What does "dodge" dodge?

Been looking around the interwebs trying to figure out gw2 dodging.  Looked on the official wiki, but not much was there.  I even went to gamebreaker.tv to watch the buildcast show, and taugrim and the rest of them were divided on that too.

What I do know:  dodging makes me avoid damage from an incoming attack

What I don't know:

-can I dodge an AoE?

-Also, let;s say I hit dodge when an aoe comes down; let's also say the aoe is very big, so when I finish the dodge animation, I'm still within the boundaries of the aoe.  did I dodge the entire aoe?   Did I dodge just a portion of the aoe, and when I my dodge animation finishes, I get hit with the damage of the rest of their aoe animation?

-can I dodge every attack in the game? 

-do I dodge status effects as well, or just damage?

-As far as avoiding damage is concerned, (not strategic placement for the next attack), does it matter if I dodge left/right/forward/backward?  Or does it only matter that I hit the dodge button when the attack starts?

-2 or 3 attackers swing at me at the same, and I hit the dodge button.  Did I dodge all 3 attacks, or just 1?

-how important is the timing?  Do I want to dodge when their attack animation starts, or do i have until their attack animation "touches" my character?

-can I dodge world bosses?

I'm going to dodge these questions because I have no idea. :) I would be interested to know though!

I believe it was said that dodge gives you temporary invincibility and basically "dodges" everything at that time, but the time interval of the invincibility is quite small. I would be very surprised if it doesn't dodge major bosses, it's a core mechanic of the game more than anything. Timing is a bit trickier. I believe you need to dodge prior to the attack, that's how it worked for me. You would get an "evaded" notification when you do that.

» Edited on: 2012-07-27 09:14:52

This is my understanding of dodging. It could be wrong, but I don't think it is. When you dodge, you give yourself a buff called 'Evasion' that makes you in effect invulnerable for that period of time that you're dodging, it also moves you a certain amount of distance. You can dodge an AoE if you roll out of the way. If you're still in the radius while it's going on at the end of your dodge and the buff fades, you take damage from that point forward. You cannot dodge status effects that are already on you. So if you have a DoT that's ticking away, it'll continue to tick through your dodge. The direction of the dodge does not matter, it only matters for your efforts to get away from a person swinging at you or out of an AoE template. 2 or 3 attackers shooting at you, you dodge, you dodge all three. If they're melee chances are your dodge takes you out of melee range as well. The animation is a fickle thing, it mainly depends on when the server decides to make the 'roll' for the hit. For some attacks that's right at the start of initiation, for other attacks it happens at the end of the animation. You have to be 'dodging' before it makes that roll. Yes, you can dodge world bosses.

Whoah! you folks respond really fast O.o Ahhhsoooouuuusousousou, ok i get it now. So dodge is sorta like a "nothing can touch me/im invincible" spell, for the duration of the animation. If im still inside an aoe when that animation ends, then the damage continues. Dodge doesn't remove or affect any conditions i had before i hit the dodge button Thank you everybody, I understand now :D

» Edited on: 2012-07-27 09:41:41

» Edited on: 2012-07-27 09:43:01

Yup, this is pretty much how it works. As for those AOEs, there will be a red ring on the ground and as soon as you see it, you want to be outside it or it hurts. Some times it is easier just to run rather than dodge AOEs. Dodge is fast and short, so like already stated it is a hugely dependent on timing, too. And yes, if you dodge correctly nasty champion hits might actually miss or at least be glancing instead.

Thank you Briseadh :) Red=bad You would think I'd remember this. Sometimes Im so busy mashing buttons, swhishing my mouse all around frantically, and yelling at my screen, that I tend to miss this important peice of information....as well as forgetting to dodge attacks ._.

I've dodged cannonballs and other siege engine shots. Also the "wind" effect in the jumping puzzle in the Asura starting area. It seems pretty all-purpose!

Soo... dodging left or right is no different than dodging backwards? Other than ending up in a different spot that is. I always use the arrow keys to dodge in the direction that seems "safest". I did notice that dodge is already preset to "V" and it only goes backwards. I didn't think it was as effective as dodging left or right. If it doesn't matter which way we dodge then I won't have to figure out how to bind the arrow keys to my Naga. This is my first gaming mouse and I have been waiting to play GW2 regularly before putting a lot of thought in to key bindings. Myk

» Edited on: 2012-07-29 09:41:52

I don't think the direction makes a difference as long as the dodge gets us out of the way in time. Here is another spot where I found dodge to work - Traps! Some are made so you can't jump far enough to avoid, but dodge over them and wa la! Damage diverted. Haven't had much experience with this, but yes, Virginia, they did put traps in the game!

Here's a question for the dodge conversation. Dodge spam..... How much/many times can I dodge in a row to avoid attacks? What if I just sit there and dodge non stop? Do I essentially stay invulnerable? I am guessing no but I'd like to know if there are diminishing returns on it or how many times I can dodge to get out of a big mess.

Dodging takes endurance, and typically you have enough endurance to dodge twice in a row. It regenerates at different rates depending on buffs and the like.

Thanks for the info Q. I'm pretty nooby

Very good to know. I didn't understand it, myself, and the last BWE it didn't seem like it was doing much (meaning if I stood toe-to-toe I'd beat the mob regardless). I'd imagined it was more like using false-blade as a finisher in Rift, back when bladedancers had it, where it increased your parry stat for a decently long while. I see it's much more effective, but I gather much shorter duration.