BASICS AND CONTROLS

OVERVIEW

Here is a video tutorial explaining the system mechanics of the game.

BUTTON LAYOUT AND CONTROLS

HUD LAYOUT

Life Gauge: This bar displays your current stamina. When it depletes, you lose the round.
Support Gauge: When lit up you can call your assist, when grayed out you cannot. Refills over time.
Blast Icon: Usable when it displays "BLAST OK", “CHARGING” or “WAIT” means Blast is unusable. Refills after use and displays a percentage while charging
Trump Card Icon : Each player starts with two Trump Cards. Upon activation a meter will display showing the time remaining on the effect of the card. You will regain a card upon losing a round
Round Timer: This timer shows how much time is left in the round. The timer starts from 99 and also displays the current round
Round Win Count : Displays the number of wins each player has.
Climax Gauge: Super meter, builds from various actions. Max 5 levels
Health Deficit : When the player has the health deficit a small light will appear at the end of their health bar

MOVEMENT

Dash and Backdash (44 or 66)

Standard fighting game dash and backdash. Dash type and recovery varies per character though all backdashes have invulnerability from 1-8 frames.

Jump/Double Jump (7/8/9)

Inputting 7, 8, or 9 on the ground will allow you to jump in that direction. Similar to Melty Blood, while in the air after a neutral jump you can slightly alter your position by holding either 4 or 6. Jump startup is 4 frames and once airborne you cannot block for 6 frames. Double jump can be performed by pressing any jump direction while in the air.

Quick Forward (2 > 8 or 9)

Inputting 1, 2, or 3 on the ground then quickly up to 8 or 9 will allow you to super jump. You jump at a much higher and wider arc. You can only super jump forward, and not neutral or backwards. Any super jump input will always move you forward.

Airdash and Triple Jump (Character specific)

Some characters hold unique air movement options such as airdashes or triple jumps. Airdash is performed by pressing 66 while in the air and similar to Quick Forward can only be performed moving forward. Airdash arcs vary per character and add proration to the subsequent jump in attack. Triple jumps have a shorter jump height compared to double jumps and restrict the player from blocking until landing.

BASIC MECHANICS

Combination (5A > 5B > 5C)

Characters can chain normals from weak attacks to strong attacks, A normals can be chained between each other up to 3 times per combination or string while B and C normals can only be used once (outside of trump).

Quick Combination (5AAA...)

Quick Combination is the games form of auto combo, 5AAA will perform the characters 5A 5B 5C 5AB combination and with a bar of meter will end in one of their EX special moves.

Extend Action - Hold A, B, or C (During specific attacks)

Extend Action is a special enhancement to a normal or special move performed by holding the button, this is unique to specific normals/special moves for individual characters. Some characters have move(s) with it and some do not, look through your characters move list to see if they have one.

EX Special Move (Special Move Input+AB)

EX moves are enhanced versions of a special move that can be performed by inputting A+B with that special moves notation at the cost of 1 bar of meter. EX moves gives you 10% to your Blast Gauge cooldown on hit or whiff, and in most characters cases have EX moves that allows for hard knockdown.

Throw (4/6C)

Throw is performed with forward or back and the C button, whiffing throw will cause your C normal to come out instead. To throw from a dash, you must first stop your dash by inputting back or neutral. You cannot tech a throw while crouching. You have 10 frames to tech the throw and the player who techs the throw is at a frame advantage of +3. On wakeup, there is an 8F window where you cannot be thrown but are still susceptible to attacks.

Climax Arts (Super Move Input+BC)

Super moves that are performed with either 41236 or 63214+BC at the cost of 2 bars of meter. There are two types of supers, commonly referred to as the damage super and the ranbu super.

41236+BC

Typically referred to as the damage or normal super. Since they have no invincibility on startup, they're typically used for damage as a combo ender. The trade-off is that your character is usually not in an ideal position for optimal oki so you are likely to be put back in neutral.

63214+BC

Referred to as the ranbu super, for most characters is a forward rushing super with full invulnerability. This super is used to recharge your blast gauge as it rewards 20% blast recovery when used. Because of its invincibility it can also be used as high-risk high-reward reversal, and gives better positioning for oki and gives you 20% to your Blast Gauge cooldown. The tradeoff however is an overall lower damage output in comparison to the damage super.

Climax Gauge

This is the super meter. There are up to five gauges, denoted by a number and color.

0 - Orange / 1 - Green / 2 - Yellow / 3 - Blue / 4 - Purple / 5 - Purple

You gain meter from attacking, standing up, and moving forward in any fashion (walking/running/jumping/super jumping). Much of your meter gain will be from Power Up Blasts. Passive effects from your Trump Card (character specific) and certain assists also give you additional meter. If you are behind a round or if you have the universal Potential activated when your health bar is purple, meter gain increases from normal.

Stamina Gauge

Every character in the game has 10,000 health, however you do not lose until you drop below 0 (ie. it's possible to have 0 health and not lose)

Recovery (Hold A, B, or C during or after a combo)

Recovery, or teching can be performed by holding A, B, or C. In the air you can hold left or right to change the direction in which you air tech. After an air recovery you have full invulnerability until you reach the ground or perform an action in the air (such as an attack or a double jump).

Reflection Guard (While guarding, press any two buttons between A, B, and C)

Reflection Guard is the games form of pushblock. Performing a pushblock depletes half a bar of meter, however if you are at a health deficit the pushblock costs no meter. You can perform a pushblock even if you run out of meter. Pushblocking is great for creating space and can be used to avoid air-unblockable attacks if the opponent has you in blockstun with another attack prior. Pushbloking adds more blockstun allowing you to mitigate tick throw set-ups, left/right mix-ups, etc.

Potential

Potential is a temporary status effect that activates after fulfilling a certain criteria. Potential is indicated by a quick cut in of your character and their character potential will flash while active. Every character has two potentials, one universal to the cast and one unique to them:

Universal Potential

Increases damage by 10% or 20% when health falls under 30% for 20 seconds. If a player is behind in round victories they will gain a 20% increase. (Universal potential can also be identified by the health bar turning purple, when the health bar goes back the yellow that means it has run out)

Character Potential

As the requirements and effects varies per character, more information can be found in their respective guides.

PRIMARY MECHANICS

Support Call (S)

Calls your support character to perform a specific attack or ability, each assist has at minimal a 4/6S and a 5S. Some assists have additional specific abilities that you can look up in the Assist Primer.

You can cancel into an assist during an attack at the cost of 1 meter. Under trump assist canceling is free and you can freely call your assist on the ground or in the air without the assist call animation.

Impact Skill (5AB/2AB)

An attack with 1-8f guard point that is highly punishable when not cancelled into trump or combo blast on block. This is the games primary meter-less reversal option. These are non invincible reversals and can be thrown out of.

If an opponent hits you during the guard point frames you will take "white health" damage unless you cancel into into your own. During a guard point clash you can counter with your own Impact Skill/Break, Trump Card, Combo Blast, Climax Super and in some cases an EX Move.

A characters 5AB is usually a grounded reversal that moves them forward whereas 2AB is usually similar to a dragon punch, in animation only. Be weary that neither are air unblockable and as such should not be treated as a proper anti-airs.

Impact Break (4AB)

The games universal overhead attack with a guard point at 11-21f after startup. Pressing either A, B, or C after the first hit will follow up into an air launcher to extend combos. If pressed immediately, the screen zooms in and there is no proration deduction.

If delayed there is no zoom in and a heavy combo proration. The follow up is very punishable on block when not confirmed properly. You can omit the follow up by not pressing A, B or C on hit or block, however, you will be -2. You will be safe however not in advantage.

Blast (A+B+C)

Many will think of this as the "burst" mechanic of the game however it is the last thing you want to use your blast for. This game being very resource heavy you want to use your blast to aid in your resource gain. Here are the three types of blast and how to apply them:

Power Up Blast (Neutral)

This blast is performed in neutral (outside of hitstun, blockstun or attacking) and is the strongest of the three. Using it gives you the following benefits:

Temporary Attack Increase (15%)
Passive Health Regen (15%)
Passive increased meter gain (1 bar of meter)
1 bar of meter on activation (2 if you hit the opponent with it)

Power up blast is what allows you to build meter quickly at the beginning of a game and aid you in getting your momentum going and as the round progresses it allows you get more if your blast gauge has refilled. It's a powerful tool that you should prioritize implementing into your play.

Combo Blast (While Attacking)

As the name implies the combo blast is done while attacking your opponent, on activation it gives you a bar of meter and has varying properties:

Launches the opponent in the air in an untechable and unburstable state for a powerful combo extension
Holding forward during Combo Blast decreases the proration rate and launches the opponent backwards and causes wall bounce in the corner
On block it's +10 and it allows you to make unsafe moves safe such as an impact skill or blocked mixups to continue your offense
The blast icon will not begin to recover until your combo is over. It recovers as quickly as a Power Up Blast

Escape Blast (While in blockstun/hitstun)

The "burst" version of the blast, it's an invincible blast that pushes the opponent away and stopping their offense immediately. The penalty to this however is that your blast gauge recharges extremely slow and you will likely not see it for the rest of the round.

Trump Card (A+C)

A powerful move to turn the tides of battle in your favor. Every character comes with one of the two types of Trump Cards, which is indicated by the color of the trump icon.

Red (Strike)

Red trumps are offensive attack trumps, they are frame 1 strike and projectile invincible, air unblockable (except Kirino) and overhead (except Selveria) attacks. A raw strike trump does 30% damage and on block is generally safe. Be careful of reversal trump attempts or random offensive trump use.

Blue (Install)

Blue trumps are install type trumps that enhances the characters abilities in some way varying per character. They hold the same invincible properties as Red Trump Cards, and in addition pauses the screen on activation. It can be used offensively to extend combos or blockstrings like a Roman Cancel from Guilty Gear, or used defensively to analyze the situation and punish an attacking opponent like a Chain Shift from Under Night In-Birth.

Regardless on the trump type there are many universal benefits to being in trump state such as:

Reverse Beat (all normals can be cancelled into any other normal once per block string)
All normals can be jump cancelled
Support cancel requires no meter
No Support Call animation, assists can be called while moving and while in the air.

You can only hold 2 Trump Card Icons at a time but you gain a Trump Card after you lose a round so be mindful of that when a round isn't going your way. The Trump Card duration gauge can be extended by using Power Up Blast while in trump state.

Trump card allows for more freedom and creativity in your play and opens the door to "wild" things in DFCI. While this mechanic is strong it is not a free comeback mechanic. Trump card activation can be grabbed out of on activation (they will still enter trump after the grab). Keep an eye on how your opponent uses trump card and grab them out of it when you can.

You can also use a Trump Card to power up your Climax Arts, but you will not enter Trump Card mode. In addition if you were already in Trump Card state prior to using one during your Climax Arts, you will no longer be in Trump Card state after the Climax Arts.

Ignition

Ignition is a mechanic that allows you to enhance your main character, support character or blast character in-between rounds, all of which hold differing benefits. You can ignite the same character twice if you go into a round 3 or mix the characters you ignite. Below is a break down of what each ignition does for each type.

Single Player Ignition

Damage Increased by 3%
Defense increased by 7%
White damage restoration increased

Double Player Ignition

Damage increased by 7%
Defense increased by 10%
All normals are jump cancellable
During the start-up of a Climax Arts, press and hold A+C to strengthen the attack (Cost 1 Trump Card)

Single Support Ignition

Cooldown speed increased
Call recovery decreased

Double Support Ignition

Call assist while airborne (Cost 1 meter)
During the start-up of a Climax Arts, press S to strengthen the attack (Costs 1 meter and support gauge)

Single Blast Ignition

Recover 50% of Blast Gauge instantly + faster recovery rate
If still recovering from an Escape Blast or use an Escape Blast afterwards, the restoration speed will return to its normal rate

Double Blast Ignition

During the start-up of a Climax Arts, press A+B+C to strengthen the attack (Costs Blast Gauge)

Blast Characters and Types

Blast characters themselves hold no unique abilities and are essentially cheerleaders, however the blast type you choose for them is what's important. Each assist character has a default blast type associated with them, which you can also change by pressing start when you select them. The blast type you select greatly enhances its blast radius, allowing you to increase your combo potential, escape from otherwise inescapable situations, or increase its utility.

Benefits Of Each Blast Type

Power Up Blast receives a larger hitbox allowing for more breathing room when trying to activate it, however it is still subject to getting punished if the opponent spaces out correctly.

Combo Blast is usually selected if the player has a combo that requires it. A character like Tatsuya or Shizuo benefits from this since in some of their combos they are too far away for Combo blast to normally hit the opponent. As it is very character specific it is often the least used blast type.

Escape Blast is the most commonly used between the 3 types. Not only does it have an increased blast radius but the active frames shoot from 9F to 16F allowing you to not get baited by combo blast. Since combo blast recovers first if combo and escape are done at the same time, combo blast always wins. Escape character nullifies this but can still get baited if a power blast is done at the same time as the escape.

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