Those of you who managed to pick up Street Fighter IV know just how incredibly well balanced and well made this game is. It has an impressive amount of polish, and the whole experience (except for maybe the [shal]final boss[/shal]) is fun and addictive. But there has still been some mystery over how the [shal]damage[/shal] system works. That is until now.



The Combo System:

The combo system works in the following way. The first two successful hits deliver 100% damage, while the third hit delivers 80% of that move’s original damage. And each subsequent hit has an extra 10% of damage shaved off. For example, the fourth hit will deliver 70%, the fifth move 60%, etc. After the ninth successful hit, damage is shaved off in 1% increments.

This is vital information if you have multiple combos that you want to string together, and also lets you know when to stop attacking, as combos have steadily diminishing returns.

Ultras and Focus Attacks:

Ultras and Focus Attacks count as two moves. If used within a combo, the damage scaling will affect them accordingly. For example, if a focus attack or ultra is the 4th move within a combo, it will only count as 60% of the original damage. This is because it counts as the 4th move and the 5th move.

The Exceptions:

Throws, Supers, and EX-Moves only count as one move.

E. Honda’s Hundred Hand Slap only counts as one move.

[shal]Chun Li[/shal]’s Jumping Hard Punch counts as two moves.

*If a move requires extra controller input to pull off, it’s going to count as two moves*

Damage Reduction:

The more damage a fighter receives, the less damage they’re going to take. This works in tandem with the damage scaling Combo System, so there’s some notable math involved if you’re a fighting game statistician. Damage scaling is flipped on when a fighter’s health dips below 50%. When health dips to 26~50%, damage is scaled to 95%. When health dips to 16~25%, damage is scaled to 90%. When health dips to 1~15%, damage is scaled to 75%.

This information should help out both the hardcore players, as well as casual players who simply wondered why damage dished out and damage received isn’t consistent during each match. There are specific rules, and this knowledge will definitely give you a leg up if you study the move list of each character.

[Source]