Customizing Characters

Customizing Characters

Mortal Kombat 11 offers an incredibly deep and rewarding character customization system, allowing you to personalize your favorite fighters both aesthetically and functionally. Mastering this system is key to not only looking good but also optimizing your combat effectiveness. This guide will walk you through every aspect of character customization, from cosmetic changes to ability loadouts.

Accessing the Kustomization Menu

To begin customizing a character, navigate to the main menu and select the Kustomize option. From there, choose the character you wish to modify. You'll be presented with a comprehensive menu offering various customization categories.

Cosmetic Customization: Looking the Part

Cosmetic customization allows you to alter your character's appearance. There are three primary categories for cosmetic changes:

• Skins: These are full-body outfits that drastically change your character's look. Skins often come in multiple color palettes, which can be unlocked independently. Examples include "Klassic" skins for many characters, or unique designs like "Time Lord Liu Kang."
• Gear: Each character has three unique gear slots that can be equipped with different items. These items are purely cosmetic and do not affect gameplay stats. The specific gear slots vary by character. For instance:
  • Scorpion: Mask, Spear, Katana
  • Sub-Zero: Mask, Axe, Gauntlets
  • Raiden: Hat, Amulet, Staff
  Gear pieces can be found in various ways, detailed below.
• Intros & Victories: These are short cinematic sequences that play at the beginning and end of a match, respectively. Unlocking new intros and victories adds flair to your character's presentation.
• Taunts: Mid-match taunts allow you to express yourself and potentially get under your opponent's skin.

Acquiring Kosmetics: Where to Find Them

There are numerous ways to unlock new skins, gear, intros, victories, and taunts:

• The Krypt: This is a sprawling, third-person exploration mode filled with chests. Opening chests with Koins, Soul Fragments, or Hearts will randomly reward you with kosmetics, gear, and other consumables. Specific areas like the Goro's Lair or the Dead Woods may contain chests with character-specific items. Remember to use the Blindfold of the One Being to reveal hidden chests and breakable walls.
• Towers of Time: Completing specific character towers or event towers often rewards unique kosmetics and gear. Look for towers with specific character icons or "Guaranteed Reward" indicators.
• Story Mode: Progressing through the main Story Mode will unlock certain skins and gear for characters central to the narrative. For example, completing chapters might unlock alternate outfits for characters like Liu Kang or Raiden.
• Character Mastery: Playing and leveling up individual characters through combat will unlock various kosmetics as you reach certain mastery tiers.
• The Premium Shop: This in-game store offers a rotating selection of kosmetics for purchase using Time Krystals, a premium currency.
• Ranked & Kombat League: Participating in online ranked matches and the seasonal Kombat League can earn you exclusive kosmetics as rewards for achieving certain ranks.

Ability Customization: Defining Your Playstyle

Beyond aesthetics, Mortal Kombat 11 allows you to deeply customize your character's special abilities. This is where you truly tailor your fighter to your preferred playstyle.

Each character has a set of core special moves, but they also possess a pool of unlockable abilities. You can equip a limited number of these abilities into "slots" to create custom variations. Most characters have three ability slots, though some may have fewer or more depending on the ability's cost.

Creating Custom Variations: Step-by-Step

1. From the character's Kustomization menu, select Abilities.
2. You'll see your current active variations (often labeled "Tournament" or "Custom 1"). Select an empty slot or an existing variation to edit.
3. On the left, you'll see a list of all available abilities for that character. Each ability has a "slot cost" (e.g., 1 slot, 2 slots).
4. On the right, you'll see your available ability slots. Drag and drop abilities from the left list into the slots on the right.
5. Pay attention to the total slot cost. You cannot exceed the maximum number of slots for that variation.
6. Experiment with different combinations! Some abilities synergize well, while others might open up entirely new combo routes or defensive options.
7. Once satisfied, name your variation and save it. You can have multiple custom variations for each character, allowing you to switch between different playstyles on the fly.

Unlocking New Abilities

New abilities are primarily unlocked through:

• Towers of Time: Many character-specific towers offer new abilities as rewards for completion. These are often tied to specific challenges or boss fights within the tower.
• The Krypt: While less common than kosmetics, certain chests in the Krypt can contain new abilities.
• Character Mastery: Similar to kosmetics, reaching higher mastery levels with a character can unlock new abilities.

Augments: Enhancing Your Gear (Single Player Only)

Augments are special modifiers that can be socketed into gear pieces, providing various statistical bonuses or unique effects. These are primarily relevant for single-player modes like Towers of Time and The Krypt, as they are disabled in online competitive play.

Applying Augments

1. In the Kustomization menu, select a piece of gear that has an empty augment slot.
2. Choose the Augments option.
3. Select an available augment from your inventory. Augments come in different rarities and offer a wide range of effects, such as increased damage against certain enemy types, faster meter generation, or health regeneration.
4. Confirm your selection to apply the augment. You can remove and replace augments, but some higher-tier augments might require a small Koin cost to remove.

Acquiring Augments

Augments are frequently rewarded from:

• Towers of Time: Completing towers, especially those with specific modifiers or bosses, often yields augments.
• The Krypt: Chests in the Krypt can contain augments of varying rarities.
• Forging in The Krypt: The Forge in the Krypt allows you to combine certain items to create new, powerful augments. Experiment with different recipes!

By diligently exploring the Krypt, conquering Towers of Time, and experimenting with different ability loadouts, you'll transform your favorite fighters into truly unique and formidable combatants.