Combat Guide

This page will cover various terms used throughout the game and by the playerbase as well as more general information about combat in the game.

## Glossary

* **3-Ping:** When 3 Signal Orbs of the same colour line up, one press will consume all three and the associated attack will be stronger.
* **QTE:** Quick Time Event. When using a 3-Ping, the teammate whose colour in the team screen matches the colour of the 3-ping will begin flashing/pulsating, indicating that their QTE can be used. If the portrait is pressed at this point, instead of swapping characters, the teammate will jump out, do a skill, and leave.
* **EX Dodge:** A perfectly-timed dodge that will trigger the Matrix.
* **Matrix:** Every 15 seconds, an EX Dodge will result in time slowing down around your character. During this period, the opportunity to use a Matrix-ping will arise. (Also known as Supercomputing Space.)
* **Matrix-Ping:** When a Matrix is entered, all Signal Orbs will start flashing. If a flashing Orb is pressed during this small window, the Orb will have the same power as three, and thus equate to a 3-Ping.
* **Super Armor:** The state wherein you or an enemy cannot be knocked down or knocked out of attacks. Certain Orb skills, for example, may have innate superarmor, making them impossible for the enemy to cancel.
* **Attacker:** Also known as DPS (Damage Per Second), this is the class of constructs that are designed primarily to do damage.
* **Tank:** Defensive constructs who specialise in shredding enemy shields.
* **Support:** Constructs who focus on healing and buffs.
* **Energy:** The gauge that needs to fill by using Signal Orbs in order to use a Signature Move.
* **Signature Move:** Also known as Ultimate/Ult, this move can be used when enough Energy has been accumulated.
* **Burst:** Bursting refers to the act of quickly melting enemy HP (as opposed to dealing lots of damage over a slower amount of time)

## Combat

### Shields

* The Shield is the yellow bar underneath the enemy's HP
* Shields are shredded along with HP when you attack
* Elemental damage ignores Shield while physical damage is greatly reduced by Shields
* When a boss or mini-boss takes enough elemental damage, they may buff themselves with elemental resistance
* Most Tank characters are designed to shred through Shields

### Healing Allies in Solo Play

Healing allies can look like more than just using a Liv QTE and standing near it. Using Liv-Eclipse as an example, here are some of the ways you can heal your allies:

* **Playing as Eclipse:** Summon your allies nearby with their QTE and use Eclipse's Blue Orb in range of them; the ally will be invulnerable while using a QTE but will still receive healing
* **Playing as a non-support:** Use Eclipse's QTE and she will jump beside your character and heal
* **Healing all three allies as Eclipse:** Proc two QTEs at the same time by using 3-Pings back-to-back in order to summon both allies onto the field at once, and then use Eclipse's Blue Orb in range of them to heal all of them at once.
* **Healing all three allies as a non-support:** Proc two QTEs at the same time by using 3-Pings back-to-back in order to summon both allies onto the field at once; Eclipse's QTE will heal herself and any ally in her range.

### Swapping Characters

Learning to swap between your three characters will be beneficial for a multitude of reasons, including:

* When a character swaps in, they will do a set Orb skill; it will always count as a 3-Ping, and is usually great for activating their Core Passives and charging their Energy (used for Ults)
* Each character has a separate Matrix cooldown; if character A uses a Matrix, you can immediately swap to Character B to get another Matrix (and, by extension, another Matrix-Ping), bypassing the 15 second Matrix cooldown