A Brawler That's Ineffective

[kimmy]

A brawler of mine tends to never ever use their Fists of Fury in a match, they also grapple but many of them seem to be ineffective....and I'm having a rough time evening out body and head shots properly....this is one I'm currently working on, so any advice ??

[jasta]

1. Bigger isn't better - Just because you have big damage moves in yur grapples doesn't mean they'll ever be used, nor will they be used effectively. People still to this day seem to have the misconception that if they stack their caw with massive moves they're going to kick ass. These are also the people who find their caws getting man handled. The bigger the damage move it is, the easier it is to be countered. And counters equal either bonus damage or momentum depending on the move or type of caw you're up against. In Jasta's standing grapple he only has two moves over 14 damage, both of them T-Bones. Every other move is most 12s, with a few 10s added for realism. And the end result is Jasta uses his entire arsenal of moves with alarming frequency, to the point where he makes is opposition look outright foolish.

2. Optimize your strikes - To many people also make FoF combos that try to look flashy. It's all well and good, but as many people find out the hard way, not all strikes work. Hence you have tons of brawlers with broken FoF combos. Simple is better. Two strikes of the same type, and a knockdown move is all you need. To hell with being flashy, you want a FoF that the AI will actually use. Jasta's is two snap jabs and a spinning wheel kick. No flash, no flare. Just a simple, effective and devastating combo that he unleashes at will.

3. Know your moveset - I can't begin to stress how important this one is. 3X, Kaoz and I have been trying to beat this into people's heads all year. Just because you make what you think is a solid sim caw doesn't mean it is. While it might be effective against your own caws, it may get raped by others. Why you ask? Because 99% of people, including most of the XWA member base don't fine tone their caws. They just make them, send them in and assume the caw will do well. I'm constantly tweaking Jasta. With him I'm never satisfied, because when I see a chink in his armor, I correct it. And the biggest chink everyone has is that they don't know their arsenal. Knowing what commands your AI uses is essential. Every AI uses particular commands. Ever notice how Ethan Bain's most used moves are the Standard Vertical Suplex and the Belly To Belly? Because I tweaked his moveset myself. I found what commands the AI uses most, and mapped his lighter moves to those commands. The end result is that he uses the moves with surgical precision.

4. Observe - So you've re-mapped all of your moves, simplified you FoF combo and given the caw a more balanced arsenal. Now what? You hope for the best and watch what your caw does, as well as what the opponent does. As a competitive caw creator, sometimes you have to bite the bullet and admit that your caw isn't good. I know no one ever wants to bone up and say it, but when your caw's getting it's ass handed to it by a multitude of different caw types, there's something wrong. Watch how other people make their guys, and try as best as you can to emulate this. Mind you I said emulate, not rip off. Learn from what the stronger caws do, and incorporate some of those traits in your work. 3X and I are constantly picking each others brains as far as how to optimize and make efficient and competitive caws that can go this distance against any caw made. When you look at Jon Payne and Bryan Jasta, you can pretty much see that they're caws of the exact same ilk. They're both caws that can survive in a multitude of match types, because they were both built to go the distance. They're not heavy hitters by any means. They pick at other caws with small moves and strikes, and 8 minutes into a match the other guy is already in orange. It's as the saying goes "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

Those are just a few of the tips I can give, but in all truth it's all a matter of trial and error. You're kidding yourself if you think 2 weeks of work is going to turn in big returns. I spent the whole offseason working specifical on tuning Jasta like a fine tooth comb. Hence I've only sent in one edit of him the whole season, and that was just a color swap attire edit with more facial hair. Jasta's as good as I can possbily make him in 2008, because I spent the whole of the offseason making sure he did what I wanted him to do when I wanted him to do it. I seriously advise that in this season's off time, everyone do the same, especially since we're working with a completely new system with the Superstar Abilities. If you don't tweak you caws and optimize them to excel in what their meant to excel in, you're in for a long 2009 season.