DNFD/Dragon Knight/Strategy

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 Dragon Knight

Introduction

 Dragon KnightAt a Glance


Dragon Knight is a character that plays exceptionally well when close to her opponent with her Astra followups, but doesnt exactly have trouble getting in. She does not play a traditional footsies A complicated, often nebulous term that refers to the battle for controlling the space in front of you, often by using good pokes. In essence, you are trying to get to a range you like, while trying to deny your opponent getting to a range that they like. How you do this varies wildly based on the game, but it often involves using long range attacks to pester your opponent as they are trying to walk around. This dance of playing mind games with your feet is the source of the term's name. game, as her grounded pokes are very short ranged. But she reps a singular button which solves all of her neutral woes in j.SDNFD Dragon Knight jS 1.pngGuardMidStartup20RecoveryUntil Landing + 10Advantage-15~+4, a button that forces opponents to play her game in neutral due to it not having an accessable counterplay. In short, Dragon Knight usually fishes for her singular party starter attack to poke and also start her offense, due to the reward that is available once she gets in close.

Gameplan

Neutral

General Neutral Theory


Dragon Knight has few moves to control space with while also having a crutal forward moving normal in 5BDNFD Dragon Knight 5B.pngGuardMidStartup8Recovery20Advantage-4 that she uses to get in once she closes the gap with dash blocking, the goal is usually to convert into a knockdown so that she can do her close range setplay listed here. If the opponent does not have an easily accessible answer for j.S, she will be able to dance around the opponent very easily and convert into her close range game with little effort. If the opponent can easily beat j.S with moves such as  Crusader’s 5B during GraceDNFD Crusader 5B Grace.pngGuardMidStartup14Recovery23Advantage+9, she might struggle more because outside of her MP options, she has very little ways to close gaps besides dash blocking. She usually does not want to keep the opponent out for very long, as once shes in she has many oppressive options to keep her opponent guessing, so the midrange is only there so she can get her gameplan started, as once she gets in there is no need for her to retreat away from her opponent.

Common Neutral Tools


  • j.SDNFD Dragon Knight jS 1.pngGuardMidStartup20RecoveryUntil Landing + 10Advantage-15~+4
    While being a great combo starter this move is also a very oppressive projectile in the midscreen and at fullscreen. if done as an IAS Instant Air Special
    Conceptually includes Tiger KneePerforming a special as soon as possible after becoming airborne. Usually, but not always, involves an input trick.
    For Example: 2369S for a j.236S input.
    , as it can cover a sharp angle in front of you while also having very low risk attached. This is due to it having low recovery while also having the ability to be canceled on whiff into j.MDNFD Dragon Knight jM.pngGuardMidStartup29Recovery-Advantage-. This can allow Dragon Knight to retreat away from the opponent in case they attempt to punish the recovery of the projectile by rolling into it.
    Dragon Knight also has the ability to throw another j.S after retreating with j.MDNFD Dragon Knight jM.pngGuardMidStartup29Recovery-Advantage- to force the opponent into another commital action to get close to you.
    The opponents options against this move usually require them to expect the projectile to be thrown, examples include run up DP Dragon Punch A move that has invulnerability during its startup, long recovery, and a rising motion., preemptively air to airing, and rolling forwards. As you can see from these options they are all punishable if you simply sit back and play reactively, so make sure to sometimes stop the projectile usage and wait for the opponent to make a move first.
    Usage of this move might need to be slowed if the opponent has a very long range move that can hit opponents out of the air easily, such as  Crusader’s 5B during GraceDNFD Crusader 5B Grace.pngGuardMidStartup14Recovery23Advantage+9. If this is the case, then expect to get away with this move a lot less then usual. MP might have to be expended to play neutral with moves such as 236M.
  • 236M/2MDNFD Dragon Knight 236M.pngGuardMidStartup20Recovery24Advantage-8
    While this move does not start combos it is one of Dragon Knights best pokes besides j.S, as it almost goes fullscreen while only being -8 on block! This can be a non commital way of calling out opponents trying to guess that you will throw out IAS Instant Air Special
    Conceptually includes Tiger KneePerforming a special as soon as possible after becoming airborne. Usually, but not always, involves an input trick.
    For Example: 2369S for a j.236S input.
    j.S. As it catches rolls and prejump frames while also beating most DPs with how many active frames it has. It can also be used as a preemptive counterpoke due to its massive disjointed hitbox, this can be useful if the opponent has a fullscreen button of their own, such as  Ranger's 2BDNFD Ranger 2B.pngGuardMidStartup15Recovery32Advantage-18~-10. Even if it is blocked you can retreat back to zoning with j.S and start the neutral RPS Rock Paper ScissorsA situation wherein an attacker and a defender have options that only beat certain responses from their opponent. For example, on wakeup a defending opponent may use a reversal to stop an attacker from using an attack, but the attacker can also block to defeat the reversal. If the attacker blocks, the defender can use the opportunity to take the offensive. all over again.
  • 5BDNFD Dragon Knight 5B.pngGuardMidStartup8Recovery20Advantage-4
    This move is usually Dragon Knights second most common go to move in neutral as it has a forward movement property that give the move much more range than you would expect, while also starting her offensive pressure strings. It is usually used in the middle of mid to close range as a dash in combined with this move at that range starts Dragon Knights gameplan.

Pressure

General Pressure Theory


Dragon Knights goal with her pressure is usually to push the opponent to a spacing where she can create RPS Rock Paper ScissorsA situation wherein an attacker and a defender have options that only beat certain responses from their opponent. For example, on wakeup a defending opponent may use a reversal to stop an attacker from using an attack, but the attacker can also block to defeat the reversal. If the attacker blocks, the defender can use the opportunity to take the offensive. situations with her 5M, as if she guesses correctly the opponent will have almost no way to escape Astra once he has been set up. Lots of staggers will be required to open opponents up if there is no mana on the table for you to spend with 5M. 5A is her best tick throw normal due to its frame advantage and wide range of cancel options. 2A is a great normal to stagger with. 5B is good to use repeatedly in a blockstring for the forward momentum it has. 2B is usually delay canceled after 5B for a hard knockdown to set up Meaty Hitting an opponent to cover the moment as they lose invincibility. The most common one is performing an attack early on okizeme to gain frame advantage and bait reversals. 5M.

Normals OverviewThe video shows visuals of some of the concepts the text descriptions of the normals explain.
  • 5ADNFD Dragon Knight 5A.pngGuardMidStartup6Recovery19Advantage-4
    This normal is usually one of Dragon Knights best pressure starters, due to its variety of cancel options, usefulness for strike throw, and good range. When converting into a blockstring it is usually just pressure filler to create pushback from the opponent to setup situations with 5M. In striker throw situations, it is better to use than 2A due to it being -4 on block compared to 2A's frame advantage of -8, that means the opponent could possibly punish the button with a fast normal of their own into a full combo.
  • 2ADNFD Dragon Knight 2A.pngGuardLowStartup5Recovery19Advantage-8
    This normal is usually just used for pressure filler as 5A has longer range, more frame advantage, and more range. 2A does have the ability to be staggered up to 3 times, so if you are low on Mana this may be a good way to frame trap An offensive technique where the attacker leaves a small opening in their offense, goading the defender into performing an attack. This opening is designed such that the attacker can easily counter the defender's attack with their own. the opponent with no Mana.
  • 5BDNFD Dragon Knight 5B.pngGuardMidStartup8Recovery20Advantage-4
    This normal is usually used for pressure filler or as a way to stagger on block with 2B, as this normal has a wide delay cancel window. You can also use the forward movement properties of this move to your advantage by creating pressure reset situations with strings such as 5B > 5B > dl. 2B. This is a strong string as it can condition your opponent to mash on block, it is an especially good situation to use 2B as on counterhit, the opponent is put into a Hard knockdown A knockdown that forces the character into a prolonged knockdown state. After a hard knockdown, teching is disabled briefly, allowing the player who is on the offensive more time to set up a meaty, a mix-up, etc. state, which gives Dragon Knight the ability to setup a meaty Hitting an opponent to cover the moment as they lose invincibility. The most common one is performing an attack early on okizeme to gain frame advantage and bait reversals. 5M. Combine this with 2A stagger and you can create amazing pressure sequences even without meter!
  • 5SDNFD Dragon Knight 5S.pngGuardMidStartup14Recovery26Advantage-8
    This normal is usually used as the final move in Dragon Knights blockstrings, as it creates the most amount of distance between her and the opponent. This can setup spacing traps when 5S is cancelled into 5M. Depending on how many normals were used in a chain before this move, 5S might need to be charged in order for it to reach in a string. Be wary though, as the opponent can roll through as the charge is happening and punish your whiff recovery.

Block StringsThe meat and potatoes of Dragon Knight pressure.

Dragon Knight's blockstrings are fairly flexible, but learning the initial blockstring of 5AA > 5B > 2B > 5S serves as a fundamental starting point. After this string, Dragon Knight is left at -8 and a large distance away, leaving her mostly safe due to distance. After this 5S, you have a handful of options. Stopping at 5S is perfectly acceptable and allows you to return to neutral. Another option is special canceling into 236M, which can serve as a frame trap.


Canceling into 5M can serve as an option for continuing pressure, but this is not a gapless string. Instead, it offers an RPS situation (especially in the corner) in which Dragon Knight has 2 strong options:

  • If Dragon Knight uses 236M after her Astra summon, Dragon Knight will catch an opponent trying to roll out and hit opponents who use fast normals to kill Astra. In addition, if Dragon Knight used 5M~S at the end of her blockstring in the corner, catching an opponent with 236M after a roll allows for a full juggle. However, 236M will generally lose to opponents who reversal 623M; Dragon Knight could delay this, but this would cause her not to catch the prior two options.
  • If Dragon Knight chooses to do nothing after Astra summon (e.g., hold down-back to block), this allows Dragon Knight to effectively catch other characters' 623M and react to roll attempts. If the defending character attempts to reversal, Dragon Knight can simply jump-in and punish the whiffed DP; if they attempt to roll, Dragon Knight can catch with her 5AA string during the opponent's recovery frames (excluding Enchantress's unique roll).

Astra technically counts as a hit, which means opponents that perfer to mash normal moves can cancel into skills to start their pressure, Dragon Knight can stop this meterlessly by doing delay dash up 5B and get lots of damage.

If the opponent chooses to do nothing and wait, Dragon Knight can start devastating Astra pressure with his followups which carries almost no escape options once set up.

2A > 2A > 5B > 5S is also a very effective string due to 2A's stagger ability.

Although a risky option, 4S can be an effective way for Dragon Knight to steal a turn on an unaware opponent. From any grounded A normal, grounded B normal, 2S or relatively close ranged 5S, you can opt to use 4S in your blockstring. If the aerial hit of 4S is hit or is blocked, canceling into j.M puts you at an advantaged position and give Dragon Knight a choice to make between 2 air normals.

  • j.ADNFD Dragon Knight jA.pngGuardHighStartup6RecoveryUntil Landing + 2Advantage~+13
    This air normal strikes high and frametraps non-invincible responses.
  • j.BDNFD Dragon Knight jB.pngGuardHighStartup12Recovery23 + 3 LandingAdvantage-8~+15
    This air normal allows Dragon Knight to land and threaten 2A or throw.

If an opponent has been conditioned to reversal 623M during a blockstring due to your use of 4S, prematurely ending your blockstrings (e.g., stopping after 5B and choosing to block after) is an effective way to bait DPs and get large punishes. However, your 4S pressure has to be threatening enough for them to want to commit to DPing your strings.

Occasionally, players might chain into a string that ends with 2S, which leaves Dragon Knight at -12 (easily punishable by most of the cast); In this case, canceling into 236M will leave Dragon Knight safe (at -8), albeit at the cost of 40 MP.

Okizeme

General Okizeme Theory


Dragon Knight's main goal is to either meaty 5MDNFD Dragon Knight 5M 1.pngGuardMidStartup18Recovery10Advantage+18 or do a safe jump A very well-timed jump attack on a character who is rising from a knockdown. Your goal is to attack extremely close to when you land so that, if the character performs an invincible reversal attack, you will land and be able to block. The opponent is then forced to block your jumping attack, since reversaling doesn't work, which will give you some nice pressure and hopefully an opening. with an 9 jump into j.BDNFD Dragon Knight jB.pngGuardHighStartup12Recovery23 + 3 LandingAdvantage-8~+15 if it is not possible to do the A FollowupDNFD Dragon Knight 5MA.pngGuardMidStartup68 after 5MRecovery-Advantage+18 of 5M. She usually does this with 214MDNFD Dragon Knight 214M.pngGuardMidStartup16Recovery35Advantage-26, her main combo ender, 5[S]DNFD Dragon Knight 5S-Charged.pngGuardMidStartup36Recovery26Advantage-2, her main hard knockdown from her corner combos if meter is low, or 2B counterhit, which is usually acheived from stagger pressure with 5B. If Dragon Knight does a safejump, she will go into her pressure, if she does a meaty A FollowupDNFD Dragon Knight 5MA.pngGuardMidStartup68 after 5MRecovery-Advantage+18 of 5M, new pressure will open up. If Dragon Knight is out of exhaustion while having almost no mana, she can do mixups after the j.B safe jump. Be aware that those mixups are not safe to DPs like the rest of these setups.

Common Knockdowns, Meaties, and Mixups


  • 2BDNFD Dragon Knight 2B.pngGuardLowStartup13Recovery28Advantage-12 Counterhit
    CH 2B grants a HKD, giving Dragon Knight enough time to position herself for almost any pressure-starter.
  • 214MDNFD Dragon Knight 214M.pngGuardMidStartup16Recovery35Advantage-26
    Dragon Knights main combo ender, gives options for all pressure starters and an easy way to access the safejump setup by holding up forward and doing a delay j.B. After they start to not DP after the jumping normal, you can use a safe jump j.B j.MDNFD Dragon Knight jM.pngGuardMidStartup29Recovery-Advantage- > j.A. This gives a double overhead and will probably hit the opponent the first time you do it, after this you can start doing safejump j.B into 2A for a low mixup as well, empty jump into a grab might also start becoming a viable mixup at this point. Be aware that this mixup is not safe to DPs whatsoever, so only use the mixups off of a safejump after you have conditioned them with up forward delay j.B
  • 5M~BDNFD Dragon Knight 5MB.pngGuardMidStartup93 after 5MRecovery-Advantage~+40 Air Hit
    This usually is used from her main corner carry combos to allow her to get the corner while at fullscreen distance. It allows her to get to the corner because of how long the knockdown is, due to Dragon Knight needing a lot of Mana for 5M~BDNFD Dragon Knight 5MB.pngGuardMidStartup93 after 5MRecovery-Advantage~+40, she will usually not get a meaty 5M from this knockdown.
  • 5[S]DNFD Dragon Knight 5S-Charged.pngGuardMidStartup36Recovery26Advantage-2 Air Hit
    This usually is used either from her main corner carry combos or from her corner combos when she does not have enough Mana for a 214M. Most of the time she will not have enough for any 5M followups so a safejump or Astra summon will be on the table.

Tandem Astra Pressure Theory


Once Dragon Knight sets up Astra with 5M, she has 4 main options to continue pressure based on screen position or Mana available. She has the A FollowupDNFD Dragon Knight 5MA.pngGuardMidStartup68 after 5MRecovery-Advantage+18 for when she has an okay amount of Mana, which sets up for decently long pressure sequences while also having the ability to bait abare An attack during the opponent's pressure, intended to interrupt it. options such as roll and DP with very little risk. She also has the B FollowupDNFD Dragon Knight 5MB.pngGuardMidStartup93 after 5MRecovery-Advantage~+40 for when she would like to push the opponent into the corner from midscreen due to its long lasting and fast moving hitbox. Doing only meaty 5M is also an option to start her blockstrings if Mana is tight. The most costly followup is the S FollowupDNFD Dragon Knight 5MS.pngGuardMidStartup58 after 5MRecovery-Advantage~+60, which makes Astra fully invincible and gives dragon knight access to her high low mix that she usually gets off of 5M, this option is the most Mana costly. Wage your bets wisely and use the best pressure option based on how much Mana you have first, and screen position second.

Tandem Astra Pressure


  • 5M~ADNFD Dragon Knight 5MA.pngGuardMidStartup68 after 5MRecovery-Advantage+18 MP cost: 70
    This pressure starter is useful in all screen positions as it can keep the opponent locked down for a long time while leaving Dragon Knight in a safe spot, this is due to the fact that once set up, Dragon Knight can do a simple blockstring such as 2A > 2A > 5B and leave Astra away from the opponent while also being out of their throw range. This allows Dragon Knight to sit next to the opponent while Astra throws fireballs at them while they are a sitting duck. On most knockdowns in midscreen you can also roll after meaty 5M to have Astra behind the opponent while you are infront of them, you can hit the opponent back into Astras fireballs by using 2A after every fireball. If the opponent tries to DP Astras fireballs, they will likely get punished due to you still blocking while Astra attacks. This followup also costs the least amount of MP out of all of them. All in all, this followup is very powerful while also being very safe, make this option your go to.
  • 5M~BDNFD Dragon Knight 5MB.pngGuardMidStartup93 after 5MRecovery-Advantage~+40 MP cost: 80
    This pressure starter is usually used after a midscreen knockdown when Dragon Knight has lots of MP to burn to push the opponent to the corner, it does not keep the opponent blocking for very long but it allows Dragon Knight to run at the opponent with little consequence due to the fact that the fireball is on top of the opponent.
  • 5M~SDNFD Dragon Knight 5MS.pngGuardMidStartup58 after 5MRecovery-Advantage~+60 MP cost: 90
    This pressure starter will likely be used when Dragon Knight has lots of MP to spend while she is in awakening in order to enforce either her flight mixups or a standard high-low with empty jump 2A and j.B. She can usually get 2 mixups in before Astra stops spinning. This followup can also be used to finish off an opponents guard gauge due to the move doing lots of guard damage and only being able to be escaped by a Guard Cancel

Awakening

General Awakening TheoryEffects activate when entering Awakening Mode at 30% HP or less.


Dragon Knight's Awakening Passive increases her MP Gain by two times. This enables Dragon Knight to be more reckless with her Astra pressure and use lots of MP moves in neutral, which allow her to have a consistently good poking game due to how disjointed her 236M is. This passive also allows liberal use of flight for mixups and for running away from the opponent. All in all, just go crazy when this passive activates.

Defense

General Defense Theory


Dragon Knights defense is a bit above average due to her 5 frame 2ADNFD Dragon Knight 2A.pngGuardLowStartup5Recovery19Advantage-8 and her 623MDNFD Dragon Knight 623M 1.pngGuardMidStartup10, 33RecoveryUntil Landing + 10Advantage-49. Due to her 5 frame normal, she can get some punishes that other characters cannot, and challenge pressure situations where others just have to take the blockstring.

In DNF, Throws don't generally set up for scary oki situations, so taking a Throw midscreen can actually reset neutral and give you White Health for Conversion.

Her Guard Cancel is suspect to whiffing at range, it's a generally safe option to escape pressure, but it will cost 100MP to use. Dragon Knight is very resource-hungry, however, so if you are not at risk of getting guard broken, you might be able to hold off on it for a bit for MP use later. A successful Guard Cancel will put the opponent at almost full screen, which can get Dragon Knight started with her neutral by using j.S. If Guard Cancel is baited, expect a lot of damage to come your way.

Abare

Abare means to attack during an opponents frame advantage with the intention of interrupting their pressure. Naturally, fast moves or invincible moves work best for this task.

Key Abare Moves


  • 2ADNFD Dragon Knight 2A.pngGuardLowStartup5Recovery19Advantage-8
    This move has a 5 frame startup which means it is one of the fastest normal moves in the game, tied with  Striker's 5ADNFD Striker 5A.pngGuardAllStartup5Recovery13Advantage+1. This move also can get lots of punishes that other characters cannot, for example Dragon Knight can punish  Grappler using 5MDNFD Grappler 5M.pngGuardMidStartup31Recovery24Advantage-4 without needing to be in range for a throw. This normal also can convert into her devastating corner combos to deal massive damage.
  • 623MDNFD Dragon Knight 623M 1.pngGuardMidStartup10, 33RecoveryUntil Landing + 10Advantage-49
    This move is a standard DP Dragon Punch A move that has invulnerability during its startup, long recovery, and a rising motion. which can catch even small gaps in pressure very easily if you are using the simple input version.(2M) Make sure to use it wisely, as if it gets baited you will be in for a massive amount of damage being inflicted upon you.

Anti-Air

Key Anti-AirsThe video shows some examples of how these moves are used.
  • 623MDNFD Dragon Knight 623M 1.pngGuardMidStartup10, 33RecoveryUntil Landing + 10Advantage-49
    This move is Dragon Knights DP Dragon Punch A move that has invulnerability during its startup, long recovery, and a rising motion., as a DP normally is, it is great at catching the opponent out of a Jump-in, it is usually recommended due to how fast opponents can jump in this game that you use the simple input version of this move, which is known as 2MDNFD Dragon Knight 623M 1.pngGuardMidStartup10, 33RecoveryUntil Landing + 10Advantage-49. This does not have many drawbacks at all from using the standard version, the only one of which is the MP Regen of your character, which might not matter much in the long run as you reset to neutral after Anti-Airing with this move aside from when in the corner.
  • Air To Air Backwards j.BDNFD Dragon Knight jB.pngGuardHighStartup12Recovery23 + 3 LandingAdvantage-8~+15

This method of anti air is a bit more risky than 623M but gives a combo on hit and a knockdown to start pressure. But if the opponent sticks out a very active air normal preemptively, Dragon Knight may get clipped trying to go for this anti air.

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