D-Style Guide

[Cysote]

Here is a guide focusing around the aspects of D-style. This guide covers the basics from moving and looking, to hard-core moves like Instafall and Dagger Gatling. Also mixed in are other tactics/techniques/and ideas that will help your overall Gunz gameplay.

D-Style Guide
Written by: -Do- Primogen Cysote Dokgo


TABLE OF CONTENTS
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I. Introduction

A. Legal
B. Why use a dagger?
C. The differences between D-style and K-style
D. How d-style works
E. Key configuration
F. Weapons
G. Terminology
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II. Beginner

A. Intro

i. Moving/Looking
ii. Dashing/Tumbling
iii. Walls

1. Wall Running
2. Wall Jumping

iv. Stab

1. Circle
2. Corner

v. Lunge
vi. Massive
vii. Wall canceling
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III. Advanced

A. Intro

i. Dagger Hop
ii. Dagger Flash
iii. Dagger Train
iv. JSD
v. JSF
vi. Wall Raid
vii. Gravity Shifting
viii. Yo-Yo Hop
ix. Space Invading
x. Quick Stick
xi. Massives

1. Block tapping
2. Ghost Evading
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IV. Expert

A. Intro

i. Dagger Machine
ii. Instafall
iii. Dagger Gatling
iv. Dagger Juggle
v. Dropping Juggle
vi. Phantoming
vii. Dagger Medley
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V. The Tri-Attributes

A. Intro

i. Luck
ii. Skill
iii. Knowledge
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VI. Conclusion

A. Your own style
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VII. Resources
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VIII. Thanks

[Cysote]

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I. Introduction

If you want to find something really fast in this guide, simply use the Ctrl F command and type in any of the headings just as you see them in the table of contents. I highly recommend reading through the guide completely even if you are an experienced D-styler. Make sure you master every move as you come to it before moving onto the next one. In the moves you may notice that the “combo” to complete the moves at the bottom of their section may have a step in SINGLE parenthesis. That only means that this part of the move is optional. A Double Parenthesis will have the word “Repeat” in it, which is self explanatory.
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A. Legal

I don’t own Gunz, Maiet has all rights to the game. I don’t own any of these techniques either, except for Gravity Shifting and Dagger Medley. All others were taken from other people which I met in game, or other dagger guides I’ve seen and have been complied into a new guide with new ways of explaining and presenting the same information. The only thing I do own is all ideas in this guide, for I have taken all my experience from my full non-stop year of playing Gunz and formed them into strategies and tactics which I now present to you in this guide. Everything in this guide was written by me. Altering this document in any way is against permission and violates intellectual property. Three websites have permission to hold and display this document: www.gunzunlimited.com; www.gunzfactor.com; and www.gamefaqs.com.
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B. Why use a Dagger?

Daggers are fun. They are also much different and require more training and studying than a sword does. People these days seem to be very into the “I am more skilled than you are” thing, and because a dagger takes quite a lot of skill to use you can say proudly that you thoroughly owned a person when you defeat them with a dagger. That being said I must still warn you again about the learning curve of daggers. Don’t expect to be God after a week. It took me 4 months before I could even contend with an average K-styler in battle.
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C. The Differences Between D-style and K-style.

D-style is the art of speed and exploitation. The dagger has much more raw speed than the sword does and so it can attack faster, change directions quicker, and is more useful for evasion. Because the dagger doesn’t have much power behind it, it relies more on exploiting the weaknesses of the sword. Instead of fighting fire with fire, you are now fighting fire with water. The more skill that involved with this style is also home to some bragging rights if you start dominating with it.

A big downfall after changing from sword to dagger is that you can’t block, so you MUST evade. If you are fighting someone with highly refined accuracy then you can’t stay out in the open because you will just get slaughtered. Another disadvantage is that there is no smooth transition between animations. With a slashshot you can slice someone at almost the same time you shoot them. To stab someone and shoot them, you have to completely finish the stabbing animation before you can switch to shoot.
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D. How D-style Works

Gunz is almost completely client based, meaning that each person’s own game computes what happens in the game to their character. What you do with your character to another character may be different on your screen than on your opponents screen…simply because the different computers are saying two different things. Ever tried to kill a lagger? Pretty annoying right? When you shoot directly at where you see them, it seems like nothing happens because of the different views of both computers. Lemme explain: One computer, your computer, is getting the information from the opponents computer on where they are. That is where you see them, but this is the problem: the image you see of your opponent isn’t where their computer says they really are because of the lag time it takes for the information to travel from Computer to Computer. When you shoot at that image that you see on your computer, your computer says you hit them, but your opponent’s computer says they didn’t get hit…because their computer says they aren’t really at that spot. See the problem? Conflicting views from both computers.

This may seem like a big problem, but it is the cornerstone of D-style. If you can control this difference in opinion from the computers then you have a big advantage over the person you are fighting. Getting your computer to say that you stabbed with your dagger but missed the other person…and getting the other person’s computer to say that their block just got stabbed is a key difference between D-style and K-style and is one of the only reasons why D-style stays alive.

D-style is also a game of speed. The dagger’s stabbing animation is very short and allows you to chain many different dashes together. Getting around faster means being able to catch fleeing opponents, avoid attacks, and confuse enemies to win fights. Get faster transitions between guns, faster motions of skills, and start thinking faster. No one can win against what they can’t follow and no one can fight back if they’re already dead.
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E. Key Configuration

The set-up I use for Gunz is:

Q: Dagger
E: First Weapon
F: Second Weapon
Z+X: First and second items

With all other keys being the normal set-up. I use this pattern because in only one motion of any of my fingers, I have can have any movement or change I want to happen to my character covered. I don’t need to travel over any keys or more than one key in order to do what I want to do. I’m not saying that this is the magic bullet that will make you win every time, but it is what works best for me. If you want to try this set of keys out, great! If you are doing good with whatever set-up you have, that’s fine too. Get the configuration that you work best with. The only thing I really recommend all players doing is to change the buttons that they normally use to switch weapons with from “Cycle Weapons” to “Switch Weapons”. Cycle weapons is really slow and Switch weapons is much faster. You can change the key configuration under the options menu.
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F. Weapons

This weapons section has the same message as the key config section. Use what’s best for you. What I’m giving you is only what I work best with. I’m not saying that you should always use the same weapons all the time though either. Sometimes I’ll play the ninja and go all out with Dual Shotguns. I’ll hide in the corner and wait for people to come and then pop out and surprise them with 400 pounds of damage in a few shots. Other times I’ll go with two sets of Revs and be the sniper. I’ll be out in the open and launch rounds at 40 damage a shot towards them, at a distance where they can’t effectively fight back. Or maybe I’ll mix both of them, doing a sniper with one set of revs…running once the enemy gets close…and then pop out with a shotgun as they chase. Find a good set of weapons that you know how to use effectively, but don’t forget to change it up every once in a while to get a feel for how other weapons work. The weapons that all of my moves and techniques are based around are single shot weapons like the Shotgun, Revolvers, and Rockets.

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G. Terminology

This section is simply for people who are new to the game and covers only the terms I use in this guide.

D-Style: Short for Dagger-Style. Style based around the dagger
K-Style: Short for Korean-Style. Style based around the sword
Massive: A charged up melee power attack that is performed by clicking and hold the left mouse button.
Butterfly: A K-style move that allows someone to slash and block with a sword at the same time. The key
combination is Jump--Dash--Slash--Block.
SlashShot: A basic K-style move that allows for quick evasive maneuvers before firing a gun and allows
a person to switch to a gun faster than normal. The steps are Jump--Dash--Slash--Switch--Shoot.
Half-Step: The core fighting Technique for K-style. It is a way to dash around with a gun fast and shoot.
It is a step-up from SlashShot. The steps are Jump--Dash--Slash--Switch--Dash--Shoot.
Fartlek: A Swedish term for “Speed Play”.

[Cysote]

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II. Beginner
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A. Intro

Alright, so now it’s time to get into how to work with a dagger. Even if you’ve already been working with a dagger for quite some time or you’ve been playing Gunz for a while and know how the game works, you’re gonna want to read through the easy stuff anyway. You might learn something you haven’t before. Even if you are simply starting your career in Gunz, don’t worry because I have everything covered in this section. Here are the basics of the basics:
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i. Moving/Looking

The keys W, A, S, and D move your character around with a lightly sounding walk while the mouse is used to make your character look around. Moving with a walk gives you plenty of control on the direction of where you’re going, but isn’t very fast. Looking around on the other hand is…well…very handy. Always look around for people. Look behind you, look around corners, look up when an enemy gets airborne, look down when you are in the sky…look everywhere. Knowing where the enemy is helps you to not get killed.

Combo
W or A or S or D to move. Mouse to look
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ii. Dashing/Tumbling

Dashing and Tumbling are ways to move a bit faster than regular walking, though both are quite different. Double-tapping any normal direction will execute a dash or a tumble. While holding a gun you will tumble the direction that you tapped in. Tumbling adds more evasion than regular walking, but you must wait for the entire animation of the tumble to finish before you can walk or tumble again. Unless you end your tumble behind a wall or another object, you could become prey to a faster moving opponent who knows where they should aim to hit you before you finish. You may also shoot and reload while tumbling. One very good prop for tumbling is that it is totally silent, so no one can hear you while you tumble.

Dashing is only done while holding a melee weapon and is very fast. Once you double tap a direction you will accelerate quickly in that direction for a short period of time. This is an ideal way to get around any map fast and to avoid shots from the enemy. A downfall is that you have to be holding your dagger to do it, so you can’t fight back at someone that’s at medium to far range. Dashes can also be chained very easily. Right before the first dash ends, dash again and you will be able to keep your momentum and speed and be able to change directions fast. Contrary to tumbling, the dash is quite loud and enemies can hear it if you are close.

Combo
Double tap W, A, S, or D
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iii. Walls

Walls are one of the most helpful things in Gunz. There are a few ways to directly and indirectly use them. The direct ways are Wall Running and Wall Jumping.
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1. Wall Running

A Wall run can go two ways. If you want to go up a wall then run straight towards it and as soon as your foot touches the wall, hit spacebar. To run horizontally across a wall, look at the wall at about a 45 degree angle and run towards it. Immediately when your foot hits the wall push spacebar. You can start a wall run with any weapon equipped and you can shoot a gun while running. If you stab your dagger while wall running you will stop wall running.

Combo
Horizontally: Approach wall 45 degrees--jump
Vertically: Approach wall head on--jump
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2. Wall Jumping

A Wall Jump is when you jump from the ground, into the wall, and then jump again. A Wall Jump can be executed on any side of your body while a wall run must happen with your front facing the wall.

Combo
Jump(from ground)--Jump(off of wall)

Walls also have many indirect uses too. Let’s list them!

1. If you’re running away from an enemy you can cut a corner really tight and the enemy will have to turn the corner before they can shoot you.

2. Hiding behind a wall and using the third person view to look around it helps to give you an advantage. You know exactly where the enemy is (if they are out past the wall) but the enemy doesn’t know where you are because no one can see through walls.

3. If you are fighting someone in a secluded space and they are charging you, use any wall around you to wall jump above them and then get away or fight back.

4. This one is really helpful. Pretend to run away from someone and duck behind a wall. Before they get to the corner of the wall, do a wall jump off of it. If you timed it correctly, the enemy wouldn’t have been able to see you when you jumped because you would’ve been in the air. After you land you can get a free shot at their back. Another cool trick is to duck behind a wall and wait for them to reach it then pop out, shoot them, and run the other way.

5. Right-clicking with your dagger will let you hang onto walls. If you get up high enough with a wall cling you can hide behind a wall at a higher elevation (duh). Being that high though, some people may not see you when the turn the corner. As soon as they start walking past where you are hanging, you can drop down and start shooting them.
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iv. Stab

Okay time for attacks. This is the fundamental dagger attack that is done with a left click of the mouse. These can be chained very quickly to rack up quite a bit of damage and to partially paralyze the enemy. You can walk around or dash while still stabbing, so if someone is running away or trying to dodge you can chase them and still get hits off. This is fundamental to many dagger moves and is key for fast movement, which you will learn later. Learn how fast the stab is and get a feel for how long it lasts.

Combo
Left click
--------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Circle

Sub-section of the stab here is the circle. This is something else you can add into your dagger hat of tricks. If you catch someone with a regular stab they will be paralyzed for maybe half a second. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s enough time to stab again and get a combo going. If you only keep the combo up on only one side of them, they could be able to get out of it on the other side. Circling around the enemy helps to cut off potential escape routes. Take a guess on the direction they will try to move and circle around them to that position. The idea behind the circle is for you to be a moving wall and block the enemy from escaping your stabbing combo.

Combo
Stab--Walk around enemy
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2. Corner

Now this is quite an amazing feat, even though it’s only a beginner move. I still catch people in the expert and elite channel like this sometimes and get a few good kills because of it. The circle transforms your body into a moving wall that blocks people from moving. Well, if you can get one real wall, or even two real walls to help you pin people down, you have an even better chance of racking up much more damage than you normally could. Unless you are hacking, you can’t move through a wall, so the more walls you get next to an enemy, the less space they have to move. Look for people standing next to a wall or moving towards a wall and take advantage of it and pin them down. Combine this with circling to make it even harder for the enemy to get out of it. Be careful though, smarter players will try to pull out a sword and block you…be prepared for that.

Combo
Pin next to wall--Stab--Circle

[Cysote]

v. Lunge

The infamous dagger move that forever scorned it with a bad name. Upon right-clicking your mouse you will wind-up and zoom forward fast. Anyone you hit along the way will become stunned and pushed back. If the opposing party doesn’t press spacebar before that animation is done…then you get free shots at them while they lie on the ground. When you first start playing this game, many people will fall to this move. As you go up it will get harder and harder to land this move because people will see it and recognize what they have to do. Once you get to the expert channel it isn’t often that you will land this successfully, but every once in a while you’ll get lucky.

One good tip on how to use the lunge correctly is as follows: DON’T MISS. If you miss you are in deep trouble because the cool-down time of the lunge is horrendously long, leaving you wide open for a counter-attack. A good place to use it is while hiding behind a wall. The enemy wont really expect someone to pop out from the wall and attack them with a lunge. If the enemy is trying to do something else and you lunge them you have a better chance of landing it too. Don’t overuse the lunge because people will start to look for it…but don’t be afraid to use it either. Here’s a few more things to know about this move.

1. The lunge does damage. When you use the flipping attack with the sword or kodachi’s, they only flip people into the air, inflicting no damage.

2. The lunge can’t be blocked. If someone walks straight up to you with a block on, then lunge them. You will have a chance to get them on the ground and inflict a little bit of damage at the same time. This is also a good tool for going up against an angry butterflyer. If you are behind a wall and someone is approaching the edge of the wall with a block up, lunge them.

3. Faking out people with lunges works wonders as well. Pretend to run away and turn around and lunge them. Pretend to charge up a massive (explain in the next section) and then lunge them. Stab people into a corner and before they can block you…lunge them!

Combo
Right click
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vi. Massives

Probably the most glitches up move in the game is this, the massive attack. To start a massive simply left click and hold it. You will see your character go through a wind-up animation and a little white light form around your dagger. Once you get back to normal position to may do anything you want to as you normally would, but once you hit that left click button again you will use a yellow colored, powerful stunning attack. If you hit an enemy with this, they will suffer some damage and be stunned for about 2 seconds, wide open for attacks. Careful though, if you miss with it then you will be left open to be attacked while you try to recover from using it. Use this more in secluded spaces where the enemy can’t dodge it as easily or can’t see it, because you are behind a wall. If it comes to chasing the other guy down in order to hit them with it, then you might as well switch to another weapon to get rid of the charge so you don’t screw up and miss. Jumping while performing this seems to work better than just standing.

You also need to know that sword can block this move. If you try to use it on them, and they block it, then THEY get the massive and are able to hit you. To avoid getting blocked, look a different direction while you do it. For some reason with the way the game is programmed to detect hits with massives…you can look in any direction you want while you use it and still hit the other person. Don’t use these all the time either. Be sporadic, and change it up a lot. Like the lunge, people will know and look for the massives so they will become harder and harder to land the more you use em.

If you think you’re about to get hit by a massive, try to dash away. Dashing while getting hit by one will make you slide away from your opponent making it hard for them to hit you. This will save your life many a time.

Combo
Hold left click to charge--left click again to attack
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vii. Wall Canceling

Okay…so…I didn’t put this in the “Walls” section of the beginner part because of a few things. One, I was hoping for anyone reading this to take all of these sections in order and try them out before moving onto the next one, and because this is a bit tough for newcomers to learn I put it at the bottom of the beginner guide. Second, it’s a glitch in the game…not a regular move that was intended. You remember the regular Wall Jump? You get a little bit of height off of it when it’s preformed right? Well, what if I told you that you are able to do a wall jump over and over and over again. You would keep climbing higher and higher wouldn’t you? Lemme explain:

Something interesting in Gunz is that any melee attack cancels whatever animation you were just in and allows you to do whatever else you want. When you jump off of a wall you will gain some height, but you wont be able to do anything else until you hit the ground. If you stab with your dagger, then you are able to do whatever you want while you are still in the air. Do you see what I’m getting at? After jumping off of the wall once, you can stab with your dagger to cancel the falling animation and dash back towards the wall…to once again jump off of it! Once you jump off of it again, you can then stab again to cancel and again dash back to the wall to jump again! Amazing isn’t it? You can keep climbing higher and higher as long as you keep canceling the falling animation and keep dashing back towards the wall to jump.

This move is a staple to anyone who plays Gunz, period. If you can’t do this, then you are at a serious speed, movement, and evasive disadvantage. Master this move, it will set you up for good counter-attacks, get you into position faster at the start of a round, help you chase others who are running away, and many other things. Remember that you can do it on any side of your character. Front, back. or sides it all works the same.

Combo
Wall Jump--Stab--Dash ((Repeat))
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III. Advanced
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A. Intro

Still with me? Good! Glad to see you haven’t given up the dagger yet. Here is a section of pure dagger moves, attacks, and techniques for those of you who have already mastered the basic stuff. These moves will up your attacking power, evasiveness, unpredictability, and toughness to kill. These aren’t the perfect moves that just completely obliterate enemies, but they sure help a lot.
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i. Dagger Hop

This is a simple but fast and sporadic move that is used for both movement and attacking. Jumping then dashing and then finally stabbing is all it takes. Once you get good at it, you will be able to chain a whole bunch of these hops together. For evasive purposes you can use it to not let the enemy know where you’ll go next so they will have to guess on your next move. Even very accurate people have a bit of trouble hitting a Dagger Hop when it’s used correctly. A Swedish term, “Fartlek”, can be used to best describe how to effectively evade with this technique. Fartlek in Swedish means “Speed play”. To use this move correctly you have to be constantly playing with your speed. Speed it up, and look like you could be anywhere at any second and make the opponent aim fast and sharp to hit you. Then slow down your dagger hop and watch the enemy over-aim the next shot and the next shot. Then speed it up again, but only for a split second and slow it down for a few more jumps and dashes. The more unpredictable you are, the harder it is for the enemy to hit you. The best example of this that I can give you is if you watch my second movie and skip to about 55 seconds into it at the town scene where someone was trying to Swapshot shotguns at me. In that clip all you see is dodging with a Dagger Hop and little bit of a Dagger Flash. I didn’t get hit once during that.

There isn’t much to say about the attacking form of this. If you hit someone with a stab then you can go back and forth across them a few times with more stabs. It can be very damaging if you are smart enough to stay behind the person that you are stabbing so that they can’t turn towards you and block a stab. When you attack with it, just think of it as a faster, jumping Circle.

Combo
Jump--Dash--Stab ((Repeat))
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ii. Dagger Flash

This move goes back along the lines of “a melee attack canceling animations“. The steps to it are jumping then dashing then stabbing and then dashing again. Notice something weird in the steps? I’ve asked you to dash twice before finishing the move. On a normal dash you have to wait for the entire animation to finish before you can dash again, but when you stab the dashing animation is canceled and it allows you to dash again. You can do the second dash at any time. If you’re fighting someone and need to fake them out, do the second dash really early to get them to look a different way than where you were actually going. If you’re behind a wall you can pop out from behind it, stab the enemy, and get back to where you were originally standing by doing your stab and second dash a little later. This move is also helpful to get around corners quicker. Dash once towards the turn, stab to cancel, and dash again around the corner. Combining this move with Dagger Hop will make you an even harder target to hit. This is also a good move to use to get behind a Butterflyer.

Combo
Jump--Dash--Stab--Dash

[Cysote]

iii. Dagger Train

Another potentially heavily damaging move, the Dagger Train. This move is Dagger Hop just without the jump. Just like the Dagger Hop it’s both good for offense and evasion. Not much to say about this move, for much of the thought process is the same compared to Dagger Hop. Combining this move with both Dagger Hop and Dagger Flash will make you a hard target to hit. That, and it also look funny when it’s done properly. You’ll know that you have the timing on this one down when you see your character in the standing position stabbing with the dashing lines trailing behind him. Good timing means you don’t see him lean down for the dash.

Combo
Dash--Stab ((Repeat))
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iv. JSD

JSD is short for Jump/Shoot/Dash. It’s pretty much self-explanatory. First you jump, then you switch to a gun, you shoot the gun, then you switch back to your dagger and dash away. This is a good technique to use for you keep up a good evasive stance while being able to fight back. It works best with single sure shot guns like Revolvers, or Rockets, or a Shotgun. If you want to use an automatic weapon, then just add a tumble before you switch back to your dagger. Use walls with this technique too. If you’re dashing left and you know that there’s a wall right there, jump once, switch to your gun and shoot, jump again off the wall, shoot again, then switch back to your dagger and dash. Just like any other technique, don’t overuse it or people will start aiming right above you…waiting for you to jump so they can nail yah.

Combo
Jump--(Switch to Gun)--Shoot--Switch to Dagger--Dash
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v. JSF

JSF is short for Jump/Shoot/Flash, very similar to JSD with a little more dagger added to it. Do a JSD but instead dash towards the person and stab them and dash away. You don’t necessarily have to stab them, but it’s nice to. The extra stab and dash might be a little hard to accomplish at first, just keep working with it until you find the perfect timing to get the shot off, switch to your dagger and dash. Stabbing them with the end of a JSF will (of course) paralyze the enemy for a split second, which is plenty of time for you to pull another move on them.

Combo
Jump--(Switch)--Shoot--Switch--Dash--Stab--Dash

OR

JSD--Stab--Dash
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vi. Wall Raid

I use this technique more for fun than anything else, but better mastery over yourself means better performance in battle right? Wall Raiding allows you to continuously wall run without stopping. If you are good at turning your camera then you can get around corners while still Wall Running too. What you do is you start a wall run, don’t move your camera, and proceed to stab your dagger and jump in that order. When you do, you should catch the wall with another Wall Run instantly if you pushed spacebar fast enough. Now, if you’re REALLY good, you will be able to catch someone who’s either trying to get up a wall with it, or get a combo going on someone who is standing on the ground. I’ve never done either, but it’s plausible. Remember, don’t move your camera once you start the wall run (unless you’re trying to turn a corner) or it wont work. If you’re thinking of using this move to get around places I don’t really recommend it. A better wall running way to move is the next in the list, Gravity Shifting.

Combo
Horizontal Wall Run--Stab+Jump
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vii. Gravity Shifting

This is one of the two techs I’ve made myself (or at least found out about it and is now the first to tell someone). This allows for you to Wall Run while you are falling from being in the air, without having to touch the ground. If you jumped off of a wall and start chain dashing away towards another wall and you decided you wanted to Wall Run the wall you were dashing towards, then you would simply touch it, dash into it again, stab right after the dash, and double jump at almost the exact same time you stabbed. These need to be really close together or it wont work. Again I say, Once you hit the wall, dash again into it at the correct wall running angle, immediately after that you should stab, and immediately after that you need to double jump. You can travel around any map without ever touching the ground if you get good at doing this. This move is quite fun and you will find yourself doing it quite a lot in real games once you get good at it.

Combo
Touch wall mid-air--Dash into wall+Stab wall+Double jump
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viii. Yo-Yo Hop

This one’s a fun move too, and has plenty of use, but it’s hard to get down at first. This technique allows you to dash while you have a gun out. That’s right, it’s the same concept as K-style, Dashing while holding a gun. It isn’t as flashy as a slashshot, (it actually looks really awkward) but it works almost the same…it’s more of a Gear Tapped Half-Step (In K-style talk anyway). To do it you switch to a shotgun at the same time that you jump. Right before the top of the jump, when the animation of the shotgun coming out is finished, try to dash. If you tumble you did it wrong. It seriously should look like you dashed with a gun out. While dashing you are able to shoot so take advantage of that. Getting good at this move will allow you to keep doing it in rapid succession…doing it regularly the first time then jumping once you hit the ground, switching to your other weapon, and dashing a different way, then jumping again, switching again to your other gun and again dashing another way. This is a good tech, master it.

Combo
Jump--Switch--Dash--Shoot ((Repeat))
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ix. Space Invading

If you haven’t bothered to learn Yo-Yo hop, then skip this one. This technique is simply a special way to move while yo-yo hopping. It seems simple and easy to hit, and if you know Yo-Yo Hop, then yes it is simple, but is it easy to hit? Not a chance. Ever played that old arcade game Space Invaders? Simply move like the bad guys in that game with Yo-Yo Hops. This technique combines both good evasion and a great offense. Start a Yo-Yo Hop forwards, then Yo-Yo Hop either right or left, then Yo-Yo Hop forwards, then Yo-Yo Hop Right or left again, then Yo-Yo Hop Forwards and so on and so forth. It is also a really great way to close some distance between you and your opponent without suffering any major damage and allows you to be able to fight back in the process.

Combo
Yo-Yo Hop Forwards--Yo-Yo Hop sideways ((Repeat))
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x. Quick Stick

I use this technique more for messing around than anything, but it still has it’s use in battle. Jump while standing next to a wall. Immediately left then right click and hold the right click. Notice how you stick into the wall almost instantly? If someone’s chasing you, and you run behind a wall, Quick Stick it up two or three times. If you were far enough away, the other person will slide under you giving you the opening to drop down and attack. Once in a life-time use, but still fun every once in a while.

Combo
Jump--Stab+Right Click

[Cysote]

xi. Massives

Okay, I know I already have a section of this in the beginner part of this guide, but there’s more advanced things to know about massives than simply how to use them. Since you’re in the Advanced part of the guide now, I think you have already experienced the un-fun thing called “Getting-your-dagger-blocked-by-a-sword” deal. Well, First I will show you how the defense from a sword can actually turn the tide of the battle in your favor, and then I will go on to explain how you can try to save yourself if you mess up the first part.

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1. Block Tapping

Block Tapping is one of the awesome wonders that both the sword and lag have created together. Getting the opposing player’s computer to say that they’ve just been attacked while they’re blocking and getting your computer to say that you actually missed with your stab works wonders in Gunz. If you can give someone else a massive, without being thrown off balance, and they use that massive…then they are stuck in the massive attacking animation while you can get free shots at them. Block tapping can happen three ways I know of.

1. When going up against someone who isn’t over 100 ping, then the best way to tap their block is to either get next to them and stab their feet while they have their block up, or to stab at them but turn your camera sharply and quickly away from them. Be sure to quickly get away from them as they may instantly try to massive you.

2. If you are going up against a lagger, be sure to check their ping and try to time your stab so that they will run into it at the time of their block. This is a bit harder but I’ve done it before.

3. Attacking a blocked person at a really awkward angle while in the air or on the ground will also sometimes give them a massive while you a free to move.

Combo
Stab--Turn sharply--Dash away
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2. Ghost Evading

Now what if you’re block tap fails? The enemy now has a massive and you are in the “off-balance” position. The only plausible outcome would be for you to get blasted in the face and then shot a few times and die. But there is hope if this happens. When you get blocked and thrown off-balance, keep your body at a 45 degree angle from the front of the enemies body. The massive will hit you, but you wont get stunned or take damage, just like as if you were a ghost. As soon as you regain balance you can fight again. Do remember though that this is a position you DON’T want to get into because it is hard to get out of. Finding that perfect 45 degree angle from the enemy will be hard at first, so I suggest getting a friend in a private game with you so you can practice it. While you are off-balance, you can also switch to a different weapon so that as soon as you regain balance you can shoot back.

Combo
Get Blocked--Turn--Switch
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IV. Expert
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A. Intro

Whew! You made it this far in your dagger career! I’m impressed. Let’s begin with the even harder stuff shall we? These techniques need lots and lots of practice to get down but are well worth it when they are successfully used in battle. None of these are experimental. I have been able to do each and every one on more than one occasion.
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i. Dagger Machine

This move doesn’t sound hard, but it needs perfect timing for the stabs involved and quick movement for full effectiveness. The Dagger Machine is simply one jump, two dashes, two stabs, and a point blank shot to their back. When done with a Shotgun, especially an Avenger, this move is very, very painful. First you start by jumping and dashing down towards the enemy. A little before you reach him you stab and start to turn around. If you stabbed and turned properly you will hit them twice with one stab, once going in and the other coming out. By the time you completely turn around your stab should be finished or close to it. Dash backwards past the enemy and stab again. Not only will that second stab keep the enemy paralyzed while you get to their back, it also stops your dashing animation and allows for a quick switch to a Shotgun. Once you do switch to a Shotgun get as close to them as you can, put your reticule on them and fire. This is confusing to many many many k-stylers, for they will not get how they died in less than three seconds to a dagger. If your stabs aren’t timed correctly, then the person you are fighting might be able to get away. There might be some time at the end of the second stab, (depending on who you are fighting), for the enemy to either jump or move if the first stab didn’t get two hits on him, so be prepared to have to aim a little bit to get your shotgun off if your opponent has quick fingers. Don’t stand completely still after you’ve completed this tech because the other guy might easily turn around and start pwning you with a Butterfly.

Combo
Jump--Dash--Stab--Turn--Dash--Stab--Switch--Shoot
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ii. Instafall

I’m sure almost everyone in Gunz has heard of this technique somewhere. Once word got out that a dagger could instantly send someone to the ground it spread like wildfire. The way it works is by hitting a person while they are at their ending frames from any type of move. Whether it be walking, shooting, dashing, or blocking…your lunge needs to connect with them right when they at in that position. Instafall works by taking the end part of whichever frame they are doing and replacing it with the “being pushed back animation” that happens when you lunge someone regularly. When this is replaced, there is no “being pushed back animation”, they just instantly hit the ground. If you stab someone while they are doing whatever they are doing, then they will go through the hitting animation before returning to that pervious animation. Stabbing someone near the end of their animation will help set you up for the lunge that comes next and will keep the enemy still. This is a simple move, you just gotta have perfect timing. The best time to land this move is right after they jump, or as they are landing from a jump so try it out on some Butterflyers if you feel like it.

Combo
Stab enemy near the end of animation+Lunge
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iii. Dagger Gatling

This is a fun move to do against Butterflyers also. It requires that you take damage from their sword, but will confuse the heck out of em and is a good set-up for some other expert techniques. Before you try this move against someone, you need to look at their Butterfly pattern. Look at how fast they move with it, how low to the ground they are and where you will need to stand to pull this off. What happens when this move is properly executed is that the enemy will hit you with a sword but will then get pushed back as if they just got lunged, even though you aren’t in the lunging animation. Because you aren’t in that animation, you can shoot them, or dash up and stab them. Lemme explain how this happens.

The keys to do this are a left click and a right click, both really close together but the left click a split second before. The trick is to time it perfectly so that you get hit by the enemy’s sword just as your lunge is commencing. The way this works is that the Gunz engine see two separate things, the actual person and the actual person’s attack. You start the lunge attack towards the enemy so the Gunz engine creates an image of your attack and what should happen with that attack. When you get hit by the enemy’s sword, your actual character gets pulled out of the animation…but the attack that the Gunz engine made for you is still going! You character is now free to do whatever he wants even though your lunge attack is still in progress. Because the lunge is unblockable, the butterflyer will get hit by it and start to fly backwards.

Learn how to time this move correctly and it will be invaluable to you if you ever come across an angry Butterflyer that’s hard to get behind or if you are looking to set-up one of the even more advanced techniques. If you wanna see this move in action, then check out my first movie and skip to about 2:25. The next scene is Shrine where I pop out from behind a wall and Dagger Gatling a Butterflyer in to the ground.

Combo
Stab+Lunge
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iv. Dagger Juggle

When you get stabbed by a dagger while you are airborne you have to go through the hitting animation. For some reason, the hitting animation is not affected by gravity as much as regular falling and will also slide around a bit in the air. All you have to do to pull this technique off is to get under someone while they are falling and start a Dagger Train. This kills hard and fast because the enemy wont be able to hit the ground (as long as you’re doing it right that is) because of the slower falling speed of the hitting animation and that fact that you are standing almost completely under them. They can potentially take out a sword and block your stabs though, so be careful. An even cooler way to pull this off is to Dagger Gatling them into jumping out of the lunge and into the air, then getting under them and Dagger Training. Both ways work, one’s just cooler than the other.

Combo
(Dagger Gatling)--Dagger Train (to an airborne person)

[Cysote]

v. Dropping Juggle

Now this move is quite impressive. Dagger Gatling someone into safe falling is pretty cool, especially when you can get close and juggle them to death. If, for some reason, you don’t feel like juggling the guy to death after the Dagger Gatling, or you just wanna end it quick, feel free to use this technique to pump a few shotguns into him real quick. First you Dagger Gatling the enemy into safe-falling, then dash towards them to start a juggle. Stab them once for damage, then stab them again while you dash backwards away from them. When they hit the ground their “getting hit animation” you put them into from your stabs will last for a little longer than normal. This is plenty of time to walk right up to them with a few good shotgun shots for the kill.

Combo
(Dagger Gatling)--Dash Forward+Stab--Stab+Dash Backwards--Switch--Shoot
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vi. Phantoming

This is a much, much more advanced version of Ghost Evading. Once you get very good at evading massives, you should study how the evasion of massives works. Notice when you get blocked after a stab that your character is now slightly off-center from your opponent and is facing him at a 45 degree angle to avoid the blast. Now that you know this…do you really need to get blocked in order to dodge a massive? Of course not. If you see someone charging you with a massive, get slightly off center from them, and dash into them while facing about 45 degrees. They will massive and it will miss you, you now have all the time in the world to score an awesome kill. This move is tough, don’t expect to get it on your first few tries.

Combo
Approach enemy slightly off center and looking 45 degrees at them--Kill
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vii. Dagger Medley

Alright, this technique I made up by myself on accident but it kicks some serious butt. It’s a way to almost completely paralyze your enemy and rack up damage together effectively. This move is a combination of five different dagger moves in a specific order that has the chance of killing anyone at full health with the right weapons…namely dual shotguns. I was trying to think of a way that I could use Dagger Machine and Yo-Yo Hop together in one move during a battle one day when I got surprised by a Butterflyer. It took me a second to figure out what was going on because my mind was elsewhere, and as soon as I saw the Butterflyer I tried a Dagger Gatling. It hit him and I was free. Without thinking I jumped up and shot a shotgun at him but then remembered the juggling techniques and tried to cancel that shot by switching to my dagger and dashing towards him. The shotgun still went off and I got right next to him with my dagger. I stabbed him once and thought of Yo-Yo Hop and jumped by him. For some reason I didn’t switch weapons and turned around to come back at him with a dash and another stab. I jumped again when I reached him and switch to my Shotgun this time and turned around with a Yo-Yo Hop and shot him in the face. I switch back to my dagger and started stabbing him before my dash with the Yo-Yo Hop was over but noticed he was trying to block me so I quickly turned 180 degrees and got a block tap on him. I then dashed backwards and stabbed him again while he was using the massive. I finally killed him by pulling out my shotgun again and firing once for damage, switching to my other shotgun for the kill. I didn’t get it on tape, but it was pretty friggin sweet...Mainly because of the fact that I killed him at the very beginning of the round when we were both at full health. I went through it a few times in my head and found the five moves I did to kill him. First Dagger Gatling, then JSF, then a little bit of dagger tricks, then Yo-Yo Hop, and finally Dagger Machine with a Block Tap for the first stab with the dagger. Because I was combining many different dagger moves into one big move, I decided to call it the Dagger Medley. Good luck mastering this one, I still have trouble with it, but I have been able to do it again so I swear it’s possible. The Dagger Gatling isn’t needed necessarily, but it helps.

Combo
(Dagger Gatling)--Jump--(Switch)--Shoot--Switch--Dash Forwards--Stab--Jump--Turn--Dash Forwards--Stab--Jump--Switch--Turn--Dash--Shoot--Switch--Turn--Stab--Stab+Dash Backwards--Switch--Shoot

OR

(Dagger Gatling)--JSF--Jump--Turn--Dash--Stab--Turn--Yo-Yo Hop--Block Tap--Dagger Machine
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V. The Tri-Attributes
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A. Intro

Alright, now that all of the dagger techniques have been covered I’m sure you would like other tips on how to play and such. Here I will explain the breakdown of the three main game concepts of Luck, Skill, and Knowledge and tell you how each one effects you and the other people you are playing with. By better explaining how fighting with others works, you will become a better fighter yourself.
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i. Luck

Luck, whether you choose to believe that it’s there or not, still affects you and the players around you roughly 15% of the time in battle or so. The best definition of luck in this instance is: Things that are not in your control that work out in your favor. This actually covers quite a bit of stuff. Ever been walking around Town or somewhere and noticed someone standing behind a wall looking past it? Didn’t you try to walk up to them and shoot them point blank? I’m sure that they died very soon after that. This is a form of luck that just happened. YOU didn’t control the fact that the other person didn’t turn around to see you, but it worked out in your favor because you were able to kill him. What about when you’re fighting another person who all the sudden messes up a butterfly and you are able to land the killing shot on them? YOU didn’t control the other person and make them stop Butterflying correctly, but it worked out in your favor.

Luck is also how skilled the other player is. You don’t control how well they play, so if they play badly, then you have a significant advantage over them through luck. It’s also how the other person uses their skills to fight you. If you are fighting a K-styler out in the open who is pounding Half-Steps into you, and you decide to stab and dash to the right at the same moment that they try to butterfly into you, they will most likely get a massive and use it. You turn around while they are still in that animation and shoot to kill. You didn’t control that guy and make him use that Butterfly at that particular moment, but it definitely worked out in your favor. Luck is also the reason why people hate spikers. No one knows exactly when that person will spike in their ping , so at some moments they will be invincible for a second while they pump shots out at other players.

If you get a really awesome kill from someone, but it wasn’t an all out fair fight, don’t go bragging down everyone’s throat about it because it was mostly luck. It can work both ways too. Sometimes you will get unlucky and someone else will seriously take you out. Luck is the reason why some noobs are able to kill higher leveled players sometimes, they simply get lucky. Luck plays some part in absolutely everything that you do so don’t ignore it, don’t say it doesn’t exist, and accept that you do get lucky kills sometimes.
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ii. Skill

This gets mixed up with luck sometimes and most people think that Skill runs the entire game. I’m sorry to say people…but skill only affects your game play by about 35%, close to luck. Skill is defined as: Something that you do that affects you in your favor. It’s almost the complete opposite definition of luck even though luck does play some part in it. Skill can be most easily attached onto the actual techniques and moves that you can do, hence why we also sometimes call those Techniques, Skills.

One form of Skill is when you and someone else are in a battle and you can do something they can’t do or you can do it better than they can. A pretty big advantage is formed with this. If two K-stylers are going up against each other and they both know how to Butterfly, but one can do it faster and lower to the ground than the other one, who do you think will win? Being able to control yourself more effectively in battle is an important asset in becoming a good fighter.

Another form of Skill is being able to smoothly and effectively change between your techniques to suit the situation. If you start trying to Dagger Hop into an opponent, and they bring out a Butterfly only a few meters away from you, getting yourself to change quickly to a Dagger Flash or Dagger Gatling could instantly win the battle for you right there. On the contrary, if you can’t change moves fast enough then you could very well get caught in the Butterfly and lose the battle. Learn how to switch between skills better to maximize their power.

Do remember that just because you have more pure skill than someone else in a battle, doesn’t mean that you’ve already won. Luck and Knowledge come into play as well.

[Cysote]

iii. Knowledge

This is the biggest smack down concept that almost no one knows about. This alone wins me more battles than Luck and Skill combined. Taking about 50% of the playing field, you better bet that this is very important. Knowledge is defined as: What you know. Simple isn’t it? The definition of it is so short that it seems like it does close to nothing for you, but I’m here to say that’s wrong.

Knowledge is the biggest determining factor of whether you win a fight or not. Standing behind a wall and looking out from it with the third person view is using the knowledge concept to a good degree. When someone comes by your wall, you KNOW where they are, but they DON’T KNOW where you are. You have a major advantage over them because you can now set up to attack them, while they don’t even KNOW what’s going on. They don’t KNOW that they are about to be attacked, so they don’t KNOW to dodge or defend. If someone starts RSing you or at least a SwapShot, then start using some dodging maneuvers in random formation and speed. They wont know where you’ll be next, so they will waste ammo trying to hit random spots.

When I used to K-style, I loved putting this into effect. I was a hybrid then so I usually ran around with a rifle and shotgun. Every once in a while in a new game, I would start walking around and spraying my rifle at people. Most of the time, other K-stylers would come up to me thinking that I was a noob, but they didn’t know I could actually fight back with their own techniques. I’ve defeated many people just because they thought I didn’t know what I was doing. They didn’t suck at Gunz, they just didn’t know.

If people don’t know that you are hanging up high on a wall and they run right past you, they aren’t going to dodge anything…because they don’t know that anything is even there! If you’re in a gladiator and you start charging up a massive and a person decides to charge you, lunge them! They don’t know that you will lunge em, they only know that you’re trying to get a massive going. If you see a big group of people fighting each other, throw some grenades towards the pile. They don’t know that there’s gonna be grenades exploding around in a second so they wont move an inch.

Knowledge is the most important determining factor in whether you win a battle or not. Even if you get the downside of it, you can still win it will just be much harder. Use Knowledge to your advantage, don’t let the enemy know what you’re gonna do next.
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VI. Conclusion

Well, everything I just told you is everything that I’ve learned in my 8 months as a D-Styler. Take this knowledge to heart, look at it as over-rated, go out right now and switch to D-style, or shun the guide and flame me (My E-mail address is Cysote@yahoo.com for any and all flames) I don’t care what you do now. All I can do is give you the information, I can’t make you practice it, or burn it or anything. You must decide now what you are going to do. There’s one last thing I wish to talk about before this guide is finished.
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A. Your Own Style

Listen, this guide may be a great “guide”, but it is only a “guide”. This isn’t the absolute sure-fire way to use and compete with D-style. I’ve outlined many good points, I’ve shown the steps to many good maneuvers, and I’ve taught about certain tactics that can help get you on your career as a dagger user…But when it comes right down to it, you have to learn it all yourself. K-style is different, once you learn the core moves like Half-Step and Butterfly, then you’re almost completely ready to be competitive in battle. D-style is much harder and takes much more thought to use effectively. The perfect way to fight using all these techniques and ideas is completely up to you. In one battle there are many different combinations of moves or different ways to do anything. Find what works best for you and get better at it.

I never had any teach me anything when I first started. I simply picked up a dagger and started working with it. It was only a little later that I found FatherPrim’s guide and started trying to see through the holes in K-style. I got my butt thoroughly kicked for the first 4 months of my trying to do a dagger. Through getting my arse kicked, I became more aware of how my dagger works and how people think and act. Because I was an avid K-styler for about 6 months I knew all their techniques and habits and such. I KNEW my opponent and because they DIDN’T KNOW how a dagger fights, I started winning more of my battles. As a D-styler, don’t ever put K-style down. Even today I’ll go pick my sword back up and play a few games with it and learn more of it’s techniques and how they work, and maybe even get some new skills and moves learned in the process. No K-styler can surprise me with anything.

So go out and try a dagger for yourself. You will learn more doing that than any guide could ever teach you.
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VII. Resources

If you need to see either of my dagger videos, then go to Gunzfactor.com and look under the movies section for Do Dagger and Do Dagger2. You can get a download link there. They are also on YouTube and Google Video. Just search for them.
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VIII. Thanks

I extend a special thanks towards Kickassjack, FatherPrim, Selryam, and all the other dagger users out there that developed almost all of these moves and help keep this dagger revolution growing. Keep it up guys. I must also thank my old clan leader Silent_Kill for training me well in K-style those many months ago and LightnDark for pushing me to become much better than I thought I could ever be and to continue growing (even though he may not know it himself).

Copyright: August 2, 2006 By -Do- Primogen Cysote Dokgo

[Ummmmmers]

Two things that seem to process into a guard stun is the range of the weapon and the direction of which you are attacking.

If you hit at the tip, you essentially will not have any sort of guard stun. =/ Anything closer means that you have to watch attack direction. A collision = guard stun.

Something that I've been thinking about and been doing in games is tip poking a guard giving them a massive and waiting for that massive to be used.

Then right after they used the massive, start stabbing them until they recover from the massive lag. Due to the effects of lag (yay), as you demonstrated, they'll gain a massive on their end, but they're starting to guard on your end. Wait for massive spam usage. Repeat till you feel like using shottie.

It feels easier if you ghost evade if you switch as well as turning 45 degrees =/ I dunno why.

[lordcarbo]

OMG ITS CYSOTE

I'm reading this later, for sure

[Sigh]

OMG OCTOGONAL POST! lol jk jk

Long guide you got there ^_^" seems really useful, ill read it in the morning ^_^

[Donutholes]

Well it's not totally new, but it's nice seeing a more in-depth guide to the dagger.

I'm still convinced that there has to be an easier way for dagger to instafall besides timing the lunge.