Here's a little hotfix before Smash'N'Splash 5, wrapping in a few Sylvanos and Elliana changes we've been testing along with some fixes for a few strange interactions.

• The results screen will no longer ignore Forsburn's victories on The Forest Floor.
• Run stop can no longer be cancelled into initial dash on the first 2 frames.

• After parrying an attack that breaks pillar, buffering a double jump will no longer cause you to fall downward while wasting your double jump.
• Hitting a pillar/rock immediately after hitting a pillar/rock will now refresh the jump-cancel window properly.

• Team-up Fstrong back hitbox shrunk horizontally (still reaches the same distance backward, just not as far forward).
• Team-up Fstrong back hitbox now has priority over the front hitbox.
  
  The back hit pulls enemies forward, while the front hit does not, so this makes it link more reliably at ranges where the enemy would have previously been clipped by the back edge of the front hitbox.

• Ftilt now only spawns a projectile if you hit a flower with it, destroying the flower.
• Ftilt projectile base knockback increased from 0 > 6.
• Ftilt projectile now spawns grass under it as it travels.
• Ftilt projectile now causes extended parry stun when parried.

• Nspecial's fist can no longer be broken by projectiles that deal less than 8%.
• When landing after Uspecial, Elliana will have 99% heat that quickly drains over 8 frames.

In this patch it's all about location, location, location. Today we're introducing size variants for a couple of favorite stages, a new place to train, and even a revamped starter stagelist for both competitive singles and doubles. Read on below for the full patch notes.

• The Forest Floor now has a unique variation for 2-player matches.
• Treetop Lodge now has a unique variation for 4-player matches.
• The 1v1 starter (neutral) stagelist is now:
  
  • Tower of Heaven
  • Merchant Port
  • Aethereal Gates
  • Julesvale
  • The Forest Floor
• The 2v2 starter stagelist is now:
  
  • Tower of Heaven
  • Merchant Port
  • Aethereal Gates
  • Fire Capital
  • Treetop Lodge
• The Practice Room now replaces the Random stage in practice mode, giving you the option to practice on the grid.
• Bug Fix: Objects on ground (Lily, Puddle, Mobile Gear, etc.) all function normally when placed either on or under a Rock on a moving platform.

• Forward Special can no longer be destroyed by projectiles.

• When cancelling the first 4 frames of double jump into Up Special, Etalus' vertical speed is now set to 0 instantly.
  This prevents Etalus from using the double jump forgiveness mechanic to gain a large amount of height while recovering.

• Grounded Forward Special hitbox extended 18px inward on the first frame.
• Bug Fix: Ranno no longer gets "stuck" in Forward Special when a solid object (like a Rock) blocks the path to his tongue.

• Parried Forward Specials (such as Zetterburn's Fireball) can no longer break your own flowers.
• Flowers will no longer play the "planted" sound effect when they fail to plant (extremely rare now).

• Up Tilt maximum knockback (based on heat) increased. Old range was 7+0.6 - 7+1.1. New range is 7+0.6 - 9+0.9.
• Steam now fades away instead of instantly disappearing.
• Uncharged Forward Special pillar destruction radius decreased fromn 64 > 32.
  This was adjusted because when Elliana's projectiles are destroyed near a pillar, they destroy the pillar, since they don't actually have an explosion hitbox.
• Charged Forward Special will no longer get "stuck" on the ground when hitting it at specific angles.

• Up Tilt linking hits base knockback increased from 2 > 4.
• Up Tilt linking hits angle flipper adjusted from 2 > 9.
  Originally it sent toward Ori's center, now it sends toward the hitbox's center.
• Up Tilt linking hits can no longer cause flinch, even if crouch cancelled.

In a collaboration between Tuxedo Esports and Rivals of Aether, you can now obtain the slickest version of Ranno that has ever set foot in Aether.



Ever since Tuxedo won our Rivals Rep Icon Contest, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to create this brand new skin with them.

• Ranno fights without his patented poison sash in order to look more dapper.
  
• He fires roses with thorns instead of poison darts.
  
• He wears a tuxedo! Every sprite has been redrawn with suit and tie.
  
• When he taunts, he throws a rose! It reminds us of something...

Additionally, proceeds from this skin support Rivals Esports. We hope you enjoy the results!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1035230/Rivals_of_Aether_Tuxedo_Ranno/





You can find out more about Tuxedo at http://tuxedoesports.com/.

This patch is a big one with tons of balance and "quality of life" changes. In addition, it also happens to fall on one of our favorite days of the year. Read on for all of the changes included in patch 1.4.9.

• Walljump is now restored on death.
• Characters in a state where they can't tech can also no longer ledge cancel.This change is to help moves like Zetterburn Down Strong link into the final hit, since it could easily force the opponent to ledge cancel the first hit.
• Airdodging upward within 4 frames of double jumping will restore your double jump (the same way that Up Special does).This allows tap jump users to airdodge upward without wasting their double jump.
• Turnaround special window length increased from 8 > 16 (Turnaround special is performed by hard-pressing backward then pressing special within this window).
• Ceiling teching added.
• Missing a ceiling tech will now send you downward at half of your original upward speed (previous it set your vertical speed to zero).
• During the hitpause of the purple kill effect, moving platforms can no longer move the hit player.
• Added DI assistance:
  For weak moves (under 10 KB) that send between 20 and 70 degrees, holding straight outward will perform perfect DI out.
  • For strong moves (over 10 KB) that send between 20 and 70 degrees, holding straight inward will perform perfect DI in.
  • For moves that send between 250 and 290 degrees, holding straight inward will perform perfect DI in.
  • If your DI direction is within 10 degrees of full inward or outward DI, it will become full-strength DI.This change is meant to allow keyboard players and newer players to get the correct DI more easily.
• Two new CPU DI options added in training mode: Left and Right (works well with the new DI assistance mechanic).
• Players will now instantly respawn in training mode.
• Press F2 while in the main menu or any character select screen to revert all keyboard controls to default.
• Starring online replays from the results screen now functions properly.
• Dev mode updated to version 0.6: Lots of dev mode bug fixes. Don't ask us what they are specifically.

• Hold dodge during Up Special's startup to Orcahop even when you have a puddle out.
• Ftilt endlag decreased from 9 > 8 (14 > 12 on whiff).
• Utilt sweetspot damage increased from 5 > 6.
• Dstrong back hit damage increased from 8 > 9 (to match front hit).
• Puddle Forward Strong and Up Strong now reach as far inward as the non-puddle versions.

• Tilts can no longer be jump cancelled after being parried.
• Dash Attack will now go into parry stun correctly if it ends in the air.
• Wrastor's neutral air has been redesigned to be a 2 hit move. The first hit sends at a low angle with low hitstun. The second hit lingers for a while and has relatively strong knockback that decays drastically over time, allowing for varied usage depending on how you land it. Linking the first hit into the second hit is easier with the help of slipstream, especially at higher percents.
• Fspecial can now be destroyed by attacks. The slipstream is also destroyed and the move goes on 50% of its normal cooldown (for reference, parrying Fspecial puts it on 75% of its normal cooldown).
• Fspecial cooldown now applied 1 frame earlier (prevents Wrastor from getting the half-cooldown if interrupted on the frame that the projectile comes out).
• Fspecial cooldown icon added to the bottom HUD.
• Grounded Dspecial endlag on whiff: 21 > 28.
• Uspecial last few frames of hurtbox fixed.
• Pratfall aerial drift acceleration: .5 > .4.

• Dash Attack can no longer be cancelled into jab/tilts after being parried (required hitting another player/object at the same time as getting parried).
• Fstrong damage: 10 > 18.
• Ustrong damage: 4, 10 > 6, 16.
• Fair damage: 10 > 11.
• Press dodge during the first 5 frames of Nspecial to use rockless Nspecial.
• Grounded Rockless Nspecial hurtbox fixed.
• Going into pratfall from pillar breaking under you will now cap your horizontal speed (prevents extreme speed boosts from interrupting moves like Ori's Dstrong).
• Fspecial will no longer lose its hitbox when getting hit the frame before transitioning from ground to air or vice versa.
• All players will now go into a 30 frame landing lag state when falling from a broken pillar, just like Kragg.
• Ranno, Elliana, and Shovel Knight Uspecial landing windows are no longer immune to pratfall after a pillar breaks under them.

• Fstrong and Ustrong can no longer be cancelled into jab/tilts after being parried (required hitting another player/object at the same time as getting parried).
• Fspecial cooldown icon added to the bottom HUD.
• Buddies will no longer follow Forsburn when he has a clone out or is behind smoke.

• Uspecial can no longer drop through platforms after being parried.
• Lily will no longer detect respawning players.

• Cloud kicks now start to lose power after 7 frames until the end of hitpause (total KB loss is -1.5 BKB over 5 frames).
• Charged Nspecial is no longer destroyed by the plasma field (it already hit through it, so this is mostly just a visual change).

• Jab 3 damage: 6 > 8.
• Fair armor will no longer have whiff landing lag after armoring through an attack.
• Armored strong attacks only gain super armor if half-charged or more. At less than half charge, they gain weak armor that gets stronger as it charges (starts at 10, ends at 25. Fair armor is 12 for reference).
• Armored Fstrong startup changed (6 pre-charge + 12 post-charge > 8 pre-charge + 9 post-charge).
• Armored Ustrong startup changed (6 pre-charge + 12 post-charge > 8 pre-charge + 10 post-charge).
• Armored Dstrong startup changed (6 pre-charge + 8 post-charge > 8 pre-charge + 6 post-charge).These changes make the super armor come out later, since the armor doesn't start until post-charge.
• Armored Fstrong damage: 2 + 16 > 4 + 14.
• Armored Dstrong final hit damage: 12 > 16.Previously, armored strong attack damage was inconsistent when compared to the unarmored versions. Now, the damage is always unchanged for the linking hit and 4% stronger on the final hit.
• Armored Dstrong sourspot is no longer techable (matches non-armored version).
• Dspecial walljump is now possible with tap jump.
• Grounded Dspecial startup: 5 > 13.
• Window between rising hit and falling hit: 24 > 16 (does not apply when Dspecial is used in the air).
• Dspecial rising hit base knockback: 10 > 8.
• Dspecial rising hit hitstun modifier now scales from x1 to x2 over the span of the active frames.
• Dspecial rising hit can no longer be crouch canceled.
• Dspecial falling hit height: 70 > 80 (reaches further upward).Hitting with the later frames of Dspecial rising hit was punishable on hit every time (because of low hitstun and too large of a window between the hits). These changes make it link into the final hit more reliably on bad DI, while also making it safe on hit.
• Parrying Dspecial's shockwave is now treated as parrying a projectile, meaning you can cancel the endlag of the parry.

• Jab combo damage: 2, 2, 4 > 3, 3, 6.
• Dtilt angle flipper removed.
• Dtilt is now a 3-hit multihit.
• Fair damage: 3, 4 > 4, 5.
• Uair damage: 6, 4 > 7, 5.
• Dair damage: 8, 9 > 10, 12.
• Ori no longer gains extra double jumps when cancelling Dair with Uspecial.
• Spirit Flame no longer causes parry stun when parried.
• Charged Flame sweetspot removed.
• Sein now overheats if he's charging Charged Flame when Ori is hit.
• Fspecial can now charge for the full charge duration instead of stopping 1 frame short (increases damage at max charge by 1 and slightly changes the max throw speed and angle).

• Ftilt damage: 3, 3 > 4, 4.
• Utilt damage: 7 > 9.
• Dtilt damage: 5 > 7.
• Fstrong damage: 4, 8 > 8, 12.
• Ustrong damage: 6, 7, 8 > 8, 10, 13.
• Dstrong damage: 8, 9, 10 > 10, 11, 14.
• Fair damage: 7, 7, 7 > 7, 8, 9.
• Bair damage: 5, 7 > 6, 8.
• Grounded Dspecial endlag window: 24 > 15.
• Dspecial meditation now kills all momentum immediately on startup.
• Dspecial meditation gravity reduced.
• Dspecial meditation now stalls momentum completely for a short duration the first time it's used in the air.

• Fstrong damage: 8, 10 > 9, 13.
• Ustrong damage: 7, 8, 11 > 7, 8, 13.
• Dstrong damage: 8, 10 > 9, 13.
• On hit, Fspecial can now be cancelled into attacks even when aerial (previously could only be cancelled into jump or airdodge).
• Whenever Fspecial is cancellable into attacks, it can now be cancelled into specials.
• Successful Dspecials remove Maypul's mark and Elliana's mine.
• Dspecial cooldown icon added to the bottom HUD.

• Jab 2 hitbox extended 10px inward to match jab 1's inward range.
• Jab 3 and 4 endlag: 27 > 18 (Jab 5, 6, etc endlag is still 27).
• Jab Special can now be used after jab 1 or jab 2.
• Utilt multihits angle: 75 > 70 (Makes them connect more reliably into the final hit).
• Fstrong hits 1 and 2 hitstun modifier: 1.0 > 1.2.
• Ustrong damage: 8, 9, 10 > 10, 14, 18.
• Uair hit 2 scaling: .65 > .7.
• Dair damage: 6, 8 > 7, 10.
• Grass on cooldown is no longer destroyed when a nearby flower is destroyed.
• Flowers can now be placed right next to walls.
• When the ground below a flower disappears, it now only snaps to ground within 32px instead of 100px.
• Hitting a flower now deals half of the normal hitpause.
• Fspecial can now eat his own flowers (not enemy flowers) and cancel the move as if it hit a player for the next 20 frames.
• Grounded Uspecial now instantly digs if special is held. Tapping special still makes Sylvanos leap into the air.

• Utilt's claw now has a persistent hitbox around it, instead of creating a hitbox when near a player.This means it can hit multiple players (while only grabbing one), break projectiles, will no longer whiff against fast-moving opponents, and has 1 extra active frame on the end.
• Utilt changed to a 2-part attack (like Etalus Uair).
• Utilt will now release all heat when firing the opponent. The move's KB scaling scales from .6 to 1.1 based on how much heat was released. When overheated, it will always count as full heat. Hold the dodge button to not lose any heat.
• Utilt total damage: 7 > 12.
• Nair damage: 5, 6 > 6, 8.
• Bair damage: 5, 8 > 7, 11.
• Nspecial will now only get buffed if the fist itself hits the mine, not if only the explosion does (this was to fix a bug where shooting the mine with the fist would cause the explosion to only be buffed on its 2nd active frame, meaning it would hardly ever be buffed at the time it hit the opponent).
• Dspecial's mine can no longer break Kragg's pillar.
• Dying will no longer destroy mines that are currently exploding.
• Enemies will now be hit at the same frequency whether stuck in one or multiple steam clouds.
• Steam clouds now ignore players during the first 8 frames of hitstun.
• Steam clouds no longer produce a small explosion effect when hit (Shovel Knight can no longer bounce off steam clouds with Dair by clanking with the hitboxes either).
• Parried steam cloud will now be outlined with the color of the player who parried them.

• Jab endlag: 14 > 12 (21 > 18 on whiff).
• Jab hurtbox fixed when transitioning from Nair on landing.
• Dash Attack damage: 7 > 8.
• Dash Attack scaling: .5 > .4.
• Dash Attack angle: 50 > 60.
• Dash Attack sourspot added after the current active frames.
• Dash Attack endlag: 19 on hit, 29 on whiff > 15 on hit, 23 on whiff.Adding a sourspot naturally changed the endlag, but it was also shortened a bit beyond that.
• Dash Attack hurtbox fixed during the last few frames of recovery (Shovel head had a hurtbox).
• Ftilt angle: 36 > 361 (original angle was a typo).
• Ftilt/Fair damage: 4 > 5.
• Ftilt/Fair hitboxes extended 20px inward.
• Utilt can now hit treasure piles.
• Dtilt final hit damage: 6 > 8.
• Dtilt final hit angle: 80 > 90 (still hits rocks at angle 80).
• Dtilt hitstun modifier: 1.0 > 1.2.
• Uair sourspot scaling: .45 > .55.
• Dair's non-spike hitbox is now stronger and has a lower angle for the first 2 frames of the move (to give Shovel Knight a much-needed DI mixup in the air).
• Dair endlag: 14 > 10 (21 > 15 on whiff).
• Dair now has a new hitbox that can only hit projectiles, protecting his body and making bouncing off projectiles much more consistent.
• Dair now bounces off Orcane's bubbles.
• Ustrong sweetspot damage: 10 > 11.
• Ustrong has a new hitbox with the same properties as the sweetspot, effectively making the sweetspot slightly larger.
• Hitting an opponent with fully charged Ustrong will no longer send the rock in a strange direction.
• Hitting Kragg's rock with Ustrong should now behave the same as hitting Shovel Knight's rock.
• Dstrong final hits damage: 7, 4 > 10, 7.
• Dstrong final hits scaling: 1.2, 1.1 > 1.3, 1.2.
• Uspecial back hit sourspot KB: 8+.7 > 8+.8.
• Uspecial back hit sweetspot KB: 9+1.0 > 9+1.1.
• If the ground disappears from under him after landing with Uspecial, all endlag will be cancelled.
• Dspecial activation time (once settled in the bottom blastzone): 40 > 20.
• Treasure pile duration: 5 seconds > 10 seconds.
• Can only have one treasure pile active at once.
• Ghost Glove damage: 3 > 4.
• War Horn sweetspot damage: 10 > 12.
• Dynamo Mail now gets charged when bouncing off of anything with Dair, not just players.
• Purchasing an item makes it free the next time you want to repurchase it (this is not reflected in the shop menu, since all Shovel Knight players share the same shop menu).
• Moneybag final positions will now always rest above the main platform of the stage and within the camera's natural bounds.

Happy April Fools'! Enjoy a special announcement on our favorite holiday of the year:

https://youtu.be/mM0tGVRe4i8

Now is not the time for war. Now is the time for love! The homecoming dance is tonight and you need a date pronto. Spend your school day talking to the students at Aether High. All the original characters from Rivals of Aether are in attendance. It's up to you to decide who you would like to take the the homecoming dance.

Get to know each character by talking to them and asking questions. But the school day is not all about lollygagging. You'll have to attend classes, take a pop quiz, give a book presentation and play a game in the computer lab. At the end of the day, will you have a date to the dance?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1043180/Lovers_of_Aether/



Exciting Features Include:

• Less words than War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy! Don't spend the rest of your life reading the words in this game.
  
• Orcane is a pranskter! Do you like pranks? Then you'll love Orcane.
  
• Use your mouse and click stuff. Or use a touch screen and poke stuff. Or use your eyes and look at stuff. Or use your wallet and buy Rivals of Aether.
  
• Every character is some kind of animal. Someone told me that is an important feature for a dating game, but I have no idea why.
  
• Calm relaxing gameplay. Unlike in a fighting game, no one is out to destroy you and make you wish you never picked up a controller. You can talk to characters at your own leisure and enjoy the elaborate lore of Aether High.
  
• Sylvanos will help you get ripped. Follow his natural path and you too can obtain beautiful longtoids.
  
• Learn about all the drama that went down last night at the Ding Dong Tree. Who will you believe?
  
• An amazing soundtrack that will remind you of the fighting game with these characters so maybe you'll buy that game for all your friends after playing this game.

Four new buddies are here! By popular demand we've added some new friends to our Buddy System. You can unlock Sunny, Dundee, and Tommy Prickles using Aether Coins you've earned in game.

https://youtu.be/CWYtasohw1c
Kraggling is available on the Steam Store at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1030270/Rivals_of_Aether_Kraggling_Buddy/

Rivals of Aether and all of our previous DLC (including character packs) is on sale for 50% off this week. If you've been waiting to gift a friend, pick up a new character, or get one of our recently added skins on Steam - now's the time.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/383980/Rivals_of_Aether/

Two days ago we unveiled our brand new Buddy System. Unlike the typical buddy system that’s supposed to prevent you from drowning in a lake or whatever, ours lets you bring small creatures from Aether into action-packed battles! These buddies will primarily be used to support Rivals players and events throughout the 2019 competitive season.

Read on for a little more information about them as well as some additional bugfixes we’ve fit in with patch 1.4.7.



Buddies are now available in-game, with the first being the adorable Frostbear Cub. This new feature lets you choose creatures from Aether and beyond as companions during local and online matches. Buddies are cosmetic additions similar to skins in that they don’t affect gameplay, but instead each bring their own personality as they tag along.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQxfamFVKRc

Another thing to mention about most buddies (one of the best things in fact) is that funds raised go towards supporting Rivals players and events. More are planned for release throughout the year, so make sure to let us know in the comments which buddies you’d like to see.



You can pick and choose your buddies on the character select screen. They even have their own taunts. You can also optionally disable them online in the "stats and options" online menu.

A new Genesis 6 color palette has been added as the latest seasonal skins for all characters. Genesis 6, our Championship Series World Finals event, begins in just about 2 weeks.

Rep the event and make sure to tune in for the stream on ShowDown and VGBootCamp. Full viewing schedule to be announced soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC4H_G4oyH4

• The purple kill effect now functions correctly when below any stage floor.
  
• Etalus’ Down Special will no longer create the purple kill effect when freezing an opponent.
  
• Ori & Sein’s Down Special now ignores Eid (the guy in the window on Tower of Heaven).
  
• Sylvanos’ Upward-angled Bair now maintains grass the same as the other angles.
  
• Elliana’s steam can no longer create the purple kill effect.

The Rivals Championship Series finals are approaching fast at Genesis 6! Tune in from Frebruary 1st - 3rd to see the best players from around the world go head to head over 3 days of competition. With the title of the Season 3 Champion and over $12,000 on the line, this event is a must see for Rivals fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC4H_G4oyH4

If you'd like to join these players (and many more) there's still time to sign up. Register or find out more about the event at https://smash.gg/G6

We are still hard at work on netcode and matchmaking changes but before we can release those, we wanted to give players a chance to experience our new Ranked Mode updates. We have reworked the progression and rewards and are excited for players to progress! We also have some balance changes targeting our three newest characters who came out earlier this year.

• We have replaced Ranked Score as the main progression in Ranked Mode with a Ranked Tier system. There are 6 Ranked Tiers which each have 5 Ranked Levels inside their Tiers.
• Players progress through the levels by earning Stars. Each star that you earn progresses you higher into the Ranked Level. You'll need 5 Stars to complete a Ranked Level such as going from Bronze 5 to Bronze 4.

• There are three different ways to earn stars:
  
  • Winning: Each set win gives you one star.
  • Win Streaks: While on a win streak of 3 or more, you earn 1 extra star. While on a win streak of 5 or more, you earn 2 extra stars.
  • Tier Difference: If you play an opponent who is a higher tier than you, you'll earn 1 star for each tier they are above you.
• Each Tier has its own rules and rewards:
  
  • Bronze Tier:
    • Rules: You cannot lose stars.
    • Matchmaking: Bronze, Silver, Gold
    • Rewards: Player Icon
  • Silver Tier:
    • Rules: You cannot lose stars.
    • Matchmaking: Bronze, Silver, Gold
    • Rewards: Player Icon, Tier Border
  • Gold Tier:
    • Rules: You cannot lose a star to drop a Ranked Level.
      (ex. from Gold 3 to Gold 4)
    • Matchmaking: Bronze, Silver, Gold
    • Rewards: Player Icon, Tier Border, Ranked Color Palette
  •  Platinum Tier:
    • Rules: You cannot drop below Platinum 5.
    • Matchmaking: Platinum, Diamond, Master
    • Rewards: Player Icon, Tier Border, To be Decided
  • Diamond Tier:
    • Rules: You cannot drop below Diamond 5.
    • Matchmaking: Platinum, Diamond, Master
    • Rewards: Player Icon, Tier Border, To be Decided
  • Master Tier:
    • Rules: Your Master Score is your position on the Ranked Leaderboard. You no longer win or lose stars.
    • Matchmaking: Platinum, Diamond, Master
    • Rewards: Player Icon, Tier Border, To be Decided

• Ranked Mode still uses Ranked Score (ELO) behind the scenes for every set even before reaching Master. This score is used to calculate your leaderboard position.
• We have lowered the Disconnect Rate punishment from 35% to 20% so players with high disconnect rates will have low Master positions.
• We now have a system to reset the Ranked Level and Ranked Score of repeat cheaters. Please report cheaters WITH their Steam Profile URL to contact@rivalsofaether.com and we'll investigate the reports.

• While playing Ranked Mode, you can level up your characters from 1-10 by playing Ranked Matches.
• Each win will earn you more experience than a loss but just playing a single match with that character will net you some experience!
• Here are our current plans for rewards:
  
  • Character Mastery Level 3: Character Emote Unlock.
  • Character Mastery Level 7: Character Emote Icon.
  • Character Mastery Level 10: To Be Decided

• Ranked and all the other online modes benefit from the introduction of a new Emote System.
• Players can now share pre-built messages with each other while matched in a game lobby. The messages vary from greetings to questions to small suggestions.
• If you progress your character mastery levels, you can unlock fun messages to send your opponent while matching your favorite character.
• Let us know on the subreddit or discord what kind of new Emotes you would like to see added to the game!

In concert with the ranked progression changes above, we're moving forward into the 4th season of Rivals ranked play. To make the start of this season even more exciting we’re announcing the return of a fan-favorite special event, the Rivals Rep Icon Contest, where you can help your favorite featured team get a skin in the game!

To find out more details on this community competition read the full post here.


Tis the season! Err... or at least close enough. Your Halloween colors have been replaced with festive Christmas skins. As always, these are usable in all game modes and can be accessed simply by rotating through your Rivals' colors on the character select screen.

• Landing no longer clears the right stick's buffer. Instead, it turns it into a normal 6 frame buffer instead of the 8 frame right stick buffer.
• Tilt stick will no longer allow you to cancel a jab into a backward tilt.
• Purple aether kill effect logic adjusted: now checks all even numbered DI angles (19 total) instead of just checking 7.
  
  • OLD:
    
    • check full DI in
    • check no DI
    • check full DI out
    • check 12 degrees in
    • check 12 degrees out
    • check 6 degrees in
    • check 6 degrees out
  • NEW:
    
    • do all old calculations
    • check remaining even numbered angles (12 different angles)

• Jumping during the hitpause of Nspecial will always buffer a jump after hitpause ends.
  (This is useful for jumping after hitting a pillar or activating the purple kill effect)
• Uspecial's final hitbox now has knockback staling: BKB starts at 7 and goes down to 5 (the current value) by the end of movement. This makes early hit Uspecial stronger.
• Dspecial's spike hitbox is no longer techable and forces a missed tech instead of bouncing the opponent off the ground.

• Standing on overlapping puddles will no longer cause Fspecial to fail to absorb the puddle.

• Hitting Ranno's bubble and Sylvanos' flower with Fspecial now only lets you jump cancel for the next 20 frames instead of indefinitely.

• Clone will no longer get locked out of exploding if his first explosion is interrupted (such as pillar breaking under him during the move's startup).

• Can no longer hit himself when throwing a rock with Uair.
• Can no longer fastfall while being hit during armored Uspecial.
• No longers gets the benefits of being on ice when standing under low, ice-covered platforms.

• Can no longer bash Lily when she's being despawned.
• Double jumping while trying to use Uspecial while it's unavailable will no longer cause Ori to superjump.

• Bubble knockback will no longer reverse for outward hitting moves if the attacking player is facing left.

Sylvanos is getting a minor rework where we looked at his entire kit and wanted to balance out some of his annoying tendencies and distribute power elsewhere. We reworked his final two jabs to make them more varied and to differentiate Jab Special more from Neutral Special. We also took a look at the Neutral Special Flower to open up some creativity in how Sylvanos players choose to use grass instead of just coating the bottom platform with grass as often as possible.

• 
  
  • Jab 1 range shortened.
  • Jab 3 replaced with large repeatable jabs.

• Jab special now spawns lower and travels a very short distance, allowing Sylvanos to place flowers on the ground underneath platforms. It will now also combo if the opponent DI's jab 2 inward.
• Ftilt projectile now deals no knockback ever.
• Ftilt startup: 7 > 5 (reverted to pre-1.4.0).
• Utilt startup: 6 > 8 (reverted to pre-1.4.0).
• Sylvanos no longer jumps upward during the startup of Utilt, making the move significantly better as an anti-air.
• Dstrong angle: 55 > 50.
• Uair solo hit2 removed.
• Uair 2 base knockback: 7 > 8.
• Uair 2 knockback scaling: .5 > .65.
• Nspecial multihit damage: 2 > 1 (total damage: 14 > 10).
• Can now have 3 flowers out (when 3 flowers are active, the oldest flower is colored differently from the other two).
• Flowers only grow a small area of grass instead of the full platform (they still prevent the whole platform's grass from dying when Sylvanos is away).
• Flowers now destroy the grass around them when they are hit.
• Flowers no longer have a single tile of grass missing.
• Grass no longer ages while Sylvanos is in hitpause from hitting an opponent.
• Jump cancelling Fspecial locks him out of airdodging for 10 frames.
• Uspecial's bite is now invincible until the hitbox comes out.
• Dspecial now has a visual to show the howl's range.
• Grass on the left edge of a platform will no longer die when using Dspecial.

Elliana is getting a couple buffs but she might have more in store down the road. She is a unique character with a meta that is still developing so we want to be careful when it comes to buffing and nerfing this hothead.

• Dash attack endlag: 18 > 16 (27 > 24 on whiff).
• Ftilt startup: 9 > 7.
• Fair hitbox size increased.
• Fspecial will no longer trigger the purple kill effect if the opponent is stuck.

Shovel Knight is FUN! Just like in his own game, the character is very fun to play as and against. The buffs we have for him are to make him more effective when he is playing well. By racking up damage a bit faster, he can start going for his unique kill options earlier.

• Jab/Nair damage: 5 > 6.
• Ftilt/Fair damage: 3 > 4.
• Utilt damage: 5 > 8.
• Utilt will no longer break Kragg's pillar after it loses its hitbox.
• Dair damage: 6 > 7 (normal hit) and 7 > 10 (spike hit).
• Dstrong strongest hit hitpause scaling: 0 > 1 (bug fix).
• Mobile Gear now gets destroyed at the bottom blastzone instead of slightly above it.
• Uspecial's spike hitbox is no longer techable and forces a missed tech instead of bouncing the opponent off the ground.
• Dstrong's spike hitboxes force a missed tech instead of bouncing the opponent off the ground.

Heat Wave was a lot of fun, but now it's time to start getting ready for a cooler season. This patch is a mix of changes we've been holding on to as well as some newer updates like adding mouse support, normalizing some framedata, and other quality of life changes. Read on for the full notes below and have a happy Halloween!

• Keyboard controls can now be set on the character select screen.
• Mouse buttons can now be bound to actions in the character select screen.
• Rolls, Airdodges, and Techrolls have been normalized. New framedata:
  
  • ROLLS:
    
    • [3 startup frames - 14 active frames - 12 recovery frames]
  • AIRDODGES:
    
    • [2 startup frames - 12 active frames - 12 recovery frames]
  • TECHROLLS:
    
    • [20 invincibility frames - 14 recovery frames]

• Fixed a bug that made players get caught on ledges.
• Crouch is no longer locked out of dashing for 3 frames.
  Instead, crouching now clears the dash buffer.
• Fixed a bug that caused a crash during the intermediate offense tutorial.
• The missed tech state can no longer be longer than the full initial duration of your hitstun.
• Purple kill effect formula now takes SDI into consideration when checking for collision with walls/platforms/pillars/rocks.
• Fixed a bug that caused heavy characters to be stuck in 1 extra frame of landing lag on aerials with 6 frames of landing lag compared to patch 1.4.0.
• You can no longer wall-tech when first getting grabbed by Ori's Down Special. You can still wall tech after getting thrown.

• Up Special multihits now force flinch.
  With 1 less frame of flinch state than normal, so it doesn't true combo into Dstrong.

• Up Air no longer keeps moving during hitpause.
• Orcane's roll framedata has been normalized to [3 - 14 - 12] from [3 - 11 - 16].
• Orcane's airdodge framedata has been normalized to [2 - 12- 12] from [2 - 12 - 14].

• Up Air angle flipper changed from 0 > 6.
  This makes it so that the move always sends left if your opponent is on the left side of you, and vice versa.
• Wrastor's roll framedata normalized to [3 - 14 - 12] from [3 - 15 - 16].
• Bugfix: Dying now restores Wrastor's ability to charge a strong attack.

• Rocks will no longer hit enemies in the wrong direction when bouncing off of a wall on the first frame the rock is created.

• Forsburn's techroll framedata has been normalized to [20 - 14] from [19 - 14].

• Neutral Special hurtbox corrected.
  This move was using the wrong kind of collision detection making it much bigger than it seemed.
• Up Special can no longer break Kragg's pillar if it trades with it 1 frame before Kragg lands on the pillar.
• Absa's roll framedata normalized to [3 - 14 - 12] from [3 - 10 - 14].
• Absa's airdodge framedata has been normalized to [2 - 12 - 12] from [2 - 11 - 10].

• Up Special will no longer lose armor when getting hit on frame 1 by a move that sends into the hitstun land state.
• Up Air hit 1 hit lockout increased from 0 > 1.
  This prevents moves like Forward Special from interrupting the throw.
• Nair sourspot angle flipper changed from 0 > 6.
  Now matches the flipper of the sweetspot.
• Etalus' roll framedata normalized to [3 - 14 - 12] from [3 - 15 - 12].

• Ori & Sein's techroll framedata has been normalized to [20 - 14] from [18 - 16].

• Utilt angle flipper changed from 0 > 6.
  This makes it so that the move always sends left if your opponent is on the left side of you, and vice versa.
• Dash Attack tipper hitboxes adjusted to match the art better.

• Up Air range reduced by 16 pixels for hit 1 and 18 pixels for hit 2.
  This change is intended to make Up Air less oppressive as a sharking tool.
• More changes are planned for Sylvanos that didn't make it into this patch. We're taking a good hard look at his strengths and weaknesses so that we can build him up after stripping frustrating parts of his kit. Our goal is ultimately to make him both more fun to play against and more balanced and fun to play as.

• Back Air's fist is now disjointed.
• Charged Forward Special now slides along the ground instead of being destroyed by it.

• Jab endlag decreased from 16 > 14.
• Back Air multihit hitstun modifier increased from .5 > .65.
  Enough to make it good on hit without letting it confirm into Forward Strong.
• Dash attack startup decreased from 10 > 7.
• Dash attack damage increased from 5 > 7.
• Dash attack knockback scaling increased from 0.35 > 0.5.
  While dash attack is still a pretty niche move, these changes will give it more utility.
• Ustrong endlag increased from 16 > 18 (24 > 27 on whiff).
• War Horn hitstun modifier decreased from x1 > x0.9.
• Releasing the right stick as the shop becomes active will no longer cancel the shop.
• Dynamo Mail's outline color now overrides the outline color change when on fire.