Hidden Melee

*Hidden Melee*

Tech Type	Universal
Difficulty	Basic Mechanics
Character Dependent	Yes
Inputs	Use an ability then buffer a Heavy Melee

A Hidden Melee is a Heavy Melee whose animations are hidden/obscured using abilities. Certain animations tied to abilities have a higher “priority” than the Heavy Melee animation, overriding it and therefore “hiding” the melee animation.

Hidden Melees makes parrying harder, since there is less visual tells on screen. However, a person can still parry based off the sound and flame effects around your fist.

A Hidden Melee only hides the animation with another animation; a common misconception is that some Hidden Melees also obscures sound and particle effects. These are not Hidden Melees: they are client-sided only and enemies can still hear the sound and particle effects.

Hidden Melees can be either hidden or obscured:

When a Hidden Melee is hidden, the melee animation is fully hidden and no part of it can be seen.
When a Hidden Melee is obscured, the melee animation can still be partially seen.

The execution depends on the character and their abilities; they are typically performed by using an ability then buffering a Heavy Melee afterwards. The timing can vary; for example, Viscous' Hidden Melee can be executed quite easily, at any point during his animation. Seven's Hidden Melee is a three tick window and is considerably harder.

Characters That Can Perform a Hidden Melee

Character	Ability	Notes
Bebop	Exploding Uppercut	Animation hidden. Buffer Heavy Melee when using Exploding Uppercut. Heavy Melee is much shorter.
Grey Talon	Charged Shot	Animation hidden. Buffer Heavy Melee when using Charged Shot.
Holliday	Bounce Pad	Animation hidden. Buffer when landing (only when stomping, can only occur once per pad).
Kelvin	Ice Path	Animation hidden. Heavy Melee, then cast Ice Path.
Kelvin	Ice Dome	Animation hidden. Heavy Melee while casting Ice Dome or cast then Heavy Melee.
Lash	Grapple	Animation hidden. Can Hidden Melee during Grapple for ~3 seconds after initial Grapple.
	Flog	Animation hidden. Cast Flog and buffer Heavy Melee.
	Ground Strike	Animation hidden. Cast Ground Strike and buffer Heavy Melee.
Mo & Krill	Sand Blast	Animation hidden. After throwing Sand Blast, Heavy Melee.
Seven	Lightning Ball	Animation hidden. Cast Lightning Ball and buffer Heavy Melee.
Seven	Static Charge	Animation hidden. Cast Static Charge and buffer Heavy Melee.
Shiv	Killing Blow	Animation hidden. Buffer Heavy Melee after casting Killing Blow.
Viscous	Puddle Punch	Animation obscured. While Puddle Punch is emerging, Heavy Melee.
Vyper	Screwjab	Animation hidden. Cast Screwjab and buffer Heavy Melee.
Vyper	Petrifying Bola	Animation hidden. Cast Petrifying Bola and buffer Heavy Melee.
Yamato	Shadow Form	Animation hidden. Buffer Heavy Melee after casting Shadow Form