Help me understand dodging

[johnnybleu]

Ok, so first off, I'm going to assume that dodging has no i-frames? I constantly seem to get nailed when I'm trying to dodge out of enemy attacks. Or am I doing something wrong, and it's a timing issue?

Also, why do I sometimes leave a blue shadow behind? Is that a "perfect timing" kind of thing? Does that grant invincibility?

Any other tips on avoiding attacks and damage? I know blocking is essential, but enemies seem to get REAL grabby on Mentor.

Thanks in advance!

[' Æsir]

About dodge, it's timing. Keep practicing.

About the blue shadow, it's usually some i-frames or part of a combo. Not all of them make you get i-frames.

About avoiding damage, keep dodging and blocking. It's also possible to counter most of attacks if you press the attack button (S or T) while blocking as soon as the enemy's attack lands. It tends to work even against bosses.

To avoid grabs, you have to dodge. Bosses usually don't get staggered if they started the grab animation, so you have to dodge and/or jump away from them.

It doesn't mean it's going to work all the time. It's frustrating, but you'll get better and better as you keep trying.

Mentor is a good difficulty level but it's still easy. You'll only learn how to properly play the game - as well as have the definitive experience of Ninja Gaiden - when you play on master ninja difficulty.

So pay a lot of attention to the enemies movements and try not to rage

[Dante]

Dodge in this game has iframes. If you are hit by an incendiary Shuriken and you know the timing, you can dodge to completely negate the explosion. The blue dodge happens when you dodge while blocking (very effective if you know you will be guard broken). Use JUMP + LIGHT SLASH to do a homing iframe jump towards an enemy. It will be look exactly like a normal jump but will be blue and towards the enemy, then use jump again to step on the enemy, or you can use flying swallow after it if you have dragon sword. Try to use iframe attacks of your favorite weapons combined with this to stay in iframe status most of the time. Also use iframe stuff like Obliteration and Ultimate techniques. Learn how to quick charge Ultimates by pressing HEAVY SLASH right as you are about to land from any arial animation or jump when there is essence around.

[Morbis]

Make sure to utilize guliotine throw and shurikens as part of your defense as well.

[johnnybleu]

Ok, maybe I'm just flailing around too much then. I'm constantly holding block, and dodging all over the place, but I always seem to take some hits. It's also possible I'm hitting the attack button somewhere in there without noticing-- this game makes me lose my cool. lol

I'm already relying on OT's and UT's as much as I can, as well as Ninpo to get out of a jam, since I know all of those make you invulnerable. I didn't know about hopping on enemies though!

I also spam shurikens whenever I can to tag and stagger enemies. Guillotine throw is nice, but I find it slightly less useful on Mentor, as enemies tend to recover most of the time. Of course, it still gives you some breathing room, but throwing them into a wall is usually effective. ;)

Thanks for the tips!

[Morbis]

I don't really care if you find it useful or not; I'm telling you it's useful.

[' Æsir]

Originally posted by johnnybleu:

I also spam shurikens whenever I can to tag and stagger enemies. Guillotine throw is nice, but I find it slightly less useful on Mentor, as enemies tend to recover most of the time. Of course, it still gives you some breathing room, but throwing them into a wall is usually effective. ;)

I've already 100%ed Sigma 1, Sigma 2 and I'm two achievements away from 100%ing 2 Black. And I never used the guillotine throw move. Never made sense to me and I can perfectly do without it, therefore so can you, don't worry

[Morbis]

Originally posted by ' Æsir:

Originally posted by johnnybleu:

I also spam shurikens whenever I can to tag and stagger enemies. Guillotine throw is nice, but I find it slightly less useful on Mentor, as enemies tend to recover most of the time. Of course, it still gives you some breathing room, but throwing them into a wall is usually effective. ;)

I've already 100%ed Sigma 1, Sigma 2 and I'm two achievements away from 100%ing 2 Black. And I never used the guillotine throw move. Never made sense to me and I can perfectly do without it, therefore so can you, don't worry

And I've cleared both sigmas on master ninja without health upgrades, ninpo and UT so he should stop using those mechanics too since they aren't needed lol

[' Æsir]

Originally posted by Morbis:

Originally posted by ' Æsir:

I've already 100%ed Sigma 1, Sigma 2 and I'm two achievements away from 100%ing 2 Black. And I never used the guillotine throw move. Never made sense to me and I can perfectly do without it, therefore so can you, don't worry

And I've cleared both sigmas on master ninja without health upgrades, ninpo and UT so he should stop using those mechanics too since they aren't needed lol

1 - You lie.
2 - I didn't talk to you.

[sillyskeleton]

I believe you have some vulnerable recovery frames after a dodge, so you can't just hold block, dodge around haphazardly and expect to be invincible to any strike attacks. Trying to dodge too early out of an enemies long attack string can often end with you getting clipped by them if you aren't spaced far enough away.

Avoiding grabs is usually a matter of recognising the enemies throw animation and dodging out of the way in time. Especially with bosses, it's often a good idea to stick to shorter attack strings so you aren't locked in an attack animation when you need to dodge a throw in a pinch.
Some grabs are less telegraphed, or much harder to recognise when you're dealing with multiple enemies, so in those cases it's more about not placing yourself right next to an enemy that isn't currently stun locked or in a state where they can't immediately go for a grab.

[johnnybleu]

Originally posted by sillyskeleton:

I believe you have some vulnerable recovery frames after a dodge, so you can't just hold block, dodge around haphazardly and expect to be invincible to any strike attacks. Trying to dodge too early out of an enemies long attack string can often end with you getting clipped by them if you aren't spaced far enough away.

Ok, that's what I thought-- there are definitely points in the dodge animation where you can get hit, and my issue is that I AM dodging randomly with no regard to proper timing and spacing. I really need to work on cleaning up my inputs and fight my button-mashing urges, but my brain can barely keep up. ;)

[Nem Dhregin]

The re-dodge where you let go of block after a block break and either a
1.) immediately block again to create block chain
2.) press block and immediately move to perfect dodge, cutting out recovery frames.

Thats pretty much it homie

[Dante]

Just a tip if you can master it. Falcon Talons is the best weapon if you wanna deal with any kind of ninja in the game no matter what the difficulty. This is coming from a guy that beat all Tests Of Valors (a mode missing from this game where you fight 100 ninjas in one go) on Master Ninja difficulty.

Falcon talon has an attack X,X, Forward+X, Y,Y,Y.
X= light slash, Y = Heavy. This attack gives you iframes in the YYY section and has insane damage. During YYY Ryu does 3 super fast kicks in the air and you can also hold Y after it cuz he is coming to the ground after it for a UT so it is an iframe after an iframe. This attack is also super effective on bosses like skeleton boss where you dont even need to bring him down to attack as the YYY part just follows the boss in the air automatically giving him insane damage while the boss is standing.

Try to master the X+A (invincible homing jump) towards enemies then follow up with the air izuna drop string (sorry I forgot the string) when you reach a grounded ninja. Just spam in this order > dodge in your desired direction, X + A, Izuna String. With this you can just keep doing free izuna drops while staying in iframes.

Forward + Y, Y also covers a lot distance and is very good for dismemberment.

[masterninjah]

the best way to not get hit is to not be there. this game is all about corralling enemies together and attacking the pack then getting out as fast as possible on harder difficulties.

[masterninjah]

also when dodging always hold LT and flick the stick so if you do get hit you block it. some people use the dodge button as a single press kind of thing when you really should be holding it like 90% of being in battle. only let go when you need to do a combo

[Morbis]

Originally posted by ' Æsir:

Originally posted by Morbis:

And I've cleared both sigmas on master ninja without health upgrades, ninpo and UT so he should stop using those mechanics too since they aren't needed lol

1 - You lie.
2 - I didn't talk to you.

What do you mean I lie?