Stagger

Fighting games often punish a missed big attack with a moment of vulnerability, a window where the attacker cannot defend well. It is what makes reading a heavy attack worth the risk of dodging.

BOTVBOT has two such states. Staggered: your Heavy whiffed into a Dodge, so you lose 10 extra stamina and take 1.5× damage next exchange. Exhausted: you could not pay for your action, so it is replaced, you gain 10 stamina and you take 1.25×.

Recovering also leaves you open to 1.5× that exchange. When more than one applies, vulnerability multipliers take the maximum, never the product, so no single exchange can delete a fighter from full health.

For a coach, stagger is a reason to Dodge and a reason to be careful with Heavy. A plan can say what to do right after landing a Dodge on a Heavy, for example follow up with your own Heavy while they are open.