Source: https://shadowfrag.com/blog/movement-is-your-first-weapon/

# Building a movement vocabulary

By the SHADOWFRAG developer · Development · Oct 18, 2026 · 3 min read

A leap, an [air step](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-air-step) and a [shadow warp](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shadow-warp) become more useful when they work together. Here is how I connected the movement controls and the routes built around them.

[Twin Castles, captured in SHADOWFRAG's Vulkan renderer](https://shadowfrag.com/_astro/60b30cb2727587f9438651a26b189177bddc4c802dae0a2cbf5b97d5bcd327cb.BVfBgQeZ.png)

Actual engine render · Development build · 22 October 2026

I wanted movement in SHADOWFRAG to leave you with choices while you were still in the air. You might start with a leap, use an [air step](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-air-step) to change direction, then throw a [shadow grenade](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shadow-warp) to reach a wall and set up another jump. Each move needs to work on its own, but the connections are what let you improvise a route during a fight.

The directional jumps and balance work on October 18 established a movement controller shared by players and [bots](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-bot). I added more ways to travel through maps later. The controls described here include those later refinements, so this is also a guide to using the system, rather than a list of everything that existed on that first day.

## Starting a route

WASD chooses your direction and Space starts a leap. Press Space again while airborne to use an [air step](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-air-step), which can extend the leap or redirect it. Holding Jump chains ordinary leaps as you land; a fresh press timed around landing helps you carry momentum into the next one.

During the balance passes, I shortened the horizontal distance without making players stay in the air longer. I wanted opponents to be easier to track while keeping the quick rise and landing. [The measured comparison](https://shadowfrag.com/blog/shorter-leaps-better-duels/) shows how much the travel changed and which parts of the jump stayed the same.

Left Shift performs a [chi-jump](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-chi-jump): a launch in the direction you are looking. Looking across the map gives you more distance; looking upward gives you more height. You regain chi when you land, or when a [shadow warp](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shadow-warp) brings you alongside a wall.

## Changing the route in midair

Q throws a [shadow grenade](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shadow-warp). After a delay, you warp to it with your momentum preserved and your [air step](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-air-step) restored. If you arrive beside a wall, you also regain chi and can press Space to kick away. That makes the landing point useful for more than the teleport itself: it can give you the next move you need.

The warp can also kill, but only if your body overlaps an enemy when you arrive. [Armor](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-armor) and [shields](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shield) do not stop this [shadow frag](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shadow-frag); teammates and enemies with temporary spawn protection are safe. Neither the flying grenade nor the teleport trail deals damage. That distinction matters when choosing where to throw it.

Maps add their own opportunities through [wind shrines](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-traversal-aid), diagonal [launch seals](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-traversal-aid) and [jade speed rings](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-traversal-aid). The rings do not lock you onto a path. You can use an [air step](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-air-step) to continue between them or drop away to take another approach. Carrying a flag does not remove these movement tools.

Testing this meant following whole routes. A jump could reach the correct height and still leave the player with no comfortable way to finish the crossing. Practice matches give you room to try those connections without needing to learn them in the middle of a fight.

[Back to blog](https://shadowfrag.com/blog/)[Browse the glossary](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/)

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