Lucy is one of the most unique characters introduced to Guilty Gear Strive. Her kit blends traditional fighting game tools with brand-new mechanics built around hacking effects and wire-based status states. She isn’t overly complex to pick up, but she rewards creativity, momentum control, and understanding how her specials interact with her system mechanics. Let’s go through her toolkit from long-range zoning to close-range pressure, covering how her supers, specials, and normals all fit together.
The Hacking Super
Before diving into her normals and specials, it’s important to highlight Lucy’s hacking super, because it defines much of her gameplay. Input with half-circle forward + Slash, it allows you to spend “RAM” on different hacks:
- Contagion applies damage-over-time like poison.
- Energy Siphon restores health when you land hits.
- Algorithm Malfunction forces a delayed counter-hit, turning even light pokes into lethal confirms.
- Resistance Glitch alters the opponent’s risk gauge.
- Pacify disrupts their tension gauge.
- Optics Inhibition partially obscures your actions, making your offense harder to read.
You can buy up to four hacks at a time, and resource management is crucial—cheap hacks like Contagion can stack, while the counter-hit option is often considered the most practical pick. What makes this super so strong is that it isn’t restricted to end-of-combo supers. Lucy can cancel nearly any special into it, effectively replacing Roman Cancels in many situations. It gives her both offensive insurance and combo extension opportunities that no other character enjoys.
Long-Range Tools
Lucy doesn’t have a huge arsenal from full screen, but the few tools she does possess are potent. Her gun special (quarter-circle forward + Slash) fires up to three instant-travel projectiles. This is rare in Strive, where most projectiles have travel time. The multi-hit property makes it surprisingly reliable for breaking through opposing fireballs—clash with the first bullet, and the second or third will often connect.
The gun also has combo utility near the wall, causing bounces that extend meterless routes. While not her most damaging finisher, it’s still one of her strongest single specials when all three bullets land. And just like her other tools, the gun can be canceled into her hacking super, turning even a blocked shot into a potential setup.
Mid-Range Pressure
Where Lucy really comes alive is at half-screen. Her quarter-circle back + Kick is a lightning-fast lunge that covers half the stage in just 16 frames. Like Anji’s Fujin, it has branching follow-ups:
- Slash follow-up: a fast low option that combos naturally.
- Heavy Slash follow-up: a cross-up kick that’s safe on block and sets up mix-ups.
She can also go directly into these follow-ups without using the initial lunge, letting her pressure the opponent with sudden lows or cross-ups out of nowhere. On hit, it routes into combos easily. On block, it’s safe if spaced, and the branching options keep opponents guessing.
This single special gives Lucy a cornerstone of her offense: mix-ups, combo extensions, and knockdown pressure. After ending a combo in this move, she lands right in front of the opponent, setting up throw threats, high/low mix, or another layer of pressure. It’s fast, versatile, and arguably her most important special outside of the hack system.
Air Options
Lucy’s air mobility is excellent. Her airdash is quick and covers long distances, while her ground dash carries momentum unusually well, letting her glide far off short bursts of movement.
Her aerial normals are varied:
- Jump Slash gives long horizontal reach, excellent for approaching.
- Jump Heavy Slash angles downward sharply, useful for jump-ins and potential instant overhead tricks.
- Jump Dust is the standout: Lucy tethers herself mid-air and slams the opponent down. It stalls her movement, disrupts anti-airs, and can be canceled into dashes, jumps, or grounded specials. This makes it an unorthodox but flexible combo tool and mix-up enabler.
Slashes, Target Combos, and Lows
At mid-range, Lucy’s buttons are privileged. Her far Slash comes out in 13 frames, confirms into a target combo automatically, and can vacuum into follow-ups or specials. This is rare in Strive, where many characters struggle to convert from max-range pokes.
Her crouching Slash is another highlight. At 11 frames, it’s a low that also vacuum-pulls opponents, enabling follow-ups into crouching Heavy Slash for full combos—even from max distance. Combined with her dash momentum, it becomes a nightmare low poke that threatens conversions from absurd ranges.
Heavy Slash is faster than expected (12 frames) and works as a strong “get off me” button. While some normals leave her unsafe if thrown out raw, almost everything can be safely canceled into specials, making her pressure consistent.
The Short-Circuit Status
Many of Lucy’s specials apply Short Circuit, a status effect similar to Testament’s Stain State. When active, any hit that uses her wire (like Slash strings, throws, or wire-based specials) gains extended hitstun, turning stray pokes into full combos. Unlike Stain, this effect only activates on hit, not block, which means it lingers until the opponent is actually caught.
This creates enormous pressure: Lucy can layer mix-ups and pokes until something lands, and when it does, Short Circuit ensures it converts. Even throws become combo starters under this effect, giving her one of the scariest grappling threats in Strive.
Defensive Tools
Lucy does have a Dragon Punch (invincible reversal). At 9 frames, it’s serviceable but not exceptional. It can’t be RC’d on block or hit, and it doesn’t combo even when the opponent is under Short Circuit. It’s mainly a panic button, or situationally used when strings leave her too close for other options.
Supers
Her second super is more traditional: a cinematic attack that looks flashy but isn’t as practical. Damage is underwhelming, the knockback often resets her to neutral (where she doesn’t want to be), and its only standout feature is the “execute” property at low health. The issue is that the execute threshold feels unreliable—other meter options tend to outperform it in real matches. Still, it can close rounds stylishly and punish specific mistakes.
Lucy is fast, versatile, and deceptively simple on the surface. Her dash momentum makes every button more threatening, her wire specials add unpredictable mix-ups, and her hacking super gives her combo and pressure options no other character has. She isn’t defined by one gimmick; instead, she has a toolkit that allows her to fight effectively at every range.