Airblasting¶

Difficulty: Beginner

Overview¶

Airblasting is the foundational skill of Dodgeball. Every other technique builds upon your ability to reliably reflect incoming rockets. Mastering the airblast means understanding its timing, range, and directional influence.

The Basics¶

How to Airblast¶

Key: Right-click (Secondary Fire)
Effect: Creates a blast of air that deflects projectiles
Cooldown: 0.75 seconds cooldown default by TF2

Timing¶

The most critical aspect of airblasting is timing.

timeline
    title Airblast Timing Window

    Too Early : Rocket passes through
             : No effect
    Perfect   : Rocket deflects
             : Speed increases
             : Retargets enemy
    Too Late  : You die
             : Round over

The Timing Window¶

!!! TBD - Specific frame data and timing windows to be documented.

Common Mistake

New players often airblast too early. The rocket needs to be within range of your airblast cone before pressing the button.

Direction Control¶

The direction of your reflected rocket is determined by your crosshair position at the moment of reflection.

Aiming Basics¶

Center crosshair → Rocket goes straight forward
Aim up → Rocket goes upward (Upspike)
Aim down → Rocket goes downward (Downspike)
Aim left/right → Rocket curves in that direction

Positioning¶

!!! TBD - Good positioning gives you more reaction time and better control.

Common Problems & Solutions¶

Problem	Cause	Solution
Missing easy rockets	Timing off	Focus on the rocket, not the enemy
Random directions	Looking around	Keep crosshair steady
Can't hit fast rockets	Panicking	Stay calm, trust your timing, try to orbit
Inconsistent results	No warmup	Spend 5 minutes practicing first

Advanced Considerations¶

Once you've mastered basic airblasting, you can begin learning advanced techniques:

Dragging: Controlling which opponent the rocket targets
Orbiting: Controlling rockets in circular patterns
Downspike: Sending rockets sharply downward
Upspike: Launching rockets upward
CQC: Close-range combat techniques
Rally: Rallying making the rocket live longer

Next Steps¶

Comfortable with basic airblasting? Move on to Dragging to learn how to control who the rocket targets.