Dodge

A dodge is a fast lateral or backwards movement characterized by a burst of speed and a brief slowdown period. It can be performed by holding down the left, right, or backward movement key and pressing Space (by default).

General
Typically, when an enemy winds up to swing at a player, they are continuously able to rotate their body to track the player's movement. During the dodge animation and for a brief moment after, the enemy considers the player to be in a dodge state. If timed just after the enemy's windup animation begins, being in the dodge state renders the enemy incapable of rotating to track the player. Details are below.

Dodging does not grant any degree of invincibility whatsoever.

Dodge Distance
Different weapons have different dodge distances. Typically, non-Shield light weapons allow players to dodge further. Dodge distance can be further enhanced with Passive Abilities and Talents.

Effective Dodge Count
Each weapon has an effective dodge count which cannot be modified. This is the number of consecutive dodges a player can perform in a short time before the dodge range becomes shorter and less effective. Faster, lighter weapons typically come with a higher number of effective dodges.

During play, the player has an associated dodge counter which increments by 1 each time they dodge. When that dodge counter reaches the effective dodge count, each subsequent dodge will be half of the length of the previous dodge (down to 1/8 of base dodge distance), severely undermining its effectiveness. The current dodge count is reset when the player does not dodge for 0.5 seconds. A common tactic to reach this timer, known as dodge jumping, is to jump near the end of a dodge, as the time it takes to land a jump is usually longer than 0.5 seconds. If timed correctly, jumping will cancel the slowdown portion at the end of the dodge, allowing the player to move with uninterrupted momentum.

Keybindings
There are multiple ways of configuring the dodge input in the in-game Options menu. By default, a dodge can be performed by holding the left, right, or back move key and jumping. The Gameplay tab has an option for enabling double tap dodging ie. tapping the left, right, or back move key twice in rapid succession causes the hero to dodge in that direction. The Inputs tab has an option for binding Jump Only and Dodge Only to separate keys, so that the player does not accidentally perform a jump while trying to dodge, and vice versa.

Mechanics
There are 2 different timing windows that are crucial to the inner workings of the dodge mechanic. These will be referred to as the Unbreakable Tracking Window and Lingering Dodge Window.

The unbreakable tracking window is a brief period of time at the beginning of an enemy's windup animation during which the enemy can always rotate and track their target, regardless of the target's dodge state. For an enemy's standing attack, this window is 0.25 seconds. For a running attack, this window is 0.75 seconds.

The Lingering Dodge Window is the period of time during which an enemy will consider the player to be in the dodge state even after the dodge has ended. If the enemy is performing a standing attack, this window is 0.5 seconds. For a running attack, this window is 0.75 seconds.