Detailed Survival Mode Guide as well as Stories and Tips

[JOEYGGDXDREAPER7]

Woooooo! So I literally just finished Survival Mode after about 5 or 6 tries on SFV. First off, I did try using my main (Alex) initially, but that did not go over as well as I hoped. After that I tried doing the Ken/Ryu Shoryuken method with Ken and that proved to be time consuming, pointless, and way too luck based with the computer AI. After research I came to the conclusion (depending on your preference) the best characters to use for Survival are either Rashid or M.Bison (not Ken and Ryu) or Vega if you are really good with him and are feeling ballsy. I will have videos posted below showing demonstrations of how you are to use the characters on top of my personal tips with Rashid and a breakdown with useful information for Survival Mode since he was the one I beat all 4 Survival Modes using with ease.

 

First off, to elaborate on my Survival Mode stories when I used Rashid, it took me my 1st try to do Survival Mode on Easy and Normal each. Hard Mode, it took me about 3 or 4 tries to win. Hell/Extreme difficulty took me 5 or 6 attempts before I won. Easy and Normal took no effort from me to win them. Survival Mode Hard Stage 47 Vega was the only real issue. You can not fight him like the other 49 characters in Survival Hard Mode. To fight him, with Rashid you have to alternate between the following:
- Heavy Eagle Kick and backing away from him.
- Crouching light punches and light kicks if he is literally right next to you and you have no options (can also use the light kick variation of the Eagle Kick) (this can either kill him if he is almost dead or injure him a little and give you the space you need).
- Most importantly, play on the offensive for the most part and use the combo you will use on Ryu any time you get against him (You rush from the air doing a Heavy Kick on the way down, then use back fierce punch when you hit the ground and cancel into a Heavy Eagle Kick, this does a high damage 3 hit combo that if done right will catch Vega off guard a lot seriously injuring him).
- Sometimes when you jump at him tho, instead of doing the combo, do the Heavy Eagle Kick version that is from the air going in an in an down in an angle. (This also does a lot of damage and can catch him off guard).
Trust me when I say I hated Stage 47 Vega on Hard Mode since he was the result of me losing 2 of the times I lost.

 

Survival Mode Hell/Extreme, you will essentially be applying what the videos show to do or just using the combo that you will use on Ryu on other enemies as well while also using the Heavy Eagle Kick a bunch. Remember, you will need to trust your instincts on what to use when, so do not just use the guide like it's the bible you must be 100% exactly the same, no do not do that. Every run for people is different, this is just the basis of what you must know and should do. To elaborate on the characters that I feel I should advise on here are the following:
- Laura and Karin can be easy, but they also rush you while attacking later on. Don't panic, just use crouching light taps as necessary. Sometimes using a light kick variation of the Eagle Kick at point blank range since the activation is very fast on that variation. Sometimes us a super when they are in mid attack at close range as you are in your wake up off the ground frames or activate it as they jump over you (above you, automatically catching them). Do not be intimidated by their rush high damage fast combos, they will go down easy enough with patience. Just be extra careful with Karin on Stage 89 and Laura on any Stage she appears on that on the Stages of the 70's and 80's. They are dangerous on those Stages so be careful and stick to your Heavy Eagle Kick attacks.
- Birdie is normally very easy to deal with since you just keep your distance and use Heavy Eagle Kicks, but sometimes he can hit you with attacks catching you in mid attack. Do not be intimidated by these, even tho they may do a good bit of damage, just stick to keeping your distance and Heavy Eagle Kicks. Even Birdie on Stage 95 is pretty easy.
- Vega can be irritating, especially on Stage 92. Just keep your distance, use Heavy Eagle Kicks, and remember what I posted for Hard Mode Stage 47 Vega. If you were able to beat Hard Mode Stage 47 Vega, Hell/Extreme Stage 92 Vega should be easy by comparison.
- R. Mika usually goes down easy without a fight, maybe on the rare occasion getting a hit on you. She can sometimes suddenly just go berserk with a 1 hit catch that she links into a high damage combo reset. Do not be intimidated, just try to get distance to continue your Heavy Eagle Kick spree or if you are trapped up close, use crouching light taps or a light kick variation of the Eagle Kick so you can do damage and give yourself distance again. You will want this knowledge because sometimes Stage 91 R. Mika can be very dangerous and aggressive. Because of her randomly going berserk sometimes, she killed me on Stage 91 after getting a crappy heal option from Stage 90 Rashid after he really messed me up.
- Ryu, just follow the videos and you will be fine. Stage 100 Ryu literally just took it and died when I fought him. I had almost a full health bar and he never even touched me. Learn how to fight Ryu and he goes down easy.
- Necalli, just use the Heavy Eagle Kicks and keep your distance. Even on Stage 93 he just takes it and dies.
- Cammy, just use Heavy Eagle Kicks and keep your distance. Even on Stage 96, she just takes the hits till she has almost no health left (and when it is any fight with Cammy that is not Stage 96, she usually just takes the hits till she dies), but on Stage 96 when she is almost dead, if the Eagle Kicks are not killing her, use crouching taps, the light kick variation of his projectile attack, his V-trigger, even his super if you really must do so. On Stage 96 when she is low on health her AI can go comeback king pro and really do some damage to your health bar if you are not careful. That is why I gave so much info as to how to rid of her when she is almost out of health.
- Zangief, just use Heavy Eagle Kicks and keep your distance. He's easy.
- F.A.N.G. is tricky, just play smart, keep your distance and use Heavy Eagle Kicks. On the rare occasion use light crouching taps, or an aerial Eagle Kick or the aerial combo. Throw the light variation of the projectile while you keep your distance on the rare occasion to throw him off. He is petty easy for the most part, but on Stages 75 and I believe 85 is the last time after Stage 75 you fight him, on those 2 Stages F.A.N.G is pretty tough if you are not careful and although you will win, he can seriously injure you. Just remember, play smart and safe, and even use your super at the right time if it will guarantee a catch on him.
- Nash is not too bad, just remember to use Heavy Aerial Eagle Kicks and the Air Combo and play smart. Usually if done right, he just dies with maybe getting on good hit or small combo in if anything at all. Even at Stage 98 he is not too bad if you do it right, he may do half of a full health bar, but he is not the issue that far in. The real issue is how bad M. Bison on Stage 97 injures you an what heal the game gives you the option to purchase, but I will go into that later. Nash actually defeated me one time on Stage 98 because I got a poor healing option after beating Stage 97 M. Bison with 1% health left.
- Dhalsim is an annoying prick, he is usually not too bad, but he has his moments. Just like most characters, use Heavy Eagle Kicks and keep your distance. Sometimes use aerial Eagle Kicks and the air combo if it is necessary or beneficial. Stage 86 Dhalsim is extremely irritating, sometimes it is necessary to use crouching light taps like the kicks and punches to catch Dhalsim. If necessary use a super to really do some damage and save yourself because he can be as rough as sandpaper.
- Rashid normally would not be a problem and is usually not a problem until you get past Stage 60 and his difficulty sky rockets. The main issue here is that every time you fight him it is a mirror match so he can be trickier than the average computer. You still should not struggle too much tho, until after the Stage 80 against him. Just play smart, keep your distance, throw light kick variations of the projectile, time your Eagle Kicks well, use aerial Heavy Eagle Kicks and the air combo when necessary, and use your crouching light taps if and when you need to. On Stage 90 he is scary tough tho, I mean very dangerous. Use the V-trigger if you to if he injures you enough and use your super to kill him or seriously injure him if you can guarantee it to connect. Also, do not be afraid in the 80's and especially Stage 90 against him to throw lots of light kick variations of the projectile, he likes to use that move to combo you and catch you in the Eagle Kick, but the move catches and hits him a lot as well.
- Chun-Li can either be really easy or really hard. Just like most characters, use Heavy Eagle Kicks and keep your distance. Sometimes use aerial Eagle Kicks and the air combo if it is necessary or beneficial and sometimes use crouching taps like punches and kicks or even a light kick variation Eagle Kick. Or use a super if you are having a rough time and can guarantee a catch. One important tip I can give that will really help with fighting Chun-Li is that at random times in between (not all, but rather just randomly decided by you) Heavy Eagle Kicks while keeping your distance, before you use the Eagle Kick sometimes throw a light kick variation of the projectile. This seems to confuse her AI before you use the Heavy Eagle Kick and usually just causes her to literally stand there, not block, and take the hit. This even worked on Chun-Li at Stage 99 and because of this, she only hit me one time and just died.
- Ken is a bastard. He can either be really dumb and just die by Heavy Eagle Kicks and do nothing. Or he can be your worst nightmare, catch you in every attack, pressure you, push you into a corner, and combo you. Just like most characters, use Heavy Eagle Kicks and keep your distance. Sometimes use aerial Eagle Kicks and the air combo if it is necessary or beneficial and sometimes use couching taps like punches and kicks or even a light kick variation Eagle Kick. Or use a super if you are having a rough time and can guarantee a catch. I will have to advise against the aerial Eagle Kick for the most part and even the air combo too because he is very good at anti-air game. For all the reasons listed, sometimes, you want to fight him in a similar manner as Chun-Li, instead of throwing the projectiles randomly, I would throw 1, 2, or sometimes even 3 before using the Heavy Eagle Kick. Ken on Stage 94 is hands down the Second hardest fight in all of Survival Mode Hell/Extreme in my opinion. He was the resul of 2 of my losses. So when you fight him, be very careful, not just Stage 94, but any time you fight him, especially Stage 94 tho.
- M. Bison is the true symbol of evil in Hell/Extreme difficulty Survival Mode. Even early on he can either just take the Heavy Eagle Kicks and die or go all crazy boss mode, pressure you, catch you with taps, do crazy high damage combos and become your worst nightmare. Just like most characters, use Heavy Eagle Kicks and keep your distance. Sometimes use aerial Eagle Kicks and the air combo if it is necessary or beneficial and sometimes use crouching taps like punches and kicks or even a light kick variation Eagle Kick. Or use a super if you are having a rough time and can guarantee a catch. I will have to advise against the aerial Eagle Kick for the most part and even the air combo too because he is very good at his anti-air game. For al the reasons listed, sometimes you want to fight him in a similar manner as Chun-Li or in this case maybe more like Ken and just throw light kick projectiles before using Heavy Eagle Kicks. I would throw 1, 2, or sometimes even 3 before using the Heavy Eagle Kick. You basically have to treat him in a very similar way to Stage 94 Ken. Stage 97 M. Bison is without a doubt the hardest fight in Survival Mode. Every time I got to him I had a full health bar and when the fight was over, I would have anywhere from 1%-10% left on my health bar after I won the fight against him. I only lost to Nash on Stage 98 because the game gave me a poor healing option after the fight M. Bison just obliterated my health bar. When you fight Stage 97 M. Bison, just like Stage 94 Ken, I say good luck, you will need it.

 

I would like to add that keeping your health at max or almost full is very important, but health upgrades are not the only needed upgrade. For Stages 1-21, if you not need health badly, I recommend you pick Double Down to increase your points rapidly early on for spending money (Assuming it is not the Double Downs that either reduce your health by half or just to 1%, those are just risky and counter-productive in my opinion). Only use the Double Down that max out your stun gauge, increase your opponent's damage, or nullify the increase of you super meter and V-Gauge. Aside from that, if your health is full or good enough and you are passed Stage 21 already, then do not ever select nothing, just pick Attack Power Increase (Attack Up). Trust me when I say this is extremely valuable and helpful. It is cheap, will net you lots of extra points, and make fights a lot easier and faster for the most part. It can sometimes be a lifesaver and the difference between winning or losing a fight. When you hit Stages 81-100, if your health is good and you are preparing to move into a fight you may not be sure or comfortable with and if you do not have a great Attack buff like 2 or 4, but rather Defense 3 is available, then I would recommend that you pick that to ensure miniscule damage and the highest possible remaining health bar you can have for after the fight.

 

Below I will post some videos to give you some examples of what to do as Rashid, M. Bison, or Vega. I do not take credit for any of the videos, but they will be very good examples. I recommend taking serious notes on the Rashid Survival Mode Guide video and I recommend using the Rashid Survival Mode 1-100 run as a reference for each fight from Stages 91-100 so you know how to fight the better and how they work while using the above listed tips I wrote in this guide.

 

Remember, this guide I wrote and these are not a 100% guaranteed success, but I feel tis will give you all the knowledge you will need to know that with a little persistence, determination, and skill, you can beat all 4 modes of Survival Mode and be done the Hardest part of the Offline of SFV.

 

I hope this guide helps you all tremendously. I spent several hours writing this guide sharing all the knowledge I can to help anyone who is struggling with Survival Mode since I completed it and am now a "Veteran of Veterans". I did not spend hardly any tries by comparison to the stories I have heard and read from others, so I my fighting game knowledge helps save you all a lot of time and headaches.

P.S. - I apologize for not having more detailed info on what to do if you are playing as M. Bison or Vega, but that is only because I only considered doing it with them and only used Rashid for Survival Mode. But if you decide to play as M. Bison or Vega, just use either of the videos that I posted below to see and learn what you will need to do when you are going through Survival Mode playing as them.

 

Good Luck Everyone!

Here are the Survival Mode Videos I was talking about in the above post.
I tried posting the videos, but the forum would not let me. So I am going to post the exact names you will need to search for each video on YouTube with the name of the user that posted the video. I will have the listings categorized appropriately according to their characters.

 

(Video name on the left and YouTube username on the right)

Rashid:

Street Fighter V - How to finish Survival Hell "Rashid" ------ OS Farram
Street Fighter V - Extreme Survival Mode with Rashid (stages 1-100) - Back from Hell Trophy -------- MrShadowSax

 

M. Bison:

SFV SURVIVAL HELL MODE -------- V-BISON

 

Vega:

SFV Vega Survival mode Hard stages 46-50 --------- Cory Schneider

 

 

I hope you find the video links of and these videos help you on your conquest for Survival Mode Completion!

I would like to add that anyone is free to post their own tips or advice for Survival Mode here as well. Also, please share your Survival Mode Stories here if you'd like as well.

And feedback is welcome from anyone that wants to post or comment on my Guide.

[JOEYGGDXDREAPER7]

I forgot to include this in the guide. When using Rashid's Heavy Eagle kick, you need to know what to do after.

- If you use the kick and it just misses and goes under them, immediately use the attack again or do the air combo or crouching taps if your missed attack put you in a corner with the opponent.

- If you use the kick and it hits your opponent and they do not block the attack, perform a Back Dash and hit them with another kick as they are in the middle of their wake up.
- If you use the kick and it hits your opponent, but they blocked the attack, jump backwards and use the Heavy Eagle Kick again, or if you have to, Back Dash after the jump and use the Eagle Kick. Or if necessary, react based on your instincts after you jump if none of the previous options are working, like in a really bad scenario with Stage 94 Ken pressuring you, Stage 89 Karin, Stage 97 M. Bison, or Laura passed Stage 70.

[JOEYGGDXDREAPER7]

After writing my guide I thought I would include notes on 2 other characters from Hard Mode difficulty Survival Mode.

- F.A.N.G on Hard Mode Survival Stage 48 I did not post about, but after thinking about it, I may want to post a little bit about him. He his not too difficult if you continuously catch him with Heavy Eagle Kicks, but this F.A.N.G plays a more evasive/defensive rush counter cross up type fighting style. With that said, you should be able to just get away with Heavy Eagle Kick spamming, but you may need to grab him or jump away if you are caught in some serious cross up pressure by him. If you need more detailed advice on him, let me know k.
- M. Bison on Hard Mode Survival Stage 49 I really did not include any information on because I did not think he was too hard so I did not bother post about him specifically here (especially since I gave so much advice in the posts above on how to fight M. Bison). But I can post more if people need me too.

 

I hope this extra bit of info proves to be helpful for anyone that may have needed it

 

I would like to note that if anyone wants to ask any questions about specific stage characters on difficulties that I did not talk about, please feel free to post and ask k