Soulcalibur VI Astaroth Guide Part 1: Understanding your buttons, punishes, and why Asta is ugly

[@IttarraOda]

For all those wondering about why I put "Asta is ugly" is because LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT HIS BUTTONS FOR PUNISHES! IT'S SO UGLY! .-. but no real talk. The reason I wanted to do this in 3 parts is because it helps to take things a bit slower as a whole and for people to understand things in segments rather than in bulk :) So I hope you're excited for this guide and what part 3 will be I promise you'll love it!

[@cadexander6982]

I guess I'm nobody cause I would definitely watch an hour long astaroth guide, I love the brute.

[@IttarraOda]

Technically this is the hour long guide lol. The problem is the very final update fo SCVI effectively butchered Asta

[@cadexander6982]

@@IttarraOda my bad, an infront a word beginning with a vowel lol but yh the last patch did cut my guy but he still shakes a life bar.

[@IttarraOda]

@@cadexander6982 Oh no absolutely, it's just..so confusing why they'd take away a few things. If you wanna hear how depressed I was about it I made a video on it with "They killed our Golum!"

[@cadexander6982]

@@IttarraOda I will check that video out bro

[@botnet2409]

Took my astaroth to D1 just from watching your videos. I hope you still make videos after this guide, but if not you’re still an absolute astaroth legend :)

[@IttarraOda]

Depending on how Haoh plays I might make a guide on him in general :) and I will hopefully be able to. It's getting kinda scary on my end as a whole.

[@botnet2409]

@@IttarraOda Understandable, no pressure! You still have hours of footage to study :)

[@derekhernandez8641]

For some reason when i do the stomp the enemy character dosent bounce up is there something im missing?

[@IttarraOda]

You have to actually input the grab with it. So it's the stomp then A+G if you don't hit the grab command at the stomp it won't bounce.

[@derekhernandez8641]

@@IttarraOda thank you :) appreciate it. I got this game a couple of days ago been playing with some buddies if you ever want to play you can give me an add on steam

[@chad540996]

How come when I do 2K+b - 4a+g it’s pushed them too far back and I can’t get the restand?

[@IttarraOda]

Do you get the bounce? If you're not getting a bounce you're not doing it fast enough. There's no restand after the stomp unless you get a wall hit

[@mundlegrundle2287]

Your guide was pretty helpful! But for god's sake please speak closer to your microphone, I can barely hear you.

[@IttarraOda]

Sadly what happened (That's fixed now) Audicity for some inexplicable reason exports my audio extremely low. Now the reason for this, is because my desk actually is right under an AC vent (It's the only way to have everything fit properly in my workspace) so either there's some issues with the audio being lower than normal OR you hear a fan/ac blowing into it. Living in Florida is hell lol

[@AbyssalPlague]

I remember playing the last Soul Caliburs. 2, 3, some of 4 and 5. Was never good at fighting games before, but nowadays I consider myself average? I guess? At least in other fighting games, but I wanna get back into SC because it was always my favorite. I always liked Astaroth the most just because he's this big, badass dude with an axe that'll mess you up. I think he's awesome, but I basically have to make fantastic reads? I see this as a win actually because if I learn how to read flawlessly, maybe I can learn other characters easier!

[@IttarraOda]

The problem is, these types of hard reads don't help you too much with other characters because their damages are linked to pretty brain dead LH's that you can throw out on a safe string or if you feel a step going on. Believe me, this game has very very awkward feeling characters. It's why I've only ever stuck with Asta.

[@FatherMulk]

Haven’t finished the video yet, but I’m pretty sure K is i14. Unless the 8WR data is out of date. Great guide so far otherwise. I especially like how you go into detail on the weaknesses of the character. A lot of people look at the damage he does and forget why he struggles in a lot of match ups.

[@IttarraOda]

Nope it was buffed to be i12. There's a reason I didn't put the 8WR frame data link in the description, you can also tell because if you do 66K into standing K it combos :) similar to how 4A does. But its still weaker than 4A as a whole. Yeah Astaroth has a LOT of weaknesses people overlook, part 2 will be going over grabs :) and 3 is his Soul Charge, Reversal Edge, and CE.

[@LeanXTriforcer]

Good guide bro. I wasn’t aware just how plus you were on restand. Good to know

[@IttarraOda]

Im glad it can help my guy :D also wtf I thought I replied.

[@shatterlife]

How do you do the "Cursed Flesh" move? The move list says Exact Timing, but no matter how I try it I don't get the flash from doing it quickly. It's always the long pause before he slams the axe down. The move list isn't very helpful when it comes to things like this, unlike in Tekken 7 it'll ping out the timing of the moves as it shows them being performed.

[@shatterlife]

Nevermind, JUST figured it out after a couple more tries. You hold B and release just when they're about to hit the ground.

[@IttarraOda]

The trick is actually doing it online because it becomes immediately easier offline. The way I do it is, two ways I count to 3. 1...2...3...and it happens everytime. Or I just focus on Astas axe when he arches his back and see it move I let go, and it works everytime as well. You gotta adjust to lag sometimes lol in my case only reason I fail it offline is because my controllers buttons are double tapping etc.

[@1AbsoluteZERO]

Thank you for this Oda! You're one of the Astas that inspired me to play him in SC VI. This is so darn helpful.

[@IttarraOda]

I'm that I can help in some regard honestly :D

[@chickenchad9814]

Thanks so much for the guide man, shud have more views! Subbed

[@IttarraOda]

Thank you very much I genuinely appreciate it :) And tomorrow there will be another Astaroth based video going over his best buffs in S2 :)

[@dannyhinrichs6876]

thanks for the guide! you asta is great

[@IttarraOda]

I'm glad it could help you :)

[@SpookerDoom]

4A is only +0 on hit. It's an important tool in Asta's moveset and must be used whenever you think it'll connect, because the real mixup is 4A,B and 4A,1236A+G. Not an official combo but people tend to freeze up on 4A. Both 6A+B and 6K are block punishable, you mention push back on 6K but I don't see it. A better get-off-me quicky is 3K. Can be sidestepped but who dances at zero range? I consider Asta to be more of a midrange power blow fighter who vortexes you upon knockdown, but his safest neutral game is undoubtedly at 6A or 6B range. Which includes A,B and B,A strings. Whiff punish with 22B or 11B, punish rushes with Revenge moves.

[@IttarraOda]

If you do 4A, regardless of the follow up if it doesn't hit, you're done more or less. While it's one of his best tools, it's also incredibly weak as a whole because no matter the follow up it's unsafe. They changed how 6K actually worked in the latest patch, for the first year or so, 6K had quite a lot of pushback due to how it was programmed, now the "wind up" is much shorter, and has less impact as a whole. It's very weird how to describe it, because NO frames changed, and there was still some pushback on it currently. And shockingly, a LOT of people dance at me at zero range either just due to habit, muscle memory, or panic. I personally love doing 6K after near every setup to bait that high AA or something of it for a free CH. Also this is just part 1 of 3. So this isn't EVERYTHING. Just a beginners course so everyone can get into him easily.

[@skotbean5690]

Yes you can use the knee from a step, down and back on the d-pad and circle

[@Baeur]

I'm 2:13 in and i wanted the 1 hour video

[@IttarraOda]

Believe me Astaroth is a surprisingly in depth grappler, that provides a LOT of freedom to play as...if you can make the right reads, but even in making these reads he lacks a LOT of stability in his kit.

[@crashx9973]

It’s amazing to see how much Astaroth has changed since launch. Started off as as a bugged mess that gave Cervantes a run for his money to quite arguably one of the most improved characters in the entire game. He’s not perfect but if you say that Astaroth sucks, you’re a bigger liar than Pinocchio. I say this about every character in the game, even for Voldo, Tira, and Grøh.

[@IttarraOda]

Astaroth sucks when compared to the rest of the cast tbh. But as a kit? He's amazing and easily the strongest he's ever been.

[@thekeening3778]

people say Groh sucks?

[@blakefantasy2600]

16:42

[@wilsonsleeptown]

Is Astaroth a bottom ?

[@TOILETPOOL]

In my opinion Astaroth is this game's lowest tier list character, to people who know him and his game plan he's no where near as scary as he is to beginners ( You could argue this could be said about any character and you'd be right but in Astaroth's case it makes a already hard to win with character even harder) as a Astaroth player to win relatively consistently you have to pay way more attention, be way more alert, make way waaay waaaay less mistakes and you definitely need knowledge of the opposition (I. E the entire cast as where some decent players can make it to S rank with just extensive knowledge of their own character this cannot be achieved with astaroth) this is so you can even know when your turn is or be able to make those oh so necessary hard reads because unlike the rest of the cast you are *not* going to be button mashing you way out of pressure or tight situations. Astaroth is 100% no ones bad match up in sc6 but winning is not impossible thothe Battlefield 4 Astaroth is not a flat playing field it is an uphill battle no matter who he faces. That being said this is just my opinion and I'd love to hear someone else's rebuttal

[@IttarraOda]

Astaroth is bottom 3/5 in this game for a very specific reason. He's very very strong, in the right hands, but his risk/rewards are no where near how good others are as a whole. You have no good buttons to mash mainly because they're highs so any tech duck destroys you (Unless you read it and go for a crouch grab), the other reason he's not so great, is mainly because he doesn't have the same amount of nonsense majority of the other casts have. I mean Groh, one of the EASIEST characters to beat offline, and is shown to be a really weak character in general actually destroys Asta 7-3 :/ tech ducks, strings, if you have a decent BB or AA you win most times against him. Hell Yoshi has a single button/string that kills Asta, and it's 3A A.

[@TOILETPOOL]

In your opinion if astaroth is not bottom tier lowest in the game then (online) who do you feel is the worst character in sc6 who has a bigger struggle then astaroth

[@IttarraOda]

@@TOILETPOOL Bottom five going based on solely for offline and just as a kit in general. Taki, Asta, Groh, Talim, but I feel there's something hidden with her and Xianghua.

[@IttarraOda]

@Max1982 No, this is real because Astaroth is only scary to people who don't know the matchup or respect him too much. Seriously, if you have a tech duck you can destroy most Astaroths. There's a huge reason he has no tournament presence ANYWHERE. He had one decent standing, I mean VOLDO has more tournament presence than Asta does because of how flawed his kit is. People only feel he's good because of how he is on paper, not in practice.

[@skotbean5690]

You really don't know how to use Astoroth do you, I just bought VI, I've loved and played as Astoroth since soul Calibur, used Rock in soul blade, I literally just decimated the arcade on hard, by the end I would get a triple perfect more often then not, I'm only 4:26 in but not thinking it's going to get much better, you spoke about his punishers and how they aren't that good, really they both lead into throws, Astoroth isn't about reading your opponent, he's about timing, power and reach

[@IttarraOda]

Ah yes the troll who believes beating Arcade mode on hard mode equates to a real mid-level match, and doesn't know what a tech duck is. If you believe you can make a better guide, go right ahead and for it, or post your own matches from online, you can do live recordings right from any console or platform, if you can play SC you can upload to here. But don't come onto a video I spent hours, upon hours making saying "ItS nOt GoNnA gEt AnY bEtTeR, I pLaYeD hArD aRcAdE". Also...that last sentence...Astaroth is not about reading your opponent..whew..

[@skotbean5690]

@@IttarraOda lol please, I spent about an hour playing today, first time playing this game, I've played and mastered all the other soul Caliburs, including Soul blade, give me a couple of days to work out what moves have changed, gone or been added, already noticed one gone, one added, Astoroth still plays exactly the same way he always has, if he still has the axe pick-up then you might be able to tell me something, as it's not the same buttons and from what I read in the move list he only has the brutal grip to pick people up off the ground now, like I have already said timing and reach are the most important things with Astoroth, power is important to, 3 or 4 hits can kill an opponent, I get banned from using Astoroth in friendly matches at home because it's apparently unfair, I need to work out my combos and moves, I noticed he has like a super throw now, which I did twice by accident, guessing it has to do with the gauge, I'll work it out, haven't even changed the button config yet

[@skotbean5690]

@@IttarraOda and please mate you didn't even know you could use the knee without sidestepping

[@GrvndMvsterVssvssin]

Imagine speedrunning Soul Blade. WHEEZE. We'll wait patiently for an award for your "efforts". Hey! Maybe you'll end up becoming Twitch Affiliate for Speed Running Weapon Master on Soul Calibur 2!

[@GrvndMvsterVssvssin]

You sound like one of them 40 year old headass ninjas that play Melee.