Defense (DOA2/DOA3)

Pressing or guards against high and mid strikes.

• Low attacks can still hit you, but will only cause 80% damage while you are guarding.
• Guarding does not protect against throws.
• Free stepping with will also guard against high and mid strikes.

Pressing , or guards against low strikes.

• High strikes and standing throws will also not be able to hit you because you are in a crouching state.
• If hit by a mid strike during crouching, you will take 125% damage from the hit. Additionally, most mid strikes have stronger hit reactions against crouching opponents.
• Free stepping with or will also guard against low strikes.

In DOA3, some attacks will cause a guard break when blocked.

• During a guard break, you are unable to guard.
• During a big guard break (commonly referred to as a guard crush), you are able to hold after 30 frames have passed.

If you are hit during a guard break, the game treats this as though you got hit during a critical stun. This means you take 50% damage from the hit, you're able to stagger escape it, and it will trigger the strike's counter hit reaction.

An unblockable strike's hit effect will still occur even if the opponent is guarding. The DOA manuals refer to these attacks as super high attacks.

• If an unblockable attack hits someone guarding with or , they will only take 80% damage.
• Unblockable attacks are always high strikes, meaning you can crouch to avoid them.

When hit by certain throws and holds, it is sometimes possible to escape by pressing either
or at the right time. The DOA manuals refer to these actions as Evade Throws.

Neutral throws () can be escaped if you press within the first 16 frames of the throw's animation.

Some throws and holds are combo throws/holds. Most of these can be escaped if you press or before your opponent inputs the next part of the throw/hold combo. Note that your input will only be accepted once the "combo throw/hold" UI message appears on screen.

Holds defend against certain types of attacks, and they can be used even while in critical stun. Holding low also puts you in a crouching state, meaning high strikes and standing throws will whiff against you.

Depending on which game you are playing, inputting holds will be done in different ways. Listed below are the hold inputs used in the various versions of DOA2 and DOA3.




Some characters can perform advanced holds which have slightly more complicated inputs, but also inflict higher damage.

Some strikes when held will only cause the defender to move to the side instead of activating their hold animation. This is known as a Divert Hold.

Some characters have access to parries, which usually defend against multiple hit levels at once. Parries, unlike holds, cannot be used while in stun.

Typically, a parry will do little or no damage, but will leave you at frame advantage, meaning you can act before your opponent can.

Some moves cannot be parried and will instead trigger a divert hold when parried.

On the default settings, each player has 240 health. Each health setting increases or decreases total health by 30.