Thanks Tai, this was a real fault and bigger than dispel. Many monsters, Pianus and the Shark among them, were casting some of their skills with no wind-up at all: the skill landed the instant the monster chose it, and its next attack could follow immediately. That is why Magic Guard seemed to vanish and the hit arrived in the same breath. Those skills now show the monster's casting animation and take their proper time, so you see the dispel coming before the next hit, and a burst now plays on your character when a dispel lands. One note: Manon's dispel is part of one of its attacks in the original game, so that one still arrives with the hit; that is how Pre-BB Manon behaves. Your idea of dispel dealing 1 damage to grant a moment of safety would be a change from the original, so it has been passed to Mark as a suggestion.