Tekken 7 Beginners Guide that should answer all your question regarding the game whether you are a newcomer or an experienced Tekkener. In this guide, I have discussed some of the most fundamental aspects of the game like movement, blocking, throws, and more. Do note that a few of the things mentioned in the guide such as Frame Data, advanced movement techniques, etc. might come out as a little intimidating but you should get a hang of them with time and practice.
Published and developed by Bandai Nacmo, Tekken 7 is the ninth installment in the Tekken series and the first game that has officially launched on PC. Unlike Tekken Tag Tournament II, Tekken 7 follows the 1-on-1 battles formula with a few noticeable changes. These changes include Rage Art that allows characters to execute critical attacks that deal around 30% damage depending on the character and can only be executed when the attacker’s HP bar is at critical.
The second major change is Power Crush that lets players continue their attacks even while being hit by an opponent. The Power Crush, however, only works for absorbing Mid and High attacks. Finally, there is the introduction of Screw Attacks but more information on it is provided under the Combos Section below.
For more help on Tekken 7, check out our Moves List Guide.
Tekken 7 Beginners Guide
In our Tekken 7 Beginners Guide, we have detailed some fundamentals of the game to help newcomers improve their playstyle.
Tekken 7 Beginners Guide
Notations
If you are new to Tekken, it is a good idea to learn about these notations, as these are widely used to the Tekken community. Everything from Frame Data to combos and guides are produced by keeping these notations in mind.
- 1 = Left Punch
- 2 = Right Punch
- 3 = Left Kick
- 4 = Right Kick
- u = Jump
- d = Crouch
- N = Neutral State
- f = Walk towards an Opponent
- b = Walk away from an Opponent
If the above notations are in capital, it means that you have to hold the input.
- : = Frame Timing
- WR = While Running
- WS = While Standing
- < = Delay in Pressing Inputs
- ~ = Press Inputs in Quick Succession
- + = Must Press the Inputs Together i.e. 1 + 2
- , = Separates Inputs e.g. 1, 2 Means Pressing 1 Followed by 2
Character Movement
While doing nothing, your character remains in a ‘Neutral’ state with built-in autoblock. You can press/hold f or b to walk towards or away from an opponent. Since walking is slow, you can double-tap f or b to dash towards or away from an opponent. If you are a certain distance away from your opponent, you can press and hold f, F to run towards an opponent.
Following a run-up, you can execute a dive by pressing 1 + 2, a slide by pressing 4, an automatic tackle, a slash kick, or an unblockable shoulder ram. These attacks depends on the distance. For instance, you will automatically tackle an opponent after running for 11 steps and can follow-up with a 1, 2, 1, 2… string. You can perform a slide/dive by pressing the aforementioned inputs after 12 steps. Finally, the unblockable shoulder ram occurs after 18 steps.
Tapping u~N or d~N will let you sidestep in or out of the screen. You can also tap and hold u~N~U or d~n~D to continue to sidewalk until you let go of the joystick. The ~ means that an input quickly follows a previous input. For instance, if I say 4~3, it means that you need to press 4 and 3 in quick succession. Pressing and holding d will let you crouch and most of the moves in this state are low.
Pressing u will make your character jump. If you are a beginner, I do not recommend jumping unless Akuma is your main character or you want to start a combo with uf + 4. With the exception of jump, you can cancel all these movements into each other. For instance, you can backdash into a sidestep or simply backdash cancel by b, b~db, b, b~db… You will learn these advanced movement techniques by practice.
Attacking and Blocking
Each character in Tekken 7 has a variety of attacks. You can refer to our Tekken 7 Moves List and Combos Guide for more information. Every attack hits in one of four ranges i.e. High, Mid, Special Mid, and Low. If you are in a ‘Neutral’ state or blocking, you will only block High, Mid, and Special Mid attacks. When crouch blocking, you will only avoid Low, Special Mid, and High attacks. I highly recommend learning to block Low attacks because almost all of them are heavily punishable.
You can also sidestep some attacks and follow-up with your own attacks. However, do note that you cannot sidestep all attacks. Every character has a few attacks called ‘Homing Attacks’ that are impossible to sidestep. For instance, Leo’s b + 3 is a homing attack. Finally, there are some unblockable attacks like Leo’s b, b 1 + 2. While unblockable, these attacks are not hard to sidestep.
Understanding Frame Data
Every attack in Tekken 7 has some Startup Frames and Recovery Frames on block, hit, and whiff. How fast a character recovers from an attack determines whether you can punish the attacker or not. For instance, every character’s 1 is a punch with 10 Startup Frames and is +1 on block. It means that if Player-A did 1 punch and Player-B blocked it, Player-A’s next move will come 1 frame faster than Player-B’s.
It is important that you have an idea of what your quickest attacks are and how to punish your opponent’s misplays. Now coming to attacks that are -10 frames or higher on block, all of them are considered punishable. Punishing an opponent depends upon a variety of factors like your character’s moves, wall-placement, etc. Generally, an attack that is -10 frames on block is punishable with a quick 1, 2. You can launch an opponent for a combo if you manage to punish an attack that is -15 on block.
Finally, coming to whiffs, every whiffed-attack in Tekken 7 is punishable. You can force an opponent to whiff an attack by moving out of its range, sidestepping, or by crouching the High attacks. For instance, if you manage to whiff Law’s 1, 2 by crouching as Jack-7, you should easily punish it with your WS + 1 with a quick follow-up combo.
Throws
There are three types of throws in Tekken 7 i.e. Normal Throws, Command Throws, and Special Throws. You can execute a Normal Throw with 1 + 3 and 2 + 4. You can also execute them with f + 1 + 3 and f + 2 + 4 but they become a tad slower. In order to break a Normal Throw, simply press 1 or 2. The game gives you a large window to break throws, therefore, try to take advantage of it.
Command Throws include character-specific throws like Lars’ uf + 1 + 2 or Leo’s f, f + 1 + 2. You can break these throws by pressing 1, 2, or 1 + 2. Finally, Special Throws are the ones that do not come under above categories. For instance, King’s 1, 2 + 1 + 2 or his air-throws come under this category.
Low Parry
This is a universal technique available to all the character as a means of protection against Low attacks. When performed successfully, you can follow-up with a combo to deal some additional damage. It completely depends on you whether you want to launch an opponent for a juggle after blocking a Low attack or go with a Low Parry. In order to perform a Low Parry, you must press d/f at exactly the same time at which your opponent’s Low attack would have hit you. Do note that if you mess up the timing, you will take damage from the Low attack.
Combos and Wall Combos
In addition to strings that almost every character has, you can perform devastating combos that are the bread and butter of Tekken franchise. When I talk about strings, I am referring to Devil Jin’s 1, 1, 2 or Leo’s 3, 2, 1, 4. You can perform Juggles, on the other hand, after launching an opponent in the air. Unlike Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament II, there is no concept of Bound! In Tekken 7 but if you are new to the game, let it not trouble you.
In Tekken 7, there is a new mechanic called Screw. Screw in the game is needed to extend a combo and you can only use one Screw in a combo unless you break an arena’s floor. Moreover, not all of a character’s move trigger Screw. Another important thing to keep in mind is that you can land a full Screw combo after a Low Parry. After picking a new character, try to learn about its safe Launchers, Screws, and punishes to be able to play the character at a high level.
While a majority of the combos is devastating, they become deadlier when executed near a wall. Walls in Tekken 7 add additional damage to a combo and allow you to add in additional attacks. Every character in the game has BnB combos that are his/her go-to combos. I recommend learning a couple of these BnB combos to use in your routine matches. Pro players like Nobi, AO, Saint, JDCR, etc. has some of the combos that you can learn by watching their plays.
Getting Up
After you are knocked down, you have a few different ways to get up. You can press 1, 2, 3, or 4 to instantly roll and get up. It is called a Techroll is widely considered to be one of the safest ways of getting up. If you hold b after getting knocked out, you will roll backwards and then get up. While it is safe, skilled opponents can easily punish it. Finally, if you hold f, you will perform a kip-up but try to avoid it.
On the other hand, if you do not want to get up immediately and continue to lie down, you can do so as well. You can simply press u to get up straight but can get punished for it. After a delay, you can press 3 to wake up with a low kick or 4 for a mid kick. Once again, do note that skilled opponents expect you to wake up with these techniques and can punish you accordingly. Therefore, try to mix things up and confuse your opponents.
This is all we have in our Tekken 7 Beginners Guide. If you have any other questions in mind, let us know in the comments section below!
