There is a lot going on in Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero’s combat, and while there is a short tutorial at the beginning of the game to get you started, it doesn’t even go into half of the deeper mechanics that you’ll need to know if you plan on making it through Episode Mode, (especially if you plan on trying to go for the secret win conditions that lead to path branches). This advanced combat tips guide breaks down the complex fighting system and with tips to master it.
Click or tap a link below to jump to a section, or watch the video version of our tips in the video above.
- Distance and Movement
- What to Do When You Land a Hit
- What to Do When You Knock an Enemy Away
- Sparking Mode
- How to Defend
- How to Recover
- Transformations, Fusions, and Tags
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Distance and Movement
In Sparking! Zero, the distance between you and your opponent affects what options you have available to you. Note how while moving away from an opponent, eventually there are speed lines that show up and you'll start moving a little faster. That indicates that you've left close range.
Your dash-in move changes depending on whether you're close or far.
- If you're close, pressing the dash button will initiate an invulnerable quick step and an attack will initiate a standard rush combo.
- If you're at this long-range distance, pressing the dash button will execute a quick dash, and if you perform an attack out of that quick dash, you'll perform a unique short dash attack that can...
- Be charged to send opponents flying
- Combo’d into a rush combo
- Followed up with two special combo strings called dash rising and dash blow
Dragon Dash
If you’re very far away, your best option is probably to use a Dragon Dash by holding down the right trigger and pressing the dash button. Pressing it without holding a direction will automatically send you toward your target — while holding a direction lets you fly in that direction.
Out of a Dragon Dash, you can:
- Do a standard attack that will combo into a rush combo if it hits
- If they’re blocking, you can choose to either hold either up or down and the attack button and up to use either a high or low attack
- If they’re just using a standard block and they get hit by a high or low attack, you will break their guard and open them up for a free combo
- However, if they angle their block correctly, you will be the one who is opened up for a free combo
- If you want to spend an extra bar of your Ki meter, you could also press the dash button again during a Dragon Dash to almost instantly zip behind your opponent and use a dash attack that the opponent will have to react to when it happens and block, which is very hard to do.
One final method of approach is by using Vanishing Assaults by pressing Square and X (PS5) or X and A (Xbox) at the same time. The effect of this will differ depending on the spacing between you and your opponent.
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- If you’re close, you’ll teleport behind your opponent and knock them away, opening them up for a pursuit attack.
- If you’re at mid-range, you’ll close the distance by teleporting in front of them with a strike that can open them up for a rush combo.
Be aware, though, that it costs a full bar of meter to use.
There are many ways to approach combat in Sparking! Zero, each with its advantages and disadvantages, and keeping things unpredictable is one of the best ways to make sure your hits land.
What to Do When You Land a Hit
Okay, so you broke through your enemy’s guard and landed a rush attack, what now? Well, mashing square does work pretty well — you get a decent chunk of damage, and the auto combo ends with an attack that will send the opponent soaring away, giving you an opportunity for follow-ups. The issues are: you’re leaving damage on the table, you’re being predictable, which makes your offense easy to counter, and you’re not building as much as Ki as you could be.
Instead, work in what are known as Rush Chains to extend your combos. With Goku, for instance, you can do something like what's shown in the video below:
It’s worth noting that there are gaps between rush attacks (and most rush chains) that let the opponent hold guard while they’re getting hit in order to block a rush chain. If you notice that they’re doing this though, you can either:
- Charge the rush chain and break their guard
- Press R1/RB to quickly move to their side and continue the assault
That’s an example for Goku, but most characters can do something similar by finding a way to use one of each of their combo extenders in a combo. You can’t repeat the same rush chain twice in one combo, as it will make it drop, so take your favorite character into training mode and do some experimentation to find a way to link a gut punch, into jump kicks, into a sweep, into a lift strike, etc.
Long combos have a downside too, however. They give the opponent more opportunities to counter. Take a look at the "Explanation of Controls" list in the Pause menu where you'll find a couple of shorter, harder-to-counter combos that can be used after certain rush chains.
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What to Do When You Knock an Enemy Away
One of the things that sets Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero apart from other arena fighters is that when you knock an enemy soaring away at 100 miles per hour, the combo isn’t over. You have several different follow-ups that you can use with just the press of a button. So anytime you knock an enemy flying away with the final hit of a rush combo, or a charged smash attack, or you reverse an attack and hit with one of your own always press either:
- X/A to do a Dragon Homing and press Square/X to do a Dragon Smash
- OR press Triangle/Y to do a vanishing attack
After landing one of those two moves, you can also press Circle/B to use a lightning attack to end the combo by slamming them down into the ground.
Every character has a different number of pursuit attacks available to them. Most characters can only use two or three, though a few (like Ultra Instinct Goku) can do as many as four.
The lightning attack ender doesn’t count as a pursuit attack, so you could (as Ultra Instinct Goku) do three vanishing attacks, one Dragon Smash, and then a lightning attack to close it out.
An important thing to note is that Blasts — which are what Sparking! Zero calls your big Kamehameha-like special moves — are nearly guaranteed after landing a pursuit attack, so if you have the Ki available, you should almost always look to land one of your character's special moves after knocking them away with a pursuit attack. You can also choose not to finish the combo with a lightning attack and instead use the opportunity to charge up your Ki.
The last thing that's worth noting is that you usually will gain extra pursuit attacks while in Sparking Mode as well, so keep that in mind to optimize the amount of damage you’re dealing.
Sparking Mode
You can enter Sparking Mode by fully charging your Ki past its limit, but only if you have at least one point in your Skill Counter. While in Sparking Mode, your regular "mash square" rush combo can go on for much longer before the enemy gets knocked out of it.
Using Goku as an example again, his regular rush combo is five hits. While in Sparking Mode, it’s 20! He also gets some new rush chains while in Sparking Mode, meaning you can find new extensions for his combos as well.
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The big benefit of Sparking Mode is that you gain access to your character's ultimate blast by holding R2/RT and pressing Circle/B. Ideally, you don’t want to spend it right away, as once you do, you’re not only taken out of Sparking Mode, but you’ll also lose all of your Ki as well, regardless of whether the move lands or not.
Take your time and try to find a way to combo into your Ultimate Blast by landing and launching a rush combo, a vanishing attack, or a charged-up smash attack, (which are unblockable in Sparking Mode).
Don’t feel like you need to use your Ultimate Blast either. If Sparking Mode just runs out, you’ll still have full Ki and can very easily get back into Sparking Mode. So if the opportunity isn’t there, don’t sweat it and just try again.
How to Defend
Defense is just as important as offense in Sparking! Zero, and there are a ton of different defensive options, each with pros and cons.
Basic Guarding
Let’s start with regular guarding. You can guard by holding R1/RB to negate or at least mitigate virtually every type of damage.
Basic Guarding Limitations:
- Certain Blasts are unblockable
- You can still be thrown
- You can’t block attacks from the side or behind
- You can’t block high or low attacks without calling them out with a high or low guard
Otherwise, blocking is a safe and solid method of defense that lets you wait out an opponent’s offense and look for an opening.
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Perception Stance
Enter Perception by holding Circle/B, and while in this stance, you will counter any rush attacks outright — at the cost of your Ki. If you’re able to perfectly time perception to an enemy’s attack, you’ll do a Sonic Sway (shown below), which does some extra damage and drains the opponent’s Ki.
Note that you can do Perception out of a block, so if you’re blocking attacks and they just keep on swinging, you can switch to a Perception block and get them off of you without putting yourself at any risk.
Perception Con:
If an enemy notices that you’re just holding Perception or block though, all they have to do to get around it is use high-speed movement during a rush combo to zip to your side or your back and continue the assault. If they do this, you can counter it with your own high-speed movement by pressing R1/RB.
High-speed movement can be used to counter an opponent’s high-speed movement, a charged smash attack, a pursuit attack, and blasts, but requires fairly strict timing, making it a bit risky to use against exceptionally damaging moves. You’re usually better off just blocking, or using your dashes to try and get out of the way if you’re far enough.
Perception loses out to Ki Blasts, but it can be used to deflect certain blasts if you have two points in your skill counter. Note though that you cannot deflect Ultimate Blasts, and potentially other Blasts that are unblockable.
Revenge Counter
You have defensive options even when you’re being hit as well. If you press the Right Stick as you’re getting hit, you’ll use a Revenge Counter, which costs two stocks of your Skill Counter, but will essentially act as a combo breaker. However, if your opponent predicts that you’re going to use a Revenge Counter, they can use Perception and break your counter. A counter breaker, so to speak.
Super Counters
And finally, you have Super Counters, which you can do by pressing Up and Square/X. These are incredibly difficult to time, as they should be since you can use them even while you’re getting hit with no cost, and if they land, you knock the opponent away and leave them open to pursuit attacks.
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Mashing to find the timing doesn’t work — you’ll have to very specifically time the counter to get it to land.
How to Recover
One other very important thing you need to know about Sparking! Zero is how to recover. If you don’t, you’ll get hit by Blasts that you could have avoided and potentially even punished.
If you get knocked away, you can eventually press R1/RB to stop yourself and regain control. You NEED to do this, because if you don’t, you won’t regain control until you hit the ground, which gives your opponent time to either charge up or hit you with a blast that isn’t part of a true combo.
Similarly, if you’re splatted on the ground, press X/A and a direction to roll and get back up on your feet. You can also spring back into the action in certain circumstances by holding forward to use a Dragon Dash to instantly get back into your opponent’s face, or you can do the opposite and quickly retreat by holding back.
Transformations, Fusions, and Tags
If you’re playing as a character with a transformation, you’ll know when you have reached the requirements for a transformation by the appearance of a blue arrow icon next to the skill counter.
When you see it, hold up on the D-pad to bring up your potential transformations. Each transformation has a cost tied to it, which is how many points on your skill counter you’ll need to do that transformation.
Fusions are largely the same thing. Tab over to the fusions by pressing R1/RB, only you’ll need to have a teammate who you can fuse with. It’s important to note that you’ll need the correct versions of the characters to fuse. So only Vegeta (End) will fuse with Goku (End) to make either Vegito or Gogeta. You can’t fuse Saiyan Armor Vegeta with the end of DBZ Goku, for instance.
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You’ll know you’re able to tag when you see the blue arrow symbol flashing next to your skill counter. To tag out, hold down left on the d-pad to bring up the same sub-menu, and press the face button corresponding to the character you’d like to tag in. You can also use a tag as a pursuit attack by tagging in your teammate after knocking your foe away.
For more Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero tips and tricks, check out our other guides:
- Advanced Combat Tips
- How Beat Great Ape Vegeta
- Alternate Routes and What If Guide
Up Next: How to Do Sonic Sway
Top Guide Sections
- What If Scenarios
- How To Unlock Every Character
- How to Transform Into a Super Saiyan
- How to Get Super Shenron
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Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
Bandai Namco
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