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Dodge and Cover are some of the most important mechanics in Metal Slug Tactics. You need to learn everything about how these work to have any chance of finishing a successful run. In fact, learn to use these and also Synchronization and you’ll be doing pretty good in (at least) the first two difficulty modes.
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In any strategic video game, taking cover is a big part of staying alive. However, here it doesn’t only help you with your survivability, but it also lets you be more offensive and ready to take out enemy forces. Learn more about Dodge and Cover in this guide.
What Is Dodge?
Dodge appears as a green shield symbol with a number on it in your character profile. The number indicates how much damage your unit will be protected from. For example, if your character has a shield with a four and an enemy soldier deals three damage, your character will not receive any damage.
Dodge is reset at the beginning of your next turn, unless you use a Special Action that prevents this.
If that same unit is attacked twice with two attacks that deal three damage, your character will still be safe. Until it is reset, Dodge doesn’t go away, and its value will remain unaltered. However, always check if your weapon or Special Action has Burst, because this will consume your Dodge value and add it to your damage.
There are playable characters with abilities that give them and their teammates Dodge. Clark’s Sidestep is one of them. Also, others can gain Escape, which means that their Dodge won’t be reset in your next turn. Ralf’s Warm-Up is an example.
What Is Cover?
On the other hand, Cover is another type of shield and only works with the environment; there aren’t abilities that can give you Cover. To gain some Cover, you need to find walls or objects that have a blue shield above them, and positionate your units on the blue squares.
The keyword ‘No Cover’ means that the weapon or ability completely skips any value of Cover. If an enemy has two Cover and you deal two damage with No Cover, the rival will die.
Something that you have to keep in mind is that, contrary to Dodge, Cover can be reduced for each attack you receive or give. More precisely, there are walls and objects that you can use as cover that will receive damage and be destroyed. You can check this by hovering your mouse on the cover and checking if its HP is infinite or not.
Another important detail to know is that depending on how tall your wall is, you’ll be able to shoot through it or not. For example, if your unit is taking cover with a small wall, you’ll be able to use any of your primary or secondary weapons. But if it’s standing behind a tall wall, only explosive weapons or other guns with unique ranges will be able to shoot on the other side of the wall.
Does Cover And Shield Work Together?
Yes! Both attributes will work together if your character builds Dodge and you position the same unit under some cover. You’ll see that the character profile now has two shields: one blue (Cover) and the other green (Dodge). So, if you have three Cover and four Dodge, your total defense would be seven.
Keep in mind that the first of these stats that will go down is Cover, as the wall or object giving the attribute will be the first thing attacked.
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