The King of Fighters ARENA has dropped globally by Netmarble just this week. Taking the genre of action Fighting RPG to another level and being backed by the famous King of Fighters IP (Intellectual Property), The King of Fighters ARENA is certainly receiving some positive reviews from the community. Apart from the vast amount of playability and accessibility options, the game does a fair job of giving all players an equal chance of winning the battles with no pay-to-win mechanics. All the heroes in the game are available to be played completely for free in all matches – be it normal or ranked mode. Yes, a competitive ranked mode to test the player’s skills and understanding of the game’s mechanics is also in place. The King of Fighters ARENA is available to be played as a free-to-play game on both the Google Play Store and iOS App Store.

The King of Fighters ARENA is a play-to-earn game as well where players can earn some cryptocurrency simply by playing the game and linking their accounts with the cryptocurrency wallet. This might be a turn-off for many players who do not want to be engaged in cryptocurrency farming due to privacy reasons and the best part is that you necessarily do not have to. The game gives you an option to simply play the game as it is without linking your account to a crypto wallet. We will talk more about this in this beginner’s guide.

In this beginner’s guide for The King of Fighters ARENA, we will be taking an in-depth look at all the different systems and mechanics that the game has to offer to new players. Of course, we will be discussing these systems from a new player standpoint and according to the limited information that the community has so far gathered. We highly recommend players make their own decisions by taking reference from this guide as The King of Fighters ARENA is still very much a new game. There is still a lot to uncover and understand about the gameplay mechanics. Here are the different sub-topics being covered in this guide:

• Understanding the Summoning System
• Understanding the Combat Mechanics
• Understanding the Different Currencies
• Different Game Modes

The Summoning System

The King of Fighters ARENA is a gacha game that makes use of the innate gachapon mechanics to summon cartridges of fighters. Yes, it is true that while all the fighters are free to use and play in all game modes, players do need to summon each fighter’s cartridge. These fighter cartridges are available at a fixed base rate for each fighter in the summoning system called “Summon”. Players will be able to unlock this system as soon as they finish their tutorial. Compared to other predatory gacha games, the rates are fixed in The King of Fighters ARENA instead of being variable for different rarities of characters.

Here are the rates:

• All Fighters Cartridges – 2.702% Probability of being summoned (Individual Fighter Cartridge)

Players can obtain these fighter cartridges by summoning on the only banner currently open for summoning:

• Summon Cartridge Banner – In this summoning banner, players can summon cartridges of all fighters at a fixed rate. As fighters do not have a rarity to classify them, it depends on sheer luck whether the player is able to summon a cartridge for their favorite fighter or not. Players require to use their obtained Diamonds to summon on this banner. They can either make a single summon or do a 10-pull on the banner depending on the number of Diamonds they have. Fighter Cartridges are used to enhance the masteries of your fighters. Yes, players can also increase them by playing them in matches as well but fighter cartridges remain to be the fastest way.

• Cartridge Summoning Ticket – A consumable material that is used to summon fighter cartridges by using them. Players can get these tickets from completing certain events or as part of pre-registration rewards currently in-game.

In the future, more fighters are expected to be added along with an emphasis on obtaining their cartridges more easily in a targeted manner. Hence, we might see new types of banners where a specific fighter’s cartridge will be highlighted by having a higher rate of being obtained compared to equal rates for all fighter cartridges. However, that’s all speculation with no confirmation from the developer’s side. We would recommend players to currently save their diamonds and not waste them in case a lucrative event featuring their favorite fighter starts.

Understanding the Combat Mechanics

Combat is where games like The King of Fighters ARENA excel at. They have little to no storyline or voice acting but offer a high-skilled combat experience that invokes the competitive spirit of players to dominate in battles. The majority of the players will be engaged in 1v1 battles against other players where each side picks a hero and competes against the opponent’s pick. The match plays out on a medium server that matches the latency of both players. So far while testing the combat of the game, we have experienced little to no lag or frame drops which is a strong testament to the stability of the server. However, the community does not 100% agree with this fact as many players have mentioned that their game lags or that they face random disconnections in between the matches resulting in a loss. Coming more toward the battle mechanics, each player is firstly required to start matchmaking in either ranked or normal mode. The ranked mode is a competitive game mode where players are ranked according to their points. Each match that they play affects their points and in turn, their rankings on the leaderboard. A victory grants you points while a loss takes away your points. The ranking season resets every 3 months and the top players are graciously rewarded.

In normal battles, players can simply practice their fighters without worrying about losing ranking points. The battle is conducted in real-time where both players have to manually control their fighters. Understandably, being a fighter RPG, not every player will be perfectly equipped to learn and execute the best combos of their fighters on the first try itself. Such games require a ton of practice and dedication to be able to play them at core efficiency. Players need to completely destroy the HP bar of the enemy fighter in order to emerge as victorious.

In this section, we will also be learning some of the basics related to combat and the different mechanics at play here.

• Movement – Players can move around the battlefield by simply swiping left or right. If using a controller or your keyboard (with BlueStacks), the controls will be different. We will get into more detail into the controls in a different section below. Mastering your movement is also very important as players will be trying to dodge enemy abilities and attacks by moving either left or right.
• Basic Attack – Each fighter in the game has their own set of basic attacks. Currently, all heroes are melee ranged in The King of Fighters ARENA which makes it much easier to simply go in face to face with the opponent to bash them. Keep in mind that while taking hits, you will temporarily be unable to do any movements as you will be in a dizzied state. A good fighter will always try to lock you into this zone. The one who strikes first has an advantage in this sense.

• Combo Attack – A combo attack is simply a series of basic attacks in succession. Players can tap the basic attack repeatedly or keep it pressed for a long duration of time to execute a chain of basic attacks.
• Finisher/Ultimate ability – Finisher and Ultimate abilities are some of the most powerful abilities that every fighter possesses. Each of these abilities uses a certain amount of Power Gauge (PG). They have a fixed cooldown time and damage multiplier of 2 seconds and 60 seconds respectively for all fighters. Your Power Gauge fills automatically when you attack the enemy or are getting attacked by the enemy. Another currency called the Guard Gauge (GG) comes into play when you are defending from the attacks from your opponent. The amount of PG and GG accumulated depends on the attack sustained and the fighter you are using.

• Guard – Guard is the perfect mechanic to counter the aggressiveness of your opponents. Guarding reduces the incoming damage significantly. Players can also enable the option of “Auto-Guard” which will help new players guard against a set of combo attacks effectively at the precise timing. In other cases where players are experienced enough, they can keep this setting turned off. They will be required to manually Guard against the attacks by tapping on the Guard button located at the bottom right-hand side of the combat screen. Keep in mind that players cannot use Guard against Finisher/Ultimate abilities. Grab skills also cannot be guarded.
• Dodge/Emergency Dodge – Players can make use of the Dodge button located at the bottom right-hand side of the screen and marked by a running stick figure. Simply tap the button to dodge incoming attacks. Players can combine their dodges with the movement buttons and attack buttons to dodge in a specific direction and/or perform a dodge attack to render the enemy numb. If players are still somehow hit by the opponents during the Dodge, an emergency dodge will be triggered.
• Escape – Escape is one of the best mechanics that are introduced in The King of Fighters ARENA as it gives all players a failsafe chance to escape from the clutches of the enemy instead of being constantly put down into the corner and attacked. However, on the downside, players will be spending 1 PG in order to escape. The Escape button can be tapped by going to the bottom left-hand side of the combat screen. It is like a jailbreak card for players. However, keep in mind that players can only escape from combo attacks and not finisher/ultimate abilities. Further, Escape can only be used when being hit and not when you are standing idle.

• MAX Mode – MAX mode is triggered when you tap on the big yellow button located at the right-hand side. MAX mode is only available when your collected PG is above 2. Of course, once triggered, your 2 PG will be consumed but your fighter will gain the following effects – PG requirements for using Finisher and Ultimate reduced, the amount of PG accumulated while being hit by the opponent is reduced, and the damage inflicted to the opponent’s GG increases. Once the MAX mode is over, all of the effects provided by it are also finished.

Understanding the Different Currencies

Unlike other gacha games, the currencies used in The King of Fighters ARENA are quite different and diverse. In this game, we are not looking to maximize progression and are not limited by how much we can play, unlike other games. Hence, the currencies included will be those that are necessary to understand in order to have a grasp of the different systems at play in The King of Fighters ARENA. Here are the 2 major currencies that are used frequently:

• Fighter Mastery

• Stamina

Fighter Mastery – Fighter Mastery is significant to any fighter in The King of Fighters ARENA as it upgrades the way it is played. Consider it like leveling up your champions in other similar gacha/RPG games. Each fighter has a specific mastery attached to it. Players can go to the fighter mastery screen from the left-hand side of the main screen. Select any fighter and go to their mastery in the left-hand side of the menu. Fighter cartridges are required in order to upgrade any fighter’s mastery. As we previously talked about them in the summoning section, we will not go too deep regarding them. Fighters can be enhanced when their mastery is unlocked. Mystic Cube, FM (Fight Money), or Mastery Points can be used to enhance the fighter. If the enhancement is successful, your fighter gains a +1 status but if the enhancement fails, the value decreases by -1. Mastery increases your fighter’s base stats along with providing them with different powerful passive abilities. Mastery passive is open for selection when you have Enhanced mastery to a certain level. Mastery Passive applied regardless of tier.

Stamina – Fighters require Stamina to participate in battles. Each fighter’s stamina count and daily regeneration limit can be seen from the fighter screen in the Fighter Mastery tab. Each time you use a fighter in battle, their Stamina is decreased. Once a fighter’s basic stamina is completely depleted, players can use the fighter again using Shared Stamina which is used for all fighters. If both the Basic Stamina and Shared Stamina are not available, then players will not be able to play with the fighter until it is replenished again. The Basic Stamina replenishment rate is 25% every 6 hours. If a fighter’s basic stamina is currently full, the extra stamina will be charged. If players have extra stamina and they use that fighter in battle, some additional mastery points will be given to them. Shared Stamina, on the other hand, is replenished once every week instead of slowly replenishing over time.

Game Modes in The King of Fighters ARENA

In The King of Fighters ARENA, players can experience different game modes. Here are some of the game modes currently available for all players to play and enjoy at the time of the global launch:

• Practice Mode – Practice Mode can be accessed by going to the Quick Battle tab located in the main menu and then clicking on Practice. Players can also choose to practice directly with any fighter from the Fighter Mastery screen. Players can control every aspect of the battle in this game mode such as choosing the enemy fighter, the battlefield map, and more. Players can reset the situation of the fight, choose to provide an AI to the enemy for them to move and fight, select the difficulty of the AI, instantly recharge PG and GG, and more.

• 1v1 Mode (Single Player) – In this game mode, 2 players fight in a 1-on-1 battle. Each player selects 3 different fighters and the selected fighters are not revealed to the enemy until the match begins during the loading screen. Players will be matched against opponents that are similar to their own skill level in order to avoid discrepancy. Further, PC players will only be matched against PC opponents while mobile players will only be matched against mobile opponents. Each round, the 1st picked fighters will fight. Once any of the fighters is defeated, the round will be over and the next round will begin. The player who wins 2 out of the 3 rounds will be declared as the winner.
• Grand Battle (Team Mode) – In this game mode, a total of 6 players form a team of 3 fighters each to duke it out in a team battle. You cannot choose the same fighters as your teammates. It is not possible to choose the order of the players. PC players will only be matched against PC opponents while mobile players will only be matched against mobile opponents. The team that defeats all 3 opponents wins first. It’s not possible to switch fighters in between matches. Round winners keep playing until defeated.

Play The King of Fighters ARENA on a bigger screen of your PC using your keyboard and mouse with BlueStacks for the most optimized gameplay experience.