The Dragon Ball series has had a lot of video games over the years, but to many, Dragon Ball FighterZ is easily the best one. It uses the 3v3 format of games like Marvel vs Capcom and sports a roster and aesthetic perfect for Dragon Ball fans.
Like other 3v3 games, Dragon Ball FighterZ is quite an aggressive game, and so having a proper defense is vital for surviving, and more importantly, winning a match. A lot of this game’s mechanics are similar to those of other fighting games, but there are also quite a few unique mechanics on offer. Taking all these into account, these are some steps to take to polish one’s defense to a mirror shine.
8 Learn The Basics
Whether transferring from another fighting game or starting with fighting games altogether, it’s important to understand some of the basic aspects of Dragon Ball FighterZ. Like most fighting games, it uses the simple “hold back to block” system, as opposed to having a block button. It is also possible to block in the air.
Attacks in the game also have heights, including low, medium, and high. This means that to block lows players must crouch block (by holding down and back) and to block highs (aka ‘overheads’), players must be blocking while standing. Usually, the best practice is to block low and swap when an overhead is coming.
7 Make Use of Guard Cancels
DBFZ lacks the intense combo-breaking tools of other fighting games. In Guilty Gear Strive for example, ‘bursts’ can be used to break out of a combo. Here, however, the only comparable move only works while blocking, not while being hit.
Guard cancels can be performed by pressing forward and an assist, resulting in one of the other teammates in the lineup swapping in while letting the previously blocking character escape. This can be a good way to reset the game, but if predicted can be punished easily, and costs a whole bar of meter.
6 Understand Blockstun
Fighting games hold a lot of smaller mechanics that don’t always communicate directly to the player. One of the more common ones is the concept of ‘blockstun’. Blockstun simply means that after blocking an attack, there is a limited amount of time before a character can stop blocking, and do other moves.
Some attacks cause more or less blockstun, usually depending on their power. This means that moves that are easier to punish, can also leave the blocker immobile for longer, meaning there’s not always enough time to stop blocking and counterattack. It must also be stated that air blocks incur more blockstun.
5 Make Use of Z Reflects
It’s very easy for a player to get locked into blockstun, and not really know how to properly escape. A tool that can help with this is the ‘Z reflect’, a unique mechanic to DBFZ. While blocking, pressing back and special will activate this move, parrying things like projectiles and any blockable moves.
It’s a good option especially when dealing with projectiles/weak ki blasts, as it can be canceled into a super dash or even supers. A well-timed reflect can open the opponent up for a counterattack, but smart players also have ways to invalidate it, so it’s not a catch-all option.
4 Be Wary of Mix-ups
It may seem like simply blocking incoming attacks is enough to stay safe, but this is far from the truth. While blocking, players can’t be combo’d, but they can be hit by a ‘blockstring’. These are combo-esque sequences of attack designed to pressure the blocker, and break open their defense.
Blockstrings often include strategies like high/low mix-ups or even ‘crossups’, which attempt to jump over the blocker to hit them on the other side. Players on the defensive need to watch their opponents carefully, and change up their block in order to keep themselves protected, no matter what the opponent is doing.
3 Know The Options In The Corner
If a player is on the defensive too much, they will inevitably end up in the corner of the screen. Being in the corner can be quite scary. There’s no room to retreat anymore, and the attacking player is mostly free to keep the pressure up until the defender cracks.
However, the corner can also be a useful tool. For one, cross-ups aren’t possible in the corner, so that’s one less thing to worry about. Certain characters like Kid Buu will seek to remove their opponent from the corner to make these mixups possible, but this can also be an opportunity for the defender to predict this and escape.
2 Know The Opponent
Building on the information about blockstrings and mixups, in order to master defense, it’s vital to know what the opponent’s options for offense are. Different characters have different options on how to attack and therefore demand different defensive strategies.
Big characters like Broly for example, have a harder time hitting low attacks, meaning that blocking low is less necessary against them. However, they might instead have things like super armor or command grabs that present a unique challenge when it comes to escaping their offense effectively.
1 Don’t Be Too Defensive
Ironically, the most important part about blocking is knowing when to stop blocking. Especially in a fast-paced game like DBFZ, being defensive all the time won’t secure a win at the end of the day. Blocking is a tool to help make a counterattack possible, and it cannot be the entire game plan.
Whether it be via guard cancel, Z reflect, or simply punishing an unsafe move from an opponent, blocking can be seen as a success once the player on the defensive has taken control of the game by hitting their opponent instead.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.