Soulcalibur 6 guide: Avoiding Ring Outs

It would be unfair to talk about Soulcalibur 6 without bringing up the Ring Out, the bane of so many beginners. In this game, when you’re knocked off the stage, you lose the round. No excuses.

Maybe you’ve been in this situation. You’re winning the match, but you’re standing on the edge of a cliff. Your opponent slips around you for a lucky hit, or lands an air launcher or a throw … and suddenly you are off the cliff and you’ve lost the round, even if they hadn’t gotten a single hit on you that round.

While anybody who gets thrown out of the ring naturally hates it, the boundary of the stage adds a certain degree of strategic depth. Knowing your surroundings and playing your position is part of the larger psychological game. Rather than being the player who gets knocked out of the ring every time and complains about it, why not be the player knocking them out of the ring?

Consider your position

Once you’re beyond absolute basics, try to stay aware of your positioning on the stage. Running aimlessly can bring you close to the edge before you even realize it, and players are naturally going to try to push each other closer to the edge every time they land an air combo. Just keep your head in the game and try not to let yourself get shoved over that way.

And if you’re up against a player you know has a strong Ring Out game, why not just cut off that strength by choosing a walled stage?

Player’s back to the edge

When your back is to the edge, the move that’s going to knock you over the edge is usually a vertical launcher. Your opponents are going to look for this opening, so don’t give it to them. Slow attacks are riskier here because you can take a counter hit launcher and get knocked out. If you sidestep once or twice, you can wriggle out of the situation altogether. If the opponent won’t let you sidestep, try and regain the initiative with a quick slash and sidestep again.

Opponent’s back to the edge

On the other side of the situation, assume that your opponent is going to be very wary of that vertical launcher. If they aren’t being cautious, knock them right out of the ring, but if they are, your goal changes.

You should still use your position to apply offensive pressure, but rather than trying to land a vertical launcher that you know they’re going to dodge, try badgering your opponent with quick horizontal slashes as they desperately try to sidestep you. Even if you don’t actually get the ring out, you can use this situation to make an educated guess on your opponent’s moves and land some damage.

Special cases and setups

Some characters can toss you up over their backs, meaning that when their back is to the edge of the ring, they’re also thinking about how they can knock you over. Know what your opponents can do so that this isn’t a surprise.

For example, Astaroth can pull an opponent to the other side of him and force them to guess between his sweep, a mid launcher and a throw. All of these moves will knock his opponent out of the ring.

All Xianghua needs is a counter hit with forward B to ring you out.

Once you have successfully won by way of Ring Out

It is an informal Soulcalibur tradition to follow your opponent off the edge of the ring with a run or jump. Everybody loves this. Just do it.