Advanced Techniques

This page lists advanced maneuvers found by various players that expand on the core mechanics of the game. Please note that the names of these techniques may not be official, and are used as a way to identify them among the community.

Insta-Counter
Pressing the dash button shortly after an attack hits you while guarding will cause you to instantaneously dash forwards or backwards depending on the direction you input for movement. This grants a small amount of invincibility frames, and the distance of the dash is dependent on the current fighter's movement speed. It's also possible to jump during an insta-counter. This technique allows for safe advances or skillful retreats, however it can only allow you to move away from or closer to your opponent so unwise use of this ability can put you in a vulnerable position.

If you're currently blocking a rush, the backwards insta-counter can also be used to save shield health by dodging rush attacks thus potentially preventing guard-breaks. Skillful timing and awareness is necessary to do this, as one mistake could easily cause the rush to connect and do damage.

Wide Grab
By curving both arms away from each other during a grab, you can increase the distance between them and make the grab hitbox much wider. Wide Grabs are significantly easier to perform with motion controls, as you have the ability to individually aim both arms. With other control schemes both arms' movement are bound to the left-stick, which must be quickly flicked left-to-right (or vise versa) at the same time a grab is initiated in order to perform a wide grab.

Retraction Management
Moving after punching will affect how long it takes for that arm to come back to you. For instance, moving forward towards the arm you just threw out will shorten the distance it needs to travel to return, allowing you to recover that arm and your mobility faster. Likewise moving away from an active arm will cause it to take longer to retract.

Air Juggle
When your opponent gets knocked down by an attack, they are still momentarily in the air and damageable. Under most circumstances it isn't possible to take advantage of this without exceptional timing or reaction speed, but you can easily perform an assisted air juggle through the use of stage gimmicks or wind attacks. For instance the springs on Spring Stadium will bounce any knocked-down fighter high into the air, the change in elevation on Ninja College can extend the window of attack if someone gets knocked down the stairs, and hits with the wind element will blow the opponent up and away providing opportunities for a follow-up. Rush attacks also have a characteristically large amount of knock-up or hitstun, granting them significant potential to air juggle the opponent.

Yabuki Combo
A Yabuki Combo is performed after activating and successfully landing a rush on any opponent who was thrown/knocked into the air and then bounced off of the outer ring of springs in Spring Stadium. The technique was named after Kosuke Yabuki (the game's producer) after he first demonstrated it during an exhibition match at the 2017 ARMS Open Invitational.

A more difficult to execute variation of the Yabuki Combo is also performable on the stage Mausoleum, which involves rushing an opponent after they bounce off of the trampoline in the middle of stage.

Restand
Any attack that cancels the knockdown state upon hitting a fighter, putting them back into a standing position and vulnerable to extended combos.

Rush Guard
While activating a rush with your arms out will render you unable to attack with that arm for a short period of time, both of your arms still count as fully recovered with no restrictions on movement or guarding. This allows you to use a rush in an emergency to regain your guard, and avoid getting hit in otherwise unmanageable scenarios.

ARM Cancel
Usable with any ARM that hangs in front of a fighter instead of extending outward (for example Dragons, Guardian, and Clapback.) By moving towards the ARM and colliding with it while it is still out, you can force it to retract early.

Grab-Break Refresh
After a grab has been broken and both arms finish retracting, the players movement options will be completely reset and available for use. While this does nothing remarkable on the ground, it allows players to regain a spent air dash by breaking the grab against an obstacle such as a pillar.

Character/ARM Specific Tech
This section is for techniques only performable by a particular character or ARM.

Aura Air-stall
While Twintelle is in the air, Actress Aura can be quickly and repeatedly activated and deactivated. This allows her to stay in the air for significantly longer.

Blokjaw
By causing a shield Arm to collide with a charged Lokjaw from behind, the Lokjaw is forced to retract early but its projectile will continue to travel. This is easiest to perform for most characters if they fire the Lokjaw while dashing forwards. This allows your arms to recover faster while utilizing zoning and pressure from the projectile, and can even transition into a grab mix-up if your opponent guards against it.

Phantom ARM Cancel
Coyle's third ARM continues to extend regardless of if the other two have retracted back. This can be used to create completely risk free pokes or near unblockable setups when used in conjunction with a grab.