Scuba Guides source note. This lesson is based on the older Scuba Guides and the supplied source archive. It is an independent community clarity rewrite, not an official GunZ publication; mechanics are not verified for the current Steam/remaster client.
Lesson content
Knowing when to attack is fairly crucial if you plan on setting up a proper counter opportunity. There’s a right time and a wrong for any type of attack. Almost every move in the game has a natural opening. By combining the concepts of Deconstructing Movements, Distances, and other elements described so far in this guide, we can look further into opportune times to take advantage of an unwitting mistake made by your opponent. Below are a couple examples to take note of. This is not an exhaustive list, but these are the two things to really focus on going after.
Attacking Massives
As discussed in the iFrames segment, a massive has a full on iFrame starting about ¼ of the way into the initial massive, and will continue until just after the white charge disappears. Anything outside of those is an opportunity. That said, an opponent that throws a massive is an amazing target to take advantage of. It’s practically free hits or an easy setup into a flinch lock.
When not to attack - When the opponent begins windup and just after the white disappears. The reason you don’t want to attack these spots is because of the iFrame and the damage that’s coming. The reason you don’t want to attack during any of the entry swing is becuase while you see yourself hitting them outside of the iFrame, they see you hitting them during the iFrame due to the latency is GunZ. The reason you don’t want to attack directly after the charge disappears is because that’s when the damage is coming. While you certainly CAN attack right here and get your hit in, you have to also compensate with an evade of some sort to prevent getting damaged.
When to attack - RIGHT before initial windup is the absolute best time to attack. This will be the safest time to try attacking an opponent throwing a massive. The reason for this is simple. They’ll already begin throwing it by the time you attack this point, despite you not seeing it, and by attacking this window you’ll be able to potentially stun lock their animation depending on if they jumped or not. By the time you get your second slash ready to go, you’ll also have a natural block in place to evade the massive damage, if the AOE didn’t get flung outside of your hitbox to begin with. The next safest spot to attack is directly after the white disappears. By the time you land you’re next to them, the AOE will have already triggered, meaning that it’s impossible for them to fight back, meaning at least one free hit.
Attacking Dashes
Players constantly dash in Gladiator, and by nature of the game, it’s a giant free zone. Remember that in deconstructing movements, the only dangerous part of a Bfly is the slash and block portion only.
When not to attack - Counter intuitively, you DO NOT attack the dash itself. Like I mentioned above, by the time your opponents client registers your slash, it’ll actually be on their block. This means they’ll attack you for free, and your slash will typically end up passing them completely.
When to attack - You want to aim for hitting their jump if they’re a bit slow, or if they’re quite fast, you want to actually aim to hit them just after their slash + Block shows on your client. Depending on the ping, this will hit them anywhere from when they land to just before they slash.