Advanced
Techniques - Custom Combos
Mastering
the Intermediate techniques should be sufficient for dealing
with most encounters. However, the ability to perform and
control Custom Combos, with interrupts, redirection and
buffering, is by far the most important, and thus, hardest,
skill to learn; and is evidence of a true Katana Master™.
Buffering
To fully understand how combo customization works, it is
necessary to introduce the concept of buffering. Buffering
is a common term in fighting games that usually allows the
player to input one move before the current one has finished;
allowing the player to prepare attacks and combos in advance.
In essence, the move is ‘stored’ in a buffer
(think of it as short term memory), until the current move
ends.
In
Katana, this definition of temporarily storing moves in
a buffer is used to describe several techniques collectively
known as buffering.
Redirection
Sometimes a combo chain may go for longer than you need,
or there might be another enemy coming up behind you while
you are in the middle of a combo. This is where redirection
comes in. Redirection is a technique where you can temporarily
pause a combo chain without canceling it (i.e. buffer it),
and then continue it at a different target. In order to
redirect a combo, press and hold the crouch button towards
the end of your current combo attack. The combo chain will
continue as soon as you release the crouch button.
Note
that learning this technique requires knowledge of and familiarity
with the individual combo attacks. You’re advised
to learn them to determine when you have an opportunity
for buffering.
TIP:
Since most combo chains build up to stronger and deadlier
hits, if you buffer right before these hits you can redirect
your stronger hits for stronger opponents, getting more
bang out of your combo buck.
Interrupts
Although the combo that links from a certain attack is always
the same; during any point in the combo chain you can interrupt
the combo by doing another quick attack, which can in turn
start a different combo attack. Thus, by knowing different
combo attacks you can learn to customize your combos by
mixing and matching your favourite attacks to do maximum
damage.
TIP:
Sometimes when interrupting a combo with a quick attack,
the corresponding combo attack will not immediately activate,
instead it will be buffered, and performed after the follow-up
to your current combo. This might sound confusing at first,
but what effectively happens is that the interrupt and its
follow-up combo are spliced between the current combo and
its follow-up, as illustrated in the following diagram:
Quick
Attack ->Combo -> Interrupt -> Combo Follow-up
->Interrupt Follow-up