Im not new to street fighter or any other fighting game, but only since HDR I’ve actually used the charge characters. I know I’m right in thinking they are more defensive characters, but I am finding myself cornered because of the charge backwards that is the start of most the motions. I know that a charge down-back is the same, but most opponents tend to jump back, then run forward, so down-back charging leaves me open to be grabbed once they are close enough.
Guile is the worst offender, but this tends to happen with all the charge characters apart from Chun. Apart from playing patiently and waiting for them to come to you, which is a risky game anyway, as all the time you are charging you are controlling no screen space, I can not really see why a charge character would be advantageous over the opponent, as it usually leaves me cornered.
Any help that covers charge characters in general would be greatly appreciated as I like to play Balrog(boxer), Chun, Guile and Blanka. Sorry if there is already a thread like this but search is disabled and I’ve only been lurking and posting for about 2 months.
Try some claw - and don’t forget you can charge back whilst jumping forward (as soon as you leave the ground start charging), also when you are sliding, backflipping (3P or 3K) in fact at ANY time.
For instance a nice tactic with Guile (who can turtle very well with booms and jump back + MK) is to charge down+back, and WHILST STILL HOLDING THAT CHARGE) press HP (Fierce) to do his uppercut. This can fool an opponent into thinking you’ve stood up, lost your down charge for a flash kick, so they jump at you.
FLASH
Ahhhhh!
(saviour of the universe)
There are plenty of other such tricks that allow you to charge, and remain “at large” so to speak.
Claw was actually the only one I was putting off trying cos his charge times seemed longer then anyone else. Do any of them differ, because I kinda assumed that whatever strength of attack you used for the execution, it would change the change the amount of time you had to hold the charge?
Thanks for the help, Il try some Claw later on. Chun is my main btw, her wall bounce makes being cornered alot easier.
Well Claw’s got the same wall bounce too, so that’s a bonus for you! The difference in charge time is barely a few fractions of a second between characters - you’ll barely notice it, and AFAIK (I may be wrong) the attack strength has no impact on the time you need to charge.
And as a bonus, even if Claw’s charges are the longest, he’s got so many ways of hiding when he charges whilst still gaining ground you won’t care.
Give it a crack, he’s a great laugh to play as.
(Visit the claw thread for LOADS of tips, and use cr. MP LOTS)
I don’t know how much you know so I’m going to start basic.
Charging down-back counts as both a back charge and a down charge. I thiiink you already knew that.
You can be charging at any time and it counts towards your charge. This can be while you’re doing an attack, in midair from a jump, getting hit, whatever. Often, you will start holding for your next charge immediately after you do a particular action.
Learn to use your normals to keep your opponent out while you’re still building charge.
When an opponent jumps in at you, get used to knowing when you’ve already charged long enough for an anti-air special, when you can use a normal as an anti-air and just keep charging, or when you should just abandon the down charge to stand up and block it (you’re still charging back though).
Being a charge character doesn’t actually mean you need to play defensive. Many characters have some normals that will move them forward while still allowing you to maintain your charge, or special attacks that propel them forward. Also, as you grow in familiarity with a character, you’ll get a feeling for when it’s okay to just not charge and instead walk forward to keep up your offensive pressure.
I think that’s all I had on my mind right now. This is by no means a complete guide to how charge characters should/can be used, but hopefully it provides you with a starting point.
Knowing this really does change how I look at charge characters, thanks for the help guys its appreciated. I was expecting to get flamed for joining in 09 or something.
Il have a look in the character specific threads for more info, thanks again.
One more thing to add is that even with a charge character, there are loads of moves you can use that don’t require charge i.e. jump ins, normals, throws, Lightning Legs, etc. From this, you can learn that you can build charge while doing these moves. For example, you can jump in with Boxer, start charging downback during the jump, land, throw a couple of crouching jabs and then have enough charge to do either a headbutt or a dash punch. (I don’t know Chun well enough to give any examples for her, sorry.) You should get a feel for when you can charge and when you need to let go of your charge to block high, jump or walk.
I play Claw and the difference in charge time really is tiny (see here for exact differences in moves/characters: http://nki.combovideos.com/data.html#tame ). The moves that need the longest charge last a bit longer too, so you can hit your opponent with a flipkick, charge another one while you’re doing it and hit them with the second flipkick before they hit the ground. That said, it’ll be easier to stick with your main and apply the new knowledge to your game rather than trying a totally new character.
I think holding charge absolutely is one of the mistakes a lot of players make when picking up charge characters. You need to get in there and pressure your opponent just like everyone else. If you can move forward while holding charge, that’s awesome. If not, or if it’s too dangerous to do so, don’t just write off closing distance.
Don’t ignore your normals. This is true of everyone, though you feel it worse with charge characters, I think. You’d be surprised how good your normals are, and in ST/HDR specifically, damage is high enough that normals can win your fights. I primarily play Dee Jay, and while his specials are obviously crucial tools to his game, applying pressure with his normals tends to be where I earn my wins. There is defense in his game, but it’s more of a focused defense, trying to poke a hole in their game that you can then exploit with smart offense.
Again, as Claw you’ve got loads of great moves to go forward with - charge be damned.
As for Dee Jay (who I rarely use) most people who play as him that scare me are the ones trying to cross me up and combo me to death. Yes they often use the MGU, but not always.
Don’t forget about closing space by throwing slow projectiles! Of course, Guile is the easiest person to exploit this with. Throw a :lp: Sonic Boom and follow it in and then let the mix up games begin!
Yeah…once I learned how to move forward and maintain a charge, all of my charge characters became almost as insanely rushdown as my non-charge characters. I guess I like high time bonuses or something.
i guess the only way to literally move forward while charging is to jump in, as a backflip with chun is the exact charge time, so surely a jump in with her wil have the same charge time too.
This information on this thread is pretty damn good stuff, I saw on eventhubs.com there were people were asking about charge timings, i should re direct them here! Il be practicing the normals and jump ins later on when my girlfriend is off soul calibur.
If that’s all you got out of the responses we gave you, your Guile is going to eat a lot of anti-air attacks. As it was stated earlier in this thread (and I’m sure several times over in the Guile thread that already exists), Guile has moves that actually move him forward while you do them while you hold :l: on your controller/joystick. The Bazooka Knee (:l: or :r:+:lk:) and the Sobat Kick (:l:+:hk:) are the most obvious ones. You must explore your moveset to stand a chance.
For more info, look up some Guile videos on YouTube…whether they be combo videos or gameplay videos, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
well its harder to comment on stuff like that when I haven’t got the game right in front of me lol, I’ve only been playing for a couple of months, well since it came out. Practice makes perfect as they say and that’s what I’m off to do.
It is appreciated don’t feel its wasted, just a lot to take in in one sitting.
I think Guile and DJ are the exception to the “charge characters shouldn’t always charge” rule, especially Guile. There’s some reckless Guiles out there, and they’re nowhere near as effective as the turtling ones on average; same can be said for DJ. A “chill” DJ is a nightmare match-up for non-fireball characters.
Bison is a great example of a character you shouldn’t charge with unless you’re in motion b/c of his floating ability and simply his mobility in general. Blanka is a whole different animal (no pun-intended) b/c he’s most effective in attack-mode keeping his opponent trying to ensure they do not all into the too close / too far away trap where Blanka is most effective. A guy like Honda is the best of both worlds, and can be highly effective on offense or defense.
