2XKO Director Explains Why You Might be Dropping Your Combos

If there's one thing that fighting game players never lack in, it's feedback. For every player there will be a unique opinion on what the game does right or wrong, sometimes in a not so polite manner.

This applies to one piece of feedback that was recently shared through the #2xko_bugs hashtag, which also tagged the game's account and the account of 2XKO director, Shaun Rivera a.k.a. Unconkable.

The main contention of X user El shiva mx, is that the game is based on RNG, causing even the basic Ahri combos to drop at random. They also attached a video that provides a clear example of what they mean. Despite executing the same route, it worked one time but not the other.

Despite the uncalled for insults, it's easy to see how a player might get frustrated about this.

Surprisingly, Shaun himself decided to jump in and explain this rather opaque issue in spite of the disrespect. 

While his post offers some extra details, the crux of the issue comes down to 2XKO's unique handling of hit stun decay. Almost every fighting game with an involved combo system has something like hit stun decay, even though it might carry a different name.

For example, in Tekken, the weight of the character that you're comboing will increase as you hit them more, causing them to fall faster to the ground instead of staying in the air. Street Fighter also has its own combo point system where after reaching a certain threshold, it will be impossible to land a hit.

Regardless, most fighting games tie this mechanic to the amount of hits, while 2XKO ties it to actual time it takes to combo someone. This is highly unusual and creates these weird situations where the same route might be less consistent depending on how fast you execute it. While there is no random chance here, it's opaque mechanic that adds a certain degree of inconsistency.

While Shaun offers a solution in the form of shortening the route, his post also suggests that in the future the game might offer more clarity regarding the mechanic. Ideally, this is something that should be immediately intuitive, especially in a game that is targeted at a broader audience.