So, punching folks in the face is good and all, but it's important to know how to defend yourself when the going gets tough too. This chapter will teach you to check yourself before you wreck yourself. First off, let's assume you've been naughty and tried to go on without us, and you're now lying a broken, bleeding mass on the floor. You'd better start getting back up.
Recovery
Street Fighter gives two options for recovery - stand up fast, or don't stand up fast. Blazblue's options are more varied.
Firstly, you can recover in the air. Pressing A B or C and optionally a direction will allow you to escape, assuming your opponent doesn't or can't continue their combo. 4 sends you backwards in the air, 6 sends you forwards, no input means you leap up slightly before you come down. Use to escape blue combos.
Secondly, some moves allow you to quick-rise the moment you hit the ground if you hit A B or C. Like in Street Fighter, these recoveries are invincible.
Sometimes, though, you'll just find yourself prone on the floor. It's not safe to stay down like in SF - your opponent can combo you off the ground and beat you senseless some more, so it's key to get up in the right way.
Your options are rolling forward or backward (4/6 plus a button) which moves you forward/back but is punishable, a neutral roll (A/B/C, no direction) which is invulnerable and puts you back where you fell and a quick-wake-up (2/Down plus a button) which is the fastest wakeup but is also punishable.
Blocking
SF fans will know exactly what I'm about to say - hold 4 [back] to block while being attacked. Hold 1 [down-back] to block low.
Like in Street Fighter, attacks can be one of three types - high, mid, and low. High and mid attacks can be blocked while standing, but lows will hit. While crouch blocking lows will be blocked and highs can whiff, but mids [aka overheads] will hit. Also, jumping attacks will hit crouchers.
Instant Blocking
Tired of waiting for a few frames to react after blocking an attack? Want your attack to come out just a little bit faster so you can punish a move you otherwise couldn't?
Good news! Blazblue comes with a unique system called Instant Blocking that lets you do just that!
If you block just before an attack hits you, your character will momentarily flash white. This shows you've managed to Instant Block, and means you'll recover from blockstun a few frames sooner than normal. Used effectively, Instant Block cuts down your opponent's attack options and forces them to play much safer on their offense.
Barrier Blocking
Still not quite happy with your defense? Wish you could make a prayer and have your opponent knocked back a little from their attacks?
GOOD NEWS! Blazblue's Barrier Blocking is the answer to your prayers!
To Barrier Block, hold A and B while blocking. Do it right, and a green barrier should appear in front of your character. If your opponent attacks you while doing this, they will be knocked back slightly, making it harder for them to perform pressure.
However, Barrier Block comes at a cost. The Barrier Gauge [see the HUD in Step 1] depletes while you hold A and B. If it ever empties, not only will you be unable to Barrier Block but you'll be put in a Danger State, meaning every attack that hits you will do 50% more damage than usual. Obviously this is really really really bad, so avoid it.
The Barrier Gauge refills with time, as long as you don't use it to block.
Guard Primers
Something that may distress Street Fighter players when they play Blazblue is the idea that guarding isn't invincible. Blocks can be broken in this game. How do you know how close you are to guard break? Look at your Guard Primers.
The Guard Primers are the yellow marks next to the timer [look at the HUD if you've forgotten]. Every character starts with a different amount - for example, Hazama has 4 and Tager has 10. The more you have, the harder it is for an opponent to guard break you.
Every character has certain moves that remove a guard primer from their opponent if blocked. These are typically moves that kill off the attacker's pressure, so guard break is something that you have to work for.
If a character is ever reduced to 0 guard primers, their guard is broken. If they're standing, they'll stand in place vulnerable for a few seconds - if they're in the air, they'll be slammed into the wall behind them and fall, easily comboed. They then regain their primers. Primers slowly recover with time, as long as you don't lose any more while they're recovering.
If you're down to one primer, you can prevent being guard broken using Barrier Block, but this will take off large amounts of your Barrier Gauge. If that depletes, then you end up both guard broken AND in the Danger State, which is basically a recipe for a lost round. Avoid this at all costs.
Counter Assault
Sometimes you just don't want to take the risk of letting your opponent come close. This is when the Counter Assault comes into play - press 6A+B just after you've blocked an attack, and you'll knock your opponent away and return the fight to a neutral state.
Counter Assaults cost 50 points of your distortion gauge.
Bursts
When all else fails, when you're on the brink of death, when you look absolutely screwed, bursts are your get-out-of-jail free card. There are two kinds - green and gold. Both are performed by pressing A, B, C and D at the same time.
Green bursts can be performed while blocking or even while being hit. They knock the opponent away forcefully, returning the situation to neutral. They can, however, be baited, so they are not invincible.
As an added penalty, if you use a green burst, your guard primers are halved for the remainder of the round, leaving you more prone to guard breaks. Green bursts are therefore best kept for last-ditch escapes when you're about to die.
Gold bursts are performed at neutral state - not attacking or blocking. If they hit, the opponent is knocked into the air, and can easily be comboed on the way down.
Your bursts are extremely limited. At most, you have 2 to use in an entire match, and you can only use the second if you lose a round. [So in Round 1, you can use 1 burst. If you lose, you can burst twice in Round 2, assuming you haven't used the first one already.] Don't waste them, and they might just be enough to pull your ass out of the fire.
In terms of the gameplay mechanics, that's just about it for Blazblue. Assuming you've managed to take all of that in, there's only one important question to ask - which character are you supposed to play as? The final chapter will cover the various characters of Blazblue, and hopefully give a good idea as to who would suit your playing style.
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