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Final Ultima

[AC+R-Xrd] System Quirks and Nuances

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A few months ago, I was watching an Xrd major and noticed that on more than one occasion, when a commentator didn't have a clear answer for why a certain situation had occurred, they would often just make something up. It dawned on me at this point that beyond situations where people just don't look stuff up, there are a lot of genuine questions still left unanswered. In response, I started writing out a script for what was going to be a video about various system quirks and nuances, but after a while it became obvious that I wasn't going to get it recorded. Now, with Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- looming, I've come to realise that the longer I sit on the script without doing anything with it, the more likely it'll be that aspects of it will turn out to be irrelevant down the road. So I figure that I may as well not waste the opportunity and post it anyway.

Note: I'm leaving the footage direction in because some of it helps to contextualise the points I'm trying to make, and some even provide set-ups.
 

System Quirks and Nuances

It's come to my attention recently that there are many elements of Guilty Gear, both in Xrd and in the XX series, that have yet to be fully explored by the community. Guilty Gear is a series with many quirks and nuances, and while most people probably consider these nuances ultimately irrelevant to understanding the game at a high level (and they're probably right), I feel that they should still be documented for future reference.

So, let's start off with minimum damage.
 
Collapsed: Minimum Damage / Damage Scaling Resistance:
In the XX series, Overdrives do in fact have a minimum damage... sort of. It's a pretty paltry amount though, roughly 9% of the amount it would do without scaling.

<Footage (AC+R): Characters with high-damage Overdrives landing them at -128 Guard Balance. Damage displayed on screen. The diving hit of Slayer's Chokkagata Dandy (Direct-Hit Dandy), Kliff's Reflex Roar and Justice's Michael Blade have a base damage of 100, so using any of those on a character with a x1.00 defense modifier best demonstrates the damage.>

This figure isn't unconditionally based around base damage. It still takes defense modifiers, Guts, proration and OTG state into account. It would probably be better to call it damage scaling resistance than minimum damage.

<Footage (AC+R): Overdrive damage scaling comparison between Potemkin and Chipp at -128 Guard Balance, then a repeat of one of the 9% damage scaling resistance demonstrations from earlier, but at less than 6% life. Damage displayed on screen.>

Effectively, what this means is that a "minimum damage" Overdrive will still deal more damage to Chipp than it will to Potemkin, and that amount will decrease as life decreases. This is one of several reasons why Overdrives typically aren't used in the same sort of context as say, Distortion Drives in BlazBlue.

In Xrd however, damage scaling resistance on Overdrives has been increased to a far more reasonable 20%. Defense modifiers, Guts and OTG state still affect damage scaling resistance, but proration no longer does. It still affects damage before reaching the minimum amount though.

<Footage (Xrd): Any sufficiently long combo ending in an Overdrive that deals less than 210 damage. Damage displayed on screen.
 
Collapsed: Tangent: OTG State:
Oh, before I forget... allow me to clarify on a couple of things regarding OTG state. Once an opponent hits the ground and enters OTG state, damage and base stun are reduced to 30% until they recover. An opponent in OTG state can't immediately tech out of something that holds them in place, but they will still be considered in OTG state, and if the move holding them in place forces knockdown, they'll commence wake-up as soon as they hit the ground again.

<Footage (AC+R): Using one of the 100 base damage Overdrives from before, have the Overdrive combo into itself at maximum R.I.S.C. Level, then do the same but have the second one OTG. Damage displayed on screen.>

<Footage (Xrd): As Ramlethal, land 2D > Explode at maximum R.I.S.C. Level, then 2D > OTG Explode at maximum R.I.S.C. Level. Damage displayed on screen.>

In other words, even if an opponent Bursts during OTG state and you throw the Burst, they are still in OTG state, so they will still take reduced damage. Also, while they won't be able to tech the throw itself, they'll be able to tech potential follow-ups as if they'd been hit OTG.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstration of air throwing an OTG burst, then Roman Cancelling the air throw and attempting to combo off it. Damage displayed on screen.>

 

Anyway, back to minimum damage.

Now that we've cleared up Overdrives... what about normals and specials? The minimum damage on those is just 1, right? Well, you would be right, normals and specials will eventually scale down to 1 if the scaling permits it. That being said, there are practical limits. This kinda thing is hard to test in Xrd because R.I.S.C. Level can't be set to negative values, so let's look at it in Accent Core Plus R.

At -128 Guard Balance, there are certain normals and specials that can still deal more than 1 damage. This is because damage at that level of scaling is equivalent to 1/32 of the damage it would deal at 0 Guard Balance or higher, so if a normal or special would deal 64 damage with no scaling, at maximum scaling it would deal 2. Of course, as with Overdrives, all other factors that affect base damage are also taken into account.

<Footage (AC+R): Demonstration of normals and specials with 64 base damage or more at -128 Guard Balance on a character with a x1.00 defense modifier. Damage displayed on screen. Examples include May's 6HS, Potemkin's 2HS, 6HS and Air Throw, Faust's 6HS, Axl's Rashousen (Spindle Spinner), Zappa's Raoh 2HS, 6HS and Last Edguy, Slayer's Pilebunker and Big Bang Upper, Robo-Ky's Level 3 Chounai-Ky Bargain (Jun-KY Bargain), Order-Sol's 6HS and Fafnir and Kliff's fully charged 2HS and S Houkou Gaeshi (Bellowing Roar). After that, Kliff's 6HS (dealing 3), Potemkin's Aerial Potemkin Buster (dealing 4), Potemkin's Potemkin Buster (dealing 5) and Kliff's fully charged 6HS (dealing 6) should also be demonstrated.>

There is one exception to this rule that I know of, and that's Gold Johnny's Mist Finer. The damage it deals is handled differently to any other move in the series. Gold characters aren't all that important though, so I won't get into it here.

<Footage (AC+R): As Gold Johnny, land Mist Finer on regular characters of varying defense modifiers. Preferably also show it landing once as an OTG, and once off a short combo at minimum Guard Balance. Then demonstrate it landing on Gold Potemkin. Damage displayed on screen.>


Going back to Guard Balance, let's talk about how throws function when the gauge is flashing.
 

Collapsed: Throws During Flashing Guard Balance / R.I.S.C. Level:
As I'm sure you all already know, when a player's Guard Balance Gauge or R.I.S.C. Level reaches +65 or higher, it will start to flash, at which point any hit that connects on that player will result an automatic Counter Hit.

In that case, what about throws? Well, that's where it gets a little bit complicated. To put it simply, some throws can Counter Hit, and others can't.

<Footage (AC+R): Examples of throws connecting at maximum Guard Balance. Both those that can Counter Hit and those that can't. Also demonstrate throws that end with a physical hit, yet don't Counter Hit. Throws that can Counter Hit include Sol's Air Throw, Ky's Ground Throw, May's Overhead Kiss, Baiken's Ground Throw, Faust's Ground Throw, Jam's Ground Throw and Air Throw, Dizzy's Ground Throw and Air Throw, I-No's Ground Throw, Bridget's Ground Throw, Slayer's Ground Throw, Robo-Ky's Ground Throw and Ky-Denpa (S-KY-line), Order-Sol's Air Throw, Kliff's Air Throw and Justice's Air Throw.>

In the XX series, any throw that can Counter Hit ends with a physical strike to the opponent, but not all throws that end in a strike can Counter Hit. Any throw that can be (Red) Roman Cancelled can Counter Hit, but not all throws that can Counter Hit can be (Red) Roman Cancelled. Despite all this, it is possible to know which throws can and can't Counter Hit just by knowing the data, as the hits that do cause Counter Hit always reduce Guard Balance, so just look for throws that reduce Guard Balance by more than the 6 reduced during the initial grab.

<Footage (Xrd): Examples of throws connecting at maximum R.I.S.C. Level. Both those that can Counter Hit and those that can't. Preferably demonstrate throws that couldn't Counter Hit in AC+R, but can in Xrd. Throws that now can Counter Hit that couldn't before include Sol's Ground Throw, Millia's Ground Throw and Air Throw, Zato's Ground Throw and Damned Fang, and Chipp's Ground Throw, Air Throw and Genrouzan. New throws that can Counter Hit include Chipp's Gen'youzan, I-No's Shoudoku Method (Sterilization Method), Bedman's Ground Throw, Ramlethal's Ground Throw and Air Throw, Sin's Ground Throw and Air Throw, Elphelt's Air Throw and Kuzusu (CQC) and Leo's Ground Throw.>

By contrast, in Xrd, pretty much any throw that involves striking the opponent as opposed to just lobbing them somewhere can Counter Hit, but the hits that can Counter Hit don't necessarily reduce R.I.S.C. Level below 0, and all hits in Xrd reduce R.I.S.C. Level at values above 0 anyway. We'll get into that in more detail later.

So why is this important? Well, throws that can Counter Hit sometimes have slightly different utility under those circumstances. In the XX series, Sol and Order-Sol's Air Throws launch the opponent significantly higher on Counter Hit, enabling more combo possibilities.

<Footage (AC+R): Demonstration of the above.>

In Xrd, throws are given varying attack levels, which means that a throw with a high attack level can reap the benefits of additional hitstop on Counter Hit. For most, this means more advantage on hit. For some, this could mean greater combo possibilities. Sol normally cannot combo off his Ground Throw meterlessly in Xrd, but because the damaging part of his throw is Level 4, when it Counter Hits, there's an additional 12 frames of hitstop which only apply to the opponent. This gives Sol enough time to recover and land a follow-up hit before the opponent hits the ground.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstration of the above.>

And of course, let's not forget that Counter Hits increase stun damage. You never know when something like that might come into play.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above. For the Counter Hit stun damage demonstration, set it up so that a Counter Hit throw stuns the opponent. Sol's Air Throw works well for this, as it deals 90 base stun damage.>


Oh, while we're talking about throws. Throwing an opponent out of a Burst mid-combo now resets the BEAT counter instead of increasing it. This means that mechanics that change based on number of hits, such as stun and gravity, treat it as the first hit of a new combo.

<Footage: Demonstrate a mid-combo Burst throw, show the BEAT counter increasing in AC+R and resetting in Xrd.>

There are some other subtle system changes too. In the XX series, stun damage calculation has a random modifier, multiplying the final outcome by anything from x1 to x1.3. In Xrd, from what I've been able to determine, stun damage is now roughly equivalent to the random modifier falling down the middle every time, x1.15.
 

Collapsed: Guard Balance / R.I.S.C. Level Reduction:
Earlier, I mentioned that all hits now decreases R.I.S.C. Level at values above 0, even those with a RLv reduction of 0. This seems to be the only major distinction between Guard Balance and R.I.S.C. Level other than how the information is displayed.

<Footage: Demonstrate throws with GB- 6,0 at +64 Guard Balance in AC+R and throws with RLv -6,0 at +64 R.I.S.C. Level (set the R.I.S.C. Level setting to 50) in Xrd.>

Even though we can't look at values below 0 directly, we can verify that this isn't just some wide-scale frame data error and that actually moves with a RLv reduction of 0 always reduce R.I.S.C. Level anyway, as we can determine that a move with a RLv reduction of 0 eventually scales better than a move with a RLv reduction of -1. Having a R.I.S.C. Level of -1 itself isn't enough to actually progress scaling, but -2 is, so you can compare scaling between a move with a RLv reduction of -1 landing twice to a move with a RLv reduction of 0 landing any number of times.

<Footage (Xrd): Scaling comparison for the following Sol combos: (DI) HS Volcanic Viper (1) (RC) > max delay (DI) HS Volcanic Viper (1) (RC) > max delay P.B.B. and High Jump, P.B.B. (RC) > air dash max delay P.B.B. Compare the scaling of each combo during R.I.S.C. Level 0 and then any R.I.S.C. Level above that. Damage displayed on screen.>

What are the implications of this? Well, mechanically, this could be interpreted as an extension of bonus Guard Balance reduction during a flashing Guard Balance. It's a slight concession for the defending character, so they don't take too many unscaled attacks in a row. As a result, it really messes with the reward factor of multi-hitting moves. If a Bedman or Ramlethal player cranks your R.I.S.C. Level to max and then opens you up with a throw, you've gotten off easy.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above.>


Alright, so this next topic isn't exactly a quirk or a nuance, but it's something that a lot of people are still ignorant about so I want to clear things up once and for all. Let's talk about Danger Time and Mortal Counters.
 

Collapsed: Danger Time and Mortal Counters:
First of all, there's the clash itself. Danger Time can only be triggered once per round. Once Danger Time is triggered, both characters are invincible and their positions are locked until Danger Time starts proper. Projectiles will pass right through them, Faust's Black Holes won't pull them in, that sort of thing.

<Footage (Xrd): With Danger Time set to "Forced", record a character using a slow traveling projectile, Yellow Roman Cancelling it, then dashing in front of it and attacking, then clash with that attack. Also record Faust using "Nani ga Deru ka na?" to throw out a Bomb or a Black Hole and then attacking, then clash with that attack.>

Danger Time activation also sports what appears to be the largest buffer window in the game. Right as the number 1 in the countdown pulsates, if you make an input, it will come out as soon as you regain control.

<Footage (Xrd): Upon triggering Danger Time, show an input being entered at the earliest part of the buffer window. Input displayed on screen.>

In Danger Time, damage is increased by 20%. If you go in Training Mode and set Counter Hit to "Forced Mortal Counter", the Mortal Counter itself will deal that additional 20%, effectively simulating a Mortal Counter combo based on the minimum possible amount of remaining Danger Time.

<Footage (Xrd): Perform the same combo three times, once regularly, once immediately after activating Danger Time, and once with the "Forced Mortal Counter" setting on. Damage displayed on screen.>

As for Mortal Counters themselves, let's tackle the basic stuff first. Not all attacks can Mortal Counter, only strikes that can be Roman Cancelled on hit, no projectiles or throws. Being Roman Cancellable on hit is a specified requirement for two very important reasons. Firstly, if any strike could Mortal Counter, then Dead Angle Attacks would be also able to Mortal Counter, and no-one wants that. Secondly, this ensures that moves that lock the opponent in place on hit; like Potemkin's I.C.P.M., Faust's Shigekiteki Zetsumei Ken or Ramlethal's Explode, don't break horribly.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above.>

Now for the most visibly obvious element of Mortal Counters, slowdown. Mortal Counter slowdown lasts a full second, much like (Red) Roman Cancel slowdown. Unlike Roman Cancel slowdown however, Mortal Counter slowdown does not have additional forced proration attached, so you don't need to worry about waiting out the slowdown to maximise damage.

<Footage (Xrd): Land a Mortal Counter and combo off it during the slowdown, then do the same combo, but Roman Cancel the Mortal Counter for the slowdown instead. Damage displayed on screen.>

Mortal Counters also deal twice the amount of bonus hitstop of a regular Counter Hit, and because it is in itself a form of Counter Hit, some of that hitstop is exclusive to the receiver. This enables immediate combo conversions that would otherwise be impossible, even if you Roman Cancelled the same move on Counter Hit.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstration of the above. As an example, try comboing a Level 0 normal into a Dust Attack on Mortal Counter, then attempt to do the same by Roman Cancelling the same normal on Counter Hit.>

Dust works a little differently though. It can most certainly Mortal Counter, and in doing so it retains the untechable time that it would have on Counter Hit, but it does not have any bonus hitstop, nor does it cause slowdown. This is most likely in place so that the opponent still moves correctly in case you choose to Homing Jump.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstration of the above.>

And now onto Mortal Counter's most unique property. On hit, a Mortal Counter can cancel into any action that a clash can be cancelled into. For the record, a clash cannot cancel into a regular block, any form of walk or jump (unless the clashing move is jump cancellable), backstep, air backdash or Instant Kill Mode.

<Footage (Xrd): Show an attack on Mortal Counter cancelling into another attack, then show all the actions that a Mortal Counter cannot cancel into, displaying inputs on screen as each invalid action is attempted. For Instant Kill Mode, make sure there isn't enough Tension to accidentally activate Roman Cancel.>

Additionally, there is a way to bypass this limitation. Like a clash, a Mortal Counter can be cancelled into Faultless Defense. By tapping Faultless Defense, you can immediately recover and then simply perform whichever action you wish. Additionally, if you tap Faultless Defense before the hitstop of the initial attack is finished, it doesn't even spend a single unit of Tension. Of course, because this is also true of clashes, it is also true for Danger Time activation. If you ever feel that a Danger Time clash has put you in disadvantageous position, don't worry. As long as you have a Tension Gauge, you have a way out... unless you're in the air and have no air options, I guess.

<Footage (Xrd): Set Counter Hit to Mortal Counter and demonstrate cancelling non-jump cancellable attacks into Faultless Defense, then jumping. To demonstrate the lack of Tension cost, set the Tension Gauge to 100, then input a strike Overdrive. Right as the Overdrive hits, immediately tap and release Faultless Defense. Note that there is still 50% Tension remaining.>


From here, let's move to a new topic. I want to talk for a little bit about how timers function in the game. Now I don't mean the literal timer at the top of the screen, I'm referring to the duration of states that you can inflict on an opponent separately from the standard hitstun or blockstun.
 

Collapsed: Universal Timed States:
As an example, let's bring up the most prevalent of these states, slowdown.

Slowdown already has a known duration, varying based on the type of Roman Cancel that triggered it, but unlike hitstun or blockstun, slowdown duration continues to tick down during super freeze. It isn't outright negated though. If you've got enough remaining slowdown and a short enough super freeze, the opponent will still be slowed down once the super freeze ends.

<Footage (Xrd): As Sol, perform MC 2HS > Dragon Install, showing the lack of slowdown after super freeze. Then as Millia, perform MC 2HS > Chroming Rose, showing that a small amount of slowdown remains.>

There is slightly more to it than that though. Two theatrical blackout states performed by the same character cannot occur in tandem, whichever one comes second overwrites the first until its duration is over. Now you may be thinking, how can you possibly determine that? Characters are frozen during super freezes and slowdown reapplies itself on reuse anyway. Well, there is a type of theatrical blackout that has neither a super freeze nor causes slowdown, and that's Instant Kill Mode. Slowdown cannot occur during Instant Kill Mode activation or deactivation.

<Footage (Xrd): Connect with a move that has a large amount of untechable time on Mortal Counter, either dash or tap Faultess Defense, then activate Instant Kill Mode. After that, do the same starting in Instant Kill Mode, dashing out of the Mortal Counter and then deactivating Instant Kill Mode. Sol's Fafnir is a good example move.>

Another example of a universal timed state is continuous wall stick, the new type of wall stick caused when an opponent hits the wall after being struck by a Dust Attack. It isn't actually limited to a number of hits, it's simply a timed state that lasts for around 60 frames, as far as I can determine. Like slowdown, this timer continues to tick down during super freeze. Using the same process shown earlier with slowdown, this can be easily demonstrated.

<Footage (Xrd): As Sol, perform 5D > Homing Dash > Dragon Install, 5K, showing that the 5K doesn't wall stick. Then as Millia, perform 5D > Homing Dash > Chroming Rose, c.S, showing that the c.S still wall sticks.
 
Collapsed: Tangent: Continuous Wall Stick:
While we're on the subject, let's talk about continuous wall stick in more detail. When an opponent is in continuous wall stick state, any normal that hits them will reapply wall stick and gain an additional 5 base damage. This additional base damage is still subject to scaling and proration however, so you probably won't get an increase of 5 in any practical situation.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above. To demonstrate the additional damage, set the R.I.S.C. Level to a high enough value (64 or more should suffice) that a high hitstun, prorationless starter comboing into a Dust Attack on ground hit results in both hits being Counter Hits, then compare the damage between normals comboing off said setup away from the corner, then the same situation in the corner, preferably to a character with a x1.00 defense modifier. Damage displayed.>

Specials and Overdrives cannot reapply wall stick this way or gain the additional damage, but like with slowdown, landing one doesn't negate the ability to reapply it afterwards.

<Footage (Xrd): As Ky, perform 5D > Homing Dash > Split Ciel, c.S > 6HS, dash c.S > 5HS > (Sacred Edge) > Stun Dipper and then 5D > Homing Dash > HS Vapor Thrust, c.S > 6HS, 3HS > Greed Sever, HS Vapor Thrust, 2HS > HS Vapor Thrust.>

Continuous wall stick isn't unique to Dust Attacks either. The last hit of Ramlethal's Combination A on air hit and the last hit of Combinations B, F and G all inflict it as well. I can only imagine that this was put in place because of her rather restricted gatlings, but as a result she gets to do a whole lot of nonsense in the corner.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above.>


As our final topic, I want to go over projectile movement during super freeze. Some of you have probably already heard about this, but in Xrd, projectiles can continue moving during certain types of super freeze at certain points. That may sound a little vague, but that's because the rules behind it aren't all that straightforward. I'm going to do my best to try and make sense of it all right here.
 

Collapsed: Super Freeze Projectile Movement:
Let's get the more consistent situations out of the way first.

As mentioned previously, if Danger Time triggers while projectiles are on screen, the projectiles will continue to move throughout the entire countdown, but they cannot interact with either character.

Projectiles do not move if the opposing character triggers super freeze. One thing worth noting about this is that projectiles that are reflected back using Zato's Drunkard Shade or Leo's Kahn Schild are still considered the projectile of the character that initially fired it, so if a character has a super freeze that enables projectile movement, it will continue to move, even if the projectile is working against them.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above. For the projectile reflecting demonstration, have Ky fire a Stun Edge or Stun Edge Charge Attack from full screen away. Have Zato or Leo reflect the Stun Edge back, then have Ky perform Sacred Edge as it approaches him.>

Now you might be wondering if movement during super freeze depends on the nature of the projectile itself, especially given what I just said. I mean, there's no way to disprove it, right? A character can only have their own moves. Well, normally that would be the case, but thanks to M.O.M Mode, you can give a character another character's moves, and from this we can determine that it is in fact down to the super freeze rather than the projectile.

<Footage (Xrd): In M.O.M Mode, equip Ky with Gun Flame and show him doing Gun Flame (YRC) > Sacred Edge at a distance where the Gun Flame won't hit before the super freeze.>

So now to the nitty gritty, for a character triggering a super freeze while their own projectile is in play, when can projectiles move, and when can't they? The answer seems to be that it depends on the movement of the camera.

If the camera doesn't move at all, such as during the super freeze of a Roman Cancel, Instant Kill Mode (Gold) or an Instant Kill Attack, projectiles do not move.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above.>

Camera movement during Overdrives is where the real variety comes into play. During most Overdrives, projectiles move only when the camera pans back to its regular position. There are some types of super freeze that enable full movement, however.

For Overdrives that involve the camera panning and zooming in slightly on the character in question, there seems to be a little inconsistency, as only a few select Overdrives of this nature enable full movement, namely Zato's Executor, I-No's Genkai Fortissimo, Bedman's Hemi Jack and Elphelt's Judge Better Half. As far as I can tell, the only reason why these ones might be exceptions is because they all have really short super freezes.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above. For Executor, summon Eddie prior to use, and then have him attack the opponent during Executor's super freeze. For Genkai Fortissimo, jump, perform an Aerial Kouutsu Onkai (Anti-Depressant Scale) (YRC) > Genkai Fortissimo and steer the note into the opponent during the super freeze. For Hemi Jack, perform any Deja Vu (YRC) > Hemi Jack. For Judge Better Half, perform Berry Pine or Genoise (YRC) > Judge Better Half. All of these examples should be done at a distance so that the initial projectile doesn't hit before the super freeze. Counter Hit should be set to "Forced" to better demonstrate when the projectile hits.>

Overdrives that involve the camera moving inward with a moderate zoom, such as Ky's Sacred Edge, Potemkin's Giganter, Sin's Voltic Deign and Elphelt's Genoise, always enable full movement.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above. For Sacred Edge, perform Stun Edge Charge Attack (YRC) > Sacred Edge. For Giganter, flick a projectile with F.D.B., Yellow Roman Cancel it, then perform Giganter. For Voltic Deign, simply perform it twice in a row. For Genoise, either perform Berry Pine (YRC) > Genoise or perform Genoise once, Yellow Roman Cancel it, then perform it again. As before, all of these examples should be done at a distance so that the initial projectile doesn't hit before the super freeze. Counter Hit should be set to "Forced" to better demonstrate when the projectile hits.>

Cinematic Overdrives depend entirely on camera positioning throughout the cinematic. For most, this means no projectile movement until the camera returns to normal, but there are a few that cut the corners a little, and a few that cut the corners a lot.

Ky's Ride the Lightning and Bedman's Sinusoidal Helios enable projectile movement only at the very tail end of the super freeze, after the camera already starts moving back. It seems to be right as the camera returns to normal alignment, but before it fully zooms back out.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above. Use similar methods to the ones used before, but try to make it so that the projectile just barely fails to connect before the super freeze, so that it hits as soon as movement resumes. Counter Hit should be set to "Forced" to better demonstrate when the projectile hits.>

Venom's Dark Angel enables early movement once the camera matches an equivalent position to the inward, moderate zoom of some of the non-cinematic Overdrives, which I don't think is a coincidence.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstration of the above. Hit a pool ball at the opponent and then perform Dark Angel so that the pool ball just barely fails to connect before the super freeze. Counter Hit should be set to "Forced" to better demonstrate when the projectile hits.>

Finally, projectile movement also resumes if the camera faces the character directly, but outside of extreme close-up range. May's Great Yamada Attack and Ramlethal's Calvados both fall under this. You may be thinking that Calvados' start-up animation only has an extreme close-up of Ramlethal, but remember that at the point where projectile movement returns, you're looking at Lucifero, whose close-up obscures Ramlethal herself.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstrations of the above. For Great Yamada Attack, perform Ominogashinaku (Don't Miss It) and then perform Great Yamada Attack so that the ball just barely fails to connect before the super freeze. For Calvados, set the training dummy to jump, move back until you reach maximum Cassius range, perform Cassius so that it will hit the opponent at max jump height, Yellow Roman Cancel it, then perform Calvados. Counter Hit should be set to "Forced" to better demonstrate when the projectile hits.>

Of course, as with many things in life, there are exceptions, and the logic I have tried to apply here also has one noted exception. That exception is Zato's Great White. This shark does not care about its user's super freezes whatsoever. It moves during Overdrives, Instant Kill Mode (Gold), Instant Kill Attacks, even Roman Cancels. The only super freezes it stops for are the opponent's. It's really rather ridiculous.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstration of the above. Show Great White moving during various kinds of super freezes, especially the ones that normally don't enable projectile movement, then show it stopping during an opponent's super freeze.>

So what is the use of any of this? Well, for starters, it enables situations where a projectile can reach the opponent earlier than it otherwise would. Venom for instance, can use Dark Angel at a distance to make it difficult for an opponent to move out of the way of incoming pool balls.

<Footage (Xrd): Demonstration of the above. Create a ball formation from a little over half-screen away, nudge them into movement with a 5P, then perform Dark Angel.>

Perhaps more importantly, however, inputs have no effect on your actions during super freeze. You are frozen, hence the name. So if you weren't blocking by the time a super freeze starts and the projectile keeps moving, the projectile will hit you. Just about think what something like that could entail.

For example, take Sol. Gun Flame doesn't have much range, but Dragon Install has 0 frames of start-up after the super freeze, and in Dragon Install he can easily convert that Gun Flame into a half life combo or more, depending on positioning. Conversely, characters like Ky and Elphelt don't get much of a conversion off of their setups, but because of the nature of their projectiles and the movement speed of their Overdrives, they could easily catch an opponent sleeping with an Overdrive performed from half a screen away.

<Footage (Xrd): As Sol, from starting position, back off to maximum Gun Flame range, then perform Gun Flame (YRC) and activate Dragon Install before the Gun Flame connects. Once the super freeze ends, perform [dash (DI) Gun Flame, (DI) Bandit Bringer] x2, delay (DI) Gun Flame, (DI) Bandit Revolver (last hit only), c.S > 5HS/2HS (JC) > P.B.B. Show the opponent attempting to block the Gun Flame after the super freeze has already started. As Ky and Elphelt, use the same setups as before, but at the furthest range that the projectile is guaranteed to hit during super freeze if the Overdrive is done immediately after the YRC. Again, show the opponent attempting to block after the super freeze has already started. Input shown on screen.>


Well... with that, we've covered just about everything that I had in mind going into this. That's not to say there won't be anything more I'll want to cover in the future though. I'm learning new stuff all the time. Guilty Gear is just that sort of game, it's one of the reasons why I love it. Hopefully, some of you will have learned something that you deemed interesting enough to take with you into the future. If you already knew all of this, then even better. I just ask that you make the effort to teach those that wish to know. Well... not any of this necessarily, but something. The useful stuff certainly.


Of course, I didn't intend to make this thread just to dump this script on people's laps and then leave it there, so if you have something you'd like to contribute, then by all means, feel free.

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Something minor - At least in Xrd, as long as you have more than 1hp you can survive and amount of chip. You can test this yourself in training mode by setting a training dummy to normal block and everything and throwing Axl's stance attacks at them, which deal huge amounts of chip. It does a buttload of chip, but you can't actually kill them, even when you set their health bar to 1%, or 4.2 hp. Do the same thing with a multihit special, and they'll fall over on the second hit.

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With a new game comes new information. This time I'm going to go through some basic info regarding some of the new mechanics. I'm excluding Blitz Shield Charge Attack for now because all the basic information is already on the wiki, and even though I seem to recall Kedako tweeting damage values and frame data for it a few months ago, I can't find it right now and I can't remember any of it off-hand.

First of all, Burst Overdrives.

Outside of basic requirements, all Burst Overdrives have the following things in common:
1) They only apply to a character's cinematic Overdrive.
2) They have full invulnerability on start-up.
3) They deal 25% extra base damage.
4) On hit, a third of your BURST Gauge is refilled.

The invulnerability is something that I've yet to test thoroughly, but in the new mechanics walkthrough video that 4Gamer put up on the day of GGXrdR's arcade release, the Burst Overdrives section demonstrated Slayer using Dead on Time on wake-up and losing to a meaty Stun Edge Charge Attack, then using Burst Dead on Time to win cleanly. At the time I wasn't completely sure if it was universal or not, but since playing the demo, I've been able to ascertain that normally strike invulnerable Overdrives become completely unthrowable during start-up as Burst Overdrives.

Another big change with Burst Overdrives is their minimum damage. In GGXrd, all Overdrives deal 20% minimum damage (ignoring proration, but still applying defense modifiers, Guts and OTG state when applicable). Burst Overdrives however, do not have a universal standard. Rather, their minimum damage is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Here are my findings (I decided to list them by character rather than the name of the Overdrive, just for simplicity's sake):

70%: Haehyun
60%: May, Slayer, Leo
50%: Sol, Zato, Potemkin, Faust, I-No, Bedman, Ramlethal, Elphelt*, Johnny, Jack-O'
40%: Ky, Millia, Axl, Sin, Jam, Raven**, Baiken
30%: Chipp, Dizzy
20%: Venom, Answer

*Only deals higher than the base percentage on the cinematic hit. The initial hit and subsequent non-cinematic hits all deal the standard 20%.
**Only deals higher than the base percentage on the final hit.

If you're wondering what that means in any practical sense, here are the minimum damage values for each Burst Overdrive, performed on a character with a x1.00 defense modifier (Sol) before Guts is applied.

130: Faust (purple)
120: Dizzy*
118: Ramlethal, Jam
106: Potemkin
105: May, Faust (green), Slayer
104: Axl**
102: Venom, Bedman
101: Chipp
97: Leo
96: Millia
93: Sol, I-No
92: Elphelt (cinematic), Johnny
90: Ky, Zato
87: Haehyun
80: Faust (black)
72: Sin
71: Baiken
70: Jack-O'
65: Answer
25: Elphelt (non-cinematic)

Raven's Burst Getreuer deals 52 minimum damage (2 hits) with no Excitement Gauge, then increases in increments of 5 (1 for each additional hit) until dealing 102 minimum damage (52 hits) at max Excitement Gauge.

*The number of hits depend on screen position throughout. Each hit deals 12 damage minimum.
**One of the hits is prone to whiffing. In that instance, the minimum damage is 90.

Do note that in spite of these numbers, the fewer hits an Overdrive has, the more value it'll have as a Burst Overdrive when you're not just using it to finish a round, as there's a much lower risk of crossing any particular Guts threshold until all the damage is already dealt. Burst Great Yamada Attack and Burst Dead on Time deal a base damage of 175 and a minimum damage of 105 to Sol, and because they only hit once, that value will be unaltered from 420 life all the way down to 211. There's also rounding to consider, as Overdrives with more hits will typically be affected by rounding down sooner due to their lower base damage across each hit. Of course, the fact that Burst Overdrives obviously expend your Burst to perform means that most players will probably only use them to guarantee a match win anyway. In that case, Burst Overdrives that deal many hits become quite useful for overcoming heavy Guts, as the number of damage dealing hits act as a hard minimum. However, at the point where such a factor is worth considering, there is often little reason to opt for a Burst Overdrive over its regular counterpart.

As a side note, while testing for minimum damage, I also noticed that the frame data for Potemkin's Heavenly Potemkin Buster is erroneous. It deals 170 base damage, not 140. Granted, the initial damageless hit does have a RLv of -6, so you won't see all 170 without increasing the opponent's R.I.S.C. Level, but even with a neutral R.I.S.C. Level, the second hit deals 153 damage raw. Someone might want to look into changing that.

That's not all for Burst Overdrives though. Specific Burst Overdrives also seem to gain additional benefits. As demonstrated in 4Gamer's new mechanics walkthrough, Chipp's Burst Zansei Rouga starts up faster than the regular version, allowing it to combo off his 5HS. Some rudimentary testing for punishes has lead me to the conclusion that Burst Zansei Rouga has a start-up of 18+0, 3 frames faster than normal. Also mentioned in the video but not demonstrated, Venom's Burst Dark Angel deals considerably more chip damage than its regular counterpart... 3 times more, as far as I can tell. The only other buff that I found during testing was that Faust's Burst Shigekiteki Zetsumei Ken always replaces the angel with the black reaper if the angel is selected. If anyone else finds anything, please don't hesitate to post it in the thread.

Next, let's talk about the new Homing Dash, or rather, what the new Homing Dash has done to Dust Attack as a whole.

In SIGN, the way the opponent reacted upon performing a Homing Dash was the same as if you hadn't inputted any homing action at all. It was landing a Dust Attack and not doing a Homing Jump that enabled continuous wall stick in the corner, not the Homing Dash itself. Some characters benefited from this, such as Sol, who could backdash out of a corner Dust Attack instead of dash and be able to land a delay 6HS into Bandit Bringer on the entire cast. In REVELATOR, this is no longer the case. Dust Attack no longer causes continuous wall stick in the corner if Homing Dash is not inputted.

With that out of the way, let's talk about Homing Dash proper.

Upon inputting a Homing Dash, the opponent is blown back and your character chases after them with a short, cinematic dash with insane dash momentum (seriously, do any airborne action during the dash, you'll go flying). If the opponent hits the corner before you regain control, they'll wall stick, otherwise they'll start to tumble and an additional 70% forced proration will be applied. Much like Roman Cancel slowdown, this forced proration applies on top of existing proration. During the duration of either the tumble or the wall stick (both of which are slightly longer than the duration of the dash, by the way), you can freely cancel between normals in the same vein as Homing Jump, and landing normals will reapply tumble or wall stick until the duration is over.

Out of the corner, once the tumble period has passed, landing normals will instead force the opponent into an untechable plummet. The knockdown is nice, but it makes follow-up combos very awkward. Between that and the additional 70% forced proration when the opponent starts tumbling, I get the distinct impression that the developers really didn't want you doing Homing Dashes mid-screen. If an opponent reaches the corner while continuous tumble is still in effect, however, the next normal will instead cause continuous wall stick (continuing on from the same timer), and the additional 70% forced proration will subsequently no longer apply. In the corner, continuous wall stick functions basically the same as it did before, but as payment for being able to freely cancel between normals, the bonus 5 base damage that applied to normals during Dust Attack's continuous wall stick in SIGN no longer applies in REVELATOR.

Edit: Oh, I just remembered that Dramatic Finales are a thing in this game.

There isn't all that much to say about Dramatic Finales other than that their activation isn't random at all. It will always occur if two characters take a swing at each other at close range (slightly closer than starting position) when both attacks are close to becoming active (but not necessarily equally close), both characters' hurtboxes are within range of each other's hitboxes the frame before either attack becomes active, and the attacks in question are strong enough to kill each other. That being said, there is something specific regarding how the hitboxes have to interact that I don't fully understand yet. Some moves require basically a guaranteed trade situation to be able to trigger a Dramatic Finale. It seems like the faster a move is, the shorter a gap between it and the opposing move becoming active is required to trigger a Dramatic Finale. Some moves seem to never trigger it for reasons that I'm fairly sure pertain to either their speed or their hitbox.

Now contrary to what you might expect, Dramatic Finales aren't always finales. There are still scenarios where both characters will whiff each other, even after Dramatic Finale activation range was reduced in Ver.1.02. A close range, simultaneous Fafnir input from two Sols is one such example. Both Sols remain within range of each other's hitboxes on the frame Dramatic Finale triggers, but on the first active frame, they both lean in far enough that they whiff each other. Similarly, it is also possible to trigger a clash off a Dramatic Finale, just have both characters stick out a limb at close-ish range.

Double edit: I just triggered Danger Time off a Dramatic Finale, and wow, Overdrive Finish backgrounds look messed up with Danger Time active. All the shadows in the stage are layered over the Overdrive Finish. The field of view is completely different too.

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Hi, I did a bunch of research on side dust mechanics, so I figured I'd dump this here.

General Explanation

Dust itself still has -20 RISC on hit, and an 80% initial hit (starter) proration. On selecting a follow-up (up or side), your character then jumps or dashes after the opponent and the opponent is put into a special “dust” hit-state. On up dust, this shows them spinning through the air, while side dust is either slide or wallstick. During this time, you have a small time limit to use dust-enhanced normals - these normals can freely gatling into any other normals, and instead of applying their usual hitstun, will re-apply dust hit-state.

Here’s the important part - hitting them during up dust will keep them spinning, and hitting them during side dust will keep them sliding on the ground, with one exception - if you manage to reach the corner and hit them with a dust-enhanced normal, it instead transitions them to wallstick state!

Side Dust Slide

During sliding state, an additional 70% damage multiplier is applied to all attacks. Most normals, with a few exceptions, will immediately spike the opponent down on hit. If it’s a dust-enhanced normal, this will continue the sliding state, otherwise it will be treated as an immediate knockdown. Hitting the opponent with a dust-enhanced normal while at the corner will switch them into wallstick state on hit.

Wallstick and slide state both seem to run on the same timer, so there’s not really any advantage to starting from a slide. Also, though the slide state can be re-applied using dust-enhanced normals, attacks that normally cause slide, like Fafnir, will still follow the rule that only one slide state can happen per combo, and will immediately knockdown instead.

Side Dust Wallstick

This works the same way as it did in Xrd Sign, except without the 5 base damage bonus. Dust-enhanced normals in this case continue the wallstick state. In addition, once the opponent is in wallstick state, even if you got there from sliding initially, the 70% damage multiplier of sliding state no longer applies - do note that the normal that causes the switch from slide to wallstick will still be affected by the damage reduction.

Combo Applications

While it was considered generally useless damage-wise for midscreen side dusts, the unexplored possibility was switching to wallstick part-way in. However, the time limit of dust-enhanced normals is still pretty small - consider that with up dust, you usually went with two H normals or the like before having to go into your normal air combo.

The trick for maximizing possible distance with side dust, then, is using what normals you have to bring you forward, and then using your longest-startup normal right before the time limit is over to get the wallstick hit, which with the time limit effectively over will transition into a crouch hit state, and combo from there. Of course, using more light attacks will reduce damage, in addition to the 30% damage reduction on slide state hits, so it’s still not always ideal to go for a side dust route, even if it manages to carry to a corner wallstick ender.

On the other hand, getting a full corner carry and proper knockdown is superior for a lot of characters compared to their up dust enders, even if the damage isn’t that much higher.

Examples

I’m not exactly great at execution or anything, but here’s a quick selection of example combos with an accompanying video to get you started on the possibilities.

https://youtu.be/1FYO3tUS7BU
 

Sol

5D~6 > 2H > 6H > 236P > 2H > sj.9 > j.D > j.214K > 623H~214K - 143 damage, VV knockdown
 

Ky

5D~6 > 5H > 3H > 214K > 2H > 623H > c.S > 236D - 121 damage, Split Ciel knockdown
 

Leo

5D~6 > 5H > 5H > 6H > 5P > 5K > f.S > 5H > 236S~236H~214S - 125 damage, rekkas knockdow

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Blitz Shield description is a bit inaccurate on the wiki, I'll update it later tonight if nobody else gets to it first.

Rather than immediately starting a new Blitz Shield, Rejecting a projectile simply freezes your character during the invul frames of a successful Blitz. This extends the amount of time a full charge takes, but Rejecting a projectile later in the charge doesn't make it take any longer than Rejecting it right away.

You can still chain successful (uncharged) Blitz Shields into each other like you could in Sign, but since you no longer gain meter from Rejecting projectiles, this ends up costing the full 25 meter for each subsequent Blitz, rather than effectively only costing only an extra 12.5.

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Good catch. That line about cancelling a projectile rejection into another Blitz Shield was put in there in response to one of the GGXrdR location tests, where it was reported that they'd reduced the invulnerability on a successful rejection but let you cancel it into an additional Blitz Shield for free, but that change didn't make it into the full release, I guess. I should point out that you don't get Tension back for rejecting a projectile in SIGN either. That was a Ver.1.10 change.

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