DBFZ/Damage

Damage Scaling

As you combo the opponent, you will notice that each attack does less damage than they would individually. This is due to damage scaling, otherwise known as damage proration. Each attack has an Initial Proration value and how many "steps" it proceeds down the scaling table.

Step Count Proration
Step Count	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17+
Next Hit	0%	10%	20%	30%	40%	50%	60%	70%	70%	70%	70%	75%	75%	75%	80%	80%	80%	85%

The first hit of the combo will always do 100% damage, and unless stated otherwise, all attacks have a minimum damage of 10%. To determine how much damage the second hit onwards in a combo will deal, there is a formula:

If (Base Damage) × (Initial Proration - Step Count Proration) × (Damage Boost) > (Minimum Damage)

     Current Damage = (Base Damage) × (Initial Proration - Step Count Proration) × (Damage Boost) × (Damage Reduction)

else

     Current Damage = (Minimum Damage) × (Damage Reduction)

For example, most 5Ms have Initial Proration value of 100% and increments scaling by 1 step (100%+1), this means that the next attack will do 90% of its base damage. Similarly, most 5Ls' Initial Proration value is 90% and increments scaling by 1 step (90%+1), so the next attack will do 80% damage.

Here's how the scaling table looks like for all Initial Prorations from 100% to 50%:

Step Count	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17+
100%	100%	90%	80%	70%	60%	50%	40%	30%	30%	30%	30%	25%	25%	25%	20%	20%	20%	15%
90%	90%	80%	70%	60%	50%	40%	30%	20%	20%	20%	20%	15%	15%	15%	10%	10%	10%	10%
80%	80%	70%	60%	50%	40%	30%	20%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%
70%	70%	60%	50%	40%	30%	20%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%
60%	60%	50%	40%	30%	20%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%
50%	50%	40%	30%	20%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%

Notice that at 100% Initial Proration, the table benefits the most from damage scaling and damage also never goes below 15%. Thus moves with 100%+1 or even 100%+0 proration are the best combo starters.

Here's an example to get the hang of combo scaling: Start with Android 16's M Dynamite DriverGuard:
ThrowStartup:
26Recovery:
28Advantage:
, cancel into M Flying PowerbombGuard:
ThrowStartup:
19Recovery:
+3LAdvantage:
, then Vanish and finally Super Dash.

Order	Move	Base Damage	Proration
1	Smash 236M	1800	80%+0
2	Non-Smash 214M	700	80%+2
3	Vanish	850	100%+5
4	Super Dash	300	90%+1

The first hit of the combo always does 100% damage: 1800, and it'll set the Initial Proration of the combo to 80%
Since the first attack is +0, the second attack stays at 80% damage: 700 × 0.8 = 560
The third attack goes 2 steps down to 60%: 850 × 0.6 = 510
The fourth attack goes 5 steps down to 10%: 300 × 0.1 = 30. After this point, all attacks will do 10% damage, unless they have unique Minimum Damage
Thus the total damage of this sequence up till the fourth attack is: 1800 + 560 + 510 + 30 = 2900

Multi-Hit Attacks

Depending on the move, each part of the attack can apply scaling individually or together as one hit. For example, Goku (Super Saiyan)'s KamehamehaGuard:
AllStartup:
18Recovery:
21 [17]Advantage:
-16 [-10] has 5 hits with each doing 262 damage and a proration value of 90%+1. If all 5 hits connect, it will do 262 + 262 × 0.8 × 4 damage, and the next attack will also do 80% damage.

On Dustloop Wiki, we denote the scaling for Kamehameha as 90%+1 (Once), or 90%+1×5 (Once) to be more precise.

Damage Boosts

There are 6 sources of damage boost in the game: Sparking!, Limit-Breaking Power, Android 21 (Lab Coat)'s Photon PulseGuard:
ThrowStartup:
21Recovery:
17Advantage:
, Broly (DBS)'s Gigantic RoarGuard:
AllStartup:
10+3Recovery:
31Advantage:
-25, Frieza's Golden FriezaGuard:
Startup:
34+0Recovery:
Advantage:
, Gohan (Adult)'s Potential UnleashGuard:
AllStartup:
9+3Recovery:
44Advantage:
-29. These buffs stack as follow:

Damage Modifiers
Character Boost	Normal	With Sparking! or Limit-Breaking Power	With Both
None	100%	120%	130%
Photon Pulse^†	121%	145.2%	157.3%
Gigantic Roar	115%	135%	145%
Golden Frieza	120%	130%	140%
Adult Gohan Lv.2	102%	122%	132%
Adult Gohan Lv.3	104%	124%	134%
Adult Gohan Lv.4	106%	126%	136%
Adult Gohan Lv.5	108%	128%	138%
Adult Gohan Lv.6	110%	130%	140%

^†Only applies to Android 21 (Lab Coat)'s Special Moves and damage she deals as an Assist.

Damage Reduction

There are 2 sources of damage reduction in the game: Super Scaling and Android 21 (Lab Coat)'s Photon PulseGuard:
ThrowStartup:
21Recovery:
17Advantage:
. These debuffs stack multiplicatively:

Damage Modifiers
Normal	Super Scale	Photon Pulse	Both
100%	40%	79%	31.6%

Without any damage debuffs, all attacks with damage higher than 0 cannot drop below 1 damage. With debuffs, attacks can be scaled to 0 damage.

Super Scaling

Landing a hit with a Super or Meteor Attack will mark the combo with Super Scaling. Once the current point character returns to neutral state, the rest of the combo will suffer a 40% damage multiplier.

Certain Super/Meteor Attacks do not have this property, allowing you to freely combo afterward with normal damage output. One caveat is that if Super Scaling has already been marked before these attacks, follow-ups will still suffer reduced damage once the point character has fully recovered. Example: Vegeta (Super Saiyan) hits with Big Bang AttackGuard:
AllStartup:
9+4Recovery:
Total 69Advantage:
-27 (has Super Scaling), then Ultimate Z Change into Nappa's Break CannonGuard:
AllStartup:
12Recovery:
Advantage:
-24 (when held, does not have Super Scaling), after Nappa returns to neutral state, the rest of the combo will do 40% damage.

Full list of Supers/Meteors without Super Scaling property is as follows:

Broly's H+S Gigantic MeteorGuard:
AllStartup:
9+15Recovery:
Total 68Advantage:
Broly (DBS)'s second part of Meteor ShowerGuard:
AllStartup:
9+2Recovery:
Total 94+25LAdvantage:
-50
Frieza's Sorbet's Ray GunGuard:
AllStartup:
8+0Recovery:
Advantage:
Goku (GT)'s Super Ultra Spirit BombGuard:
AllStartup:
12+1Recovery:
Advantage:
Gotenks' H+S Super Ghost Kamikaze AttackGuard:
AllStartup:
Recovery:
57 TotalAdvantage:
+20 (per Ghost)
Kefla's Gigantic RayGuard:
AllStartup:
11+12Recovery:
Total 58Advantage:
+50 ~ +52
Krillin's second part of Scattering Energy WaveGuard:
AllStartup:
9+3Recovery:
Advantage:
+35
Nappa's Break Cannon (Hold)Guard:
AllStartup:
12Recovery:
Advantage:
-24
Piccolo's Hellzone GrenadeGuard:
AllStartup:
9+15Recovery:
Total 41Advantage:
+62 ~ +71
Smash! version of Vegeta (SSGSS)'s Niagara Pummel (Hold)Guard:
AllStartup:
8+7Recovery:
Advantage:
-14
Smash! version of Videl's Rainbow StormGuard:
AllStartup:
11Recovery:
Advantage:
-20. However, Non-Smash! version will Super Scale the combo immediately after the last active frame, rather than when she returns to neutral state.
Yamcha's Spirit BallGuard:
AllStartup:
9+4Recovery:
Advantage:
-23 itself has Super Scaling property. However after landing Spirit Ball, if Yamcha stays as the point character and no attacks in the combo has dealt Super Scaled damage, then his Meteor Attack: Ultimate Wolf Fang FistGuard:
AllStartup:
9+3Recovery:
Advantage:
-15 will be unaffected by Super Scaling. This allows him to link Spirit Ball directly into Ultimate Wolf Fang Fist and get full damage, even though Yamcha has entered neutral state and can even perform other actions between the two attacks.
Zamasu (Fused)'s Blades of JudgmentGuard:
AllStartup:
9+41Recovery:
Total 42Advantage:
~+110

Combo System

The combo system in Dragon Ball FighterZ is very freeform, however there are a few rules that limit things.

Moves that cause the camera to briefly change angles and zoom in are considered to have the Smash! property, which puts the opponent in an extended hitstun state compared to normal. These often cause a special hit property, such as launching, wall bouncing or sliding the opponent, although this is not always the case.

Attacks that can trigger Smash! property do not trigger these effects at all times, as certain circumstances can prevent the camera change and the effect from taking place. Typically, you are limited to one Smash! per combo, with the following exceptions:

The third hit of the L Super Combo (5LLL) will always Smash!
A Smash! that ground slides will still do so following any other type of Smash! and vice versa
- This is not the case of Dynamic!, which prohibits any further Smash! except Vanish and the guaranteed Smash! on 5LLL
Vanish can be used for an additional wall bounce, however any further Vanishes will not wall bounce
j.H will ground slide only if used after an attack with launching Smash! property (most 5LLLs, 2H, most j.2Hs, raw Dragon Rush and more) within the same combo
- Android 16 and Gogeta (SSGSS)'s j.H wall bounces on Smash!
- Broly's j.H captures into launch on Smash!
- Piccolo, Yamcha, Android 21, Vegito and Goku (GT)'s j.H cause blowback and have no Smash! property
- Super Baby 2's j.H uniquely sends upwards with no Smash! property

Hitstun Decay

As a combo goes on, the amount of hitstun each attack deals is reduced as it reaches certain time thresholds. Hitstun decay (for a grounded opponent) and untechable decay (for an airborne opponent) are determined by the amount of time that has passed in the combo.

Certain moves ignore this decay, such as most throws and Super/Meteor Attacks.

Hitstun Decay vs. Time
Combo Duration	150F~	270F~	390F~	510F~
Hitstun Decay	-5F	-10F	-15F	Reduced to 0F

Untechable Time Decay vs. Time
Combo Duration	420F~	540F~	660F~	780F~
Untechable Time Decay	-5F	-10F	-15F	Reduced to 0F

Chip Damage

When blocking specials and supers a very small percentage of the attack's base damage will be dealt in the form of recoverable health. This is colloquially known as chip damage (i.e. chipping away an the opponent's health). Some attacks do a significant amount of chip damage, like Krillin's Destructo Disc.

Normals and regular Ki blasts do not perform chip damage.

A character will not die from chip damage.

Valid vs. Invalid Combos

A valid combo versus an invalid combo. The number turns blue when the combo could have been escaped

Because characters can choose to delay their air recovery, this leads to the possibility of combos that work only because the opponent decided not to recover. This means that some combos are not "true" combos; the game's HUD differentiates between the two classes of combos by showing the hit counter as red for a valid combo and blue for an invalid combo.

There are some situations on defense where you intentionally delay a recovery to avoid a mix-up. For example, some characters often create mix-ups assuming you will recover right away. Delaying your recovery will mess up their timing and allow you the chance to escape.