Landing jump

Three questions for the mechanic

• When does the destination stop tracking?

  Place the landing marker during anticipation and freeze it before takeoff. The pose, shadow, and marker should agree on one center so the player can act on a stable promise instead of chasing a late correction.

• Can the whole player body clear the radius?

  Measure from the lock moment to contact using the slowest intended movement option. Test edge starts, camera compression, collision radii, and any airborne body hitbox—not only whether the player pivot crosses the line.

• Does the landing create a useful outcome?

  Hold Kern at the destination through a readable recovery. A successful response should produce changed spacing, access to a side, or a short punish window before the boss can select another attack.

Design mistakes

• The destination keeps tracking during flight

  A midair correction invalidates the marker and turns a planned clearance into a reaction test the signal did not announce. If homing is intentional, present it as a different mechanic with its own cutoff cue.

• The body hits outside the marked landing radius

  A shoulder, weapon, or invisible collision volume that reaches beyond the visible circle makes a geometrically correct response fail. Include the boss silhouette and the complete player extent in boundary tests.

• The next attack erases recovery

  If Kern cancels immediately into a sweep or another jump, clearing the landing point produces no useful result. Reserve follow-ups for a later combination rule and preserve the base landing recovery first.

Tune the attack

• Use one source of truth for the destination

  Drive the marker, landing shadow, boss path endpoint, impact effect, and damage query from one locked coordinate. This prevents presentation and collision from drifting apart during tuning.

• Separate travel danger from landing danger

  Decide explicitly whether the airborne body is harmful. The base rule here activates only near contact, so Tavi reads one fixed radial threat rather than an unannounced moving capsule.

• Tune cutoff, distance, radius, and recovery together

  Longer travel can support a larger radius only when the lock remains readable and every intended starting position retains a route. Re-test after movement upgrades or arena-size changes.

• Escalate by changing one promise

  Later variants can add a delayed landing, a second jump, or a follow-up wave. Introduce each only after the fixed destination and base radius are already legible without extra effects.

Arena

• What the mechanic communicates

  Kern becomes a moving piece of arena geometry: the launch yields space at the old position and claims a marked circle at the new one. The jump can therefore express weight, pursuit, or territorial control without hiding the rule behind spectacle.

Player upgrades

• Adapt it to the player verbs

  For walking and dashing, tune cutoff-to-contact time against horizontal speed. For jumping, grappling, or parrying, decide whether those verbs clear the radial impact, interact with the airborne body, or create a distinct response—and show that relationship before commitment.

Do not confuse this with

• Keep the mechanic distinct

  A landing jump relocates the boss to a locked destination and resolves a local radius there. A lunge threatens the travel lane, a marked-area strike can occur without boss relocation, and a ground slam may send a wave away from the boss. Preserve the relocation-plus-local-impact contract.