Do you know the difference between Dodge and Emergency Dodge?

Forward dodge: Roll forward

Backward dodge: Back dash

Dodge while getting hit: Emergency dodge

Before explaining what dodging (S) is, it’s important to understand the concept of it. Dodging forward will allow you to dodge your opponent’s attack by rolling forward and even letting you go behind your opponent, while back dodge means to back dash and quickly move backwards. It’s used to either gain distance. quickly close in, and to go behind your opponent.

The emergency dodge works differently depending on the situation. When you get hit by your opponent’s attack multiple times in succession, you can use dodge get out of their combo with a roll motion. It’s especially useful against striker characters. If used correctly, the opponent will have a longer cooldown on their abilities, thus gaining the offensive upper hand.

Emergency Dodge: Rolling forward to prevent opponent’s combo

If you successfully use emergency dodge, the fighter will get the ‘EMERGENCY’ gauge on top of their heads. A cooldown indicator that’s separate from dodge (S) is visibly shown to see when they can use it again. It’s visible to your opponents as well, which means that you can combo your opponents if your opponent uses emergency dodge and is on cooldown.

The ‘Escape’ function: Becoming invincible by launching your opponent

Escape (hotkey: Space) is like emergency dodge, but it’s a higher form of defense skill. If emergency dodge allows you to get away from normal attack skills, escape not only nullifies the enemy’s attack, but also launches the enemy to create a safer situation.

Since it’s such a strong defensive skill, it cannot be used lightly like a dodge. It takes up one power gauge bar, and has a longer cooldown than a dodge, so only use it in emergency situations.

Using both ‘Dodge + Escape’: The Finisher Counter

Escape nullifies the enemy’s attack and makes you invincible, and Dodge allows you to roll forward and allows you to break free from getting combo’d by the enemy. You can use both of these at the same time (Space + S). Normally, it’s used to nullify finishers and to get away from the spot. It’s a form of a finisher counter.

If you use escape without dodge, you can get hit by the follow up hits of the finisher after brief invincibility, and get stuck in it until the end. In order to completely counter a finisher, you must use both escape and dodge.

Furthermore, finisher skills are all different per fighter, and come in all shapes and forms such as projectiles, and multi-hits. So you may need to find the right timings to get out of them, or you may not even be able to get out of them at all. You can only use the finisher counter if the escape icon blinks.

Dodge (S): Basic practical use in matches

Let us explore how we can use dodge and escape in actual matches. You can use dodge to avoid skills other than strikes, grabs, blasts and finishers, and it’s the basis of the mind games. It has a short cooldown as well. In practicality, it’s more important to learn how to roll forward than to back dash. When you’re back dashing, the distance traveled is very short, and it’s also hard to get away from dashes and blasts ranges, so it’s hard to counterattack. Unless it’s a fighter that has ultra long-range blast skills, it’s less practical than rolling.

It’s more practical to get behind your opponent to attack your enemy from behind via rolling. Dash grabs are hard to deal with, but one of its flaws is that it has a long end lag, so if you roll behind your opponent, you can get the opportunity to counterattack.

The most important thing to consider when using emergency dodge is to use it in scenarios that will ‘interrupt big damage scenarios’. It’s critical to prevent the enemy from attacking again after escaping and land your own attacks. This is because the EMERGENCY gauge can trigger the start of the enemy’s combos. It’s a double-edged sword, so it’s important to attack the enemy after getting out of the enemy’s attack.

Escape (Space): Practical use to become a master

The escape skill is not a ‘Get out of jail free card’. In certain scenarios such as getting grabbed, you cannot use the escape skill, so it’s important to be aware when the icon is blinking and when you can use the escape skill. In any case, the important thing is that the escape skill sends your opponent airborne and allows you to follow up with your attacks.

As your rank goes up, having a strategy to use escape to counter your opponent’s escape is important as well. Mind games between the highest level of players can lead to them predicting their opponents’ escape timings, to follow up with guard or dodge to lead into combos. In a way, it’s a more important skill than attacking.

By utilizing such a theory, it’s important to realize when you’re going to use the escape skill to interrupt your enemy’s option to combo your attacks. Through experience from matches, learn the strategy of countering escape with escape and make practical use of it.