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
Recoil is the soft stunned animation state you enter when your opponent manages to block your slash full on putting you in a vulnerable state.
Recoil Mechanics
When recoiled, several mechanics happen all at once. Here’s a run down.
You are locked into place and cannot move - This is the most obvious thing that happens. When you get recoiled, all your movement is completely halted and you freeze in place, whether you’re on the ground or in the air. This also applies to vertical motion as well. If you’re jumping upwards and get recoiled, you’ll stop rising and immediately begin falling.
During Recoil, block animation is fully canceled - By this, I mean that the delay is canceled due to the animation simply not registering. You can spam block all you want and it’ll basically stack on itself.
During Recoil, you have a ghost block - A ghost block is a block without the animation. So your opponent doesn’t see you blocking, but you still are.
If you hold block before getting recoiled, it will persist as a full block - If you hold block, and continue to do so through the recoil, you’ll have a full block that also registers to the opponent. As soon as you release block, it will disappear and enter into the ghost block stage.
Since Recoil is an animation itself, you can ghost evade - During recoil, you’re constantly using an animation, so if you angle correctly and continue turning you can easily dodge massives.
When Recoil ends, your block will go down no matter what - No matter what you do, there is a very brief moment where you cannot have a block up no matter what you do after recovering from a recoil. This means that there’s a brief moment (2 to 3 frames at most) where you cannot dodge from a massive or slash if the opponent throws it correctly.
Rarely, your directional ability will be locked - very rarely, you’ll be unable to turn during a recoil. There’s no real reason as to the why or how of it. This is a very bad place to be in.