Sparing Tip's 101(Update 1.1.4)
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Blinking
The maximum length of time that you can maintain your blink is 2 seconds. However, blinking will be canceled early when you do any of the following:
Understanding #2!This one can be tough to understand. First of all, "gani" is just a fancy word for an animation in Graal. When you're hit, you enter the hurt gani. About 1.5 seconds later, if you don't move, you enter the idle gani. The moment you leave the hurt or idle gani, the directional keys that you're pressing (or the buttons you're holding) are extremely important and will determine if you cancel your blink early or not.Let's say I get hit in a spar. Right after I'm hit, I start moving straight in the left direction. I can continue going left for 2 full seconds and I'll maintain my blink. I can go left+up or left+down. I can strafe in place with left+right and I can even strafe up or down (although I don't recommend it and I'll explain why soon). None of these will cancel my blink. However, if at any given time I release that left directional key, I'll stop blinking. Understanding #3!The third is so simple! This one only applies to players using a keyboard (so, PCs and maybe a few Androids). The moment you stop strafing while you're blinking, your blink is immediately canceled. It doesn't matter if you started the strafe before or after you were hit and began blinking. This doesn't mean that strafing still can't be useful, but you've got to know what you're getting yourself into. Improving at Blinking !
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PINCHING
You can pinch or pin your opponent between yourself and a wall like this, but it's not something you can expect to do frequently. Don't force it. I'd only do if you're comfortable with potentially trading a hit or if you're confident that your opponent doesn't know blink very well. Player drops his blink once by slashing upwards while I'm spamming and I continue spamming because he's pinned down. He could have easily just moved, but he swung again and dropped his blink. This is a weakness that you have to recognize and continue to exploit. It shows a clear lack of understanding for how blink works.
HESITATING
This is another example of a technique that I explained earlier. Player hits me, I stand completely still until he gets too close, and I get an easy hit by changing direction and swinging while I'm still blinking. He tries to do the same thing, but I stay far from him. Both sparrers seem to have an strong grasp of how blink works in this example, and one small mistake can result in a lost spar. It's very important to know the tendencies of your opponent so that you know what you can get away with against them.
STRAFING
Player and I trade hits and I notice that he drops his blink way too early. This is how strafing—while risky—can be used to make a nice move. I start going left, but I want to go down to match him. Most players would just go directly down and immediately lose their blink. By strafing downwards, I never actually let go of the leftkey and therefore maintain my blink. However, if I were to ever leave my strafe then it'd be canceled and I'd be in a pretty rough spot. Strafing isn't just something that you should be doing because it feels or looks cool. There's a real purpose to it.
COUNTERING
I land a hit on Player and I notice that he's staying still, so I keep a good distance away. I bait his sword out to cancel his blink and move around him for another clean hit. I make the mistake of staying a little too close after, and he gets a free hit on me.Notice how important the 0.3 seconds are when players are frozen in the sword and idle ganis after swinging.
CHASING
I hit him and expect him to drop his blink by swinging again. He sees me swing, turns, and hits me. I've got the blink advantage, so you can see me running straight at him. He realizes I have blink so he tries to run and juke it out of me, but I get a clean hit. This is what I was referring to when I mentioned the "J" technique. This is a really simple maneuver that I think is underused. Don't use your 2 seconds of blink to show that you're afraid of your opponent.
Knowing how to properly use blink is something that very few players can do, but blink—as a mechanic—is something that most players are at least familiar with. Movement and hit detection are two things that people don't seem to understand. I'd be surprised if there's anyone else out there who has gone through as much effort to figure this stuff out as I have.
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Another good trick, if you're a beginner and sparring against an offensive sparrer, is to simply not move after you're hit. You're guaranteed your full 2 seconds of blink if you do that, and it gives you time to collect yourself and possibly get a free hit on them if they move towards you.
In many sparrers do this as a way of countering combo sparrers. It's a pretty safe move and buys you some time to assess what your opponent's going to do without having to make a move yourself. As blinking can be really difficult for mobile players, this is something that I'd especially recommend for them. |
Directional AdvantagesDue to the way Graal is coded, all directions (while moving) overwrite up, and right overwrites all directions. Because of this, many sparrers are weak from the top and strong from the right. The actual order of strength is: right→down→left→up.
Shown here are the following diagonals, in order:
Some keyboards can't strafe with the arrow keys because of the way they're mapped. If you have this problem, you can try using the IJKL keys. Mechanical keyboards are more expensive but they last longer and have no keymapping. This means that mechanical keyboards can strafe in all directions. Laptop keyboards are notorious for having poor keymapping when it comes to games. |
Tower'sThe following list ranks every available tower on iClassic from a defender's perspective.
1)Destiny Tower
While this tower stands in an area of Graal that sees a lot of player activity, the tower isn't what attracts people to this town. The community has accepted that Destiny Tower belongs to the best tower guild at any given time. It's the most pure "home tower." The desire to capture it is often outweighed by the realization that you'll probably just lose it within minutes when the opposing guild wakes up and regroups. This tower is just too strong in every way. 2)Swamptown Tower
The dominant strategy at Swamp allows defenders to spam towards the water as attackers pour in. It creates an impassable wall that always outtrades the attacker. The narrow pathways all throughout the inside levels make it so that any more than two guilds here will create complete chaos and favor the defending guild. StrategyYellow path: Unless you wanted to help attack the stairs zone I would rush into the flag. Blue: Before advancing to the next half of this level make sure to pick up a vase, when you move into the water on your way to the stair it will hit any defender blocking your path this will also help avoid getting sword spammed back into the water. Red marks: Use these areas to stand your attack towards any incoming defenders this will help immensely to your advantage. Cyan tip: If there are any entrance blockers (usually the first time you enter) these are a perfect spot to throw a bomb towards them. Once the bomb detonates it will push them forward leaving enough space for everyone to rush in. Flag Zone Yellow path: Make sure to be alert and ready to dodge any attacks once you kill a defender you have about 5 seconds before they make it back to the top. Blue areas: Similar to mod this can be used to your advantage by being able to immediately hit any incoming defender. Purple tip: If the flag is safe from defenders and 3-4 teammates are hitting the flag it is recommended to go back to the last level and attack any incoming opponents. Defending You only want to have 2-3 teammates defending the flag the rest should be outside no further than the two stairs. 2-3 should be stationed by the flag entrance and the rest by the stairs keeping everyone off and off-limits. Be sure to be active if any sudden attacks come your way since if the stairs are failed to be defended the attackers can easily dominate the stairs to their advantage. 3)Deadwood Tower
One thing that seems like it's never going to change is that there's really only one thing people go to Deadwood for, and that's to tower. Even the hat shop rarely sees visitors. Spotting guilds grouping to attack at this tower is easier than anywhere else. Breaking up a coordinated attack is simple at the narrow staircases. The only thing you really have to worry about at this tower is getting bored and falling asleep. Strategy Red path: Avoid getting killed in the stairs by blockers the flag is always crammed so you want to save your health to endure the sword spam. Blue path: Just a little alternative way to enter only use it if there's several sword spammers (hit them from behind). Yellow zones: Once clear of defenders these areas should be blocked with no more than 2 members on each side giving those attacking the flag about 6 extra seconds. Green region: Go here only if the flag area is too crowded by flag defenders. Below you will see how to push these enemies away from the flag. Flag ZoneBlue areas: Avoid getting into these sections you will be trapped and sword spammed by defenders. Aside from that due to the small area the flag has unless you outnumber the opponents (or if you catch them afk) you probably will not be able to obtain this tower. Green tip: The trick is to use a bomb here once the bomb is tossed it will be returned back to you but it will still cause damage to any defenders blocking/healing the flag.
4)MoD Tower
Flag HP: 200
MoD Tower is the PK tower. You're going to get people attacking all day long and you will have to work to hold it. It's a polar opposite to Destiny Tower in that regard. However, that doesn't mean that it's "hard." The thing about MoD is that if you lose it, you know you're going to retake it. The tower is very volatile when it's being actively PKed. You might lose the tower now and then, but chances are that it'll be lost to a very small group of random PKers who aren't even there to hold it. When the PKing dies down, defending the bottom staircases at MoD proves to be one of the best strategies available at any tower. Strategy Red Path: Fastest way to the top usually followed by other pkers. Make sure to ignore the pkers in this area since you want to save your health for the flag. Green Path: An alternative way to the top. Choose this path only if there is a lot of commotion throughout the red path examples being an afk or a laggy player blocking the stairs. Yellow Zones:
Red Path: Fastest way to the top usually followed by other pkers. Make sure to ignore the pkers in this area since you want to save your health for the flag. Green Path: An alternative way to the top. Choose this path only if there is a lot of commotion throughout the red path examples being an afk or a laggy player blocking the stairs. Yellow Zones:
Purple path: Should be used whenever the flag's dropping in health significantly -tower low on defenders- & -few pkers present- Blue path: When the flag is crowded you want to expand your attack territory this will cause any flag defenders to chase after you allowing a chance for other members to attack the flag. Yellow zone(s): They represent the area that will give you the upper hand to attack incoming defenders. The moment they enter they will get hit at least once, from there you can chase them while other members keep lowering the flag's health. Only use this section if the flag is packed (either your own members or fellow attackers). DefendingSimply make sure that everyone is active and that the flag is frequently kept healed. Also try to keep a positive K/D ratio from fellow pkrs. 5)Sardon's Tower
Flag HP: 100
The halls are practically useless now. Where you could once stop an entire guild from breaching the halls using three or four people, you're now lucky to get two or three hits on a single person as they blink past. You can also no longer block that hallway door. The new spike room is as torturing to the defending guild as it is to attackers. That door can't be blocked either. The days of spawning three tiles away from the flag are also a thing of the past. I know some people are still loyal and stick to this tower for old times' sake, but it's awful to defend now. However, I'm probably a little biased because I spent five guilds worth of hours at this tower when it almost defended itself. StrategyRed path: Straightforward route. You want to get passed this hallway as quick as possible. Blue areas: Avoid fighting in these sections it's going to cause you to block your own teammates giving the opponents a chance to re-group and block the spike room entrance. Spike Room Watch out for the spikes! Green path: Quickest way into the flag however this is also the route taken by the defenders making their way to the hallway prepare to put your dodging swords and spikes to the test. Blue path: An alternative route it has more chances of getting hit by a spike only use it when the green path is blocked or well defended. Yellow zones: These are perfect locations to stand your attack towards incoming defenders. You definitely don't want these opponents to enter the hallway with full health since it will slow down your rushed attack significantly. Red area: By standing here use it to attack any person blocking the flag entrance. If timed correctly with the spike the sudden attack will cause the person to be pushed away giving enough room for everyone to rush inside. Defending Have someone guarding the flag entrance and at least 2 persons in the flag. If the coast is clear in the spike room everyone else should push into hallway and defend this area from any players these will be the first to see any sudden guild attacks. |
Hit Detection
Your sword's range in your current direction, when not moving, is 4 tiles.
Your sword's range into your flank directions, when not moving, is 2 tiles. Your sword's range in diagonal directions is ~4.47 tiles (√(4² + 2²)). The nearby picture demonstrates this. The (Blue) represents your current direction and the (Orange) represents your flank direction. Players that are touching your sprite can be hit only in one flank direction. You'll learn why in the next section. If you're moving towards a player as you slash, your sword length grows. This effect is compounded if you are moving diagonally. This is most noticeable if you slash someone from the bottom-right corner, where your sword's length can be as great as ~5.75 tiles (roughly a 25–30% increase). The bottom-left corner is a close second, being able to slash someone from ~5.5 tiles in distance. Attacking someone from the top-right can greatly take advantage of this. Since your opponent can't move diagonally while slashing up (due to up's directional weakness), but you can slash down while holding left, you can hit someone's top-right corner while technically out of their range. Another important detail, especially for players crossing over from PC Graal, is that only the first frame of the swinging animation registers a hit. This is not consistent with PC Graal, where it's either the first two or three frames that register a hit. Due to this, sometimes it appears as if players are walking directly through hits if they move into close range right after a player has swung. Sword Alignment
Your sword is not aligned in the exact center of your player sprite. I've never seen anyone else talk about this, but it's pretty important.
Horizontally, facing left or right, your sword is aligned slightly to the top. This means that, in some positions, players above you can be hit where they can't hit you back. The same goes for vertical positioning. Facing up and down, your sword is aligned slightly to the right. This is even more reason to want to be on the left side of the arena. You'll notice it's very rare that players gravitate towards the bottom-right corner during a spar. Experienced sparrers may not know why this is, or claim it just feels awkward or uncomfortable, but this is the explanation. The bottom-right corner of the spar is awful when it comes to abusing sword alignment and directional advantages. "Trying to get on the left side of Opponent and coming from underneath player's ,and trying to land hits while moving diagonally right+up". |