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Fundamental Mechanics

This section will explain important, fundamental game mechanics that all tanks must know.

📄️ Blocking

All tanks possess the ability to actively block. Our main block skill is called Axe Block. While holding block, our character will shield themself with their axe and block incoming hits from the front. This line on our weapon shows how much damage our block can absorb before we start taking damage. Blocked hits have their final damage value reduced by the absorption value on our weapon. This value increases at every new weapon tier. This damage absorption is also applied to our party members closely behind us while blocking. Blocking a hit also grants us the ability to cast Axe Counter for 3 seconds. Some boss attacks are unblockable. Unblockable hits are often telegraphed with red floor markings and/or a red flash over the boss’s eyes.

📄️ Block Canceling

Block Canceling is the act of quickly tapping block to overwrite the ending animation of a skill, effectively “canceling” the skill early. Skills like Flatten have an ending animation that lasts a long time after its damage has already been dealt. By blocking and unblocking as soon as the damage is dealt, this end animation can be effectively skipped, greatly speeding up our gameplay. Block canceling is an integral part of playing Zank and can be performed after every skill except when chaining.

📄️ Chaining

Chaining is another way to cancel skills early. The ability to chain is built into specific skills. Every skill that can chain into other skills has a chain window between when the damage of the skill lands and the end of the skill’s animation. To chain skills, simply use a compatible skill during the previous skill’s chain window. Some skills are starters—Punishing Strike, Thunder Strike—meaning they chain into other skills, while others are finishers—Flatten, Lethal Strike—which chain from other skills. A few skills can do both—Vampiric Blow, Raze. When a skill is chained into, its cast animation sped up significantly. When a skill is chained from, its ending cast animation is dramatically cut short by the next skill.