Shielding

Shielding is a defensive action in Super Smash Flash 2 and Fraymakers performed by pressing the shield input while grounded, causing the character to put their guard up with a physical shield for as long as the input is held. Shielding renders the character invulnerable to all attacks that hit the shield except grabs and certain unblockable moves. The shield itself drastically differs between games; Super Smash Flash 2 features a bubble of energy that surrounds the character, whereas Fraymakers features a rounded surface that covers only the front side of the character.

In Super Smash Flash 2
Shielding in Super Smash Flash 2 is based most closely on the mechanic in the  series, in which the character surrounds themselves with a bubble of energy. Attacking the shield results in shield hitstun and pushes the shielding player across the ground, with the distance they are pushed increasing as more damage is accumulated. The bubble slowly shrinks the longer the player shields, and upon shrinking to a certain point, the shield will break. The shield can also shrink upon getting hit by an attack, with the amount the shield shrinks being based on the amount of shield damage the attack deals.

The shield comes out on the second frame after the input is pressed, leaving one frame where the player is left vulnerable without it. This makes them extremely fast and reliable for defense, as few attacks come out as equally fast, and many attacks can be punished after being shielded. Blocking an attack as soon as the shield appears results in a perfect shield, in which the player is not pushed back, their shield is not damaged, and projectiles that hit the shield can be reflected.

The size of a player's shield slowly regenerates to its maximum size while the player is not shielding, with different characters having different maximum and minimum shield sizes. Though shields block most attacks that hit them, their shrinking causes them to not always cover the character's entire damageable hurtbox. This leaves the player vulnerable to attacks that hit exposed areas of their hurtbox, which is known as a shield poke or a shield stab.

The color of a shield depends on the player shielding. For computer players, shields are always gray in color. For player-controlled characters, shields are normally red, blue, yellow, and green for players one, two, three, and four respectively, and in Team Battle, shields are colored after the player's team color.

Shield breaking
A shield break occurs when a player's shield is broken after shrinking past its minimum size. This results in the character being launched a distance upward, also known as a shield jump, getting knocked down as they land and being stunned for several seconds after standing up. Players are intangible during their shield jump and become vulnerable upon standing up.

Shield breaking is commonly performed either by taking advantage of shield hitstun to chain multiple attacks with little room for the opponent to escape, or by landing attacks that deal high enough shield damage, such as 's Shield Breaker or a thrown Mr. Saturn. As the player cannot act during their shield jump or while stunned, this leaves them open to severe punishes. When a shield break occurs on a moving or disappearing platform, this can also lead to the player falling off the stage and inevitably being KO'd.

The height of a shield jump varies between characters. in particular is affected severely by this, in that its shield jump is hundreds of times higher and faster than those of other characters. Without a ceiling above Jigglypuff, this will normally cause it to instantly self-destruct.

Character-specific shields
and have unique shields that work differently in comparison to the normal bubble shield. Yoshi surrounds himself in an egg, whereas Krystal creates a bright force field around herself. These shields do not shrink and their health is instead represented by their brightness, as they darken over time and break after darkening to a certain point. Due to this property, Yoshi and Krystal are immune to shield poking, as their shields will always completely envelop them.

The color of Yoshi's and Krystal's shields is not affected by the particular player. Instead, Yoshi's shield has a different color scheme for each costume, and Krystal's shield is the same color for all players.

In Fraymakers
Shielding in Fraymakers creates a rounded plane on the front side of the character to block attacks with. Attacking the shield results in shield hitstun and pushes the shielding player across the ground, with the distance they are pushed increasing as more damage is accumulated. Unlike in SSF2, this shield does not change in size and cannot be broken in any way. However, it is also limited in that it only covers the front side of the character, leaving them fully vulnerable from behind. Additionally, the shield comes out on the first frame after the input is pressed.

The size and position of the shield are different for each character, with most shields covering a large portion of the character's hurt box from the front, top, and bottom. The exposed back side leaves characters vulnerable to attacks from behind, particularly with cross-ups such as airdashing through the character and canceling the airdash into a back aerial. However, each character also has a threshold determining the minimum distance behind them that the opponent must be for an attack to land, and being below this threshold leads to attacks hitting the shield as if performed from the front side.

The color of a shield depends on the player shielding. For computer players, shields are always gray in color. For player-controlled characters, shields are normally red, blue, purple, and green for players one, two, three, and four respectively.

Shield hitstun
Shield hitstun, also known as shield stun or shieldstun, is the effect a character experiences in SSF2 or Fraymakers when their shield is hit by an attack. It is similar to hitstun in that the shielding player will be inactionable for the duration of the effect. As the attacker does not receive shield hitstun, they can often move again before the shielding player can. This can create shield pressure if the attacker can continuously hit the shield and keep their opponent in shield hitstun, rendering them unable to react or prevent the opponent from shield poking or breaking their shield.

Options from the shield
When holding their shield, characters' options are generally much more restricted to compensate for their ability to negate most attacks. In both SSF2 and Fraymakers, pressing left or right while shielding will cause the player to perform a rolling dodge, and pressing downwards will cause them to sidestep. Exclusively in Fraymakers, pressing the special move input while shielding will cause the character to parry.

There are also various out of shield (abbreviated as OoS) options that can be performed, which allow characters to use certain actions while shielding without the ending lag normally present from dropping the shield. In particular, the player can grab, jump, or use an up smash/up strong or up special move as normal, and a grab can also be used by pressing the attack input while shielding. Additionally, up tilts can be used out of shield by simultaneously pressing the attack input, the up input, and either the left or right input.

Out of shield options are generally used when a player has to deal with shield pressure. Jumping out of shield can allow the player to retreat from their opponent or advance with an aerial attack. Additionally, attacks out of shield with low startup lag and large range and can be the most effective way to punish moves with high ending lag. If an attack cannot be reliably punished out of shield, it is considered to be "safe on shield".

Running shield
Running shield is a technique that is performed by shielding while running, which makes the shielding character slide a short distance, which varies according to the character's running speed. Sliding versions of out of shield techniques can come from this, such as using a regular grab rather than a dash grab while running.

Dashing shield
Dashing shield is a technique that is performed by shielding while dashing. Unlike with a running shield, this stops the character immediately upon shielding, canceling the dash and allowing for micro spacing.

Shield dropping
Shield dropping, also known as shield platform dropping, is the act of dropping through a soft platform while shielding. To perform it with a controller, the player must tap down while shielding on a soft platform. When using a keyboard, the player must also hold the walk or dash input, as they will sidestep otherwise. This technique allows the player to use an aerial attack almost immediately out of shield, which can be used to punish opponents on or below the platform being dropped through.

Shield SDI
Shield SDI, also referred to as Shield DI, is a form of smash directional influence present in SSF2. It allows the player to move a set distance left or right during shield hitstun by pressing the corresponding "C-Stick" input. The distance the player is able to move depends on the SDI multiplier of the most recent attack they were hit by. When used properly, this can allow for various applications, such as escaping shield combos, moving away from multi-hit attacks, or moving to the other side of the opponent.