Gundam: Battle Assault 2/Controls

Controls

GBA2's moves and combo sequences are notated with two different sets of combinations of button letters and/or numbers to define directional inputs. The first is called Traditional Notation and uses lowercase letters to define directional inputs and abbreviations to define input motions. The second is called Numpad Notation and uses the layout of a numpad on a keyboard to define inputs. For both notations, the four attack buttons are defined the same: WP, SP, WK, and SK.

Here are the digital directional inputs possible in GBA2:

⬁	⇧	⬀
⇦	ｎ	⇨
⬃	⇩	⬂

How these inputs are represented in Traditional Notation. "u" refers to "up", "d refers to "down", "f" refers to "forward", and "b" refers to "back".

ub	u	uf
b	ｎ	f
db	d	df

How these inputs are represented in Numpad Notation. "5" represents the lever neutral position, and "6" always faces the same direction the character is facing for consistency.

７	８	９
４	５	６
１	２	３

Moves are given prefixes to signify certain properties:

n or 5	Perform while not pressing a direction. Neutral. It's not usually written and implied if omitted.
j or a	Jumping, or in the air.
s	Standing.
c	Crouching.
cl	Close to the opponent.
,	Indicates a gap in inputs.
+	Indicates no gap in inputs. Press at the same time.

Directional input combinations are often abbreviated with the letters used to describe their motion. Although diagonal inputs are not used to perform special inputs in this game, they are still used to describe similar input combinations.

Name	Trad.	Num.	Full Name
qcf	d,f	26	Quarter-Circle Forward
qcb	d,b	24	Quarter-Circle Back
dp	f,d,f	626	Dragon Punch
rdp	b,d,b	424	Reverse Dragon Punch
hcf	b,d,f	624	Half-Circle Forward
hcb	f,d,b	624	Half-Circle Back

The four Attack buttons are defined as:

WP	Weak Punch
SP	Strong Punch
WK	Weak Kick
SK	Strong Kick

Most special move commands consist of one or more of the following motions combined with an appropriately timed button input, typically following the completion of the motion.

WP, SP, WK, and SK are the Attack buttons. When referring to move inputs, Attack will refer to any one of these four buttons. The use of multiple Attack buttons at the same time imply that multiple different Attack buttons needing to be pressed.

Each character has a unique set of ways they can cancel these normals into each other, similar to games like Guilty Gear.

Most normals can only be canceled on hit. However, some normals can cancel into another normal on block or whiff too, most commonly 5WP into 5WP.

The Thruster Button (R1 by default) will perform a thrust jump. This is described in more detail under movement.

When done from OTG state, you perform a quick rise.

Pressing 26,Thruster or d,f,Thruster while the boost gauge is full will activate Vernier Mode. During Vernier Mode. While active, the player is always airborne and can fly in any direction. Projectiles will not cause you to enter a hit state, but physical hits will cause you to stagger.

Attack+Attack will perform a Dodge or Shield (characters get one or the other). Using them costs boost.

Dodges are fully invulnerable (invul) for their entire duration and last 33 frames. You can immediately block after doing one. Holding up while doing one causes the player to go up about the height of a normal jump when it ends.

Shields are tick-one projectile absorb fields. They block all projectiles for 127 frames (~2 seconds) and you're actionable after 51 frames. They will also absorb unblockable attacks. As a result, Shield characters are generally better in neutral but have weaker defense.

Pressing f+SP or b+SP (6+SP or 4+SP) while close to a grounded opponent will trigger a Stun Attack. This is the equivalent of a throw in GBA2. It's a 14F startup unblockable attack that stuns the opponent on hit, leaving them open to a full conversion. It cannot be jumped, but because of the slow startup, they can be interrupted or Dodged. However, they cannot be Shielded.

Inputting 2,6,Attack+Attack or d,f,Attack+Attack will do your character's MEGA SPECIAL. These are super moves that vary between characters. You have 3 per match and there's no way to restore them. v Gundam and Ball don't have a super.

Movement and Metagame

Commands will assume facing right, and using the Numpad Notation above. Commands will be underlined.

Guarding

• Block: Hold any direction away from your opponent. Even if an attack isn't in range to hit you, your character will still enter pre-block during the active frames.
  • Stand blocking (4) can't block lows and crouch blocking (1) can't block overheads. Air blocking blocks everything and you can even block out of jump startup. However, air blocking has 2 more frames of blockstun than ground blocking.

Dashes

• Forward Dash: Press 66 to dash forward. Dashing is very powerful as it's generally fast and can be canceled into just about everything, from attacks to blocking. This makes dash blocking very important as well as dash canceled attacks.
• Back Dash: Press 44 to dash backwards. There are two types of back dashes, hops and thrusters. Hops are more common and have a character hop a set distance backwards. This can't be canceled into anything besides a Thruster Jump. These are generally worse and are highly commital, good for nothing but making space. Thruster backdashes on the other hand function similarly to forward dashes. They don't go a set distance and can be held to go the distance you desire. They can be canceled into everything a forward dash can be canceled into besides blocking. These are very good for repositioning and spacing.

Jumps

• Regular Jump: You can jump by pressing up and it can be angled forwards or backwards. You're considered airborne frame 4 after inputting but you can't do any aerial actions until frame 12.
• Thruster Jump: Input by pressing the Thruster button (R1 by default) and it can be angled forwards or backwards. This can be used very flexibly, as it can be used out of a backdash, as an extra jump, or as a way to make space from the opponent. Costs boost to use.
  • Quick Rise: By doing a thrust jump when knocked down, you do a invulnerable thrust jump. This lets you avoid OTG (Off The Ground) damage and get out of okizeme (oki, or wake-up) setups, but can be read and chased.
• Dash Jump: While dashing forwards or backwards, your character will retain their momentum going into their next jump. This is mainly used for doing extra long jumps. They also inherit their end-of-dash horizontal friction and will slow until no longer moving horizontally.