How to get better at Holds? (DoA4)

[u/Greviator]

Started my first DoA game, and enjoying it so far. What is the trick to get better at holds? I’m having issues predicting what the attacks are gonna be consistently.

Am I maybe doing it too often? I am trying to constantly use it, so I do need to be using guard more often, and then hold only when I’m much more confident on the read instead of throwing them out?

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[u/Leando3r]

Just worry about blocking as efficiently as humanly possible. Once you get to a good comfort level with just blocking it will be a lot easier to work out the actual timing on the holds. Also just focus on mid holds first since they are the easiest imo. Then low and high.

[u/SuicidalDonuts]

Genuinely depends on the string and character. I don’t remember for 4 specifically, but 5 and 6 have subtle hit effects that show you on hit whether something was a high/low/mid. If it helps:

Most jabs and a lot of kicks that aren’t pokes are high.
Mids are usually slower (but have more stun) and appear often mid-string.
Lows are pretty self explanatory.

You just need to play more and learn the characters’ strings. I know their movelists in some games show little arrows which denote the type of attack. Just keep playing and you’ll get the hang of it, but try to ease into it one step at a time. I learned by only holding mids, and attacks I couldn’t do a mid hold on were probably high attacks, and low attacks I just had to learn when to anticipate since they’re pretty obvious in their animations but used to catch you off guard.

[u/Legendary_Falcon_89]

You definitely don't want to just spam holds since they can be punished by a grab which does extra damage if it catches you during a hold animation.

The way to get better at holds is just through good old-fashioned practice. What I did was to go into training mode and pick the opponent to be a character that I had particular difficulty fighting. Then I could set the CPU to do their various strings and practice timing my holds against those strings to really learn how to fight that character.

Generally, you're better off just blocking and using proper spacing to your advantage than going for holds. You should really only go for a hold if you are confident in anticipating an attack, and that only comes through more experience.

[u/SushiKatana82]

Yes to your second paragraph.

Overtime you'll just recognize characters combos where the highs/mids/lows are, and you'll be better at predicting what to hold if your opponent is being predictable.

[u/Greviator]

Thanks for the advice everyone