Them's Fightin' Herds

Them's Fightin' Herds

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A Guide from a Beginner to other Beginners
By GryphShot
Is this your first fighting game? Great, let me help you help yourself.
   
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Introductions
Hey! If you're already familiar with fighting games there's not much to see here but you're more than welcome to correct me where I'm wrong~

If you're a newbie like me, welcome to the game. Hopefully this will help set you in the right direction. Best of wishes and see ya in Fœnum.
The Controls/Terminology
While intimidating at first, the controls quickly become a little more natural. Here's a quick intro on what you'll be seeing.

A = Light
B = Medium
C = Heavy
D = Magic

QC = Quarter Circle
Fw = Forward
Bk = Back
Hold = Hold
2x = Double

Here are some examples of attacks:
  • QCF + A
  • QCB + C
  • Hold Bk, Fw + A

That last one is known as a 'Charge attack'.

'Chaining' is when you immediately attack out of another attack (canceling the frames) which creates a combo. You can also combo while 'linking' but the difference is that linking uses hitstun to combo instead.

'Hitstun' is when your opponent was stunned from an attack and they are unable to do anything temporarily.

In order to block an attack you must be holding backwards. Air blocking will block any normally blockable attack. Standing while blocking will defend from aerial and standing attacks. Crouching and blocking keeps you safe from standing and low attacks.

If you want to get away from your opponent hit any 2 attack keys after blocking an attack to push them away. This technique is known as a 'Push Block'.

Command grabs are unblockable attacks. Regular grabs however can be countered by inputting grab before they throw you.

Here is an image that I grabbed from google that explains numeric/keypad notation:
Your controller
First things first, the controls should feel good and natural as you're playing. There is no right or wrong so long as you like it. Just keep a few things in mind~

  • Utility 1 and 2 are quick and voice chat respectively (in the Pixel Lobby).
  • Macros can be any combination of A, B, C, D.
  • There's something called "ABC combos" which flow very nicely. While there are some exceptions here and there almost every traditional fighting game has them. To do an "ABC combo" chain A into B into C.

I very much recommend setting one of your macros to B + C as it is useful for any character. (This macro can grab/counter grab, activate your special, and pushblock.)

Most players recommend using a controller and seeing as most players are better than me I'll pass this information along.

If you only have a keyboard to use don't feel bad about it! Here's a tip from someone who (is way better than me and also) uses keyboard. "Hammering down, then forwards as fast as possible works for a quarter circle forward, and forward, down, forward for the "weird" zig-zag (also known as a dragon punch, or shoryuken) input." ~ Petralicious

For me I press down, still hold it while I press forward, let go of down, let go of forward, and then press my attack. For the dragon punch that looks something like a → ↓ ↘ + (atk). I press and release forward, press down, continue holding while I press forward, let go of down, and then press my attack while I'm still holding forward.

Hopefully one of these two methods (probably the first one) will work for you!
Using the Training Room
It's scary... I know. I won't tell you the super advanced secrets because I don't know them. BUT I do have something to show you. When you pause the game you will see a menu. Select 'Training Options'. From there select 'Combo Training...'. There's something called 'Combo Trials...', this will teach you mechanics about your character as well as some simple combos. It also has some nifty information to tell you where you're struggling. From here it's up to you to practice; being able to beat a combo trial once is great but it isn't good enough. After you've beaten the trial try to beat it again and again until you can do it fairly consistently.

If you're wondering what the numbers all mean, here's a little explantion on the ones important to Combo Trial.

Misc. Tips
Some characters (Arizona comes to mind) require 2 consecutive QC's for some of their combos. To help make it easier you can input one QC.

Ex. QCF + A, QCF + C ----> QCF + A , C

If anyone has some extra info about how this works I'd love to hear it ^^ Playing Paprika I don't learn these things so much.
Special Thanks
Special thanks to Petralicious, Moonmadness, Hiddelgreyk, Flare, YourCrazyDolphin, and Xenotronia for adding to/correcting the guide!
26 Comments
Got woims? 2 May, 2022 @ 2:04pm 
Thanks :)
GryphShot  [author] 2 May, 2022 @ 1:49pm 
Thank you! Welcome to Fightin' Herds, hope you enjoy it! :Heart_m:
Got woims? 2 May, 2022 @ 1:48pm 
Good guide! :)
This is my first time doing a fighting game, besides Smash (which doesnt really count lol)
GryphShot  [author] 29 Aug, 2021 @ 12:10am 
Note, when used with QC (or other movement) F & B should always mean forward and back as far as I've seen . Regardless, stuff like that is why keypad notation is more popular. 236 and 214 can't be confused with each other.
GryphShot  [author] 29 Aug, 2021 @ 12:04am 
Thanks for the catch, totally slipped my mind. I'll update the guide! :Heart_m:
Xenotronia 28 Aug, 2021 @ 10:11pm 
using B as Back and Medium is really awkward
Fedd 28 Mar, 2021 @ 10:06pm 
@Mash Vandead If you play on a controller, use the d-pad and train your thumb muscles to be able to dash forward, backward, forward, backward with the least possible effort/movement. Give yourself daily thumb exercises and make them a bit harder when you start feeling they're easy. Movement is crucial so training for it is a must in the beginning. I never played this yet I just bought it but I have hundreds of hours in fighting games in general.

A warmup training I liked to do in the beginning was "dash front QCF P, dash back, QCF P, dash front, QCF P" and repeat for like 5 minutes, I did it for a few days before my trainings, changing the QCF P with different specials just for fun and my thumb got used to it fast
GryphShot  [author] 28 Mar, 2021 @ 2:06am 
Hey! Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately I can't think of any for sure tips. Although Paprika is one of the few characters with a super jump, I don't utilize it.

For Super Jumps, diagonals totally count for the down/up input. I find it's easier to jump forward with 369 as opposed to 259.

A note for dashing, after the initial double tap you only have to tap once per dash. Maybe that'll help? I personally just mash whichever direction I'm trying to dash in.
Soot 27 Mar, 2021 @ 11:05pm 
I'm having a lot of difficulty with super jumps and dashing forward/backward.
GryphShot  [author] 6 Nov, 2018 @ 10:18pm 
Hey ^^ Glad I could help you! As for your question, to change which keys are set for each macro, move off of it and back on, then press the buttons you want to be included (last I checked this is limited to keys, you can't bind any analog movement).

Unless you meant unbind it entirely. Unfortunately I'm not sure how to unbind any keys. If you reset controls the macros will default to nothing? So that's sorta like unbinding them? I personally only need one macro so I made them the same thing (B,C).