Posted by Weeno

hey thallen can u teach us how to fight the kind of noobs (actual noobs) who run and hit at the same time

Those are probably the easiest people to spar. They'll chase you all around the arena. Just bait them into following you, come to a stop so they think they can get a free hit, and then turn 90° and hit them from the side as they swing at you.

Posted by Relic

Just tested your claim that pressing multiple keys at instant of movement (diagonal or strafing) and then letting go of all but one of those keys maintains your blink... That doesn't seem to work.

I tried diagonal movement and strafing to start my movement and letting go of any keys (but not all of them of course) still cancels blink.

Am I misunderstanding, or is this a case of the blink animation stopping but your blink still staying? I was skeptical when I read that particular point because I've never known or seen that, and when I tested it it didn't seem to work.

I just rewatched the video I recorded while testing everything from my original post, and it looks like I may have possibly pressed 1 key earlier than the other 2 when doing the strafe test (instead of all 3 at once).

I just tested it several more times and it actually seems like, if you begin to strafe immediately after you take a hit, releasing even 1 key cancels your blink. For example, strafing downwards (left+right+up) and then changing to diagonal (right+up) cancels blink. I thought then that maybe Graal can only support two "blink keys," so I tried it in several different directions. I got the same results every time, so I'm doubting it's that.

So, it seems to be that strafing is actually really bad. Due to the way Graal is coded, all directions (when moving) overwrite "up" and "right". I don't know if that's what's causing it and Graal is trying to only assign two keys to control your blink when you strafe or what. It's a strict disadvantage, because it's dropping your blink even when you release 1 key of the 3. I even tried starting my blink by moving up, then strafing (up+left+right), then going back to just up (which means I never released my original single key), and it canceled my blink. A strafe seems to actually be an animation cancel in itself as soon as you leave it.

In example #8 that I showed in reply to Zetectic, I mentioned:

Posted by Thallen

I actually think I'd have still hit him without being hit even if I wasn't blinking, because he swung early and (I believe) only the first frame of your sword registers a hit on iClassic.

It seems that this was the case. Also worth noting is that there are 2 animation frames to your blink: 1 where your character is completely visible and normal and 1 where it's transparent. That's what I was referring to in this comment:

Posted by Thallen

I should have used a different clip, because that one is sort of confusing. I don't know what causes it yet, but sometimes the visual effect of your blink ends but your blink itself (the vulnerability) doesn't.

It gets a bit confusing if you end your blink when you're already in the visible animation frame, as it looks like it was ended earlier.

I'll do more proper testing when I've got the time. Let me know (anyone) if anyone discovers anything else strange about cancel #2. It deals with stuff like directional weaknesses and it gets really weird. Until then, I'd advise everyone to avoid strafing while blinking unless you intend to end your blink in that strafe. I rarely do it myself because it feels a little clunky and unnatural, but I'll definitely avoid doing it after noticing this. I'll edit my original post shortly to include strafing as a third cancel and I'll credit you as helping pinpoint that.  

Ahaa Neat guide on blink overall...have you considered doing other guides for the other aspect of sparring e.g. hitboxes, different sparring techniques etc.  

Posted by Kuz

have you considered doing other guides for the other aspect of sparring e.g. hitboxes, different sparring techniques etc.

I will eventually, it's probably important for people to realize stuff like this:
https://giant.gfycat.com/BowedImpassionedHumpbackwhale.gif (Unsupported image host)

There's a bunch of safe corners and other weird things relating to hit detection. I'll end up doing more guides when I find the time.  

^ If you want an example of this, I tend to use specific angles like these quite a lot.. The secret is out  

Posted by Thallen

So, it seems to be that strafing is actually really bad. Due to the way Graal is coded, all directions (when moving) overwrite "up" and "right". I don't know if that's what's causing it and Graal is trying to only assign two keys to control your blink when you strafe or what. It's a strict disadvantage, because it's dropping your blink even when you release 1 key of the 3.

That's pretty much what happens. Graal doesn't check to see if more than one key is pressed at a time, so each key will still give individual inputs.  

Would rep but I need to spread first :/ very helpful tho cuz I never knew this and I'm tryna become better so gg  

I can no longer edit the OP so I corrected and moved this information here: http://danclestine.weebly.com/learning-to-blink.html

That URL will probably change, because I'll pay for a Weebly package and change domains eventually. If it ever stops working, just go to http://clandestine.pw/ and navigate through to Strategy -> Sparring -> Learning to Blink.