Charge characters vs others

Why do some characters have charge motions for their moves instead of fireball motions?
Is it to handicap them because they’d be OP without it?
I main Ryu and I’m trying to learn how to play blanka and Rog but I’m having trouble knowing when I’m charged and when I’m not. Whenever I played a Guile with Ryu it seemed like he could throw projectiles as fast as me, but I can’t figure out how to charge as fast as most charge players I play online.
Are there any secrets or tricks to playing a charge character more effectively?
How do I do Rog’s headbutt into Ultra 1? I’ve tried for 2 hours and can’t seem to do it?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Charge moves often recover faster than circular moves, so the charge balances that out. It will help if you find the exact amount of time you need to charge for. This varies between games.

Rog’s headbutt to U1:

Hold db to charge headbutt, then press ub + p, then back to db, and do the ultra motion when you land. It’s important that you keep your charge backwards during the headbutt

thanks. I’ll try that out. :slight_smile:

Charge buffering is important for Guile. You can actually begin charging for your next sonic boom before you throw your second one. hold back, hit forwards, hold back immediately, hit :lp:. That fraction of a second extra means a lot in a fireball war.

Charge characters usually have a few amazing normals to compensate for the limits on their other moves. Guile’s s.hp and cr.mk, Chun’s… everything, and Balrog’s cr.hk/s.hk. Guile’s flash kick hits too far to be fair without a charge, and Chun can U1 off EX Spinning Bird Kick near the corner.

Actually you don’t even need to return to db, just go db, ub + p keep holding ub and when rog lands do f, b, f + kkk

What about when you get knocked down? Can you start charging while your on the ground or do you have to wait until you get back up? (Ex. If you want to do wake up psycho crusher. Do you have to already be charged before you get knocked down or can you charge while on the ground?)

Also, when does your charge go away? Does it go away when you get hit or when you get knocked down?

I don’t think it goes away at all? It may depend on the character but I know that BB Hood can stock up her missiles until she decides to use them.

There is only one thing that can take away your charge. You letting go. The game doesn’t care whether you are knocked down, in the middle of an ultra, or whatever. If you are holding down/back, you are getting a charge. And you only lose it when you let go of that direction.

Of course if you don’t let go of your charge for flash kick you’ll eat a jump-in attack. And you can’t play footsies with s.hp if you’re charging for a flash kick. But you’ll still be charged so you can do a wakeup flash kick! And really, that’s all that matters, right? /sarcasm

+1 for buffering. blanka charges are important just dont rely on his charge moves. normals make his character!

Just like when you practice SRK and fireballs. Training mode.
Do repetitive booms and flash kicks with Guile, and same goes for Balrog dash straights and headbutts. You’ll get a feel for the minimum amount of time needed. Which is quite quick, but it seems slow to folks who haven’t played charge before.

Never forget your normals. Charge characters have awesome normals that are useful for poking / footsies and for use when not charged. Don’t lay on down-back all day. Unless you’re Guile because he’s Guile.

Someone crossing you up or -under will remove your charge as well :wink:

Doesn’t really remove your charge, just forces you to change directions immediately. For example, if you cross up the CPU, they’ll still have charge to do their moves. A person isn’t likely to know exactly when to switch sides to retain their charge, but you can still input an ultra after your opponent crosses you up. Just treat it as if you’ve already inputted the opposite direction.