Pokkén Tournament Adds Chandelure on February 9

At the conclusion of Nico Nico Tokaigi’s Pokkén Tournament competition, Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Katsuhiro Harada and Masaaki Hoshino took the stage to reveal gameplay footage for the game’s next character, Chandelure.

As you’ll see in the trailer below, this interesting Pokémon appears to use a mixture of long-reaching normals and tricky tactics to pressure the opponent.

Chandelure will join the Pokkén Tournament cast in arcades on February 9. The title is set to launch for Wii U worldwide on March 18.

Source: Pokkén Tournament via Serebii, Perfectly Nintendo, tip via ShinonTalents

Nico Nico Tokaigi 2016 Pokkén Tournament Finals Streaming Live from Game Party Japan

Of the nine games announced for Evo 2016, newcomer Pokkén Tournament was arguably the most surprising. Despite releasing in Japanese arcades last summer, competitive footage seems to be lacking when compared to your Street Fighters, Guilty Gears, and Tekkens.

Fortunately, you can get a taste of high-level Pokkén play tonight courtesy of Game Party Japan. The convention is currently hosting the finals of Nico Nico Tokaigi, and you can catch the action live right now.

The official broadcast has been included below, but you can also head on over to Niconico if you would like to chat. Expect lots and lots of Gengars, as well as a special gameplay reveal for Chandelure, the next Pokémon to join this unique fighting game.

Source: Pokkén Tournament via Source Gaming, special thanks to PushDustin for his contributions.

Bayonetta, Corrin Heading to Super Smash Bros. on February 4

Near the end of the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Niconico Championship, representatives from Nintendo including director Masahiro Sakurai took the stage to show off the game’s next two downloadable characters. The big news, however, came near the end.

Bayonetta and Fire Emblem Fates’ Corrin will be available starting February 4. As of now, that date only pertains to Japan, but if previous releases are anything to go by this will likely be a global launch.

These characters will be individually priced at $5.99 / ¥650 for each platform, or you can drop $6.99 / ¥750 apiece to get them on both Wii U and 3DS.

Source: Nintendo via SourceGaming

Killer Instinct Teaser Hints at Halo Guest Character

While we were still reeling from our first look at Kim Wu, the Killer Instinct developers dropped yet another preview of the upcoming season’s content.

Look familiar? Smart money is on The Arbiter, a major player in the overall Halo narrative that was playable alongside franchise face Master Chief in Halo 2, joining the cast as a guest character.

He’s not the first, thanks to Rash of the Battletoads making the scene last year, but he certainly raises the game’s profile. The teaser above was first shown between matches during the Halo World Championship Tour stop at X Games Aspen, far away from the fighting game tournaments that are already familiar with Killer Instinct.

More details will likely come during tomorrow’s Killer Instinct World Cup final, so stay tuned.

Source: Killer Instinct via NeoGAF

F.A.N.G Won’t Be Playable in Street Fighter V’s Final Beta Test

With the various Street Fighter V beta tests, Capcom has given the community unparalleled access to the upcoming title, but one thing has been missing all this time: F.A.N.G.

Sure, he was only revealed in December, but with Street Fighter V’s final beta session in full swing, players were hopeful that the newcomer might make an appearance sometime before it ends. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case.

While providing some final details on the testing period, associate producer Peter “Combofiend” Rosas sadly revealed that the Shadaloo second-in-command’s poison abilities will not be unleashed on the community. “We wanted to include F.A.N.G as well, but he’s too busy plotting at the Shadaloo base to take on the Street Fighters,” he explained. “Guess we’ll have to wait a few weeks to see him in action!”

Street Fighter V’s last beta test is currently open, and will be until January 31 at 7 PM PST, 10 PM EST. The finished game is scheduled to launch for PlayStation 4 and PC on February 16.

Source: Capcom-Unity

The King of New York B League feat. Ultra Street Fighter IV Streaming Live

This weekend, the fine folks of Team PIE will be hosting another edition of The King of New York, a round-robin Ultra Street Fighter IV competition. Pulling inspiration from events like TOPANGA League, this tournament will see some of the area’s best match up against visitors from out-of-state to prove they have what it takes to be crowned New York’s best.

Today will focus on B League, the top three placers of which will automatically gain entry into the A League event on Sunday, January 31. Players like PIE’s Poem, Empire Arcadia’s Hiro, Liquid’s NuckleDu, VGP’s Integra, and more are currently slugging it out to see who will take those prestigious qualifying spots. A full bracket can be found here.

Some of the other faces you can expect to see compete tomorrow include Zeus, PIE’s Smug, Team Spooky’s Arturo Sanchez, YOMI Gaming’s Dieminion, and Evil Geniuses’ K-Brad, among others.

If you weren’t able to make it in person, Arturo has got you covered with a live broadcast of the festivities. Check it out below or head on over to Twitch to chat with your fellow spectators.

Watch live video from nycfurby on www.twitch.tv

Sources: Team PIE, Arturo Sanchez

Yasuyuki Oda Mixes Old-School Expertise, Modern Conventions in King of Fighters XIV

Ah, that sweet scent in the air. Can you smell it? It’s the delightful aroma of fresh fisticuffs! Yes, we have plenty of amazing fighting games cooking in the oven for 2016, including a new release in one of the most beloved franchises of all time: The King of Fighters. Following a surprise announcement last year and a well-received showing at PlayStation Experience in San Francisco, the game’s latest build is now busting some heads over at the Taipei Game Show.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about this game, however, and we wanted to get some answers straight from the source. So we went there! Yes, we went all the way to Esaka, the district within Osaka that houses SNK Playmore’s headquarters. (Fun fact: You can find the station underpass that the King of Fighters ’98 Japan stage was modeled after mere steps from the company’s front door!)

We were able to visit the SNK offices for valuable discussion time with Yasuyuki Oda, the game’s director. He’s a veteran of the genre, having worked at SNK for decades before moving to Dimps, where he did battle planning work on Street Fighter IV, game design work on Super Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter x Tekken, and directorial work on Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition. He’s now back under the employ of the house that Terry Bogard built and ready to help take King of Fighters into the next generation.

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What about the current market makes the timing right for a King of Fighters XIV?

Oda-san: Well, the PlayStation 4 is out and doing very well across several markets. It made sense, from an internal marketing standpoint, to begin work on another King of Fighters title.

The game’s being marketed heavily as specifically a PlayStation 4 title. Will there be an arcade version at all?

Oda: Initially, there were some internal discussions about whether we should go forward with a home-focused or an arcade-focused King of Fighters XIV, but we feel our efforts are best spent focusing on PlayStation 4.

Have you noticed a global shift from arcades to consoles for fighting games in general?

Oda: The global market for arcade games is honestly pretty small at this point. There are still companies trying to make things work in arcades, but it really is a lot easier to play fighting games on consoles nowadays, especially when you factor in things like netplay. The home consumer environment seems like where the future of fighting games is headed.

Why did you choose to make the game a PlayStation 4 exclusive?

Oda: One of the biggest reasons is that the sales for PlayStation 4 are doing very well globally. The tools have also been really easy to work with, allowing us to better tailor the game for home users.

Going back to the era of King of Fighters XII and XIII, there was a transition to HD sprite graphics, where everything was redrawn and reanimated. From my understanding, the making of these sprites was a long and difficult endeavor. Why are you throwing all of that out in favor of 3D visuals for King of Fighters XIV?

Oda: Well, we don’t really think of it as us “throwing away” anything. It’s more of a fresh start for this era of King of Fighters.

In the transition from 2D to 3D, what have you had to change, in terms of technical things like timing and animation? What has proven difficult in the transition process?

Oda: The most difficult thing so far hasn’t been development as much as getting a team together with the development chops to make a big fighter like King of Fighters. Finding people who can handle doing all of the development tasks within our set timeframe has been particularly difficult.

kofxiv-iori-testkitIt seems like it took a very long time to develop individual characters in King of Fighters XIII. There was a website SNK had a while back that highlighted the process, step by step. Is moving to 3D a time-saver in that regard?

Oda: Honestly, in the current industry, it’s far easier to find people who have experience developing with 3D models rather than sprites. There’s not a lot of young development talent who know a lot about 2D development. It’s basically just a lot of old-timers like me. (laughs)

You worked on a lot of classic SNK fighters in the 90s. Can you talk a bit about what sort of expertise you, as a fighting game veteran, are bringing to King of Fighters XIV that other, younger developers might not have?

Oda: First of all, I feel like there’s a bit of a “balance” between the veterans and the younger developers working on these titles. Secondly, when I think about what I’m bringing to the table…I was around when we were first setting up King of Fighters as sort of this Avengers-style mix of SNK fighting franchises. I understand where these characters come from, and what roles they play within the greater SNK fighting “universe.”

Perhaps there are some folks out there who might look at a game and judge it as “not a real King of Fighters game” based on some criteria. My goal, as well as the goal of the other veterans on the team, is to assuage users and let them know that this is an authentic King of Fighters. If you don’t know the original games well, it’s hard to make something that feels true to the series’ roots.

We’re carefully taking and synthesizing what people love about King of Fighters games, and making a new installment from there that we hope will be just as popular.

When you look across all the regions where King of Fighters is popular, it seems like the “favorite” installment varies wildly. Do you go back to study the older titles that these various territories like and try to pinpoint what it is people enjoy about them, then use that to develop new installments?

Oda: We start by really thinking about what makes King of Fighters what it is. For example, the series has distinct moves such as the jumps, power gauge, blowback attacks – those are very important to the feel of the games. That’s the base point we start at. From that point, the question is, “What kind of stuff do we want to add on top of that?” If we add too much, the game might be seen as too complicated. If you make it too simple, then people will get bored and stop playing it. That’s where we’ve had to discuss things.

When you get down to the nitty-gritty, a lot of fighting games share a set of basic systems. We could go as far as to make every character have a unique “system” to themselves. But we have to consider: is that really true to King of Fighters? That’s something to really consider.

It wasn’t just SNK back in the day – all of the publishers/developers were making games on a yearly basis. There was a lot of pressure to constantly change things up. A number of fighting games strayed too far from what made them so beloved by fans, and they suffered as a result. Look at the transition from Fatal Fury Special to Fatal Fury 3, or Samurai Shodown II to III. In contrast, King of Fighters ’95 to ’96 was a big change, but it was well received. There are tons of examples of successes and failures across the genre’s history. I’m kind of keeping the tendency for developers to want to make overly drastic changes in the back of my mind as we approach King of Fighters XIV’s development.

What is the process of developing the character roster like for each King of Fighters game? Do you take things like the character’s playstyle, fan popularity, and previous appearances into account when you decide whether or not to add them to the roster?

Oda: We really have to consider the roster as a whole. We can’t just do a King of Fighters with entirely new characters – we have to strike a balance between the new and the familiar. We also have to consider that, like you mentioned earlier, the series is popular globally, and every place where King of Fightesr is played has its local favorites and such.

For King of Fighters XIV, we actually decided on the number of characters early on in the game’s development. We then set about filling the roster, breaking things down in terms of geographical regions, popularity, and so forth. We also need to balance the roster from a visual standpoint – we can’t just have all women or all young men, for example.

What is the reasoning behind having such a large roster in King of Fighters XIV?

Oda: Yeah, it;s big, isn’t it? (laughs) We felt it was a good challenge, and we felt the drive to do it – the SNK spirit! King of Fighters is a series known for having a large roster – most games start off with between 14 to 18 characters. King of Fighters is 3-on-3 teams, so multiply that by three…yeah. And fifty’s a nice, round-sounding number, isn’t it? Internally, there was a bit of blowback, though, because it does mean a lot more work! But if you want to make a real King of Fighters, you need that roster size!

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Can you elaborate a bit on why you’ve changed some of the gameplay elements from King of Fighters XIII to King of Fighters XIV?

Oda: Making the game more accessible was a chief concern. Longtime fans who picked up King of Fighters XIII recognized a lot of those King of Fighters elements and quickly figured things out, but newcomers were a bit stymied.

The auto-combo system, for example: Fighting games were more popular in the mid-90s than they are today – the popularity has shifted more towards open-world and field-action type games. When you look at the general populace, beyond people who are really into fighting games, there are a lot of people out there who have difficulty doing special moves. In the arcade business model, you want to keep people coming back and spending money to play. If the audience is smaller but still spends a lot, that can be perfectly okay.

With a console game, the appeal needs to be broader. Looking at games across all genres, you see a lot of people playing games who just kind of mash on buttons, you know? But there are games designed to accommodate this sort of play. Looking at it from that perspective, adding something like that to a fighting game lets people get into it immediately.

Going off on a bit of a tangent – why do you think fighting games aren’t as hugely popular in Japan as they were back in the 90s?

Oda: Fighting games were born and primarily lived in arcades. The experience of playing a fighting game at home versus playing in the arcade was quite different. However, with the advent of online play, the experience of being able to find matches with other players became something you could do outside of arcades. There was also quite a long period in the 2000s where there wasn’t really a big fighting game for people to get excited about. You still had fighting game fans, and tournaments like Tougeki – perhaps Tougeki was even a response to the “drought” in fighting games during that time.

In the early days, PCBs were cheaper than recent prices. Then you have to convince the consumers to part with their 100-yen coins. Between the cost of development and the cost of hardware, and the upkeep of the arcade in general, the business is becoming less viable. And once that fighting game hits consoles, that’s another negative effect on the arcades running the game.

It was mentioned in a previous interview that Steam was a big impetus for SNK to get back into console games.

Oda: Yes. We look at console and PC as part of the same overall consumer market. By shelving pachislot operations, SNK’s main focus has become consumer and mobile games, including PC. As far as Steam goes, King of Fighters XIII did exceptionally well for us there.

The netcode for the console versions of King of Fighters XIII was the subject of much criticism. How are you approaching development of the netcode for King of Fighters XIV to ensure that it’s up to par?

Oda: We are definitely making sure the netcode will be solid this time around! We recognize that internet conditions globally are quite different from those in Japan. We’re doing the tests to make comfortable netcode.

King of Fighters players in the West who have played the game have commented that it feels like a return to KOF ’98/2002 style, where there aren’t as many super-long HD mode combos. MAX mode seems less like a thing designed for big combos and more like a system designed to grant additional options to the player. How much of that was intentional on the part of the design team?

Oda: Totally intentional!

Right now, rush combos do a lot less damage than normal combos, which seems like an intentional balancing move. Are you planning on making any further changes to the system going forward?

Oda: Right now, we just have the system in place. We’ll be tweaking it going forward.

kofxiv-kyo-testkit-tallWhat feedback did you get at PlayStation Experience, and how are you taking it into account?

Oda: We got a lot of response from both folks who were at the convention and online. We’re currently in the middle of analyzing all of the feedback.

As of right now, how many of the game’s characters are in a playable state?

Oda: They’re all currently playable right now, and they have basic moves, but many of them lack proper polish at the moment. Soon, though!

How do you plan to approach things like post-release updates, and how does the advent of post-release patches affect development of fighting games?

Oda: We’ll definitely be patching the game as people play it. Way back, you couldn’t really “fix” problems with a game post-release unless you spent a bunch to burn and distribute new ROMs. It’s very different now. I’ve experienced situations to fix bugs years after we thought we were done in the past! But since some development staff had moved on to other projects, it became a lot more difficult to do. So yes, post-release fixes are an interesting challenge in the current market.

From a story perspective, King of Fighters XIII wrapped up the Ash Crimson storyline. Where will the overall King of Fighters world be going from this point?

Oda: Hmmmmmmmmm! Well, it’s the start of a new “series” in King of Fighters, so I can’t say much concrete right now…but please look forward to it!

King of Fighters XIV is set to launch for PlayStation 4 sometime this year.

Here’s Every Killer Instinct Season 3 Balance Change (for Now)

To kick off the Killer Instinct World Cup with a bang, Iron Galaxy Studios held a lengthy session detailing the ways in which they will be updating Killer Instinct in its third season.

But perhaps more important than the what is the why. According to the developers, their main goal in season three is to “encourage player creativity” by giving the entire cast new tools to work with. That being said, all of these are subject to change, so don’t lose all hope if you see something that completely blows up your playstyle with a particular character.

Without further ado, here’s the entire list of tentative changes for Killer Instinct Season 3.

Killer Instinct Season 3 Balance Changes

System Changes

  • Some characters now have attacks that inflict a new “Stagger” reaction on the opponent. Opponents are vulnerable to throws during Stagger, just like after a Wall Splat, and cannot escape early in any way. You can still tech throws here so long as you are not locked out, just like a Wall Splat.
  • Some characters now have attacks that can cause a new “Flip Out” reaction against airborne opponents. Instead of putting them into a juggle state, they flip and land on their feet, allowing you a surprise mixup opportunity.
  • If you do not hit your opponent with anything breakable during your combo at any point, your Ender will not cash out and will be breakable.
  • Opener->Ender now remove lockouts, so that Opener->Ender is always breakable.
  • Ground Combo Breakers cause Flipout and are between -1 and +2 (Previously they caused soft knockdown and were between +30 and +60). This also makes it impossible in all cases to combo off of a Ground Combo Breaker.
  • Air Combo Breakers now cause Blowout. This makes it impossible in all cases to combo off of an Air Combo Breaker.
  • You can no longer cancel into Instinct from a Combo Breaker.
  • Hits that blow out a combo are now Breakable and Counter Breakable.
  • Sweeps are now breakable and counter breakable. Forced quick-rise will occur if your opponent uses a counter breaker, leaving them punishable as expected.
  • Corrected an issue preventing you from ever being Timing-Locked-Out while in the air.
  • Most juggle moves add much less KV than before, opening up new juggle paths to much of the cast.
  • The KV penalty has been removed from Ground Bounce for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Unified Shadow Counter startup time across the entire cast. They start up in 8 frames now, making everyone’s better except Aganos’, which got 1 frame worse.
  • Increased the window during which a Shadow Counter can catch an incoming attack by 7 frames, and also added 10 additional frames of recovery on whiff.
  • Grounded Heavy Normal attacks now ignore Armor.
  • Increased the cancel windows from Linkers into Auto Doubles across all characters to match Jago and S2 standard, so that if you are too early for a manual, you get an auto double instead of nothing.
  • Normalized the frame advantage and buffer check on all characters after auto doubles. Light Doubles leave you +2, Medium Doubles leave you +3, and Heavy Doubles leave you +5. A 5 frame buffer window is on all characters, rather than just some, so that your next move is easier to time.
  • Normalized pre-jump frames to 4 across the cast.
  • LK+MP is now available as an alternate input for Shadow Counter activation, Counter Breaker activation, and Medium Combo Breakers.
  • LK+HP is now available as an alternate input for Instinct Activation and Heavy Combo Breakers.
  • Throw breaking no longer causes 3 fully vulnerable frames on your opponent, and instead causes 3 projectile invulnerable frames.
  • Ender Damage tuning pass performed. You can expect better consistency in the relative damage output from different ender types. Generally, damage from worst to best goes: Meter Ender < Splat Ender < Launcher Ender < Exchange or Hardknockdown Ender < Damage Ender
  • Unlisted Character Changes – Many, many bugs have been fixed that are unlisted, but these do not effect game balance. They only get rid of odd, unwanted behavior. If a bug fix effected balance, for the most part, it is on this list.

Character Changes

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Jago

  • Fixed a bug that allowed you to perform Shadow Tigers Fury the frame before landing after a blocked or hit Tigers Fury.
  • Reduced Laser Sword Ender damage by ~10%
  • Reduced Endokuken Ender damage by ~15%
  • Double Roundhouse (F+HK) starts up 1 frame slower so that you can’t use this heavy move as a medium manual.
  • Healing amount per hit during Instinct reduced by 25%.
  • Adjusted the crouching HK attack box so it better matches his foot. This makes it slightly easier to juggle with as well.
  • Throw canceled into a Shadow Move starts with less KV for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Normal attacks push the opponent back less in a juggle for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Medium and Heavy Laser Sword juggles launch higher and closer for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Light Laser Sword and Jumping LP now cause Flip Out.
  • Shadow Endokuken is larger and has a larger hitbox.
  • New ability: Endokuken Charge! Can now hold the button to delay an Endokuken’s release.
    • Jago can dash cancel in either direction while charging up.
    • When fully charged, you release a Big Endokuken.
    • Big Endokukens can destroy some smaller projectiles, and also deals increased hitstun, blockstun, and damage.
    • You can charge up in Instinct, and you will release two Big Endokukens at full charge.

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Sabrewulf

  • Feral Cancel has a 30 frame longer cooldown, and a new indicator when it is ready for use again.
  • Leaping Slash startup slowed down. This move now hits on frame 20 instead of frame 14.
  • Fixed a bug preventing Feral Cancel from carrying over breaker windows for a few frames from the previous move correctly.
  • Running Uppercut has 12 additional frames of recovery, but is still -2 on block and allows Wulf to break out early for all of the same juggles with the same timing. Attack box size reduced.
  • Eclipse damage reduced by ~15%
  • Shadow Eclipse Damage Reduced by ~35% (because you can juggle after it)
  • All Ender damage reduced by ~15%
  • Sabrewulf no longer gets any damage bonus during instinct. He still deals chip damage with normals, however.
  • The frame on which Wulf can cancel his dash into a special has moved from frame 14 to frame 16.
  • Eclipse and Shadow Eclipse no longer auto correct to turn around and face the opponent after a forward dash.
  • Crouching HP starts up 1 frame slower so that you cannot use this Heavy attack as a Medium manual.
  • Sabrewulf’s Medium Leaping Slash Linker now hits two times. The Heavy Leaping Slash and Heavy Hamstring Linkers now hit three times.
  • Eclipse and Shadow Eclipse inflict less blockstun, making them a bit easier to punish.
  • Standing HK causes Stagger.
  • The final hit of Ragged Edge and Shadow Ragged Edge now causes a ground bounce against airborne opponents for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Crouching LK causes Flip Out.
  • MK and HK versions of Run move faster.
  • Hamstring’s slide travels farther.
  • New command move: Diving Slash! During Jump Up or Jump Forward, F+MK.
    • Cannot be done from a jump back.
    • Has very few active frames, but tends to leave Sabrewulf roughly even with his opponent.
    • Has the landing recovery of a normal jump attack, making it useful for repositioning.

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Glacius

  • Fixed a bug that allowed Shadow Cold Shoulder Linker to be canceled after the 4th hit, but before the 5th
  • Reduced Shatter Ender damage by ~20%
  • Reduced Hail Ender, Shoulder Ender, and Puddle Punch Ender damage by ~10%
  • Reduced Shadow Puddle Punch damage by ~10%
  • Reduced Shadow Shatter damage by ~20%
  • The “tell” on Shatter (beam of light) appears 4 frames earlier.
  • Shatter has 10 additional frames of recovery time, making it more in line with the command throw that it is.
  • Shatter and Shadow Shatter are now actual projectiles, so they will whiff projectile invulnerable characters and cannot be countered by Hisako.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Shadow Hail from being used after ranged Shatter Linkers or ranged Auto Doubles.
  • Shatter is active for 2 frames longer, making it easier to tripguard with. Its total active time is now 4 frames.
  • Glacius can now dash! It is not good, but hey, you asked for it!
  • Liquidize can now cross under opponents in the corner.
  • Hail damage and meter gain reduced by ~50%.
  • Hail can survive off-camera for longer, which prevents hail left off screen from being destroyed, and opens up new setups and approaches when leaving hail behind Glacius.
  • New ability: Multi-Hail! Tap or Hold a different punch button while summoning hail to summon another hail.
    • This adds another 25 frames to the move, making it quite risky if you aren’t careful.
    • You can hold and release your multi-hail in any order.
    • Greatly enhances zoning and setup potential.
  • New ability: Instinct Power Up! New abilities available during Instinct!
    • During instinct, when wearing Ice Armor, Glacius’ Shadow Counter window lasts until the end of the animation. This old bug is making a return as a feature!
    • The defensive buff you always wanted!
    • During instinct, Liquidize moves much farther and faster.
    • During instinct, press HP+HK to perform the Homing Puddle Punch.
    • During instinct, press F+HP+HK to perform the Cross Up Puddle Punch.

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Thunder

  • Ender functions and damage retuned to be in line with the rest of the game.
    • Ankle Slicer Ender no longer causes a hard knockdown and deals much less damage, but still gives a full size battery bonus.
    • Triplax Ender deals less damage, but more than Ankle Slicer, and still causes a Wall Splat.
    • Sammamish Ender deals less damage, but more than Ankle Slicer and Triplax, and now causes a Hard Knock Down if you don’t juggle after.
    • Call of Earth Ender no longer causes a hard knockdown and deals a bit less damage, but is still the damage ender.
  • Shadow Call of Earth damage decreased by ~15% (Deals 20% damage instead of 23%)
  • Jumping HP damage reduced by ~15%
  • Thunder is no longer allowed to cancel the landing recovery of a whiffed Sammamish into another special or shadow move.
  • Shadow Sammamish damage reduced by ~20%
  • Light Sammamish no longer allows Sammamish Followups
  • Light Sammamish now has full body invulnerability on startup instead of just upper body.
  • Call of Sky has 10 frame shorter recovery, adds “Murder of Crows” buff to Thunder 1 frame earlier, and can destroy incoming projectiles from frames 14 to 20.
  • Thunder can now cancel a hit or blocked Skyfall into Murder of Crows enhanced dash.
  • Fixed a bug preventing the duration of the Call of Sky buff from refreshing if you used Call of Sky again while the buff was still on.
  • Juggle properties of some moves adjusted for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Standing Light Kick causes Flip Out, and the hitbox has been improved to assist with juggling.
  • New Sammamish followups: Dropkick and Surprise Knee! After Sammamish –
    • HK – Skyfall – The same two foot stomp you know and love, but it now causes a ground bounce for a juggle opportunity.
    • MK – Dropkick – Causes a Hard Knockdown.
    • LK – Surprise Knee – Causes Flipout.
    • These can carry your trajectory in interesting ways. Experiment!
    • Dropkick and Surprise Knee have 15 frame landing recovery. They are punishable on block so use them wisely.

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Sadira

  • Jumping HK damage reduced by ~15%
  • Can no longer use Webs during Enders.
  • Shadow Recluse damage reduced ~20% (because you can juggle after it)
  • Instinct Web damage reduced by ~85%
  • Widow’s Bite projectile damage reduced by ~25%
  • The kick part of Heavy Widow’s Bite is now breakable.
  • Enders have been retuned in function and damage to add more variety to Sadira, but overall damage has been reduced.
    • New ender – QCB+P(Any) – Web Cling Ender (Damage Type, most damage)
    • QCF+HP – Demon Loop Ender (Launcher Type, least damage)
    • QCB+HK – Recluse Ender (Exchange / Hard Knockdown Type, middle damage – You can no longer juggle off this ender)
  • Corrected an issue preventing Sadira from building meter for herself or her opponent when using the F+HK Command Normal.
  • Reduced pushback of juggle normals to increase juggle potential.
  • Can now jump cancel Special Moves during Instinct on block. Previously this was only allowed on hit.
  • New Command Move: Salticidae – In Air, D+HK
    • On hit or block, this head stomp bounces Sadira into a double jump that she can control the left/right momentum of.
    • You can attack again after bouncing.
    • You can bounce as many times as your opponent will let you.
    • If you miss, you suffer long landing recovery.

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Orchid

  • You can no longer call Instinct Cats during Enders.
  • You can now only cancel Shadow Uppercat into Air Throw if your opponent is in an air reaction state, preventing you from skipping the landing recovery of a whiffed or blocked Shadow Uppercat by whiffing an Air Throw attempt.
  • Ender damage adjustments.
    • Ich Ni San Ender damage greatly reduced (by ~35%), now does less than her Splat ender.
    • Knee Buster Ender damage reduced by ~5%
    • Shadow Uppercat Ender damage reduced by ~10% (because you can juggle after it)
  • Flick Flack Ender now causes a hard knockdown if you don’t juggle off of it.
  • Shadow Knee Slide is now -2 on block (was -6).
  • Air throw deals less KV for enhanced juggle opportunities.
  • When hitting an airborne opponent, Crouching HP re-launches and can be jump cancelled for increased juggle opportunities.
  • New air target combos for increased juggle opportunities.
    • LK > J.HP
    • MP > J.HK
  • The final hit of Flick Flack and Shadow Flick Flack will now ground bounce an airborne opponent for increased juggle opportunities.
  • The final hit of Medium Ichi Ni San 3rd with now ground bounce an airborne opponent for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Some normal attack hitboxes improved to help when juggling opponents.
  • Standing Far HK knocks opponents vertically instead of away in a juggle.
  • Air Throw starts up 2 frames earlier and is active 2 frames longer. Attack box size increased making it easier to do in combos and more powerful in neutral.
  • Fully charged Shadow Ichi Ni San is now unblockable. Damage reduced ~20%
  • New Ability: Buster Slide! Orchid can now cancel the active frames of Knee Slide into a Knee Buster if the move has not hit yet.
  • New Ability: Ichi Nise! Orchid can now Dash Cancel forward while charging up Heavy Ichi Ni San 3rd.

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Spinal

  • Reduced Boneshaker Ender damage by ~10%
  • Jumping HP damage reduced by ~15%
  • Skull-less Searing Skull now causes a knockdown.
  • Knockdown duration after Front and Back throws reduced by 16 frames, making vortex setups less straightforward.
  • Lv4 Searing Skull Ender doesn’t launch as high, preventing any juggle from it.
  • Skull projectiles in flight are removed from play if Spinal takes a hit.
  • Skull projectiles deal less chip damage on block.
  • Curses reworked! Curses no longer steal Shadow/Instinct meter. Instead, they prevent the opponent from gaining Shadow/Instinct meter.
    • Hitting Spinal removes only the oldest curse, so you need to hit him multiple times to removed stacked curses.
    • Curses last 30 seconds instead of 5 to 8 seconds.
  • Shadow Searing Skull doesn’t knockdown, so you can use it mid combo and manual afterward. This allows you to capitalize more on the Instinct Curse’s new function.
  • Jumping MK (Divekick) inflicts 3 additional frames of blockstun, making it safe if you can get it to hit just before Spinal touches the ground.
  • New Instinct Mode: Agent of Chaos! Spinal’s Instinct mode has been reworked so that starving Spinal of his resources is a more viable strategy against him. However, this Instinct mode grants Spinal new ways to go absolutely wild.
    • Activation grants 3 skulls.
    • Skulls do not automatically regenerate at all, ever.
    • If you build skulls by any means other than Power Devour, you gain double skulls during instinct.
    • Skulls fired during instinct don’t disappear on block or walls or floor and bounce left/right or up/down. They are destroyed if:
      • They actually hit the opponent
      • They bounce off the opponent 3 times
      • Spinal gets hit
    • Firing a fifth Skull destroys the oldest one.
    • Spinal can Power Devour his own Skulls to re-absorb them into his supply.

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Fulgore

  • Fixed a bug that allowed you to perform Shadow Cyber Uppercut the frame before landing after a blocked or hit Cyber Uppercut.
  • Added 2 frames of additional Hitstop and blockstop to F+HP command normal to make it a bit easier to Shadow Counter and Break.
  • Standing HK special cancel window reduced.
  • Attack box on Blade Charge and Shadow Blade Charge reaches lower, making harder for opponents to low-profile this move.
  • Standing HK now causes a Wall Splat.
  • Air Shadow Laser now causes a Hard Knockdown so that it is never punishable on hit.
  • Levels 1, 2, and 3 of the Eye Beam ender launch higher.
  • Overhead causes a ground bounce against airborne opponents.
  • New Target Combo! Crouching HK -> Crouching HP. Launches opponents for a juggle.
  • Move reconfigured: Eye-Beam Lens Fixed! Eye Beams have been overhauled;
    • Light Eye Beam still launches a single beam at the floor, but has 1 additional frame of recovery and pushes opponents back less.
    • Medium Eye Beam now launches two beams at the floor. It is +2 on block and +5 on hit. It has less pushback compared to the old Med Beam, but more than the Light version.
    • Both Lt and Med versions have increased juggle potential.
    • Heavy Eye Beam now launches a full screen horizontal beam on frame 24, and recovers in 51 total frames (used to be 13 and 26).
    • Heavy Eye Beam causes Stagger on hit. It is -7 on block. It deals increased damage and chip damage.

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TJ Combo

  • The Linker version of Tremor has been removed. You can still use the Special version in juggles normally, but after an Opener or Auto Double, it will now trigger the Ender version just like any other Ender-Only special does in golden path combos.
  • Re-tuned Ender damage to be more in line with the rest of the cast.
    • Flying Knee Ender (Exchange) damage increased by ~10% and does the most damage of the non-Barrage Enders.
    • Vortex Ender (Launcher) damage reduced by ~10% and does the 2nd most damage of the non-Barrage Enders.
    • Powerline Ender (Splat) damage reduced by ~15% and does the 3rd most damage of the non-Barrage Enders.
    • Tremor Ender (Meter) damage reduced by ~20% and does the least amount of damage of the non-Barrage Enders.
  • TJ’s Tumble is now only upper body invulnerable, but still fully projectile invulnerable. He is vulnerable to lows and mids all the way through the roll. It is still also throw vulnerable.
  • Hitbox size reduced on Medium and Heavy Tremors.
  • The first few frames of TJ Tremor will no longer crush low attacks.
  • Shoot Toss starts up 4 frames slower.
  • You can no longer cancel Shadow Powerline into Spin Behind on block, but it still works on hit.
  • Shoot Toss KV reduced by 50% for increased Juggle and Combo opportunities.
  • Medium and Heavy Vortex hit 2 and 3 times respectively. All Vortex and Cyclone moves deal less KV for increased juggle opportunities. The amount of hits also helps the opponent know which strength to use for breaking Vortex and Cyclone. Medium and Heavy versions scoot forward a bit more than before on startup.
  • Shadow Vortex is now fully invulnerable until it becomes active.
  • Frame advantage on normals improved where possible to make him less negative if he doesn’t cancel, while still allowing a Shoot Toss to grab the opponent if they don’t jump.
  • Standing LK and Jumping LK cause Flipout.
  • New Air Target Combo: Jumping LP into LK, which causes Flipout.
  • Standing HP and Close Standing HP cause Stagger and leaves you plus enough to manual a Light or close Medium.
  • New Target Combos: TJ Combinations!
    • These work on Whiff to help with footsies, juggles, and mixups.
    • Far Standing MP > HP, causes Stagger
    • Far Standing MP > MK
    • Close Standing MP > HP, causes Stagger
    • Close Standing MP > MK
    • Crouching MP > HP, causes Stagger
    • Crouching MP > MK

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Maya

  • Jumping HP and HK damage reduced by ~15%
  • Mantis is no longer available from a back jump. Neutral and forward jumps only.
  • Dagger Toss Light and Medium recovery is 6 frames longer.
  • Raised hitboxes of daggers slightly to make it easier for more characters to low profile to avoid them.
  • Dagger toss no longer deals chip damage on block.
  • Dagger Toss followups from Leap Kick are only available on hit or whiff. You cannot do these on block anymore.
  • Leap Kick Ender does not launch as high, forcing you to juggle a normal before you juggle with a Dagger Toss.
  • Maya’s Shadow Counter now uses Shadow Linker Leap Kick instead of Shadow Tumble Kick.
  • The second hit from Daggers (Dagger Spirit) cannot cause a combo to blowout.
  • All Linker damage increased to normal damage-and-scaling levels so that Maya gains Ender levels normally.
  • The 2 hits of opener Tumble Kick advance the damage scaling by 1 hit instead of 2, helping Maya build Ender levels normally.
  • Tumble Kick Ender damage increased ~20%
  • Widened cancel window on 2nd hit of Crouching MP target combo and Crouching HP to make these feel better.
  • Tumble Kick and Shadow Tumble Kick cause a Ground Bounce on the final hit against airborne opponents for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Normal and Dagger juggle properties have been adjusted to extend juggle opportunities.
  • Normal and Axe Kick Recapture hitbox sizes improved to enhance juggle opportunities.
  • Adjusted launch velocity on Shadow Leap Kick to make the Dagger Toss followup work as intended.
  • Mantis can cash out combos if a breakable window occurred. It deals more damage than before in a combo.
  • Double Dagger Strike launches opponents for a juggle.
  • Dagger/Pip Damage Ender is removed from the game and reworked into:
  • New ender: Dagger Assault Activation Ender! – QCF+HP
    • This Ender does extremely low damage and leaves the opponent standing.
    • After the attack portion of the ender, the daggers leave Maya’s hands and hover above the opponent’s head, attacking them automatically every few seconds.
    • The number of times they attack is based on the number of pips you had when you activated. (0 pips = 1 attack, 4 pips = 5 attacks)
    • These attacks can be blocked and don’t build up new pips.
    • When Dagger Assault ends, the daggers violently separate.
    • If Maya gets hit, Dagger Assault ends right away.
    • Dagger Assault does not carry over between rounds.

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Kan-Ra

  • Jumping HP damage reduced by ~15%
  • Spike Ender (Launcher) damage reduced by ~5%
  • Swarm Ender (Special) damage reduced by ~10%
  • Shadow Clutch damage reduced by ~25%
  • It is no longer possible to attack on the way down after using Air Swarm.
  • Shadow Swarm now starts with a breath attack, just like the startup of normal Swarm. The projectile only spawns if you miss the breath part of the attack. Getting the projectile out takes much more time.
  • Swarm and Shadow Swarm projectile damage reduced by ~55%
  • Swarm hitbox size reduced by ~35%.
  • Swarms hit 5 times instead of 6, slightly reducing the amount of time you have to setup/juggle.
  • Swarm Breath blockstun re-tuned.
    • Light Version is -3 on block (was +7)
    • Medium Version is -2 on block (was +3)
    • Heavy Version is -1 on block (was -3)
  • Back+MP is now +1 on block instead of +6.
  • Added more blockstop to Close Swarm Startup and Back+MP to make using a Shadow Counter against them a bit easier.
  • The startup of Clutch has a more noticeable anticipation pose.
  • Sacrifice deals 200% more actual damage to Kan-Ra (15 damage, up from 5). Potential damage inflicted is unchanged.
  • It is no longer possible to Instinct Cancel the recovery of Sacrifice.
  • Far crouching HP launches airborne opponents up higher.
  • DF+LK and DF+MK Scorpion Strike attacks now properly count as projectiles, making them unbreakable.
  • Crouching LP and Jumping LP cause Flipout.
  • Juggle versions of Clutch (that used to cause 1 juggle hit but were pretty useless) now cause Flipout and recover much faster.
  • Standing HK and Back+HP cause stagger and are extremely plus on hit, allowing for new opening, setup, and combo opportunities.
  • Tornado projectile always launches opponents toward Kan-Ra, and now does a little damage. It launches higher for a juggle opportunity.
  • New Ability: Monsoon! Hold the button when using Whirl over a Sand Trap to keep spinning and release a larger, more damaging Tornado projectile, which is unblockable at maximum charge.
  • Move re-tuned: Shadow Spike! Shadow Spike now releases a single, multi hit spike under your opponent instead of a series of Spikes. It then leaves an enhanced Shadow Sand Trap that attacks automatically with Scorpion Strikes every few seconds if an enemy is nearby.
    • This automatic functionality stops if Kan-Ra gets hit, creates another puddle, or uses Sacrifice.

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Riptor

  • Jumping HK damage reduced by ~15%
  • Jumping HP damage reduced by ~40%
  • Shoulder Charge Ender (Splat) damage reduced by ~10%
  • Tail Flip Ender (Hard Knockdown) damage reduced by ~5%
  • Corrected a bug causing a few of her Enders to build her small amounts of meter.
  • Tail Flip and Air Tail Flip, both Light and Medium versions, slowed by 4 frames. Heavy versions slowed by 6 frames. Trajectories slightly adjusted for the new timings.
  • Tail Flip damage no longer changes based on strength used, and all damage has been reduced to match the damage of the Light version.
  • Tail Flip recovery has a taller Vulnerable box to make punishing it more intuitive.
  • Added KV to Clever Girl to compensate for the fact that Ground Bounce KV penalty has been removed from the game.
  • Close HP now counts as a projectile hitbox as expected.
  • Predator LP now tags as an Opener so that combos after the Wall Splat function as expected.
  • The ground version of Shadow Tail Flip will now get all five of its hits more reliably.
  • Can no longer cancel out of Clever Girl on frame 15 into Specials or Normals. Can now cancel out of Clever Girl early at frame 12 into Normals or Runs.
  • Reduced KV on Run Back HK and improved its launch trajectory to expand juggle opportunities.
  • Run Back HP Flame Wall deals ~80% more damage.
  • The running portion of Shadow Shoulder Charge now has 1 hit of armor.
  • Jumping HK doesn’t bounce people away from you anymore, keeping them close enough for a followup attack.
  • Crouching HK on juggle doesn’t push opponent away as far.
  • Crouching HK is -5 on block instead of -15.
  • Fixed a bug preventing you from using Primal Linkers after manual normals.
  • Primal Linkers deal ~40% more damage to encourage using them in all levels of play.
  • Predator Mode dashes are now projectile invulnerable on her top half as intended. It should be much easier to Predator dash under projectiles now.
  • Run HK causes stagger instead of a knockdown.
  • Predator Dash HP (Flame Arc) causes stagger.
  • Standing LK causes Flipout, and has a slightly taller hitbox to assist with juggling.
  • New Move: Flame Mortar! – Press and hold 3P to launch Flame Balls in a high arc at the opponent’s location, up to 3 in a series.

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Omen

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Omen from doing Auto Doubles, Linkers, or Manuals after the rapid press portion of Furious Flurry Med or Hvy hit the opponent.
  • Shadow Furious Flurry Linker is now +1 on hit (was previously +11), and the manual timing is 5 frames later.
  • Opener Slide has less frame advantage on Hit and has had its manual timing windows re-tuned.
  • All Ender damage reduced by ~15%
  • Air Backdash slowed down by ~15%
  • Throw damage reduced by ~40%
  • Fixed a bug preventing Slide linkers from changing sides with larger characters in the corner.
  • The following moves have been given Attack Box improvements:
    • Crouching Heavy Punch
    • Crouching Medium Punch
    • Jumping Heavy Kick
    • Standing Heavy Kick
    • Standing Medium Kick
    • Standing Light Kick
    • Standing Close Light Kick
    • Standing Heavy Punch
  • Rashakuken’s random fireballs deal 4 additional frames of hitstun. Blockstun is unchanged.
  • Jumping HK damage increased by ~65%
  • Shadow Rashakuken and Shadow Orda Shield are no longer destroyed if Omen takes a hit.
  • Doubled the duration of Shadow Meter Lockout.
  • Enders can now build meter even if a Shadow Rashakuken or Shadow Orda Shield is active.
  • Jumping LP, Standing LK, and Standing Close LK all cause Flipout.
  • Demonic Despair is now invulnerable from startup until the grab.
  • Omen can cancel air dashes into attacks much earlier.
  • New ability: Turbulence! Omen can cancel air dashes into the opposite air dash direction by pressing Back or Forward a single time.

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Aganos

  • Normal attacks give more meter to the opponent on hit and block.
  • During Instinct, a new Peacemaker respawns in 90 frames, up from 30 frames.
  • Peacemaker attack damage reduced by ~20%
  • Shadow Natural Disaster Linker damage reduced by ~30%
  • Shadow Pulverize Linker damage increased by ~20%
  • Damage on Natural Disaster and Pulverize Enders increased ~25%
  • Adjusted launch velocity on the held part of Shadow Natural Disaster and fixed an issue where the Counter Hit version didn’t match to make juggle timing more consistent.
  • Shadow Ruin startup now has 7 frames of strike invulnerability.
  • Close Standing MP has a slightly wider cancel window for feel.
  • Standing Far HP causes Stagger and is -5 on block (used to be -10).
  • Hitstop on LK, MP, and HP Auto Doubles have been reduced slightly to match the reaction speeds needed to break the matching-strength Doubles better.
  • It is no longer possible to shove Aganos’ body across the stage between rounds.
  • Chunk Up recovers 6 frames faster.
  • Wall Summon moves get the wall out 6 frames faster and recover 5 frames faster.
  • Aganos can rip a Peacemaker out of the wall behind him in 34 frames now (down from 53).
  • While holding a Peacemaker, the following non-peacemaker normals are now possible as command normals:
    • B+LP – Anti Air Flick, destroys your peacemaker
    • F+HP – Both close and far variants of Standing HP, lets you keep your peacemaker.
    • DF+HP – Crouching HP, lets you keep your peacemaker.
  • Aganos will keep his Peacemaker while being hit, but it will still crumble if he is knocked down, put into a juggle state, or blown out.
  • Thrown Peacemaker causes Stagger on hit.
  • New ability: Recycling! If Aganos tries to Chunk Up while holding a Peacemaker, he will shove the Peacemaker into his chest instead of pulling a fresh chunk from the floor, giving him a drastically shorter Chunk Up animation (Only 39 frames, compared to 69 frames on the original version).
  • New ability: More Recycling! Placing a wall with a Peacemaker in your hand turns the Peacemaker into a wall, instead of consuming a chunk.

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Hisako

  • Added travel distance to Influence Linkers against Aganos only to ensure they never fail to hit him.
  • Adjusted the size of the Vulnerable Boxes during fidgets to match the size of the Vulnerable Boxes during idle.
  • Low Vengeance Counter is no longer able to catch Mid attacks.
  • Added recovery to the landing of Air ORZ making it a bit worse on whiff. If you hit too high it’s possible to be punishable, but it is also possible to still be +3 or so.
  • Slowed startup of Med and Hvy Air ORZ (by 4 and 8 frames) and altered the way they move in the air a bit to compensate.
  • Improved the hitbox of Hvy Air ORZ so it hits higher up and crosses up easier, making it worth the extra startup.
  • Wrath meter no longer recharges while jumping.
  • Wrath regeneration speed is increased by 50%.
  • Close HP, Far HK, and Close HK all cause Stagger on counterhit and deal much more hitstun.
  • Standing LP and Jumping LP cause Flipout.
  • You can now jump cancel the third Heavy ORZ if you hit an airborne opponent, and using second Heavy ORZ to juggle into the 3rd hit is easier.
  • Descent is no longer effected by Kan-Ra’s Curse.
  • Descent crushes highs 1 frame sooner and gets underground 10 frames sooner.
  • Hisako used to be able to cancel out of Descent on frame 48 into attacks only. Now she can cancel into movement as well, and on frame 42 instead.
  • New Shadow Move: Air Shadow On Ryo Zan! Hisako can perform a Shadow version of Air ORZ! This version hits rapidly and always recaptures air opponents, and staggers grounded opponents.
  • New Ability: Descent Cancel! Hisako can now cancel into Descent in any situation she could Wrath cancel for a Vengeance counter. This costs half Wrath just like the Vengeance cancel does.

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Cinder

  • Fixed a bug that caused Cinder to teleport a great distance when canceling a Fired Up Inferno into a Shadow Fission.
  • Third Degree Chain Combos now count as 1 move toward the breakability rules no matter which move hits first or which moves whiff, so the “Domi Unbreakable” now becomes breakable on the third loop of this as expected.
  • The second and third Trailblazer followups (Afterburner) now always match the strength of the first Trailblazer in the sequence for breaker purposes.
  • Raised KV on Pyrobombs to 14 (from 12)
  • Added 3 frames of recovery to Fireflash. Fired Up Fireflash is now -6 if you block the pillar, and every character in the game can Shadow Counter the pillar for a full punish, or punish with any attack faster than 6 frames.
  • The third hit of Light Third Degree combo is +1 on block instead of +2. Canceling into Shadow Fission here is no longer a true blockstring.
  • Fireflash Ender (Damage) no longer causes a hard knockdown.
  • Pyrobomb Ender (Meter) damage reduced by ~10%
  • Trailblazer Ender (Splat) damage increased by ~5%
  • Air Heavy Trailblazer becomes active 2 frames earlier, and cannot land to create the ground crash until 3 frames later. This avoids a situation where the crash could hit without the Trailblazer, leading to an unbreakable hit.
  • Ground Medium Trailblazer inflicts 2 additional frames of blockstun.
  • Lowered KV added by Cinder’s throw to 20 (from 50)
  • Cinder can now throw Air Pyrobombs even after doing Air Trailblazer, leading to new juggles and setups.
  • Move re-imagined: Angled Inferno! Different Inferno strengths now attack at different angles. Light is up-forward, Medium is horizontal, and Heavy is down-forward.
    • You can hold the button to keep any version burning for a while longer.
    • Their frame data was re-tuned for their new function.
    • The Heavy version hits low!
  • New ability: Throw Cancel Burnout! While Fired Up, you can cancel your throw into a Level 1 Burnout with QCB+P or QCB+K. This spends your Fired Up state.

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ARIA

  • Fixed a bug that could cause her projectiles to inherit the properties of her attacks, such as knockdowns or cash outs.
  • Slowed the attack speed of Explosive Arc Linkers so that the different strengths are more readable.
  • Widened the breakable window on Explosive Arc Linkers by 5 frames.
  • When Drones are called as an assist and get hit, they now take 2.5x damage, up from 2x.
  • Shotgun Knees are now more negative on block.
    • Light Version is -3 (was -1)
    • Medium Version is -5 (was -4)
    • Heavy Version is -10 (was -8)
  • Shadow Dissonance launches and causes a hard knockdown. It is possible to juggle after this move now.
  • Crescendo causes stagger (grounded Med and Hvy versions still launch).
  • Standing LK and Jumping LP cause Flipout.
  • Heavy Kick and Bombs deal less KV for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Heavy Kick Bombs don’t push opponents as far away on hit for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Juggle values on normal attacks adjusted for increased juggle opportunities.
  • Improvements to the attack boxes on Standing HK, Close Standing HK, and Crouching HK.
  • New Target Strings: Operatic Destruction!
    • Standing LK into Standing HK (does not combo)
    • Standing MP into Standing HK (does not combo)
    • Standing HP into Standing HK
    • Standing Close MP into Standing HK
    • Standing Close HP into Standing HK
  • New ability: Charge Up Bombs! Can now hold far standing HK to charge up the attack and release additional grenades.
    • You can dash cancel in either direction while charging up.
    • If you perform a target string into Standing HK, you can still charge up and dash cancel as desired, opening up new frame traps and offensive techniques.

ki-xb1-shadowjago-stage-622

Shadow Jago

  • Fixed a bug causing Shadow Shendokuken to hit one extra time when used in a ground combo.
  • Added additional recovery time to end of Slide Enders, preventing some unintended juggles and other bugs.
  • The earliest moment Shago can cancel out of his Dashes into moves has been moved back 5 frames.
  • Shendokuken projectiles deal 20% less damage on hit.
  • Shadow Slide is no longer throw invulnerable
  • Shadow Divekick is now throw invulnerable on startup.
  • Shadow Divekick changed to a single hit that always recaptures, followed by four grounded hits.

Source: Ultra-Combo

Iron Galaxy Studios Offers First Look at Killer Instinct Season 3’s Kim Wu

Just moments ago, Delriach, Sajam and Keits took to the ongoing World Cup broadcast to discuss changes coming in Killer Instinct’s impending third season. But updates to existing cast members weren’t the only thing the guys were able to reveal; on top of abundant balance adjustments, we got our first look at Kim Wu in action.

This returning character will be pummeling opponents with nunchaku–something uncommon and (apparently) difficult to include in a 2D fighting game–and her dragon spirit. She can swat projectiles out of the air and send back a Dragon Cannon shot to her opponent. She also brings a Dragon Kick to the fight, which travels at various trajectories and can whiff punish many attacks from across the screen.

Additionally, she can perform a throw–which can be teched–allowing her to flip over her opponent in a style similar to Yun in Street Fighter. Perhaps her most exciting ability allows her to store up dragon spirits to later consume for extended mobility, combo options and additional safety.

Kim Wu looks to be a footsies monster, but you can decide for yourself once you give the footage below a watch. If you’re in town for the Killer Instinct World Cup, you can go give her a try for yourself, as she will be playable at this weekend’s event.

Killer Instinct Season 3 will be making its way to Xbox One and PC in March. For top Killer Instinct action, be sure to tune in to the Killer Instinct World Cup this weekend.

Sources: Maximilian, Killer Instinct

Killer Instinct World Cup Day 1 Streaming Live from San Antonio, Texas

Large-scale tournaments are becoming a mainstay for fighting games. This weekend Killer Instinct gets in on the action with the finals for the Killer Instinct World Cup. Hosted by Ultra Arcade and backed by the Killer Instinct Community Fund, 32 players will battle it out for their share of the $30,000. prize pool.

The event kicks off Saturday with the Last Chance Qualifier, which will fill out the last four precious spots in the finals bracket. In addition to the qualifiers are a number of special events, including a preview and exhibitions matches for the upcoming KI Season 3. On Sunday is the 32-player main event.

Maximilian will be streaming the action on his Twitch channel.

Watch live video from Maximilian_DOOD on www.twitch.tv

Schedule

Saturday January 30

Event CST (Local) EST PST GMT
Opening Ceremony 10:00 AM 11:00 AM 8:00 AM 4:00 PM
Season 3 Preview 10:30 AM 11:30 AM 8:30 AM 3:30 PM
Last Chance Qualifiers Begin 2:00 PM 3:00 PM 12:00 PM 8:00 PM
Museum Special 3:30 PM 4:30 PM 1:30 PM 9:30 PM
Last Chance Qualifiers Continue 4:00 PM 5:00 PM 2:00 PM 10:00 PM
Cosplay Contest 5:00 PM 6:00 PM 3:00 PM 11:00 PM
Season 3 Exhibitions 5:30 PM 6:30 PM 3:30 PM 11:30 PM
Last Chance Qualifiers Continue 7:30 PM 8:30 PM 5:30 PM 1:30 AM (Sun)
Art Tribute 8:30 PM 9:30 PM 6:30 PM 2:30 AM (Sun)
Last Chance Qualifiers Continue 9:00 PM 10:00 PM 7:00 PM 3:00 AM (Sun)
End of Day 1 10:30 PM 11:30 PM 8:30 PM 4:30 AM (Sun)

Sunday January 31

Event CST (Local) EST PST GMT
Top 32 Overview 10:00 AM 11:00 AM 8:00 AM 4:00 PM
Top 32 10:30 AM 11:30 AM 8:30 AM 3:30 PM
Special Announcements 7:00 PM 8:00 PM 5:00 PM 1:00 AM (Mon)
Top 8 7:30 PM 8:30 PM 5:30 PM 1:30 AM (Mon)
Awards & Closing 9:30 PM 10:30 PM 7:30 PM 3:30 AM (Mon)

Source: Ultra Arcade, Maximilian