X-Men: Children of the Atom/System

Chain Combo Terminology

This is pasted from James Chen's XMCOTA combo FAQ, since I haven't seen this anywhere else on the Wiki, I'm copying it here for easy reference
--JedahsMinistry 04:12, 15 August 2006 (CDT)

Magic Series: Here is a list of definitions to help understand the Magic Series.

Weak Attacks: Jab punch and Short kick.
Medium Attacks: Strong punch and Forward kick.
Hard attacks: Fierce punch or Roundhouse Kick

ZigZag 1 - The Series used in Darkstalker's Revenge. Basically, it's:
-Jab -> Short -> Strong -> Forward -> Fierce -> Roundhouse
ZigZag 2 - Backwards of ZigZag 1:
-Short -> Jab -> Forward -> Strong -> Roundhouse -> Fierce
Punch to Kick - Can cancel any punch button with any kick button.
-Jab/Strong/Fierce -> Short/Forward/Roundhouse
Kick to Punch - Can cancel any kick button with any punch button.
-Short/Forward/Roundhouse -> Jab/Strong/Fierce
Stronger - The Series used in Darskstalkers 1. Can go to any stronger attack.
-Jab/Short -> Strong/Forward -> Fierce/Roundhouse
Note: Can skip the medium attacks from the Weak attacks if desired.
Weak Start - Start on Jab or Short and end with any of the other four attacks.
-Jab/Short -> Strong/Forward/Fierce/Roundhouse

--For COTA I'll add one more:
Stronger Cross - Start with a weaker attack and move to one stronger one, that must be the opposite kind of attack. Examples:
-Jab -> Forward, -or- Short -> Strong, -or- Jab -> Roundhouse, -or- Short -> Fierce, -or- Strong -> Roundhouse, -or- Forward -> Fierce

Basics

It's impossible to list every combo in a system as open and variable as this. This page will attempt to give a basic understanding of the system and character pages will have some example combos.

The simplest combos would be chain combos cancelled into specials. Start with a throw, chain XX special or super. Corner juggle and aircombos are fairly easy (depending on the character), mid-screen juggles (beyond very simple things) are very character and opponent dependant. Most launchers send the opponent up at an angle, and if done when dashing, flys the opponent further away.

With almost any long combo/loop/infinite, you have to keep a close eye on you and the opponents position. You might have an aircombo/juggle that will loop, but minute changes in your timing and positioning could lead it to break in the next rep or so. Some air combos might require you to hold toward the opponent on the way up, and let go of the stick on the way down, lest your last attacks/relauncher miss around when you land.

Launch/Air Combo Basics :
To get air combos akin to games later in the series, you must "manually" super jump cancel any launcher. Done by tapping down, up (or a quick rolling "tiger knee" motion, which is useful in some cases), or tapping all 3 kicks.

Very few launchers in this game hit the opponent straight upwards (as opposed to the later games), the majority launch at an angle, and the opponent is flown further away if the launcher is hit off a dash. Hence most air combo loops take place in the corner.
Because of the large difference in character weights, varying "launch strings" are often needed to get an opponent at the right height for a certain air combo or loop.

Corners:
The corners are different "sizes", with the left being tighter than the right. In the right corner if you dash for the launch string then hold forward for the aircombo, there's a good chance you'll end up behind the opponent. This is far less likely in the left corner.

Damage Calculation

Damage Scaling
Every hit in a combo is damage scaled incrementally. That is, each hit does a fraction of what it normally does, and that fraction is lessened each hit in the combo. After around 8 hits, all hits in the combo do one pixel of damage, including most (not all) comboed throws and supers.
Some examples:
Sent vs Storm - LP, HK does 3/4s of the damage a single HK does.

For maximum damage, try getting all the hard hits in as soon as possible, and super as early as possible.

Counter Damage

Throws

To combo/get a ground to air throw, the opponent should be just above you when you hit toward/back and attack. Kinda like you're grabbing where they're going, and not where they are.

Stage Influence

Stages that (are believed to) have no influence on combos or matches:
Wolverine, Cyclops, Omega Red, Iceman, Storm.

Breakable floors:
Colossus - Breaks in 8 hits, afterwards there are no further obstacles on the stage.
Spiral - First 3 floors break in 2 hits, afterwards there are no further obstacles on the stage.

Obstacle stages: (outline)
Psylocke - Barrels in the corner, girders appear and scroll across until the stage reaches the maximum height.
Silver Samurai - Obstacles in the background break when hit then disappear (more detail needed).
Sentinel - Corner pillars affect juggles, pillars always stay.

Obstacles affect juggle trajectories and recoveries, and in some cases cause a slight hit stop (minute pause, like when an opponent is hit) on impact.

(Work In Progress --JedahsMinistry 01:10, 21 November 2007 (UTC) )

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