Time Stop Combat

## Info

This is a guide regarding time stop**(TS)** combat, specifically PvP. Most players who have played the mod experienced utter defeat by a time stopping stand. This guide will teach you

* **How to survive time stop, as a non-Time stop user?**
* **How to defeat a Time Stop user, in Time stop pvp?**
* **The most common match-ups and what to do.**

## How to survive time stop, as a non-Time stop user?

Star Platinum and The World are renowned for their Time Stop ability, it is regarded as the strongest/best move in the mod. To survive a time stop is incredibly difficult depending on your own stand, secondary powers (hamon/vampirism).

* **Stand jumping-** Stand jumping is arguably the most important move in the mod, not only for its movement but also for evading time stop attacks. If the player stand jumps in the air, preferably at an angle, the SP/TW user can jump higher than them. However you will be outside of their short range and have a higher chance of being unable to be hit, atleast by meele attacks (projectiles still can hit you, but most likely won't)
* **Hamon/Vampire jumping-** Unlike normal stand jumps, these are directly determined by the players speed, the faster the player the bigger the leap. Therefore, these jumps outclass all current stand jumps which provides absolute safety from all attacks, **generally used when a normal stand jump is either too weak or on cooldown.**
* **Getting away at any cost-** If you have no **hamon/vampire leap, small stand jump** there is a very slim chance you will survive. However most of the "physically weaker" stands have better movement to get away. Hierophant Green's grapple hook is a far more effective manuever than any leap, Silver chariot is the worst stand against Time Stop users because he has no real way to get away (however his stand jump is spammable if hes armorless). If you cannot do any of these, **SPAM PROJECTILES/ENTITIES.** Entities like Caesar's bubbles, Hierophant's emeralds will block a single hit from any stand, in time stop this also works. You have to position yourself directly where the most projectiles are, hoping the stand targets them instead of you.

Now, all these moves are incredible situational and the player needs some amount of combat experience to them effectively. To actually tell when the time stop will occur you have to **Listen to the Time stop user announce either *"Star Platinum, The world" or "Time Stop".* If they do not hear this, they are most likely already dead.** Star Platinum and The world have diffrent time stops, The world has a 1s windup but **can be interrupted by any damage**, Star Platinum will **always be summoned while time stopping** with a 2s windup but **CANNOT be interrupted by any damage.** Looking at these key details just ***MIGHT** save you.*

## How to defeat a Time Stop user, in Time stop pvp?

There are even more factors to consider in Time Stop pvp. The most important aspects are **time stop cooldown, time stop windup, stamina. Duels between hamon users, humans, vampires vary incredibly but can all be decided by one's skill.**

**Time Stop Cooldown (TSC)-** The shorter the time stop, the shorter the cooldown to use it again is. In a unbalanced match, this is the main factor for victory. Stand jumping, avoiding attacks from the longer Time stop user will make them waste their own seconds and stamina. If you catch them without any seconds in a favorable position you **might** be able to kill them. TSC recharges even if you are stopped, theoretically you can move twice in someones time stop. **In RESOLVE the players TSC will be drastically reduced, which is the biggest turning point in any battle. If you cannot reach the opponent and they have used their time stop, IMMEDIATELY stop your own time stop.**

**Time Stop Windup (TSW)-** During the windup you cannot use any of your moves, besides the stand jump. The world users suffer from this especially, since their windup can be interrupted, if caught in this situation do not let them continue winding it up and punish them. Star Platinum users have a 2s windup but still suffer from this, just not as bad as The World. **During the windup you will hear their verbal warnings.**

**Stamina-** The unwritten rule of ROTP is "if low on stamina, retreat" this is especially true for Time Stop battles. Time stop will use half of your stamina, eating the entire green area making the stand slower, weaker. Vampires do not suffer from this as much as humans, hamon users. **To get away, NEVER use the time stop teleport, it drains a lot more stamina than a stand jump even tho they relatively cover the same distance.**

* **Vampires-** Vampires gradually gain more stamina as they fill up on blood, **"full blood vampires"** are the most common and require to have atleast 8+ blood bars. They become incredible damage tanks, have **near infinite stamina and a 9s time stop.**
* **Hamon users-** The better the breathing technique of the user, the faster their **stamina** recharges. It is not as quick as the vampires by any means but vastly better than normal humans but both should take caution when approaching Star Platinum/The World.
* **Humans-** All of the above but without any of the benefits, they are slower than both, less stamina regen and more susceptible to damage.

## The most common match-ups and what to do

* **Human vs Human-** The most simple, yet most important to understanding the basics. If either of you time stops, the most common response is to follow up and attack the opponent in their world, however this is fundamentally wrong. If you are the **first person to stop time**, you will be at a disadvantage since even if you survive your **TSC** will be longer, making **yourself more susceptible to damage and probably death**. If you are the second person to time stop, you should immediately leap away from the opponent to safety and cancel your time stop, depending on your opponent they will either waste their own time stop looking for you or immediately cancel it. **The smarter choice is to cancel it to make the TSC shorter and use less stamina,**
* **Human vs Hamon user-** The Human is in a disadvantage, the hamon user is much faster, better stamina regen and generally just a better human. However this battle still follows the principles of the last, both can catch the other in a "weak" state by timing their Time stops. If any of them do, the one who can move will be the winner. The hamon user has accsess to regeneration,speed and a huge leap, making a offensive strategy downright suicide.
* **Human vs Vampire-** The Human is at a **SEVERE DISADVANTAGE**, the vampire will 9/10 win. The only way to possibly win is to catch them over-using their time stop and making their **TSC longer**, since their time stop is 9s it becomes more difficult to determine when to stop it. If they waste their time stop, you have to make the most of your since they cannot regen if they are stopped. Making it just barely possible to kill them. **This is the most skill determining battle, if the human wins they are either incredible good or the vampire is incredibly bad.**
* **Hamon user vs Hamon user-** The battle is equal and most likely determined by the players stamina managment, blocking and normal punching technique. Barraging is incredible useless here, since the hamon user can dodge/sidestep is easily if they are using the speed hamon move. Time Stop is also pretty useless since you cannot catch them, their hamon leap will make them way outside of your range and unless you can somehow hit them doing the same move, you will just be wasting your stamina and lengthining your **TSC.** These are the longest battles, it comes down to timing your heavy attacks and punches at pivotal moments **(losing a wast amount of stamina, the need to eat so they can run).**
* **Hamon user vs Vampire-** This is the longest possible battle, the whole idea is chipping away at the vampires health and if low retreat. The vampire will most likely time stop first, since he has 9s, so the hamon user leaping into the air will save it. Apart from that, the most ideal way to battle against a hamon user is to be really defensive. The hamon user should constantly circle around the vampire, normal punching and blocking but **NEVER** barrage. Against a vampire barraging is always useless, since their barrage time is extended and even if you "cancel" it by heavy punching you will still take more damage.
* **Vampire vs Vampire-** The battle is incredibly spammy, since vampires have near infinite stamina, they will spam the **time stop teleport** which is affordable BUT it still makes the **TSC** longer, which **COULD** lead to your default. Regardless, nobody worries about stamina at the beginning, nobody even uses time stop until the other player's time stop reaches 5s. The vampire jump as a "full blooded" vampire is better than the default stand jump but if you lose the blood you will have to rely on the stand jump, therefore its always best to do the safe stand leap in any circumstance. Vampires have a strenght buff by default, making the normal punching and blocking techniques especially effective, since you might hit the user.