SD Gundam Battle Alliance beginner’s battle guide – how to block, spin attack, and more

Time for a lesson in Gundam.

Image via Bandai Namco

The basics of battles in SD Gundam Battle Alliance

The game goes over the basics of the controls in the first mission, making it easy for you to understand the basics. For the PlayStation controller, Square and Triangle are the melee attacks. Triangle attacks are heavier but slower. Holding Square will let you do a spin attack that damage multiple enemies nearby. Pressing the Cross button lets you jump, and the Circle button is to boost. Most mobile suits can fire projectiles at enemies with a rifle or bazooka. The back right trigger button (R2 on PlayStation) generally fires a single shot from a gun or rifle.

Special attacks are usually projectiles in most mobile suits, yet each mecha has its own unique special. For example, the Special for RGM-79 GM is to shoot consecutive blasts from its rifle while remaining stationary. Special is the front left trigger (L1). You have limited ammo for all projectiles, which can see on the bottom right of your screen. Some mobile suits, like the Infighter-type mechas, have limited projectiles and focus more on melee attacks. The back left trigger is to block (L2), and the back right trigger (R2) is a special melee attack.

Tips and tricks in combat

If you sidestep at the right time, you will do a Perfect Sidestep that makes you invulnerable for a few seconds. If you use the guard at the right moment when an enemy attacks you, you will do a Perfect Guard that lets you do a melee counterattack against your enemy and consumes zero guard meter. Guarding is vital in the game, and you need to keep watch of your guard meter. Press down on the D-Pad to charge up to use a health pack, but charging takes a while and leaves you vulnerable. As the battles become harder and more intense, you need to learn to be more conservative with your health packs.

Bosses in the game are really aggressive, going all out against you with a lot of heavy attacks. You can bring up to two AI partners with you, and they can provide the necessary distractions while you stay behind. Most projectiles don’t do much against bosses, but every mobile suit has moves that leave them open. Head towards them when you see them open and use your strongest melee attacks. Depleting the bar below the boss’s health will force the boss to go down for a brief moment, and that’s when you should use your strongest attack like an SP. SP slowly charges throughout a mission, and to activate SP, you need to press both shoulder buttons (L1 + R1).