Mortal Kombat X – Beginner’s Tips

Mortal Kombat released back in April, but the announcement of a second Kombat Pack has renewed interest in the title. The new Kombat Pack will release next year featuring Leatherface, Bo Rai Cho, Tri-Borg (Sektor, Cyrax and Robot Smoke) and a Xenomorph with Baraka-like abilities. You can also find Mortal Kombat X for as low as eight dollars depending on the platform, so there’s a decent chance many of you will be getting the game for the holidays. With that in mind, let’s cover a few beginner tips to help get you started with the game.

Defense is Key

One of the biggest mistakes a novice player makes is that they feel the need to always attack. There are a good number of attacks in Mortal Kombat X which are not safe if you block them. That means if you block the attack, you can hit the opponent with an attack before they can block it. Even if an attack is safe, meaning you can’t get a guaranteed attack once blocked, you generally don’t have advantage, which means the opponent’s next attack will more than likely beat your next attack.

In short, if you keep attacking relentlessly and your attacks are being blocked, you are almost certainly going to get hit. Against a seasoned MK veteran, that could mean you’re about to get hit by a lot of damage. If you wait until your opponent attacks or take your time and feel out the situation instead of mindlessly attacking, you’ll find that you can win a lot more matches.

Jumping is Usually Bad

While Mortal Kombat X promotes jumping more than most other 2D fighting games, it’s still a bad habit to jump a lot. Most characters in the game have a way to knock you out of the air and even start a combo if you’re not careful. You can’t block in the air, so as soon as you jump you’re hoping the opponent doesn’t hit you with an attack that beats out whatever you were trying to do.

In a game like Mortal Kombat X in which characters have enhanced (meter burn) attacks that spend meter and potentially give the character one hit of armor, even if the character doesn’t have a reliable anti-air attack, they can simply armor through your jumping attack and start a combo. It’s very common for an opponent with a projectile attack to continually spam the projectile to make you jump so they can capitalize on your inability to block in the air. Stay on the ground and slowly move in toward your opponent. It’s a much safer approach to almost any situation.

X-Ray Isn’t Always Best

A lot of new players want to wait until their meter is full, then use the armor of an X-Ray attack to hit the opponent. While an X-Ray inflicts a considerable amount of damage, it also uses your entire meter. The same meter that is used to break out of combos, and perform enhanced special moves. It’s a valuable resource that doesn’t build as fast as you’d like and therefore shouldn’t be used carelessly.

If you can’t end a match with an X-Ray attack, it’s almost always best to conserve your meter and use it for a Breaker or an enhanced special move instead. You can get far more use out of these abilities than you would a single attack that inflicts 30-50 percent damage, especially if that’s not enough to kill. If your X-Ray misses or doesn’t end the match (or at least the round), you’re left with no meter at all, which is a bad position to be in.

Once you get the hang of these beginner tips, be sure to head over to our Mortal Kombat X walkthrough and strategy guide for more in-depth advice on every character, as well as more detailed tips for intermediate and advanced players.