Sparring is certainly not easy to master during your early experience in era. These videos here will give you the basic knowledge and concepts needed to understand sparring in era.
Note: These videos have been out for quite awhile now. People have posted these videos in some other threads. Though, they're scattered. This thread will lure anyone else who didn't happen to bump into those links.
Disclaimer and notes: Tier lists in these videos are beyond outdated. With the ever changing guns in era, the tier lists are not to be followed. That being said, a tier list may or not be updated in the future. There are plenty of guns and some haven't been used often.
Graal Era Basic Sparring Guide
Graal Era Sparring Guide 2
Extra tips:
-Diagonal movements are very effective. Avoid moving in straight lines too frequently. Diagonal Movements allow easier bullet weaving/dodging, and unpredictable patterns
-Mix up your movements and direction. Keep the enemy guessing. Don't rely on repetitive movement patterns such as moving and shooting in one direction the entire match.
-Sudden pausing can help. While moving around is important, randomly stopping near the enemy can throw off their aim. This is also useful for waiting for a bullet to pass by you if you were about to rush down.
-Don't stay too far away from your enemy when at the top. This applies the most for players with low spread weapons. As long as you are far away from the enemy, you can't do much except dodge. The enemy will eventually corner you up at the top. Only distance yourself from the enemy when reloading or dodging bullets. Don't just sit far away from your enemy, get in closer and force them to shoot upward rather than just horizontally.
-Practice outside sparring. If you see bullets flying around at the streets of era, try to barely dodge the bullet. By barely touching the back end of the bullet. This will help you understand the timing of dodging bullets.
-Spamming = less mobility. This one is very obvious, but you'll realize how much easier it is to dodge bullets without spamming excessively. (Does that even make sense?)
-Focus on your character when dodging. When you feel the need to dodge, pay attention to your character and the bullets. Forget about the enemy. If he's far away from you, then you should worry about the bullets coming after you.
-Rush the rushers. Facing an aggressive rusher? Rush past him. Rush past the enemy when they don't expect it. This can help line you up for a counter attack.
Important tip: Hit timer's can be your friend or foe. Use it to counter rushers or as a rushing aid. Hit timer's allow you to take no damage for about 0.2 seconds after hitting the enemy.
Understanding spar arena types
Large Spar Arena = Easier to dodge bullets, harder to rush, generally longer spar matches
Medium Sized Spar Arena = Balanced and in between. Need to say more?
Small Spar Arena (Complex Spar) = Harder to dodge bullets, usually more rushing, easier to rush, very quick spar matches
Common play styles
Bottom Spar
-Shoot few times and rush in close for attack
-Slowly corner in the enemy
-Heavy hugger. Take in some damage for the sake of keeping the bottom area
Top spar
-Spread assault. Taking advantage of your insanely high spread gun by shooting horizontally to attack the enemy below
-Right hand beats left (or vice versa). Identifying your enemy's weapon and which hand they're holding it in. Then using a weapon to counter it and positioning yourself in the appropriate area. Spar guide 2 talks about this.
-Freeze rush. Stopping unexpectedly then rushing downward or to the enemy for an attack or bottom territory control
-Reckless rusher. Ignoring the risks and rushing diagonally and straight at the enemy for an attack.