How do people DI in the middle of combat?

[Shadoninja]

I get the basics of DI, but top tier players DI smash attacks that I don't understand. Let me give you a situation to clear up my confusion. People will be get hit by an forward smash while they are in the air. They will also be on their first jump. Holding up in any way during this time would cause them to waste their second jump, but somehow they DI the forward smash and survive. How do they do that without wasting their jump?

 

[tauKhan]

When you get hit, there's hitlag during which your character is 'freezed' and cannot do actions. The amount of hitlag also depends on damage, so on high damage moves like smash attacks there's a reasonable amount of hitlag during which you can input trajectory di.

Also if you know you are about to get hit, you're usually in an unactionable state so that you couldn't waste your jump anyway, and in any case you could just do an attack to prevent you from jumping.

 

[steakhouse]

When you get hit, there's hitlag during which your character is 'freezed' and cannot do actions. The amount of hitlag also depends on damage, so on high damage moves like smash attacks there's a reasonable amount of hitlag during which you can input trajectory di.

isn't that hitstun, not lag ? I thought hitlag was what causes shyguy shenanigans, ie your char freezes for a second when he hits something

 

[tauKhan]

Hitlag also occurs when you hit shyguys, it happens when you hit any hurtbox. Hitstun is the state AFTER hitlag, during which you can't do anything either. The amount of hitstun is determined by knockback, not damage.

Trajectory di and ASDI are read on the first frame after hitlag, while you can SDI only during hitlag.

 

[Cool]

If you're able to avoid an attack, I can't see why you would try and DI it. They DI when they cannot avoid an attack.

 

[Stride]

Don't input the DI while you can act; input it during lag or wait until the move actually hits you.

When a move connects with a target, there is a period of "hitlag", where the attacker and the target are frozen for a few frames (proportional to the attack's damage) before the attacker continues with their animation and the target gets sent flying in histun. Certain moves don't produce hitlag for the attacker, but they are rare. Whichever direction the target holds on the last frame of hitlag will be the direction they DI in. Since the only thing you can do during hitlag is SDI, except on the last frame where the only thing you can do is DI/ASDI, there's no risk of your DI input making you jump if you DI during hitlag.

You can see the hitlag really easily on high damage moves like Ganon's dair.

 

[Xyzz]

The amount of people I see writing about "waiting till the move hits, then input DI" is significantly lower than the amount of SDI inputs I see during matches

The usual solution tends to be more related to that one can input DI during his own moves as well. I wouldn't assume that you are doing many empty jumps into your opponent; you're probably going to be in the start up of your aerial anyways. Even if doesn't have active hitboxes yet (because you're going for a low one), you still can't do a second jump anymore. So you can just start holding wherever you want to DI to as soon as you realize that you might end up being hit out of your attack.

 

[Deleted member]

I think its more SDI and DI combined into one, like SDI'ing the smash attack, then just continuing to hold the stick in the same direction.

 

[Shadoninja]

Awesome responses guys. Thanks

 

[Deleted member]

Awesome responses guys. Thanks

Smashboards *bends down with right arm under their body* at your service.