PSA: Learn to Parry (and more)! Info inside!

[Netsa]

The game doesn't explain what it is, how it works, or how to do it even though it's a brand new mechanic to the game.

When you press the Dodge button, you use a section of your stamina meter.

When you dodge in a direction, it's a regular dodge and you move through attacks that would have hurt you.

When you "dodge" in place without moving, you no longer dodge at all. If your timing isn't right, you will still get hit, but if your timing is correct, you will Parry whatever move was about to hit you.

Either move can be done on the ground or in the air.

You can Parry projectiles to delete them (not sure about Heavy ones, I only tested with Lebron's basketball, since he's one of very few characters that has a projectile as his neutral special attack and the new Training Room sucks).

Here's the meat:
If you Parry a melee attack, the enemy IS STUNNED for a moment, giving you time to hit them with whatever you want. It's high-risk, high-reward, but if you can get the timing down for some of this game's slower attacks, you can completely neutralize them and counter for free damage, or even a free ringout.

Respect your stamina bar, though!
If you're out of stamina, directional dodging no longer gives you any invincibility frames and Parrying no longer works. This means if you see an enemy with a gray bar, they're easy pickins. They can't dodge through anything, so they are easily juggled into the blast zone as long as you don't miss (or fall into a combo yourself).

Stamina comes back as you hit people, so stay on the offensive and only dodge when you see something coming.

Steven-specific Bonus:
Steven's Passive replaces his neutral dodge with a bubble shield. However, Steven can still Parry. This basically gives him the safest Parry in the game, since if he successfully Parries, you get stunned, but if he fails his parry, he still blocked your attack with the shield.

He still uses the stamina meter, though, so even if his bubble still has ammo, he can't use it at all if he's gray.
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Unrelated Perk:
A new perk was added to the game under the "Strong" slot called Airwalker. This is a mechanic (I heard) stolen from Brawlhalla, which uses up almost half your stamina meter to spawn a platform beneath you when you neutral-dodge in the air. The platform only lasts for the full duration of your next attack, so make the most of it.

From what I've seen, this is not a perk you should be sleeping on.

[Netsa]

Courtesy bump

[HighLanderPony]

Wait, they removed spot-dodging in favor of a parry?

Boo.

[Netsa]

Originally posted by HighLanderPony:

Wait, they removed spot-dodging in favor of a parry?

Boo.

You can test it to make sure, but that's how it worked when I did it in Training. If my Parry failed, I always got hit, I didn't dodge the attack.

I don't have a strong opinion on it either way, I just wish there was an in-game tutorial on it. Not knowing about it can really screw with you, especially if you're coming from Smash.

[HighLanderPony]

Originally posted by Netsa:

Originally posted by HighLanderPony:

Wait, they removed spot-dodging in favor of a parry?

Boo.

You can test it to make sure, but that's how it worked when I did it in Training. If my Parry failed, I always got hit, I didn't dodge the attack.

I don't have a strong opinion on it either way, I just wish there was an in-game tutorial on it. Not knowing about it can really screw with you, especially if you're coming from Smash.

Yeah the new tutorial sucks.

[Humanoid Starzon]

Originally posted by REVOLVER OCELOT:

Eh, the best thing you can do is just Uninstall. Wait for them to make the game not garbage. Hopefully it'll he playable in a month.

A month is good.

[Netsa]

Raising awareness for Parrying is hard.