Introduction
Any skill requires many hours of practice in order to be successful. Fighting games are no different in that regard, as learning the nuances of a character can take a long time. But with how time-consuming this process is, it is very important to put in the time to pick the right fighter. However, this process can be very challenging by itself. With this guide, I aim to help these new players choose a character archetype that fits their playstyles best, so that they can enjoy playing fighting games to their heart’s content.
Picking your Archetype
To start things off, I need to discuss what archetypes to choose from. The main ones I will be discussing are as follows: Balanced, Offensive, and Defensive. From those archetypes I will be discussing the specific fighting styles that fall into the category as a whole, and which ones that newer players would want to start off with.
Well-Rounded Bout
The Balanced archetype is the main one that true beginners would want to start off with if they are brand new to the fighting game genre. This archetype has a well-rounded style of fighting that allows new players to learn the fundamentals of the game of their choice the fastest. Notable classifications of this archetype include the Grappler and the All-rounder characters.
The All-rounder characters possess a jack of all trades, master of none style of fighting, that includes a lot of the moves that other fighting styles specialize in. The caveat of this is that these characters are not especially better at doing these moves in comparison to other characters. This doesn’t mean that these characters are inherently worse than the competition, as many competitive players still find good success with All-rounder characters. Regardless, this fighting style is recommended for new players who are just getting into fighting games and want to learn the fundamentals of their respective game. Some notable characters from this fighting style are Mario from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Ryu from Street Fighter 6.
Grapplers are characters that primarily focus on getting up close and personal to the opponent and doing special grab attacks called a “Command Grab” to deal massive damage. This style of fighting encourages a more aggressive style of play that punishes players for being too far from the opponent. The weakness of this fighting style would be that they have no answers for any long range attacks, aside from blocking, so getting close to an opponent that has a ranged attack can get very tricky. That being said, this fighting style is still very fun for players that like that style of play. Notable characters of this fighting style are King from Tekken 8 and Zangief from Street Fighter 6.
Aggressive Fighting is All You Need
The offensive archetype is the aggressive style of fighting. These characters want to swiftly take out their competition as fast as they can. They excel in fast movements that help close the gap and deal damage as quickly as possible. The most common fighting style of this archetype would be the Rushdown and the Pressurer.
Rushdown characters, as the name suggests, rush straight towards the opponent and combo them into oblivion. Their main goal is to give as little breathing room as possible for the opponent to react to anything they do. The main weakness with these characters is that they don’t have a lot of answers to ranged attacks, so approaching the opponent can be tricky if said opponent is spamming these ranged attacks. Even so, this style of fighting is very rewarding for players that like the action packed style. Cammy from Street Fighter 6 and Elphelt Valentine from Guilty Gear -Strive- are notable Rushdown characters.
The Pressurer style of fighting is similar to the Rushdown character, where they want to get as close to the opponent as possible. The key difference, however, is that Pressurers want to exploit their opponents by shutting down the opponents’ movesets. They mainly want to keep the opponents guessing so that they can punish moves that they make. The main issue with this fighting style is that it has a high learning curve, as you would not only need to know the character’s moves, but many other characters’ moves as well in order to properly punish opponents. As such, this style can take a longer time to learn compared to the others. Some notable characters from this style would be Smoke from Mortal Kombat 1 and Dragunov from Tekken 8.
Stay Away and We Will Get Along
The Defensive archetype is for players that want to stay far from their opponents, while still dealing damage simultaneously. These characters excel in ranged combat and have tools that can help them stay away from the opponent for as long as they can. Though they have a strong long-range game, their close-up game is much weaker in comparison. The main fighting styles from this archetype are the Zoners and the Trappers.
Zoners are your traditional long-ranged attackers. They have many tools to keep players at a distance with long-ranged attacks, and can prove to be very powerful if not taken care of swiftly. Though this is the case, if the opponent gets too close to them, Zoners don’t have many options to deal with them. So, they need to get as far back as they can in order to be successful. Many people consider this playstyle to be “cheap,” since many games give these characters insane long-ranged attacks, so if you don’t want the stigma of being a “zoner main” then I would highly recommend not playing this fighting style. Some notable zoners include Sindel in Mortal Kombat 1 and Dizzy from Guilty Gear -Strive-.
Trappers are similar to zoners in the way that they both have long-range attacks, but what makes them different is that the Trapper fighting style leaves behind traps to clutter up the battlefield. If the opponent hits these traps, it will leave them open for a small combo that can give trappers more time to lay more traps. Trappers can be a fun playstyle for those who like to lay out calculated attacks when they can and pressure opponents from afar. This fighting style is much harder to play compared to zoners so I wouldn’t recommend this fighting style for newer players. Notable trapper characters would be JACK-O from Guilty Gear -Strive- and Snake from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Conclusion
Many of these archetypes and fighting styles are viable options to sink your time into, so hopefully this guide helped players decide on what type of playstyle they favor going into a new fighting game.
For those that are having trouble with picking the right fighting game, check out my other article about this very topic. Also check out Eric’s article on the “Kraven’s Last Hunt” comic and Caitlyn’s article about “A New Era of Dark Academia”! For more on comics, movies, and games, stay right here on Geekwave!
Links
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Store Page
Guilty Gear -Strive- Store Page
