It is no secret that charge characters are extremely powerful on Hit Box. Using all buttons you can coordinate your fingers bypass the neutral horizon. Quickly alternating your fingers is much more efficient than the long left-to-right motion of a traditional lever, not to mention the awkward twitchy down-to-up motion (shutters). Not only that, the classic Hit Box SOCD "Up" guarantees perfect inputs for vertical charge releases from crouch!
Throughout this blog we will step through the basics of charge motions to help your way into efficient mastery of charge characters.
Horizontal Charge
Charge Back (or crouch block),
Release to Forward
By using multiple fingers, you are able to Sonic Boom from crouch block and return to blocking near instantly.
Tip: Back + Forward = Neutral. Be clean with your inputs! If you are in too much of a hurry you can trip over yourself and nullify your own inputs.
Vertical Charge (SOCD)
Left Hand: Hold Down (or crouch block)
Right Hand: Tap Up + Attack
Hit Box SOCD: Down + Up = Up
With the Down-Up (2-8) charge motion, you can continue to hold Down (2) while you press Up (8) - this is due to the Absolute Up priority. Most games will allow you to to input Down-Back (1) to Up-Back (7) and Down-Forward (3) to Up-Forward (9) motions as well.
In addition, you can use your right Thumb and Index to hit Up + Attack buttons perfectly at the same time.
Note: True Neutral SOCD has become a popular alternative for Street Fighter gameplay. In this setting Up no longer prioritizes over Down -- they nullify each other just like Left + Right.
Neutral SOCD: Down + Up = Neutral
While this has many advantages, it requires coordination in your vertical charge moves just like your horizontal charges. No big deal, just release the down button when you finish. The true power is the simultaneous right hand Thumb + Finger to finish the charge instantly.
Non-Traditional Motions
Some games have characters charge motions in every direction - such as Vatista in the UNI games. Just remember when you are inputting motions that:
- Up will always prioritize down, so you can keep holding Down when finishing with an Up input.
- When inputting in every other direction, you will have to release your initial charge direction.
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If you have any questions about charge motions on Hit Box, please join our community on Discord and visit the #hit-box channel. In addition, be sure explore the "Hit Box" tag at the bottom of the post for more How-To content.
More "Charge Motion" blogs: