Soul Charge

Soul Charge (ソウルチャージ, Soul Charge^?) is a mechanic that appears in Soulcalibur, Soulcalibur II, Soulcalibur III and Soulcalibur VI. While the mechanic slightly differs between each game, the basic gist is that it powers up a character for a short period of time.

Soulcalibur[]

In Soulcalibur, there are two different charge states:

• The first state, which is done just by holding ++. During this state, the character will have a green glow and any of their attacks done whilst in this state will be considered as a Counter.
• The second state, which is done by pressing ++ and then cancelling it by pressing , will give the character a yellow glow and will make certain moves unblockable. Moves that become Unblockable via Soul Charging can still be Guard Impacted.

Soul Charge will end after enough time lapses, or when the Soul Charged character gets hit or blocks an attack.

Soulcalibur II[]

In Soulcalibur II, Soul Charging is done by pressing ++, and there are three levels:

• Soul Charge Level 1: Pressing immediately after initiating a Soul Charge will cause the player's weapon to glow lime green.
• Soul Charge Level 2: Pressing or doing an attack sometime after doing a Soul Charge will cause the player's weapon to glow green. They will also receive a small damage buff for their next attack.
• Soul Charge Level 3: Doing the full Soul Charge without it being cancelled or interrupted will cause the player's weapon to glow blue. The next attack the player does whilst in this state will be considered a Back Dash Counter.

The player can move around while Soul Charging, and some attacks are only available when Soul Charged, such as Spawn's Demonic Killer Flash being only available at Level 2.

The different levels of Soul Charging will also alter some attacks. For example, Spawn's Hunting Cry becomes a Guard Break at Level 1, while at Level 3 it becomes an Unblockable. Just like in Soulcalibur, any move that becomes an Unblockable from Soul Charging can still be Guard Impacted.

Some unlockable weapons also grant addition effects when Soul Charging, such as increased attack or even health recovery.

Soulcalibur III[]

Soulcalibur III’s Soul Charging system is similar to that of Soulcalibur II’s; there are three levels of Soul Charging:

• Soul Charge Level 1: Pressing immediately after initiating a Soul Charge will cause the player's weapon to glow lime green.
• Soul Charge Level 2: Pressing or doing an attack sometime after doing a Soul Charge will cause the player's weapon to glow green.
• Soul Charge Level 3: Doing the full Soul Charge without it being cancelled or interrupted will cause the player's weapon to glow blue. The next attack they do will have Counter hit properties.

Just like in Soulcalibur II, Soul Charging in Soulcalibur III will change the properties of some moves, although the amount of moves that are affected has been considerably reduced. As with the previous two games, moves that become Unblockable via Soul Charging can be Guard Impacted.

Soul Charging now gives a 10% damage boost, regardless of the level. However, the player can no longer move around while Soul Charging, and the duration of the Soul Charge state has been considerably reduced.

Soulcalibur VI[]

Soul Charging is considerably different in Soulcalibur VI. Costing one bar of the Soul Gauge, it is performed by pressing ++. The Soul Charge state lasts ten seconds (although the timer pauses when doing certain actions, eg. throws and Critical Edges), and gives the character buffs and access to certain abilities.

• Attack damage is increased.
• All attacks deal chip damage.
• Characters will have access to Soul Charge-exclusive attacks.
• The battle timer is paused when a character is Soul Charged.
• For Kilik, his health will be drained. Once he reaches the last tick of health, then the Soul Charge timer will begin to decrease.

Soul Charges will knock the opponent back on activation. Moves that consume the Soul Gauge (such as Resist Impacts) will lower the Soul Charge timer.

In Update ver.2.00,^[1][2] Soul Attacks were introduced as a way to enter the Soul Charge state while being on the offensive.

References[]