Note: the terms Square, Triangle, etc used below are used to reflect the button on the controller above, not the default PS3 pad configuration for the game
Main Weapon - [A] (Square)
The primary ranged weapon of each MS in the game. This armament almost always some sort of beam rifle (BR) or machinegun (MG), though there are a few exceptions (G Gundam series MS, Deathscythe Hell, Epyon, Altron, Turn-A, Susanoo, GP03, Efreet).
These armaments typically reload in one of 3 ways: "normal" (constantly regen 1 shot every X seconds), "use-up" (the entire ammo stock is reloaded after Xs after you have used every shot of ammo), or "cartridge" (entire ammo stock instantly reloaded by cartridge change after you have used up every shot).
Melee Attack - [B] (Triangle)
The melee attack button of almost every MS in the game. There are though a few MS that have another ranged mode of attack instead of melee (Heavyarms, Cherudim, Raphael, Hildorf, Extreme Ef).
The type of melee attack performed can be altered using the directional stick.
Boost - [C] (X)
MS are maneuvered by using boost, which is limited by the boost gauge. When the boost gauge is empty you will be "overheat" and forced to land to allow the boost gauge to regen.
Pressing X once will cause the MS to rise. Pressing X twice will cause the MS to boost dash (BD) in the direction of the control stick. The various cost levels of MS have differing numbers of BDs before they overheat. Some MS have a mobile armor (MA) mode in which pressing a direction twice while holding X will transform them into a high mobility mode, consuming boost gauge at a constant rate.
There are a number of movement techniques employed in the game using boost that are discussed in the Boost/Movement page.
Sub-Weapon - [AB]
The secondary ranged weapon of an MS behind their main (A).
This slot is often where common armaments such as bazooka (BZ) and funnels are assigned, though certainly not always and not exclusively.
Special Shot - [AC]
Known for a long time in the Gundam VS series as "special shot" [AC] is often a MS-unique ranged attack, though, again, it's not always a ranged attack despite its terminology (in early VS titles this was exclusively a special ranged attack, which is where its name derives from).
This the button input to which Assist MS armaments are often assigned.
Special Melee - [BC]
Similar to [AC] this button input has historically been used to perform MS-specific melee attacks, though now in EXVS it is not a given that the attack will be melee at all, and in truth [BC] is maybe the most diverse button with regard to armament assignments.
Target Change - [E] (O)
Self-explanatory, how you switch which enemy is your current target.
Communications/CPU Command - [D] (L1/Yellow)
When playing as a single player with a CPU partner this button will issue a command to your CPU partner instructing them on how to behave. In order they are:
- ノーマル ("normal"): CPU behaves according to what the game perceives as normal conduct
- 集中 ("focus"): Instructs CPU to focus its fire on your target
- 分離 ("separate): Instructs CPU to focus its attack on the enemy you are not currently targeting
- 突撃 ("assault"): Instructs CPU to attack without reservation
- 回避 ("evasion"): Instructs CPU to evade enemies, causing them to attack only if they are in direct hand-to-hand threat from an enemy
In single play these are mostly irrelevant, really only useful for telling your CPU to stop attacking so that you can get kills for points if you are doing FB missions or Arcade, or if you are facing an extra difficult enemy in one of these two scenarios and want to instruct your CPU to focus fire with you rather than waste effort on other enemies that are present.
However, when playing online the Comm button becomes significantly important. Neutral comms during online play report your approximate amount of remaining health to your partner to help coordinate health management between the two of you. These health reports come in one of 4 messages:
In addition to this you can customize neutral, up, left, right, and down comm messages for both during battle (for things such as "I'm going forward" or "I'm retreating" or "I'm out of ammo") and after battle (for things such as "thanks" or "let's play again" or "you suck", whatever you like). The default in-battle comms are:
- Neutral: よろしくお願いします
- Up: 前に出ます ("I'm going forward")
- Left: 了解です ("Roger that")
- Right: 援護します ("I'll cover you")
- Down: 後退します ("I'm retreating")
The default post-battle comms are:
- Neutral: ありがとうございました ("Thank you very much")
- Up: ありがとう ("Thanks")
- Left: 助かりました ("You saved me that round")
- Right: 次もよろしく ("Let's play again")
- Down: ごめんなさい ("I'm sorry")
Arcade Notation
This wiki and the community as a whole often discusses this game according to arcade notation. If you imagine the joystick being in the center of a computer keyboard's numpad, then you will see 5 is neutral (no input direction), 4 is left, 6 is right, 8 is up, and 2 is down.
So then, some example attacks would be:
- 5BBB = B, B, B (ΔΔΔ, or whatever controller button you have melee mapped to).
- 4/6BB~8B - Left/Right-B, B, Up-B (in this game left and right melee are the same attack)
Some other notations you will commonly see in this wiki and among the community are > (step cancel), >> (BD), and → (direct cancel). In this game after using a main armament (A, AB, etc) you generally must expend boost after it before you can use another attack, such as A>>A>>A (a common attack that knocks the enemy down). Melee attacks can be canceled into other attacks by using a step cancel (double inputting a direction), such as 5BB>4/6BB>8B. Some attacks though can directly cancel into one another with needing to spend any boost though, such as BR→BZ (although these cancel routes usually do less damage than doing BR>>BZ as the tradeoff for not spending boost).
These concepts will be discussed in greater detail in their respective wiki pages.