Every time someone asks me for sparring tips, the first question I ask is, "Do you know anything about blink?" If they're a beginner, I might not even ask that. I'll just tell them that they should run away from their opponent for 2 seconds every time they land a hit or take a hit. That's enough to completely negate any disadvantage they'll experience from not knowing what blink is. It's one of the more complicated mechanics when it comes to sparring.

What is "blink?"
Your blink is the period of invincibility you receive after you take damage (from a sword, bomb, arrow, anything). It's given that name because your character flashes in and out of transparency when you're experiencing this effect. It's a crucial moment in a spar where you can go full-on aggressive or use clever moves to win a trade or juke your opponent.

The maximum length of time that you can maintain your blink is 2 seconds. However, blinking will be canceled early by either of the following:

1. You change gani from anything other than hurt->idle, hurt->walk, or idle->walk (basically, if you use your sword)
2. You release your last-held directional key from the moment when you entered the hurt->walk or idle->walk

Breaking Down Cancel #1
The worst thing you can do right after getting hit is wildly swinging your sword again. Any good aggressive sparrer should be able to react quickly enough to combo you, because you immediately lose your blink the moment that you swing your sword.

https://giant.gfycat.com/SpanishNegligibleDachshund.gif (Unsupported image host)
(Click the GIF for a higher-resolution version)

The above clip is a great example of that. You can see that I hit Zeross, juke in front of him then move when he thinks he can get a free hit, wait for him to swing, then I hit him again. I do the same exact move two consecutive times. He falls for it because it looks like it's a free hit while he's in his blink, but better sparrers know how to bait people into canceling their blink to combo them.

Breaking Down Cancel #2
This one is a little tough to understand. When you're hit, you enter the hurt gani. About 1.5 seconds later, if you don't move, you enter the idle gani. The moment you leave the hurt or idle gani, the directional keys that you're pressing (or the buttons you're holding) are extremely important and will determine if you cancel your blink early or not.

Let's say I'm hit in a spar. Right after I'm hit, I start moving straight in the left direction. I can continue going left for 2 full seconds and I'll maintain blink. I can go left+up or left+down. I can strafe in place with left+right and I can even strafe up or down. None of these will cancel my blink early. However, if at any given time I release that left directional key/button, I'll lose my blink.

https://giant.gfycat.com/FemaleIdioticFox.gif (Unsupported image host)
(Click the GIF for a higher-resolution version)

Above, I take a hit. I choose to move straight in the right direction after I'm hit. You can see I continue blinking as I go right and then right+down. The instant that I turn left, I lose my blink. Why? Because to move left, I had to release the right key. You see that I'm well-aware of the situation I'm getting myself into, because I quickly change direction knowing I'll be vulnerable without my blink.

This is the real reason why strafing is good for PC players. If you enter a moving strafe, you're holding down 3 keys. For example, a downwards strafe is left+right+down. You'll be able to maintain your blink letting go any 2 of those keys, as long as you continue to hold down 1 of them. A moving strafe gives you a lot of flexibility with your blink. You can think of cancel #2 like a pivot foot in basketball. A moving strafe essentially gives you 3 feet.

How can I improve my blink mechanics?
I'd recommend starting simple with a basic "J"-shaped technique (like you see in the last GIF). After you're hit, you can run straight at your opponent and curve around them to try to land a hit. The reason you do this is because inexperienced players will try to hit you as you run at them (while in blink), and by curving you're putting yourself in a position to hit them while they're swinging at where you were. When they use their sword, they're in sword.gani for 0.25 seconds and idle.gani for 0.05 seconds before being able to move again.

Here's another clip of me demonstrating that:
https://giant.gfycat.com/WhisperedCelebratedFlyingsquirrel.gif (Unsupported image host)
(Click the GIF for a higher-resolution version)

She hits me, I run straight at her, curve, and swing. While a basic technique like that isn't going to work against the best sparrers, it's a good one to know and use against most.

Another good trick, if you're a beginner and sparring against an offensive sparrer, is to simply not move after you're hit. You're guaranteed your full 2 seconds of blink if you do that, and it gives you time to collect yourself and possibly get a free hit on them if they move towards you aggressively.

Here's an example of what I mean:
https://fat.gfycat.com/EvilEnchantingCoelacanth.gif (Unsupported image host)
(Click the GIF for a higher-resolution version)

I don't manage to land a hit in this example, but many sparrers do this as a way of countering combo sparrers. It's a pretty safe move and buys you some time to assess what your opponent is going to do without having to make a move yourself. As blinking can be really difficult for mobile players, this is something that I'd recommend for them.

That's all I'll post for now. Maybe I'll come back to this thread and post useful clips of blink in the future. I'll try to answer any questions. Hope you learned something.  

Nice thread Thall, will defiantly be trying the J style  

Long distance I need you  

Thanks man. This will be extremely helpful.  

good job bro I actually didn't know some of that. TY  

thanks thall. with this thread I was able to win one spar

that's one more spar than I usually win  

Isn't blink extended when you freeze?

Of course you can't move so it doesn't really matter.  

Posted by Areo

Isn't blink extended when you freeze?

Of course you can't move so it doesn't really matter.

Yes, your blink is clientside so if you freeze or if you experience a drop in FPS then your blink will be extended longer than the natural 2 seconds. Players who speed hack also experience a shorter blink duration, but that's far outweighed by faster movement speed, sword speed, etc.  

too perfect to even have a question tbh.
maybe put more examples of u using blink? so it makes it more clear  

Will try this on Thallen next time I fight him  

So...Who won you or Zeross?  

Posted by Kuz

So...Who won you or Zeross?

he did

 

Posted by Zetectic

maybe put more examples

I've only been recording spars of mine from the arena for about a week, but here are a few extras. I put them in spoiler tags to reduce page loading times. Explanations are beneath. Click on any clip to see a higher-resolution version.

#1:

Spoiler

https://giant.gfycat.com/AmazingEnragedBuffalo.gif (Unsupported image host)

You can pinch or pin your opponent between yourself and a wall like this, but it's a rare occurrence. It's something I'd only do if you're comfortable with potentially trading a hit or if you're confident that your opponent doesn't know blink very well. Zeross drops his blink once by slashing upwards while I'm spamming, and I continue spamming because he's pinned down. He could have easily just moved, but he swung again and dropped his blink.

#2:

Spoiler

https://giant.gfycat.com/FatherlyHelplessBoa.gif (Unsupported image host)

Here's another example of the tip I explained regarding improving your blink mechanics. vEagle hits me, I stand completely still and he gets too close, and I get an easy hit by changing direction and swinging while I've still got blink. He tries to do the same thing, I just stay far from him.

#3:

Spoiler

https://giant.gfycat.com/GrimyNeedyBooby.gif (Unsupported image host)

Here, Kami and I trade hits and and I notice he drops his blink really early. This is a good example of what I was talking about with strafing. I start going left, but I want to go down to match him. Most players would just go directly down and immediately lose your blink. By strafing downwards, I never actually let go of the left key so I maintain my blink.

#4:

Spoiler

https://giant.gfycat.com/SleepyUnequaledChameleon.gif (Unsupported image host)

I land a hit on vEagle and I notice he's staying still (as I suggest in one of my beginners' tips). vEagle is one of the better sparrers when it comes to using blink, so I keep a good distance away. I bait his sword out to cancel his blink and move around him for another clean hit.

#5:

Spoiler

https://giant.gfycat.com/SeriousOddballDorking.gif (Unsupported image host)

This one's slower so you can see the exact moment Kami drops his blink and takes a hit. He gets hit, then moves right+up. You can see him transition to moving the exact opposite way, left+down, which guarantees that he's released his last-held directional key and dropped his blink.

#6:

Spoiler

https://fat.gfycat.com/WatchfulPerfectFurseal.gif (Unsupported image host)

Here's another good example of Kami dropping his blink (sorry for this). After I hit him, he's going left+down. You can see the second he turns and goes right+up, he takes another hit. I go in for another hit and we trade because his blink is canceled when he swings at me.

#7:

Spoiler

https://fat.gfycat.com/SpryTestyJunebug.gif (Unsupported image host)

He does something smarter this time, but it still doesn't work out for him. I hit him, expect him to drop blink and swing again. He sees me swing, turns, and hits me. I've got the blink advantage, so you can see me running straight at him. He realizes I have blink so he tries to run and juke it out of me, but I get a clean hit. This is similar to what I explained in my first post with the "J" technique.

#8:

Spoiler

https://giant.gfycat.com/DamagedSinfulGermanshepherd.gif (Unsupported image host)

This is a clip to help highlight what 90% of sparrers would claim is lag, delay, cheating, godmode, whatever. We trade hits. I immediately strafe up (left+right+up) held, release the right key to go left, release the left key and go back right, and swing to win a trade hit. The entire time, I've never let go of the up key so I maintain my blink.

If you want to ask a question about any of them, just reference the clip by it's number or quote it.  

idk why it won't let me rep u. they were all good examples but #8 damn #GodModeMysterySolved  

I've been waiting so long.