DBFZ/Attack Attributes

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Attack Attributes

Each attack in the game has an attribute. Attributes are broken up in a few broad categories: strike, projectile, throw. These attributes interact with each other to trigger certain effects like invincibility and guard point.

Strike Attribute
Like most Arc System Works titles, strike attributes in this game are broken up into three groups: head, body and foot. As a rule of thumb, standing attacks are body, crouching attacks are foot and jumping/airborne attacks are head, but that is not always the case. Note that attack attribute is completely independent of how the attack must be blocked.
Strike attacks are the most common in the game and can only clash with each other. With a few notable strikes that look like they should be projectiles like Hit's Time Release and Jiren's Infinity Rush.
Projectile Attribute
Each projectile has a durability level. When two projectiles of equal durability clash, each projectile will lose one hit (so a 3 hit projectile will become a 2 hit projectile, and a 1 hit projectile disappears). Higher level projectiles will reduce one hit of lower level projectiles without losing any hits.
Projectiles cannot clash with strikes or throws.
There are various types of projectiles in the game, but they can be broken up into 3 general levels of durability.
Level 1 (Small Ki Blasts)
Most S Normal attacks fall into this category, but some specials do as well, such as Piccolo's Homing Energy Blast.
These can be Super Dashed through.
Level 2 (Beams)
Most special move projectiles fall into this category, like Goku's Kamehameha, Gohan's Masenko, and Tien's Dodon Ray.
Level 2 projectiles can not be Super Dashed through.
Level 3 (Super Beams)
Most super attack projectiles fall into this category, like Goku's Super Kamehameha, Vegeta's Big Bang Attack, and Trunks' Burning Attack.
These will go through projectiles of lower level without losing any hits.
Level 3 projectiles can not be Super Dashed through.
The frame data will list the durability level alongside its attribute. For example, a projectile with durability level 2 will show P2.
Throw Attribute
Throws cannot be blocked or Z Reflected, but they will not work against opponents who are in blockstun.
Only Dragon Rushes can clash against one another. When 2 throws hit on the same frame, they will both whiff.

Attribute Invincibility

File:DBFZ AttributeInvincible.png
A blue circle appears when you are attribute invincible to an attack
Some moves are invulnerable or automatically guard against certain attributes. For example, all 2H have head attribute invincibility starting from frame 4 through all the active frames, so it's the universal anti-air since most jumping attacks, air specials, etc., are considered Head attribute.
Other moves automatically guard against attacks with certain attributes, such as Super Dash and Trunks' Change the Future guarding against Level 1 Projectiles and Nappa's Too Bad guarding against strikes, or armor through against attacks with certain attributes, such as Android 16's 5H absorbing head and body strikes.
These properties will be listed in the frame data as they are discovered.

Attack Level

Each attack in the game does standardized amounts of hitstun, blockstun, etc. depending on their Attack Level. Note that some moves override these default values, which will be noted in the frame data. In addition to these exceptions, some attacks knock the enemy into the air, wallbounce, etc. As a general rule attacks with the same Attack Level share the same sound effects and graphical effects.

Lvl 0 Lvl 1 Lvl 2 Lvl 3 Lvl 4
Hitstun (Ground Hit) 14 16 18 20 22
Untechable (Air Hit) 14 16 18 20 22
Blockstun (Ground) 11 11 15 15 15
Blockstun (Air) 17 17 21 21 21
Hitstop 6 8 11 14 16

Counter Hit

A Counter Hit occurs when you hit an opponent out of the startup of their attack. On hit, both the attacker and defender suffer additional hitstop so generally, there is no additional benefit to counter hits compared to normal hits. However when counter hit by a projectile, this additional hitstop does not apply to the attacker - only the defender and the projectile suffer additional hitstop, giving the attacker a little bit of extra time to land a hit and start a combo.

Hitting Two Opponents With the Same Attack

Yamcha and Krillin getting hit by Cell's 5M

One attack can hit multiple targets assuming they are within range. For example one attack can hit BOTH the opponent and an assist.

Normally, when an attack touches the opponent, the remaining active frames are converted into recovery frames. However, if there is a second hittable character, then the remaining active frames can still hit him!

This leads to visually strange situations like Cell's 2M (the slide) hitting Nappa's Saibaman, then a moment later, Nappa gets hit by the remaining active frames of the slide.

This also applies to projectiles like Goku's Kamehameha and Piccolo's Homing Energy Blast, but the later case is more difficult to take advantage of since the projectile will shatter the instant it touches an opponent.

Cinematic Attacks

A lot of moves will change properties when they hit at certain part of the move. These changes can only be triggered by the current point character, upon hitting the opponent's point character, and must either start or be done inside a combo.

Enabling or disabling specific followups
Example: j.L, on air-to-air hit it will enable j.LL. Majin Buu's Dive Bomb will only trigger its ground splash part of the move if the dive part whiffs.
Automatically perform extra attacks, these attacks are still cancellable.
Example: Cell's Perfect Attack, if the opponent is hit by the second hit, he will do a third hit.
Cinematic sequences
Either automatically do extra attacks, or completely change how much damage the move does the instance it lands.
During a cinematic, both players become invincible to all attacks, cannot use Z Assist, and cannot cancel the animation until after it's finished.
Example: Frieza's 5LLL, on cinematic hit it does 1000 damage, but upon hitting Z Assist it will only do 400.

All 3 of these aren't mutually exclusive, going back to Cell's Perfect Attack, the M version on hit will automatically do the second hit, if that hit lands he will do the third hit, and finally if that lands it can be a cinematic one.


The name comes from the "Smash!" prompt that appears on hit with 5LLL, 5H, 2H, j.H and j.2H.

Cinematic versions of moves usually have higher damage, does more hitstun and have better properties, but they often only triggers on the first time that move lands in the combo, with some moves having stricter trigger conditions like only triggering at close range, having to be cancelled into from another move, etc. However, even when cinematic does play out, the move's property can still be different! The Smash system is responsible for this.

There are 2 types of Smash:

Type U: These usually knock the opponent up into the air or sideways into a wall bounce.

Type U+: These are "launchers," a subset of type U. They have an added property of enabling some type D to get their Smash within the same combo. This property only applies to the first U Smash of the combo.

Type D: These usually send the opponent down and are accompanied with sliding knockdowns.

Type D+: Subset of type D that requires an U+ Smash used previously in the combo to trigger its Smash property. More on this will be described below.

On top of different types, each Smash version also have limited number of times they can trigger per combo:

1. Only triggers if no Smash of the same type has been used.

2. Triggers even if the same type has been used, but only once.

3. Always triggers.

Here are some run downs on typical Smash attacks:

  • 5LLL is type U3+. As noted above, its launching property only applies if it's the first U Smash of the combo, subsequent uses do not activate D+ Smash.
  • 5H and some j.2H are type U1.
  • 2H and most j.2H are type U1+.
  • Most j.H are type D1+.
  • Special Moves can vary from all types of Smash. They can even have both types and will use the corresponding one depending on which Smash has already been used.
  • Vanish is type U2. Despite this, Vanish' Smash can be taken away through other methods.
  • Dragon Rush is type U+ if landed raw, but "consumes" type UDV if performed mid-combo. This means it'll block further usage of U1 Smash, D1 Smash and the U2 Smash of Vanish, but not for other type 2 and 3.
  • Guard Cancel doesn't trigger cinematic but consumes UDV Smash.
  • Sparking Blast does not consume Smash.
  • Super and Meteor Attacks vary from different Smash types, but they all consume UDV Smash.

More information on this is described in the Combo System section, and on individual character pages.

Type D+ Smash

The in-depth conditions to get Smash property for type D+ moves are as follows:

  • The opponent must be hit with a type U+ Smash that still has its "launching" property.
  • Afterward, you're not allowed to re-enter neutral state on the ground. Meaning:
  • If you're grounded, you must cancel the Smash move's recovery frames with another action, such as Super Dash or other special moves. No jumping unless you can cancel into it, no grounded Sparking! activation since you're forced to land afterward.
  • If you're airborne, you mustn't land. Though using special moves that teleport you back to the ground are still OK, so as long as their recovery frames are cancelled into something else. Similarly, landing recovery frames from aerial attacks can also be cancelled to maintain D+ Smash.


Unlike the typical D+ j.H with sliding knockdown, every character also has a "Dynamic" version of j.H that still consumes D Smash while being inferior to Smash in almost every way. This version can be triggered by successfully landing a 5LLL, in a combo that hasn't used U Smash, then mash L to perform a Super Dash, followed by j.L, j.LL and j.LLL. Manually inputting Super Dash (H+S) won't work, manual j.M and j.H won't work, too much delay or attempting to do any other move and it won't work. Though calling Z Assists is fine as long as L is still being mashed.

The big thing about Dynamic j.LLL is that it's a reliable way to get a Dragon Ball and is the only way to summon Shenron. Dynamic j.LLL also typically causes a soft knockdown mid-screen and a decently big corner bounce. The wall bounce can be put to use outside of the corner by tagging another character in right after j.LLL, which pulls the "wall" back, causing a wall bounce instead of a soft knockdown. The tagged in character can then continue the combo, this means the player can guarantee a Dragon Ball without sacrificing too much damage.

Hit Effects

Wall and Ground Bounce

Certain moves have rather long untechable time, and will have bonus properties and a second untechable time if the opponent touches a surface before getting hit again, this second untech time is not affected by hitstun decay. One type causes the opponent to "bounce" back at you allowing for combo extension, the other type will cause some form of knockdown, allowing for okizeme.

Generally, wall bounce only comes from type U Smash moves, with the prime examples being 5H and Vanish, while ground bounce can come from all source of attacks. Bounce effects can also be combined with knockdown effects, meaning a move can cause both a ground bounce and a sliding knockdown.

For wall bounce, how much the opponent bounces back depends on the moves. Some moves will cause a big bounce that sends the opponent back to midscreen, while some will keep them at the edge of the screen, meaning they allow a wide variety of followups in the corner, but almost nothing without the help of assists when used midscreen, vice versa for the big bounce.

Another variation of wall bounce is corner bounce, which "only" causes a wall bounce in the corner. Technically these moves do cause wall bounce everywhere on screen, but the knockback isn't strong enough for the opponent to reach the current wall. Like stated in the Dynamic! j.H section, one can "cheat the system" by tagging a teammate in to "pull" the wall back, allowing for the wall bounce to trigger, but it's generally not possible to do this with special moves.


There are a variety of knockdowns:

  • Soft knockdown: The opponent can ground-tech as soon as they touch the ground. This is the default "knockdown" state for all attacks, though usually when a move is stated to "cause a soft knockdown" means it has long hitstun that forces the opponent to land on the ground.
  • Sliding knockdown: Although they won't always visibly "slide", upon making ground contact, the second untechable time keeps them on the ground and they will be vulnerable to Off The Ground attacks. Afterward, they will be able to ground-tech, but cannot combine the delay wakeup tech with any other tech options like they can do on a soft knockdown. This type usually comes from type D Smash moves and Super Attacks.
  • Hard knockdown: The opponent isn't vulnerable to OTG moves during the second untech-time, but cannot ground-tech and is forced to stand up as soon as the untech-time ends. This type only comes from Meteor Attacks.

Since they're so often associated with D Smash, it's easy to think that each combo only have one sliding knockdown, before it is "consumed." But there are no limit to how many "sliding knockdowns" one can land in a single combo.

Off The Ground (OTG)

While rare, some moves can hit the opponent during their sliding knockdown state.

All Super and Meteor Attacks can hit OTG. This makes it very easy to add extra damage at the end of combos, so as long as you have Ki gauges to spend.

Vegeta's "I have no use for Saiyans that can't move" is currently the only special move that can do this.

Dragon Ball FighterZe
Click [*] for character's frame data
System Explanations

HUDControlsFrame Data & System DataPatch Notes

Movement/CancelingOffenseDefenseDamage/ComboAttack AttributesKi/Assist/Sparking/Dragon BallsMisc