Heat

Heat is a resource granted to all characters at the start of each round which can be spent by the usage of Heat-related mechanics. During Heat:

• All attacks deal chip damage on block.
• Certain characters may gain new moves.
• Some moves gain extra properties, either strengthening it at the cost of consuming some of the Heat gauge or having a unique property that replenishes the Heat gauge when performed.
• The Heat gauge steadily depletes until it is entirely consumed, rendering it unavailable for the rest of the round.

Mechanically speaking, there are two ways to activate Heat (Heat Burst and Heat Engagers) and two ways to spend it (Heat Smash and Heat Dash).

Activating Heat

Heat Burst

Done by inputting 2+3 or the Heat macro button without having previously activated Heat in the round. It is a large, fast, tracking mid strike that has the armor of a powercrush while also having armor breaking properties.

Unlike other Heat moves that tend to be highly character-specific, Heat Bursts are all i16, +1 on block and +2 on hit, with only a minor range difference between characters.

Heat Bursts consume a small amount of Heat on activation, giving you less of the bar to work with than a Heat Engager, and also do not grant back recoverable health. They can also be canceled by inputting a backdash (b,b) during the animation, leaving you in some recovery that is punishable at closer ranges.

A Heat Burst's damage cannot cause a KO.

Heat Engager

Done by landing specific attacks that are unique to each character. A Heat Engager can be anything from a poke to a punisher to a powercrush, and a character's available Engagers can help to define their playstyle.

Heat Engagers are always +17 on hit and put opponents into a forced guard state. Attacks can also still wallsplat and balcony break if the move has such properties, even after Heat is triggered, allowing for potential follow-ups into Heat Smash or Heat Dash.

Upon landing a Heat Engager, the character gains back a maximum of 30hp of their recoverable health.

Consuming Heat

Heat Smash

Done with the same input as Heat Burst. A Heat Smash is a powerful attack that consumes your remaining Heat gauge to maintain plus frames, break armor, or mix the opponent up if your character has a Heat Smash' that is a low.

Mid Heat Smashes are plus on block and have varying startups and tracking, while low ones are typically unsafe and potentially punishable. Though most characters only have a single Heat Smash, characters with stances sometimes have a unique extra one performed from said stance.

Heat Smashes heavily scale down in damage quite heavily if used during a combo and thus not preferred to end combos with over Heat Dash.

Heat Dash

When a Heat Engager is used while already in Heat and forward is held as the move connects with the opponent, your remaining Heat gauge is consumed and a Heat Dash is performed. This has ample utility in both pressure and combos, as it forces plus frames on block and unique combo extensions on hit. It also recovers 6 pts of the player's recoverable life on hit, and 3 pts on block.

Throws that are Heat Engagers cannot be used to Heat Dash. The frame data of each Heat Dash varies on hit, but on block they are universally +5g.

Extra Heat Smash Data

Startup speed

i10: Jack-8

i12: Zafina

i13: Jun, Kuma

i14: Law

i15: Azucena, Jin, Dragunov, Panda, Leroy, Xiaoyu

i16: Asuka, Bryan, Leo, Nina, Shaheen, Steve

i17: King, Hwoarang

i18: Claudio, Kazuya, Lars, Paul, Yoshimitsu, Devil Jin, Raven

i20: Alisa, Feng, Lee, Victor

i21: Reina

i23: Lili

Low Heat Smashes on block

Claudio: -14

Jun (Genjutsu): -14

Kazuya: -14

Lee: -15

Leo (KNK): -13

Paul: -12

Reina (Heaven's Wrath): -17

Victor: -15

Zafina (Scarecrow): -14

Shaheen (Stealth Step): -14

Lili BT: -8 (recovers BT)

Frame Data

Credit to @Foxhoundfl for compiling the following information:

Character	Startup Frames	Hit Level	Tip Range	Damage	Frames on Block	Stance Transition	Forced Stance	Properties
Jack	i10	H,M,M	2.6	52	-9			Balcony Break
Zafina	i12	H, SM	2.4	51	+3			Balcony Break
Jun	i13	M	3.2	50	-6			Balcony Break
Kuma	i13	M,M	3.1	51	+10g			Balcony Break
Law	i14	Mid	2.7	50	+11	DSS	Forced	Balcony Break
Azucena	i15	M,H,M	2.6	53	+6	LIB	Forced	Balcony Break
Dragunov	i15	M,M,M	2.7	50	+6			Balcony Break
Jin	i15	M,H,M	3.1	57	+3	FC	Choice
Jin 2+3,4	i15	M,H,M	3.1	48	+9			Balcony Break
Leroy	i15	M	2.8	50	+6	HRM	Forced	Balcony Break
Panda	i15	M,M	2.5	44	+7	ROL +6, HBS +11g	Choice	Floor Break
Xiaoyu	i15	M	2.6	50	+5	BT +9	Choice	Balcony Break
Xiaoyu (BT)	i15	M	2.1	51	+4	HYP +19g	Choice	Leaves Opponent Standing
Bryan	i16	All Mid	2.1	55	+15g			Floor Break
Asuka	i16	All Mid	2.9	50	+10g			Floor Break
Steve	i16	All Mid	2.7	45	+8	LNH	Forced	Floor Break
Leo	i16	M,M,H	2.6	50	+8	FC +16g	Choice	Balcony Break
Lili (BT)	i16	L,M,M,M	2.4	39	-8	BT	Forced	Homing
Nina	i16	M,H,H,H,H,M	3	52	+5	FC +7	Choice	Floor Break
Shaheen	i16	M,M	2.7	50	+6	SNK	Forced	Forces Crouch
Steve (PAB)	i16	All Mid	2.5	45	+8	LNH	Forced	Floor Break
Hwoarang	i17	M,M,H	2.6	51	+11g	RFS	Forced	Balcony Break
King	i17	M,M	3.3	60	+12g	JGR	Forced	Floor Break
Lars	i18	M,M	3.1	55	+8	DEN +10	Choice	Floor Break
Kazuya	i18	L,M,M,M	2.5	43	-14			Floor Break
Claudio	i18	L,M	2	40	-14			Balcony Break
Paul	i18	L,M,M	Point Blank	40	-12			Balcony Break
Raven	i18	All Mid	3.1	55	+14g	SZN	Forced	Balcony Break
Reina (WRA)	i18	L,M,M	2.5	40	-17			Floor Break
Yoshi	i18	M,M,M,M	2.8	51	+4	DGF +10g	Choice	Balcony Break
Devil Jin	i18-28f	M,H	4.5	52	+11g	CRO	Forced	Balcony Break
Zafina (SCR)	i19	L,M	2.5	30+Combo	-14			Launches
Alisa	i20	All Mid	3.4	50	+8	BOT +10g	Choice	Balcony Break
Devil Jin (CRO)	i20	H (!)	Point Blank	39				Unblockable
Feng	i20	All Mid	3.4	48	+7	STC +12g	Choice	Balcony Break
Jun (GEN)	i20	L,M	2.5	42	-14			Balcony Break
Lee	i20	L,M	2.5	37	-15			Balcony Break
Leo (KNK)	i20	L,M,M	Point Blank	35	-13			Balcony Break
Victor	i20	L,M	2.3	39	-15			Balcony Break
Shaheen (SNK)	i20	L,M,M	Point Blank	40	-14			Balcony Break
Reina	i21	M,M	3.5	50	+8	WRA	Forced	Balcony Break
Lili	i23	H,H,M,M	3.1	55	+9	BT	Forced	Homing