Certain attacks will put you into a stunned state and cause a "critical hit!" UI message to appear. This is known as a critical stun.
While in critical stun, you are unable to guard or attack, but you can still hold.
If you are in a backturned stun state, you are unable to hold.
If you perform a hold while stunned, you will still be considered by the game to still be in a stunned state during the hold's animation.
When striking someone in a critical stun, it will trigger the attack's counter hit effect. For example, an attack that normally would only stun on counter hit will cause said stun even on a normal hit.
You take less damage while in critical stun, though how much depends on what counter hit state you are in.
| State | Damage revision |
| Normal hit | 50% |
| Counter hit | 50% |
| High counter hit | 60% |
The stun threshold is the max amount of damage someone can take in critical stun before the game will try to force a stop to it. Exceeding the stun threshold generally causes your move to either knock the opponent down or push them away, preventing further extension. Future DOA games also refer to the threshold as the "critical limit," and exceeding the threshold as a "critical reversal."
- The stun threshold for normal hit and counter hit is 40 damage.
- The stun threshold for high counter hit is 60 damage.
The stun's threshold reaction will also automatically occur if you strike someone with the same move twice in a row during stun.
It is possible for the defending player to shorten the length of a stun by performing what is known as a Stagger Escape. You Stagger Escape by mashing buttons and direction inputs. The faster you mash the more effective it will be.
At maximum possible stagger escape your animation speed is 200%. This means that under optimal conditions it is possible to reduce a stun's duration by half.
To go into more detail about how stagger escape works: Think of this as an invisible meter that you fill up with each input, but which also gradually empties with time. The fuller the meter is, the faster you recover from stun.
