Mortal Kombat 1/Havik/Introduction

Introduction

Currently regarded as the weakest character, Havik has dirt but must overcome extreme deficiencies in order to apply it. Despite this, there are Havik loyalists who have brought the character to great success.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Freaky Zombie Health: With 1100 base HP, Havik is tied with General Shao as the two most durable characters in the game. With this much HP, he can largely disregard kameo health penalties - even the -100 HP Mavado isn't a major problem. His high health is also crucial for his trade centered moves, like Seeking Neoplasm (BF3). Freaky Zombie Dashing: Havik has the best dash in the game, blessed with an exceptionally brief duration that gives him near-continuous forward movement and largely obviates the need for dashblocking. Easily Plus: Havik is plus on block from a significant portion of his grounded normals, the most important ones being 11 (+3 with no gap) and 21 (+6). He can also easily make himself plus with EX Neoplasm or Seeking Neoplasm. Safe Combo Starter: Neoplasm will start combos if the enemy is in hitstun, giving Havik a safe combo starter that he can cancel into for one-hit confirms. Beyond its use as a safe combo starter, Neoplasm is also fantastic zoning tool, EX Neoplasm can be applied for setups, and Seeking Neoplasm lets Havik go for high-reward trades or pressure resets. Freaky Zombie Chiropractic: Havik's most conspicuous tool, EX Blood Bath lets Havik set up an unblockable reset on the enemy, vastly improving his potential reward from an opening. To avoid it, the enemy must take a massive risk with an armored getup, potentially opening them up to an even more severe combo punish than the reset itself. Certain characters with stubby armored moves do not even have this option and must eat the reset.

Lots of Plus Frames, No Frametraps: Havik's fastest combo starting mid is his 15 frame F4. None of his normals give enough plus frames to guarantee anything more than a D1, making abare with your own D1 a surprisingly effective option for halting his pressure. Lots Of HP, Terrible Defensive Options: Havik's armored option is hilariously terrible for defense. The startup is so long that in most knockdown situations, enemies will be able to oki with their preferred attack and still get out of the way to whiff punish. Even if they can't get out of the way in time, they can simply flawless block to make it -15. Sluggish, Committal Attacks: Neoplasm is generally a low commit, but Havik's normals are slow, difficult to place, and easily punished on whiff. Exacerbating the problem is his lack of dependable close-range and long-ranged normals, forcing Havik to play at a highly specific ideal distance where he can be easily mashed if he's too close and easily whiff punished if too far. Limited Mixups: Havik can easily close the distance but once up close, Havik has few threatening options for offense and mixups. He must rely on throws, but his back throw leaves the enemy too far away to throw loop, and relying only on forward throws is easier to tech.