Absolver’s most insulting move is a slap to the face

Martial arts fighting game Absolver [official site] is keeping me and many others happy with its fluid recreation of both fisticuffs and feeticuffs. But the move that has the brawling community most excited isn’t a whip-fast spinning kick or a sharp elbow to the top of the head – it’s a simple, shame-inducing slap to the face. Now, the most disrespectful thing you could do to another fighter is to get them down to their last sliver of health, then finish them with a single slap.

Here you can see PS4 player MacabreLlama99, sidestep a punch and deliver the humiliating killing blow.

It’s called the “Calbot”, and you can get it by finding a rare NPC that hangs around in random locations wearing nothing but underwear. He or she will only do the slap move. In Absolver, you learn new punches or kicks by blocking or dodging that move when it’s delivered by either an NPC or another player, then killing them to earn that slice of knowledge. So simply block for a few minutes, until your "learning circle" is full, then murder the slappist. Is this bot’s name Cal? It seems a likely explanation. Cal can spawn in multiple places and doesn’t seem very sociable – I’ve played for nearly 16 hours and have never seen the slapmaster myself.

But you can also learn it from other players who’ve previously been “taught”. Only 3.4% of players have the slap at the time of writing, according to Steam’s global achievement stats for the game. This, coupled with the rarity of the NPC means the best option is to actively seek out someone who’ll teach you. I’ve currently got my own begging bowl out I have now learned the notorious move from a friendly player called Empress, long may she reign.

However, there are rumours of another player named “SlapSensei” who’s going around Combat Trials (the 1v1 duelling matches of PvP mode) and just spamming the move at people in order to teach them. Should you see this wise old master, or any other slap-happy fighter, bow deeply and gratefully, for they are passing on the wonderful virus of martial knowledge.

As for the fighting game itself, Fraser thought it was hot stuff in our Absolver review and I'm currently having a ball getting badly bruised, so much that I talked about it both in last week's podcast and the week before. I even won a match last night (by dishonourably shoving my opponent off a ledge). Sorry.

Disclosure: Our boy Alec did some wordstuff for Absolver. But I'm too busy getting my nose busted to care