Akuma is finally added toStreet Fighter 6, and along with his arrival came the game’s first massive balance update, shaking up all the characters, making some incredibly strong and others not as strong as they once were.
While this massive update has impacted every character, all will still shine in the right hands, but they might require a bit more effort to use than usual. Nonetheless, if you played this game prior to this patch, you will have to get used to a few tweaks made to your favorite character if you want to return to your prime!
A.K.I. Balance Changes
A.K.I.receivedmany changeswith this massive patch, and if you think she got nerfed, you could not be any more incorrect about that assumption. In fact,A.K.I. has been buffedto the extent that some are already considering her one of the biggest winners of this patch!
Standing Medium Punch
Makes the attack less punishable on whiff but slightly lowers its range.
Standing Heavy Punch
A.K.I.’s s.HP is now a bit safer on block and can hit lows more consistently.
Standing Light Kick
A.K.I.’s s.LK now comes out faster when performed but takes longer to recover, has a tighter combo window, and leaves her at a slightly more considerable disadvantage when blocked.
Standing Medium Kick
A.K.I.’s s.MK is overall faster to perform than before and leaves her closer to her opponent on hit, enabling her to perform new actions after executing it.
Standing Heavy Kick
This action now has better poking properties and is an excellent anti-air option.
Crouching Medium Punch
While A.K.I. will still be pretty vulnerable if she whiffs this action, the penalty is significantly lessened, making her opposition have to react faster and with potentially a different move to get a punish.
Crouching Medium Kick
Having an additional frame to work with after landing the attack will allow A.K.I. to buffer different actions. Additionally, having it now be plus on block instead of leaving her at a disadvantage makes it an excellent option to engage with.
Crouching Heavy Kick
Hitting a Punish Counter with this action can now lead to better combos, and the frame changes makes it even easier to do just that, as the recovery is slightly faster and the active frames are slightly increased, making it linger a tad longer than usual.
Jumping Heavy Kick
Move stays active much longer than before, giving it more opportunities to hit the opposition. However, as a result, the recovery window now leaves A.K.I. vulnerable, opening her up to being punished on whiff.
Gluttony
Universal System Change, making it harder to get throw loops on your opponent and making the corner more manageable for the opposition.
Hun Dun
It doesn’t do a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but it’s nice to have as it allows her an additional frame to follow up with her next action.
Light Serpent Lash
Transforms this action, when paired with Toxic Blossom, to one of her best combo starters, leading to massive damage.
Heavy Serpent Lash
Allows A.K.I.’s opposition to interrupt the action earlier, but enables her to cancel into other actions if her attack lands, leading to more combo potential.
Overdrive Serpent Lash
Makes this action more punishable on whiff, making it slightly more dangerous to throw out.
Normal Nightshade Pulse
Grants her more combo potential than before, a trend of her overall balance philosophy.
Overdrive Nightshade Pulse
Again, this just gives her more combo potential in a specific instance when landing this action.
Toxic Wreath
The first attack does far less than it did before but will still do the same damage overall if the second one lands, which now has more active frames.
Normal Cruel Fate
Enables her to use it as a combo ender by comboing directly into her Level 3 and makes it slightly better when blocked, as she is placed further away from her opposition, forcing them to use specific actions or just block.
Overdrive Cruel Fate
Gives her better pressure as with the previous move on the list, enabling her to combo directly into her Level 3 on hit or block, making it an excellent way to end a devastating combo. The extended hitbox also makes it stronger to use in combos.
Venomous Fang
Essentially just makes this move even better at passing through incoming projectiles than it already was.
Heel Strike
Makes this move much better to include in your combos, as the added hitbox on the second hit of the move’s sequence allows A.K.I. to go into another action on hit.
Entrapment
This action is no longer influenced by any scaling properties initially, making it slightly stronger overall.
Light Snake Step
Essentially has A.K.I. move backward instead of forward, making it an excellent tool to bait your opponent into unsafe situations.
Deadly Implication
This one was largely a bug fix and a slight nerf, but the increased hitbox of the super makes it slightly better to end some combos with that were otherwise impossible before.
Tainted Talons
Increased the damage output of the Super Art by 200 damage on its final hit, making it even more devastating than before.
Blanka Balance Changes
Overall,Blankaismore or less the same but has received a substantial nerf or twothat changes his game plan just enough to make himone of the biggest ‘losers’ of this update.Especially when compared to a character like A.K.I., who seemingly received nothing but buffs!
Makes this action less punishable overall, but only by a slight margin.
Crouching Light Punch
Blanka is at a slightly better advantage when landing this attack, but it’s likely nothing you will notice too much.
This makes Blanka more susceptible to being punished, as the hurtbox reaches further than before.
Whiffing this attack now places Blanka at a severe disadvantage, enabling his opponent to punish him.
Drive Reversal
This was a bug fix to make his Drive Reversal on par with the rest of the cast.
Jungle Flip
Rock Crusher
This action now places Blanka at a slightly worse frame disadvantage than before, making it more risky to toss out.
Coward Crouch
There’s now a slight delay before you can transition into a new attack from this action than before. It shouldn’t be too noticeable in practice, however.
Wild Lift
A slight buff to the range of this action, making it more useful for combos or engaging with your opponent.
Medium Rolling Attack
It makes this action much easier to weave into your combos, thanks to the new hitbox.
Overdrive Rolling Attack
It makes the action slightly easier to deal with and respond to on the receiving end, so it will be slightly more risky to use overall, but it shouldn’t be too noticeable.
Overdrive Backstep Rolling
Makes the first attack in the sequence better overall, allowing it to reach slightly further than before, making it viable in combos or to begin engagements with.
Overdrive Aerial Rolling Attack
This is one of the more substantial nerfs, as Blanka has more recovery frames upon landing, and the action can no longer hit the opposition’s back, essentially removing it as an opening move.
Blanka-chan Bomb
This essentially makes the action weaker overall, as the scaling nerfs the raw damage output it used to have. It’s still the same move, but it will be less potent.
Lightning Beast Shout of Earth
This was a bug fix, as its original implementation wasn’t supposed to be immune to everything.
Cammy Balance Changes
Cammy,like Blanka, has beenmostly nerfed,but hergameplay largely remains the same.However, thenerfs made to her projectile invincibility-focused attacks are the more substantialof the bunch and serve as the primary reason she is considered one of the stronger nerfs from the rest of the cast!
Cammy will now be closer to her opponent after landing it than before, giving her more follow-up options.
Reducing the hurtbox of this action makes it slightly harder to land consistently and makes it riskier overall to just toss out.
Cammy is at a slight ‘better’ disadvantage if the opponent blocks this action, but it having reduced pushback on top of that makes it really bad for Cammy if it’s blocked.
Rough Landing
Delayed Ripper
Essentially makes the window for canceling into a Drive Rush slightly tighter, making it harder overall, but not by much.
Lift Combination
This is a universal change that makes it harder to execute accidental inputs when performing other actions.
Swing Combination
This action is now much more viable in combos, making it an excellent option for weaving into new routes. Overall, this move has nothing but positives for Cammy!
Light Spiral Arrow
This move now has less impact on the combo count, meaning its scaling and overall damage output are better.
Charged Heavy Spiral Arrow
Makes it easier to perform the fastest version of this move by a frame. Not much of an upgrade, but it is one.
Medium/Heavy Quick Spin Knuckle
This is arguably the biggest nerf of Cammy’s, as it now takes three frames longer for her projectile invincibility to kick in, making it harder to perform on reaction.
Overdrive Quick Spin Knuckle
Same as the change above, this is the biggest nerf on Cammy and shakes things up pretty dramatically.
Heavy Hooligan Combination
Essentially allows this action to collide with opponents that may be above Cammy’s original pushbox, making it useful in specific situations.
Overdrive Reverse Edge
Makes this action better for combos, making the scaling less substantial, enabling it to deal slightly more damage overall.
Overdrive Fatal Leg Twister
This action has even more damage scaling now, making it less potent, especially when initiating combos with it.
Normal/Overdrive Cannon
Makes this action more potent at the start of the attack, then makes it easier to avoid and punish toward the end of it.
Spin Drive Smasher
Killer Bee Spin/Aerial Killer Bee Spin
This action now deals more damage but no longer builds Drive Gauge during the cutscene, as that was apparently a bug. Nonetheless, this action is slightly better overall and worth weaving into combos!
Chun-Li Balance Changes
Unfortunately,Chun-Li received a tremendous amount of really devastating nerfs,likelymaking her the character that got hit the worstof the bunch. While that doesn’t automatically make her bad,she certainly has to work harder to get in on her opponentsthan before and has tofind new combo routesto deal her massive damage!
Standing Light Punch
This move is easier to punish, as the hurtbox has been extended outward further and lasts for five total frames.
This action has been buffed, as she is now slightly less negative on block but also gets pushed back further than before, making it relatively safer to toss out from time to time.
This is a considerable nerf, as the added scaling severely impacts the damage scaling and output.
This move is even more punishable, so tossing it out all willy-nilly is a no-go unless you want to see your HP get depleted.
Jumping Light Punch & Jumping Light Kick
This allows Chun-Li to follow up with additional attacks, making it a decent way to engage the opposition.
Taiji Fan
Swift Thrust
The Special Cancel window is now tighter for this action, and the Drive Rush cancel must come in several frames later, making this a decent nerf but nothing too severe. Chun-Li being closer to her opponent on hit makes it easier to combo into more things afterward, which balances things out!
Lotus Fist
Essentially, it changes the follow-up actions that are available to Chun-Li on hit or her opposition on block. This is a neutral adjustment and just makes the move better to react to on either side of the table.
Yoso Kick (1)
The increased pushback slightly limits what’s available to Chun-Li on Punish Counter but will still allow her to follow up with more devastating actions and find new routes.
Yoso Kick (1-3)
This was a bug fix, as she was previously unable to attack while jumping backward in this situation.
Overdrive Kikoken
This will impact the damage of this action substantially, making it less viable in combos that already have a high combo count and scaling.
Normal/Overdrive Hazanshu
It makes it slightly harder to time the attack to bypass projectiles, but not by much. It shouldn’t be too noticeable in the grand scheme of things.
Normal Aerial Hundred Lightning Kicks
Makes this action much easier to punish on whiff. The extended hurtbox also makes it easier to interrupt and react to overall.
Light Aerial Hundred Lightning Kicks
Makes so Chun-Li will no longer switch sides with her opponent on hit if they were walking forward.
Overdrive Aerial Hundred Lightning Kicks
The expanded hurtbox of this action is now projectile invincible, making this adjustment an overall net positive, and that’s not even including the enhanced damage output. This attack is excellent for combos and will likely be used a lot more in sequences now!
Aerial Kikosho
A blanket nerf to the damage output, making it less potent.
Kikosho/Aerial Kikosho
Hoyoku-sen
The Super Art Gauge now scales at 70 percent after performing this action, making it slightly less potent when trying to build meter with the follow-up actions.
Dee Jay Balance Changes
Dee Jay,like the ones before him,has also been hit with some severe nerfs,but nothing quite as severe as what Chun-Li or Cammy went through. Hestill has access to some of his more potent actions,like his bizarre Drive Rush,but has been hit in some other regions that will surely trip Dee Jay players upwhen getting back into the swing of things.
Makes the action far less potent overall, having it deal less damage when used in combos.
Makes this action more susceptible to being punished on whiff, making it far more risky to throw out.
Gives this move even more combo potential when executed as a Punish Counter.
Flip Throw
Threebeat Combo
An overall buff to this action, but only by slight margins. Still, this will be much easier to incorporate into combos and transition into other actions from.
Face Breaker
The reduced blowback enables Dee Jay to follow up with different attacks, leading to new combo routes and strings. And the added Super Art Gauge increase is very nice to have, making this an overall win for Dee Jay!
Knee Shot
This is arguably the biggest and most negative change made to Dee Jay, as the reduced hitbox now drops some of his more common combos, and it placing him in a Punish Counter state for largely the entire duration of the attack makes it far more risky to throw out.
Overdrive Air Slasher
This attack is now less potent than it was before and now does far less damage when used in combos.
Heavy Jackknife Maximum
Makes it much easier to punish and react to if Dee Jay whiffs it.
Medium/Heavy/Overdrive Jackknife Maximum
Another massive nerf to Dee Jay, as this also changes his combo routing up quite significantly and forces him to find different combo routes and strategies to prevail. This is one that will haunt Dee Jay players for a while.
Double Rolling Sobat
Slightly impacts the overall potency of the attack, making it deal less damage in combos.
Overdrive Double Rolling Sobat
This action is also less potent than before, especially when used in combos, making it deal less damage overall.
Normal Funky Slicer
This action is now extremely punishable on whiff and also deals less damage during combos, making this a pretty decent nerf that will also greatly impact Dee Jay.
Normal/Overdrive Waning Moon
Normal Maximum Strike
This is a universal change that makes it harder to execute accidental inputs when performing other actions. Aside from that, this action is also a viable anti-air attack now!
Overdrive Maximum Strike
This is a universal change that makes it harder to execute accidental inputs when performing other actions. It will also deal less damage in combos… a trend of Dee Jay’s nerfs.
Normal/Overdrive Juggling Sway
The Greatest Sobat
This is a substantial buff for Dee Jay, making it an excellent way to cap combos off. While we don’t recommend using it on blocking opponents, it is much safer on block now as well!
Sunrise Festival
This fixed a few bugs but also made this more potent to use in combos, making it a devastating way to close them out, especially with the added hitbox!
Dhalsim Balance Changes
After the slew of nerfs, we reach our next character, whoreceived mostly buffswithDhalsim,who cannow do his thing without getting jabbed from a mile awayas his arms retract. He alsoreceived some decent anti-air options,making him considerably better than he previously was!
This enables Dhalsim to follow up with more attacks than before, giving him access to slightly different and better combo routes.
The reduced pushback and change in animation give Dhalsim a bit more time to react and follow up with additional attacks, making it a viable combo starter.
Puts Dhalsim at a considerable advantage, making this an excellent ‘Get off me!’ tool that should be used when someone gets in on you.
Yoga Mummy
Puts Dhalsim in an advantageous position on hit but at the cost of some damage. Overall, it’s an excellent change.
Agile Kick
Makes it harder for Dhalsim to hit airborne opponents, making this a slight nerf, especially when trying to use it as an anti-air or combo extender.
Normal Charged Yoga Fire
This action is now slightly faster, making it a decent tool to use during combos or to engage with your opponent.
Overdrive Yoga Blast
Makes this action much more potent overall, especially in combos or when initiating an encounter. This is an excellent change for Dhalsim.
Overdrive Yoga Comet
Allows Dhalsim’s projectile to remain on screen, making it great for catching your opponent off guard or extending combos.
It makes this action even more devastating against opponents in Burnout but also allows Dhalsim to control where the projectiles go, making for one of the best changes to his kit.
Merciless Yoga
Allows Dhalsim to transition into this move faster from Yogo Flame, making that specific combo route much better and more viable.
E. Honda Balance Changes
E. Hondais our first character thatisn’t really mega-buffed or severely nerfedand is sort ofchilling somewhere in the middle.While hisheadbutt and buttslam have been dramatically nerfed, his other changes make him a much more viable fighterin capable hands!
This leaves E. Honda at a much better advantage on hit, making it easier for him to follow it up with other actions for combos.
Makes it harder for opponents to interrupt the action or punish it.
Gives E. Honda a considerable advantage on hit, making this an excellent move now!
Slightly improves the frame advantage of the move, making it a bit easier to follow it up with other actions.
Makes it easier to follow this action up with more attacks if he hits an airborne opponent.
Jumping Medium Punch
Puts E. Honda at a severe advantage, giving him control of the offense in this situation.
Tawara Throw
Double Slaps
Toko Shizume
This move is now an excellent combo extender, even if the Special Attack cancel window is a bit tighter than before.
Normal/Sumo Spirit Hundred Hand Slap
Makes it easier to extend combos with this action and also makes it slightly more viable to engage opponents with.
Sumo Spirit Hundred Hand Slap
Makes it an excellent combo extender, allowing E. Honda to launch into entirely new routes.
Sumo Spirit Medium/Heavy Hundred Hand Slap
Another excellent combo extender for E. Honda, allowing him to quickly follow up with more action on contact, especially if the enemy is airborne.
Light/Medium Sumo Headbutt
Makes it harder for E. Honda to spam this action, as his follow-up option have been severely limited. R.I.P. Headbutt Spam.
Heavy Sumo Headbutt
Same as above, this essentially just makes it less viable to spam this action and bully the opposition with it.
Normal Sumo Smash
Like the Headbutt, the Sumo Smash was another highly spammable move by E. Honda players. It has now been substantially altered, giving him fewer follow-up actions. Pour another one out for the buttslam spammers.
Overdrive Sumo Smash
Basically the same principles as the changes above. This is far less viable to spam than before.
Normal/Overdrive Teppo Triple Slap
Overdrive Teppo Triple Slap
E. Honda can now combo off this action if it connects with a standing opponent, giving him more routes and options in general.
Normal/Overdrive Taiho Cannon Lift
Normal/Overdrive Oicho Throw
Makes this action slightly more punishable, making it less viable to attempt tossing out.
Neko Damashi
Makes this move very poor against projectiles, making it extremely risky to use against zoners.
Show of Force
This move is now decent and can hit opponents beneath E. Honda. Other than that, it wasn’t all that big of a change, but a nice to have.
Ultimate Killer Head Ram
Essentially changed it to align with the other characters in the game.
The Final Bout
Makes this a bit more potent overall, especially in combos, but the fixed damage can make it amongst the weakest of Supers if executed raw.
Ed Balance Changes
Next isEd,who received…no changes.While that’stechnically not true, the changes he did get don’t change much of anything.If you were happy with Ed pre-patch, you will still be happy with him now! If not, well, there’s always next year?
This essentially makes it harder to perform the held-down version by accident.
Ed will now be at a slightly less disadvantage if this attack gets blocked, but not by much. You may notice it in some situations. We guess.
Makes this action far more susceptible to being punished if Ed whiffs the attack. So, don’t do that.
Rib Crusher
Psycho Knuckle
Makes this far less viable against projectiles, severely punishing Ed if he comes in contact with one via this action.
Normal Uncharged Psycho Flicker
Makes extending combos off this action much easier to pull off.
Psycho Storm
This just guarantees that the second attack will always land if the first does, as a bug was previously preventing that from happening.
Psycho Chamber
Another bug fix this makes it so that, no matter the situation, the distance this attack covers will always be the same.
Guile Balance Changes
Guileis another character that, despite what the patch notes show, stillfeels the exact same now as he did before the patch.While he definitely received more changes than Ed, we just don’t see how they impacted his overall strategies and gameplay. So, again, if you liked playing as Guile before, you will still love him now! Yay!
There is now combo scaling with this action, making it a bit less potent than before overall.
Jumping Medium Kick
A blanket increase to the damage output of this action. Which is obviously nice to have!
Judo Throw
Reverse Spin Kick
Places Guile in a much more favorable position when landing this action on an airborne opponent.
Recoil Cannon
Double Shot
Enables Guile to follow up with more attacks, opening the door for slightly different combo routes.
Phantom Cutter
Essentially gives this action the same properties on a Punish Counter as you would get with a standard hit. A strange change if we’re being honest.
Makes this attack much more susceptible to being interrupted or punished. However, it now shreds the opposition’s Drive Gauge if they block it, making it a devastating tool.
Overdrive Sonic Blade Version Overdrive Sonic Boom
Has much less of an impact on your Drive Gauge, making it more viable and reasonable to use in most situations.
Overdrive Sonic Blade
This enables Guile to follow this action up with additional attacks much more easily.
It makes this action far easier to interrupt or punish, making it a bit more riskier to toss out.
Overdrive Sonic Cross
This move is essentially much better at extending combos, especially in specific situations, like in the corner.
Sonic Break (Variation)
Sonic Hurricane (Up)
Sonic Hurricane (Side)
This also becomes much better at extending combos and will be a much more viable tool for Guile to use overall.
Jamie Balance Changes
It’s been quite sometime before we had an A.K.I.-esque character that seemingly hoarded all the buffs for themselves. So, allow us to introduce the new and improvedJamie,who isnow extremely horrifying on paper and in practice.He is alsoone of this patch’s biggest winners,and it’s not even a debate!
Jamie is now slightly more plus on block with this action, giving him slightly more options if his opponent presses buttons after.
Like the one above, except this one is only if the action hits, giving Jamie slightly more wriggle room to follow up with additional attacks.
Hitting this action increased the plus frames of Jamie by two, allowing him to follow up with additional attacks much more easily. However, this will now leave him slightly negative on block now, so he must be cautious of when and where to use it.
This action is now much more susceptible to being punished on whiff.
This action now leaves Jamie at a slightly worse disadvantage when blocked but becomes an automatic low>high, which can catch unfamiliar players off guard.
The final frame of the action’s start-up can no longer be interrupted, which is definitely a nice to have for Jamie.
Wheel Punch
Tensei Kick
Gives some of Jamie’s actions added utility, making them much more viable to implement in combo routes or mixes.
Falling Star Kick
Allows Jamie to cancel into Full Moon with greater ease than before. The added hitsop and blockstun also gives Jamie more options to add in more mixes into his game plan.
Bitter Strikes
The Drive Rush cancel window may be slightly tighter than before, but the star of the show is the extended hotbox on the first attack, as it will allow Jamie to cancel into specific actions more easily and more efficiently.
Immediate Ransui Haze
The overall damage output and potency of this action have been severely dampened, especially when used in combos.
Freeflow Strikes (Drink Level 0-3)
Makes it slightly easier for Jamie to transition into other actions from during this action’s third attack. Other than that, the Drive Gauge enhancements are just nice to haves and won’t change your approach too much.
Normal Freeflow Strikes (Drink Level 4)
This move is now an excellent way to build all of Jamie’s meters and deplete some of your opponent’s. Other than that, nothing too drastic was changed here.
Heavy Freeflow Strikes (Drink Level 4)
Essentially puts this move in line with the other variants of the same action.
Overdrive Freeflow Strikes (Drink Level 0-3)
Places Jamie at a slightly better frame advantage on hit and carves away the opposition’s Drive Gauge much more severely when blocked.
Overdrive Freeflow Strikes (Drink Level 4)
The removal of the combo scaling makes this action much more potent when woven into combos, and its extended hitbox makes it an excellent tool to utilize in combos. It’s a win/win!
Normal Freeflow Kicks
Like some of the other actions, this just makes this attack excellent at building Jamie’s meters and chipping away at his opponent’s. It’s devious and fits his playstyle like a glove.
Overdrive Freeflow Kicks
Again, this will chip away a much larger portion of the opponent’s Drive Gauge if they block it, making it worth tossing out if their meter is low.
Heavy Swagger Step
Makes Jamie slightly less negative on the recovery of this action and if it’s blocked, but not by much. He will still be susceptible to being interrupted or punished more so than not.
Light Arrow Kick
This action is much less potent than before, but it is much easier to transition from this attack into another action, making it a decent combo extender.
Normal/Overdrive Luminous Dive Kick
This move is now slightly more punishable on block but can now be interrupted much more easily than before.
Normal/Overdrive Bakkai
Makes this action even better at negating incoming projectiles, allowing Jamie to close the gap between him and zoners much more easily.
Normal Tenshin
This was a bug fix, as the previous version was apparently displaying the wrong values!
Overdrive Tenshin
Starting combos with this action now deals much more damage than before, but if you perform this action within a combo, the damage will be substantially lowered.
Normal/Overdrive Swagger Hermit Punch
Breakin'
This action is now much faster to perform than before and is much easier to use in combos.
Getsuga Saiho
Makes it easier for the attack to land on airborne opponents than before.
JP Balance Changes
Now, from an ultra-buffed Jamie, we move toJP,who gotsubstantially nerfed.While hischanges aren’t quite as drastic as we anticipated, they are still relatively massiveand willchange how JP players approach specific situations.Overall, he was also one of the handfuls of characters impacted heavily by nerfs!
Makes it slightly harder to interrupt or punish this action.
JP will remain close to his opponent if this action is blocked, making it easier for them to respond.
Makes this action much more susceptible to being interrupted or punished.
It makes it easier to interrupt in the later stages of the action but easier to land overall.
Jumping Heavy Punch
Essentially a bug fix that properly readjusts the hurtbox of the action.
Uragan
Guillotinna
Another bug fix that set the value to what it apparently should have been. Neat!
Grom Strelka
Not only does this do considerably less damage overall during combos, but it can also be interrupted much more easily than before. It’s an all-around nerf for JP.
Zilant Mid
Zilant Low
Overdrive Triglav
This action is much less potent than it was before when kicking a combo off with it.
Normal/Overdrive Stribog
This action is much less viable to projectiles than it was before.
Heavy Stribog
JP takes longer to recover if this action gets Perfect Parried, allowing his opponent to follow up with pretty much anything they want.
Overdrive Stribog
This move now does increased damage, comes out at a much faster speed, and can now be canceled directly into his Super Arts. This is an excellent buff for JP!
Normal/Overdrive Departure
This essentially slightly impacts its damage output when implemented in combos, as the higher the combo counter, the less and less damage you do overtime.
Overdrive Departure
Gives JP slightly more utility with this action, which is an excellent nice to have with all the nerfs.
Overdrive Torbalan
Despite it being much less potent overall when used in combos, being able to cancel this action into his Super Arts makes it an excellent way to extend combos.
Normal/Overdrive Embrace
This action is far easier to use in most situations, as its extended hitbox allows it to hit the opponent more consistently. However, it will now be far less potent than it was before. Sorry, JP.
Chornobog
This action is now very susceptible to incoming projectiles, so be careful when and where you use it!
Lovushka
While this attack can be interrupted much more easily, it having more active frames gives it more opportunities to hit the encroaching opposition, balancing things out.
Interdiction
JP’s advantage is essentially halved but still extremely positive. However, him landing even further away from his target does limit his options slightly. He is JP, after all, so he will still be fine here.
Juri Balance Changes
Juriwon the Capcom Cup, so you just know she’s getting hit with nerfs, right? …Right? Well, that was our thinking, too, butshe has actually since been buffed,making her even more of a menace than ever before. So, with that in mind, let’s get into everything she can do now!
This action is now harder to interrupt or punish.
Normal/Chain Combo Crouching Medium Kick
If Juri whiffs this attack, it will be far more susceptible to being punished than before, making it risky to toss out.
Normal/Chain Combo Jumping Medium Punch
The damage output of this move has been reduced for both the normal and chain combo versions.
Chain Combo Renko Kicks
Makes this action far easier to use as a combo extender.
Normal/Chain Combo Korenzan
Places Juri at a better advantage when hitting an airborne opponent.
Death Crest
Turns this attack into an excellent combo starter with no added scaling, enabling Juri to go directly into her Super Arts or other actions.
Normal/Overdrive Fuhajin
Makes this action substantially less viable against projectiles, making it far worse against zoners.
Overdrive Fuhajin
This move is much faster from start to finish, making it much easier to weave into combo routes or to toss out to begin your offense.
Normal Anjensatsu
This action’s damage potency is substantially reduced, especially in combos. However, landing this combo leaves Juri in a much more advantageous situation, allowing her to easily transition into different actions.
Overdrive Go Ohsatsu
This attack sequence must be executed in a tighter window to work. Other than that, nothing else changed here!
Normal/Overdrive Shiren-sen
If Juri lands this attack, she will be in a far more advantageous situation than before, making it an excellent way to keep her offense rolling.
Sakkai Fuhazan
This was essentially another bug fix that adjusted the properties of the attack to where they should have been.
Kaisen Dankai Raku
Places the enemy in a slightly better situation if they block this action and fixed a visual bug that was present with the action.
Ken Balance Changes
Kenis in a similar boat as Juri, aseveryone expected him to get nerfedinto the ground, but heended up receiving buffs instead.If you enjoyed playing as Ken before this patch, you will likely still enjoy him now and might even like him more after some of these changes!
Matched the block trigger up with the hitbox to make the attack more uniform.
It makes it easier for this action to hit airborne opponents, which is useful for extending combos.
Neutral Jumping Heavy Kick
The attack remains active for a slightly longer duration, making it useful for some combos or punishes.
Quick Dash
This basically just ensures this action has the highest priority over other actions to always guarantee you use it when you want it.
Chin Buster
The cancel window for Standing Medium Punch is much tighter now than before.
Normal/Overdrive Hadoken
Makes it harder for the opponent to interrupt or punish this attack.
Quick Dash Shoryuken
This attack is far less potent when starting combos with it than before.
Overdrive Tatsumaki Senpukyaku
While the final attack of this action does considerably more damage, the combo count limit being increased will have the rest of the combo deal less damage overall.
Overdrive/Quick Dash Dragonlash Kick
Expands the time allotted for buffering the next input, making it far easier to chain together actions for combos.
Heavy Jinrai Kick
Makes it harder for opponents to interrupt this attack and makes it easier for Ken to land it. Additionally, after Ken lands this attack, he can now execute follow-up action much more easily.
Normal Gorai Axe Kick
Ken will be left in a much better position offensively than before, making this attack much better and more reliable.
Normal/Overdrive Gorai Axe Kick
Normal/Ovedrive Senka Snap Kick
This will just move Ken slightly more forward than before, which can be a huge plus or negative depending on the situation.
Kasai Thrust Kick
Dragonlash Flame
Shippu Jinrai-kyaku
This is a blanket buff to the action’s damage output, which is never a bad thing. Unless, of course, you’re on the receiving end.
Kimberly Balance Changes
Kimberlyis our next character up to the plate. And, while shehas been buffed quite considerably,she stillpales to the likes of A.K.I. and Jamie,which is odd considering we thought she would be near the top of the winners with this patch. Nonetheless, let’s just be happy she was even buffed in the first place!
Kimberly will now be closer to her opponent after landing the attack, enabling her to follow up with more actions.
This attack builds more Super Art Gauge for Kimberly on hit, which is always nice to have.
A blanket buff to the damage by 100 is not too shabby, and the reduced pushback also makes it a very pleasant buff!
Bushin Tiger Fangs
Bushin Prism Strikes
Normal/Overdrive Sprint
This is a bug fix that makes it harder to get accidental inputs or actions.
Normal/Overdrive Bushin Hojin Kick
Essentially turns this action into a combo extender, making it easier to transition into other actions during an ongoing combo.
Overdrive Torso Cleaver
This action now shaves off more of the opposition’s Drive Gauge if they block it.
Light Vegabond Edge
While this attack is slightly faster and leaves Kimberly at a slightly less disadvantage, she will still be severely punished on block, and the speed of the attack will not make up for that.
Normal Bushin Senpukyaku
Makes it harder to interrupt this attack and makes it an excellent anti-air option.
Medium/Heavy Bushin Senpukyaku
Makes this attack much more potent on Counters and Punish Counter, almost guaranteeing the third attack in the sequence will hit.
Normal/Overdrive Bushin Senpukyaku
Makes this action more potent overall, which is never a bad thing.
Overdrive Bushin Senpukyaku
While it will deal less damage overall during combos, the base damage increase is incredible, and being able to cancel this action directly into her Super Art Level 2 makes it an excellent addition!
Overdrive Nue Twister
The damage scaling for this action during a combo has been severely muted, so don’t expect it to do nearly as much damage as before.
Hidden Variable
This action will always come out before Bushin Snpukyaku, essentially erasing the possibility of accidentally getting that move over this one.
This is an excellent change overall for Kimberly, as it allows her to choose when she uses her Shuriken Bomb Stocks during this sequence. The faster start-up and extended collision pushbox are just the cherries on top!
Bushin Thunderous Beats
The base damage increase makes this action much more potent overall, and the odd one Drive Gauge reduction essentially makes it impossible for the opponent’s Drive Gauge to begin regenerating during the attack.
Bushin Scramble/Soaring Bushin Scramble
The increased damage and hitbox is an incredible change for this action, and the added hitbox makes it even better at executing during combos. This is a win/win/win!
Bushin Ninjastar Cypher
The added hitbox makes it easier to combo into, which is always nice to have!
Lily Balance Changes
Similar to Kimberly, we expectedLilyto get buffed beyond belief, andwhile she did get buffed, it wasn’t quite nearly as drastic as we anticipatedit to be. Nonetheless,Lily is better than ever,which honestly wasn’t a hard bar to clear. It’s just nice seeing her have a propper offense and actual useful tools!
This action is slightly faster overall but shouldn’t make too much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.
On hit, Lilly is now plus by an additional four frames, enabling her to transition into other options. And, while she is still negative on block, it’s far less severe than before. Overall, this change will be massive for her offensive presence.
Again, this action is slightly faster but probably won’t change too much of anything.
Crouching Heavy Punch
This move can now be interrupted much more easily by the opponent, so we advise against just tossing it out.
The increased knockback time allows Lily to follow up with more actions with ease, and the blocking properties is a nice addition that can trip up unfamiliar opponents.
This is a bug fix that makes Lily remain in the Standing Position during her Drive Reversal like the rest of the cast.
Normal/Overdrive Mexican Typhoon
This action will now be slightly more potent when scaling, which is always great to see. But this attack will also be easier to interrupt by opponents.
Medium Condor Wind
Lily will remain closer to her opponent when landing this attack, allowing her to launch into more actions if she wishes.
Overdrive Condor Wind
This action is now faster by a few frames, which can be useful for extending combos or interrupting incoming attacks.
Overdrive Windclad Tomahawk Buster
The new hitbox will allow Lily to transition into other actions with better ease.
Heavy/Overdrive Windclad Condor Spire
The added horizontal blowback will enable Lily to land more follow-up attacks.
Breezing Hawk
Thunderbird
The blanket damage increase will make this action slightly more potent, making it excellent for weaving into your combos.
Soaring Thunderbird
Luke Balance Changes
WhileLukedid receive many nerfs, they are allmostly damage nerfs,meaning helargely still has access to the same devastating gameplayhe had before but has to work a tad bit harder to defeat his opponent. What’s more, hecan also do more combos, as some of his other actions got buffed.You can’t keep this man down!
The move is now slightly longer to perform but has a slightly faster recovery time. You will likely struggle to notice this change in game.
Luke is now plus on hit with this action, giving him access to a few more options for combos.
Again, some values were adjusted by a slight margin, which could effect things in the long run but, for now, you will likely notice these changes in game.
This makes the window of connecting this attack with other actions slightly harder, which can impact the timing and execution of some combos.
This action will now be far less potent than before, an example of how much his overall damage output has been nerfed.
This action is now far more susceptible to being punished on whiff than before.
While this move is a bit easier to interrupt and has a slightly worse hitbox, the standout is the 15 percent combo scaling, which further highlights his overall damage nerf.
This action is now more susceptible to being interrupted by the opponent.
Outlaw Kick
Landing this attack as a Punish Counter will leave Luke in a slightly less favorable position, but he will still be able to get a full combo off.
Nose Breaker
Fatal Shot
The blanket increase to this action’s damage and Super Art Gauge is massive, especially when considering all the other damage nerfs. It depleting even more of the opponent’s Drive Gauge on Punish Counter is just an added bonus at this point!
Medium Flash Knuckle
This just makes it harder to accidentally perform the wrong action.
Charged Medium Flash
This makes the move slightly less bad when hitting an opponent with Heavy Armor but Luke will still lose that encounter overall.
Perfect/Charged Heavy Flash Knuckle
This now puts Luke in an even more advantageous situation than before.
Overdrive Flash Knuckle
DDT
The base increase to the damage output and Super Art Gauge is incredible to see, especially on this attack!
Normal/Overdrive No Chaser
This action now has longer active frames and shorter recovery frames, but it won’t impact much of anything.
Pale Rider
Makes this a much more viable option during combos but less viable to just toss out at a distance.
Manon Balance Changes
Manonis back and better than ever,receiving several much-needed buffsto bring her back into the conversation of top-tier characters. While she still hasa bit of a way to go before being considered the best of the best, these changes are a step in the right directionoverall!
The transition window from this action into À Terre now happens later in the attack, making it easier to execute.
Having less pushback when landing this action allows Manon to follow up with more actions.
This essentially enables Manon to cancel into more actions with more ease than before.,
This action gives Manon a slightly better advantage on hit, but it’s nothing too major.
Crouching Light Kick
This action is harder to use to counter low-reaching attacks, but the reduced pushback on hit is a huge plus for Manon.
Manon is slightly more positive on hit, which can be useful for some follow-up attacks but probably won’t lead to anything too different.
Drive Impact
This was a bug that has since been fixed, bringing Manon more in line with the other chartacters.
Uchi Mata
Tomoe Derrière
This makes the potency of the follow-up actions in the same combo less potent.
À Terre
En Haut
Places Manon in a slightly more advantageous situation on hit, especially if it hits an airborne opponent. The added hitbox on the second attack allows for easier combo extensions.
Révérence
Manon will now have the advantage on block, making this an excellent tool to get her offense started. The reduced pushback on hit will also open up new combo opportunities.
Normal Grand Fouetté
This basically alerts the player with a visual cue that they have landed a Punish County.
Overdrive Grand Fouetté
The start-up of this action is now slightly faster, which will hardly impact much of anything.
Normal Rond-point
This is quite big change, as you can no longer use this action as a way to get largely unscaled Super Art 3 or Critical Art damage.
Heavy Rond-point
Allows Manon to follow-up with more action with slightly more ease if this attack hits an airborne opponent.
Overdrive Rond-point
Being able to cancel this action into Super Arts is massive for Manon and is an excellent way to extend and end combos.
Normal/Overdrive Manège Doré
This is a quality-of-life change for this action, making it a bit easier to execute.
Arabesque
The added hitbox makes it much easier to land this Super Art on opponents that are positioned above Manon during a combo.
Étoile
The increased damage makes this action much more potent, especially when ending combos, which is now easier to do with the additional hitbox.
While this action is more susceptible to being punished on whiff, it finally scaling with Manon’s Medal Levels opens the door for tremendous amounts of damage!
Marisa Balance Changes
In a similar fashion to Guile,Marisa received many changes, but she doesn’t feel or play all that differently.While there are nice to haves and some nerfs,she didn’t change all that much overall,meaning Marisa fans will still love dishing out tons of damage with her!
Jumping Heavy Attacks
Marisa now recovers three frames faster than before but will likely not change a whole lot overall.
Charged Standing Heavy Punch
The additional frames on hit and block will give her some wiggle room and ease to execute more actions but won’t change a whole lot either.
Normal/Charged Standing Heavy Kick
This makes Marisa a bit safer overall, making this action slightly less risky to throw out. But it will still be negative by a considerable margin on block.
Normal/Charged Crouching Heavy Punch
This means that the opponent won’t begin blocking the action until the second frame of this attack is active.
Charged Crouching Heavy Punch
Marisa will now be slightly negative on block but will still be at a considerable disadvantage.
Normal/Charged Crouching Heavy Kick
Charged Crouching Heavy Kick
On hit, Marisa will be able to go into a few more options with much more ease than before. While she is in a better situation on block, she will still be at a considerable disadvantage, all things considered.
This move stays active slightly longer than before, which can impact some things but likely won’t change too much of her offense.
This was a bug fix that made her Drive Reversal follow the same rules as the other characters'.
Marisa Style
Made it harder to accidentally execute specific actions when pressing certain inputs.
Ponte Milvio
Falx Crusher
Makes it much easier for Marisa to juggle her opponent on hit than previously, a welcoming buff for Marisa fans.
Overdrive Quadriga
Allows Marisa to execute more follow up attacks with a bit more ease.
Normal/Overdrive Phalanx
Landing this action as a Punish Counter will now place Marisa in a more advantageous position.
Overdrive Phalanx
Marisa is even more plus on block with this action, allowing her to go into more action to further apply pressure.
Normal/Overdrive Scutum
This is an excellent addition for countering opponents with Super Armor. The slightly better frame disadvantage doesn’t change too much, though.
Enfold
The slightly less frame advantage will impact very little, largely making the follow-up action window slightly tighter, but that’s about it.
Javelin of Marisa
The Counter Hit version of this attack is much better for combo extension. The Drive Gauge regeneration is now more in line with the rest of the cast.
Meteorite
The removed pushback on airborne opponents and extended hitbox of the second attack makes this move much more viable to combo into.
Goddess of the Hunt
The options Marisa can follow this attack up with will now be somewhat limited, but she will still be at a severe advantage regardless.
The distance of the CA version of the action now matches the standard Super Art Level 3 version. Other than that, the same changes from above also apply here.
Rashid Balance Changes
Like Ed,Rashiddidn’t receive many new additions or substantial buffs or nerfsto really move the needle. If you were tearing it up with Rashid before this update, you will be more than fine afterward, maybe even slightly better with some of these changes!
Arabian Skyhigh Version Jumping Heavy Kick
This makes the damage scaling slightly more potent overall, but not by much.
This was a bug fix that changed the hurtbox of this action to its intended properties.
Sunset Drop
Rashid is slightly more safe after performing this action than before, but nothing too major has changed.
Arabian Skyhigh Version Blitz Strike
Run
While this action is now two frames faster to transition into, it won’t change all that much in the grand scheme of things.
Backup
Being able to hit airborne opponents with this action is massive, as is being able to cancel directly into a Super Art during the action’s second attack. This is a substantial buff overall!
Tempest Moon
Being able to cancel into a Super Art from this action makes it an excellent option to extend combos even further!
Rising Kick
Air Current Boosted Light Spinning Mixer
Removes the anti-air properties from this action, making it less than ideal to try and counter them with now.
Normal/Air Current Boosted Light Eagle Spike
Like the other actions with similar changes, it’s always excellent when a move can cancel into Super Arts, especially a Super Art 3, as it opens the door for more combo opportunities.
Wing Stroke
Rolling Assault and Nail Assault
Super Rashid Kick
Ysaar
Fixed a bug where Rashid would continuously build Super Art Gauge when this super was still active.
Ryu Balance Changes
Surprise, surprise, like A.K.I. and Jamie,Ryu also received a tremendous amount of really substantial and solid buffs,making him thefinal winner of this massive patch.If you loved playing as Ryu before this update, you will be unstoppable with him now!
Ryu now builds more Super Art Meter when landing this attack.
The slight frame advantage buff will have some minor benefits but will largely go unnoticed in game.
This action now has a slightly faster recovery window and longer active frames. Again, this will largely go unnoticed in game.
The damage is now consistent throughout the entire attack, and the increased Super Art Meter is a plus. This attack will also drastically chip away at the opponent’s Drive Gauge on block or Punish Counter!
Adjusted the hitbox of the second attack to match the first one to make it more consistent.
Collarbone Breaker
The slight frame advantage on hit is nice to have but won’t change much, same with the slightly better disadvantage frames on block.
Solar Plexus Strike
Removing the scaling of the initial attack makes this attack much more potent, and the additional frames on hit and knockback make this action even better!
Whirlwind Kick
Ryu is much more safe overall when this action is blocked and has more invincibility frames during the action, making it a much stronger tool to engage with than before.
Axe Kick
Landing this attack on an airborne opponent will now place Ryu in a more advantageous situation than before.
Having the third attack no longer release if the second attack misses is massive, as it completely leaves Ryu vulnerable in that state. However, being able to cancel the third attack into a Denjin Charge opens the door for greater combo potential.
Being able to cancel the second attack into a Denjin Charge opens the door for greater combo potential.
This is a solid buff to this action and will likely have tremendous knock-on effects in the future, especially the Light Normal Hadoken!
Denjin Charge Hadoken
Ryu can choose when he uses his stored Denjin Charge and can now use the Light and Medium Normal Hadoken with a stored charge.
Denjin Charge Hashogeki
The biggest change here is the additional recovery frame added to the action if it whiffs, which will leave Ryu extremely vulnerable.
Medium/Heavy/Overdrive Normal or Denjin Charge Hashogeki
This move now sheds even more of the opponent’s Drive Gauge if they block it.
Overdrive Denjin Charge Hashogeki
This action now does reduced damage overall, one of the few straight-up nerfs present for Ryu.
Light Tatsumaki Senpu-kyaku
This next stretch is pretty wild, as it’s just nothing but a series of damage buffs, followed by Super Art and Drive Gauge increases and an increase in chip damage to the opponent’s Drive Gauge.
Light High Blade Kick
The increased damage output, Super Art and Drive Gauge increases, and everything else makes this action extremely more powerful than before.
Heavy High Blade Kick
Like the ones above, Ryu will build his Super Art Meter even faster now.
Overdrive High Blade Kick
This action is slightly more potent overall and is slightly faster to boot!
Normal or Denjin Charge Shinku Hadoken
Some nice quality-of-life changes here and even more combo potential if you have a Denjin Charge stored!
The blanket damage change is phenomenal and will make this action much more viable overall.
Shin Shoryuken
Same as above, the damage increase is great, and the overall changes to the action’s frames make it easier to combo into!
Zangief Balance Changes
Zangiefis another character thatreceived many excellent buffs but not quite what we expected.However, when all is said and done,Zangief is now much better off than where he wasand will hopefully only get even better from here. While he did receive some nerfs, he received many more buffs, but not quite enough to make him one of the ‘big winners’ of the patch!
Allows him to follow up with more actions. The increase in building Super Art Meter is also massive here.
Increased damage output is obviously massive, but having increased Super Art Gauge and Drive Gauge alongside depleting more of your opponent’s meter is even more so. This is an incredible buff across the board!
Same philosophy as the one above. Just an incredible buff for this action.
A quality-of-life update to inform the players that a Punisher Counter was landed.
Same philosophy as the ones a bit above. This will always be the best buffs you’re able to ask for!
The slight frame advantage is fine but will likely not change too much, but the increase in Super Art Gauge and the chipping more of your opponent’s Drive Gauge via a Punish Counter is where the true magic of this buff lies!
This is a relatively balanced adjustment. The action is slightly faster, but it leaves Zangief at a slight disadvantage on block. It’s fine, but it likely won’t impact the match too much either way.
Capture Suplex
Hellstab
A slight but welcomed buff how much Super Art and Drive Rush Meter is built upon landing an attack. Again, this is where it’s at!
Headbutt
Same as the others way above this one, increasing Zangief’s Meters while putting your opponent’s at risk is a fantastic buff.
Knee Hammer
The frame advantages and disadvantages are, again, less important here as the focus should be on the increased damage and how much meter Zangief gains and takes from his opponent. Again, this buff is tremendous.
Smetana Dropkick
You know the pros of this action already. If your meters go up and their’s go down, it’s more than good!
Normal Double Lariat
Yup, you know what this one does as well. Truly incredible.
Overdrive Double Lariat
The longer frame input makes it much easier to transition into other actions. And, of course, the increased damage and Super Art Gauge is obviously great.
^^^^^^^^
Normal Borscht Dynamite
Being able to snag defenseless airborne opponents automatically makes this buff well worth it, even if will be less potent in a combo due to the 20 percent scaling. An overall net positive, though.
Season Two Zangief is here, and he wants more meter!
Overdrive Siberian Express
Zangief can now move forward a bit further and faster if this action hits at range.
Tundra Storm
Landing this action with a Counter Hit will increase the hitbox quite considerably, allowing Zangief to execute it from a decently far range!
