Street Fighter 6 Drive Gauge System: Meter & Moves & Meter Explained

Capcom will enter a new era of combat with the upcoming release of Street Fighter 6 by revising and overhauling the game modes, features, and mechanics. This will enhance your gameplay experience and bring forth more depth, creativity, and strategy when joining battles that can be rewarding or detrimental.

The Drive Gauge system is a new mechanic to be introduced in Street Fighter 6; however, many players aren't familiar with this mechanic and how it affects gameplay. This guide explains how the Drive system works, the Drive moves available, and how to use them effectively in Street Fighter 6.

What Is The Drive Gauge Meter In Street Fighter 6

The Drive Gauge system is a new in-game mechanic that allows players to choose and customize how they fight and utilize their movesets. The Drive Gauge has a meter visibly seen above your HP meter, which will appear as soon as the round starts.

How Does The Drive Gauge System Work In Street Fighter 6

This meter can be consumed by performing specific Drive Gauge moves or actions to boost your fighter’s “offense or defense,” as filling up the meter can be achieved when not using these Drive moves. Should you spend or waste the meter, it will quickly deplete and place your fighter in a burnout state.

Additionally, taking damage from Critical Hits, Punish Counters, blocking attacks, or enemy Drive moves can empty the Drive Gauge meter. This comes with significant disadvantages affecting the rounds, like taking more damage or being unable to block attacks effectively, so fighting more strategically and avoiding burnout is vital.

Street Fighter 6 Drive Gauge Moves List

According to Capcom, there are five various Drive moves or actions, and each move consumes a portion of your Drive Gauge meter that we’ve listed below:

Drive Impact

This allows you to perform a striking attack that can absorb enemy attacks, especially when an enemy is “backed” into a corner, even when they block this attack. This Drive move consumes one bar of your Gauge meter.

Drive Parry

This move lets you constantly block attacks which can refill the gauge meter if used correctly. This continuously consumes the Gauge meter as you can perform “a Perfect Parry” by parrying right as the enemy strikes you.

Drive Reversal

Reversing an enemy attack when blocking can help when cornered, especially if your HP is low. This uses up two bars of your Drive Gauge meter, so use this move wisely to create more space between yourself and your enemy.

Drive Rush

This move can use between one to three bars which, when using it, allows you to carry out a Drive Parry or “cancelable normal attack” from a quick rush action. If the quick rush is from a parrying attack, one bar is used, and from a normal attack, three bars are consumed.

Overdrive

When executing a special move, pressing two of the exact button type will change this move into an Overdrive Art, which are the same moves akin to the EX Special Moves from previous games.

Street Fighter 6 Drive Gauge Tips

It’s essential for players to learn and understand the Drive Gauge system intuitively, which can add some creativity to matches. However, knowing when to utilize a Drive Gauge action successfully can take any match into a high-level battle or risk going into a state of burnout, rendering your fighter vulnerable.

When using the Drive Gauge system, you can use either Classic or Modern Control type to complement your fighting playstyle. Regarding the Classic Control type, veteran players will utilize specific buttons or keys to activate various Drive moves for the highest level of play.

If you’re new to Street Fighter, then the Modern Control type allows you to perform any Drive action at the press of a single button or simple button combos. This can work well for players who don’t wish to remember every character’s move inputs or want to jump into online action without practicing with the character.