Hokuto no Ken/Strategy

This page covers general Hokuto no Ken strategy not specific to any particular character. Refer to the Characters section for more in-depth information.

Boost Management

As Boost plays such a critical role both offensively and defensively, learning when and when not to use it is very important. While it is often tempting to use your Boost as soon as you fill up a stock, in most cases it best to wait for a good spot - just having one or more stock of Boost to spare is a big advantage as your opponent is forced to play very cautiously. For many characters, 1.2 Boost is the 'magic number,' as it allows for a hit confirm Movement Boost while still leaving a full Boost stock to use in the follow-up combo. Boost management is doubly important for the weaker characters. For example, a Jagi user with 0.8 Boost may actually opt to not use the follow-up boost when connecting with a Banishing Strike, as a 50% Banishing combo is often not worth using his hard-earned Boost.

Another side of Boost management comes into play when deciding the best way to finish off your opponent during a Basuke combo. It is possible to drag the combo out and go for max Boost yourself, but this will often give your opponent a decent amount of meter as well. To avoid this, it may be best in some situations to strategically Boost at a certain point to prevent your opponent from gaining too much meter. There are also alternate methods of reducing your opponents Boost gain during a combo, such a through the use of a Grave Shoot, or special techniques like Traveling.

Imperfect Attack Strings

Many attack strings in Hokuto no Ken that connect normally in a combo are not in fact continuous strings when used against a blocking opponent. This occurs most commonly when switching from a light attack to a strong attack. It is very important to keep this in mind as it is possible for the blocking player to use Agility Defense or squeeze in an invulnerable move in these spots. Common examples of strings like this are Toki's 2A > 2D, Raoh's 2B > f.D, and Rei's 2B > 2D. When on the offensive you should always try to avoid repetitive use of the same attack patterns, as a thinking player will quickly catch on and exploit the holes in your attack string. Similarly, when defending you want to be able to recognize and take advantage of the weak points in your opponents offense.

A small amount of practice at this will likely show a great increase in your win rate, especially against weaker Toki and Rei users who are often prone to using the same strings over and over.