This page is current a W.I.P.
ESOTERICS
Box Stepping
Box stepping is the primary technical movement in Plasma Sword, and easily one of the most important things to get into your hands when playing. Luckily, thanks to the addition of a movement button, it is quite easy to do.
All you have to do is: Sidestep (either 5M or 2M)xx(6M for fwd dash/4M for bck dash)xx(Sidestep)xx(Dash), etc...
This movement is the fastest and safest way to move in the game, as it avoids verticals entirely, can throw some horziontal strings off axis, avoids projectiles, jump ins, throws... you get the idea. It is weak to big single hit horizontals, plasma field, and delayed buttons.
It is also worth noting that different characters have different speeds at which they can step.
Box Step Dash Speeds
There's a sometimes massive difference in box step speeds depending upon which direction your character is facing, something of which directly ties into the fact several characters can change thier direction-facing with 4B or other moves. Each character has a different animation that plays depending upon wether they dash in the direction thier model is facing or away, and this animation determines how quickly you can cancel the step into a forward or backdash. This is sometimes really noticeable: for example, Gerelt's sidestep to his back is always a twirl.
Attacks can be buffered, at earliest, four frames before the cancel occurrence. So, for example, if the forward dash cancel comes out on frame 19, you can input your attacks on frame 15 at earliest.
Basic movement (walking forwards or backwards, jumping) can be buffered at any point during the sidestep.
For the sake of simplicity, mirror characters have been excluded from this chart, as they share step data.
| Character Step | Earliest Step Input | Forward Dash Cancel Occurs |
|---|---|---|
| Blood (both directions) | 11 | 19 |
| Bilstein (both directions) | 11 | 19 |
| Byakko (Both directions) | 8 | 16 |
| Gamof (Both directions) | 8 | 16 |
| Gerelt (towards back) | 7 | 15 |
| Gerelt (towards front) | 11 | 19 |
| Gore (towards back "cartwheel") | 11 | 19 |
| Gore (towards front) | 16 | 24 |
| Hayato (towards front) | 8 | 16 |
| Hayato (towards back) | 14 | 23 |
| June (towards front) | 10 | 18 |
| June (towards back) | 7 | 15 |
| Kaede (Both directions) | 10 | 18 |
| Rai-On (Both directions) | 8 | 16 |
| Rain (Both directions) | 10 | 18 |
| Saturn (towards back "Hop") | 11 | 19 |
| Saturn (towards front "multi-step") | 16 | 24 |
| Zelkin (towards front) | 13 | 21 |
| Zelkin (towards Back) | 12 | 20 |
Snapple-Step (Crouch-Step Cancel)
Discovered by the player Snapplejax, sidestep can be canceled into earlier actions with walking forwards or backwards. For some characters, such as June, this is the best movement cancel the character has access to, and for the whole cast, it provides an alternative movement option to box stepping that maintains their current range. For most of the cast, it is also quite easy to do as well: simply sidestep, hold back or forward, then tap the button again as the sidestep recovers. (June/Ele cannot do this due to their backdash.)
This is also the fastest method for attacking out of a sidestep, and it appears that the type of sidestep (please refer to the box stepping chart above) impacts the speed of the cancel. An easy example: attempt to do Hayato TB Sidestep 4B vs. TF Sidestep 4B, and feel how much faster the cancel window is on the better TF sidestep.
