GunZ the Duel GLADIATOR.
Part II · Lesson 04

Phase Slash

Use a controlled turn and slash timing to change the angle of an attack without losing the intended target.

Source-derivedSource material · not Steam-verified Source coverage: 1 document

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

Phase slash is one of the bread and butter moves of gladiator, along with angle slash. It is an essential move to learn and master.

Phase Slash

By turning after you slash at least 90 degrees, you can send your slash in front of you, while avoiding a block. A phase slash will land in roughly the same direction that you begin throwing it at unless you turn at very high speeds.

How the Slash and Sword Shape Interact

The slash and your sword shape are actually two separate entities. While they begin at the same time, the slash will set in a direction about a quarter of the way after you begin your slash animation. The sword shape itself will be recoilable starting halfway through the animation until the end of the swing animation.

The slash animation itself can be considered to have three parts.

The Swing Animation - This is the first part of a slash. It begins when you fire the slash, and ends when your sword begins returning to an inactive state. You can be recoiled roughly halfway into this animation a few frames before the slash lands, until the beginning of the return animation.

The Slash - The slash itself separates from the slash animation shortly after you fire the slash. The slash will separate from the swing animation about a quarter way through the Swing animation.

The Return Animation - Once your slash reaches the apex of your swing, it will begin returning to an inactive state. You cannot be recoiled during this animation.

Knowing these three parts, you can understand that to phase slash you have to be fast, but slow at the same time. If you turn too fast, you’ll send the slash away from your intended target, as the slash doesn’t settle in a direction for a brief moment. Furthermore, if you turn too slow, you’ll get stunned.

The best way to practice phase slash is to simply get a friend to hold a block, and practice a few swings. You should be able to pick this up relatively quickly. If you don’t give your target a massive charge or flinch them, you’re turning too fast. If you get recoiled, you’re turning too slow or not enough. Practice phasing to 90 and 180. Don’t attempt to make a full 360, as you’ll likely get recoiled by spinning too fast and landing your swing animation on the block.

Twitch Phase

Building upon the concepts above, we can arrive at Twitch Phase. This is a name I coined myself, as I’m not sure if there’s a proper name for this. If I’m made aware of a proper term, I’ll change it to that.

The idea is simple, but hard to execute properly. Regular phasing is sending your slash roughly in front of you, but also utilizing the separation of the sword slash and the sword shape to avoid a recoil by angling away from the block. Twitch Phase, however, is almost the opposite. It’s turning faster than you normally would, displacing the slashes initial direction and doing a phase slash while executing up to a 270 degree turn, either by going to 180 then back to 90, or doing a full arch to 270 degrees from where you started.

Keep in mind, this is a fairly advanced tactic outside of simple ground slashing, but can open up your ability to attack pinpoint areas in a very different way than normal. While ground slashing is more lenient, doing a slash in the air requires much faster mouse movement.

As a concrete example of this, and to get a feel for it, have a friend stand directly behind you and hold a block, while you face in the same direction they are - With your back to them. Begin your slash facing away from them, and then try to slash in such a way that you have your slash land on their block while over extending your angle to avoid getting recoiled. Here’s 2 simple ways to get a feel for it, do it with both a ground slash and a static butterfly to get the proper feel.

  • Example 1 ) Look away from the opponent, Slash, and turn a full 270 degrees. If you turn to the right, you’ll end up looking directly left of where you started.

  • Example 2) Look away from the opponent, Slash, Turn 180 degrees, then double back 90 degrees. If you turn right, you’ll end up looking directly right of where you started.

Keep in mind, you don’t have to stick to just these angles when actually utilizing this in an actual fight. Remember to use the end angle to set up your next attack.

Why should you do this instead of just turning then slashing?

Quite simply, there’s 3 main reasons to utilize this glitch.

Your slash will land faster than if you delay it that brief moment.

Sometimes you are locked into a direction due to innate GunZ Mechanics. For example, when you do a ground dash. You cannot turn when you are dashing unless you slash first.

This is NOT a typical mechanic used, and with practice, can make you extremely unpredictable while allowing you to place slashes in a new way.