Being the "big guy" in Soul Calibur II, Astaroth adopts a lot of the stereotypical advantages we have come to expect from large characters in fighting games. His reach is one of the longest in the game, allowing Astaroth to smack around opponents from almost anywhere in the arena. His damage is also second to none, allowing for matches where only a handful of cleanly landed hits are needed to insure victory.
It is too bad that Astaroth also adopts some of the disadvantages of the "big guy" stereotype as well. While he does have a nice little collection of quick moves, for the most part, Astaroth's attacks telegraph horribly, so astute opponents should be able to predict what's coming. Astaroth's recovery from even the quickest moves also leave a bigger than normal window of opportunity for abuse and his lack of being able to mix up a lot of attacks also keeps him from consistently surprising anyone.
These stereotypes, however, still do not sell Astaroth short. Though strong 8-way characters like Talim or Xianghua will run circles around him, Astaroth does have some basic options for countering attacks from the side. He is also an abuser of a different kind of 8-way run offense. Many of his moves, when landed, will shove characters out of the straight line and will often turn them radically out of alignment, if not completely around. You should also pity any unfortunate individual who gets grounded by Astaroth, as his ability to molest grounded opponents is rarely matched.
There is also the good old ring out strategy that should be familiar to Soul Calibur I players. His high damage moves are prone to knocking opponents back even when blocked and two of his quicker short to medium range rush down moves are great for shoving the opponent over the edge.
If you can adopt patience and a talent for punishing mistakes made by your opponent, Astaroth is definitely the character for you.
This is one of Astaroth's quicker moves and really helps out if he needs to shove a character that is either too close for comfort or out of the arena all together. Ax Crash is also great for smacking characters that have whiffed or telegraphed a move or if Astaroth needs a quick solution for punishing certain ground rolls. Bull Rush (6, 6, K) has similar uses, but it is a little bit more risky, especially if you decide to go with the charged version.
This is just one of several moves in Astaroth's collection that punish grounded opponents (you should also look into Ax Grave--1, B--or when you are comfortably dominating the match, Dark Immolator--2, A). The reason why Discus beats out Ax Grave as this guide's feature ground punishing move is because of its ability to hit rolling opponents. Otherwise, both have about the same range and speed. Dark Immolator relies on Astaroth being right on top of your opponent and it puts him/her right back on their feet. So unless Astaroth has something to follow up with, he'd better stick to another option. If you feel lucky you can go for the charged version of Discus, but the chances of someone laying on their back long enough to eat it is slim.
This really is tied with Destruction (A, B), but I only have room for so many feature moves. Neither move really does anything fantastic, but they are great options to pop out something quick and dirty for those instances where you want to trade attack strings (his other limited choices for attack strings aren't as quick as these two). Bear Tamer is also a plus for situations where you want to disorient the opponent's spacing, as it will push them to either side when hit (which side depends on if you add the 8 or not).
Click here to see all of Astaroth's moves
