SoulCalibur V Beginner’s Guide – Controls, Moves, Combos, Defense and Offense

Three days back the amazing SoulCalibur series got a brand new addition to its progressive lineup of fighting games. SoulCalibur V has been released in North America, and Europe and Japan are soon to follow.

For veterans of the fighting game series, this is great way to reintegrate their developed skills with this new version.

But there is always space for those looking to step into the ring for the first time, and though they may seem intimidated by the regular followers of the series, there is still opportunity to learn how to be a respectable player in the game.

This guide is a beginner’s guide for understanding the basics, terminologies and tips and tricks of SoulCalibur V. In this guide we’ll be going through the following:

1. Terminologies
2. Hit Levels
3. Throws
4. Metering System
5. Guarding and Defense
6. Offensive Combos
7. Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks

Terminologies
Terminologies in SoulCalibur are more or less conventional names or acronyms used to explain specific variables such as positions, buttons and their functions, and the combination of the two.

Directional Controls:
In SoulCalibur, the first and foremost  important thing to understand is the mapping of the directional controls.

The conventional method of mapping is:

7 8 9
4 N 6
1 2 3

Now, if that doesn’t seem to make sense to you, then don’t sweat – it’s not rocket science, and with a bit of practice and good memory it can easily be understood.

The above set of numbers that surround an ‘N’ are actually names or notations for directions, keeping in view that your player is facing towards the right (and hence positioned at the left).

1 is for down-left or southwest if you prefer to call it, 2 for down, 3 for down-right, 4 for left and so on.

The ‘N’ means neutral, which indicates the standard undisturbed position. People who drive will understand it best when compared with shifting gears in a car.

When facing towards the left, this will become opposite:

9 8 7
6 N 4
3 2 1

If this is difficult for you to remember, then just look at the standard layout of a numpad on the closest keyboard you can find – the right facing layout is exactly like that, except that ‘5’ is replaced with ‘N’.

Button Terminology:
Thankfully, there aren’t an awful lot of buttons on a PS3 or Xbox 360 controller, unlike some of the PS4 assumed controller pictures that lurk around the internet.

The button terminology and their abbreviations in SoulCalibur are:

G = Guard Button
A = Horizontal Slash Button
B = Vertical Slash Button
K = Kick Button

For the PS3, these four buttons are mapped in the following way:

X = G
Square = A
Triangle = B
Circle = K

For the Xbox 360, the four buttons are mapped in the following way:

A = G
X = A
Y = B
B = K

Yes, the Xbox 360 one is a little confuse because of the overlapping of similar notations, but once again, it’s not rocket science.

Other Terminologies:
I’ll post the other terminologies used at times for explanation as well, but don’t contemplate on these too much unless you come across them sometime – they are a little confusing.

WC = While Crouching
WS = While Standing
WJ = While Jumping
WL = While Landing
FC = Forced Crouch/Fully Crouched
SS = Sidestep
QS = Quick Step
SW = Side Walk
8WR = 8 Way Run. Holding direction to run in that direction

BT = Back Turned/Towards
TC/TJ = Tech Crouch/Tech Jump
JF = Just Frame
AC = Air Control
GB = Guard Break

Hit Levels
The following are the Hit Levels:

H = Hits High
M = Hits Mid
L = Hits Low
SM = Hits Special Mid
SL = Hits Special Low
SH = Hits Special High
UB = Unblockable

• High Hits can be ducked, and can be blocked standing.
• Mid Hits attack people crouching, and can be blocked standing
• Low Hits target people standing, and can only be guarded low
• Special Mid can be guarded either standing or crouching
• Special Low is similar, but can be jumped over
• Unblockables are of course, unblockable

Blocking While Standing:
Hold G

Blocking While Crouching:
2 + G

Jumping Over:
G + 7/8/9 (depending on the direction you want to jump)

Go to next page to learn more about throws, combos, defense and offense tactics.