Thanks for checking out my game. The thought process behind dash costing HP is that the "HP" isn't actually hp. I called it that for simplicity in this version but it is supposed to be an F-zero style shield/energy bar. You die when taking a hit after reaching 0 shield. There is also a plan for you to be able to recover "HP" when hitting enemies and using the dash and any future abilities will cost this resource. I definitely want to try making this system work but I'm not dead set on it. I'm going to do a trail hopefully ready by next DD and see if it works or not. The deadzones were actually added in last minute so there wasn't much testing going around there. I'll definitely look into improving that. Admittedly the megaman inspiration is very loose, it was what got me started on this game but I don't want to strictly be a "megaman" inspired game. I'll probably just drop that note since I do seem to be deviating quite far from those game already.