Double Down on Duel: DNF Duel Combo Trials Tips

 

First things first. Happy New Year!! Welcome to 2024. It has almost been a full year since I've started actively blogging again and it has given me a lot of fulfillment so we are probably sticking around. I am planning a longer more introspective blog as we get closer to the full one year anniversary so stay tuned for that. 

So as previously mentioned, we are exploring DNF Duel right now and so far it looks like it might be my new fighting game. As previously mentioned my aim is to main Hitman and Swift Master but there are some other characters whom have caught my eye.

I have mostly been mucking around in the combo trials with some random stops in story mode and arcade mode when I want to test out the combos I have learned. I might eventually even go online with it and hopefully get some matches if anything just so I can get the online achievements out of the way. I have really moved away from online fighting games for fulfillment but its part of the game so I might as well do it. I have also heard DNF does have rollback net-code and its pretty good so if that is the case at least it won't be a pain to play especially if I aim to play a technical character like Swift Master.

So what is this? Well its me chatting about what I've had the most experience and fun with so far, the combo trials. I have also noticed there is not much information/ help with doing these trials so here is my 2 cents. Similar to my KOF 'Helping Hand' series (man that is a throwback right there) the main point of this is to help folks with these very hard (mostly) trials.

I have completed most of the trials (bar the 3 DLC characters but we will get there soon enough) with the exception of 2 for the Lost Warrior and 3 of the Enchantress (who I believe has the hardest combos in the game).

I will be giving tips for 4 of the characters I enjoy using the most. We will be using the Number notations and the standard buttons so 2 is down, 5 is neutral and so on and A,B,S,M buttons as per Dustloop's Forums/ Website.

Hitman: Hitman's combos are extremely straight forward. If a person is aiming for the achievement to complete a character's trials I would highly recommend his ones cause they are very easy to complete for most skill levels. A couple combos require a bit of linking but nothing too crazy. If anything I feel they underplay what Hitman is capable of combo wise. The important thing is when it comes to trials 7-8 is to do his Awakening skill (aka their cinematic super move) as the opponent begins falling from the last attack, do not delay it too long.

Swift Master: On the opposite side of the spectrum to Hitman is Swifty. Swift Master (SM) requires really good execution and a lot of his harder combos require holding down his Special button for a couple seconds to pull off his 'Storm Strike' which causes a wall bounce. Mastering Storm Strike means getting used to holding the S as soon as the last S in a combo connects and releasing at the exact moment. In the case of 2B into Storm Strike, I've noticed the best time to do it is just as the opponent is about to touch the floor, hit the 2B wait a second then release. Even through I want to master SM, this has taken some time for me to get down as well so keep at it. Also an important tip for the final combo trial is you can start holding the S after SW does the 4M, 4M OTG and make sure you release it late so the opponent hits the wall right in front of him (not above) and hit the Awakening skill immediately. If the opponent bounces off the wall, you are too late.

Vanguard: Its funny cause I want to use Swift Master whom is top tier and according to most tier lists, Vanguard is the bottom tier but I'll be damned if he is not fun to use. Since this is not pick Vanguard and struggle to win guide, we will just focus on his combo trials. First, most important is learning the timing on his Jumping S which OTGs but has a very small window. A lot of his best combos require this so focus on doing your attack (in most case it just a regular B) as soon as the spear touches the ground. This is super important cause any later will cause it to whiff. Another trick I discovered is if you are having trouble with 5M into 2M in the middle of combos to not do the full 2 hits of 5M and cancel it after the first hit. This make it easier and I've noticed even gives you more time for your running jumping A OTGs. Lastly for combos 7 and 8, notice they have different timing for when you hit his Awakening skill. In Combo 7 its before the second hit and with Combo 8 you can delay till after the 2 hit wall bounces.

Our last subject is another funny one. I have no intention of using Dragon Knight but I found her trials very interesting and definitely something worthwhile talking about. When I first started playing, her trials were very daunting and her summoning dragon mechanic took awhile to get used to. Her are some tips which I discovered on my own because as I said before, there is not much help out there. The first one I believe most people will have trouble with is # 6. With this one I recommend delaying the 'Summon Astra to Dragon Force' (A + Magic) slightly after the 4S hits. Then immediately doing the B, hold S and with her hold S you don't need to time it, it'll automatically comes out once its fully charged, this will give the wall bounce into the Dragon fire and than this is important, delaying the next 2S to launch them back into another Dragon fire. Now # 7 for the longest time I believed it was and still feels glitched because no matter what I did 'Summon Astra to Dragon Breath' never worked like it looks like in the demo. Instead I found a way around it by doing an extra attack and doing it in the corner. This is how I got it to work; first I added a extra 4S after the B,2S and then I do (M + B) at the end of 4S with a delay like before. This gives enough time for Astra the Dragon to actually do his Dragon Breath attack and than you time the last 4S as a OTG and immediately do 4M before the hit stun decay kicks in. This has been the only way I've gotten it consistently. Also time the Awakening as the opponent is falling out of 4M like most Awakening and not immediately or it'll whiff. Her last combo in comparison to #7 is actually not even hard and just requires a micro-dash at the end to get the 2B to hit and to time 6M with the impact of the 4S. Compared to #7 it is a much easier.

Well those are the 4 main characters we will cover for the tips. I might revisit this, especially if I learn the Enchantress trials because that is another character I see no tips for and her trials are especially challenging, even for me. Also I'll eventually get the DLC and you know I'll have to do one for Spectre since I hope to use her too.

AV

UPDATE: DNF Duel

So thanks to Epic Game store Free giveaways, I am currently enjoying DNF Duel a lot.

I always wanted to get into it, especially because I really enjoy the art style. Out of all the 'anime' fighting games I have played recently, I honestly felt DNF Duel is the closest to a game I would actually play outside of mucking around in training mode/ combo trials. Granblue Versus is the other one and with Rising 'update' out now I might give it another try.

One of the things that did not distract is the amount of negativity DNF Duel gets, a lot of people seem very down on it for no reason other than its first DLC and updates was delayed (probably due to COVID and other complications)  and the game is very oppressive, offense wise.

Well the DLC are coming out now (3 out of the 5 characters are now out), a update changed some of the mechanics with more emphasis on defensive options and on top of that a balance patch that actually buffed everyone instead of nerfing folks (which I personally like as a balance option unlike some games heavy handed approaches *cough* Tekken *cough*.

With this being a fighting game I do not see a long blog about it (aka a RAVE) like most of the stuff I post but I do like to draw some attention to it and how much fun I am having.

Right now the two characters who have really caught my eye in base roster are Hitman and Swift Master. First to address the elephant in the room; yes I said Swift Master

Anyone that knows anything about DNF Duel know Swift Master is a terror and no doubt the top tier of the game. He ruled a lot of tournaments and people have frequently called for him to be nerfed because he was too oppressive. However one thing that Swifty has that attracts me is how high of a skill ceiling it takes to get good with him and he is very technical. So despite the stigmata surrounding him, I feel he is a good pick for me cause I love high skill level characters and in a game with rushdown mentality he seems like a shoe-in. Ironically my original pick and who I will also like to main is Hitman.

Hitman is nowhere near as vilified as Swift Master but I do know he can be a bit OP especially when he reaches his 'Awakened' game state (aka a form each character gets once they get below a certain threshold). He however has all I want in a character and the first character I muck around with that connected with me. Wildly enough, my biggest issue with him comes down to how I am supposed to approach folks with him because even through he has a gun, he is not a zoner and he requires to be up close to really do damage and I heard zoners dominate non-zoners in this game (hence Swifty as my back up/ anti-zoner).

I will say through, a big portion of the games cast really appeal to me and the only characters I do not see myself playing are Enchantress cause I dislike Puppet character types and probably the newest DLC Battle Mage who fighting style does not seem bad but I'm not a fan of the cutesy female characters either I've noticed over time (hence why I could never use Lucky Chloe in Tekken or Sylvia in KOF). Spectre on the other hand tho? Oh yeah... she looks like fun.

So yep, this is the beginning of my DNF Duel adventure. I wonder where it will lead me.

AV