Full analysis
Here we can see that Gr G36c Mod with a full ARSMG team has 8 seconds of shelter at a minimum.
You can use Gr G36c Mod’s forceshield/have her stop moving to use her own forceshield skill 1 without activating her shelter effect. Simply move her right when she activates the forceshield. For some situations this technique has a 1 frame window, so this will be elaborated on in the skill 2 breakdown.
Incredibly Specific Skill 2 Breakdown
This section of the full analysis will cover the incredibly stupid frame-specific behavior of Gr G36c Mod. Believe me, almost no one needs to know how this stuff actually works.
Scenario 1
If the enemy walks into team range while Gr G36c Mod is standing still and not attacking, the animation/skill order is:
- Use skill 1(if off cooldown) and self damage (takes effect on next frame) and start firing animation.
- 50 self-damage appears.
- Rest of the firing animation plays. (Lasts 12 frames)
- Shelter and penalty.
In this situation, Gr G36c Mod has 12 whole frames (0.4 seconds) to start moving before she uses shelter.
Scenario 2
If Gr G36c Mod comes to a stop after moving, and the enemy is in range when she stops, the animation/skill order is:
- Use skill 1 (if off cooldown) and self damage (takes effect on next frame) and start firing animation.
- 50 self-damage appears. Shelter and penalty.
- Rest of the firing animation plays.
In this situation, Gr G36c Mod has 1 frame (~0.03 seconds) to start moving before she uses shelter.
Scenario 3
If the enemy spawns in range of the echelon at the start of the fight, it stops and starts firing immediately. In this case, Gr G36c Mod’s animation/skill order is:
- Echelon stops to start aiming.
- Play the entire firing animation. (Lasts 12 frames)
- Self damage (takes effect on next frame)
- (If G36c has 116+ rate of fire) play another entire firing animation. (Lasts 12 frames)
- 50 self-damage appears. Shelter and penalty.
Here you have a 13 to 25 frame window (~0.43 to 0.83 seconds) to move Gr G36c Mod at the start of a fight before she uses shelter. That’s pretty generous and makes delaying her shelter skill easier. It also implies the hilarious tech of buffing Gr G36c Mod’s rate of fire stat to give yourself more breathing room at the start of a fight.
There are some incredibly stupid and bizarre mechanics at play here, so let me explain.
Gr G36c Mod, like most T-Dolls, cannot use multiple skills and/or play multiple animations at once. If she is firing, she cannot use skills during the firing animation, and it is only before or after she has shot the bullet that she can use skills. Included in these skills are her self damage and shelter. These are coded as separate skills.
Self-damage being guaranteed to be taken by Gr G36c Mod happens on a specific frame. Usually in the same frame she can start using skills. But the frame that 50 damage actually appears is the frame right after that. The damage is guaranteed at that point though, even if Gr G36c Mod starts moving on that exact frame. But this does mean that if Gr G36c Mod uses her skill 1 before coming to a stop, she doesn’t need an HP shield to block the damage. The forceshield blocks it.
Once Gr G36c Mod self-damages, that skill no longer delays the shelter skill. This means that Gr G36c Mod can only activate her forceshield without using shelter once per fight.