PTE Terminology Guide

[Amaterachu1]

Welcome to the Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL terminology guide!

I'm about to post a few character guides on here so this is just a quick guide to some of the terminology of the game that I can think of. I will be linking back to this post throughout my planned guides so readers have a slightly better understanding of what I'm talking about but really you guys aren't gonna know until you play and dedicate time to this game.

But! Knowing the attitude some people have for this game, I'll do it so you don't have to and with 100% pleasure in doing so!

Basics

Normals = In PTE the "A" attacks on ground are called normal attacks. I'm pretty sure this is the same in Smash Bros. The attacks in air weren't ever mentioned in manual so they are called aerials as well.

• Also at times I may refer to attacks as tilts as well. Really the only non-PTE terminology I've been in the habit of using.
• Also there is no ftilt. No back air. As a result a forward air is sometimes referred to as side air due to no back air. Trying to Ftilt is just a jab attack. There are running attacks though.

Signature = Special. (Sometimes the game refers to them as specials and doesn't know what to settle on)

Knockout Attack = Smash Attack

PTE (Punch Time Explosion) = Final Smash, Sometimes referred to as Super Attack in game

Power Cubes = You collect these to get your PTE. A total of 40 must be collected to obtain a PTE. It's similar to Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

Tactic = Techs (In sticking with the knockoff idea, this naming comes from breakout being called a "tactic")

Scaling = There are three different hitstun/knockback forms. Form 2 will always "scale" into form 3 which is the highest form of knockback.

1. There is jab knockback, where the opponent doesn't move at all from getting hit. These attacks never "scale" to higher knockback and usually aren't a part of any true combos.
2. Low Knockback, where the opponent bounces back a little bit. Lasts slightly longer than Jab knockback and therefore easier to make combos with.
3. Tumbling, the final form of knockback and the only one that you can "breakout" from. If you were in tumbling state and landed, you will have to "get up" and do a floor recovery of sorts.
   • When I say that an attack starts to scale at [ABC]%, it means that is the percent where the target will begin to start tumbling.

Breakout = A breakout is when you use an attack or some kind of action (jump, throw, etc.) to get out of a tumbling state earlier than normal. I'm not sure if this is in Smash bros, unless the move like actually moves the character but those will usually put said character in free fall and not enitrely stop getting launched.

1. In PTE mostly attacks and jumping will stop knockback. This form of survivability makes the meta centered around who has the best PTEs and who can kill the earliest. Lots of range/power characters on top.
2. Just a little extra information on how capable everyone is of recovering, in my testing, every character can make the "Candied Island Jump Test" except K'nuckles, Mac & Bloo, and Father. That's like if 3/26 Melee characters couldn't make it from the left of the hyrule building to the center podium, if that's crazy at all Idk I dont play Melee I'm just trying to make a comparison here lol

Dash Jumping = Same idea? Your running momentum carries after jumping from a dash which can sometimes lead to a super jump glitch off ledge.

Dash Dancing = Same thing. Different execution though

Jump Cancel Up Attack ≠ Jump cancel Up Smash. The input is the same, but you up tilt instead. You can also flick the c stick down to do a down tilt.

Spiking = Meteor Smash

1. The reason I say meteor smash is because when you "spike" or "meteor smash" a character in this game you can always recover from it and I hear spiking is pretty much a guaranteed going down to doom thing. So like meteor smash in the sense that you can recover from it and spiking in the sense that there is a wide range that the character can be sent downward.
2. Also the problem is spiking is a glitch in this game. The only way your character can get launched downward is if the game detects that you are tumbling and have hit a ceiling. This "ceiling" can sometimes be recognized as another character's collision, or the ledge of a platform/stage. It's a strange occurence.

Terms with no Smash Bros. Alternatives
Static and Dynamic Attacks

• Shielding in this game works very differently. When you block a hitbox, you will be invulnerable to said hitbox until you move out of the hitbox and back in. These kind of moves are classified as static attacks.
  • Ex: Blossom Ice Breathing directly next to you, Ultimate Kevin's Melee Attacks
• If you blocked an attack but still got hit after unshielding it's not the same hitbox, and it is classified as a dynamic attack. Not to be confused with a multi-hit which are attacks that are supposed to hit multiple times, a dynamic attack is simply a single attack that properly checks if the attack is being blocked more frequently (this is the easy but not necessarily right way to explain it).
  • Ex: Monkey's Side Signature, Aku/Vilgax Laser or laser-property hazards

Dash Cancel

• Dashing in this game can be canceled with anything on your mind right now.

Platform Land Canceling (PLC)

• The concept is similar to NILs onto a platform. All characters can "grab" (which is just the item throwing animation) in air. Because of this seemingly random design choice where characters can throw invisible items, they can land faster on floating platforms, where as normally they'd have to wait to fall down to land.
• This in addition can also be done with air dodges, and more importantly with certain attacks. Air dodging requires precise timing in comparison to using grab.

Aerial Pivoting and PTE Dancing

• All characters can turnaround/pivot while airborne, even while tumbling. This makes reverse signature attacks easier to perform than in smash.
• For free movement PTEs, if you wiggle the analogue a little you reset the "hitbox" and attack again making for pretty much 2x the normal intended damage of a PTE.

Drafting

• After an up special is used the aerial speed of your character WILL change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. Most of the time this speed increases, forcing up signature to be your last jump (and yeah you can up signature > jump instead of jump > up signature but as I just explained it may not be a good idea)

(Side Signature) Vertical Influence

• Certain characters when using side signature have like a set vertical speed (they go straight forward). Sometimes this just isn't on every character and the result is your vertical velocity is influenced by how you were moving before the move. So falling = move will go downward, jumping = move will go upward.
• The reason side signature is in parenthesis is because this is strongly observed in side signatures of multiple characters but theoretically this may apply to some attacks as well. I feel like I've seen it before but that could just be a weird imagination from playing too much Punch Time Explosion.

Attack Turnaround (Sometimes called "C Flicking/Right Flicking")

• Alright so imagine you're Fox about to do your side smash right? You Walk up slowly to the right but flick your C stick to the left. The result is "TAYEH" Fox hopping to the right but then magically teleports to the second half of his move to the left which makes for one hell of a mind game. This can be done with every action in the game. BUT ONLY IF YOU INITIALLY WERE HEADING RIGHT. If you were walking to the left and flicked it right, you will just do a full on right attack. The exception to this is... Johnny Bravo's up signature for whatever reason.

Coasting

• So you're playing Melee again, and idk you wanna dash attack as Donkey Kong. You do it near the ledge. You go off stage because you just dash attacked, but you're not falling, you're still going forward and doing your dash attack. Now suddenly gravity remembered to apply to you because your dash attack ended. And that's coasting which can also be done with a rolling shield basically giving you a huge burst of momentum forward. So yeah ledges don't ever "stop" your character in place. That's just not realistic.

Magic Shifting

• After a signature attack is used, you can quickly shift your character slightly forward or backward with a diagonal up, then any downward movements. That's all I got for now on how to execute it consistently but it's pretty useful for repositioning yourself. Try to practice this with Buttercup fireball.

Z Switch (Clutch Mechanic from Slap City)

• If you press Z (Switch/Catch Up Co-op) at the same time as the A (attack) button while pressing up or down, you'll do a tilt instead of a knockout attack. PTE unfortunately has A smashing and there's no way to turn it off, so this is one of both ways you can do tilts faster instead.

Double Jump Air Dodge

• Pressing jump and any action except grab while in air at the same time will result in a jump and said action happening at the same time. With this, it is possible to jump and air dodge at the same time, extending the height of most characters' jumps, but only if you've initially jumped from the ground. Doing a double jump airdodge while trying to recover is pretty much just a short hop air dodge. This can be used to platform land cancel with an air dodge, so you aren't just thumbling around with a grab PLC and have invulnerability frames while maneuvering the stage.

"BS" Shield Break Angle

• The "BS" shield break angle is a phenomenon where while blocking, after a series of multiple attacks hit the shield, the next attack ignores all shielding properties and "breaks" through shield counting as a hit towards an opponent. The two most notable examples are Chowder and Bubbles' PTE used at a certain distance. This can also be used for normal or signature attacks as well, Aku's down signature being a good example.

Super Jump

• After walking off an edge, then walking back onto the stage with some sort of pivot option you can input a timed jump causing it to go much higher than intended. If consistently learned, it could allow for strengthened edge guarding for incoming opponents from above, or punish unwary campers. While not necessary, using a side air to pivot back on the said platform is the easiest way to perform this.

And bam, that's my short terminology guide. I'll be sure to add some more insights as I play more or actually begin to proof read the things I post. Have a nice day everyone.