Standard Motion
This is the full motion as you might expect: A full rolling of your fingers with every input covered. The challenging part of this method is that sometimes the Down (2) input gets skipped, which is critical for a half circle to come out.
Back (4)Down + Back (1)
Down (2)
Down + Forward (3)
Forward (6)
Rolling a full motion is not our recommended way to input Half Circles. We are going take advantage of input leniency to make things much easier. Input shortcuts and some new ways of thinking about motions will guarantee success.
The secret of Half Circle motions is that the motion does not need any diagonals, just Left-Down-Right.
Tap Method
Instead of doing the whole motion, you can start with the initial direction and then input a quarter-circle to the final direction!
This shortcut is a new mental picture to fundamentally think of Half Circles differently. By thinking in quarter circles, the motion is simplified!
This shortcut is our recommended way to input Half Circle motions. It is the safest and most reliable when you are in a high-pressure situation to finish your combos.Slide Method
Now we are truly skipping the diagonals! Slide your fingers across the buttons to get a half-circle. This will give you the fastest Half Circle possible. Try it in scenarios where you are reacting to your opponent's next move.
Half Circle Left: Use your Index Finger to slide.
Half Circle Right: Middle finger to slide. This requires moving your finger from covering Down to Left, but it is more comfortable than sliding with your Ring Finger.
Tip: Press the attack button slightly early and hold the button. This will guarantee that your attack comes out on the first frame that you finish your HC motion. This makes 3-frame Half Circles consistent!
Double Half-Circle
Standard Motion
You can input the motion traditionally.
Tap Method
Or you can use the tap method.
We highly recommend the Tap Method to be your go-to Double Half Circle technique.
Slide Method
Or you can take a walk on the wild slide. The thing to look out for with sliding Double Half Circles is that you don't slide through the buttons! You need to slide back the other direction immediately or you will get a Dash by mistake (sliding to the right you will get a premature attack input).
Compound Method
However, if you combine all of the techniques above, you can make the Double Half Circle consistent and near-instant! The big advantage to this method is that by the time you finish the first Half Circle, your Index Finger has already recovered to the slide position: This reduces the hesitation between Half Circles.
A little swag never hurt anybody...
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Explore more How-To content for King of Fighters XV on Hit Box with the "KOF" and "How To Hit Box" tags at the bottom of this post.
In addition, if you have any questions, please join our community on Discord and visit the #2d-traditionals channel.
And, as always, may your inputs be blessed.