WARNING! HUGE TEXT WALL AHEAD!. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS KIND OF THINGS, DON'T PROCEED.

Well, as I posted there --> http://forums.spiralknights.com/es/node/64325 , I'm quitting... So, I've decided to post a bit about LD tactics.

Most people think Shield Cancel, AA, UV's & ASI is enough to play lockdown, some others spam a polaris, some others mix between a gun and a sword...

What I'm going to teach here, is a couple of techniques that will give you an easier time on LD, and probably on PvE too. Going a bit further than just saying "Shield cancel and just use the first hit!" though.

From what I've seen, not many people know about these, and those who do.. normally do it unconsciously, without really knowing what they're doing.

So, here's a couple things I do that give me quite an edge over other people:

Static cancel:
Some (If not most) people go and hit someone, shield cancel and run a bit more until landing the next hit... IMHO, this is the worse mistake you can ever commit. Why? Well, let's say you're fighting someone who knows what he's doing, by the time you try to land the second hit, he should've moved already, thus causing you a waste of shield, time AND giving the enemy enough time to react and counter.

Now, this is how you solve it. When you land your first hit & shield cancel don't move with the shield cancelling, instead of moving, just attack>shield>attack exactly to the same spot you attacked the first time. If you're fast enough and practice this, you'll get 2 fast hits before the enemy can react...

Static cancel isn't enough on it's own, so here's a couple things you can do to make it even better!:

Quick switch:
Do I even need to explain this? If you're using FF & GF, go and hit once with FF>static cancel>quick switch>GF hit= Loads of dmg in no time!

Improved quick switch: (let's call it IQS)
This is where it starts getting trickier...
Normally, when quick switching you can only switch up to 2 times, and the third time you try it you'll do the second hit of a combo, instead of switching weapons...
This IQS will let you switch up to 4 times with static cancel (That means instant kill with a FF/GF, if you're fast enough)

Normally, people just hit>space bar>hit when quick switching (space bar in case that's your switch key) So, what you're supposed to do for IQS is a bit harder... You gotta hit space bar AT THE SAME TIME as you attack, preferably a fraction of a second earlier, since that will cause an animation glitch making slow swords attack as fast as a FF, with more dmg.

If you do it right, when your attacking animation is done, your character should automatically change weapons, without animation... Giving you enough time to hit again before someone runs.
This works like a charm with static cancel... Imagine running to someone, FF IQS>Static cancel> GF IQS (with FF speed) > FF hit.

I don't like mixing that with ASI, because it sometimes messes up the animation glitch (causing it not to happen) BUT, if you got ASI, it will make it heaps easier... PLUS it's an exellent guard killer, if you can pull it right.

Basically what you're doing is forcing the server to change the weapons while you're attacking, giving you a couple frames of freedom over your opponent. AND, if you're doing it correctly, your weapon will look like it had +2 lvls of ASI.

@ all the people who think I got ASI's MAX/VH's, I DON'T. I just use the above thingy ^^

Charge cancel:
This kind of cancelling works on 3-bullet guns.
People who know how to use guns, normally do 2 bullets>wait until the gun is down> 2 bullets> repeat (on 3 bullet guns) Noobs/Newbs just do 3 bullets>repeat.

Both of those are good, I guess... But my way is going to give you about 33% more DPM than those simple ways. Here's how it goes:
Let's assume "Z" is you're attacking key.
It's rather easy, basically you hit Z 2 times, and the second time hold it down. Just hold it down long enough to see the charge animation (Not the full charge, just when it starts charging) When it has started to charge, release the key and quickly hit it ONCE, and hold it down. Repeat as much as you want!...

If you do it right, you'll notice a serious increase in the bullet production. On a side note, this doesn't work while moving, so this works mainly for polaris spamming, recon gunning and static gunning.

Now, the one I've found the hardest to master...

Rotation cancel:
Alright, this one is meant to be used along with Static Cancel, this will make the shield spending MINIMAL, and it does wonders when you're surrounded.
(If you ever wondered how do I kill so much as proto/wolver, here's one of the main secrets)

You're gonna need really fast fingers & hands for this (I'm also going to talk about inherent advantages I got, which you might have too!).
Basically, after the static cancel, you do a 360° rotation, without moving from where you are. For some odd reason, doing this will lower the amount of shield you use by about a 25% in total, but not only that... Sometimes it even cancels the enemy's hits.

Right after the rotation, you hit again, either using IQS, charge cancel, whatever. If you're surrounded, you can hit in the middle of the rotation, and once again after 180° more. That makes this kind of OP, since it can bring up the hitting ratio by about 50%, if you can pull it right.

Now, for the advantages:

Perfect memory:
My strongest weapon. I can learn anything really fast, and I'm also one of those people who learn by watching, which is just what you need in this game.

You see someone who is hard to kill, learn the pattern he/she uses and use it to create a counter-attack. Personally, I got 2 basic patterns: regular pattern, for non-UV people, and special pattern, for UV people.

Quick reflexes:
I've played basketball & ping-pong for years, and those have given me really really quick ones. Try to practice your own. ;D

Muscular memory:
basketball really boosted this on me, basically my body can remember the position it was at. So, basically I can repeat a pattern over and over and over without a problem.

there's more, but I gtg in a couple of minutes, and I'll make this as short as possible.

One last tip:

Learning your opponent's pattern is the key! And NO, no one ever goes in "random moves", unconsciously they're doing it in a pattern, it might be a weird one... But in the end they always repeat it.

I'll finish this post tomorrow, Sorry, but I'm sick and need some sleep.

GL & HF ~Thegamevice