GGXRD-R2/Movement

From Dustloop Wiki

Ground Movement

Walking

Walking is the most basic of all movement options.

It is also the least effective. Walking can be useful to move short distances in the place of a dash or run. Walking forward also gives your character a small amount of Tension.

Running

GGXRD Running.png
Running is an often used movement option within Guilty Gear and is available to a majority of the cast.

Running can be used to cover a lot of distance in a short amount of time. This can be useful for punishing whiffed moves and getting close to opponents after knocking them down.

To perform a run, double tap forward and hold the second input.

In general, the longer the character runs, the faster he or she will become. You even gain tension while running forward. Take special note that a forward dash can be canceled at any point into any ground attack or jump.

  •  Slayer,  Johnny,  Bedman, and  Leo do not have a run. Instead they dash forward a preset distance, with their dashes having different properties such as passing through the opponent.
  •  I-No's run is unique in that it puts her airborne, allowing her to attack from ground to air very quickly.
  •  Potemkin cannot run or dash at all, but can use Hammer FallGGXRD Potemkin HammerFall.pngGuardMidStartup18[31]Recovery33Advantage-16 -> Hammer Fall BrakeGGXRD-R2 Potemkin (4)6H-P.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 15Advantage- as a pseudo dash instead.

Runs have a sliding 5F recovery animation during which you can not normal block, but can cancel into jumps and attacks. However, if you just want to advance quickly for position without attacking or jumping, the other option is to Dash Brake.

Dash Brake

Dash Brake is an important technique to immediately cancel a run into a blocking state.

It is performed by doing a Faultless Defense (FD) while running to instantly stop a ground dash, skip the vulnerable sliding animation, and put your character into a blocking state immediately. In addition to being a very useful movement tool, dash brake can be used to quickly run up and throw an opponent. Characters can not throw while running, but by dash braking, you can stop running immediately and then throw.

Backdash

Backdashes have startup invincibility and can be used to evade enemy attacks.

Backdashes usually have a lot of recovery in the latter half of the move, meaning that an opponent can use a fast attack, recover, then punish the vulnerable portion of your backdash. Backdashes are a powerful tool to escape defensive situations and can even be used on wakeup to escape your opponent's okizeme.

Air Movement

Air Option

Air movement in Guilty Gear work on a either/or system - you can either double jump or air dash, but not both.

Doing either is called using an air option, and most characters only have one air option. Air options are regained once the character touches the ground. Some characters have additional movement options like  Chipp and  Millia. However it's best to think of this on a case-by-case basis, as these characters are rare and often have other restrictions. For example,  Millia can air dash twice in the air, but not triple jump. While  Chipp can triple jump, but not air dash twice.

Jumping

GGXRD Jump.png
Jumping is an important movement option in Guilty Gear.

All characters can double jump, and  Chipp can even triple jump. Jumping can be performed in any upwards direction by simply pressing 8, 9, or 7. Press any of the upward direction again to double jump (and triple jump if you are using  Chipp). Some air attacks are jump cancelable, allowing players to cancel an air attack into a double/triple jump and air dash options. Each character is unique so it's important to know which moves prohibit further air options. Ground jumps have a few frames of startup where you are still considered on the ground, are invincible to throws, can not block, and can cancel jump startup into grounded specials. Each character has different amounts of jump startup and is listed in the frame data. Keep in mind that momentum is conserved when jumping: a running 9 will move much farther than simply 9 at neutral.

High Jump (Super Jump)

In addition to the standard jump, there are also High Jumps (also commonly known as Super Jumps).

A High Jump is performed by first going to neutral, quickly pressing any downward direction, then quickly pressing an upwards direction. The upwards direction will determine which way your high jump is aimed. If you use a high jump, your character will not be able to use double / triple jump options. However, you can high jump > air dash. This can be a key tactic to get out of a rough corner trap or away from an overly aggressive opponent. High jumps have startup and momentum that behave like normal jumps.

Air Dashing

GGXRD Air Dash.png
Air dashes have much different properties than ground dashes.

After the start up frames of the air dash/backdash, characters can cancel into any air attack except air throw. If a dash is used after a Jump or High Jump, your character will be unable to double jump (unless you are using Chipp, who can triple jump). If a double jump is used, then your character will be unable to air dash.

  •  Millia and  Dizzy have 2 air dashes.
  •  Bedman is unique in that his double jump leads to an 8-way air dash.
  •  Raven has a unique air dash that goes downwards before gliding along just above the ground; it also has a hitbox even if you don't input any attacks!
  •  Potemkin does not have an air dash.


Instant Air Dash

Instant Air Dashing, referenced as IAD, is a technique that allows a character to air dash as close to the ground as possible after a jump.

To do an IAD, you just have to input 9 5 6. (the return to neutral is important.) Since the 9 is both considered a jump, and a forward input, it also counts as the first forward input of the air dash (66).

This technique is useful for :

  • Faster aerial movement in general.
  • Poking with aerials in the neutral.
  • Pressuring an opponent with overhead moves.
  • Crossing-up an opponent fast.
  • Extending some combos. (Notably wall sticks. Ex:  May's corner GGH.png Mr. Dolphin HorizontalGGXRD May MrDolphinHorizontal.pngGuardAllStartup13Recovery9+5 After LandingAdvantage-5, IAD j.KGGXRD May jK.pngGuardHigh / AirStartup7Recovery10Advantage- starter)

It's a very useful and versatile technique to master, and should be a tool even beginners should learn as IAD applies to almost every fighting game containing an air dash. Do practice it on both sides, and get comfortable with the timing of the input.

Regaining Air Options

Characters usually regain air options after landing, but there are a few others worth mentioning.
  • You regain your options after air teching.
  • Another way is to successfully air block an attack.

This is even more useful after air Instant Blocking as that will allow you to recover faster and input an double jump or air dash. Similarly, Air Blitz Shield also restores your air options.

Prejump

Jumps and High Jumps are not instantaneous - before going airborne, your character will enter a state called prejump, where you can not block, but are invincible to throws. If you are hit during prejump, you will enter standing hitstun.

Characters have different amount of prejump frames, but the rule of thumb is that the heavier/slower your character is, the longer the prejump. Exact values for prejump can be found in each character's frame data.

It is actually possible to cancel prejump into Blitz Shield, Specials, and Overdrives, though for most characters is not used very often. The reason for this is that attacks that involve an Up input, such as  Venom's Carcass RaidGgxrd venom carcassraid.pngGuardAllStartup16RecoveryTotal 32Advantage+10 can be used without doing tricks to hide the jump input (such as whiffing moves beforehand).

The most common use of this prejump special cancel is to do corner Dust combos into Blitz Attack. Since you can not cancel normals into a Blitz Attack, you can instead jump cancel a normal, then cancel the prejump frames into a Blitz Attack.

Landing Recovery

Some airborne moves have landing recovery like  Ky's Aerial Stun EdgeGGXRD Ky AirStunEdge.pngGuardAllStartup21Recovery41+14 LandingAdvantage-.

This is straightforward; upon landing you will enter a landing animation where you are completely vulnerable.

What's unique is that even for moves that don't have a specified landing recovery - like most air normals, or just jumping, there is still a unique 4F landing recovery that disables certain actions for limited amounts of time.

1F after landing you can cancel into all actions except forward/backward walk, all jumps, and backdash.
4F after landing all actions are possible.

Another quirk about landing in this game is that the frame before landing, you are considered grounded meaning you can be hit by ground throw during the last frame of jumping and getting hit on the last frame will result in ground hitstun.

Ground and Air Recovery

Wakeup

After a character is knocked to the floor, and a brief vulnerable OTG period passes, they enter a wakeup animation that is fully invincible.

The amount of time each character takes to wake up is character specific and depends on whether they are knocked to the ground face down or face up - each move does a specific type of knockdown. Consult each character's Frame Data for exact timings. All character's wakeup timings are listed in a table for comparison in the Character Comparison section. Players will need to make a note of this and adjust their okizeme for different wakeup timings, though in practice one option generally works for most characters and adjustments will need to be made for outliers.

Stagger

You can be hit and thrown during stagger.

Stagger is caused by certain attacks and renders your opponent helpless to both attacks and throws for a short period of time. A button icon will appear over the character's head to indicate stagger.
Mash buttons as fast as you can to escape the stagger sooner. Do note there is a limit of how much mashing can help, meaning it can only reduce the duration by half.
Below the stagger icon is a timer bar to help player gauge how much longer stagger will last.

Teching

Press any button to tech. Hold 4/6/5 to tech in that direction.
Tech, also known as "Ukemi", is the act of returning to an airborne neutral state after getting hit while airborne.

To perform a tech, press any button after getting hit while airborne. Note that you will not be able to tech immediately after getting hit; each attack has a minimal amount of "untechable time" associated with it. As a general rule, the stronger the attack, the more untechable time it inflicts. After a tech, double/triple jump and air dash options are reset. This means that it is possible to double jump or air dash, get hit out of the air, then tech, then perform another double jump or air dash again. Players can choose the direction of an air tech by holding forward/backward/neutral. This can help players get out of traps and reposition characters for a better angle of attack. Forward and backward techs, while good for altering your position relative to the opponent, pop the character up into the air a bit (unlike a neutral tech), which can render you more vulnerable to pursuit - especially against characters who have great air-to-air attacks. Air techs have a small amount of invincibility on startup (see GGXRD-R2/Frame Data for exact values). By timing techs, you can tech "through" the opponent's attack, giving you a great opportunity to counter attack. Keep in mind that you must wait for the tech to complete before you can perform any followup actions. Because techs are only strike invincible before they can move again, a very observant player can predict a tech, then air throw their opponent while they are teching. Make sure you know when and where each type of tech is useful; the opponent might be waiting for you with a specific tech punish.

Cancels

Gatling Combination

Games like Guilty Gear have a very freeform system of canceling normal attacks to each other.

Each character has a different set of Gatling Combinations available to them, but it generally progresses from GGP.png > GGK.png > GGS.png > GGH.png. There are many exceptions, but this is a good general rule when starting out. Performing Gatling Combinations is relatively straightforward: press the first button quickly followed by the next. The first move will hit, and the recovery will be canceled into the second move. This can be continued as long as you stay within the characters Gatling Table which can be found in each character's Frame Data.

Special Cancel

A special cancel is when a player cancels a Normal Attack into a Special or Overdrive Attack.

To perform the cancel, attack your opponent with a normal, then quickly perform a special or Overdrive before the first attack finishes. When done correctly, the normal will hit and then be instantly canceled into the special or Overdrive. In most cases it's best to perform Special Cancels as fast as possible. Beginner players may want to start out by performing them off slow normals such as a standing GGS.png or GGH.png. Since the slower attacks have longer hitstop, canceling into specials or Overdrives will be easier than starting out with the quick attacks. As you become more adept at canceling using this technique, you will find you can cancel almost every normal in the game. This will greatly open up your combo options.

Jump Cancel

Many of a character's normal attacks can be Jump Canceled.

Jump Cancels are exactly what they sound like, they cancel an attack into a jump (which can then be canceled into another attack of course). They can be used to enhance combos and mix up offense / defense options. To perform a Jump Cancel, hold an upwards direction as a jump cancelable move is connecting. After the move connects, your character will cancel into a jump. Jump Cancels still follow the same double/triple jump and air dash rules. While you can Jump Cancel on either guard or hit, you can't Jump Cancel a move if you whiff it completely, so don't get careless!

Roman Cancel

The Roman Cancel system in Xrd is unique and offers much more freedom compared to the previous Guilty Gear games.

Roman Cancels allow a player to cancel almost any attack at almost any time, allowing players to easily create new blockstrings, combos, and mixups on the fly. Roman Cancels come in multiple colors and are performed by pressing any 3 attack buttons (except GGD.png). They cost 25% or 50% Tension depending on the situation, and also decrease Tension Gain by 80% for 6 seconds.

Color Tension Startup Slowdown Situation
GGXRD YellowRC.png
Yellow
25%
6F
18F
  • During the startup/early active frames of an attack and the opponent is not in blockstun or hitstun.
  • During movement or moves that don't attack and the opponent is not in blockstun or hitstun.
  • When you are in a neutral state or movement and the opponent is not in blockstun or hitstun.
  • Not all attacks can be YRC'd. A red X will appear over your character if you attempt a YRC during these times.
GGXRD RedRC.png
Red
50%
1F
60F
  • During the startup/active/recovery frames of an attack and the opponent is in blockstun or hitstun.
  • During movement or moves that don't attack and the opponent is in blockstun or hitstun.
  • When you are in a neutral state and the opponent is in blockstun or hitstun.
  • When an opponent performs a blue Psych Burst.
GGXRD PurpleRC.png
Purple
50%
6F
40F
  • During the late active/recovery frames of an attack and the opponent is not in blockstun or hitstun.
  • Not all attacks can be PRC'd. A red X will appear over your character if you attempt a PRC during these times.
A red X appears when you try to RC an attack that can not be.
  • Note all startup times occur pre-superflash. There is no recovery after super flash.
  • All forms of Roman Cancel are fully invincible 1 frame before and 1 frame after super flash.
  • All forms of Roman Cancel are in Counter Hit State during startup.
  • All forms of Roman Cancel consume Tension on super flash.
  • All forms of Roman Cancel also decrease Tension Gain by 80% for 6 seconds.
  • Enemy state is determined on frame 1, so it's possible for situations such as starting a YRC/PRC, the opponent getting hit, then the YRC/PRC executing.
  • Slowdown lasts for the listed amount of time or until the either player blocks/gets hit by an attack during slowdown.

During any Roman Cancel, the opponent briefly enters a slowed down state where their movement speed is approximately halved. Thus players might occasionally perform YRCs at neutral as a "pause button" to assess the situation and react accordingly. This slowdown state even affects hitstun, allowing for otherwise impossible combos. Note that using any Roman Cancel in a combo will inflict 80% additional forced proration if you hit the opponent while they're in slowdown, but that is a small price to pay for the increased comboability of the Roman Cancel system.

Red Roman Cancel (RRC)

  • Unlike previous games, projectiles can be RC'd.

Yellow Roman Cancel (YRC)

  • YRC'ing projectiles can allow the projectile to come out and cancel the recovery for only 25% Tension.
  • Attacks can still be YRC'd even after hitting secondary characters (like  Zato's Eddie) or an opponent with super armor (like  Potemkin's Hammer FallGGXRD Potemkin HammerFall.pngGuardMidStartup18[31]Recovery33Advantage-16).
  • Momentum carries over during all RCs. This means YRCing certain attacks gives a unique movement option for 25% Tension. For example,  Potemkin can YRC I.C.P.MGGXRD Potemkin ICPM.pngGuardMidStartup13Recovery29Advantage- in order to gain a faux air dash!
  • Most attacks with invincibility like  Sol's Volcanic ViperGGXRD Sol VolcanicViper.pngGuardMidStartup5Recovery29+8 after landingAdvantage-41 can not be YRC'd.

Purple Roman Cancel (PRC)

  • Attacks can still be PRC'd even after hitting secondary characters (like Zato-1's Eddie) or an opponent with super armor (like  Potemkin's Hammer FallGGXRD Potemkin HammerFall.pngGuardMidStartup18[31]Recovery33Advantage-16).
  • Most attacks with invincibility like  Sol's Volcanic ViperGGXRD Sol VolcanicViper.pngGuardMidStartup5Recovery29+8 after landingAdvantage-41 can not be PRC'd.


Clashes

GGXRD Normal Clash.png
A clash happens when you and your opponent's attacks hit each other in a way that both attacks are nullified. See here for a more detailed visual example.

During a clash each character can cancel the attack into:

  • Any attack
  • If the attack is jump cancelable, then jump.
  • Ground clashes can cancel into forward run and air clashes can cancel into forward air dash.
    • Canceling air clashes into double jumps and air dashes requires that air option be available.
    • For example, you can not cancel an air clash into a double jump if you have already double jumped prior to the clash.
  • Faultless Defense
  • Blitz Shield

The cancel timing window is very small, so you must be fast to react to it. Thus when clashes happen either the players are unable to react to it because it is unexpected, or they understand how the attacks interact well enough to intentionally cause a clash to cancel out the opponent's attack, then retaliate.

Danger Time

3...2...1... DANGER!
When a clash occurs, there is a 30% chance that the game will enter Danger Time: a temporary period where the potential for damage is much higher than usual.

A three second countdown gives you a brief moment to think about your move, both players are given a free 25% Tension, and then Danger Time begins. During Danger Time, all hits will inflict 20% more damage and will inflict a special type of Counter Hit called a Mortal Counter (barring those with a canned animation on hit). Mortal Counters trigger slowdown (much like Roman Cancels, but without the 80% proration). Because both hitstop and hitstun are doubled by the slowdown, you can often recover from your attack, run all the way up to the opponent and then continue your combo easily. If that wasn't enough, Mortal Counters can also be canceled into anything, including dashes and Faultless Defense. This allows even the slowest recovery moves to become powerful combo starters. You can learn more about Mortal Counters here.

Advanced Techniques

Jump Install

Under normal circumstances, players can not double jump after becoming airborne via special moves (such as  Chipp 's GGS.png or GGH.png Tsuyoshishiki Ten'iGGXRD Chipp TsuyoshishikiTeni.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 20Advantage-) or after high jumping.

Jump Install (JI) is a technique that bypasses this limitation, enabling all air options after these circumstances. The basic way to Jump Install is:

  1. Perform an attack that is jump cancelable.
  2. Press up, then press another attack before becoming airborne, continue combo.
  3. Later in the combo, become airborne via high jumping or via a special move like  Chipp's GGS.png or GGH.png Tsuyoshishiki Ten'iGGXRD Chipp TsuyoshishikiTeni.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 20Advantage-.
  4. You now have access to all air options.

Landing Jump Install

Landing Jump Install is a technique where you automatically Jump Install after landing from a jump under specific conditions:

  1. Normal jump without double jumping/air dashing.
  2. Upon landing, do not enter neutral state - immediately attack.
  3. High jump via a jump cancel or a perform a special attack that leaves you airborne.
  4. You can now air dash and double jump.

The first step can be generalized as "landing from a jump with all air options", such as after air teching.

Jump Installing without a Buffer

It is possible to Jump Install without a buffer, but the timing is much stricter.

This is much easier to do with slower attacks, like  Sol's 2HGGXRD Sol 2H.pngGuardMidStartup8Recovery26Advantage-13, but any jump cancelable attack can be Jump Installed on its own.

  1. Perform an attack that is jump cancelable.
  2. During the startup but before the attack connects, press Up.
  3. When the attack connects, perform a high jump during the jump cancelable frames.
  4. You can now air dash and double jump.

While the uses are fairly limited, the applications to Jump Installing without the need of a buffer do exist, for example if you anti-air the opponent but they're too high for you to cancel into another attack to buffer the Jump Install normally.

Auto Install

Some attacks automatically Jump Install themselves. No special input needed, just jump/air dash after the attack.

Examples include  Ky's Greed SeverGGXRD Ky GreedSever.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup19Recovery5+11 LandingAdvantage-10 (YRC) and  I-No's Chemical LoveGGXRD Ino ChemicalLoveK.pngGuardAllStartup11Recovery13+8 After LandingAdvantage+3 (YRC).

Note: You CANNOT High Jump Install from neutral. Hitting 828 or similar while standing at neutral will NOT let you double jump after a high jump. You must cancel a normal for High Jump Install to work.

Jump Installing counts as a pseudo-jump but you do not actually leave the ground. Besides the desired property of allowing you extra jumps, Jump Install also kills any ground momentum you had. This means that if you started your combo by running, any forward run speed you have left will go away once you Jump Install. Keep this in mind, as it can be important.

Oddly enough, it is also possible to force the enemy to Jump Install. Certain moves when they Counter Hit will cause a floor bounce, but also cause a large amount of stun where they 'stick' to the floor briefly. If you strike the enemy again during this time, they will remain on the ground instead of bouncing. If this happens, they have technically been 'Jump Installed', and can possibly air tech even while standing! There are other variations on the same idea as well that will allow you to 'Jump Install' your enemy. Not that you'd really want to.

Jump Cancel Cancel

When canceling an attack into a jump, the character does not immediately go airborne - they still need to go though jump startup.

Jump startup is special cancelable, so players can effectively special cancel normals in situations where they normally can not. This is most commonly used to cancel Jump cancelable normals into Blitz Attack (since Blitz Attacks can not be canceled into) for combos.

Navigation

System Links
Mechanics
Application & Advanced Information
Archived Information