Dash Cut and support types
Support types decide what your partner does when you call them. Evolution reworked them across the roster, and 1.11 re-added Dash Cut as a support type with a distance requirement between the two leaders and a maximum height threshold for activation. Part One characters spread across Charge Guard, Secret Sub, Combo Support, Strike Back, Charge Assist and Break Guard.
Support types are the part of Storm 4 most players ignore and then wonder why a team feels wrong. Evolution rewrote a large part of the layer, so it is worth reading once.
The types
| Type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Dash Cut | Intercepts an opponent mid-dash; re-added in 1.11 with distance and height conditions |
| Charge Guard | Guards the leader while they recover |
| Charge Assist | Supports the leader's charge |
| Break Guard | Attacks a guarding opponent's guard |
| Cover Fire | Throws projectiles to cover an approach — Chakra Shuriken in Evolution |
| Combo Support | Extends a combo rather than resetting it |
| Secret Sub | Substitutes the leader out of danger |
| Strike Back | Counters as the leader takes a hit |
The 1.11 Dash Cut rework
Dash Cut is the clearest example of how much detail sits behind one label. In 1.11 it was re-added to the support roster, with the release notes specifying:
- An increased distance requirement between player leaders before Dash Cut can activate.
- A maximum height threshold for activation, so it no longer fires from any altitude.
- A fix for a stagger bug involving Dash Cut, Charge Guard and Break Guard.
- The base roster's Dash Cut support type changes were reverted back to Dash Cut, undoing a rework that had been in place since 1.07's removal of it.
That is a mechanic going out and coming back with guard rails, and it is why the correct answer to "what does Dash Cut do now" depends on your build.
Assignments moved around
Support types are assigned character by character and the mod reassigns them freely. Examples from the 1.10 release:
- Temari (PTS) → Cover Fire; Temari → Break Guard; Temari (Boruto) → Charge Guard.
- Tsunade (Part One) → Charge Guard; Orochimaru (Part One) and Kabuto (Part One) → Secret Sub.
- Jiraiya (Part One) → Combo Support; Itachi (Part One) → Strike Back.
- Kisame (Part One) → Charge Assist; Kakashi (Part One) → Break Guard; Guy (Part One) → Cover Fire.
- GNW Choji's support action changed to Cover Fire.
Default support picks also moved: Asuma's default changed to Kurenai, Nagato's to Edo Itachi.
Item sets travel with supports
The mod's own item page pairs each character with a three-item loadout, and notes that Storm 1 variants of characters carry item sets closer to their original Storm 1 sets. Guard Break Pills are excluded from those lists on purpose.
How to use this
- Pick the support type you need for the match-up — Secret Sub for survival, Break Guard against turtles, Combo Support for damage.
- Check the item loadout, because two characters with the same support type can still bring different tools.
- Re-check after an update: the assignment you learned last month may have moved.
