Players who plan on picking up Tekken 8 need to pick their go-to character before squaring up against opponents. Each available character in the game provides unique playstyles that range from punching or kicking really hard and fast, to more cerebral styles that focus on countering their opponent’s attacks at the right moment.
While some fighters are easier to pick up and play, there are some in the roster that demand more time in Practice Mode to unleash their full and deadly potential. The following fighters require more hours in the lab to master their playstyles, moves, and combos.
Updated May 17, 2024, by Jonathan Rodriguez: Bandai Namco has recently released Patch 1.04 for Tekken 8, which touched on a number of characters. This has led to some having buffs and nerfs on their respective damage, frame advantages, and Heat-related moves. Some characters were given notable buffs, such as Leroy, Bryan and Steve. Others were given nerfs, such as Azucena, Dragunov, and Devil Jin. As a result, some characters are now easier to get the hang of and have better damage in some of their key moves. Other characters have become even harder to master and require players to get more creative and work more to get hard-earned wins.
Bryan
Counter Punish and Taunting
Tekken 8 rewards players for aggression, but veteran players know how to punish players who recklessly dive in for combo strings. One such character is Bryan. He is one of the best punish characters in the game, and while he can be played offensively, he shines at defensively waiting out and stealing opponents’ turns with a well-timed counter-hit.
That said, players need to practice reading their opponent’s attacks before striking at openings to unleash Bryan’s potential. He also relies on the player's knowledge and execution of his Taunt mechanics, since his most damaging strings can be accessed when players first tag enemies with his Taunt.
Bryan has gotten a lot of attention in Patch 1.04. His Heat Smash now has increased damage, improved hitboxes to some of his attacks like Hatchet Kick. Some of his combo string enders have also gotten better plus frames. But even with these buffs, Bryan still demands execution and Taunt usage for his devastating attacks from Snake Eyes stance.
Devil Jin
Unbridled Aggression
Devil Jin has seen his time in the spotlight as one of the most aggressive characters in Tekken 8. This is thanks in large part to his Heat Smash, which initially can cover a good amount of distance towards the enemy and deal massive damage. Blocking his Heat Smash can often place enemies at the mercy of Devil Jin’s 50-50 attacks.
That said, Devil Jin has received tons of nerfs since the game’s release. Namely, his Heat Smash was gutted in Patch 1.04, reducing its range, reach, and tracking. While Devil Jin still retains his bevy of High and Low attacks, nerfing his admittedly over-tuned Heat Smash has made him harder to play, especially in competitive play.
Make no mistake, Devil Jin is still a fun character to play, but he needs more from his players now than before. Players need to have wave dashing as part of their muscle memory, so they can access Devil Jin’s punishing options once they have zeroed in on their opponent. Once they’re up close and personal with the opponent, players need to work more on their plus-frame attacks and avoid relying too much on his gimmicks that most players have figured out by now to keep the pressure and ensure a win.
Raven
Old and New Stance Mastery
Raven is back in Tekken 8, along with his sneaky ninjutsu techniques. Taking from his boss, Victor, Raven relies on deceptive methods to catch his opponents off-guard and follow up with his flashy combos.
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His Back-Turn stance returns in this game, and with a new one in Soul Zone as well. Players who want to master Raven need to be familiar with all of his moves from these two stances, since this is where his combo strings and wall carries come from. Soul Zone’s clone attacks are especially deadly when Heat is activated, so players need to be familiar with their pressure game.
Law
Mastery of the Dragon Sign Stance
Marshall Law has seen some changes to his playstyle ever since his first appearance in the Tekken games. His Dragon Sign Stance returns in Tekken 8, and it is still important for players to master the input to get him into this stance since his offensive options are locked within it.
Law also has a great poke game and annoying mix-ups, especially his Banana Peel and Slide Kick attacks. His Slide Kick has a notoriously difficult input, so players aiming to main him should be able to pull off this attack consistently during matches. Since he is at his most dangerous when he’s up close and personal, players should make it a point to bring the fight to their opponent early and often.
Lee
Just-Frame Mastery
When it comes to combos that have just-frames, Lee is the fighter players pick if they want to play a character who has challenging inputs. Timing is everything for Lee: his damaging combos rely on the player nailing the frame-perfect timing when they begin his combo strings. Getting frame-perfect input usually has Lee saying “Excellent,” “Perfect,” or “Great” to confirm.
Lee’s gameplay is more defensive and revolves around counter-hits and goading opponents to whiff their attacks with his Hitman stance. This means players should also be aware of spacing and how far their opponent’s reach is, so that they can punish them accordingly.
Nina
Mastery of Sidestepping Combos
Nina’s gameplay revolves around poking and adjusting the space between herself and her opponent to let her get the advantage. She has built-in side steps on her combo strings that allow her to adjust her position and circumvent her opponent’s defenses.
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Her wall carry combos are excellent, thanks to the addition of her handguns that push back enemies. Players just need to be mindful of when to cancel or continue her combo strings for maximum damage. On top of that, Nina also has a decent throw game, so players who want to further add more pressure need to learn her command grab inputs.
Reina
Mastery of Her Stances
The newest character to adopt the Mishima fighting style, Reina demands players who choose her as their main to be on point with the wave dash. This is because, as a Mishima, she does all her highly-damaging combos from wave dashing. She can do the Electric Wind God Fist, as well as her version of the Thunder God Fist, and Hell Sweep.
On top of that, Reina has four different stances: Sentai stance, Senshin, Unsoku, and Heaven’s Wrath. Mastery of her four stances unlocks her damage potential, and that requires players to invest hours upon hours in Practice Mode with her to figure out the flowcharts of each stance while also practicing perfect execution of her wave dash.
Kazuya
The Mishima Style
With Kazuya being the de facto Mishima-style fighter in Tekken 8, players who want to main him need to know how to pull off wave-dashing consistently. Most of Kazuya’s most damaging moves, like the Perfect Electric Wind God Fist, demands that players be on point with its execution.
Players also need to know Kazuya’s moves when he’s in Heat, since he transforms into Devil Kazuya and has more punishing attacks so long as his Heat meter persists. Combining perfect execution of the wave dash along with deciding when to transform into Devil Kazuya requires tons of time in Practice Mode.
Xiaoyu
Stance and Shenanigans
As far as stance characters are concerned, Xiaoyu has one of the more notorious ones in the game: the Art of the Phoenix stance. When she uses this stance, she bypasses some of the rules in Tekken 8; specifically how mid attacks can’t be ducked. Along with this, Xiaoyu also has other stances that give her more movement and dodge options that other fighters do not have.
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This evasiveness permeates through most of Xiaoyu’s moveset, allowing her to dodge enemy attacks and retaliate with fluid yet hard-hitting strikes and combo strings. Players who want to main Xiaoyu should be knowledgeable in reading their opponent’s habits during a match and have tons of her flowcharts memorized when poking and punishing enemy attacks.
Yoshimitsu
Trickster Ninja
Yoshimitsu is the Tekken franchise’s first weapon-wielding fighter. Throughout the course of the games, he has seen his moveset become more and more eccentric. This lends to learning his moveset like solving a Rubik's Cube: he has weird stances that have corresponding flowcharts that need to be studied and memorized for maximum damage.
As a ninja, he has a bevy of shenanigans to bamboozle his opponents, such as teleports, frame-quick katana strikes and flourishes, and his oddball stances that seem to defy the rules of the game. His sword attacks deal massive damage while also giving him great range for keeping opponents away. Most players might scoff at Yoshimitsu as a joke or troll character, but in the hands of a player who painstakingly studied his mechanics, he is a menace to deal with.