Divetips: Divekick Strategies From EVO’s Top 3

Divekick is out on PS3 and PS Vita Tuesday! By now, many of you are starting to realize just how deep and competitive this game really is. Online ranked play is going to be filled with killers in no time, so to help you get a head start, we’ve compiled a few tips from the top 3 finishers at EVO 2013. Additionally, we’ve included a quick character bio for our final fighter, Kenny, to complement our first two PS.Blog roster updates (see them here and here).

5 Tips from EVO Champion Mean Saltine

Know your spacing. Every character in the game has a different angle on their divekick. It is critical that you know how close you can get to your opponent without getting kicked in the face. You know you are at the perfect range when you can react to an opponents attack with an attack of your own.
Be patient. It might seem natural to go crazy with your divekicks, but it is much more effective to wait for your opponent to make a mistake before you strike. Playing too aggressive is very dangerous against patient opponents!
Use your special moves. Every character has two special abilities in the game. Sometimes knowing when to use these moves can turn a defeat into a big win. Experiment with different ways to use special moves to surprise your opponent.
Watch the clock. When the time reaches zero seconds, the character closest to the center of the stage will win the round. When time is short it is usually wiser to play for a win via time out than to aggressively pursue your opponent.
Manage your meter. Your kickfactor meter is needed to execute your special moves, but if you hold off on using those, you can fill you meter for a massive (but temporary) bonus in jump height and kick speed. Use this opportunity to push your opponent into the corner for an easy win.

5 tips from EVO Runner Up Kerahime~<3

Think: If you find yourself dying to the same things repeatedly stop for a minute and try to figure out why you’re dying and what you can do to counter it.
Meter is Life: Meter gives you Kick Factor and access to special moves which gives you an advantage over your opponent (and vice versa). Look for opportunities to build meter while also remaining a threat to your opponent.
Headshots can Change Everything: One well-placed kick nets you or your opponent a headshot, this takes away all meter and more or less secures you the next round if not more. If your opponent is guarding the line and your aggression will likely result in a headshot it’s often worth it to just concede the round on time and build meter while letting him have the round.
Control Space: If your opponent is just building meter try to force them into the corner as this will take away their options to safely build meter and put you in a highly advantageous position.
Play Everyone: If you can’t figure out how to win against a certain character try playing as that character and look for the weaknesses of what you were losing to. You’ll often find that something that at first seemed unbeatable when playing against is actually quite weak and leaves you vulnerable.

Name: Kenny
Health: 1234
Power: 9,862,212

Bio: After a very close loss to superstar Dustin Weinburger in his very first Divekicking competition, Kenny mystereously fell ill and lost his life later that day. Someone had unleashed a vile of the dreaded Foot Dive bacteria into Kenny’s shoes, but Kenny could only watch from the heavenly world above as the culprit was acquitted. Kenny went on to win five straight Divekicking tournaments in heaven, earning him a second chance on Earth. He now fights to prove that he has the right to exist.

Date of Birth: 10/15/1984
Place of Birth: Fresno-ish, California
Blood Type: O
Likes: Puzzles, Breakfast, Randomness, Video Games
Dislikes: Hypocrites, Trick Questions, Hand Stance

5 tips from EVO 3rd place Adelheid Stark

Use all your character’s moves. They’re all pretty good! This isn’t a game where characters have 30 moves and which ones are worth using are an exercise for the reader, this is a game where you have “dive,” “kick,” “ground special,” and “air special,” maybe sometimes an extra air action like double kick (shoals) or double dive (stream, s-kill). Specials weren’t in the original game but they aren’t an afterthought. The difference between a Redacted that effectively uses walljump and one that doesn’t at all, or a Shoals using flight cancels vs not, is staggering.
Play a little with everyone and understand how they work. This isn’t a game where new characters are particularly difficult to pick up and understand. And if you want to play well, you need to consider both “What can I do?” And “What can my opponent do?” Even if you only really like playing a small amount of characters, it’s a lot easier to know “what can my opponent do?” If you’ve been there yourself, so you should definitely try everyone at least a bit.
Don’t stay still if you don’t have to. Sometimes, you may not want to be rushing at your opponent, but standing still is generally a bad habit for most characters. Most of the time, quickly kicking in place lets you make small adjustments to your position and can put you closer to where you’re more comfortable being without spending too much time in a state where you can’t react to your opponent. As well, it gets you meter, which you can use on special moves or for kick factor to turn things in your favor.
Keep your options open. If you get caught at time when there’s only one thing you can do, you pretty much lose – for your opponent, that’s “Time to do the thing that beats the only thing they can do.” Most characters can’t escape the corner easily, so being backed into a corner is terrible – even if the opponent can’t necessarily safely rush you down, if you’re cornered, they’re going to win at time-out. And if you commit too much to punishing something you thought they would do when they didn’t, especially with a slower character, they have all the time in the world to get you into a bad position or hit you for free. Try to avoid that by doing as much as you can keep stay in situations where you can better read and react to them.
Cross your arms while playing. For strength.
(Actually). Keep pressure on the opponent. What “pressure” means varies from character to character, but one thing that will guarantee your loss is just letting them do whatever they want to be doing. This goes hand in hand with keeping your options open – restricting your opponent’s options. Slowly advance and try to back them into a corner if you can, while avoid letting them do the same to you. Use what you have to make them scared to approach you. You don’t necessarily have to play very actively, but don’t play passively, waiting for the opponent to do something stupid. Stronger players aren’t going to just make mistakes on their own. You have to force them to make mistakes. That’s when you get the perfect reads and take them down.

5 tips from Adam “Keits” Heart, Divekick creator

Try to think of the five rounds you can lose as health, and try to think of health as a resource. Sometimes, you’ll be in a position where you will lose a round no matter what you do. In these situations, a risk can sometimes help you escape, but might get you hit in the head. Getting headshot can cost you several rounds (more health), so recognizing these situations and just accepting the single round loss is often a great move.
Each time my opponent headshots me, I tell myself that I just lost two rounds and accept that fact mentally. My goal, during my concussion, is not to win. It is to avoid getting concussed again.
Moving yourself backwards too quickly during concussion is a really dangerous play. Hold your ground as best you can, because you are cornered before the four seconds are over, you are in big trouble.
Think of that wild, super unsafe wake-up Dragon Punch you might see someone do in Street Fighter. Doing this is unsafe, but it sends a message to your opponent that you might do something crazy at any given moment. In Divekick, once in a while, you need to do something a little crazy to force your opponent to respect you in a similar way. Just make sure you don’t get hit in the head when you do it.
The closer you are to the corner, the harder sneaking under your opponent will become. If you need to make a play to escape the corner, you should do so before you actually get cornered. This will keep your opponent off guard and make you much less predictable.