KILL la KILL IF/FAQ
General
What is KILL la KILL IF?
- KILL la KILL the Game IF (KLKIF), is a 3D arena fighter released in 2019 and was developed by A+ Games, published by Arc System Works, and co-developed by Team Red. It is based on the anime series produced by Studio Trigger, who also had a supervisor role in the games development.
Is this game for me?
KILL la KILL IF is a very fast paced game with a high emphasis on being accessible to new players, defensive play, and high damage combos. Granted, everyone likes the game for different reasons but whether you're just a fan of the anime or a fighting game player, the game has more than meets the eye.
For those picking up the game for casual fun, like what was said previously, the game is designed to be really easy to pick up. Combo theory for most characters is easy to understand and short combos are easy to craft. You don't really need to go to into training mode for much if you go down this route, outside of a few matchup specific things or certain combos.
However, if you want to go competitive in this game, there are a few things to go over. Most importantly, matchups and counter-picking are the center of this game as many matchups are just brutal, some being borderline unwinnable depending on who you play, so having multiple characters up your sleeve is encouraged. This game can be very intensive with scrambles, quick decision making, and unforgiving matchups. It is very possible to get discouraged from playing, but this game is a treasure trove when it comes to labbing, you might just find something game changing to aid you. Stages are also a massive factor in certain matchups, as the stage size can mean life or death in many situations. In the end, if you're looking to go big in this game, you'll have one hell of a time.
Gameplay
Where do I start?
Regardless of what platform you got the game on, come and stop by the Discord Server. This will be where you find people to play with.
However, before you can play online or unlock the full cast, you will have to complete Story Mode. Story Mode isn't too long and can be completed in a few hours on average. Here you will be introduced to the tutorial as well, you can return to the tutorial whenever needed to on the main menu.
To know which platform is considered the best to play on, check the "Best way to play KILL la KILL IF?" question down below to see how the different ports compare to one another.
What is Bloody Valor?
Bloody Valor is the mainstage unique mechanic of this game. Bloody Valor will commence after someone lands a Valor Burst on their opponent for 2 bars of SP Gauge. A cutscene will begin and both players will have to play rock, paper, scissors. If the attacker wins, they gain a Valor Level, if the defender wins, they deny the attacker a Valor Level. Getting to Valor Level 3 unlocks your FIBER LOST SECRET ARTS, which acts as an insta-kill.
To read up more on Bloody Valor, check out the Bloody Valor section.
What is the difference between Ryuko/Satsuki and their Dual-Wield counterparts?
Ryuko is a rushdown character while Satsuki is an all rounder. When switched to Dual-Wield, Ryuko becomes more of an all rounder while Satsuki becomes more of a rushdown.
Who is a good beginner character?
It's widely agreed upon in the community that Satsuki is the best character for beginners to pick up. She's an all rounder who's great for learning the fundamentals and basics of KILL la KILL IF. She's easy to understand and play with straightforward combos and neutral. Her Valor trait also isn't anything complex either. With how she's designed, beginners won't tend to get bad habits from trying her out either.
There are other beginner friendly characters as well such as
- Ryuko (Rushdown character with an emphasis on defensive play)
- Sanageyama (Fast armored gorilla)
- Mako (Wacky rushdown character, dominates up close, snowballs with ease)
Which characters are the easiest / hardest?
With regards to execution, all of the characters are roughly similar, and perceived difficulty will largely be determined by personal preference. There are no characters that require 1 or 2 frame timings to play effectively, or characters that are designed to be difficult to execute with.
Most characters are similar to one another with them being all relatively easy. The only exceptions to this are characters like Dual-Wield Satsuki, where her combos are very tough in terms of execution and even the slightest bit of lag or delay can mess her up. There are other characters as well with tougher execution than most of the cast such as DTR, but none of them are as tough as Dual-Wield Satsuki in that regard.
When it comes to neutral, decision making, and all that kind of stuff, its split among most of the cast. Some characters have very straightforward and easy to understand gameplans with little deviation while others have to make many decisions and risky endeavors to win. This very much varies from character to character, here is an example. Sanageyama has a very simple gameplan that is easy to grasp and doesn't change much between matchups versus someone like Ragyo, who cannot do the same thing in every matchup and has to make risky choices most of the time to come out on top.
Overall, who is the easiest and hardest is rather subjective, but here are the characters that most people in the community tend to agree upon when it comes to the matter.
Easiest
Hardest
What's the tier list?
Here you can find what the general consensus is from most top level players on the relative strength of the cast. The current list may change due to new discoveries/breakthroughs if any appear. This tier list only applies to optimal play and does not apply to lower levels of play.
This tier list does not consider Restitched.
How large is the gap between tiers?
The gap between tiers is pretty substantial. Lower end characters like Ragyo and Nui are not that viable and they struggle hard against most of the cast. They can get their wins, albeit with a massive amount of difficulty and luck. Compared to top tier characters such as Inumuta or Gamagoori who have tools to rack up wins with much more consistency, it's not really a fair comparison. Across tournaments, this can be seen with what characters win the most usually such as Inumuta or Mako.
Is this game counter-pick heavy?
With how centric this game is on matchups and how brutal many of them can be, counter-picking is very valuable in this game. Counter-picking is usually only seen with characters that have many bad matchups though, usually the better the character you play is, the less of a chance there is that you will ever need to counter-pick, but regardless of what character is being played, counter-picking is a good thing to do against your opponents when the time calls for it.
Why does my burst not work sometimes?
Unlike most other fighting games, bursts do not beat everything in this game. Counter Bursts will lose to many things such as armor, invul frames, and more, so try to time your Counter Burst wisely.
How can I get the bot to do what I want in training mode?
KILL la KILL IF's training mode is not the best, unless you have another person with you or a second controller, you can't make the bot do whatever you want as this game lacks playback recordings.
Are there any bugs/glitches I should know about?
There many bugs in this game, but the most noteworthy ones will be listed below.
Dual-Wield Ryuko d.B
- Dual-Wield Ryuko's d.B lacks a hurtbox as of version 1.03.
Custom keyboard config bug
- This bug only affects Steam users using keyboards with custom controls.
- At roundstart for Round 1, the user's config will be set to default for a few frames. This can disrupt players trying to mash an option at roundstart if they are unaware of it.
Unblockables lacking hitstun
- Characters who can setup unblockables with independent Break Attacks, have a small chance to trigger a bug that will cause the unblockable to do no hitstun, when this occurs the unblockable will still do damage, but the damage becomes non-lethal and cannot KO.
Lobbies crashing
- Sometimes for no real reason, lobbies can crash on netplay, although this happens far more often on Steam than the other platforms.
Post Bloody Valor wallsplats
- Once Bloody Valor has concluded at a player getting Level 1 or 2, the first wallsplat they get after this will have the opponent instantly recover out of it.
Competitive Play
Best way to play KILL la KILL IF?
The best way to play KILL la KILL IF as of 2022 is to play on PlayStation 4, this platform boasts the least amount of lag across the 3 platforms and has the most stable netcode. It also has the largest playerbase. However, the Steam port of the game has access to Restitched, a community patch for the game which comes with many changes such as balance, new characters, and other fixes.
Restitched is tournament standard on the Steam port.
However, the Steam port has a lot of issues as it is poorly optimized which requires a very beefy PC to run it properly and is filled with many more bugs than the other two ports, Restitched seeks to fix these issues in the future.
The Switch port also has some issues such as crashing, running at 30 fps, and overall being a bit more unstable than PlayStation, but still is better in some aspects when compared to the Steam port.
There is no cross-platform multiplayer between ports.
Tournament standard settings?
As of EVO 2022, tournament standard settings are as follows.
Timer
- 180 seconds
Handicap
- 4 Stars (Both players)
Subtitles
- Off (Both players)
What's banned from tournament play?
Ryuko Dual-Wield is BANNED from tournament play on PlayStation and Switch because her d.B is bugged. Her d.B removes her hurtbox during the entire duration (startup, active, and recovery). This allows her to trivialize nearly all of her matchups for no real effort as she is flat out impossible to hit when fighting most characters. This is greatly frowned upon in tournament play, and for that reason she is banned on PlayStation and Switch ports.
Ryuko Dual-Wield is NOT BANNED on the Steam port due to her d.B bug being fixed in the Restitched community patch.
Thread Palace is BANNED from tournament play on all platforms due to the lag the stage can cause, it being a waste of a stage ban, and it giving zoners an unfair advantage when banning or choosing stages.
Other
What is KILL la KILL IF Restitched?
KILL la KILL IF Restitched is a community patch for the game in the works by a team of players from the community. It seeks to rebalance the game and make general improvements. The mod is currently still being updated and can be downloaded and used with the Steam version of the game only.
More can be read up on it in the Community section of the wiki.
How do I find tech on Twitter?
Each character in the game has a specific hashtag which people should aim to use when posting tech for ease of searching. Hashtags begin with #KLK_ and finish with 3 letters (usually from parts of the character's name). The current list is as follows:
| Character | キャラクター | Hashtag / ハッシュタグ |
|---|---|---|
| Ryuko Matoi | 纏 流子 | #KLK_RYK |
| Satsuki Kiryuin | 鬼龍院 皐月 | #KLK_STS |
| Ira Gamagoori | 蟇郡 苛 | #KLK_GMG |
| Uzu Sanageyama | 猿投山 渦 | #KLK_SGY |
| Houka Inumuta | 犬牟田 宝火 | #KLK_IMT |
| Nonon Jakuzure | 蛇崩 乃音 | #KLK_JKZ |
| Nui Harime | 針目 縫 | #KLK_NUI |
| Ragyo Kiryuin | 鬼龍院 羅暁 | #KLK_RGY |
| Ryuko Matoi (Dual Wield) | 流子二刀 | #KLK_RDW |
| Satsuki Kiryuin (Dual Wield) | 皐月二刀 | #KLK_SDW |
| Ultimate Double Naked DTR | ヌーディストビーチ | #KLK_DTR |
| Mako Mankanshoku | 満艦飾マコ | #KLK_MKO |
