Gold linking and you!
Gold linking is a core element of gameplay, but misunderstanding a few things can make it very frustrating. Let's take an in depth look at gold linking, what it is, what it isn't, and how to handle a mechanic that is, undoubtably here to stay.
€What is Gold-Linking?
Gold linking is the fight mechanic in absolver which allows you to ignore the recovery time of your previously performed attack, and instead transition immediately into the startup of your next attack. This is done by timing your next attack to one of three visual indicators.
1) The outline of the stamina bar reaches the arrow mark.
2) Your attack lands (second attack for doubles.)
3) Your character glows gold (hence the name, gold-linking.)
€Consequences
Simply, when you successfully gold link your next attack, you perform it sooner than you would have without gold linking. In most cases, this will prevent your opponent from being able to counter effectively, as they have less time to respond to you, or take note of the order/pattern in your attacks.
€Spam
One method using gold-linking is to have many fast attacks in your deck, and gold-link all the time, preventing your opponent from being able to initiate an attack.
€Countering spam
Spam can be very difficult to deal with, and without practice, the simplest way to avoid spam is to block. Most fast attacks have a very low impact on block, which means your opponent will run out of stamina much faster than you. It's also important as you grow in the game to build your deck with plenty of responses to all styles of play, including spam. My deck for instance has a great deal of dodge openers and secondaries, which can make it very difficult for an opponent to spam me, while keeping my deck versatile for other threats. Another important thing to learn is how to gold link yourself. If your opponent is using moves that are faster than the majority of yours, failing to gold-link gives them an opportunity to interrupt you and start spamming again. A skilled player can, and will, eventually learn to beat one who is unskilled.
€When should I gold-link?
"Obviously I should do it all the time right? It only serves to remove my recoveries, and is therefore always a good thing!" Wellllllllll, no. While it is best that you KNOW how to gold link your whole deck, you should NOT be doing it all the time. The reason for this is simple, absolver is a reactive game. Timing is everything. If you are fighting a windfall, stagger, or forsaken, they are watching for patterns in your fighting style and will use opportunities to take advantage of your impeccable and predictable timing to give them the edge. khalt relies on your timing even more, and lord knows they don't need another edge over you. I often find that even when I'm fighting against a really good player, fighting slowly to open them up and react to them is usually much better to turn the match in my favor. That's not to say I don't gold link, in fact I use it often, but only when I want to mask my more predictable moves or see that my opponent is not in a stance that he/she can effectively react with against the chain I am currently using. For example, If I know my opponent is currently in a stance with no low dodges, I will gold-chain several high attacks together, since it likely will result in easy damage.
€Why does it feel like gold linking gives low skill players an advantage?
Because your deck may not be developed enough to deal with them. You should always have at least two chains that begin with a dodge, and among those two, you should have at least one for high attack chains, and one for low attack chains. You should also become adept at switching your stance to react to attacks you know are coming. Most of the fastest attacks in the game are high thrusting attacks, which are vulnerable to low and side dodges. Better spammers will alternate low, high, and horizontal attacks, but they will have to sacrifice some speed in order to do that. In the end, having a more developed deck that is built to defend, rather than attack, is going to win out over a poorly constructed deck that was made just for speed. Pay close attention, and these players will NEVER bother you again.
Good luck! Let me know what you think players should also know about gold linking and how to deal with and use it effectively.
€What is Gold-Linking?
Gold linking is the fight mechanic in absolver which allows you to ignore the recovery time of your previously performed attack, and instead transition immediately into the startup of your next attack. This is done by timing your next attack to one of three visual indicators.
1) The outline of the stamina bar reaches the arrow mark.
2) Your attack lands (second attack for doubles.)
3) Your character glows gold (hence the name, gold-linking.)
€Consequences
Simply, when you successfully gold link your next attack, you perform it sooner than you would have without gold linking. In most cases, this will prevent your opponent from being able to counter effectively, as they have less time to respond to you, or take note of the order/pattern in your attacks.
€Spam
One method using gold-linking is to have many fast attacks in your deck, and gold-link all the time, preventing your opponent from being able to initiate an attack.
€Countering spam
Spam can be very difficult to deal with, and without practice, the simplest way to avoid spam is to block. Most fast attacks have a very low impact on block, which means your opponent will run out of stamina much faster than you. It's also important as you grow in the game to build your deck with plenty of responses to all styles of play, including spam. My deck for instance has a great deal of dodge openers and secondaries, which can make it very difficult for an opponent to spam me, while keeping my deck versatile for other threats. Another important thing to learn is how to gold link yourself. If your opponent is using moves that are faster than the majority of yours, failing to gold-link gives them an opportunity to interrupt you and start spamming again. A skilled player can, and will, eventually learn to beat one who is unskilled.
€When should I gold-link?
"Obviously I should do it all the time right? It only serves to remove my recoveries, and is therefore always a good thing!" Wellllllllll, no. While it is best that you KNOW how to gold link your whole deck, you should NOT be doing it all the time. The reason for this is simple, absolver is a reactive game. Timing is everything. If you are fighting a windfall, stagger, or forsaken, they are watching for patterns in your fighting style and will use opportunities to take advantage of your impeccable and predictable timing to give them the edge. khalt relies on your timing even more, and lord knows they don't need another edge over you. I often find that even when I'm fighting against a really good player, fighting slowly to open them up and react to them is usually much better to turn the match in my favor. That's not to say I don't gold link, in fact I use it often, but only when I want to mask my more predictable moves or see that my opponent is not in a stance that he/she can effectively react with against the chain I am currently using. For example, If I know my opponent is currently in a stance with no low dodges, I will gold-chain several high attacks together, since it likely will result in easy damage.
€Why does it feel like gold linking gives low skill players an advantage?
Because your deck may not be developed enough to deal with them. You should always have at least two chains that begin with a dodge, and among those two, you should have at least one for high attack chains, and one for low attack chains. You should also become adept at switching your stance to react to attacks you know are coming. Most of the fastest attacks in the game are high thrusting attacks, which are vulnerable to low and side dodges. Better spammers will alternate low, high, and horizontal attacks, but they will have to sacrifice some speed in order to do that. In the end, having a more developed deck that is built to defend, rather than attack, is going to win out over a poorly constructed deck that was made just for speed. Pay close attention, and these players will NEVER bother you again.
Good luck! Let me know what you think players should also know about gold linking and how to deal with and use it effectively.
Comments
An avoided attack now makes you unable to link.
The above combined with the added changes to advantage, make uneducated spamming of goldlink combos actually detrimental to your win chances.
There also seems to be some type of stun-lock when getting hit now as well, so you can't just move while getting hit.
Example: Imagine If I avoid/dodge a low kick then the opponent tries to gold link into a jumping knee
At that point:
-1 advantage for the low kick
they lost that stamina from the kick*
I regain my stamina from the avoid
they burn extra stamina from the non gold linked jumping knee*
So if I use a fast attack of any type I am almost guaranteed to hit first.
If use an attack that actually gives me a lot of advantage, I can now get a free combo.
To take it further if they were doing a lot of style moves or dodges before this would really deplete their stamina.
Ive been left with zero stamina vs the avoider with full stamina after an exchange like this before
All excellent notes on the finer points of how gold linking interacts with your enemy. You really can throw someone off even with a perfect understanding of their own deck. In fact you can use the fact that they know their deck to your advantage. Another thing I would add is using the basic dodge to set up the timing of your attack to connect before theirs, hitting them at the startup of their next attack regardless of the attack type. I use this to stop charging attacks, breaking attacks and fast sweeps often.