Dodge roll
A quick evasive roll with invincibility frames, usually costing stamina. The dodge roll is modern action gaming's universal defensive verb: one button converts an incoming attack into a timing test. Designers use it because it is skill-expressive (the window rewards reading attack animations), universally applicable (it works against everything from swords to explosions, which keeps enemy design flexible), and inherently aggressive (rolling through an attack repositions you for a punish, unlike blocking). Tuning levers: i-frame window size, stamina cost (gates spam), recovery frames (the vulnerable tail that punishes panic rolling), and directional rules. Its dominance is also a trap: when rolling answers everything, blocking, positioning, and spacing atrophy — many designers now add roll-catch attacks, grabs, and delayed swings specifically to punish reflexive rolling. Pitfall: a roll that feels unresponsive kills the whole combat feel; input buffering and cancel windows need obsessive polish.
- Dev effort: Medium
- Timing: Real-time
- Common in: action, soulslike