Kzaoo
Active member
Combos are nothing new to the MK series as we all know. The 'dial a combo feature' has existed since MK3 and it clearly hasn't changed in MKX. What I'm taking about does not refer to that, or even the newly implemented run mechanic, which will undoubtedly change the whole combo system.
What I want to talk about is the damage output and the whole metagame surrounding that.
What brought this to my attention was the inclusion of double freezes with Sub Zero. What made this stand out to me was, obviously, the combo potential. In the corner, Sub Zero would be able to put out so much damage with double freezes if the damage scaling system was the same as MK9's.
NRS are not so stupid.
The most obvious conclusion that I can come to is that NRS have implemented a completely new scaling system which reduces the damage for certain combos, but have increased the combo potential for each character (or maybe this just applies to Sub Zero and Scorpion), meaning that they can get more hits in, making the average damage output similar to that of MK9's. The reason I think that the combo potential has increased is the inclusion of double freezes and double spears in combos with Scorpion.
@1 minute 4 seconds in
As you can see here, a six hit combo with Sub-Zero did 21% damage. This does marginally less damage to a combo with a similar amount of hits in it in MK9. In MK9, a five hit combo with Sub Zero (Ji2, 212xxIceSlide) does 26% damage.
I know that they are two separate games, and two separate combos so the damage is bound to be different so it may not apply, but let's look at another character.
@51 seconds in
As you can see, a 5 hit combo here does 26% damage, so surely my point is proven wrong? Not quite. If you notice, see uses one bar of meter to get this damage. Combos that use meter are bound to do more damage. Let's take the same combo I did with Sub Zero and put an EX slide on the end. It does 28% damage.
So, I'll elaborate. What I think is that the developers have increased the amount of hits you can do in a combo due to double freeze, but as you know, when you have more hits in a combo, the scaling increases and each hit does less and less damage as you go on. What I think is that MKX has more severe scaling than in MK9, but the average amounts of hits in a combo will increase, leading the damage output to be similar to that of MK9's.
What difference does that make?
A bigger difference than you may think.
The difference lies in one thing: The super meter.
As you know, when you get hit, your meter builds. This does not scale. So, if in MKX, there are more hits in the combos, then there will be more meter. More meter = more breakers. More breakers = less completed combos. Less completed combos = less overall damage.
This could mean many things.
1. The game is faster because:
- People are more willing to take risks because if they mess up, a breaker is more readily available
- Combos last a shorter amount of time, so there is less 'breather' moments
- Ex moves are more readily available. Increase in the use of armor attacks means that zoning is less effective
2. The game is slower because:
- Matches will last longer because of a constant use of breakers
- Zoning may become more prevalent because people don't want to give their opponents meter
3. The uprise of grappler characters?
This one is way too early to speculate, but grappler characters typically do high damage with fewer moves. One may argue that they get zoned hard, but with the inclusion of interactables, they may not be as handicapped as we thought.
There's other stuff, but it slips my mind at this point. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, my thoughts are still a bit muddled.
Maybe this just applies to Sub Zero and Scorpion, but I just want to share what was on my mind.
Thoughts?
What I want to talk about is the damage output and the whole metagame surrounding that.
What brought this to my attention was the inclusion of double freezes with Sub Zero. What made this stand out to me was, obviously, the combo potential. In the corner, Sub Zero would be able to put out so much damage with double freezes if the damage scaling system was the same as MK9's.
NRS are not so stupid.
The most obvious conclusion that I can come to is that NRS have implemented a completely new scaling system which reduces the damage for certain combos, but have increased the combo potential for each character (or maybe this just applies to Sub Zero and Scorpion), meaning that they can get more hits in, making the average damage output similar to that of MK9's. The reason I think that the combo potential has increased is the inclusion of double freezes and double spears in combos with Scorpion.
@1 minute 4 seconds in
As you can see here, a six hit combo with Sub-Zero did 21% damage. This does marginally less damage to a combo with a similar amount of hits in it in MK9. In MK9, a five hit combo with Sub Zero (Ji2, 212xxIceSlide) does 26% damage.
I know that they are two separate games, and two separate combos so the damage is bound to be different so it may not apply, but let's look at another character.
@51 seconds in
As you can see, a 5 hit combo here does 26% damage, so surely my point is proven wrong? Not quite. If you notice, see uses one bar of meter to get this damage. Combos that use meter are bound to do more damage. Let's take the same combo I did with Sub Zero and put an EX slide on the end. It does 28% damage.
So, I'll elaborate. What I think is that the developers have increased the amount of hits you can do in a combo due to double freeze, but as you know, when you have more hits in a combo, the scaling increases and each hit does less and less damage as you go on. What I think is that MKX has more severe scaling than in MK9, but the average amounts of hits in a combo will increase, leading the damage output to be similar to that of MK9's.
What difference does that make?
A bigger difference than you may think.
The difference lies in one thing: The super meter.
As you know, when you get hit, your meter builds. This does not scale. So, if in MKX, there are more hits in the combos, then there will be more meter. More meter = more breakers. More breakers = less completed combos. Less completed combos = less overall damage.
This could mean many things.
1. The game is faster because:
- People are more willing to take risks because if they mess up, a breaker is more readily available
- Combos last a shorter amount of time, so there is less 'breather' moments
- Ex moves are more readily available. Increase in the use of armor attacks means that zoning is less effective
2. The game is slower because:
- Matches will last longer because of a constant use of breakers
- Zoning may become more prevalent because people don't want to give their opponents meter
3. The uprise of grappler characters?
This one is way too early to speculate, but grappler characters typically do high damage with fewer moves. One may argue that they get zoned hard, but with the inclusion of interactables, they may not be as handicapped as we thought.
There's other stuff, but it slips my mind at this point. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, my thoughts are still a bit muddled.
Maybe this just applies to Sub Zero and Scorpion, but I just want to share what was on my mind.
Thoughts?
