Character Guide (Still WIP)

Input System

To follow the standard of Soulcalibur, we are using numerical keypad numbers and the following inputs

Directional input (4 is back, 6 is forward, etc.)

7 8 9
4 N 6
1 2 3

Note:”_” is “or”, “[]” is “hold/charge”. “WR” is “while rising”, the state between crouch and standing.

Attack inputs: A, B, K, G

Mitsurugi

While his Tenpu-Kosai-Ryu Kai style is good for beginners, you can’t be too button-mashy with it. You have to keep Mitsurugi’s two stances in mind: Mist and Relic. Each move and string opens up one or the other, which then leads to new skills and attacks.

Use him if: you want a beginner character and if you like samurais.

Notable moves
1B,B or 1K,B: use these at close range.
3B: if opponent is conditioned to block low, just use this for a lethal hit.
33_66_99(hold)A, A or 6,6(hold)K: closes the gap between you and your opponent.
Mist stance, then B,B,B,B: use against Reversal Edge-happy folks.

Nightmare (via Zerokage)

Nightmare is a big-sword character who is capable of controlling space in mid-long range, consistently dish out high damage and have strong mixups. This demon’s general game plan is to use 2K, move around, land some throws and control space with pokes.

Maintain his optimal range with continuous low poking, throw/GS mix-ups, or stance pressure with NLS and NBS. Aim to acquire Night Terror Charge (NTC) whenever possible.NTC is a new mechanic that grants Nightmare access to his Soul Charge moves for a single use. Feel out your opponent’s defensive habits and melt them.

Steal back your turn on low disadvantage with Revenge and keep up the pressure with 2K, movement, GS/2B/FC3B, Throwing, NTC 66KK, NTC GS AA, 4KK, Jump K, Reversal Edge, and Guard Impact.

Use him if: you want to punish newbies and scrubs with surprisingly fast and hard-hitting strikes.

Notable moves
2K: great poking move with good tracking.
6A,A: high horizontal move that reaches pretty darn far. The 2nd hit can be ducked.
3A,A: Long range whiff punish that doubles as a heavy poke.
22A,A: Mid-Long range 2 hitting mid-string, string that connects on NCc. The 1st hit is his primary poking tool in conjunction with 2K/agA/6A/2B and throw.
(in Soul Charge) 6BBB: Nightmare’s longest whiff punisher, especially 6BBB in NTC that damages guard gauge immensely. Frame advantage on block.
7_8_9K: Jumping kick that hits mid, safe on block. Knocks down on CH

Check out the full Nightmare guide here.

Sophitia

The sword and shield style here is meant for mid to close range, but Sophitia has enough tools for a beginner to even play the mid-zone footsie game. Next to Mitsurugi, she’s the best all-rounder of the whole Soulcalibur series. Her Angel Step shenanigans and her lighting-fast vertical slashes and kicks make her a force to be reckoned with.

Use her if: you want to get the basics and advanced methods of the game pat down. She’s a fighter meant for beginners and veteran fighting game fans trying Soulcalibur for the first time.

Notable Moves:
3[3]_6[6]_ 9[9]A: Best attack to start with when closing the gap. Fast too.
6A,A: Attacks and defends simultaneously. Follow up with RE for added fun.
236: Angel Step, the main move to gain ground and cover distance. Follow-up attacks like 236B have quick recovery frames and are fast.
236236: Twin Angel Step opens up more attacks, but you have to be quick with the inputs. Use 236236A,B to put pressure on an opponent’s defense and tear through REs.
K,K or 6K: The former has good reach and is quick; the latter is the best frame trap move for button-spammy opponents.
3K: A safer alternative to 6K, albeit a shorter range. Mix it up so that you can stop your opponent from pressing buttons too much.

Seong Mi-Na

This Korean hottie is back. She still has the best and quickest long-range gameplan The simple rule of thumb for all Seong Mi-Na players is: don’t let enemies get too close. Do try to gauge your distances correctly so you can use the tip of your blade; your moves have better properties when you use just the tip.

Use her if: you like to zone people out.

Notable Moves
3A: The quickest long-range move that tracks and covers any 8-way run shenanigan quick. Don’t abuse it since most intermediate players are used to seeing this move. Mix it up with the following moves below.
1B: Low-hitting long-reaching move. Use it on grounded enemies, but sparingly just to keep opponents on-guard.
2AB: Long-ranged break attack.
2[2]_8[8]B: Great combo-starter and 8-way run initiating move.
4B or 2B,B: If your opponent gets too close, use this to mount a quick getaway.

WRK: Best kick move from Mi-na. Quick recovery and knocks down.

Taki

The sealing ninja has a few tricks up her sleeve to close in on her opponents. She has rolls, evades, cancels to rolls, and even a dive kick of sorts to get things into gear. She’s nimble, but her defense is a little on the weak side. Just keep the pressure going and make your opponent guess a ton and you’ll be fine with this shinobi. Do make sure to utilize her Possession stance to unleash fast attacks. Her pressure game is strong, but can be evaded if you can’t figure out her moves after Possession.

Use her if: you’re a rushdown fighter. Cammy users from Street Fighter will love this shinobi.

Notable moves:
3[3]_6[6]_9[9]B: Best way to start getting in. You can score lethal hits if you’re adjacent to your opponent.
A+B: Ninja Cannon; best move for Taki against REs.
6A,A: Punish side-stepping opponents with this, so that you can condition them to eat your vertical attacks and close combos.
Possession stance, 6K,4: Get into opponent’s faces if they like guarding so much.

Siegfried

Blonde guy in armour. Heavy on defense. Has a big sword called a Zweihänder. Hits really, REALLY hard. That’s all you need to work with. He has three different stances to work with that offer a ton of attack and defense options.

While not that hard to grasp playstyle-wise, you need to figure out which moves cancel and switches to which stance so that you can keep your opponent guessing and even hesitate. Nothing is as satisfying as launching your opponent sky-high with your blade when he/she tries to attack.

Use him if: you like to turtle and keep people within the mid to long range.

Notable Moves
6A,[A]: You’ll be doing this combo a lot. Whether you choose to hold the last A or not to get into Side Hold Stance is up to you. Half the time, you will.
A,B (fast): Once you conditioned your opponent to block your strings, use this to catch them offguard when they try to interrupt or counter-attack.
A,G,A (fast): Master this tough input and you will keep your opponents away from you. Perfect against close-ranged pressure-heavy folks like Taki and Talim.

Yoshimitsu

Dude from Tekken with the samurai armour and scary face. He loves to do his spinning blades and helicopter mixups to trick opponents. He has a lot of effective pokes too with his standard horizontal and vertical strings that can sort you out.

Furthermore, he’s pretty good with counterattacks and ring-outs; keep track of his moves that let him do that easily. He’s the only character who can steal Soul meter, so use his strings that capitalize on his trait. His Soul Burn trait allows him to extend some combos with AB.

Use him if: you like to deal with enemies who like to interrupt strings and like to get up-close and personal. Yoshimitsu’s moves are fast and can confuse opponents, but they’re only effective if he’s close to his opponent.

Notable Moves
3B: His new launcher. You are going to be using a lot of this when up-close. His 3BB follow-up can hit grounded opponents for tons of damage. You can do your helicopter Dragon Fly stance by holding 3[B].
8A: Good mixup tool. Causes a Lethal Hit for a combo.
22A: His new evasive move that goes under high attacks.Can cause Ring Out and Wall Splat, so use them when possible.
Meditation Stance, K: A pretty fast two-hit kick that switches him to Dragon Fly stance.
4B, B,B,B or 6A,A or 6A,B : These strings will trigger his Soul Steal and Soul Burn style, assuming you can punish your opponent’s counter-attack attempts.

GrØh

Contrary to popular belief, he doesn’t “toh”. He instead loves to cover ground with his speed, his range, his mobility options, and his Avenger stances.

You will need to familiarize yourself with moves that open up his double blades Avenger stance; those moves are super-fast and hard for opponents to react to. They’re even better when he’s in Soul Charge mode. Do use more REs with this guy so that he has Soul meter to get him in his “Super Saiyan” state.

Use him if: you like to pierce through turtlers and defensive players. His Avenger Stance is key in doing this. Just make sure to keep the pressure on; his defensive options aren’t so hot.

Notable moves:
6B,B,6: the middle part of this move puts him in Avenger stance. Follow up with an appropriate attack if needed.
4K: a kick that tracks and can also Ring Out.
2AB: a break attack that hits low. Mix it up with your regular strings.
6,6BK: A good move with stance change options.
6,6K: GrØh’s best launcher so far. It makes him evade high attacks.
6,6A,A or 6,6,B,B or 4,B: Moves with side-step properties.
4,4,A: Comes with auto-GI and can cause Lethal Hit.

Geralt

One of the many guest characters of this game is one of the most beginner-friendly guys on the block. The Witcher is good at keeping enemies at the tip of his sword (ie great footsies), can whiff punish very well, and is a great all-rounder character. He can switch between offence and defence well thanks to his skillsets and his meter-burning signs. Speaking of which, you should watch his Soul meter in case you are sign-happy.

Use him if: this is your first Soulcalibur game. He’s tailor-made for newbie players who want to jump in on this sword-slinging action.

Notable moves:
6,6A,A: The most important move for Geralt to get in. Has long reach, is safe, and hard to whiff punish. Can be ducked though, so don’t spam it too much.
6B,B or 6B,[B]: To deal with ducking opponents. A mid-attack that pushes enemies back. If you crumple someone with it, follow up with 6,6B,B. Also does chip damage especially if you hold B for the second hit.
A,A: Use this for neutral situations.
6A,A: Sends opponents far away if it’s blocked. Pushback in this game is always welcome especially when it comes to Geralt. Mix it up with 6A,B below for maximum mixup fun.
6A,B: Use this if your opponent is mash-happy. This move stuns if it’s a counter, though wary opponents can sidestep it if you’re predictable with it.

Azwel

The motherlover of humanity is the complete opposite of Geralt in the new characters circle: he’s tough to use and isn’t as easy to read compared to the other characters. He has access to three stances: his axe, his dual blades, and his shield-lance combo. Plus, he has no standalone kick attack.

However, in the hands of an expert who knows how to get the hang of his stance changes and his Break attack transitions, he’s a force to be reckoned with. Don’t expect to win games easily with just his 6,6B: you need to diversify and keep your opponent on edge to make use of his all-purpose skills.

Notable moves:
6,6B: His best finisher and combo-ender so far. Don’t rely on it too much though; it has quite a startup and can be side-stepped easily.

2B

The guest star from NieR Automata has a ton of weapons to use, but she excels more at close range. Her special is 236 and 214, which makes her either dash forward, or do a short backdash followed by a forward dash respectively. She has a bunch of moves and follow-ups from those to keep opponents guessing.

Even if she’s far away, she can use her Pod to either shoot projectiles or fish opponents closer to her while being on the advantage. Be careful when using her Pod moves though; their recovery frames are pretty huge, meaning a quicker and/or long-ranged fighter can bob and weave and then punish you hard.

Notable moves:
3B: Her best launcher. It’s easily punishable, but it has great range. Plus it comes with air combo buttons.
8A/8B: Use these if you know your opponent’s going to go for low attacks; they have great follow-ups if you land them. 8A has a delay which can bait enemies to GI or low hit, while 8B hits quick.
6,6BK: Great 8-way run horizontal attack that pushes enemies back. It also rings out opponents too.
2,2/8,8BK: Best sidestep/vertical string punisher for 2B. Follow it up with 4BB for big damage.

(to be continued…)