When your opponent gets stunned, use that opportunity to charge your attack and deal a crushing blow.
If a game involves combat, especially melee, there’s a chance it also gives players an option to charge their attacks. Instead of clicking to attack, you have to hold the attack for a moment before releasing it – that’s what charging an attack means.
Charge Attack Meaning in Games
Usually, to charge an attack, you need to spend a bit of your stamina. Charged attacks are extremely powerful, so it’s only natural for games to have some balance guardrails in place to prevent misuse.
Charged attacks are best used against enemies that are temporarily unable to react, so enemies that are stunned, dazed, paralyzed, or asleep. That’s because charging an attack may leave you open for incoming strikes and decrease your mobility during charging. On top of that, charged attacks may be slower than normal attacks, so you want to make sure it doesn’t miss.
Sometimes charged attacks are a part of a normal combo and don’t require you to be too cautious about using it. Other times, charged attacks can be continuous, rather than single, powerful strikes. Imagine a large blade user who may start spinning their sword while charging.
Here are some examples of what is a charged move in a few selected video games.
Zelda Games
In The Legend of Zelda, you can charge Link’s attack to spend a bit of stamina and perform a more powerful version of a melee attack. The attack itself depends on the weapon you’re currently wielding and the level of charge, as there is usually more than one – the longer you hold, the more powerful version of the attack will be released. While charging, Link is prone to attacks, so keep that in mind.
Monster Hunter
In Monster Hunter, charged attacks are tied to weapon types, most notably, bows, hammers, and great swords. They have three stages of charge – the longer you hold your charge attack before release, the more powerful the strike will be. There’s also a power charge, which is not an attack, but a buff that you can activate while charging an attack.
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact features a lot of characters, each with their own unique attacks and abilities. Most characters can use a default single-stage charge attack, which varies depending on weapon type, but some characters make better use of it than others.
Claymore users can expend stamina to spin with the sword continuously. Bow users charge their arrows by aiming for a moment. Ganyu, who uses a bow, has two stages of aiming charge, as opposed to the usual one; charge your shot for longer, and you’ll release an even more devastating arrow that explodes on impact.