Super Dragon Ball Z/Skills

The Skill System

One of the most defining features of Super Dragon Ball Z that marks it out from other fighting games is its Skill System. If you select a character as-is on the character select screen, you are not actually playing a fully realised version of the character! Instead, if you create a character card (or physically buy one, if you're playing the arcade version), you will gain the ability to level up your character as you play, consequently allowing you to develop their abilities to your liking by way of their Skill Tree. This page will serve as an overview of the skill tree and the various types of skills you will encounter.

Skill Tree

Each character, once assigned to a character card, will gain access to their Skill Tree, which will allow them to unlock new abilities as they level up through regular gameplay. Many characters gain access to similar or even the same abilities, but each character also has their own unique abilities that can affect how they play.

Critically, you cannot unlock every skill on the skill tree. You must commit to a path on the skill tree at certain points, granting new skills while locking out certain others. While this does mean that knowing your character's skill tree is important for properly building your character, it also means that you can tailor the character's kit to suit whatever it is you want to do with them, whether that be augmenting their damage or their meter gain, or giving them an extra super at the expense of some stat bonuses.

Skill Inheritance

When a character completes their skill tree, other characters with completed skill trees can learn skills from that character through a process called Skill Inheritance. Each character is able to inherit one Battle Skill and one System Skill, and each character also has a pre-defined Battle Skill and System Skill that other characters can inherit from them. A character does not have to inherit a Battle Skill and a System Skill from the same character, however -- it's possible, and often recommended, to inherit a Battle Skill from one character, and then a System Skill from a different character.

Additionally, some skills can be inherited via a Shenron Wish. A character may inherit unique Battle Skills or unique System Skill versions of existing Passive Skills. Skills that can only be obtained via Shenron Wish will be noted as such on this page.

Skill Types

There are three types of skill in the game, which will be discussed in-depth below.

Battle Skills

Battle Skills are a character's special moves. Each character has access to a set of Battle Skills at their base level, and is able to learn more as they progress through the Skill Tree.
Examples include Goku's Kamehameha, Vegeta's Endive and Piccolo's Maou Rebirth Ranbu. Each character's Battle Skills will be discussed on their character pages.

Additionally, there are two exclusive Battle Skills that can only be obtained via Shenron Wish, as they do not belong to characters that are playable in Super Dragon Ball Z.

Skill Name	Skill Icon	Input	Description
Flame Pillar		46/64H+J	Allows use of Nappa's signature move, "Flame Pillar". Causes a large explosion to appear a set distance ahead of the character, dealing heavy damage while launching the opponent high into the air. Flame Pillar position depends on input.
Wolf Fang Fist		236H+J:L:L:L:H	Allows use of Yamcha's signature move, "Wolf Fang Fist". A long combination attack that is difficult to time, but deals high damage when successful.

Passive Skills

Passive Skills are Skills that are constantly active, and effectively act as stat bonuses for your character. These can include changes to your character's damage, movement speed and meter gain.

Skill Name	Skill Icon	Description
ATK Up		Increases damage dealt by 15%, rounded down.
DEF Up		Decreases damage received by 15%, rounded up.
Flying Speed Up		Increases movement speed while flying. Does not affect dashing.
Ground Speed Up		Increases movement speed while on the ground. Does not affect dashing.
Impact Up		Causes launching attacks to launch the opponent higher than normal.
Movement Up		Adds one extra stock to the Action Gauge.
Rapid Movement Recovery		Increases Action Gauge recovery rate.
Ultimate Gauge Upgrade (ATK)		Causes attacks to build extra super meter.
Ultimate Gauge Upgrade (DEF)		Causes damage received to build extra super meter.
Ultimate Gauge Upgrade (RND)		Enables a character to start the match with one super meter available for use.
Weight Increase		Increases character's weight to the next weight class, slowing their movement speed, but making them more difficult to hit with juggle combos.

System Skills

System Skills are skills which enable the use of extra mechanics for your character. These can greatly affect a character's playstyle, as your choice of System Skills determines what aspects of their gameplay you want to prioritise, such as defensive options, combo ability or comeback potential.

Skill Name	Skill Icon	Description
Armor Strike		Provides one hit of super armor to character's dash attacks.
Assault Style		When life is below 35%, increases ATK by 25% but decreases DEF by 20%.
Enhanced Force		When life is below 35%, increases ATK and DEF by 10%.
Guard Cancel		Allows the use of special moves and supers during blockstun at the cost of one bar of the super meter.
Infinite Rage		When life is below 35%, increases super meter gain.
Senzu Bean		Revives character upon losing all HP once per match. Health restored is based on available super meter (this meter is not spent to activate Senzu Bean).
Shield Sprint		Grants one hit of projectile armor to character's Homing Attacks.
Super Cancel		Allows special moves and supers to cancel into supers.
Switch Guard		Allows use of Reflect during blockstun.
Wall Smash		Allows moves (except throws) that knock opponents down on hit to cause wall stun. Depending on character, may also grant ground bounce properties to some moves.

Shenron Skills

These skills can only be obtained by wishing for them from Shenron. Each is associated with a wish found in the "Stat Upgrade" section of the list.

Skill Icon	Skill Name	Description
Dragon Frenzy		Identical to Passive Skill Ultimate Gauge Increase (ATK). Obtained via wish "Show my full potential.".
Dragon Heart		Identical to Passive Skill Rapid Movement Recovery. Obtained via wish "I want more stamina.".
Dragon Rage		Identical to Passive Skill Ultimate Gauge Increase (DEF). Obtained via wish "I want burning rage.".
Dragon Soul		Identical to Passive Skill Ultimate Gauge Increase (RND). Obtained via wish "I want more energy.".
Dragon Vitality		Identical to Passive Skill Movement Up. Obtained via wish "I want to move faster.".
Energy Drain		Slightly fills the super meter for every successful Reflect. Obtained via wish "Power to drain energy.".
Omega Charge		When life is below 35%, increases ATK by 40% and DEF by 30%, but disables guarding. Obtained via wish "Give me ultimate power!".