Crouching Guide

## Crouching (Cover Mechanism/ducking) vs Target Coverage Guide

Crouch is a defensive position that makes you immune to some headshots (headshots incur +50% damage). It's the same mechanism that allows you to survive a close grenade blast by “going to ground”.

When you crouch, your head (circle hit box) no longer counts as a legal hit zone. Visually your head remains sticking up (because it looks really funny when your avatar's head goes into their feet) but the hitbox changes so that your head is no longer a viable target.

### **How to Crouch**

While against the ground, use the movement stick in any downward direction to begin crawling. For best results pull straight down then move the stick in the direction that you would like to crawl. As soon as you lift off the surface of the ground tile you will stand back up i.e., lose cover (explosion, falling, or pressing the stick in an upward direction.)

Images: While crouched the circle hitbox goes away.

### **MMC Classic META (DA2 v4, MMC prior to v0.7.0 and possibly Miniclip v5)**

Classic META for crouching emulates all older versions of MMC (prior to v0.7.0) and v4 DA2. The head (circle) hitbox not only doesn't take damage, it prevents damage from passing through to strike the body hitbox (polygon). This also applies to players that are in the air, shooting down at their opponents. The head hitbox blocks all shots from above.

In order to show opponents that their shots could be blocked, v0.9.3 in MMC added the visual effect called the cover shield. The cover shield is automatically enabled in all Classic Meta/CV4 type games. The cover shield forcefield is a non-positional head protection that is activated every time a player crouches. The shield covers the top of a ducked head allowing a player to gain cover like they had prior to the Advanced META changes in v0.7.0. The cover shield is only visible with Enhanced Visuals turned on in the device settings.

### **MMC Advanced META (added in v0.7.0)**

Players can disable the Classic Meta/CV4 type games. That will disable the cover shield mechanics so when a player is crouched, the head hitbox (circle) still does not take damage but it no longer blocks damage from passing through. Another player standing behind a crouched figure could get hit from a bullet passing through the head hitbox. The head hitbox also no longer protects the crouched player’s body when an opponent is in the air and shoots from above. The shot passes through the head hitbox and will do damage to the body.

### Deflector (tested v0.9.2; added as special v0.10.5)

The deflector is accessible with the Deflector special enabled in your loadout. The deflector appears when a player is crouched and looks like a mini shield attached to the weapon. The deflector shield extends the cover mechanism to protect the player from headshots and block shots while crouched. The deflector is directional and will move to with the player's aim to protect their head (looking up will protect the player from shots above). The deflector will not block shots while you are firing.

The deflector special can be used with the CV4 cover shield to provide even more protection. The CV4 Cover Shield is only visible with Enhanced Visual turned on in the device settings.

### **Advanced META rules that exist when you crouch:**

* You still shouldn't die while sitting (crouching/taking cover) directly on a grenade (if you had full health).
* Shots should pass through the crouched player and hit a player behind them. Damage should be applied correctly to the hit player (not the ducking player, this was fixed in v0.7.2).
* No more weird missed neck shots (another bug fix in v0.7.0.)
* You are now 25% taller in your hitbox (see images). You take shots at about brow/forehead height whereas before it was chin height. Some well known map hiding areas are less effective now.
* You are no longer immune to shots from directly above (old v4 and v5 exploit bug fixed in v0.7.0)
* Crouch is still an effective defense against headshots (no 50% bonus damage).