Injustice 2 guide: super meter

The notched bar at the bottom of the screen is your super meter, used for a number of different actions. Putting it to effective use is another key to victory.

Meter burn

Tapping the "Meter Burn" button during a special move (at specific points that vary by move) will do a meter burn. This enhances a move by giving it a special effect.

For example, Joker’s "Bang!" is a gunshot, but if you press meter burn during the move, the bullet plants a little "Bang!" flag into your opponent which then explodes.

If you use a meter burn during Superman’s frost breath, it will actually freeze your opponent in place, opening up a big combo opportunity. Moves with effects like these are the best to use in combos, and every character has something like it.

Other meter burns have entirely unique properties, like Swamp Thing’s life drain during his throw special. Experiment and see what you can find!

Bounce cancel

The bounce cancel is a way to make combos out of hits that wouldn’t ordinarily lead to them, causing major extra damage in exchange for half (two bars) of your Super Meter.

Double-tap back (for a heavy strike) or forward (for an overhead) and meter burn to do a bounce cancel, which sounds like "bounce castle." In this example, Cyborg uses a bounce cancel to turn a regular attack string into a wall bounce combo.

Another use for the bounce cancel is to throw an unexpected hit into an ordinary attack string. A bounce cancel overhead can be very quick to come out, perhaps too fast for your opponent to block it.

Block escape

One way to quickly get out of your opponent’s pressure and create some space to catch your breath is the block escape. While blocking, press forward and meter burn to spend a block of meter and push your opponent back.

Air escape

Hate getting caught in air combos? Sure, we all do. Well, at the cost of two bars (half!) your super meter, you can jump out of one. At the moment an air juggle hit makes contact, press back and meter burn at the same time to jump backward — or up and meter burn at the same time to flip up.

Keep in mind that you’re completely open to all attacks on the way down, so try to only use this move if you’re in a position where you absolutely can’t be hit. There’s no point spending meter to escape danger if you just get hit again anyway.

In this example, Harley anticipates a back air escape from Catwoman and throws a bomb all the way across the stage to catch her. This is called "baiting."

This mechanic is inspired by the burst in Guilty Gear, and like in that game the very best players understand that you have the ability to escape combos and will counter your air escape attempts if you’re too predictable. In the worst case, a botched air escape can lead to you taking a whole combo all over again.

Roll

Nobody likes being pinned down with projectiles, especially if you don’t have anything to shoot back. In addition to ducking and jumping over Batarangs and so on, you can also roll directly through them at the cost of half your meter. Double-tap in either direction and press Meter Burn to roll.

Similar to the roll in King of Fighters but much faster and wider, this move allows you to cross the screen — and fast.

Clash

A more drastic way to break out of enemy combos is the clash. If you’ve already lost your first life bar, you can press forward and meter burn at the same time to initiate a clash.

After some banter, both players put some of their super meter on the line to determine who wins the clash. If the defender bets more super meter than the attacker, they gain some precious life back, depending on how much more they bet. If the attacker wins, they do damage by the same rule.

It’s important to save this move for the right time. You want to use a clash when you have more meter than your opponent: If you can bet more than they can, your victory is assured. By the same token, it’s usually not a good idea to clash when your opponent has more meter than you do: Why start a fight you’re guaranteed to lose?

Starting a losing clash to save your life from a combo that will otherwise kill you, however, is not a bad idea. If you know you’re going to lose a clash, you may not want to waste meter by betting at all: You can bet zero by just pressing meter burn again.

Super move

With a full four bars, you get access to the flashiest attack: a character’s super move. This is done by pressing meter burn and change Stance (the back triggers on a Xbox One or PlayStation 4 controller) at the same time.

Super moves have a long startup and are not invincible: It is a waste to use one out of the blue. Furthermore, once you learn how to do damaging combos in Injustice 2, you’ll see that the damage isn’t that great compared to a regular and less costly combo.

So why use a super move? Unlike regular combo strings, there’s no way out of a super move. There’s no air escape when you’re getting machine-gunned by the Batwing. If you’re at full meter and your opponent’s life is at about a third or less, consider taking your next successful combo hit straight into a super move.