'm having trouble first of all even getting in close enough to even touch the opponent(especially with Hulk). I've tried everything; I've tried dashing and jumping both while using Ryu's Tornado kick assist, but to no avail. It seems like I'm either not close enough, I whiff, or I get hit before I'm able to react. This occurs with all 3 of my characters Because of this I find my self often button mashing and praying that the first strike connects, but it rarely does. Then I get punished and then its all downhill from there. I guess I'm just kind of ranting/venting right now lol, but any other pointers or ideas would be great.

Ok, I believe I know what the main problem is. If you want to win against the CPU first thing you have to do is block. You can't do mix-ups against the computer and most of the time it will counter you with a move (happens a lot in Very Hard).

You need to block, forget about rushing down for a while, just practice a good simple combo, like a basic L,M,H,S jump M,M,H,S. When the computer tries to hit you it will usually go for the magic series, no mix ups, so you can just block it and counter when the enemy ends the attack and becomes unsafe.

Some things you need to know
Dragon punches have invincible start-up, if you jump against somebody and expect to land a hit, they will throw a dragon punch and pretty much beat everything you attempt to land from the air.
Play lame. use Ryu for throwing hadoukens all the time, when the enemy tries to jump against you, go for Shoryuken. That will improve your execution for q. circle and dragon punch motions, as well as improving your discipline and have a more stable gameplay against the computer. If the CPU gets close enough, learn that you are unsafe and start blocking. Also with Ryu, wait until the enemy throws something at you and punish them with a hyper combo.
My friends are pretty new to fighting games and I have seen a common mistake that you may have as well, don't mash buttons while doing a q.c motion. Press the button ONLY AFTER FINISHING THE MOTION, if you press the button before, the special move won't come out.
Abuse the "H" button with Hulk, don't start with "L".

You are trying to rush down with Hulk which is a slow character while backing him up by Ryu's assist which doesn't cover a long distance. I strongly suggest to include Sentinel in your team with the drones assist. It covers a long distance for a good amount of time, this will help your characters to get close enough as well as locking the enemy down giving you some time and space to breathe. Also, Sentinel can play REALLY cheap, so that's something good if you are starting out.

Rokmode suggested to stop doing missions, that is some awful advice. You should be doing at least 6 missions for your characters, maybe 7 depending on its difficulty. You will learn the basics this way. Sure some missions are useless, but the point for doing missions is to improve your execution, not to actually use those combos.

However, you should drop online matches for a while. You should learn your game before jumping to online battles, if you can't beat the CPU in normal difficulty, then online will become frustrating as hell.

Jayrad

Wow thanks so much for all the info. I've actually thought about maybe going a week or maybe even a month of no Online matches, so I can focus on the basics like you said. Execution is probably one of my weak points right now. I can do most combos all day as long as I have the dummy set to stand, but it seems like once I turn on the CPU I lose everything I've just practiced. Also I'm having a lot of trouble with the shoryuken motion, especially on the P2 side. I practice it over and over but I still cant seem to do it consistently. I can do it slow or when not under pressure, but it seems like a lot of the BnBs for my characters require this motion at some point. I think I'm just lookin too far ahead. I watch people on streams, and even in lobby matches dominate and use these flashy combos. I always wonder "why can't I do any of that." I need to realize that having this game for 2 weeks (while a lame excuse) isn't long enough to master it. Thanks for the info and I'll definitely try and keep this thread up to date on my progress. I'll possibly be uploading some gameplays as well so people can give me some critiques.

Timemuffin

This is a really useful thread, even if it's specific to Jayrad. Anyway I've decided to add you and hope to get a couple matches with you. Also, looking forward to any videos you wish to post.

Jayrad

Sorry to revive this but just thought I'd share my progress. I have made significant progress and I am loving Marvel and the FGC more and more everday. I've gotten plugged into my local scene, been playing in a few tournaments, started running sessions here at the college I go to, and have been leveling up like crazy ever since. I'm even considering going to Final Round this year! I still struggle with some aspects but for the most part I can hold my own. Just want to say to anyone who is having trouble learning the game, or is feeling discouraged; GET WITH YOUR SCENE! Cannot stress how much this has helped and will help you. Thanks to everyone who has helped out on here as well.

trick82

Cool story bro (serious) 8-)