This page covers metered mechanics in Street Fighter 6, specifically the Drive System (and associated Gauge) and the Super Art Gauge.
Drive System
The Drive System is a metered mechanic in Street Fighter 6 that serves as the gateway to universal movement, offensive, and defensive mechanics.
- Each Drive bar is 10,000 Drive meter, for a max of 60,000
- Attacks deal Drive damage on block, with the lowest amount generally being ~500 (5% of a Drive bar)
- Some attacks also do Drive damage on hit:
- Drive Impact (10,000 / 1 bar)
- Super Arts (5,000/10,000/15,000/20,000 for Lv.1/Lv.2/Lv.3/CA respectively) - can vary somewhat, especially for non-cinematic Super variations
- Punish Counter Throws (10,000 / 1 bar)
Drive Gauge
| Drive Move | Drive Cost |
|---|---|
| Drive Impact | 
|
| Drive Parry |  hold
|
| Drive Rush (from Parry) | 
|
| Drive Rush (cancel) |
|
| Overdrive Specials |
|
| Drive Reversal |
|
"The engine that powers the Drive System is available as soon as the round begins, allowing you to fight to your liking. If you spend your entire Drive Gauge, you'll enter a burnout state with big disadvantages, but it also replenishes automatically, making meter management a key to the fight. Understanding the system in-depth, including when to be conservative and when to gamble, allows for deep, high-level battles."
- Capcom.
The Drive Gauge is crucial to playing SF6 and is an incredibly valuable resource. Optimal Drive use can create a big advantage over an opponent who manages it poorly. The Drive Gauge starts full every round, and decreases when performing drive actions, blocking, or getting hit by Super Arts. The Drive gauge passively increases over time; the speed at which it regenerates can be affected by various things like cinematic Super Arts.
| Increases Drive Gauge | Decreases Drive Gauge |
|---|---|
| Attacking opponent (Hit or Block makes no difference) |
Blocking attacks (Getting hit slows down passive regen, but no Drive Dmg) |
| Passive regeneration (faster when walking forward) |
Getting hit by Super, Drive Impact, or Punish Counter Throw (Super cinematic also prevents opponent's passive regeneration) |
| Successful Drive Parry (especially useful vs. Supers) |
Using Drive actions |
Using a Drive action locks the character out of passive regeneration for a short time. The lockout time starts decreasing after the initial move that caused it fully recovers. Walking forward can still regenerate Drive meter even when passive regeneration is not occuring.
- Drive Parry (including Parry~Drive Rush): 240f
- 120f for Chun-Li only (as of Beta 2)
- Perfect Parry: 60f
- Overdrive special / Drive Rush cancel / Drive Impact / Drive Reversal: 120f
Burnout
Burnout state happens when the player's Drive gauge becomes fully depleted. Burnout gives the player several negative effects, and locks the player out of using Drive actions until it replenishes.
Negative effects include:
- All blocked attacks gain +4 frame advantage; no effect on hitstun
- Gets stunned by Drive Impact in the corner on hit or block
- Takes Chip Damage instead of Drive Damage when blocking; can lose the round to Chip K.O.
- Lack of Drive options (e.g. can no longer use Drive Impact/Parry to counter opponent's Drive Impact)
Being in Burnout creates situations that are extremely difficult to escape, like looping corner sequences that are plus on block. If a cornered player is stunned by Drive impact while in Burnout, their Drive Gauge will be fully replenished after recovering from stun. The usual methods of building Drive Gauge also help decrease the Burnout recovery time. While it may be tempting to play passively while in Burnout, it may actually be more effective to mount a strong offense, as you still gain Drive meter from hitting the opponent. Playing an aggressive, offensive style can also make it harder for the opponent to push you back into the corner, where Burnout becomes much more dangerous.
Drive Impact
Costs 1 Drive Stock. Input 
+
(HP+HK) to perform.
Drive Impact has 26 frames of startup, with 2 hits of armor (from 1-25f), which allows it to absorb and counter the opponent's attacks. If Drive Impact hits as a Punish Counter (or even if the armor is triggered but is too slow to be a true Punish), the opponent will be left in a crumple state. When used predictively, it can counter ranged pokes and projectiles. If blocked midscreen, the opponent is pushed back extremely far, which can help to get yourself out of the corner.
Wall Splat: occurs if Drive Impact connects near the corner on hit or block, allowing a guaranteed followup combo.
- Only occurs when performed raw (will not splat if it hits in a combo or an airtight blockstring)
- Opponent is put into a unique free juggle state where followup attacks will also juggle freely
- example: Normal xx Special or a full Target Combo can fully juggle, even when it's normally impossible
- Airborne opponents will splat higher up along the wall, which can affect the followup juggle possibilities
- Combo damage scaling after Wall Splat:
- On Hit: next hit starts at 80% damage scaling, then continue to decrease by 10% per hit as usual (as though Drive Impact was 2 hits)
- On Block: a 20% damage scaling penalty is applied to each hit, but the Drive Impact itself does not count as part of the combo (e.g. 80 -> 80 -> 64 -> 56 -> 48)
Dizzy: occurs when Drive Impact connects on a cornered opponent while in Burnout state. Like Wall Splat, this works on hit or block. The opponent is left vulnerable to a huge punish combo, and may also allow time for actions such as Ryu charging Denjin, Kimberly reloading a spraycan, Juri gaining Fuha stocks, etc.
- Also works if the Drive Impact itself puts the opponent into Burnout
- Like Wall Splat, does not work if Drive Impact connects in a combo or airtight blockstring
- "LOCK" will appear on the screen if a true blockstring into Drive Impact occurs; the opponent will bounce away like a blocked midscreen Drive Impact
- Because burned out opponents have no Drive options, their only counter to Drive Impact cancels is usually a reversal Super Art
- Combos on dizzy opponents begin at 80% damage scaling, then continue to decrease by 10% per hit as usual
| on Block | on Hit | on Counterhit | on Crumple/Punish Counter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 Bar | 1 Bar | 1.2 Bars | 1.5 Bars |
Drive Impact does have a few downsides:
- Can be broken by Armor Break moves such as Super Arts or Drive Reversal, or by quick chained attacks
- A common tactic is to use a poke cancelled into Fireball, then cancel into Lv. 3 Super on reaction to beat Drive Impact
- Against projectiles, there are 6 frames of armor hit-freeze that slow down your Drive Impact without affect the opponent's recovery
- This makes it difficult or impossible to use on reaction to fireballs unless they have very long recovery
- Multi-hit OD fireballs have hit-freeze on each hit, making it even harder to blow through them
- You take recoverable damage when absorbing an attack, which will KO if you don't have enough HP to survive
- The opponent can react with their own Drive Impact, which hits as a Punish Counter
If two Drive Impacts clash simultaneously, they will bounce off each other and reset to neutral. As a side note, Drive moves take priority over special moves (but not Super Arts), so something like Ryu's 236+HP+HK would result in Drive Impact rather than Hadoken.
Drive Parry
Consumes ~1/2 Drive gauge upon activation, continues draining while held. Hold 
+
(MP+MK) to perform. Becomes a Perfect Parry if it successfully parries an attack within 2 frames of being input.
Regular Parry:
- Parries all strikes and projectiles (high and low) from frame 1
- Results in the same frame advantage as blocking the move, but with less pushback
- 8f parry window if buttons are tapped, longer if held
- Drains 50 Drive/frame when held (1 additional bar every 200f)
- Can block during recovery frames (must still block in the correct direction)
- Useful for blocking high/low or left/right mixups, but remains vulnerable to throws
- Getting thrown during Parry results in a Punish Counter (extra damage, Hard Knockdown, loses 1 extra Drive bar)
- Can cancel into Drive Rush from 3rd active frame onward
- Fastest Drive Rush input method is to tap forward, then forward + Parry
- Rewards 5000 Drive (1/2 bar) for successfully parrying non-Super projectiles (including multi-hit projectiles)
- Some exceptions exist, like Kimberly double Spraycan (10000 total) or Guile Sonic Break (2000 each)
- Rewards 10000 Drive (1 bar) for successfully parrying Normals, Specials (including multi-hit attacks), or Drive Reversal
- Target Combos or Rekka strings count as separate attacks, so parrying them builds 1 bar for each hit
- Rewards 20000 Drive (2 bars) for successfully parrying Super Arts or Drive Impact
- This makes it significantly better than blocking, unless the Parry activation would put you into Burnout
- The opponent will also gain some Drive meter when their attack is parried, the same as if it was blocked
Perfect Parry:
- Occurs on the first 2 active frames; Parry cannot be buffered by holding it down, must be timed properly
- Has only 1f of recovery, and prevents the opponent from cancelling their attack, making punishes mostly guaranteed
- The screen freezes upon a successful Perfect Parry, giving ample time to react with a strong punish
- Fully invincible for 6f after success, during which time you can cancel into anything except Drive moves
- A 50% damage scaling penalty is applied to any punish afterward, even if you delay the followup beyond the 6f cancel window
- Against projectiles, the screen does not freeze; puts you into 11f of fixed recovery
- If a strike hits on the same frame as a projectile Perfect Parry, results in a regular parry for the strike
- Perfect Parrying projectiles allows you to hold the input for up to 13 frames without incurring the standard 29f of parry recovery
- In general, Perfect Parry rewards you with the same amount of Drive meter as a regular Parry
- However, the invincibility period can cause some attack hits to whiff, while still only building partial Drive for the part that connected (e.g. Luke's charged Flash Knuckle)
Note: tapping Drive Parry for the minimum time technically costs slightly more than 1/2 Drive bar (unlesscancelled into immediate Drive Rush); at 10,000 Drive per bar, the usual cost is 5,250. When done from a crouching state, this cost is increased to 5,300 (or 5,600 for Guile, Kimberly, and Luke). This difference is extremely minor, but could potentially be relevant if attempting a parry with exactly 1/2 a Drive bar remaining.
Overdrive
Costs 2 Drive Stocks. Press two Punches or Kicks while inputting a special move to perform the Overdrive Art (OD) version.
Acts similarly to EX Special Moves from previous titles. Just like before, input the special move with 2 punches or 2 kicks to perform an enhanced special at the cost of 2 Drive stocks. OD specials can now combo into Super Arts since they are no longer tied to the same meter.
- OD moves generally have benefits like extra damage, faster startup, lower recovery, and may even have invincibility
- OD moves often put the opponent in a juggle state, or have higher juggle potential themselves
- OD moves can be performed with less than 2 Drive stocks, but the player is immediately put into Burnout state
Drive Rush
Costs 1 Drive Stock after a Parry or 3 stocks to cancel from a normal attack. Tap 
(66) to perform. The cancelled version acts like a special move, so it only works from special cancellable normals.
Drive Rush adds +4 to the frame advantage of the followup normal attack on hit and block. This makes it great for combo extensions and safe high/low mixups. The dash can also be ended early, allowing a quick throw attempt. This prevents players from holding Drive Parry or using Drive Impact as a universal defensive response. Normals from Drive Rush also generally have increased juggle potential, allowing unique juggle sequences.
If Drive Rush is used mid-combo, an additional damage scaling penalty applies, and no additional Drive gauge will be built for the rest of the combo. This does not apply to combos that start with a Drive Rush attack.
The screen freezes for 10 frames during the startup of Drive Rush, whether it was cancelled into or used raw from Parry. This can help to provide a little extra time to decide what to do next, such as reacting to a hit or block, or reacting to an opponent's jump or dash animation. Note that you can't cancel Drive Rush into blocking, so opponents looking for the green flash can counterpoke you if done raw, especially at closer ranges.
Drive Reversal
Costs 2 Drive Stocks. Press ++ (6HPHK) during blockstun to perform. Similar to Alpha Counter or V-Reversal from previous Street Fighter games. They are fully invincible from frames 1-22, and deal a small amount of recoverable damage. Drive Reversals break armor, so it can be used against buttons cancelled into Drive Impact (although it's usually better to attempt your own Drive Impact in the blockstring gap; if it was a true blockstring, then the Drive Impact wouldn't give the opponent a followup combo anyway).
All Drive Reversals are punishable at -8 on block, and are slow enough that quick attacks will recover before the Drive Reversal connects. Drive Reversal immediately ends the blockstun of the opponent's attack, so inputting earlier increases the chance of successfully punishing the opponent's move. It is impossible to win a round with the damage from Drive Reversal.
Advanced Drive Info
Passive Drive Regeneration
The Drive meter automatically restores itself over time, but the rate it which it regenerates can change based on several factors. Recall that 1 Drive bar is 10,000 units of Drive meter, and that 1 frame equals 1/60 of a second.
40 Drive/frame (2400/second):
- Standard regeneration rate
+20 Drive/frame (+1200/second):
- Additional Drive meter while walking forward
- Stacks with Passive Regeneration, and even works while otherwise locked out of Drive Regeneration
20 Drive/frame (1200/second):
- Being hit by non-Knockdown move (immediately upon entering Hitstun)
- Being Airborne
- Lying on ground (until the beginning of wakeup animation)
- Throw Tech hit freeze (back to normal as soon as the "Throw Escape" actually occurs)
10 Drive/frame (600/second):
- Being hit by a Knockdown move (immediately upon entering Hitstun)
- e.g. Throws, sweeps, KD special moves, air resets, air juggles
- example scenario: opponent will regenerate 20 Drive/frame during the first 2 hits of Jamie's 236P Rekka, but only 10/frame as soon as the 3rd Rekka connects
Burnout Drive Regeneration
The gray Burnout meter is functionally the same as the Drive gauge, except that it must be fully restored (60,000 Drive) in order to be usable again.
There are some key differences in how Drive meter is restored during Burnout:
- Blocking attacks does not deplete your gauge, but instead builds the same amount of Drive that the opponent gains for connecting their attack.
- This includes blocking Super Arts; blocking a Super will increase your Burnout Drive gauge by 1/2 the usual Drive Damage amount
- Connecting with an attack on hit or block also increases your Drive gauge as usual, allowing you to recover from Burnout more quickly.
Passive Drive regeneration during Burnout works as follows:
50 Drive/frame (3000/second):
- Standard Burnout regeneration rate
- Walking Forward has no additional effect in Burnout
25 Drive/frame (1500/second):
- Being hit by non-Knockdown move (immediately upon entering Hitstun)
- Lying on ground (until the beginning of wakeup animation)
All other situations have the same regeneration rate as usual (including no Drive build during cinematic Level 3 Supers)
Drive Regeneration Lockout
Certain actions will stop the automatic regeneration of Drive meter for a certain period of time (with the exception of Forward Walk regeneration):
- Blocking Attacks: 90f from start of blockstun (does not apply during Burnout)
- Multi-hit attacks reset the lockout timer to 90f for each hit
- Being hit by Super Art: 90f from the end of attack hitstun
- Cinematic Supers are considered to be in hitstun until the cinematic has fully ended, greatly extending the Drive regeneration lockout time
- Overdrive special, Drive Impact, Drive Reversal, Drive Rush Cancel: 120f, starting after the move's recovery
- Drive Rush Cancel also prevents any additional Drive build (passive or on hit) until the combo has finished
- Whiffed Drive Parry: 240f from the moment of Parry recovery (also applies to Parry~Drive Rush)
- For Chun-Li only, the lockout is 120f (as of Beta 2 - may be an unintended bug)
- Successful Parry/Perfect Parry: 60f after parry freeze or parry blockstun
Super Meter
Super meter is only used for Super Arts. Characters gain super meter when an attack connects on hit or block (but not for whiffing a move). The match starts with 0 meter for both sides, and can build up to a maximum of 3 bars. Unlike the Drive Gauge, Super meter carries over between rounds; this means it is not always beneficial to finish a round with Super if a cheaper alternative exists.
As a general rule, meter build works as follows:
- The character taking damage builds 70% as much meter as the attacker on hit
- A blocked attack builds 50% as much meter as a successful attack
- The defender blocking gains 50% as much meter as the attacker, or 25% of the move's usual meter build on hit.
- Example: An attack builds 100 Super meter on hit, 50 meter on block; the defender will build 70 meter when hit, 25 meter when blocking.
Counterhits and Punish Counters do not build any extra Super meter. Drive moves and Super Arts do not build meter for the attacker or defender (although any followup combo afterwards can still build meter).
Super Art
During Super Art animations, the player's Drive Gauge will increase with each hit (in addition to passive regeneration). The opponent's Drive gauge is decreased with each hit and is locked out of passive regeneration. This makes it an important tool for Drive gauge management, whether it be putting the opponent into Burnout or stalling for time to prevent your own Burnout.
- Level 1 Supers can be cancelled from Normals only.
- Level 2 Supers can be cancelled from Normals and OD Specials.
- Level 3 Supers can be cancelled from Normals and Specials.
- At low health, Level 3 Supers are upgraded to Critical Arts, which do more damage and may have different frame advantage on hit.
- Not all Normals, Specials, or OD Specials can be cancelled into Super Arts; refer to the "cancel" column in the move's frame data.
Many Super Arts have invincibility, allowing characters in Burnout to counter Drive Impact blockstrings in the corner. This is often the only way to escape this situation, since burned out characters have no access to Drive options. Some Super Arts create an "install" state that powers the character up, such as Juri's Feng Shui Engine. Install Supers turn the meter into a timer that ticks down until empty, at which point the character returns to normal.
