Feb 24, 2023

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Liam

Hey everyone,

Today's update is mostly focused on final bug fixes for Black Dahlia's impending release on consoles. This update also includes all of her colors - enjoy!

Further tuning for Black Dahlia isn't out of the question, but any changes, nerfs, or bug fixes will likely arrive with her final release alongside her story mode on consoles and Steam instead of in continued beta updates.

MISC

Fixed a bug where Beowulf could become invincible sooner than expected during his crumple state.
The crowd will now "boo" Beowulf instead of cheering for him if he is fighting Black Dahlia on her own stage.
Adjusted palette 30 colors for Umbrella so that Hungern is not impacted by lighting.
Fixed a bug where catching Big Band with Tongue Twister at max distances could cause the camera to pan rapidly in his direction.
Fixed a bug where the eyeballs in Umbrella's "Under The Weather" Blockbuster would not rotate when she was Overstuffed.
Fixed a bug where the Skullheart from Umbrella's 30th palette for would follow the enemy around if they defeated her using Umbrella's "Feeding Time" Blockbuster.
Fixed a bug where Umbrella would sometimes fail to stagger her target with a s.F+HP (Cliff Hanger) if she also hit or traded with some projectiles.
Fixed a bug where Umbrella could perform a puddle boosted version of Slurp 'n' Slide at a later time without being near a puddle if she previously ended Slurp 'n' Slide near a puddle in the past.
Resolved most instances where two Umbrella's performing Retina Reflector at roughly the same time could cause the IPS combo stage to become stuck. Final fixes to resolve all instances of this will be in an update for Black Dahlia's full release, or an upcoming hotfix.
To prevent accidental taunts, Ms. Fortune can no longer perform her taunt for 60 frames after performing an Air Dash, or jHP.
Tweaked layering from Eliza's time out pose to avoid conflicts with Dahlia's win pose.

BLACK DAHLIA

Added 4 new palettes for Black Dahlia. Dahlia's 32nd palette is available for Season Pass holders, and features unique effect on her cape, and a bonus effect when she is Empowered.
Tweaked Black Dahlia's intros and intro voice lines to prevent long pauses after she was finished but before the game started.
Performing "Order Up!" during Onslaught start up, or during the grounded portion of Dahlia's back dash, will perform the move once she is airborne and able to act by buffering it.
Fixed a bug where Dahlia could not cancel into Stage Hazard when landing from cMK.
Fixed a bug where the snowman easter egg would show up almost every time from hitting Ice Shot.
Fixed a bug where performing Special Moves after using an Infinity Breaker (burst) low to floor with Dahlia could cause her to briefly float above the ground.
Dahlia's Outtake can no longer ignite Stage Hazard's Oil, but will still cause the barrel to detonate.
Dahlia's Outtake has one extra invulnerable frame to make sure it will trade post flash with hits, instead of losing.
Fixed an issue where trading blows when using an Outtake to hit Bunny Girl from "Girls' Night" would prevent them from dying immediately.
Fixed a bug where "Parting Gift" would unreliably have invulnerability from the first frame on start up. It now properly never has invulnerability on start up.
"Parting Gift" detonation now puts the victim in hitstop until the explosion hits if the opponent is in hitstun.
(... This fixes a bug where it could sometimes fail to reliably launch the opponent if they were just about to land into an OTG state when Dahlia performs the detonation)
Minor art fixes.
Adjusted text in Dahlia's tutorials and trials that had outdated information.
Fixed an issue where Dahlia's tutorial and trials had issues preventing them from being completed.

(Build version 3.5.10)

Feb 10, 2023

Beta Mode Update [2/10/2023]

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Liam

Hi everyone,

Another update is available for the beta version of Skullgirls 2nd Encore. This update includes a lot of tuning and bug fixes for Black Dahlia to get her ready for her release. It also includes 12 new Black Dahlia color palettes - please enjoy!

Please note that this may be one of the last gameplay updates for Black Dahlia before her final release on consoles. Further changes from here on out will likely be more reserved. Please continue to report bugs in our official Discord or our forum so we can address them. Thank you!

3.5.9 Hotfix Update

Fixed a bug where Dahlia's intro animations could cause the game to wait for a long time before starting a round.
Fixed a bug where Dahlia would not react to hits sometimes at round start and would get stuck idling.
Fixed a bug where Ice Shot VFX would not appear on the victim if they traded blows with Dahlia.
Fixed an issue with the HUD portrait of one of Dahlia's colors.

GENERAL

Fixed a bug introduced last beta update where pushblocking some projectiles would not push the enemy point character backwards. Apologies for how long this one took to fix!
Attempted to fix a bug where lobby sizes were not being set correctly for some players, preventing them from joining large lobbies.
Added a rare chalkboard variant on Black Dahlia's stage, The Bunny Burrow.
Fixed an issue where keyboard bindings wouldn't be saved in some situations.
Fixed an issue with the "End Match" text in online training mode.
Fixed NMO Arena stages using incorrect Black Dahlia art.

BEOWULF

Fixed a bug that allowed Beowulf to perform hopdash attacks back to back faster than intended.
(... This was a newly introduced bug when increasing the leniency of button dashing (two punches pressed at the same time) to not require a same frame press, and it is not an intended part of Beowulf's gameplay.)

BLACK DAHLIA

Note that some of these changes will make Black Dahlia's tutorials out of date - if a change makes it into the final version for her release then her tutorials will be updated to match.

Alternate Voice Pack

Added a new alternate voice for Black Dahlia, Good Granny! This is available right away for all Season One Pass holders. As a reminder, Season One Pass holders will also get one extra bonus palette for Black Dahlia - more news on that will be coming soon!

Parting Gift

Now staggers opponents when attaching to them.
Detonating Parting Gift no longer costs one bar of Dramatic Tension (meter), but you can no longer use a Blockbuster Ensemble (DHC) from it.
Damage reduced (3000 → 1750). Chip damage reduced (400 → 200). Minimum scaling reduced.
No longer breaks armor when detonating.
Now pulls characters out of the "OTG" state when detonating, like Valentine's level 5 Blockbuster.
Parting Gift will only stick to allies if Heavy Punch is used in the input for the Blockbuster, to avoid accidents.
Allied characters with the Parting Gift attached to them won't remove it by performing a successful outtake anymore.
Adjusted "detaching" logic when Black Dahlia dies while Parting Gift is stuck to assists.
- If stuck to an ally assist, it will fall off and arm itself when the character arrives on incoming, to protect them.
- If stuck to an enemy assist, it will fall off immediately from the camera edge behind the point character and arm itself.
Misc bug fixes.

Girls Night

Bunny Girl attacks force damage scaling to 75% if it's currently higher.
Bunny Girl attacks deal no bonus damage or Drama (Undizzy) drain on counter hit.
If the point character is hit with an Outtake, Bunny Girls will now leave.
If a Bunny Girl is hit with an Outtake, they will instantly die.
Damage tuning: Pistol 500 → 400. Knife 850 → 600. Shotgun 1000 → 850.
Swapped position of Shotgun and Knife Bunny Girl when spawning in.

Stage Hazard

The kick inputs used to input Stage Hazard will now kick it different distances. MK+HK is the old distance.
Oil explosion damage reduced from 150 to 100, but minimum scaling has increased to deal more damage at lower damage scaling.
Fixed a bug where Annie's Pillar of Creation and Peacock's Item Drop would sometimes knock the barrel in unexpected directions.
Fixed an issue where oil could detonate unexpectedly if cancelling into "Order Up!" while attacking the oil with a normal like cLK or cHK.
Fixed an issue where a friendly Umbrella Retina Reflector could interrupt the oil explosion chain reaction.

Ice Shot

No longer advances the combo stage twice.
(... This change required some modifications to the IPS system, but the changes should only impact Ice Shot. Please let us know if you see any bugs with Ice Shot interacting with IPS or Undizzy)
Now forces damage scaling to 75% if it is higher.
Reduced hitbox size.
Reduced gap between hits one and two, and two and three, by 2F each.
Reduced freeze time by 8F.
Ice Shot chip damage: 175x3 (525) → 125x3 (375).

Shots

Standard Shot no longer has reduced hitpause, advantage, and launch height when used for the second time in a combo.
Standard Shot will now always knockdown when fired from Tag In.
Standard Shot chip damage: 425 → 400.
Buck Shot chip damage: 325 → 250.
Rail Shot chip damage: 450 → 500.
Ice Shot chip damage: 175x3 (525) → 125x3 (375). (Listed twice)
Increased Lightning Shot hitpause on hit by 5F to make some conversions easier.
Fixed a bug where Order Up! (L) Buck Shot damage was lower than other strengths after using Last Call.

Counter, Strike! + Tea Slip

Counter now fails against bursts, to make it more clear that it will not punish it like other counters.
Counter (H) can only be done if Tea Time's doily has been placed on the ground now.
Counter (H) now works vs projectiles.
Counter (H) is now much faster when teleporting and recovering.
Counter (H) will teleport in place when done while calling an assist, to prevent cross up teleports.
Counter (L+M) attack blockstun increased by 3F and reduced recovery.
Cancelling standing throw into Tea Slip (Teleport) has less start up and recovery to facilitate throw conversions.
Tea Slip (Teleport) invulnerability starts sooner (in 10F).

Empower and Empowered Moves

cHP and sHP Empower blast damage: 750 → 500.
jHP Empower blast damage: 300 → 400.
Empowered Throw blast damage: 1500 → 1750.
Empower (Special Move) deals 50 damage when Dahlia pulls her hand out of the victim.
Empower (Special Move) has increased recovery on whiff / block.

General

sLK must now be blocked low.
cHP start up decreased by 1F.
(... This was done to reduce chances of the "Double OTG" occurring during her confirms)
Increased sMK vertical hitbox slightly.
cMK is now considered grounded during the backflip and will always start a combo at stage 2 instead of stage 1.
"Counter, Strike!" is now higher priority than "Order Up!", so that DP ending in forward properly gives "Counter, Strike!" + Assist instead of "Order Up!" + Assist, if using an assist call input to trigger the Special Move.
Ending DP motion in a straight down input gives cLK instead of "Counter, Strike!" (L).
(... This is the same "huggies" fix [community term for getting L DP instead of dashing cLK] for Double's L Hornet Bomber)
Using "Tea Time" and "Tea Slip" should no longer instantly advance the combo stage.
Dahlia's can adjust the trajectory of her thrown glass during her taunt, "It's Apple Juice", by holding forwards or backwards.
Dahlia can now use a Forward, Forward input to cancel into Onslaught from her backdash.
Fixed a bug where Onslaught under rare circumstances would travel in the wrong direction.
Fixed a bug where Onslaught's velocity was not consistent when facing left compared to facing right.
(... This would sometimes cause jLK jHP (Empowered) to not work when expected.)
Fixed a bug where buffering backdash from Tea Slip could cause Dahlia to forward dash.
Dahlia can now use "Another Round?" (Reload) during the downtime of Solo vs Solo fights.
Dahlia now randomly picks between different drinks to hold when captured in Umbrella's bubbles.
Minor art changes and fixes.

(Build version 3.5.9)

Dec 13, 2022

Black Dahlia Beta Holiday Update! [12/13/2022]

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Liam

Hey everyone,

As promised in our 2022 State of the Game update, the long awaited next update for Black Dahlia is finally here! If you haven't read that post, be sure to check it out! There are a LOT of big Skullgirls announcements!

Here's a look at everything coming in this update:

KEY UPDATES

Button icons used on UI menus can now be changed to different platform button icons, instead of LP MP MK LK. You can change this at any time in the button configuration screen.
Added Black Dahlia's stage, "The Bunny Burrow", along with her new stage theme "Down the Rabbit Hole".
Added 9 new palettes for Black Dahlia, with many more to come later!
Added a new palette for Ms. Fortune based on her design in the Skullgirls comic on Webtoon.
Added Black Dahlia's tutorial and four trials.
Implemented Black Dahlia's CPU AI.
Finalized Dahlia's sound and VO.

BLACK DAHLIA

All of Black Dahlia's art is fully clean! That means no more temporary white "sketchy" frames. If you see a frame that is not colored in properly, please let us know in a bug report.
Last Call (Super Reload) input has changed from Down Down PP to Quarter Circle Back KK.
Added COUNTER, STRIKE!
- A lightning fast counter that works against physical attacks. Throwing it deals bonus damage like all counter style moves.
- LK version will teleport in front of the opponent on success.
- MK version will teleport behind the opponent on success.
- HK version will teleport using Tea Slip to any doily (if one exists) to escape a situation, on success.
Added PARTING GIFT
- The first use will throw a bomb that can stick to allies and enemies alike as it travels, or it will just fall to the ground.
- The second use will enter the bomb detonation stance, where you can press any button to detonate the bomb. You can delay detonating the bomb for "fun", but Dahlia will drain up to one meter by doing so.
- When the bomb is attached to an assist character (either your own, or the opponent's), Dahlia can only trigger the bomb when they are performing their assist action or during the recovery of it.
- Performing a successful outtake will remove the bomb from a character.
- The bomb will automatically explode after a short duration if Dahlia dies.
Added GIRL'S NIGHT
(... This is a very unique super that will require opponents to think about a strategy to mitigate the benefits that it offers. While it does very very low damage as a level three super, the neutral control that it offers is unmatched. We'll be keeping a close eye on this super to see if it is too effective, and tune accordingly.)
- Summons three of Dahlia's henchbunnies to do her dirty work. Each one has a different weapon and behaves differently.
- Bunny girls will attempt to attack the opponent on their own - Dahlia cannot influence their actions.
- Bunny girls can be hit by projectiles and physical hits. Physical hits will knock them down, and projectile hits will briefly stun them.
- Bunny girls will leave if:
  - They are hit by separate two physical hits. They must stand up first to lose health again.
  - They attack three times.
  - Enough time has passes.
FIRE SHOT
- Fire Shot has been heavily reworked. It can now hit opponents before it lands while travelling, which will cause it to drop down and explode on the ground as before. If hitting the ground before hitting an opponent, it will also explode as before.
- Fire Shot now vanishes like all other shots if Dahlia is hit.
- Explosion now launches opponents, and no longer creates fire burning on the ground.
  (... We've received a lot of feedback about Fire Shot being difficult to work into combos and in some circumstances hurting her routing without careful planning or quick thinking. This refactor is meant to make Fire Shot feel simple to use and powerful up close like every other shot, while giving it new opportunities to use in resets and combos. Some of the on block proficiency of Fire Shot will be moving to Ice Shot - more on that below!)
  (... You may even find the new version of Fire Shot more powerful than the last one! Here are some uses below.)
  (... cHP x Fire Shot, Onslaught jLK > Explosion Hits, to set up a fast overhead.)
  (... cHP x Fire Shot, cLP x Another Round? + Explosion Hits, to set up a mid combo reload)
ICE SHOT
- Now hits three times (which all freeze) to hold opponents in place on block while dealing high chip damage.
  (... Fire Shot's strength of lockdown on block and high chip damage are moving over to Ice Shot, which was previously pretty underwhelming on block. The slow multihits are especially effective at restricting movement and hitting assists.)
- Removed forced damage scaling.
- Frame data heavily refactored.
- Reduced freeze time by the amount of time it takes to get to the third and final hit, to keep overall hitstun consistent.
- When breaking out of the ice mid air, character's now keep their falling momentum.
LIGHTNING SHOT
- Damage reduced from 500 per hit to 375.
- Meter gain reduced (bug fix).
- Hitstun reduced from 45 to 35.
  (... Lightning Shot has a lot going for it, but the highest damage (1500) is no longer one of them. Hitstun from stray hits has been reduced to lower her time to confirm, but is still high enough to keep her dash under mix up when used against airborne victims.)
BUCK SHOT
- No longer an overhead when used from tag in.
- Fixed a bug where Buck Shot bouncing characters off of walls would build meter for Dahlia.
- Lowered grounded L version hitbox to reliably OTG characters.
- All strengths now deal 1100 damage, instead of dealing varying amounts of damage based on strength. After using a strength of Buck Shot in a combo, that strength deals less damage until the combo ends.
  (... You aren't penalized for using one strength over another until you've already used it once before. Creatively use all six Buck Shot strengths in a combo to maximize damage instead of looping a single strength.)
RAIL SHOT
- Hitstop when hitting grounded characters now matches airborne characters (14 > 16)
- Knockup increased when hitting grounded characters.
- Knockback slightly increased.
- Hitbox size on all beams increased.
- Active frames increased from 3 to 4.
- Increased VO clarity for Rail Shot easter egg.
TEA SLIP
- Reduced Tea Time (placement) animation length by 3F.
- Reduced teleport start up by 2F.
- Considerably reduced teleport recovery.
  (... The last bit of the teleport animation is cancellable into any action. If no input is pressed, the full animation will play.)
EMPOWER
- Reduced blockstun and blockstop, and increased recovery when not successful. It is now -12 on block.
- Reduced recovery on success, making it plus enough to link cMP after.
- Reduced victim pushback on success.
- Tweaked empowered jHP hitboxes to match the final art.
- Tweaked launch height and hitstop on Empowered sHP so that Empowered sHP > Another Round > Rush Order > cLP is universal without spending OTG.
  (... This allows Dahlia to reload mid combo from any confirm without using OTG.)
- Dahlia now loses her Empower state when dying, as long as it isn't a "down" from a solo vs solo fight.
- Fixed a bug where Dahlia's fingers would vanish inside of the opponent's body when they blocked Empower. This now only happens on hit.
- Fixed a bug where hitting an opponent with Empower while they were facing the wrong direction would not face them back towards Dahlia.
Empowered Throw
- Can be triggered by holding LP LK as well as holding HP as before.
- Tuned window for when HP can be held to make it easier.
- Reduced launch height.
- Reduced recovery.
STAGE HAZARD
- When oil puddles or the barrel from Stage Hazard explode off screen, they no longer shake the screen.
- Improved reliability of oil puddles from Stage Hazard detonating nearby puddles to continue the chain reaction.
- Fixed incorrect VFX location for barrel bouncing into the left stage wall.
- Oil explosion hits are now all sliding knockdown instead of knockback.
  (... Opponents falling out of the explosions will now at least give Dahlia time to prepare instead of having them tech away.)
Reduced crouching hurtbox enough for her to duck Robo-Fortune's H Theonite Beam.
Reduced cHK hurtbox height so be usable under Robo-Fortune's H Theonite Beam.
Lowered collision box when dashing, to make it easier to dash under opponents.
Dahlia can now chain LP normals into LK normals.
Dahlia can block during the recovery of Onslaught after she has performed her somersault. Landing from Onslaught also allows blocking immediately instead of leaving her vulnerable.
When performing Last Call (Super Reload) in a combo, all metergain is disabled from Order Up (shooting the gun) until the combo ends. Performing a regular reload (Another Round) will remove the penalty mid combo.
Standard Shot frame advantage on hit increased to +10, so Dahlia can link LK after in addition to LP.
Order Up! (L) pushes Dahlia's collision box forward with her stance. Opponents will be pushed farther away when used too close.
Reduced cMK trap lifetime.
Fixed a bug where Dahlia could cancel her dash into another dash before it had entered the recovery portion of the move. Fixed a bug where the button dash input was stricter than intended (same frame only) when cancelling dash recovery into another dash.
(... Dahlia must wait for her feet to touch the floor again and land from the previous dash before she can start another one.)
sHP start up increased by 1F.
sMK start up decreased by 1F.
cMP start up decreased by 1F.
Increased sLP hitbox vertically and adjusted the art to show it.
Backdash start up reduced by 1F. Airborne backwards loop duration reduced by 3F. Speed increased by 7%.
(... Backdash is faster, snappier, and less detrimental to whiff accidentally.)
Dahlia now has extra recovery on her tag in unless the opponent is in hitstun when she lands.
(... This is required to make sure that her tag in is always punishable for every shot type, while still making sure that she can combo into some of her shots as before.)
jHK saw metergain reduced to match that of a single heavy attack, instead of two heavy attacks.
cHP metergain increased to be the usual heavy amount.
Removed character flash when hit by a particular one of Dahlia's random jLP knives, to reduce distractions.
Big Band can now parry cMK trap high or low. Hitpause reduced for Band when parrying cMK.
(... Parrying in mid air against the trap with a forward input was unreliable - depending on his fall speed, he would land before the trap activates making him forced to low parry)
Standard, Lightning, Ice, and Fire Shots can now strike targets with their first produced hitbox, instead of using that hitbox to detect if a target is nearby and causing them to explode one frame later.
All shots (except for Buck Shot and Rail Shot) can now be reflected by Umbrella.
Extended crumple state length to be closer to other characters.
(... Average is ~84 and Dahlia is 80)
Extended Rush Order timing window even more.
(... Try erring on the side of being early instead of late if you're still struggling with it.)
Dahlia's doily from Tea Slip vanishes when she dies, as long as it isn't a "down" from a solo vs solo fight.
Fixed a bug where shooting two shots back to back could cause one shot to not add Undizzy in some rare scenarios.
Fixed an issue where Black Dahlia could cause online play to desync between two players.
Fixed broken pieces from jHK saw not having a shadow.
Fixed a bug where bursting after hitting a wall from Buck Shot would trigger a safe Gold Burst. This burst is now blue.
(... If bursting before hitting the wall, this would be a Blue Burst. If bursting after hitting the wall, it would be a Gold Burst. This is now all a Blue Burst for consistency.)
Fixed a bug where Stage Hazard barrel explosion could hit characters long after it had exploded.
Fixed a bug where VFX would display using the wrong color when Lightning / Ice shot bounced off the left stage edge.
Fixed a bug where Lightning Shot VFX would appear in the wrong place briefly if they were shot off screen.
Fixed a bug where Ice Shot snowman easter egg could appear in an incorrect location.
Fixed a bug where the ammo in Dahlia's gun on character select was the wrong color for numerous palettes.

MISC

Robo-Fortune has been reverted back to her retail iteration, this removes Theonite Beam changes.
(... As mentioned in our 2022 State of the Game post, a general character balance patch will be started as soon as possible after Dahlia's FULL release so we can give it the attention it deserves - even before Marie if we're able to!)
Fixed a bug where damage scaling was incorrect in beta when dealing with grab style hits.
Fixed a bug where the Art Gallery screen would not respond to controller inputs.
Removed "Restore Defaults" from the top of the button configuration menu.

Like what you see here? Be sure to read the entire 2022 State of the Game update for news and announcements on MANY ongoing Skullgirls projects!

(Build number 3.5.6)

Aug 18, 2022

Beta Mode Update [2022-08-17]

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Liam

Hello, Liam here.

Today's update includes a lot of new tools and moves for Black Dahlia to use. The command list should be updated with all of these new moves, so don't forget to check it out if you can't remember everything new.

MISC

Fixed a bug where Double's 19th palette wasn't working correctly.
Fixed an issue where lobby names wouldn't always display the correct title. (Ex: SGLOBBYNAME37)
Fixed an issue where the game would crash when hovering over Black Dahlia in retail mode on character select.

BLACK DAHLIA

Added a work in progress AMMO HUD INDICATOR. Please note that this is not created using our usual UI and HUD tools, as this is just a prototype. You may notice it shake and shift during gameplay. After we have time to process feedback and ensure there are no issues, it will be updated - thanks for your understanding!
Updated Dahlia with even more cleaned up animations and more voice acting.
NEW AMMO TYPES
- RAIL SHOT - A straight beam that knocks down on hit.
- ICE SHOT - An arcing shot that freezes opponents on contact, allowing time to set up and reload.
- LIGHTNING SHOT - A shot that fires straight forward unaffected by gravity with plenty of hitstun and blockstun.
NEW MOVE - EMPOWER (QCF + LP LK)
- Performs an attack that "empowers" Dahlia's actions when it connects. You can activate an empowered move by holding HP during any HP normal, or holding HP quickly after landing a ground throw. Using an empowered move removes the empower buff.
NEW MOVE - TEA TIME & TEA SLIP (QCB + K)
- Place a doily on the floor with the first use of the move, and perform the same strength (LK/MK/HK) to teleport to that doily location. Performing a different strength will replace the last thrown doily with a new one.
- Hold K during Tea Slip to feint it, teleporting in place.
- Tea Slip (feint) will be performed automatically if teleporting while an assist is traveling on screen or landing.
NEW MOVE - LAST CALL (D, D + PP)
- After performing this Blockbuster, press any of the six attack buttons to flick and load ammo types matching the corresponding button. Check the in-game command list for more details.
- Completing the Blockbuster will also "empower" Black Dahlia.
ANOTHER ROUND (QCB + P)
- Can now receive Rail, Ice, and Lightning shots from the MP and HP version.
- (... Technical: The order in which Rail, Ice, Lightning, Fire, and Buck shots are chosen is now randomly determined at the beginning of the round. Ammo types will be drawn in that order until they have all been chosen. Once the ordered list is empty, another randomly determined order for special ammo types will be created again to be chosen from. The only exceptions are that you cannot load two of the same special ammo types with HP reload, and you cannot load any special ammo types that were loaded in the previous reload. Using these rules you can often predict the next special ammo types that will be loaded next.)
- Removed super cancel window while ammo has been tossed upwards.
STAGE HAZARD (QCF + KK, Barrel)
- If the barrel is broken (too many hits against the opponent) and struck again, it will detonate. This allows another avenue for allies (or Dahlia herself) to trigger the barrel explosion without Dahlia being the point character.
- Dahlia's JLK will now ignite barrel and oil, since it's a fire attack.
- Buck Shot ammo type will now ignite the barrel, like her Snapback.
- The barrel begins rolling and creates a hit after 8 frames of being kicked, instead of instantly.
- Most hits from Blockbusters and Special Moves now trigger a "hard" barrel rolling hit reaction (the knockdown one) instead of the "medium" one.
- Hard hits against the barrel now roll slightly further and faster.
- If the barrel hits the stage edge after Dahlia kicks it initially, it will retain its hitbox and velocity for a little bit to ensure combos in the corner.
- Expanded the range at which Dahlia's cHP can detonate the barrel's oil.
- A well placed Dahlia cHP can now immediately detonate the barrel.
- Tweaked barrel hitboxes when rolling.
- Robo-Fortune's Catastrophe Cannon is no longer blocked by the barrel.
- Increased initial barrel velocity when kicked by Dahlia.
- Tweaked projectile collision rules between the barrel and other projectiles.
- Fixed a bug where hitting the barrel with an allied cHP would not send it forward with a hit.
- Increased width of oil puddle explosions to help ensure the chain reaction of explosions never ends unexpectedly.
- Fixed a bug where the "jumping over the barrel" secret would trigger unexpectedly.
- Fixed a bug where performing a DHC out of the Blockbuster too early would cause the barrel to vanish.
- The barrel is no longer invincible when kicked initially. This allows it to be struck earlier to stop its hit, but it also will block attacks sooner.
BUCK SHOT
- Increased Buck Shot frame advantage on block. Now +7.
- Reduced Buck Shot frame advantage on block as part of her Tag-In to ensure it's not safe on block.
- Increased length and size of Buck Shot range. Completely reworked hitboxes to match the art closer. (... Buck Shot range is drastically increased)
- Increased Buck Shot hitstop on wall collision, and slightly increased launch height.
Decreased air "Order Up!" (air QCF + P) start up to match that of the ground version.
Increased sMK start up by 2F
Decreased cLK hitstun and recovery by 2F.
sHP now performs a floor bounce against airborne opponents.
Increased tag-in landing recovery by 4F.
Fixed a bug where Dahlia wasn't using the latest reversal buffer rules like everyone else. Performing reversal actions out of hitstun, blockstun, and wake up is now easier.
Fixed an issue where Dahlia's broken off pieces from her JHK saw would inherit her hitstop, stopping their animations unexpectedly.
Taunt buffs the next Ice Shot.

(Version number 3.5.4)

Jun 28, 2022

Beta Update [2022-06-28]

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Liam

Hello, Liam here.

Today's update adds Black Dahlia's first Blockbuster (STAGE HAZARD) in addition to other tuning.

ROBO-FORTUNE

While we would normally wait to include a bundle of balance changes together, the first bullet point here impacts Black Dahlia enough that it will be rolled out separately ahead of time. The second change is bundled in with the updated version of Theonite Beam.

The grounded version of Theonite Beam (H) has had its hitbox adjusted slightly so that it does not hit Black Dahlia when she is crouching. This also impacts Eliza, and it's possible to "low profile" it with more moves.
The grounded version of Theonite Beam (H), when used as an assist, has 20 extra frames of recovery.

BLACK DAHLIA

New Blockbuster - STAGE HAZARD.
- Black Dahlia summons and kicks out a barrel that leaves oil behind it as it rolls.
- She can ignite the oil with cHP or her fire shot to cause a chain reaction of explosions that eventually ignite the barrel, causing it to explode.
  - The list of attacks that can set off the oil will be expanded in the future to include moves such as Parasoul's Napalm Pillar, Peacock's cMK, Squigly's cHP, etc. For now, only Dahlia herself can set it off.
- Dahlia (and her teammates) can attack her team's barrel to cause it to roll forward with a hit. The distance it rolls and the strength of the hit is impacted by the attack that hits it.
- After the barrel has touched an opponent several times, it will break and no longer be able to roll.
Another Round (Reload)
- Changed input from QCB + Kick to QCB + Punch, since it is the opposite of Order Up, and her upcoming Special Moves are better suited for her kicks. Rush Order can now only be performed with a Punch input.
  ... Apologies for destroying everyone's muscle memory! This input is unlikely to change again in the future, so hopefully this is the only time this happens.
- Dahlia flicks up all six shots at once, instead of needing to flick twice. This greatly reduces start up and recovery.
- Recovery is reduced even further than before when performing Rush Order.
Buck Shot Ammo Type
- Increased blockstun and blockstop. Is now plus on block.
- Increased damage of all versions by 200.
Normals
Key Takeaways: All of Dahlia's lights are now plus on hit and block, except for cLK which is still negative on block. sMK is faster, easier to convert off of and use, and can now combo from sLK.
- cHP - Increased hitstun by 2F.
- cHK - Increased blockstun.
- cLP - Increased hitstun by 3F.
- sHP - Reduced start up to 19F.
- sLK - Increased hitstun and blockstun.
- sLP (second hit) - Increased hitstun to match the first hit.
- sMP - Tweaked hitbox to allow it to reliably OTG very close characters
- sLK - Fixed a bug where the "kara throw" window was smaller than intended.
- sMK
  - Reduced start up.
  - Reduced sliding speed and movement change before going active.
  - Reduced hitstop.
  - Reduced damage from 800 to 600.
  - Increased hitstun by 2F.
  - Dahlia no longer halts her momentum when making contact with an opponent, allowing her to carry that momentum into the normal she cancels into.
  - Increased blockstun.
  - Increased recovery.
  - Tweaked dust visuals while sliding.
Forward Dash
- Reduced dash start up by 2F.
- Removed several instances of dash momentum not being 100% carried into normals. For example, cLP would previously cut dash cancel momentum in half. sLP still reduces dash cancel momentum as before.
- Increased dash cancel normal momentum by 15%.
Adjusted ground throw hitstop, recovery, and launch trajectory, to better facilitate Stage Hazard and Order Up (L) conversions.
Flipped art when captured inside of Umbrella's bubbles so you can see Dahlia's face.
Fixed a bug where performing "TK" Order Up (air) was stricter than intended compared to other characters.
Fixed a bug where the second hit of jMP was still an overhead even if the first hit made contact.
Fixed a bug where Standard Shot ammo would sometimes not detonate if the projectile was overlapping a point character and a nearby enemy teammate's corpse.
Fixed a bug where Dahlia's position would shift when hit with trip style attacks.

MISC

Fixed a bug with stage lighting on River King Casino (and likely other stages) for Mac and Linux players.
Attempted a fix for an issue where some players would not have online training mode lobbies start correctly.
Fixed an issue where some launch options were not applying correctly.

(Version number 3.5.3)