This is a list of techniques for EXVSMBON. Some of them are very basic and key fundamentals, while others are very situational or suit-specific.
When writing this guide I intended to mark out which techniques are the most important, but after spending more than 8 hours writing and transcribing all of this I want you to read ALL OF IT PLEASE. I indicate in each section which techniques are really important, so use that as a measure as to what to learn first!
Zunda
A key technique. This technique allows you to chain your shooting attacks into combos by boost dash (BD) canceling between shots. Using a Beam Rifle (BR) Main, you can execute this technique using BR, BD, BR, BD, BR. By inputting a direction when boost dashing, it’s possible to move in the direction of your choosing while performing the zunda.
For the rest of this guide, we will be using notations heavily. For a quick primer, (~) refers to direct cancels, while (>>) refers to boost dash canceling, and (>) refers to a sidestep. You can read up on notations here.
After learning to zunda, it’s important to not get carried away with using this because it’s a surefire (no pun intended) way to run out of ammo quickly, as well as expend your boost and end up overheating. To prevent this, it’s recommended to zunda conservatively, and supplement your Main ammo expenditure by mixing in other weapons. For example, Gundam Rx-78-2 can mix in its bazooka in chained attacks, which you can do by inputting the likes of BR>>BR~BZ, BR>BZ>>BR, etc.
It’s important to get the timing down for zundas, and note that not all suits have the same zunda timings. For example, Unicorn Gundam’s Beam Magnum has a slower startup time.
Cancel Routes
Some moves can be chained into each other without the need of sidestep canceling or boost dash canceling. These are referred to as cancel routes, which use the notation (~). For example, you can link Rx78-2’s beam rifle (A) into its bazooka (AB) by simply pressing A~AB. This can also apply to melee moves. Each Mobile Suit has vastly different cancel routes, so it’s best to know all of your available options when learning a new suit.
Shooting moves that are canceled into have certain special properties. For starters, you do slightly less damage using the A~AB cancel route earlier as compared to boost dash canceling your A into AB. In rare cases, some moves behave differently, like Virsago’s AB, and some have lower proration.
So if it does less damage, why use shooting cancel routes? The biggest advantage is that it saves on boost consumption. You can perform the same Rx78-2’s A~AB cancel route at no boost cost, basically getting two shots for the price of one boost dash. You can even perform the cancel route when in a state of Overheat with no boost left. Managing your boost is key to winning, which makes cancel routes extremely important in maintaining a high amount of boost, while also mounting a more pressuring offense.
Take note that canceling into charged shots and melee attacks does not cause damage proration. This is why many combos end with powerful charged shots or extended melee combos with many hits.
Boost Dash Jump
A bread and butter movement technique. While boost dashing, let go of the lever and boost button completely, before pressing the boost button again to jump. This allows you to jump a great distance, at minimal boost cost.
Because you cannot use the lever during this technique, you can only jump in the direction you were boost dashing in. Choose which way you would like to jump in during the boost dash sequence.
During the jump sequence, you can continue holding the boost button to ride the intertia and continue to rise higher.
You can also use ‘Face Front While Boosting’ technique in combination with this to correct your posture.
Different suits travel differently during a boost dash jump. For example, Wing Zero TV is quite speedy, so it jumps in a small arc and lands fast. Wing Zero Endless Waltz (the angel) is very floaty, so it jumps far and descends slowly.
Fix Camera Angle
Certain moves, such as FAZZ’s AC gerobi, changes the camera angle and forces you to watch FAZZ charge up for its gerobi from the front. This is bad because the change in camera angle means you lose sight of the enemy, and lose the ability to gauge if you are in danger, if your attack is going to hit, etc.
By inputting back (2) together with the AC command, the camera angle will stay fixed in its regular position before firing. This technique applies to almost all camera angle-changing moves, so be sure to test it out for your Mobile Suit of choice.
If your Mobile Suit is able to use this technique, there is no *good* reason to not use this technique every single time.
Second Impact
A shooting technique where you can link your A or B into a charged A or B. Using Leos 2’s Charged Main (csA) as an example:
- Hold and charge your main (A) until it’s almost full.
- Release A, and quickly hold down A again to fire off one shot of your main and continue charging until full.
- Release the button press and fire your charged shot (csA).
If you time it properly, you will be able to link your main into the csA. Alternatively, even if you do not successfully combo the two hits, you are still executing two shooting attacks in rapid succession.
This technique is best used by suits with powerful csA attacks, and can be used to easily catch landings. This also applied to any B moves that has a csB, which you will use second impact to execute a melee move before holding down the B button for csB.
Double Tap To Charge
You might notice that if you input AB or AC and then continue holding A, you will not charge your csA.
The Japanese Wiki goes into the technicality of ‘why’, but I’ll save you some reading by saying you can easily get around this by simply pressing A a second time to get around this and start charging.
To put it simply, AC (continue holding A) will not charge. AC (press A again during the AC animation) will charge.
Simultaneous Projectile Proration
In MBON, hitting multiple ranged attacks in succession causes damage scaling and proration. However, hitting two attacks simultaneously registers both sources of damage, but only counts towards proration once.
For example, attacks like F91’s AB and Turn X’s csA shoot two projectiles. If both projectiles hit, the damage is not scaled, and they both do full damage.
It also applies to funnel type attacks which surrounds and fire at the target simultaneously, or if your Assist and the main unit’s attacks hit at the same time.
Down Reset
The act of not finishing your combo and not letting your enemy be downed to do more damage right after their down value resets.
This is done by ending a combo in a stagger or stun. By letting your opponent’s down resets, you can get more out of your bursts or timed power-ups, or take advantage of good positioning. It’s a great way to do a lot of damage very quickly.
For example, if your enemy has 250 hp remaining, he cannot be killed by a 3-hit zunda. Hitting him with a two-hit zunda and letting his down reset will mean he still dies the next time he gets tagged by a zunda, but you will be able to try to do so again after a mere 3 seconds, rather than waiting for him to get up.
This is a double-edged sword in a sense that your opponent will be able to attack you at a lesser risk, as he’s already at a high down value and proration so the next hit he takes will not be as damaging as one you might.
Red To Green Tracking
Attacks done in red lock track the enemy, while those done in green do not. However, if you start a cancel route (~) string in red lock and the enemy/you moves into green lock, any follow-up attacks in that cancel route string will still track as if they are being performed in red lock.
For example, let’s say you’re using Destiny Gundam. Your enemy is in close range. You fire a beam rifle, but he dodges it and boost dashes above you, entering your green lock space. If you then cancel that BR shot into your BC Palma Fiocina (grabby hand), the Palma Fiocina will track the enemy as per normal, and grab him if he’s within reach. Another example is Barbatos’s A~AC~A where he fires one Smoothbore Gun shot, dashes backwards and into green lock, the follow up Smoothbore Gun shot will still track the target even though Barbartos is already in green lock.
This technique is helpful for suits that fight better at the long range, and generally want to stay at maximum red lock range. However, it is also a technique that is extremely useful during shooting burst (and fighting, to some extent). Repeatedly firing your main will continue tracking the enemy even if they enter the green lock, and melee suits can take advantage of the shooting~melee cancel route to hit enemies who escape into the vertical green lock space.
Fuwastep
A crucial technique where you sidestep and jump immediately after, moving you like so: -^
This technique combines the tracking cut properties of a sidestep with the fluid movement of a jump. If you’re wondering where the name comes from, ‘fuwa’ in Japanese is an onomatopoeia for ‘floaty’, a fitting image for this technique.
One other key advantage of this movement is that you get to maintain your facing direction while moving sideways, or front/backwards. While boost dash jumping allows you to move quickly and cover large distances in your chosen direction, boost dash jumping backwards will force you to face backwards unless you correct your facing direction. If you are already facing front, fuwastepping backwards will allow you to continue facing front, meaning you can fire at your enemy without worry of performing a non-vernier backshot.
Once you start mixing fuwastep into your movement patterns you will really begin to notice your movement becoming more fluid and unpredictable!
Boost Dash Swivel
While boost dashing, you can rotate the lever in a ‘U’ shape to make your MS spin around in a S shape, before returning to its original trajectory.
On paper this sounds completely useless, but it’s actually a really boost-efficient method of avoiding small attacks like BR shots. By rotating back to the front, you also gain the advantage of maintaining your front-facing posture.
Typically this technique is best suited for suits with a fast swivel speed, such as Strike Freedom, Nu, and Master. While it’s not the most important technique to learn for beginners, you cannot say you have fully mastered optimal movement for these MSes unless you are enjoying practical usage of this technique.
Shooting In Motion
Shooting attacks that do not cause vernier can be sidestep cancelled.
This is an especially useful technique for suits that can stay in motion while firing, for example suits with non-vernier machine guns (Heavy Arms), and moving gerobis (Wing Zero TV). You can start firing, and then sidestep/fuwastep in the middle of the action to cut tracking while continuing your assault.
You can also perform various cancel routes in the midst of the sidestep, as if you are cancelling directly from your initial move. For example, A>AC is possible. The earlier ‘Red to Green Tracking’ technique also comes into play here.
Delayed Fire
For weapons like machine guns or multi-shot beam rifles (Zeta), this technique can be used.
Typically for machine gun weapons, holding down the fire button(s) will result in you firing continuously. For multi-shot beam rifles, you can keep pressing A to keep firing.
Instead, with this technique, you tap the fire button (machine gun), or intentionally delay the firing timing of your beam rifle.
The main merit of this technique is that the first burst forces the enemy movement, while the second is intended to catch him. Other merits include being economic with ammo, and being good for catching landings.
In the case of the beam rifle, the rapid fire speed is actually a lot faster than the stagger timing of each shot, which means you can delay your shots slightly and still link them together as a combo. This timing gap allows your shots to retrack, and makes catching landings easier.
This technique is situational: it’s not always the best option. Experiment with the best timings to use this technique to your own advantage.
Monkey Shooting
To understand the naming behind this technique, check out this Wikipedia article.
This technique is applicable for suits with ranged attacks in MA form, or attacks that can change direction.
Instead of firing where the enemy is, you can use attacks that can be moved to fire at where you predict the enemy is going to be. In a sense, hitting these moves can even bypass tracking cuts, as you are not relying on tracking to begin with.
For example, Forbidden’s AC attack can be angled left or right. Accurately reading the opponent’s intended dash trajectory, you can cut him off mid-dash with a properly angled shot. This technique also works great for DX, whose MA mode has a wide array of attacks that track well vertically, and can be angled to fire at where the enemy is expected to be.
Boost Hop
When in mid-air, tapping the jump button erases all prior inertia, and causes you to perform a small but floaty hop. This is a key technique in changing your landing timing.
This technique is all about that small little hop motion. Don’t hold the jump button any longer than a single tap, or you will get a regular boost and reduce the effectiveness of this technique, which in part is due to its small boost gauge cost.
Boost hopping works great against attacks like Wing Zero TV’s charged main and Cherudim’s main, which have strong muzzle correction but zero tracking. However, it’s not effective against attacks that track well, like Strike Freedom and Turn X’s charged mains.
Facing Front While Boosting
This technique is also extremely important, and recommended learning for all players using shooting units.
For suits with beam rifles, machine guns, and moving gerobi-type weapons, firing your weapon out-of-angle can cause vernier, which is best avoided because it takes very long to recovery to neutral, and makes you a sitting duck for enemy counter attacks. Firing out of angle also makes your shot lose their muzzle correction property, making it even harder to land your shots.
As such, facing the enemy at all times is preferable, as it allows you to fire your weapons while remaining in motion. One of the best ways to do so is to use the technique as described below.
While holding the boost button, hold the forward (8) direction on your lever. This will cause your Mobile Suit to face the enemy, helping avoid out-of-angle shooting.
Note that Mobile Fighter units from the G Gundam universe who jump instead of boosting up on the boost input cannot use this technique (not that they need to).
Freefall Cancels
Some moves cause vernier, meaning your suit comes to a complete stop and loses all inertia. Some of these moves have cancel routes into non-vernier moves, which causes them to enter a state of freefall. This is called a Freefall Cancel, an extremely useful technique.
To put it simply, it’s a cancel route that allows you to fall quickly. The advantage of this technique is that it allows you to move in an unpredictable pattern, while remaining on the offense.
A common addition to the technique is to sidestep before executing the freefall. This cuts tracking before the motion, and makes you fall diagonally, making you extremely difficult to hit.
Not every suit has Freefall Cancels, so be sure to check whether your Mobile Suit has this capability. Some examples are:
- Turn-X back-facing A~AB (main ~ sub cancel)
- Unicorn’s AC~A (assist ~ main cancel)
- Kshatriya’s AB~A (sub ~ main cancel)
Pyonkaku
Refers to melee attacks that makes the unit jump upwards. Since a pyonkaku would make your unit gain vertical height very quickly, makes it useful for taking the high ground, to escape or simply as a movement option.
Popular pyonkakus include Exia’s 2/8BC, Bael’s 2B, Force Impulse’s BC
Sliding AC/BC
By inputting a directional input together with a tap of the boost button (e.g.4C) before any assist summoned with the AC input, you can slide a short distance before summoning the assist.
This is really useful when used in conjunction with the Assist Main Freefall Cancels as described earlier.
In addition, some suits can use this technique together with their BC movement skills. For example, 4C~BC will cause Hambrabi to fly a further distance than it normally would with BC.
Shield Freefall Cancel
Some Freefall Cancels do not work if you are not facing front, such as Forbidden’s AC~A
By inputting the shield command (28) followed by the boost button (C) before the Freefall Cancel, you can force the suit to face front, thus allowing you to freefall.
This technique is paramount to a handful of suits such as Marasai and Forbidden but as explained earlier facing front is extremely important to maintain movement fluidity, so I would definitely recommend picking this technique up as it also applies to any other units with Freefall Cancel, who can use this move around a successful Guard.
Shield 8B
Typically, if you are boost dashing and you input 8B, you will get the boost dash melee (CC8B) instead.
To get around this, you can input 28 to shield, and hit B simultaneously with the 8 input. Notation is something like 2~8B.
This gives you access to your 8B anytime, even during a boost dash.
For many suits, 8B is a key melee move with a fast startup and high priority in the close range, so be sure to pick up this technique to expand upon your melee options.
Step Forward After 2 Input
Typically, after executing a back (2) input, trying to step forward with 88 will cause you to shield yourself.
To get around this, there is technique that requires some dexterity with the lever. By inputting a half circle motion upwards followed by a second 8 input, (236988), you are able to execute a forward step “as per normal”.
Typically not a really important technique, but you know, it’s there.
Okizeme
We’ve been trying to stay away from using Japanese terminology, but okizeme is a pretty popular term in the fighting game community so we’re sticking with it.
Okizeme (起き攻め) refers to attacking the enemy on wakeup. Basically at the moment your opponent is recovering from a down and leaving the invincible yellow-lock state, you want to put him in a losing position or a situation where he has to guess your next move, or eat another combo.
Some examples of okizeme setups include dropping big AOE attacks on his position (GP02’s nuke), attacking with high priority melee attacks, or using funnels to limit his movements right from the get-go.
Experiment with different setups and see which ones work for you, and in turn learn to escape okizeme setups of your enemies.
Lock Changing During a Combo
While performing a melee combo on enemy A, you can switch the camera using the D button to keep an eye on enemy B, and end the combo early or intercept enemy B if necessary.
This technique is vital for melee suits. Melee combos keep you stationary for a long time, and having information on what the other enemy is doing lets you make decisions on whether to perform the full combo, or end it early.
This can also be used for shooting units, for example if you have already begun hitting an enemy with a gerobi, you can switch target mid-gerobi. Same for zundas: if you’ve hit confirmed the first two shots, you can switch targets as soon as you’ve fired the final shot. Every second counts in battle, and small edges like this can be the difference between a win and a loss.
Note that you cannot use this technique during the part of a combo that requires a cancel. If you switch targets before cancelling you’ll simply attack the new target. For example, during Master’s infamous 4BB>4BBB string, you can only use this technique after the (>) sidestep.
Also note that some melee attacks, like Quanta’s CC8B, force the camera to lock onto your target, so this technique does not apply. What you can do is rely on the minimap and danger indicators on the sides of the screen to let you know if it’s time to bail out.
Brake Cancelling
For suits that run on the ground when boost dashing, there is a sliding motion at the end that is takes very long to recover to neutral, and typically unwanted.
To prevent this, Brake Cancels can be used. A Brake Cancel is typically a move that is used at the end of your boost dash that forces a different action from the slide, allowing you to recover your boost.
Every ground-running MS’s Brake Cancel is different. For example, Ez-8’s brake cancel is its BC form change that fully refills the boost gauge near instantly, while God Gundam can use its Main.
After a Brake Cancel, shielding or sidestepping is recommended for added safety.
Ground Step Cancelling
FAZZ, Dragon, and Quanta etc. have Jumping Melee attacks that end with them touching the ground. These can be referred as moves with “Landing Property”. By sidestepping once you have touched the ground, you can recover your boost more quickly, regardless of how close you were to the overheat state (when landing, you need a minimal 1% boost to sidestep).
This technique only applies to suits with Jumping Melees that end with them touching the ground. For example, Exia’s Jumping Melee, if done from a high altitude, will not force him to land as the downward motion of his jump stops after some distance. Some moves that seemingly touch the ground like AGE-1 Spallow’s 2B also does not work for this technique as it does not have Landing Property.
Ground Running Slide Evade
Earlier we covered techniques to remove the Recovery Time of the sliding animation at the end of ground running: now we’re telling you that sometimes you gotta let ‘er rip.
Obviously you dont do this all the time, but once in a while if you just let your ground running dash end with the sliding animation, you can catch the opponent off guard and dodge attacks meant to punish the end of your dash.
To put it simply, you need to use all available techniques to keep the opponent guessing on how you are planning on stopping to refill your boost, be it on the ground or in the air.
Shield to Remove Recovery Time
In MBON, you can shield yourself after the animation of any attack ends.
For some moves, the Recovery Time after an attack ends can be very short. So short, in fact, that you can shield yourself even faster than you could from a boost dash.
To abuse this, you can use one of these moves (in the overheat state, especially) and then guard quickly to keep yourself safe. You can rinse and repeat this equation, looping the sequence to alternate between using a safe move and shielding. Guarding gives you back a bit of boost and gives you one more lifeline, and even if you get hit after a successful guard the damage is prorated, so it’s always favorable to at least give it a shot.
For the most part, this is a last-ditch attempt at defense that requires a considerable amount of skill to pull off. But if you are able to apply it during the midst of battle, it just may allow you to create a stalemate situation where the enemy is unable to crack your shell. Stalling has various benefits- it could allow your teammate to come save you, or waste precious time on your opponent’s powered up state or burst.
The moves you want to use to shield after with generally fall in three categories:
- Short, quick animation
- Moves you a large distance
- Has super armor or a shooting barrier
Some moves fall into 2 or more of these categories, which makes them prime candidates.
Examples of category 1 would be funnel attacks, or Ez8’s BC form change.
Category 2 would be jump melees like Quanta’s 2B.
Category 3 would be Rx-78’s 2B.
Most MS’s can also use their 4/6B melee attacks for this purpose, as they typically provide a good curve and move you far. The idea is that, if you’re overheated near the enemy, you can 4/6B and if you hit that’s nice, but if you whiff the attack you can still guard after.
Hop Shield
Similar to the technique above. While rising upwards you are able to guard very quickly. If you have extremely little boost left while in the air, you can perform a short hop and guard quickly as a last ditch defensive resort.
Changing Landing Timing Via Transformation
This technique is only applicable to suits that have a transformation form that can be accessed by boost+sidestep.
Right before you land, you can transform into your MA form and travel a short distance to evade attacks meant to catch your landing. You need a minimum amount of boost to pull off this maneuver. If your transformable suit also has a command form change, you can use that as well.
It’s a good option for landing that you can mix in with your other landing techniques.
Airborne Stalling
A lot of the other techniques here cover changing your landing timing to avoid getting punished- this one is all about not landing at all!
In this game, most suits have poor vertical tracking, and melee suits find it very difficult to reach enemies very high up. The concept behind this technique is that you can retreat to the top of the map, and stay there using various moves to avoid the enemy. This of course puts your teammate in a 1v2 situation, so remember to observe the situation carefully and play it by ear.
How you do this technique is very similar to the “Shield to Remove Recovery Time” technique earlier- you’ll be spamming attacks followed by the shield, repeatedly.
For example, using Dragon Gundam, the sequence looks like this: 4B (whiff), shield (while charging csA), 2B, release the assist at the top of your 2B jump, shield. Rinse and repeat.
A simpler way to do this for a lot of suits is to spam the 5B melee sequence while in the air repeatedly.
Note that in MBON there is a maximum limit for time spent in overheat, so you will fall eventually, after a minute or so. Wait for a safe opening to land and take it.
Target Change to Reduce Boost Consumption
In MBON, dashing backwards away from the enemy consumes more boost than normal (escape penalty). This system is designed to ensure a slight advantage for offensive play over defensive.
The good news is you can disregard this by using the following (situational) technique.
Let’s say enemy A pops his burst and is coming at you real hot. If enemy B is in a position whereby you can run towards him without incurring the escape penalty, you can change targets and dash towards enemy B, thus saving you boost.
For example:
Enemy A (running from him incurs a boost consumption penalty)
↓
↓
↓
You>>>>>>>>>>>>Enemy B (running towards him does not incur a boost consumption penalty)
In this example, running towards Enemy B is more boost efficient, which may mean the difference between getting hit or staying alive.
In a similar vein, you can use movement skills like Banshee Norn’s barrel roll or Xenon-F’s dash to dash towards the other enemy to move quickly away from an enemy you’re trying to avoid.