Tech recovery

From Wavu Wiki, the 🌊 wavy Tekken wiki

A tech recovery (tech) is a group of various ways to recover faster after being hit. Most techs cause the player to recover standing instead of grounded. With notable exception of the tech roll, most techs are done by holding B.

Which tech can be done depends on the move being recovered from. For most moves, there's only one tech that can be done.

If a move can be teched, it's indicated in Wavu Wiki movelists and the in-game frame data by a frame advantage in brackets. For example, «+10 (+1)» means the move is +10 normally and that a tech can be done 1 frame after the attacker recovers. It does not mean the move is +1 if the defender techs, because it doesn't count how long the tech itself takes.

Tech roll

A tech roll (side quick roll in game) is the most common tech recovery as it can be done from almost any knockdown to safely recover standing. It's done by pressing an attack button as you land. A punch button rolls into the background, and a kick button into the foreground.

Tech rolls take 41 frames. They're intangible for 29 frames and able to guard for the remaining 12. Since there's no frames where they're vulnerable and unable to guard, they're a reliable default option on wake-up. However, tech rolls take a while to recover and often give up a free mixup, so other wake-up options are still useful for disrupting an opponent's okizeme.

Tech rolls recover in full crouch. All crouching moves, including while standing moves, can be fully buffered during recovery.

Full crouch (Recovered)
Intangible
Guarding
Buffer period
Tech roll (earliest input)
Frame
Input
State
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
29
30
41
42
Tech roll (latest input)
Frame
Input
State
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
1
29
30
41
42

The input window for a tech roll is 10 frames. Regardless of when the input is done, the intangibility starts at the same time and the frame advantage on recovery remains the same, i.e. tech rolls usually can't be delayed. However, this input window is not the same as the regular input buffer. The window is 1 frame longer, and in rare circumstances it matters when the input is made. In particular, it seems that before the intangibility starts a locked in tech roll has some influence on the hitstun.

Tech rolls can be delayed for up to 20 frames after a regular wall splat. This doesn't work after most wall combos, since the splat has finished, but can be useful for disrupting tech traps, which often depend on a particular tech timing.

Right is faster?

There's a myth that tech roll right is faster than tech roll left by 1 frame.[1] This myth arises from a few combos that can be avoided by a tech right but not a tech left.

But many real combos rely on a move exactly as fast as the frame advantage and for which the opponent's tech direction has no impact. If it were really the case that tech right is faster, there would be countless situations where this would pop up.

For tech right to be a frame faster, the frame data needs to be off by one for at least one tech direction. Either tech left is a frame slower and i13 should combo at (+12) vs tech left; or tech right is a frame faster and i13 should whiff at (+13) vs tech right. Neither of these is the case.

Influences landing animation

The main clue as to what's really going on is that all of the aforementioned combos do work against tech right in situations where the only things changed are hurtboxes.

After R.b+4,2,F, the f+3 hitbox just barely doesn't connect vs tech right.

So what's going on is even stranger: tech rolls influence the landing animation before they actually start, moving the hurtbox slightly, and in very rare circumstances this causes a whiff.

In the case of Claudio R.b+4,2,F f+3, there's two more notable things going on:

  • R.b+4,2,F is (+21) and if they don't tech right then f+3 connects on frame 19.
  • There's only a 5 frame input window for this tech right to avoid f+3, instead of the normal 10.
R.b+4,2,F hitstun
f+3 hitstun
f+3 2nd active frame
FUFT
Tech roll
Tech roll input window
R.b+4,2,F hitstun, starting from Claudio recovering
Frame
Input
State
1
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
47
48
Earliest possible input to avoid f+3 with tech right
Frame
Input
State
1
12
13
3
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Latest possible input to avoid f+3 with tech right
Frame
Input
State
1
12
13
14
15
16
17
3
18
19
20
21
22
Too late, doesn't influence fall early enough
Frame
Input
State
1
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
3
19
20
21
22

This suggests that in some way the input for a tech roll has an effect immediately, even if the intangibility always starts at the same time. If it were the case that the tech's intangibility was preventing the f+3 from connecting, we'd expect the input window to be up until the f+3 connects, but the tech actually needs to be input 2 frames earlier. Similarly, it'd make sense for the input window to be the same as normal, but it's actually much smaller.

Notes