How combo and damage scaling works in Street Fighter IV
Last updated on May 9, 2009
Combo Damage Scaling
After a certain number of hits all of the combos in Street Fighter IV start taking off less damage. It breaks down this way.
- 100% damage for first and second hits of a combo.
- 80% damage for third hit.
- 70% damage for fourth hit.
- 60% damage for fifth hit.
- 50% damage for sixth hit.
- 40% damage for seventh hit.
- 30% damage for eighth hit.
- 20% damage for ninth hit.
And each hit beyond the ninth drops the damage by an additional 10%.
In real world terms, that means if you do a three-hit combo with Akuma which ends in a Fireball, instead of it doing it's normal 60 damage, it will do 20% less, i.e. 48 damage.
To use a larger combo as an example with Akuma, jumping in with Hard Kick, then two Crouching Light Punches, followed by a Crouching Medium Kick into a Fireball which is a 5-hit combo will do 239 damage total, although when you do each of these moves individually they would take off 290 damage.
Here's what's going on with Akuma's damage.
Jumping Hard Kick - 100
Crouching Light Punch - 30
Crouching Light Punch - 30
Crouching Medium Kick - 70
Hard Punch Fireball - 60
Total Damage: 290
1st hit: Jumping Hard Kick - 100
2nd hit: Crouching Light Punch - 30
3rd hit: Crouching Light Punch - 24
4th hit: Crouching Medium Kick - 49
5th hit: Hard Punch Fireball - 36
Total Damage: 239
How specific moves affect combo damage scaling
Some moves have different properties when the game decides how it's going to scale your damage during a combo.
- Ultras and Focus Attacks that land count as two moves.
- Supers, EX-Moves and Throws count as one move.
- Moves like E. Honda's Hundred Hand Slap count as one move even if they hit multiple times.
- Attacks like Chun Li's Jumping Hard Punch that hit twice count as two moves. The rule of thumb is that if a move requires an extra player input to hit with it, it's going to count as a second attack.
- Focus Attack Dash Cancels and Moves that do no damage do not count against you.
Kind of confusing? Here are some examples...
Ultras: An Ultra counts as two moves for the purposes of damage reduction. For example, if you do a Jumping Hard Kick with Ryu, then a Light Punch Shoryuken, Focus Attack Dash Cancel, and then juggle with the Ultra, the Ultra will do 70% of its normal damage, because it's technically the 4th move that's landing, but the Jumping Hard Kick and Shoryuken won't have any damage reduction because they're the 1st and 2nd moves.
A Focus Attack Dash Cancel doesn't count against you because it doesn't actually hit your opponent.
EX-Moves: Akuma's EX-Hurricane Kick hits multiple times, but it still only counts as one move for purposes of damage scaling.
Damage reduction for injured fighters
The more injuries a fighter sustains, the less damage they're going to take. Damage scaling for injured fighters works as follows.
- At 51% health or higher there is no damage scaling.
- 50% health damage scaling is 95%.
- 25% health damage scaling is 90%.
- 15% health damage scaling is 75%.
This means if a character has 25% of their health, they will take 10% less damage from every move done to them.
Other Notes
• Counter Hits take off 25% more life and add additional hit stun.
• Stun damage is reduced the exact same way in combos as health damage, but the amount of life you have does not affect it.
• How much Super meter you gain is also reduced in the same way combos are for damage.
• Scaling always rounds up and it rounds each hit individually, which is handy when you want to calculate the damage of combos without actually executing them in the game.
Posted by srsly on May 10, 2009 at 12:49 a.m. #1
why should u take less damage if your lower in health ????????????!
Posted by Rocco on May 10, 2009 at 1:08 a.m. #2
To balance the game out.
Posted by secretmode on May 10, 2009 at 1:16 a.m. #3
making the game look closer maybe
Posted by some dude on May 10, 2009 at 2:10 a.m. #4
to allow for epic come-backs.
just like filling the ultra meter as you take damage.
Posted by Albert Wesker on May 10, 2009 at 3:16 a.m. #5
I just try not to think too deeply into stuff like this because it ruins the game with all this math. I know what it takes to win in G2-B, that is what matters, not this stuff.
Posted by face on May 10, 2009 at 3:32 a.m. #6
"For example, if you do a Jumping Hard Kick with Ryu, then a Light Punch Shoryuken, Focus Attack Dash Cancel, and then juggle with the Ultra, the Ultra will have 70% damage reduction"
you mean a 30% reduction right? because it will only do 70% of its potential damage? i think that what that means, right? (not trying to be a dick).
Posted by SFIV Elite on May 10, 2009 at 4:34 a.m. #7
What people seem to forget is that a successful combo is unblockable once the first hit lands on an opponent. So in effect you are scoring "free hits" on your opponent. I main Akuma and one my combos is;
[Jump] HK, [crouch] MP, LK hurricane kick, HP dragon punch, *and if you got two super bars* FADC, HP red hadoken (7 hits)
Most of the time its hard for me to "Jump in" attack my opponent without being blocked.. so I wait for them to "whif" their move and I begin that same combo but I start with the [crouch] MP and then I LK hurricane kick, HP dragon punch etc.
So If you pick Ken or Ryu and you "whif" a dragon punch I will actually crouch and wait for the perfect time to begin this combo (draining at least 20% of your health). I have hundreds of different ways to combo my opponents unexpectedly and drain a percentage of their health.
So basically,
Even tho' they have damage scaling there is still a lot to gain from mastering the combo system.
Posted by hadoumaster on May 10, 2009 at 6:09 a.m. #8
wow this guide is pretty good though i already knew about damage scaling. helps me refine my combos now. also, i wish they would add this to the new Marvel vs Capcom 2 but whatever. :/
Posted by G on May 10, 2009 at 6:56 a.m. #9
This scaling is one of the best things that can happen to a fighting game. It ensures balance and makes the matches more intense for both players.
Posted by Henry on May 10, 2009 at 7:32 a.m. #10
Whoever made that banner for this page: kudos! I love the whole "mechanics" theme on the lifebar.
I knew about this already, but great guide for people who aren't familiar with damage scaling.
Posted by ove on May 10, 2009 at 7:52 a.m. #11
This is a great guide, thanks a lot!
To me damage scaling is a great thing. I already think that the moves in this game take of to much damage meaning that the fights end to quickly and that a single misstake can cost you way too much. So damage scaling is a great thing hence it still rewards long flashy comobos but it also makes it almost impossible to end a match in one or a couple of combos!
However I dislike the revenge meter. Since an ultra combo takes of more than half of the lifebar it's possible to win a match even though your oppent is way better than you, which sucks!
But once again thanks for the guide! Now I only need a guide for the priority of the moves. Since I'm quite new to the game I find it very frustrating when pulling of moves like balrogs hard dash punches, which i belive to have grate priority, only finding out that a single jab can knock me out... But then dragon punches seems to beat everything!! :O I really would have needed a guide over the priority of all the moves in the game! =D
Posted by s-kill on May 10, 2009 at 8:06 a.m. #12
Great work!
Posted by G on May 10, 2009 at 8:17 a.m. #13
@11: "However I dislike the revenge meter. Since an ultra combo takes of more than half of the lifebar it's possible to win a match even though your oppent is way better than you, which sucks!"
How about blocking the ultra if you are way better? The damage of the ultra also depends on your enemies actual lifebar, it only takes away "more than half of a lifebar" (which is rare btw) when you are at full health.
Posted by Kanped on May 10, 2009 at 8:18 a.m. #14
It'd maybe be worthwhile working out if simpler combos using single hard attacks rather than multiple light attacks will actually do more damage in some situations.
For example, Ryu's MK cross-up into 2x crounching light punch, into ex-shoryuken.
Would there be more damage done if the 2 crouching light punches were substituted for a singe standing hard punch?
Posted by ove on May 10, 2009 at 9:09 a.m. #15
@ G
Read my post again ;) I wrote "even though your opponent is way better than you" meaning that I quite often win matches (especially vs the com, but also online) even tough I'm inferior in skill, I just pull of an ultra when my lifebar is almost empty and win the figth and that doesn't feel fair to me...
Posted by Scotaku on May 10, 2009 at 9:37 a.m. #16
Holy!
Thats pretty in depth
Posted by al2k on May 10, 2009 at 10:58 a.m. #17
I think the damage scaling thing is stupid! the lower your health the less damage you take? A good combo, super or a ultra should do the same damage whenever you use it. It just dragging out the match. i used to love knocking out my opponent under 10 sec in street fighter turbo, game felt realistic. Make a mistake in a real fight you get knocked out. So step your skills up!
Posted by G on May 10, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. #18
@15:
If your enemy can't block, why do you feel it is not fair? There are so many ways to escape an ultra...
Posted by G on May 10, 2009 at 11:33 a.m. #19
Also, if you are at 10% life and your enemy is at 60% your ultra won't ever K.O. him. It won't happen. It is simply not possible because of the damage scaling. I don't see a problem when your enemy is at 30% (you 10%), though. That's what this system was made for: Comebacks.
Posted by Catalyst on May 10, 2009 at 1:03 p.m. #20
@face
Yikes, I wrote that really badly. I rephrased the statement, thanks for the note.
Posted by viewtiful on May 10, 2009 at 10:29 p.m. #21
@kanped:
"For example, Ryu's MK cross-up into 2x crounching light punch, into ex-shoryuken.
Would there be more damage done if the 2 crouching light punches were substituted for a singe standing hard punch?"
Yes, the combo would do much more damage if there were a stronger single attack like standing HP or crouching MP.
So why DO people do crouch lp x2 into shoryuken? Hit confirmation. Sometimes it's hard to tell if your crossup was blocked, so the 2 lp's give you some leeway. Think: if the crossup was blocked, doesn't a light punch have better recovery than a hard punch? Then you can back up or attempt a throw (or whatever) with less fear than had you used a hard punch.
Posted by alex24r on May 10, 2009 at 11:23 p.m. #22
Hmm, so ultras count as two moves. Well, in practice mode, I did Dictator's ultra and it had 0 damage scaling. I also tried Abel's ultra in practice mode long time ago, but I remember some of it hits did have some damage scaling. Also, it seemed like Sakura's ultra has a lot of damage scaling or at least it's rather weak.
I would test these examples myself, but my PS3 won't read discs and I'm waiting for the shipping box to sent it to Sony. >_>
Posted by Catalyst on May 10, 2009 at 11:40 p.m. #23
@Alex24r
Dictator's Ultra didn't scale on damage because the first two moves aren't scaled in damage at all, it starts on the third hit.
So if you can combo into Dictator's Ultra, you'll see the damage scaling kick in.
Posted by Alex24r on May 11, 2009 at 12:22 a.m. #24
@Catalyst: Yeah, I see that, but what about Abel's and Sakura's Ultra?
Posted by Catalyst on May 11, 2009 at 12:31 a.m. #25
I checked out Abel and Sakura in training mode, and everything looked normal to me for their Ultra damage. Abel did 551 with a full Ultra bar, and Sakura did 435.
According to their frame data, that's what they should be doing.
Abel: http://www.eventhubs.com/guides/2008/...
Sakura: http://www.eventhubs.com/guides/2009/...
Not sure why these would scale in any way, but if you can figure it out, let me know.
Posted by Alex24r on May 11, 2009 at 1:08 a.m. #26
Hah, sorry for being kinda persistent. I just remembered from a while back that one of the hits of Abel's ultra scaled to 90% or 95%, but now I'm not sure about it, maybe it's part of the ultra damage. I won't be able to play the game for sometime too. Anyways, now that I see the frame data, I know you are right.(Never checked frame data to begin with >_<).
Thanks for checking it though, really appreciate it.
Posted by Nate on May 11, 2009 at 12:49 p.m. #27
Nice guide. One thing that is not clear: My opponent has 52% health and I land an Ultra. Ultras generally hit many times. Are the Ultra hits after the first reduced because my opponent has < 51% health?
Posted by Viper on May 11, 2009 at 3:37 p.m. #28
@G
You're wrong. viper takes hits like a little bitch, if Akuma is down to 10% and Viper has 60% then eats an ultra from akuma, she is dead and thats just total BS
Posted by Wild Tengu on May 11, 2009 at 8:35 p.m. #29
Interesting piece of information. I kinda like the fact that in SFIV that longer combo's do less and less damage, to the point of making really long combo's useless, and just for show really, unlike in other fighting games out there.
So doing those basic and easy several hit combo's may just prove to be the most effective.
Posted by Kangarou on May 13, 2009 at 5:48 p.m. #30
Does damage scaling apply to stun values as well?
Posted by kcire on May 16, 2009 at 7:58 p.m. #31
Great job with this combo damage scale keep up the good work.
Posted by F_ on June 11, 2009 at 4:21 p.m. #32
So if you combo a 1-hit normal move into an ultra, will the ultra be scaled?
Posted by OldFighter on July 4, 2009 at 8:07 p.m. #33
Sorry but this whole new damage system is a fking mess. Me and a buddy are old fighters, we mostly play on the mame with the x-arcade. And we are both just really annoyed with this gameplay. After a few games we just both pretty much got fed up with it and ended up throwing the contollers down and went back to SFA3. I mean serously guys wtf on one match i was finished down to like 10% health the most i could do was go out fighting yet behold a few hits and my friend gets defeated insted, thats not how it should be. The next round was even funnier he just smashed away and got combos and hits and i dropped to less than 50% while his was still 90% and then 10secs later i landed a few hits and combos and i win.
Sorry but i disagree this damage system is totally bolloks, all it does is help noobs out and ruins it for experienced players.
Posted by Omar on July 6, 2009 at 8:18 p.m. #34
This is stupid. Now I know why my Chun Li's 24 - 27 hit link Ultra Combo does such miniscule damage especially against the likes of Zangief and Sagat.
Posted by Ataru on July 31, 2009 at 9:59 a.m. #35
@F_
yep
cause the Ultra will count as 3rd hit instead of 2nd
Posted by lol on August 13, 2009 at 2:02 a.m. #36
THis system sucks.
basicly if you do a 6 hit combo before doing the ultra(using balrog) .. you will do less dmg than simply doing the ultra.Thus making the ultra completly wasted.That basicly give an advantage for newbies .. Because they don't have to learn big combo and improve their execution ..
For exemple doing a 6 step combo into an utra .. The ultra will do 30-40 dmg lol and the total combo 350 dmg.While the ultra alone will do 520 damage.
Another reason why sagat's overpowered.Because the anti-air kick reboot the combo and the ultra do all dmg.
Posted by lolyourself on August 26, 2009 at 2:07 p.m. #37
First of all, sagat loses 3 hits of his ultra on any juggle. This makes the damage low enough for any extra hit higher than 70 to net more damage, unless it pushes them into the corner. So no, sagat doesn't have any "reboots". I'd tell you to do testing before saying stupid things like that, but you'll clearly never be able to pull off an FADC in your life.
Any idiot still wondering why combos opening with low jabs and shorts do less damage should try using their brain. They're literally the easiest the easiest things to land in the game and are safe on block. Logically, higher risk moves should have higher rewards.
Another reason why scrubs that don't know should keep their mouths shut.
Posted by Mimiru on August 31, 2009 at 2:38 p.m. #38
Do first attacks get a damage bonus as well? im not sure but I have the impression it does
Posted by SuperV on September 8, 2009 at 6:18 p.m. #39
hmm...very interesting.
Posted by Anonymoose on October 13, 2009 at 2:31 a.m. #40
Great, great guide with useful, non-obvious information not simply copied from the manual. Ironic how nowadays the best information for any kind of hardcore gaming is available for free on the Internet, not from the 20 dollar Prima guide that the EB clerk tries to get you to buy.
Some questions for clarification on damage scaling:
1. Would it be correct to say that what's probably confusing a lot of people is that an Ultra is often composed of several "hits," but that all those hits together only count as one (well, two) moves?
i.e., Dic's ultra may hit 7 times or whatever, but for damage scaling purposes EACH HIT is only scaled according to its relative place on the chart above? So that'd mean uncomboed, the whole Ultra does full damage. Comboed off a st.HP, every single hit of the Ultra would do 80%.
Confirm/deny?
2. Unless there's a "leapfrog" effect, is the damage scaling based on health remaining simply an aesthetic effect (to make games seem closer than they really are), as it would be functionally equivalent to a linearly-draining life bar that was simply longer?
Posted by CHARGE-E.HONDA on October 16, 2009 at 10:41 a.m. #41
WELL CANCELING SHOULD RESET THE DAMAGE(TO 100% DAMAGE)BUT NOT FOR ULTRA'S/SUPERS.
Posted by CHARGE-E.HONDA on October 16, 2009 at 11:01 a.m. #42
ULTRAS COUNT AS TWO HITS(MOVE) BY THEMSELVES MEANING THEY ONLY DO THEIR OPTIMUM DAMAGE IF NO HITS PROCEED THEM MAKING GRAPPLERS KINGS ,IMAGINE SETH ULTRAING AFTER A 8 HIT COMBO.
Posted by @33 on November 10, 2009 at 7:19 p.m. #43
Dang if only it was more old school. Plays super Turbo and does touch of death combos with every character (combos that dizzy and leave room to repeat said combo till death. Some of which are very easy to do). Oh yeah and the damage in said combos is insane high compared to SF4 2 combos should kill if you know your combos. Oh that was too simple lets go to Alpha 2 (the balanced one). Full health combos via Vism, but a little less abusable. Dang maybe 3rd Strike will help (finally a pretty good blend of crazy combos and no instant death. Too bad tiers really hold the game back because so many things are right). Ok, lets try SF4. Takes several combos to kill, If I recall only a few stun combos that work on characters with low stun, and a safety net called scaling (that was in SF3) that prevents some things that would be very broken from happening. Improvements sure hurt when put in perspective.
Posted by bllah on December 2, 2009 at 12:22 p.m. #44
lol @43
Posted by PlayinSince92 on January 1, 2010 at 5:23 a.m. #45
IMO it would be better like this..
# 100% damage for first
# 90% damage fir second hit.
# 80% damage for third hit.
# 70% damage for fourth hit.
# 60% damage for fifth hit.
# 50% damage for all the next hits.
Posted by SFAN on January 1, 2010 at 5:28 a.m. #46
"The harder, the useless"
Posted by FSAN on February 9, 2010 at 11:32 a.m. #47
"The easier, the useful"
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