How to play as Chris in The King of Fighters XV – Moves and tactics for beginners

The Swedish 14-year-old Chris has a lot to offer for those who prefer a quicker brawler style in The King of Fighters XV. He can zip from one place to another in a matter of seconds, and as he zones in on his opponent, he brings a cheerful smile that can certainly come off as a little creepy.

Use Chris’ speed to your advantage

Chris is as agile as an acrobat as he zooms across the stage, and this is a good thing because he doesn’t have any projectiles to utilize. With Chris, you want to pummel opponents head-on rather than waiting around on one side of the stage, especially against projectile users. Don’t give them any space, and if you do gain distance between Chris and the opponent, make sure to use his slide kick. Perform it by holding the arrow buttons to the bottom right and then using a heavy kick.

To make Chris even speedier, his dash abilities will do the trick. Slide your finger down to right on the D-Pad and press the quick kick button to utilize a ridiculously long dash forward called Scramble Dash. If an opponent is coming towards you from the air, try to use a Hunting Air (right, down, right + any kick button) as an anti-air attack. If you want to boost its power, perform the same movement motion (right, down, right) but do it twice. Chris will spiral in the air twice with his kicks, but it will cost you one bar on your power meter.

That’s not the end of his dashing attacks, however. You can perform both high kicks and powerful punches that are reinforced by his speed. Go back and left with any kick button to use a rapid dive kick; heavy and short kicks have differing timing patterns. The punches are slightly different. The heavy punch button with the back and left motion goes for a quick middle kick, while the short punch provides a low attack. Practice all four variants to keep your foes guessing.

Knockback and quick attacks

For a quick knockback move, press both the hard kick and punch buttons together (triangle and circle buttons by default on the PS4/PS5 or the Y and B buttons on Xbox systems). Chris will perform a devastating kick in the air that will push your opponent to the other side of the map.

Another special move you should know is Chain Side Touch. This is also part of the auto-combo when you’re at Level 1, but it can be performed normally with two down, right motions and then either of the punch buttons. This will perform an onslaught of slaps to the chest of your foe, but it only causes 10-15% damage; it’s a fast way to thwart an incoming threat, however, as Chris is super speedy.

His ultimate attack, the Onslaught Mirage, is hard to pull off for beginners, but it can be utilized by using an auto combo while having three bars of energy on your meter. To perform it normally (and gain more damage for daring the motions on your controller), go down, left, and then swing your fingers left, down, and right with a simultaneous press of the heavy punch and heavy kick buttons (just like the knockback). It’s difficult, but there’s a full-fledged tutorial mode if you need to practice it. It takes about half of their health, so it’s well worth the effort.

Chris is just one character out of 39 to master in the base game, but hopefully, your playthrough of Team Orochi’s story mode can proceed with this guide.