Street Fighter V: How to Play Rose

On April 19th, Capcom released an update which added series veteran Rose to Street Fighter V. As was the case with Dan from earlier in the season, Rose has several strange techniques and quirks that make her playstyle unique. While her game plan is generally defensive, she has some strong offensive capabilities due to both of her V-Triggers. Perhaps Rose’s strongest asset is her zoning ability; her Soul Spark, a standard fireball projectile, is relatively fast-moving, and in combination with her Soul Punish, an attack that can place a timed explosive projectile at different places on the stage, she can control her opponent’s movement quite well. Below is a list of her specials, what they do, and some basic combos to help you pick the character up for the first time. For a full set of attacks, check out Capcom’s official move list.

Rose’s Specials and What They Do

• Slide
  • Down-forward medium kick
  • Rose does a slide low to the ground
  • Can go under certain characters fireballs if timed correctly
• Soul Spark
  • Quarter-circle forward punch
  • A standard fireball projectile
  • It can be used on the ground and during forward and neutral jumps
• Soul Punish
  • Quarter-circle back punch
  • This move places a non-moving fire-ball that explodes after a certain amount of time
  • Pressing a different punch button controls the distance the fire-ball is placed at
  • The EX version of this attack (triggered by pushing 2 punch buttons instead of one) causes the fireball to be triggered by opponent proximity instead
  • Unlike her other projectile, this can only be used on the ground
• Soul Bind
  • Forward -> down -> down forward punch
  • This move functions as an anti-air
  • The light variation targets just above and in front of rose, the medium just ahead of the light, and the heavy one mid-way across the screen
  • This move is useful for stopping aerial attacks from a distance, though it is not as fast as her crouching heavy punch, which works as a close-range anti-air
• Soul Spiral
  • Quarter-circle Forward Kick
  • This is move is essentially a punch with extended range; heavier variations are slower but do more damage
• Fate Aura Spark
  • Quarter-circle forward, quarter-circle forward kick
  • This is rose’s critical art or super. It combos out of her medium and heavy soul spiral for an easy chance at serious damage

Basic Combos for Rose

• Jumping heavy punch, standing medium punch, crouching medium punch, medium soul spiral (can combo into Fate Aura Spark)
• Standing medium punch, crouching medium punch, medium soul spiral (can combo into Fate Aura Spark)
• Slide (from a distance), standing light punch, light soul spiral
• Standing light punch, standing light kick, heavy kick, heavy soul bind
  • an EX Soul Bind will cause the opponent to bounce off the wall, allowing you to follow up with a medium soul spiral.
• EX Soul Punish, jumping medium punch, quarter-circle forward heavy punch (while still in the air)

While this list is far from comprehensive, these are some of the basic combos you can use to get started learning the character. In addition to these combos, her heavy Soul Spiral is a strong poke by itself. She can also immediately follow up a crouching medium kick with her medium Soul Spiral. Another of her strong points is her unique V-Skill, and V-Trigger mechanics explained below.

V-Skills

• V-Skill I- Soul Fortune
  • V-Skill I allows Rose to draw from a deck of cards, buffing herself or tossing a card at the opponent. If it hits the opponent, it will inflict a nerf upon them
• V-Skill II- Sould Sattelite
  • Rose summons an orb that circles her
  • This can be stacked twice
  • These orbs can block incoming attacks or can be used to extend more complex combos

V-Triggers

• V-Trigger I- Soul Dimension
  • After she has activated V-Trigger one, she can perform the input again (heavy punch + heavy kick) in combination with a direction to teleport.
    • Holding forward teleports her behind the opponent
    • Holding back teleports her backward from her current position
    • Holding down teleports her into the air above the opponent
• V-Trigger 2- Soul Illusion
  • Rose summons a shadow of herself that follows the same commands, allowing her to strike twice with each attack in rapid succession. This does more damage and makes combo inputs more forgiving or allows inputs that wouldn’t normally be a combo to combo

In conclusion, Rose is best played defensively, using her projectiles to keep opponents at a distance. When someone comes near, it is wise to use her attacks sparingly until one gets through and then follow it up with one of the short combos listed above. She is most capable offensively when she has either one of her V-Triggers activated. By using this knowledge and basic combos, you should be able to pick up the character for the first time and have some success in learning to play her.

Street Fighter V is available on PlayStation 4 and PC