Gameplay System Info Thread (SC5)

Life Bar

• Health is still 240. Characters live at 0 health, so it is effectively 241.
• When a character has 25% health left (60 points) the life bar turns yellow.
• When a character has 10% health left (24 points) all attacks that normally do 20 damage or less will do half damage. This is based on base damage, not damage with bonuses (counter hit damage, for example).

Critical Edge (CE)

• All are done with and cost one bar of meter.
• Can also be done or

• Game does not accept inputs during the flash. (The term "flash" here is borrowed from UMvC3 and refers to the close-up animation during a character's CE.)
• The initial hit of a CE cannot be Guard Impacted (GI). Additional followups, however, can be Guard Impacted (example- using GI on Siegfried's CE at a distance).
• CEs can be Just Guarded (JG).
• Nightmare's CE is treated as a regular auto-guard impact (aGI) and does not work on throws, unblockables (UB), nor other CEs.
• The fastest CE is α Patroklos' at i8. Most CEs range from i12 to i14.

Just Guard

• Performed by tapping and releasing within 4 frames but within 1-6 frames of an attack connecting.

• Works on everything (including UBs) except throws and throw CEs.
• The earliest you can repeat JG is 29 frames after the last time you pressed guard. (credit to noodalls)
• JG can be performed during Ukemi, but is difficult.
• Generally, JG removes a move's blockstun and replaces it with a special "JG" freeze. As a result, moves with long blockstuns tend to be worse on JG than moves with short blockstuns. For example, Nightmare's 66B is -23 on JG while Mitsu's 8A+B is -8, despite both moves being +2 on normal guard.

Critical Gauge

• Critical Gauge charges up to a max of 2 bars.
• Meter gain is achieved through attacking, blocking, JGing, ukeming and even whiffing attacks.
• Whiffed moves build 20% of the meter they would gain on hit.
• Blocked moves build 40% of the meter they would gain on hit.
• The opponent gains 40% of the meter you gain on hit.
• Blocking gains no meter.
• On a scale of 120 = 1 bar of meter (1 Critical Edge) and 60 = 1/2 a bar of meter (1 Brave Edge), Just Guard and Ukemi both build 10 meter.
• Some states won't allow meter gain though your opponent will gain some. Ex: Tira GS B+K on successful impact.
• Damage scaling in combos does not affect the amount of meter gained.

Guard Gauge

• Guard gauge goes from yellow to red as you block more attacks. Guarding too many attacks results in a guard burst. Guard burst gives you counter hit (CH) damage and properties during the 60 frame stun.
• Both gauges are unaffected between rounds. Make use of this to set up advantageous situations. Ex. w/guard gauge: Opponent is down to their last few points of life and flashing red. Throw them to win to keep their gauge red in the next round. Ex. w/ critical gauge: As Tira hit the knocked out opponent with 236K BE for a guaranteed mood change.

Guard Impact

• . Works on all hit levels (high, mid, low) but does not work on throws, UBs, or CEs and costs half of a meter. Impacts from frames 2 to 11.
• Gives +27 frames on successful impact.
• All attacks within the advantage window are guaranteed if the opponent has no meter to re-GI.
• It is possible to perform a JG during a GI's recovery. This can be used to counter the opponent's GI → CE by whiffing a GI of your own and JGing their CE.

Movement

• Sidestep (single tap in any direction) leaves you unable to guard for 20 frames (no more step-G from previous games--Voldo is an exception in Blind Stance only). However, it can canceled into attacks, throws, and GIs.
• Quick Step (QS) is a double tap in any direction except and within 6 frames of each press. Covers more distance than a regular sidestep.
• Getting hit during a step results in a Run Counter. These function similarly to attack counter hits. Backstep counters cause an additional 20% damage while sidestep counters cause 10%.
• QS can be buffered into the recovery of an attack causing the character to show the characteristic wind trails but travel a short distance. This version of QS can be canceled into .

Jumping

• Jump : 33 frames
• Jump → Jump (65 frames, first jump is cancelled on F32 into second jump)
• Jump → standing attack no longer starts on i27 of the jump like it did in SCIV, instead the jump → standing attack now begins on F33, same as all other actions besides jump → jump (credit to Slayer_X64)

Clean Hit

• A random chance of a 25% damage increase for a single hit.
• Has three probability types: A, B, C, from highest to lowest.
• Clean Hit A will Clean Hit 30-40% of the time; B, 15-20%; and C, 5-10%.
• Clean Hits "stale"; if a move is used too much in a match, the probability of Clean Hit activation goes down.
• Clean Hit rankings for moves are listed in the Wiki.

Instant Full Crouch, While Rising, and Recovery Crouch Cancel

• Buffering an iFC move from neutral standing position takes 5 extra frames
• Buffering an iWR move from neutral standing position takes 5 extra frames (credit to Slayer_X64)
• RCC is performed by pressing any direction except , , or then performing an attack during the startup of the dash that was buffered. This allows attacks that can only be done from standing to be performed quickly after a move that recovers in FC, allowing certain combo possibilities that don't work otherwise, such as Yoshimitsu's CH iMCF → RCC 3B.

Throw Breaks
To break a throw, you must press the corresponding throw break (always A or B) within a set window. For normal throws, this window is 13 frames.
For command throws, this window is 9 frames.

Depending on how early the throw break is inputted, one of three things will happen.

• The character being thrown will shrug the opponent's hands off them (fastest throw break). This puts the player who broke the throw at +3. This type of throw break can only occur on normal throws and will not happen when breaking a command throw or Brave Edge throw.
• The character being thrown stumbles backwards but does not fall over. This puts the character who broke the throw at -3. For Algol, this throw break is replaced by an animation where he teleports backwards without using his throne.
• The character falls over in an ukemiable knockdown. For Algol, this throw break is replaced by an animation where he teleports very far backwards in his throne. This puts Algol at -6.

Certain characters have attack throws that can be broken. These include:
Xiba 1_3A+B
Nightmare and Siegfried FC A+G_B+G
Dampierre PB A+G_B+G
Mitsurugi MST A+G_B+G

Certain characters have "mashable" throws, which usually increases the number of hits of the throw. These include:
Patroklos 66B+G (mashing increases number of hits, can be countermashed)
Dampierre PB A+G_B+G_B (mashing increases number of hits, can be countermashed)
Dampierre Left Side Throw (mashing decreases chance of entering Poker Bluff, cannot be countermashed)
Raphael 66A+G (mashing increases self-heal, cannot be countermashed)

Throw breaks operate on an input priority system. The system gives priority for A over B, B over K, and all over G in cases of simultaneous inputs. For example, A+B, A+B+K, and A+K will break A throws, B+K will break B throws, and you can also mash A or B while holding G to break throws. It is impossible to attempt both an A and B break at the same time.

Belial: I got all the QS info from the Future Press guide. If your testibg has proven otherwise I will remove it.

windirein: The advantage granted depends solely on the move that you JG.

Excellent work ka_kui. The Frenchie guide is wrong again. I'll just test everything myself from now on.

To break a throw, you must press the corresponding throw break (always A or B) within a set window. For normal throws, this window is 13 frames.
For command throws, this window is 9 frames.

Depending on how early the throw break is inputted, one of three things will happen.

• The character being thrown will shrug the opponent's hands off them (fastest throw break). This puts the player who broke the throw at +3. This type of throw break can only occur on normal throws and will not happen when breaking a command throw or Brave Edge throw.
• The character being thrown stumbles backwards but does not fall over. This puts the character who broke the throw at -3. For Algol, this throw break is replaced by an animation where he teleports backwards without using his throne.
• The character falls over in an ukemiable knockdown. For Algol, this throw break is replaced by an animation where he teleports very far backwards in his throne. This puts Algol at -6.