Pokken Tournament is a fighting game that pits Pokemon against each other. This fast paced nature of fighting is something many Pokemon fans have wanted for years. Since it was developed by both The Pokemon Company and Bandai Namco, as well as the Soulcalibur producer, it is sure to be be an authentic Pokemon fighting experience.
I’m here to help you get started in this game by explaining the basics and what you need to know as a beginning player.
This guide will go over everything you need to know to get started in Pokken Tournament including:
- Ferrum Region Menu and Battle Modes – The main menu and what you can select from it.
- Battle Basics and Basic Controls – The basic systems and controls of the game.
- Advanced Mechanics – More mechanics like the attack Triangle, Support Pokemon, and more.
- Battle Pokemon Types – The 4 different types of Battle Pokemon and what they do.
- amiibo Support – What you can do with amiibo in this game.
Ferrum Region Menu and Battle Modes
- My Town – Check battle data and change settings
- Ferrum League – Single Player story
- Single Battle – Fight against CPU
- Local Battle – Fight against another player locally
- One player must use the game pad screen while the other uses the TV screen
- Online Battle – Fight against players online
- Practice – Extensive tutorial and practice for every Pokemon and move in the game
- You can learn the game, practice moves of each Pokemon, learn combos, and more.
- I highly suggest going through this game mode before doing anything else.
Battle Basics and Basic Controls
The arena is split between 2 phases, Field and Dual.
Field is a free movement, 3-D arena that focuses on ranged attacks.
Dual is a 2-D arena similar to most classic fighting games where combos and close-range attacks are the focus.
In Field Phase, you can move around freely and press Y to perform ranged attacks.
You can also perform a Homing Attack by pressing X twice.
Performing certain attacks will change from Field Phase to Duel phase. You can also use powerful attacks or combos to go from Dual to Field phase.
Synergy Gauge
When you attack or get attacked, you fill up a Synergy Gauge on the left side of your screen. When this is full, you can activate a Synergy Burst by pressing L+R.
You can also find Synergy Power scattered on the stage. Pick this up to fill up the gauge as well.
You become stronger in Synergy Burst and won’t be stunned by small hits. You also have access to a strong attack by pressing L+R while in Synergy Burst.
Battle Controls
While in Duel phase, you can press Y repeatedly to perform a Poke Combo. You can perform other types of combos by linking attack together. Each Pokemon has their own set of combos possible, so you’ll have to try them out.
You can also Counter in any phase by pressing X+A at the same time, right as your opponent’s attack is about to hit you. You can charge a counter by holding it. You can also cancel by pressing a direction on the D-pad and R.
Grab by pressing Y+B at the same time. Grabs can be used on opponents that block.
You can block by holding R, but you can still take damage while blocking some attacks. This is called Block Damage. You cannot be KOd by block damage.
If you continue to block against attacks without letting go, your shield will start to turn red. Eventually, the enemy can break your block if they keep attacking. This is called a Guard Break and leaves you defenseless for a short time.
Advanced Mechanics
Attack Triangle aka Rock-Paper-Scissors
Each of the 3 main attack styles has a strength and weakness.
- Grabs are super effective against counters, but not very effective against normal attacks.
- Counters are super effective against normal attacks, but not very effective against grabs
- Normal attacks are super effective against grabs, but not very effective against counters.
You do more damage when something is super effective, but take more damage when the move is not very effective.
Support Pokemon
Your support gauge fills up over time and is shown on the support Pokemon above your Synergy Gauge. Press L to use support when the gauge completely fills.
There are 3 types of support:
- Attack – Good for dealing damage and pushing opponents back.
- Disrupt – Good for countering opponent’s attacks or blocking their movements.
- Enhance – Good for powering you up or healing you.
Support Pokemon can also cause either a Positive or Negative status.
- Positive Statuses – Attack, Defense, or Speed Increase
- Negative Statuses – Attack, Defense, or Speed Decrease
Special Attacks
Each Pokemon has multiple unique attacks that you can perform by pressing A and multiple directions on the D-pad.
Stances
You can enter a Low Stance by pressing Down on the D-pad while in dual Phase. You can press Y to perform quick attacks and X to perform knock down attacks.
You can press Up on the D-pad to enter High Stance. In High Stance, press Y to perform air attacks, and X to parry low attacks.
Piercing Attacks
These are attacks that cannot be countered. Charging a counter is an example of a piercing attack. Holding the last hit of a Homing attack is another example of a piercing attack.
Knock Downs and Getting Up
When knocked down, you won’t take damage on the ground. Your Pokemon will get up on its own, but it is a good idea to do it yourself to catch them opponents off guard.
Skill Levels
As you battle with a Pokemon, it will level up. You gain skill points to put in one of the 4 categories.
- Attack – Increases the amount of damage you deal.
- Defense – Decreases the amount of damage you take.
- Synergy – Increases the duration of Synergy Burst, as well as the boost you get to attack and defense.
- Strategy – Decreases the charging time for your Support Gauge and enhances support effects.
You cannot use these leveled up Pokemon in LAN or Practice Modes. You are required to use them in Ferrum League and Special Events.
Recovering HP
When you lose HP, you can actually gain some of it back in battle. The dark green portion of your HP bar shows the HP you can recover.
You can recover HP by initiating phase shifts and Synergy Bursts. You also gradually recover HP while in Synergy Burst.
Battle Pokemon Types
Each Pokemon you fight with can have 1 of 4 types:
- Standard – Balanced overall
- Blaziken
- Pikachu
- Lucario
- Braixen
- Suicune
- Mewtwo
- Speed – Weaker attacks and HP, moves fast, fills up Synergy gauge fast, short duration of Synergy Burst.
- Pikachu Libre
- Sceptile
- Weavile
- Power – Stronger attacks and HP, moves and attacks slower
- Machamp
- Chandelure
- Charizard
- Garchomp
- Technical – Synergy Burst has a long duration, low HP, fills up Synergy Gauge slowly
- Gardevoir
- Gengar
- Shadow Mewtwo
amiibo Support
You can use amiibo to add random items to your game, such as avatar items or titles. You can use any amiibo and the results are completely random.
There is also a Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card you can get if you get the first-run physical copies of the game.
This automatically unlocks Shadow Mewtwo, but you can still unlock him in later in the game if you do not have it.
The card only unlocks him until you turn the game off, so you will want to finish the game eventually to permanently unlock Shadow Mewtwo
That’s it for my Pokken Tournament Beginner Tips and Tricks. Let me know if you have any questions and stay tuned for more guides!
