What are the basic mechanics in Guilty Gear Strive? – Dust Attack, Faultless Defense, Roman Cancels

Guilty Gear Strive, the newest entry in ArcSystemWork’s long-running series, features tons of gameplay modes for players to enjoy. It’s also well known for having a battle system that is both frenetic and complex. Strive continues in that tradition by offering plenty of mechanics for players to learn and master as they work to master combat and climb the online leaderboard. Here’s a breakdown of the basic mechanics in Guilty Gear Strive.

Sweep

A low attack used to hit an opponent who is standing and guarding.

Dust Attack

A special sweep attack that’s used for striking an opponent who is crouching and guarding.

Throw

A move that has very short range but cannot be blocked. This is effective against opponents who are constantly guarding.

Block

A standard block is performed with the back directional button, and cancels out damage from an overhead attack. It cannot be used to block sweeps and throws. A crouch block is performed by crouching and blocking, and can cancel damage from sweeps (not Dust Attacks, however). It cannot be used against opponents using overhead attacks and throws. An aerial block can block against any attack except for throws.

Instant Block

A type of block in which you time it to an opponent’s attack. When successful, your character glows white, damage is cancelled, and they are not pushed back. You can counter with a punch attack at this point, and the tension gauge fills a bit.

Faultless Defense

Using your tension gauge, you can activate Faultless Defense which nullifies all damage, including any chip damage, and pushes the character back further than a standard block. This can be useful to get out of range from your opponent’s next attack.

Instant Faultless Defense

A combination of Instant Block and Faultless Defense which uses the tension gauge. It nullifies all damage and pushes your character back the furthest.

Psych Burst

Using the burst gauge, you create a shockwave around your fighter which interrupts either a combo or block by knocking back the opponent.

Roman Cancel

Using your tension gauge, you create a shockwave around your character. This slows down the opponent’s movement speed and causes an additional effect, depending on when you activate it.

Red

RC performed the moment you hit an opponent with an attack. Makes them float up when the shockwave hits.

Blue

RC performed when not attacking. Makes opponent temporarily slow down when the shockwave hits.

Purple

RC performed either before an attack hits or as it ends. Makes opponent temporarily slow down when the shockwave hits.

Yellow

RC performed while blocking an attack. Knocks the opponent back when the shockwave hits.

Roman Cancels can also be cancelled out before they fully activate, making your fighter move into their next attack much faster. This can be used to set up unique combos that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.