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Tekken 8has an extensive roster of 32 characters, many of which are legacy characters, meaning they have access to a laundry list of attacks that can be a bit daunting to learn or react to if you’re a newcomer. Fortunately, this time around, you have access to a full-fledged Training Mode at launch to strengthen your weaknesses and improve your game plan.
If you want to get the most out of what your favorite characters offer in Tekken 8, taking to the Training Mode and honing your skills will be a tremendous way to grasp everything available, from pokes to counterattacks to combos and much more!
Training Mode Overview In Tekken 8
Training Mode(Practice via the Main Menu) is one of the most crucial modes in fighting games. When done right, it can give youmany new perspectives on your favorite character,providingtremendous tools to elevate your playto the next level. Fortunately, Tekken 8’s Training Mode is excellent and will be more than enough to have you get the most out of your favorite characters.
However, before diving into the meat and potatoes of the Training Mode, let’sfirst cover the basics of the modeand brieflygo over everything it offersbefore fleshing out the more essential aspects of it. If you’renew to fighting games, the following sections will be crucialfor you to understand and have a grasp of, so we advise not skipping forward!
Practice Settings Overview
Practice Settingsis where you will adjust specific properties tofine-tune your Training Mode experience.Here, you canset your opponent’s actions,having them Stand, Crouch, Block, Jump, or even assume control of them yourself and much more.
Furthermore, you canadjust things such as your Rage and Heat Gauge,enabling you toset them as activeif you want topractice combos that incorporate themwithout worrying about building your Heat Gauge or lowering your health to enter Rage.
Aside from that, you can alsotinker with the hit types,making it so thatevery hit is a Counter Hit,which can helppractice specific combo setups, pokes, and much more that relies on the first attack being a Counter Hit.There are also options here for Punishment Settings, but we will expand on that later!
Move List Overview
Another crucial aspect of Training Mode is the ability toview your character’s Move List.In Tekken 8, you cansort between Main Techniques and All Techniques.TheMain Techniqueswill be yourprimary options,whileAll Techniquesshowcaseeverything your character hasat their disposal.
Westrongly urge you to go through your character’s ‘All Techniques’ tabto get a general grasp of everything they’re capable of. Additionally, you canplay a demo of each move to learn more about its properties,showcasing its Attack Type, whether it Launches or not, and much more.
Youcan also pin these moves, but we will go over that in much greater detail a bit laterin the guide. This is one of the best features at your disposal in Training Mode, and you should take full advantage of it!
Punishment Training Overview
Before moving on to the more fleshed-out portions of the guide, the last topic we want to highlight is thePunishment Trainingsection of Training Mode.
This willallow you to practice countering and punishing your selected opponent’s strongest and most spammable moves,making it one of thebest ways to improve against characters giving you troublewith your favorite characters.
While we will be going over this more thoroughly later in the guide, it cannot be overstated just how crucial Punishment Training is in Tekken 8. For example,if King is giving you trouble with a specific attack,you can likelyload into Training Mode, select King as your opponent, and learn how to respond to that particular moveefficiently!
Display Settings
Our first deep dive for Tekken 8’s Training Mode is on itsDisplay Settings,allowing you to see crucial information such asCommand History, Player Attack Info, Player Frame Info,and much more.
Westrongly recommend enabling every optionin these settings, as theinformation you gain will be beneficial.While yourscreen will be a tad cluttered, you will eventually get used to it,and that’s really the only downside to having everything enabled.
Command History
Command Historywilldisplay all your inputs on the lefthand sideof the screen, which isessential to have if you are dropping moves or just want to monitor how clean your inputs are,allowing you to focus on touching up anything messy or giving you trouble.
HUD
HUDsimplydisplays your Health and Heat Gauges,which you willsee across every mode in Tekken 8.You could hide it here, but it’s alwaysnice to see how much damage you are dealing visuallyto your opponent instead of just looking at numbers. We recommend leaving this one enabled.
Player Attack Info
Player Attack Infois where you will get lots of crucial information out of the Display Settings, having itprovide data on all of your attacks.This will let you know if your attack wasHigh, Mid, or Lowwhile providing additional information, such asif it Tornadoes, Power Crushes, Homes,and so much more.
Furthermore, you willsee if your attacks count as a Clean Hit, a Counter Hit, a Punish Attack, or cause a Wall Splat or Break,which will be very helpful when trying to perfect combo routes.
Player Frame Info
Player Frame Infois another essential tool to have enabled; set this explicitly to the ‘Show Details’ option to get the most out of it. Here, you will be able tolearn even more about your attacks,as it will display information such as itsStartup Frames, Frame Advantage, the Status of your character(Standing, Jumping, Crouching, etc.), and evenhow far away you arefrom your opponent.
TheStartup Frames and Frame Advantageare the most crucial here, as they will let you know justhow viable your move is in specific situations.For example, if youset the Training Dummy to Guard Everythingand perform an attack on them and see that yourFrame Advantage is -24,youprobably shouldn’t throw that attack out all willy-nilly,as decent players will punish you.
However, if yousee that an attack leaves your Frame Advantage in the positives,such as +3, that meansyour attack is ‘Plus On Block,‘leaving you in the advantage even if it’s blocked,allowing you to resume your offense and even Counter or Punish your opponent if they try attacking immediately after blocking it.
Opponent Attack And Frame Info
Next is theAttack and Frame Info for your opponentin Training Mode, whichessentially displays everything in the sections above but for your opponentinstead. We recommend enabling these as well, as they willgive you better insight into their situation if they Guard or get hitby your attacks.
Hit Properties
Lastly, we haveHit Propertiesin the Display Settings. This willflash the attack’s properties(High, Mid, and Low) on the screenwhenever you land an attack,giving you a quick way to access what type of attack it is. We recommend leaving this enabled, as itjust provides a faster way to gain more informationfrom your attacks!
Pinning Moves And Combos
Moving on, we have the Pinning Moves and Combossection, a beneficial option in Tekken 8’s Training Mode, allowing you topin moves you may be struggling to remember or long combo strings you’re trying to learnand perfect.
To do this, open thePractice Menuand navigate toMove List or Sample Combos.Once in either of these sub-menus,hover over an attack or combo you want to learnand press theTriangle or Ybutton to ‘Display While Training.’ This willshow the move or combo at the top of the screenwhen you’re beating down the Training Dummy.
If you want toget rid of the pinned move or combo,you can eitherreplace it with another oneor simplypress the Touch Pad + Triangle/Back Button + Y to remove it.We strongly suggest learning your character’s10-Hit Combosfrom theirMove List,which will benefit you in the long run!
Punishment Training
Lastly, we have one of the most valuable tools in Tekken 8’s Training Mode:Punishment Training.This will allow you tolearn how to deal with and respond to specific attacks from each characteron the roster.
If aparticular character is giving you trouble with a specific attack,you’re able to load into training mode against that character andlearn how to counter or punish it efficientlywith your character of choice.
Punishment Training Difficulty
There aretwo difficultiesfor Punishment Training:Normal and Hard.Normalwill have youropponent perform the same action repeatedly until you properly counter itbefore moving on to the next one. Meanwhile,Hardwill have themperform attacks randomly,keeping you on your toes.
Keep in mind thatyou can check which moves you want them to performin Punishment Training, soif only one move is giving you trouble,werecommend only checking that one moveso they don’t cycle to another one you don’t want to practice against.
Punishing Other Moves
If themove you’re looking for is not on the Punishment Training listfor a specific character, you canmanually record the attack yourself and have the opponent perform said actionafter they block an incoming attack or get hit by one.
To do this, navigate to the ‘Practice Settings’ tab and select the ‘Action After A Hit Or Block’ option. From here, choose the ‘Punish’ option from the drop-down menu. After this, select the ‘Punishment Settings’ option from the Practice Settings menu.
Here, you canrecord or choose from a large selection of attacks from your opponent’s move list,set the frequency at which they perform the recorded attack, and much more. You canselect or record up to eight Standing Attacks and eight Crouching Attacksto learn how to punish.
Theonly downside is the game won’t provide the proper responseto these attacks, meaningyou will have to find the best answerto it yourself. But it’s better than nothing. Now, use everything outlined in this guide to hone your skills and become a master!
