King of Fighters XIV: Strategy Guide (2023)

After five years of anticipation, SNK ultimately released a new addition to the King Of Fighters franchise; The King of Fighters 14. Even though the 14th installment isn’t as flashy as the past iterations, it’s still a lightning-fast eye candy attempt from SNK.

However, when it comes to fighting games, things are going to be difficult anyway, you’ll have to spend a certain amount of time in the training mode to get you through the game in the harder difficulty modes (let’s be honest, real gamer always play fighting games at harder difficulties).

King of Fighters XIV: Strategy

The training mode allows you to understand the basics, and the tiny bits of information you need to play the game with ease, in this way you can also stop mashing random buttons hoping that you’ll win and actually implement your fighting style with confidence. In this guide, our main focus is going to be the beginner players who are looking for the basic ins outs of  The King of Fighters 14. So read on if you want to be on the road to becoming the next veteran of the game.

Controls: Simplified

You won’t find a tutorial on controls in King of Fighters 14, so this important in short words, in-game you can benefit from a simple four-button arrangement, composed of a light and heavy attack button (LP, HP) and a light kick and heavy kick button (LK, HK). With these four initiatives, you can take everything in your hands in the game, from command inputs with the directional pad a solo button, to compositive button presses that instate special moves universal to each and every character.

Rush!

There’s a feature called rush mechanic that allows you to traverse the essential combos by just smashing the lighter jab button while hitting an enemy. For example, the primary rush can be used as the very first in a string of combos, where you follow up that set of attacks with a different ability. Experiment using a rush with your character of choice in training, and distinguish the exact moment when it either ends, or it sends your enemy swaying away.

The Super Meter

Ultimately, your super mete, signified by digital values from one to five (named MAX) influences special advance mechanics, super and climatic moves (Hyper-charged supers that consume three meters). Your meter charges upon attacking and receiving damage, so you’ll always have an opportunity to try with it in any given match-up. As a side note when you’re paying three-on-three matches, your meter will carry over to the next player after one is dead.

Defense 

The secondary point you need to understand about a fighting game is defending yourself from your opponent’s aggression. In this segment, we’ll provide you all with all of the brief details about defense in King of Fighters 14.

Jumps

In King Of Fighters 14, there are a lot of defensive points, though the best aspect to start is understanding that there are a lot of jumps in the game. It might sound weird, but understanding how all of the defensive moves work is crucial to countering dodging opponents attacks.

Take the leap, which is a primary initiative by merely smashing the direction pad up instantly. It’s a small jump that can clear many abilities (like Lori’s ground-based fireballs) and immediately put you in a place to strike your own attacks. If you were able to use a greater jump, you’d clear a projectile with ease, but you’d take longer to recuperate from it, and your window of opportunity will be lost.

Dashing

Go ahead, dash forward and backward to escape some specific moves and still get back into the battle instantly.

Dashing is especially useful against grapplers, who have a very short range to work with. Back-dashing out of reach of a command grab and counter-attacking can assist you to break away their big life-pools.

OFFENSE AS DEFENSE

As the legends say: The greater the defense the better the offense. That’s practically very true in-game likes KOF, which has a guard crush mechanic.

In brief, by constantly stomping on an enemy who is blocking, you’ll break away at a guard crush meter near their life bar, which can eventually break, leaving them temporarily defenseless. (You can also activate that state by putting down an enemy  mercilessly without retaliation to abrupt them)

Distinguish And Utilize

Your duty throughout each match is to identify what type of player your enemy is and utilize that weakness. If you discern them guarding often or zoning using projectiles or different sorts of thing to keep you away from them, go ahead be more disruptive.

Furthermore, if you need to take some rest and find yourself in difficulty or in an edge, you can always use the blowback move (HP, HK) to throw your enemy away. But, make sure you have a plan after, either it’s using a big leap (press down, then up) to get away for some other command moving process particularly to your character.

Extra terms

There are several obscure terms in the King of Fighters 14 community, but here are some ideas that can help you with the game.

• Anti-air. A strike that either prevents or oppositely counters an aerial strike. A classic example is Terry Bogard’s Rising Tackle. By pressing the down direction and then holding up and a punch button, Terry will ascend directly up to attack his opponent. In various cases, this progress has priority (it strikes first or hits alternatively of an enemy attack), creating it as an exceptional anti-air move that can seal down a leaping fighter.
• Cross-Up. This is one of the several useful skills you can master with a character and possibly one of the greatest radical tactics you’ll begin accumulating up on. The phrase relates to handling a move that will deceive or confuse your enemy directionally so that they block inaccurately and open themselves up to both damaging normal attack or the start of a combo. Look for alternative movements that seem backward while going forward, many of which can be triggered by a directional press and a heavy charge while in the air.
• Normals. When immigrants play fighting games, they are frequently triumphed by command moves, like the classic hadouken (fireball) and shoryuken (uppercut) from other fighting games. But what utmost people don’t describe to you is that normal attacks (with LP, HP, LK, HK), normally in tandem with just one cardinal way, can truly work likewise to a command strike. Try forward + HP or down + HK out on each character, and you’ll attain some mighty innovative tools for your armory.
• OTG. Additionally identified as “off the ground,” this is an opportunity to combo a player that you’ve thrown flying with a different previous move.
• Punish. As one of the countless important ideas at any level of the game, discover how to punish and you’ll go incomparably. While the phrase literally refers to beating an enemy for missing or whiffing an assault (usually something that has a powerful healing time and leaves them open), it’s difficult to really pull it off consistently. Punishes can include combos, but in low-level play, they normally just include supers (or the more robust climax variant for at least three levels of the meter). Some characters have what’s described as a full screen punish, where they can fly beyond the arena to immediately meet their enemy. An ideal opportunity to use this is when someone is in the midst of missing an uppercut or power move. In any case (like Kukri’s Nessa Goku Totsuha super) you can truly fly over a ground projectile and directly punish someone. Exercise with the tools your character has and determine how to punish with each of your supers.
• The Lab. This is what professionals call education, and you’re going need a lot of it. Spend time with your beloved fighter in practice against a blockhead CPU.