[07 May] updated Knockdowns section according to the upcoming patch.
[25 Mar] added Knockdowns section.
[02 Mar] updated Dragon Rush section.
[01 Mar] updated super jump section.
[14 Feb] updated jump cancel, Sparking Blast and Vanish sections.
[10 Feb] added Ki charging section; updated Dragon Rush, Vanish, quick tagging, guard cancel, assists, DHC and Sparking Blast section.
[09 Feb] updated quick tagging, guard cancel, DHC and Sparking Blast sections with more accurate infos about cooldowns.
[06 Feb] added sections for super/short super jump, assists/changing team order, quick tagging and guard cancel; updated Dragon Rush section.
[05 Feb] updated Sparking Blast section.

In this guide I will use the standard numpad notation used in Japanese "anime" fighters:

7 8 9
4 5 6
1 2 3
=
↖ ↑ ↗
←N→ (facing right)
↙ ↓ ↘

L = light attack
M = medium attack
H = heavy attack
S = special/unique attack
A (A1/A2) = assist (1/2)

Examples:
236L = quarter circle forward + light attack
214H = quarter circle back + heavy attack
5H = neutral heavy attack (do not hold any directions on dpad)
6H+S = forward + heavy attack + special attack

Unlike most other fighting games, DBFZ characters all have the same total amount of health which is set to 10,000. Picking Nappa or 16 won't make you able to withstand the opponent's combos better (although it might have other benefits).

Also combos don't scale with how much health the enemy has left (also called "guts" scaling): the same combo will do the same exact damage regardless if the opponent is at full health or at 20% health. You don't have to worry that your 5k combo might not kill them if they're half health!

IAD, or instant air dash, is one of the core mechanics of "anime" fighting games. This technique allows you to get an air dash as close to the ground as possible and follow with any jumping attack, giving you a very fast and hard to react overhead or crossup attack.

The classic command to perform an IAD is:
956 or up-forward, neutral, forward
(returning the pad/stick to neutral position before inputting up-forward is important)

The input is much easier to perform than in other anime fighters, but if you're having issues DBFZ offers an alternative way to perform it, which is:
jump, 6H+S or jump, forward+Super Dash
Pressing forward+SD in the air will indeed give you an air dash instead of a Super Dash. Be aware of this as if you're holding forward while doing SD you might end up doing air dashes by accident!

Jump canceling is the ability to cancel normal attacks into jumps to extend combos or pressure. It is performed by tapping (not holding) 9 or up-forward after the normal hit the opponent.

Jump canceling also works if you hit someone in the air. If you use both in the same combo it is called double jump canceling.

Here's a typical combo working for almost every character that involves jump canceling:

2M5M > jc > j.LM > jc > j.LLL

2M or sweep/slide will always put the opponent into an airborne state, while 5M is a universal jump cancelable normal that allows you to continue your combo.

Unlike Guilty Gear or BlazBlue, in DBFZ you cannot cancel grounded normals into jumps or air dashes on block, only on hit, which means you'll usually need to use other tools like assists to prevent your opponent from just smashing you out of the air. However you can jump cancel from air normals even on block (e.g. j.M>jc>j.M) as long as you didn't already use a jump cancel or air dash. Another exception to this is given by Sparling Blast; report to the SB section for more info.

P.S. Using a jump cancel won't allow you to use an air dash until you touch the ground and vice versa. Take this into account when building your combo.

A super jump is performed by quickly tapping down and then jump in any direction (29 for forward jump, 28 for neutral jump and 27 for back jump). This jump will launch you considerably higher in the air compared to a regular jump.

It is possible to super jump cancel off grounded normals to extend combos that normally wouldn't work. To do that simply tap 29 instead of just after that the grounded normal connects.

DBFZ also allows you to control the momentum of the super jump to control how fast you will reach the ground. If you hold down after a super jump your character will fall down very fast, while if you hold up the character will float in the air and go down slower.

Super Dash is a homing dash performed by pressing H+S (heavy attack + special attack) or the dedicated button on your controller. It will chase down the opponent regardless of their position on the screen; if the opponent hits you can continue with a combo, while if they block you will be able to recover in time to block their moves.

SD will go through ki blasts, projectiles and assist bodies; it will NOT go through beams (like Kamehamehas), physical hits or assists with a physical hitbox (like Nappa's or Frieza's) and supers.

As an air move, SD will also be beaten clean by the universal anti-air (2H) as long as you don't press it too late since it's invincible to airborne moves.

You cannot use SD more than once while in the air before touching the ground, but you can use the quick tag SD (6A) to continue the combo off an air launcher.

Dragon Rush is performed by pressing L+M (light attack + medium attack) or the dedicated button on your controller. Your character will flash with a green aura then dash towards the opponent; if it connects, the opponent will be launched and you can continue your combo in the air. If a launcher was already used in the current combo then DR will instead smash the opponent to the ground with a soft (techable) knockdown. The startup this ability is pretty long (24 frames) but its amazing usefulness makes up for it.

DR is the equivalent of throws in other fighting games, i.e. it will catch any opponent that is simply blocking. Unlike regular throws though you can actually use Dragon Rush in combos as if it was a normal hitting move. This property is also shared by command grabs in the game (e.g. Android 16's 236L or Android 21's 236S). Beware though, if a DR connects during an assist you will not get the launcher but a soft knockdown ender.

If you press A1 or A2 during Dragon Rush you will perform a snapback: the current opponent character will be sent off the screen and the character corresponding to the 1st or 2nd slot will come in his place and all of his remaining blue health will instantly be removed. He will also not be able to use assists for 8 seconds. If the opponent has only one character left, dragon rush will instead launch them spinning horizontally and allow you to extend combos that way.
Snapbacks are therefore useful if you want to finish a character that the opponent tagged out because it was low health and prevent it from recovering any health.

DR usually hits 21 times before launching the opponent. However if you mash or hold any buttons after that Dragon Rush connects it will actually do up to 31 hits, extending its total damage. You can still snapback after this; just make sure to hit A1/A2 as soon as you reach 30 hits in your combo.

You can "tech" or negate DR by pressing any button during its startup. In this case the two characters will exchange hits for a brief moment then return to neutral without taking any damage on both sides. Another way to avoid it is to either jump/use moves that put you into an airborne state (if they're using grounded DR) or touch the ground (if they're using air DR), as the move only connects if the opponent is on the same level as you.

Any move used after Dragon Rush launch will be heavily scaled (around 30% or less), so take it into account if you want to cancel your DR combo into supers.

Vanish attack, executed by pressing M+H () or the dedicated Vanish button, will teleport your character immediately behind the opponent and hit them with a horizontal kick that, if connects, will launch the opponent horizontally. A grounded Vanish is usually safe or even positive on block, but if Vanish connects a little higher up in the air it becomes punishable. The move costs one meter.

Using Vanish "raw" outside combos will not give you any follow-up and just kick the opponent to the opposite side of the screen.

Using it in combos however will give you a wall bounce that allows you to continue the combo with multiple options:
- if the distance or height allows you to do so, you can continue the combo by using normals or specials;
- you can use Dragon Rush to launch the opponent again or do a snapback to call another opponent in;
- you can tag in another character by pressing 6A (forward + assist) and let them replace your current character to continue the combo and stay on the screen.

Vanish attack gains additional properties while in Sparking Blast mode. Please refer to the SB section.

Like in every DBZ game out there, there is a way to charge your ki in DBFZ too. To do it press L+S (light attack + special attack) and your character will enter the classic animation everyone knows very well and start filling your meter below. The first second of the animation will refill half of a bar and the more you hold it, the more the bars will fill quickly.

Seems pretty cool, right? Well, there's a big issue with it. The first second of the animation is actually unskippable: not only you can't cancel it into anything (including Vanish or SD), but you can't call assists either. If any opponent sees you doing it they can just hit you with a Super Dash even with bad reaction time and from full screen. So if you happen to enter the animation you are almost guaranteed to be punished. Luckily you can't cancel into Ki charge either, so you shouldn't worry about accidentally starting to charge your ki mid combo - although if you have sausage fingers I might suggest to rearrange your button layout so that there's no chance Ki Charge will ever come out.

Moreover, there are already way more efficient ways in the game to fill your Ki meter like:

• attacking (pretty much any character has meter positive BnB combos, i.e. combos that give you at least one meter you can spend at the end to finish with a super)
  
• blocking
  
• deflecting
  
• simply moving towards the opponent (walking, dashing or running)

Just beware that your meter won't fill during assists or supers.

For all of these reasons, I suggest to use the Ki Charge ability only as a taunt.

Every character in this game can perform an overhead attack by pressing 6M (forward + medium attack). The character will do a slow jump in the air and then hit the opponent if they're crouching. During the overhead animation the character will escape low attacks and grabs/Dragon Rushes.

You can only cancel universal overhead into assists. On hit the overhead will still give you frame advantage and allow you to beat the opponent if they press any buttons (only a couple characters get combos off overheads in very specific situations); on block it will be reset to neutral and you can either block or press more buttons if yours are faster than the opponent's.

The universal overhead gains new properties in Sparking Blast mode; see the corresponding section.

Deflect is a universal defensive tool specific to DBFZ. It is performed by pressing 4S or back + special attack.

If well timed, reflect will allow you to negate every single attack in this game, including:

• normal attacks
  
• special attacks
  
• projectiles
  
• beams
  
• supers

Beware: deflect will NOT work against Dragon Rush or command grabs.

Using deflect against normal or special attacks will push the opponent far away from you; using it against single projectiles will swat them off the screen; using it against beams or multi hitting supers will deflect the entire thing as long as the first input connects. In all cases you will receive no damage and you will be able to cancel the successful deflect into any move.

Deflect has an immediate startup and lasts for a reasonable amount of time, but it has a long recovery, so if you do it too early you can end up getting punished. You also won't be able to use it while already stuck in a blockstring to push the opponent away (like pushblock in Marvel games), only if there's a gap in their strings.

Clashing happens when the active hitboxes of the moves used by both characters in play "touch" or collide with each other without touching the opponent's hurtbox (the body). The two hits will nullify each other with a specific white effect coming out from it.

After a clash, both players will be able to cancel the clashed move into any other move, including jumping.

You can quickly tag in one of your assist characters to replace the character currently on screen by pressing 6A1/A2 (forward + assist). The other character will fly in with a Super Dash and you will now control it. If the SD connects you will be able to continue the combo normally.

Quick tagging can only be performed while in neutral or cancelled off normal attacks (regardless if they hit or are blocked). You cannot tag in during special attacks or supers or while you're in hitstun. If you press 6A while blocking and you have at least one meter, a guard cancel will be performed instead; see the following section about this.

Tagging is usually unsafe as it won't continue combos and the opponent will therefore be able to punish it. Unlike raw tagging though (performed by holding A1/A2) there are a few instances though where quick tagging always connects and is therefore completely safe:

• after a horizontal or vertical smash launcher you can tag in and continue the combo with another character (beware: if you already used jump cancel or air dash once in the combo the incoming character won't be able to jump cancel);
  
• if you Vanish during combos you will also be able to continue the combo with a tag;
  
• if your character's light autocombo has a multi-hitting 3rd hit (e.g. Hit or Yamcha), cancelling into tag will actually make the SD connect.

The tag SD will actually work even if you already used your current character's SD during a combo, thereby allowing you to have multiple Super Dashes in the same combo.

Tagging, whether raw or quick, will make the character you switched out unavailable for a minimum of 11 seconds (10 seconds of charging + 1 or more seconds of delay before the charge starts). This cooldown is lowered during Sparkling Blast.

Guard cancel is a defensive technique in DBFZ. Press 6A1/A2 (forward + assist) while blocking to call another character who will enter the screen by performing a Super Dash. This technique costs one meter and requires at least one other teammate alive. Unlike quick/raw tagging there is no way here to combo off the SD from the incoming character.

Beware that the incoming Super Dash will only hit if the opponent's move has a high enough recovery. If it's a move with a fast recovery (e.g. light buttons) they will be able to block it and even punish it.

If there's only one character left alive in your team, guard cancel will instead make your character teleport behind your opponent and hit him with an unblockable attack that launches them in the same way regular guard cancel does.

As with tagging, you won't be able to use the character you switched out with guard cancel for at least 11 seconds (10 seconds of refilling + 1 or plus seconds of delay). This cooldown is lowered during Sparkling Blast.

Assists are called by tapping either A1 or A2 on your controller as long as there is at least one other teammate alive (holding the button will instead make them perform a raw tag). The called teammate will come in, do a specific move and then leave the screen, after which it will not be available for switching for a period of time.

The regular minimum assist cooldown is of 6 seconds: 1 second between the character teleportation and the moment the assist bar starts to refill and 5 seconds for the bar to refill completely. However the bar won't start to refill as long as your character is in the middle of a combo or of a blockstring without gaps. While in Sparking Blast, the delay between teleportation and bar refill is removed and your assists will also recover during hit or blockstun.

If you wish to change the order of your characters after you already chose a team you can still do it by holding the left trigger buttons of your controller at the versus screen (L1/LB to switch point with assist 1 and L2/LT to switch point with assist 2). A sound cue will play meaning that the order change succeeded. Note that the buttons are the same regardless of the button layout you choose.

Like Marvel vs Capcom titles, DBFZ allow you to cancel a super into the super of any of your assist characters. This is traditionally called a DHC (or Delayed Hyper Combo).

To execute it just press A1 or A2 (assist) during the animation of the super of your current character and the other character will enter the screen and perform their default level 1 super (if they have more than one). The last character that performed his/her super will replace the character that first started it on screen.

If you want to perform the default level 3 super instead, press 4A1/4A2 or back + assist during the super animation. You can only cancel level 1 supers into level 3 supers, not the other way around.

DBFZ offers also a way to perform an assist super without canceling from another character super. To do this, press 41236A (half circle forward + assist) while cancelling from another normal or special to call them in for their lvl 1 and 63214A (half circle back + assist) to call them in for their lvl 3. You cannot do this raw, but the window is pretty large if you cancel off a move that knocks down.

DHCing will make your point character (the one who started the combo) be unavailable for at least 4 seconds, i.e. 1 or more seconds of delay + 3 seconds of bar refilling. This cooldown is lower in Sparking Blast.

Sparking Blast is a unique defensive/offensive ability that gives you a chance to do great comebacks. It is performed by pressing all the buttons (L+M+H+S) at the same time. It can be performed only once per match and per player (unless they call Shenron and ask him to give them another one). When activated, a huge blast of energy will surround the character while repelling any opponent around him and after that the character will have red sparks all around his body.

Unlike Burst in Guilty Gear, SB cannot be performed while being in hit- or blockstun, i.e. there should be a gap in the opponent's offense that allows you to press buttons. However the blast can still be blocked and punished by the opponent.

There are 3 levels of Sparking Blast: level 1 or the weakest will happen if you activate SB when all of your three characters are still alive, level 2 when one of your characters is dead and level 3 when there's only one character left alive. The only difference between levels is the duration: level 1 will last 7 seconds, level 2 will last 14 seconds and level 3 will last 21 seconds.

While in Sparking Blast mode, the character gains the following properties:

• the blue health of the current character will be regenerated at the pace of 1,000/second (= 10 seconds to refill the entire lifebar).
  
• the cooldown before the assist bar starts to refill after assists, tagging and DHC switching is removed and the bar will start refilling even during a combo.
  
• your character's moves and combos will deal increased damage by 20%.
  
• you will now be able to jump cancel off ANY normal on block and not just on hit, extending dramatically your pressure potential.
  
• you will be able to cancel the universal overhead (6M) into air specials (including Vanish), command normals and jump cancels on hit or block.
  
• all air normals (including 6M) become also air dash cancelable (only forward dash).
  
• Vanish can teleport you behind the opponent without performing the usual kick and continue with whatever you want. To do this simply hold M+H instead of tapping it.

Sparking Blast can also be used in combos in the same way as X-Factor in MvC3. The blast itself will launch the opponents vertically and allow you to continue your combo.

There are three different types of knockdowns in DBFZ that change the way the opponent can behave when they get spiked to the ground.

Soft knockdown: the opponent will recover automatically as soon as they touch the ground by doing a back roll. They can alter the way they wakeup by holding forward (stays in place), up (makes a bigger bounce back) or down (delayed wakeup). This kind of knockdown is triggered by most light versions of specials or by jumping heavy buttons when they didn't follow a 2H launcher.

Sliding knockdown: the opponent will start sliding on the ground for a certain time as soon as they touch it, and when the slide ends they will wake up with a tech roll. While they're in this state they are only vulnerable to supers. The length of the sliding state varies with the move used to knock them down or with the stage of the combo (later stages are likely to give shorter slide states or no sliding state at all). Moves that can cause a sliding knockdown are medium/heavy versions of some special moves or jumping heavy buttons used after 2H launchers.
Aside from its use to combo into supers, sliding knockdown can be helpful to give your character time to land and get close to the opponent as they wake up to set up more pressure.

Hard knockdown: the opponent isn't able to recover with a tech roll and will simply wake up in place after a set amount of time. It allows the player to use freely any kind of setup or mixup without having to deal with different kinds of wakeups.
Starting with May 9th 2018 patch, hard knockdown state will only and exclusively be triggered by lv3 supers.

• jmcrofts for this video
  
• Thunder and Red for this guide[docs.google.com]
  
• Chestnut for this compilation of hidden tech[docs.google.com]