Dodging Cannon Fire: Reading Enemy Trajectories
A cannonball never hits you because your opponent "aims well." It hits you because you were predictable. Dodging fire in an io game like Dovion isn't about superhuman reflexes — it's about reading the fight. Projectiles travel, shooters lead their targets, and the whole game plays out in that small gap between where you are and where the enemy is betting you'll be. Learn to rig that bet, and you'll become infuriating to hit.
The core principle: they're not shooting at you, they're shooting at your future
Any decent gunner leads their shot: they calculate your speed, your heading, and send the cannonball to your estimated arrival point. Great news for you: you're the one who controls the information they're aiming at. Your trajectory is the lie you tell them.
Three immediate takeaways:
- A straight line is a confession. Sailing straight at a constant speed hands over the solution to the equation. Under fire, your path needs to become a question with no answer.
- Changing your rhythm beats changing your direction. Zigzagging on a steady beat is still a pattern — a good gunner locks onto it within two volleys. Slamming the brakes, surging forward, cutting the engine: irregularity in TEMPO is much harder to read than irregularity in heading.
- Dodging starts before the shot is fired. The moment you see a hull turning to show you its flank, the broadside is already decided. Move now, not once the cannonballs are in the air.
Reading the enemy arsenal: every line telegraphs its attack
In Dovion, an opponent's silhouette tells you exactly what kind of projectile to dodge — and each one has its counter:
- Broadside volleys (the Bordées line): the Grande Bordée fires both flanks at once. The counter: never stay parallel to a ship from this family. Cut toward its bow or stern, where the cannons can't reach.
- Fanned torpedoes (the Torpilles line): several projectiles spreading out in a cone. Up close, the fan is a wall; at range, the gaps between torpedoes widen. The counter: open the distance the second you spot a Torpilleur, then cross the fan through a gap.
- Lobbed shells (the Mortier line): aimed at the cursor, they arc clean over obstacles — your island shield won't save you. But a lobbed shot targets a POSITION, not a ship. The counter is almost comically simple: don't be there anymore. Against a Mortier, standing still is the only real sin.
- The bouncing lightning bolt (the Orage line): the Chaîne d'orage (chain lightning) jumps from hull to hull. The counter is a group effort: don't sail packed tight with other ships when a Galion is charging its shot.
The scenery is your second dodge
Every island, every rock between you and the shooter is a dodge you don't have to steer yourself. Good players never expose themselves in open water longer than necessary: they move from cover to cover, the way you cross a rainy street by hopping from awning to awning. This game of hide-and-seek is covered in detail in fighting around islands — just remember that a free dodge always beats a piloted one. One exception already mentioned: the Mortier, whose lobbed shells couldn't care less about your walls.
Dodging is a budget, not a lifestyle
Last point, and a counterintuitive one: don't dodge everything. Every evasive maneuver has a cost — you drift away from your target, you lose your firing angle, you burn attention. The duelist's math: which shots can I shrug off to keep my offensive edge, and which absolutely must be dodged? An enemy's E-ability burst: dodge it, no question. A stray cannonball while you're lining up your own decisive volley: sometimes you just take it. That's exactly the kind of trade-off you sharpen in duels — our 1v1 guide digs deeper into it.
Also worth reading
- The speed build: strike, flee, repeat
- Surviving the first 5 minutes (early game)
Go make a few trajectories lie: play Dovion for free — the cannonballs are waiting for you. Well, they'll try.