Street Fighter 6 guide: Drive Impact and how to use it

Street Fighter: 2nd (and 3rd, 4th, & 5th) Impact

Among the core mechanics of Capcom’s new scrapper Street Fighter 6, one of the most important to get to grips with — even in the early going — is Drive Impact (commonly abbreviated to “DI”). This hybrid defensive/offensive tool is a key part of the SF6 meta, and as such is a vital element of gameplay.

Drive Impact is somewhat similar to Street Fighter IV‘s Focus Attack, though is arguably more powerful on defense and more devastating on offense. The move, which can be performed by all members of the roster, essentially absorbs incoming moves, before interrupting the opponent with a devastating strike, capable of pushing them backward, or even leaving them open for a free combo. It’s a little complicated to understand at first, but bear with me, and you’ll get there in the end.

What is Drive Impact?

At any point when a fighter is standing up, feet planted firmly on the ground, the player can activate Drive Impact by pressing HP + HK simultaneously. Activating Drive Impact costs one bar of the Drive Meter. On startup, DI can absorb two incoming normal attacks or special moves, (a third hit will shatter the armor and end Drive Impact). The result of Drive Impact connecting depends on what your opponent is doing.

-If your opponent is doing nothing, DI will cause damage and knock them backwards. If they connect with the end of the stage while stumbling backward, they will “wall splat”, allowing for follow-up attack.

-If your opponent is blocking, then they will simply be pushed backward. However, they will still wall splat if they collide with the end of the stage, even though they were blocking.

-If your opponent is Parrying, the DI will have little effect, causing minor pushback.

-If, however, your opponent is in the middle of performing a move, (that is not a Super), then they will be rocked by the DI and enter a “crumple” state, essentially giving you a free combo. This is arguably the best result from activating a DI, as it can turn a defensive state into a huge opportunity for a comeback.

Let’s see it in action

In the video below, you can see Kimberly land Drive Impact on Marisa. In the first instance, Marisa is simply blasted backward. In the second instance, Marisa wall splats, allowing Kimberly to follow up.

In this clip, however, Kimberly activates Drive Impact while Marisa is in the middle of her attacks. This causes DI to absorb the blow, before landing a strike that crumples Marisa, allowing Kimberly to follow up with her Super.

As you can see, DI can be devastating — eating your opponent’s move and potentially putting you in a position to fight back. And so, as useful as Drive Impact is for you. It is equally as useful as your opponent. And while knowing how and when to use DI is an important part of Street Fighter 6, knowing what to do to defend yourself against DI is equally as important.

How to deal with Drive Impact

Dealing with Drive Impact is a long-term goal for all of us, something that we will all struggle with in the early going, before getting better and better at understanding defense over the course of SF6’s lifespan. Here in the early going, there are several ways to deal with an incoming Drive Impact.

-You can Parry against Drive Impact (MP+MK) rendering it useless

-You can Jump straight upwards, before coming back down with an aerial attack into full combo.

-You can Block Drive Impact, just remember you will be wall-splatted if near the corner.

-You can Super through Drive Impact. All Super moves negate DI, as do moves with at least three hits, (Ryu’s OD Hadoken is an example of this). Learn which moves in your character’s set negate DI.

-Most effectively, you can counter Drive Impact with your own Drive Impact. Doing this turns the tables, putting your opponent into a crumple state. This is an incredibly powerful counter, and it is on us, all of us, to learn how to smack DI the moment we see the opponent activate their own DI. More importantly, we need to learn when the opponent is likely to DI, so that we can be better prepared to counter.

In the video below, you can see Kimberly counter Marisa’s Drive Impact with her own. This can be performed right up to the very last frames of DI heading your way.

Now, I hear you. “How am I supposed to react to that? It’s so fast!” And yes, you’re right, it is so fast. This is where training and experience will come into play. As you play more Street Fighter 6, you’ll understand the situations where people are more likely to throw out DI: When you’re cornered, when they’re cornered, at the very start of a round, when you’ve been blocking a lot of their attacks…

The mind game will come from you learning when to anticipate an incoming DI, while simultaneously making your own DI attacks fast and unpredictable. You are both playing the same game. 

There’s no denying that, at SF6‘s launch, Drive Impact will be a highly contentious subject, causing frustration in the early going for a lot of players. This is what happens when new fighters launch, but we always Learn. Adapt. And Overcome in the end. Battle the CPU on Level 7. This level AI loves to Drive Impact, and will give you good practice in recognizing/predicting the move and acting accordingly.

And never forget, anything your opponent can do with DI, you too can do. Make it work for you.