Rivals of Aether II News

Buckle up because we’ve got a huge update in store for you today!



Our biggest update since launch includes our latest free character - Olympia, The Amethyst Fist. Olympia is tiny, tough, and doesn’t pull her punches. If you’re looking for a close-range fighter that comes out on top during a scrap - give her a shot.



In case you missed it, check out her official reveal trailer here.

If you’d like some extra practice before jumping on ranked with Olympia make sure to:

• Watch Olympia’s 101 tutorial by MSB.
  
• Hop into her new arcade mode, and/or try her Target trial!
  

April Fools’ Day has a special place in our hearts. In case you missed our completely normal presentation yesterday, you can see our Rivals Micro Direct here. During our longstanding tradition of sharing (mostly) real news, we revealed the in-game event for April is Lovers Homecoming!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Take a break from fighting because class is back in session! Reunite with some of your favorite classmates and collect new Lovers-inspired cosmetics from 4/2 to 5/6. Each Lovers skin also has both custom victory and taunt voice lines. All Lovers skins provide an XP bonus for the free event track, including the Lovers Zetterburn skin previously available.





Today we are moving from the “Ranked Lite” system we had in place at launch into Full Ranked Mode. Season 1 starts now and includes some of the original features we envisioned for ranked before launch.



The biggest features coming with this update are Ranked Rewards and the Ranked Shop. You can earn medals by playing Ranked matches and moving up the ladder. Spend these medals to get exclusive skins, icons and emotes and we’ll keep adding more items throughout the year.



The new Ranked mode also features an overhauled leaderboard and seasonal updates. We’re planning to do a soft reset every 3 months as a new ranked season starts. When you finish your placement matches, you’ll earn a bunch of medals for new rewards so there’s tons of reasons to come back each season.



Introducing Stage Skins! These give stages a whole new look, and this one turns the Rock Wall into Crystal Oasis, Olympia’s home stage! You can pick up the fresh look for Aether Bucks, coins, or in a new bundle.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

New stages (as in new layouts) are still on our roadmap, but our goal is to keep the competitive stage list at 10 stages and swap less popular layouts out of rotation. You could also see any of the stage skins that we release including Crystal Oasis as a new stage layout in a later patch!


Some of our planned UI updates are arriving today. Make sure to appreciate the sleek new Stage Select screen, along with the playtest feature and other improvements our team added to this patch.



We pioneered the playtest feature on the character select in the original Rivals of Aether so players could check their controls or warm up before a match, so we're excited to finally be able to bring it back!



Lobbies are also getting a tech upgrade this patch. Along with more stability, we’re adding the ability to drop in and out of lobby games so you no longer need to leave and create a new lobby to add another friend. We have more plans for lobbies in the future including eventually supporting up to 4 players and up to 4 spectators at once. Note lobbies are not used in casual and ranked queues.




This patch is a big one, with a few of the global changes having major implications on game balance. To highlight a few, we have made some big adjustments to floorhugging, with the intent to monitor and continue balancing the mechanic over time, we have adjusted character Environmental Collision Boxes to match animations, and we have reduced the startup on many aerials across the cast.

• You can no longer floorhug non-tumble attacks while in parry stun.
  
  • This means that players won't be able to counterattack weak moves while in parry stun. Instead they will be launched until the knockdown threshold is met. This should be a pretty sizable change to parry punishes, since players can now start a combo with a weaker move at lower percents without fear of a counter hit.
    
• You can no longer floorhug non-tumble attacks while in flinch states.
  
  • Similar to the above change, this means that players won't be able to counterattack weak moves after getting spiked while grounded. Instead they will be launched until the knockdown threshold is met. As an example, Loxodont down tilt causing a flinch can now be followed by a weak attack such as jab without the fear of a floorhug and counterhit.
    
• Successfully floorhugging non-tumble attacks will now cause the character to flash blue.
  
  • One thing we found in a lot of feedback, is that despite the SSDI arrows being added, it was still difficult for players to recognize that a floorhug has occurred. This new visual effect should help players recognize and understand the mechanic better, while also helping players react to it better in the moment.
    
• Attempting to floorhug but failing will now cause the character to flash red.
  
  • Similar to the successful blue flash, this unsuccessful red flash should help provide visual feedback to players in real time to indicate an attempted floorhug that had failed.
    
• Successfully floorhugging non-tumble attacks will now allow you to floorhug by holding down without another timed input for the next 20 frames.
  
  • This change still required a timed down press to initiate an initial floorhug, while allowing players to continue to hold down for hits coming in rapid succession. This should reduce strain on players/controllers since floorhugging things like jab combos used to require multiple tap downs in quick succession. We hope this will make using the tech a bit more accessible, while still requiring a bit of intent on an initial floorhug.
    
• Many aerials have had their startup reduced.
  
  • One goal of this change is to increase their usefulness as out-of-shield options, since they will now hit not only faster, but lower in the jump arc. This also allows you to use aerials more easily when whiff punishing an opponent, increasing the number of viable options you have. This is especially important since well-spaced hitfall aerials are one of the better options against floorhugging.
    
• The Environmental Collision Box (ECB) will now change shape depending on the character's animations.
  
  • The most relevant effect of this change is that most characters will land later in their jump arc. In many cases, this allows them to use their aerials later to hit lower with them. This also means characters will take longer to reach the ground when trying to wall out with aerials, making this more punishable by a few frames.
    
  • As a result of this change, characters will now land later during hitstun, which will cause them to wait a few more frames in order to tech. This should help players extend their punishes a bit better.
    
• The Run Stop state can now be canceled into Tilt attacks.
  
  • This allows you to use Forward Tilt and Up Tilt out of run without needing to crouch first. Using all tilts while running was already possible if your Right Stick Setting was set to Attack, so this change should narrow the gap between Attack Stick and Strong Stick users.
    
• Grab escapes that result from the grabbing player getting interrupted will now be actionable twice as fast, from frame 30 to frame 15.
  
  • This prevents situations where the grabbing player would get hit by a weak move and be actionable much sooner than their opponent, who was stuck in the grabbed escape state for the full 30 frames.
    
• Angleable attacks that were started with the right stick can now be angled with the right stick.
  
  • This was a requested feature that allows tilt stick users to angle tilts with the right stick easier. The left stick will still take priority if it is being held down.
    
• Pressing up or down within 2 frames after starting a Forward Strong will now perform an Up/Down Strong. Pressing backward within 2 frames will reverse the Forward Strong.
  
  • This adds some leniency to Strong Attackss performed with the Strong button when performed during a dash. This does not apply to Forward Strongs started with the right stick.
    
• Double Jumping will now cancel all vertical knockback velocity.
  
  • This prevents the double jumps from gaining more/less height depending on the residual knockback velocity.
    
• Bug Fix: Getting hit while in the Ledge Grab state will no longer teleport you above the ledge.
  
  • This was only possible after being parried, since you're normally invincible during this state.
    
• Bug Fix: Hitfalling an aerial will no longer remove 1 frame of hitstun from the opponent.
  
• Critial hit and KO sounds will now only play on confirmed frames.
  
  • This prevents them from playing when a hit gets rolled back.
    
• There are new parry success VO for Fleet, Loxodont, and Clairen.
  
• All Lovers skins have a custom Victory and Taunt lines.
  

Zetterburn is having a few aerials affected by the global aerial change, and a change to Up Special to make its interactions with projectiles more consistent.

• Neutral Air startup: 5 > 4
  
• Up Air startup: 8 > 6
  
  • These are part of the global aerial startup change.
    
• Uncharged Neutral Special hitstun multiplier: 1.0 > 0.9
  
  • This is intended to nerf this move's confirms into Ustrong when performed directly below an aerial opponent.
    
• Up Special now has a hitbox in the front while moving that can only hit projectiles.
  
  • This prevents projectiles from randomly hitting him while traveling. It also prevents him from getting stuck under a Kragg rock when traveling straight up.
    

Ranno is getting a change to his aerial needle confirms, making them a bit tighter at higher percents, sometimes requiring multiple needles to hit opponents before the followup.

• Neutral Special poison dart knockback: 4 + 0.1 > 4 + 0.05
  
  • This reduces the hitstun applied at higher percents. For example, at 100%, the opponent's hitstun is now 18 frames instead of 21 frames. This reduction makes Ranno need to throw multiple darts to get the same followups he did previously, since each dart adds 2 frames to Ranno's advantage.
    

Wrastor is getting a few changes to his dash attack to allow for more lenient DI from opponents. He is also getting a quality of life change to Down Strong that will allow its hitbox to come out before striking the ground when performed in close proximity.

• Dash Attack early hit knockback: 7 + 0.5 @ 65 > 6.25 + 0.6 @ 70
  
• Dash Attack mid hit knockback angle: 72 > 75
  
  • Because of this move's forward movement, the correct DI is usually inward, making this a strong DI mixup, especially against higher gravity characters. These changes aim to increase the effectiveness of both inward and neutral DI, while also leaving opponents farther away from Wrastor at high percents.
    
• Down Strong can no longer land on the ground on the first active frame.
  
  • This ensures that Wrastor gets at least 1 active frame when using this move right above the ground.
    

Kragg is getting some changes to his rock and cargo throws in order to remove some silly interactions on stage and while falling offstage during a grab. Kragg’s pillar is getting another change to help its consistency.

• Neutral Air startup: 6 > 5
  
  • This is part of the global aerial startup change.
    
• Forward Rock Throw now has a hitbox on release.
  
  • This prevents it from whiffing against point-blank opponents.
    
• Can no longer floorhug while holding a rock.
  
  • Because he can't go into tumble while holding a rock, combined with his heavy weight and high fall speed, he could frequently turn a disadvantageous situation around in ways that no other character can. In order to make up for this increased risk, we're speeding up his rock throws, since floorhug rock throws were a big reason for why they were slowed down in the first place.
    
• Rock throw startup: 8 > 6
  
  • This applies to all rock throws and cargo throws.
    
• Neutral Special's Hit Player window will now be canceled into a throw if Kragg passes the auto-throw zone (3 meters below stage level while moving more than 10cm/f downward) after the first 5 frames.
  
  • Kragg's high fall speed meant that he could throw the opponent from far below the auto-throw zone if he grabbed them while falling, often leading to a guaranteed KO regardless of percent.
    
• Cargo Down Throw knockback: 7 + 0.2 > 7 + 0.3
  
  • Now that it cannot be performed as low, we're increasing the knockback scaling to maintain its strength at higher percents.
    
• Pillar will now restore opponents' resources when raising them up after hitting them.
  
  • In a recent patch, we made pillar raise opponents up after hitting them, even if they weren't directly above it. This was intended to make pillar consistent on hit, and this new change makes it even more consistent.
    
• Kragg now has a charging sound for his strong attacks
  

Fleet is getting a lot of love this patch, with added tech options to her Forward and Down Specials, and a few aerials affected by the global startup change. Fleet also benefits the most from the dynamic ECB change, since it allows her to perform any aerial after buffering an instant Slow Fall following a jump.

• Neutral Special will now heal 2% when eating the food.
  
  • This is just to be consistent with all the other times she eats food.
    
• Forward Special can now be B-reversed.
  
  • This gives Fleet more options in how she uses her strongest zoning tool.
    
• Forward Special's tornado will no longer destroy itself when Fleet puts herself into tumble by pressing Taunt in the air.
  
  • This mechanic let Fleet bait opponents into parrying the tornado, then canceling the tumble to punish them during the parry's endlag. This added too much of a mixup to this move, while also just looking confusing.
    
• Down Special's landing window can now be ledge canceled.
  
  • This gives Fleet opportunities to use this move safely in specific positions.
    
• Neutral Air startup: 4 > 3
  
• Back Air startup: 9 > 8
  
  • These are part of the global aerial startup change.
    
• Fleet has new victory lines for the Kickstarter backer skins and Cupid.
  
• Fleet has a new default taunt VO along with corrected SFX.
  
  

Maypul has two aerials affected by the global aerial startup change.

• Neutral Air startup: 8 > 7
  
• Back Air startup: 6 > 5
  

Clairen is getting the ability to cancel her jab into tilts with tilt stick to match existing behavior when using the attack button, and has two aerials affected by the global aerial startup change. Her Down Special is getting some functionality fixes as well, including having it removed when successfully parried.

• Jab can now cancel into tilts with the right stick when it is set to Attack.
  
  • Previously, her tilt cancels required the joystick to not be idle, because she can't cancel into another jab like all the other characters. Now it behaves normally even when using Tilt Stick.
    
• Forward Air startup: 6 > 5
  
• Back Air startup: 8 > 6
  
  • These are part of the global aerial startup change.
    
• Down Special's plasma field will now be destroyed if the move is parried.
  
  • Clairen will still not be stunned, but the field being destroyed makes sure the reward for parrying the move is worth it.
    
• Down Special's plasma field will now destroy Zetterburn's flame puddles, Kragg's rock shards, Kragg's Ledge Special projectile, Maypul's root, Loxodont's lava pools, Forsburn's smoke, and Etalus' ice.
  
  • This is consistent with the move’s behavior in Rivals of Aether, with similar moves from Rivals of Aether II added to the list.
    
• Bug Fix: Down Special's counter will now activate even if Clairen has respawn invincibility.
  

Loxodont has two aerials affected by the global aerial startup change, and has a quality of life change to his down special that affects when he loses his molten charges when interrupted.

• Neutral Air startup: 7 > 6
  
• Up Air startup: 10 > 9
  
  • These are part of the global aerial startup change.
    
• Getting hit during Down Special will only remove his molten charges if it is hit during the startup.
  
  • Previously, he would lose all of his charges if he was hit out of Down Special's recovery, even if he saved his charges by holding the shield button.
    
• Loxodont is getting new victory lines for Chef, Hockey and Dark Future skins.
  
• Chef and Dark Future Loxodont also have a new custom taunt line.
  
  • Yes, we heard you, the "I don't even know who you are" will become Dark Future's taunt :)
    
• Dark Future Loxodont Sweetspot hit sounds have been updated.
  
  

Orcane has a small change to his droplet behavior to ensure the projectile is destroyed when leaving stage boundaries.

• Neutral/Down Special droplets will now be destroyed when passing the bottom blastzone.
  

Forsburn has two aerials affected by the global aerial startup change, and has some decreased frame data on his Forward Strong cancel into Jab/Tilts.

• Forward Air startup: 6 > 4
  
  • This is part of the global aerial startup change.
    
• Forward Air recovery: 11 > 13
  
  • The startup reduction made the move a bit too repeatable in the air, so we're increasing the recovery to leave the full move duration the same as before.
    
• Forward Strong and Up Strong cape hits are now auto-floorhuggable.
  
  • This makes them easier to counter by grounded opponents, since the quick attack is pretty safe due to its large range and option to follow up with a second attack, making it risky to attempt a punish out of shield.
    
• Forward Strong tilt cancel window now starts 5 frames earlier.
  
  • Because of the floorhugging change, the cape hit was guaranteed to be punished by any opponent holding down, even with slower attacks. Now Forsburn has the option to cancel into a tilt to stuff the startup of slower attacks, while still being punishable by fast moves. The second hit of Forward Strong still has the same frame data.
    

Etalus is getting changes to Dash Attack and Forward Tilt to help with consistency against incoming hitboxes. He is also getting some slight changes to Forward Strong and Getup Special to help with overall strength and consistency.

• Dash Attack now has a hitbox in the front that can only hit projectiles.
  
  • This prevents projectiles from randomly hitting him while sliding.
    
• Removed the 1 frame gaps between the active windows for Forward Tilt by adding in hitboxes.
  
  • This makes the move more consistent at stuffing nearby opponents' attacks, since they won't be able to hit him between the hits. The total duration of the move is unchanged since the gaps have been replaced with hitboxes.
    
• Back Air startup: 9 > 7
  
  • This is part of the global aerial startup change.
    
• Forward Strong final hit knockback: 7 + 1.15 > 7 + 1.2
  
  • The angle of this move makes getting perfect DI pretty consistent, so it's getting another slight increase to the knockback at high percents.
    
• Forward Strong ice shard spawn location lowered.
  
  • This prevents it from whiffing against shorter characters.
    
• Getup Special's armor starts 1 frame earlier.
  
  • Previously, the opponent could hit Etalus on a single frame to bypass the armor.
    
• Bug Fix: Getup Special's armor is removed when the ice armor visually disappears.
  

That's it for today! Thank you for reading this far and please be sure to check out our new Nolt Board, where community members can leave feedback about the game and help us continue to add helpful features!

THAT'S A WRAP. The Rivals Micro Direct is now in the history books. Thanks for tuning in for our silly April Fools' tradition. We have a long and storied past of presenting (mostly) real news from Aether Studios in absolutely ridiculous formats every April 1st. In case you missed the livestream, here's a breakdown of everything we went over:


First off, if you want to see the whole direct in it's glorious true form, here's the entire thing as one video. Join Clairen, Wrastor, Zetterburn, Ranno, Olympia, and more as they give their final presentations for Aethernomics in a short return to Aether University. Warning: Spoilers ahead once you skip past this part.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



The first project presented to the class was our teaser trailer for the April monthly event! Take a break from fighting, because class is almost back in session.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Reunite with some of your favorite classmates and collect new Lovers-inspired cosmetics starting tomorrow from 4/2 to 5/6. Elaborate Ding Dong Tree lore not included.



Getting your brain split in half sounds like a bad idea until you realize you weren't using most of it anyway. Check out our latest educational video on a *barely* invasive surgery we recommend for getting the most out of ranked mode in your favorite online game.

All of the announcements in this Direct are real except for one. We won't tell you which one.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



Our friends with Animation VERSUS are working on a new fighting game featuring your favorite stick figure characters from animator Alan Becker! If you're a fan, you can get a crossover icon in Rivals 2 for supporting their project:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



Here's one with some real substance. Let's talk about how things have gone and where we're headed in our latest roadmap update. Join studio lead Dan Fornace for a dev update looking at Rivals of Aether II now that it's been 5 months since launch.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



SURPRISE - Dreams of Aether, a new game in the Aetherverse, is available for FREE for 24 hours to celebrate April Fools! Dive into tons of Aether-flavored microgames, where everyone is trapped in a never-ending nightmare!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

This game is led by our friend Giik and his team at Lepioid with music by flashygoodness and RESOFORCE. Punch, Flap, and Swing your way through the dubiously-canon story, and see how far you can get in endless modes! THIS IS A REAL GAME YOU CAN GET ON STEAM RIGHT NOW, CHECK IT OUT HERE.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3463050/Dreams_of_Aether/

[hr][/hr]

This project was a ton of fun to make, and we can't wait for the very real HUGE free update tomorrow for Rivals II. In the mean time, make sure to check out Dreams of Aether and don't fall for too many April Fools' pranks!

Avast friends, rest a spell! Have you ever heard of the Pirate Queen Maypul? Legend has it she's terrorizing the high seas with her seedy crew. Turns out she's looking for a new first mate to aid in her conquest, do you have what it takes?

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Maypul and her plant companions Lily, Terry, and Poppy are all decked out in swashbuckling gear and ready to send your opponents to Davy Jones' locker.

This month we're also partnering with Snail's House ferret rescue! 25% of profits from the Pirate Maypul bundle from 3/18-4/15 will be donated to the rescue. Pirate Software operates the rescue out of Washington State, caring for animals brought in from all over the country. The rescue specifically seeks out animals that have dire medical needs, are victims of abuse or neglect, or cannot otherwise be taken care of by their owners.

Please click HERE if you are interested in learning more about the foundation, and please do yourself a favor and click here for a 24 hour Twitch live feed of the ferrets.

After the first month donation period ends, this bundle will be become purchasable with Aether Bucks as usual.

• Fixed a bug that prevented players from progressing stages in Arcade Mode in certain scenarios.
  
• Airdodge rounding angle: 20 > 12
  
  • The change from 1.1.4 made to held with wavedash and waveland rounding had some adverse effects on certain box configurations. The new values should achieve the same goal as 1.1.4, while working better for the aforementioned box configurations.
    

[h3]Audio Updates[/h3]
Last patch we made broad changes to all character hits to make them sound more clear and balanced. We're pretty happy with the overall direction and have made a few extra adjustments in the patch. We have also adjusted specific characters that were affected negatively by the previous changes.

Hit Changes:

• Hits now cut better through the mix, so we slightly lowered their volume.
  
• A few hit types got some extra attention in the mix (characters most affected were Zetterburn, Ranno, Forsburn and Clairen).
  
• Some multi-hit attacks now sound snappier (ex: Clairen's Up Special).
  

Character Specific Audio Changes:

• Maypul now has a custom vine wrap sound for seeded enemies.
  
• Terry now has a sound when he goes back into the ground.
  

Other Changes and Notes:

• There is a new critical hit (purple screen) SFX in the game.
  
  • This was a heavily requested change that we are excited to add.
    
• The new Pirate Maypul skin has the biggest number of custom SFX to date, both with layered sounds and completely new ones.
  

We have a few changes following yesterday's big patch. This hotfix is primarily bug fixes, with one change from 1.1.4 reverted, and a new skin palette added to the shop.

• Fixed a bug that would cause the camera to behave oddly in ultrawide resolutions after certain characters' victory animations.
  
• The pause menu will no longer automatically open in an uninteractable state when viewing a replay
  
• Midnight Abyss Clairen added to the shop.
  
• Reverted: "Medium hitstun will no longer force the player to face the opponent."
  
  • This caused some inward-sending moves, such as Forsburn Forward/Up Strong and Loxodont Forward Tilt, to turn opponents around, which was worse than the original problem this change was intended to solve.
    
• Bug fix: All cooldowns are now reset upon death.
  
• Bug fix: Fixed a few Fleet voice lines.
  

The Aether Legends in-game event is live and runs from 3/4 - 4/2! Earn iconic cosmetics tied to the legends and history of Aether by progressing the free event track, or grab the Legends bundle in the shop for a pack of storied skins, icons, coins, and bucks! The paid bundle includes Ranger Fleet, Demigod Orcane, and Dark Future Loxodont as the featured skins with associated icons to match. The Demigod Orcane and Dark Future Loxodont skins both feature custom Voice and sound effects when equipped. Check out the event trailer below:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Our free track for March contains the Dark Future Loxodont Emote, the Four Legend death effect, the Ranger platform, and the Smoke Clan Forsburn skin and Smoke Clan Forsburn icon. Players equipping any of the new event skins, any Abyss skin, or Ranger Clairen will receive 20% Bonus XP on the event track.




Training Mode is getting some new features! While this is only the first phase of improvements, we have been taking feedback from the community via our Nolt Board. Thank you to everyone that has left constructive feedback regarding training mode, we plan to continue implementing your feedback as development continues. Here is a list of new options added in today’s update:

• Set player percent
  
• Grab option (action when cpu grabs you)
  
• Ledge option
  
• Counter option air (air dodge or do an attack on the first actionable frame in the air)
  
• Counter delay (delay counter action by a number of frames)
  
• Floorhug
  
• Throw option
  
• Pummel option
  

Etalus’ character model has been given a visual upgrade to really show off his scruffy fur. This update is being applied to every skin except for Honey Etalus. Check it out:




We have some audio updates addressing feedback from community members and a fix for a Stereo audio bug that appeared in a recent patch.

• There is a new sound for Perfect Shielding an attack making it easier to distinguish in-game.
  
• Victory Sequence Audio has been improved for all characters!
  
• Game default volume adjusted to make the slider more usable.
  
  • The top end of the slider was too loud overall. This adjustment may make the game sound quiet, since the settings will still be set to the same number, so be sure to go in and adjust your audio settings as you see fit!
    
• Bug Fix: Definitively fixed a bug with Stereo audio.
  
  • This was an elusive fix that took a few patches to get right. Now we are happy to have a true fix in the game coupled with extra adjustments to make it sound even better than before!
    

We’re excited to announce the conclusion of “Ranked Lite” is coming soon, with a reset and a brand new system and season on the way. Fear not, the end is not here, only near! We have added a neat little in-game timer to count down to the reset on 4/2 so you know how long left you have to climb.

More information on the new ranked mode and season will come in a future update, but players can expect more features and rewards as the current “Ranked Lite” gets an upgrade to our full ranked system.


One thing that IS going into effect immediately is a new timer update. Timers have been updated for queues/lobbies to help streamline the online player experience in menus:

• Match Join Phase: 25s (unchanged, ends as soon as all players connect)
  
• Initial CSS: 60s > 50s
  
• Follow-up CSS: 60s > 25s
  
• StageBan: 20s (unchanged)
  
• StageSelect: 15s (unchanged)
  
• Ranked Results: 30s > 20s (these numbers include victory animations)
  
• Casual Results: 30s (unchanged)
  

It’s time for everyone’s favorite part of our patch notes, balance updates! This patch focuses on power distribution across the cast, focusing on what strengths and weaknesses among the cast were a bit too prevalent. While we won’t be able to cover everything we want at once, we have taken a step towards general game feel improvements, and adjustments in particular to Wrastor, Clairen, Maypul, and Orcane. Our newest Rival, Etalus, has a plethora of changes that address his movement and shield pressure, among other aspects of his gameplay. Let's dive in:

• Grab and Throws can no longer slide off ledges due to leftover shield pushback momentum.
  
  • This can happen with any character, but showed up most often with Etalus because of his low friction on ice and Kragg because of his pillar.
    
• Buffering a wavedash off a ledge while standing right on it will no longer cause you to airdodge offstage.
  
  • This allows you to wavedash to ledge regardless of the distance to it.
    
• Airdodge angles will now round to cardinal directions within 20 degrees.
  
  • This was previously 10 degrees, and would sometimes result in a slightly upward airdodge when trying to waveland/wavedash horizontally.
    
• Fixed a bug that prevented characters from reaching their full run speed on the first frame of run if their dash speed was slower than their run speed.
  
  • This is very minor, but will make those characters slightly faster when they enter full run.
    
• Fixed a bug that prevented characters from reaching their full run speed on the first frame of run when transitioning from the Run Turn state.
  
  • This is very minor, but will make characters slightly faster when they finish a run turn.
    
• Medium hitstun will no longer force the player to face the opponent. They will instead face the opposite direction of their horizontal knockback the same way they do when entering heavy hitstun.
  
  • This mechanic made some attacks that pulled inward behave oddly if they didn't send into tumble, leaving the opponent facing the opposite direction than intended. This mechanic still applies to light hitstun.
    

Zetterburn is getting some small changes that reduce active frames on his powerful Down Air, and allow him to keep some momentum when using a grounded Neutral Special.

• Down Air active frames: 5 > 4
  
  • This makes it require slightly more precise timing to land. The recovery frames were increased by 1 to leave the total move duration unchanged.
    
• Grounded Neutral Special will no longer stop horizontal momentum.
  
  • This allows him to keep a little bit of his velocity when doing running Neutral Specials instead of stopping immediately in place.
    

Wrastor's new slipstream was getting removed a little too easily, so we're making it take some extra effort to get rid of. We're also changing the way his Dash Attack and Forward Air function, as they were a bit over centralizing for how versatile they were.

• Slipstream will no longer go on cooldown when Wrastor goes into light or medium hitstun.
  
  • This means it will take a stronger hit (or a grab) to get rid of it.
    
• Weight: 75 > 71
  
  • This weight reduction emphasizes his greatest weakness in order to better offset his strengths.
    
• Dash Attack grounded recovery: 20 > 22
  
• Dash Attack aerial recovery: 10 > 12
  
  • This move was a bit too rewarding in both scenarios.
    
• Dash Attack late hit split into 2 separate hitboxes; a mid hit and a late hit.
  
• Dash Attack mid hit knockback: 5 + 0.5 @ 80 > 5 + 0.45 @ 72
  
• Dash Attack late hit knockback: 5 + 0.5 @ 80 > 3.5 + 0.4 @ 80
  
• Dash Attack late hit hitstun multiplier: 0.9 > 0.85
  
  • This reduces the reward Wrastor gets for hitting with late Dash Attack, since it would too often combo into his most powerful finisher (Up Special).
    
• Neutral Air hit 1 innermost hitbox knockback angle: 32 > 65
  
  • This allows Wrastor to use the inner and outer hits in different scenarios with varying levels of reward based on his momentum. Generally, the inner hit will link better with no momentum, while the outer hit will link better with forward momentum.
    
• Forward Air inner hit knockback: 5 + 0.65 @ 50 > 5 + 0.5 @ 45
  
  • This move had a little too much kill power for how large and quick it was to hit when deep offstage. Now it should lean more into its identity as a combo move. The angle was changed in combination with the following change to make the inner and outer hits more distinct.
    
• Forward Air outer hit knockback: 4 + 0.6 @ 45 > 4 + 0.5 @ 60
  
• Forward Air outer hit hitstun multiplier: 0.9 > 0.85
  
  • This makes the outer hit a true sourspot, forcing Wrastor to hit the inner hitbox in order to carry opponents offstage with repeated Forward Air chains.
    
• Getup Special multihits knockback angle: 120 > 140
  
  • This lower angle should help prevent opponents from falling out before the final hit.
    

The bug is getting some bugs fixed.

• Bug Fix: Fixed a bug that prevented Kragg from landing during the early falling frames of his Forward Special cancel.
  
• Bug Fix: Parrying one of his rock shards will now count as parrying all of them.
  
  • Previously, all shards were reflected, but only the shard that was actually parried was considered to be parried. This change means Kragg will no longer get intangibility when parrying a different shard than the one the opponent parried.
    
• Bug Fix: Pillar's hurtboxes are now slightly wider.
  
  • This allows projectiles to break it from the side consistently.
    
  

Fleet is getting a small change to prevent her Forward Tilt from whiffing at close range.

• Forward Tilt innermost hitbox moved more inward.
  
  • This prevents it from whiffing against low opponents right next to her due to this move's forward lunge.
    
  

Maypul is getting a few knockback numbers shifted around to be weaker at low percent and stronger at high percent, with Forward Tilt also getting a new sourspot at close range. Her dash speed is also being increased, since it was heavily affected by last patch's dash acceleration changes.

• Dash speed: 18.1 > 22
  
  • With the change to dash speeds in the last patch, Maypul's dash became noticeably slower, reducing the impact of what is supposed to be her greatest strength. With this change, she is now just slightly slower than before.
    
• Forward Tilt knockback: 6 + 0.5 > 5.4 + 0.55
  
  • This reduces the knockback until around 100%, making it slightly worse at boxing opponents out at low percents.
    
• Forward Tilt's innermost hitbox is now a sourspot with knockback: 4.5 + 0.45
  
  • This makes Forward Tilt require good spacing to get the best reward from it. This new sourspot is also less advantageous on shield.
    
  
• Up Air multihits SSDI modifier: 0 > 0.5
  
  • Now that Tether Up Air is separate from normal Up Air, we're allowing opponents to use SSDI to increase the counterplay when Maypul is juggling with multiple Up Airs.
    
• Down Strong knockback: 7 + 1.0 > 6.3 + 1.05
  
  • This reduces the knockback until around 115%, making it slightly worse at putting opponents far offstage at mid percents.
    
• Up Special hit 2 sourspot hitstun multiplier: 1 > 0.85
  
  • This makes it less likely for Maypul to get a combo after clipping an edgeguarding opponent while recovering.
    

Clairen is getting a lot of her tipper hitboxes cleaned up, which should make her feel much less frustrating to fight. She's also getting some changes to help the consistency of her Neutral Air and Getup Special.

• Jab middle sourspot hitbox radius increased and slightly moved forward.
  
  • This reduces the tipper range of this move.
    
  
• Down Tilt middle and tipper hitboxes adjusted to not reach as far downward.
  
  • This change makes recovering against this move at ledge a bit more lenient.
    
  
• Forward Strong hitboxes cleaned up.
  
  • This prevents some situations where a tipper would register at unexpected spacings, such as when the opponent was above and behind Clairen on the first active frame or directly in front of her at very specific spacings on the second active frame. This also reduces the downward range of Forward Strong at ledge.
    
  
• Neutral Air multihit ASDI modifier: 1.0 > 0.5
  
  • This should make it less likely for opponents to fall out of the move when Clairen uses the correct aerial drift.
    
• Both Forward Air hits backward tipper range reduced.
  
  • This reduces the frequency of reverse tippers for this move.
    
  
• Back Air now has a new sourspot hitbox on the first active frame.
  
  • This prevents odd tippers where the opponent was directly below Clairen.
    
  
• Up Air tipper raised upward on the last active frame.
  
  • This prevents the tipper from hitting opponents far below Clairen.
    
  
• Up Throw startup: 16 > 20
  
  • Since her Forward and Back Throws already create a quick DI mixup, we're making Up Throw more reactable to reduce the opponent's mental load when grabbed by Clairen.
    
• Up Special tipper knockback: 8 + 0.5 > 8 + 0.6
  
  • Small increase to the kill power of this move.
    
• Getup Special speed boost and ground friction increased.
  
  • The overall movement distance is effectively unchanged, but Clairen will reach max distance much sooner, preventing some situations where the move would whiff when it looked like it should hit.
    
• Getup Special's innermost sourspot now interpolates on the first frame.
  
  • This prevents the move from whiffing when used too close to the opponent, which would have been more common with the newly increased speed boost.
    
• Bug Fix: Tipper stun vfx will now play with a shortened duration when a tipper is armored or crouch canceled.
  
  • Previously, the stun vfx wouldn't spawn at all, which made the moves feel weaker than intended.
    

Loxodont's Down Special is getting a few changes that make it behave like other similar moves. He is also getting a bug fixed on his Forward Special that made it able to drift further away from the stage than intended.

• Loxodont will now lose all molten charge if Down Special is interrupted.
  
  • This adds commitment to using this extremely high reward move.
    
• Bug fix: Down Special can no longer cancel into aerials if it gets parried.
  
  • Parrying usually prevents cancels, so this fix brings the move in line with other attacks.
    
• Bug fix: Forward Special can no longer aerial drift while grabbing an opponent.
  
  • This drift allowed him to carry opponents farther offstage than intended when grabbing them at ledge.
    

Orcane's Neutral Air was a bit of a do-everything move, so we're making it a little more committal to throw out and building up some other options to help vary his gameplay. His rarely-seen Empowered Forward Special is also getting a change that should give it some potential for offstage use.

• Neutral Air landing lag: 7 > 9
  
• Neutral Air recovery: 13 > 16
  
  • This move was heavily overcentralizing to Orcane's kit, so we're toning it down a bit.
    
• Back Air sweetspot knockback: 7.5 + 0.95 > 6.9 + 1.0
  
  • This move was often a little too powerful at low percents, especially because it has a built-in ambiguous mixup with the sourspot. This new knockback will be stronger starting around 100%, so it will still be extremely powerful at kill percents.
    
• Empowered Down Strong damage: 11 > 14
  
  • Previously, the other puddle strong attacks increased the damage by 5%, while Down Strong only increased it by 2%.
    
• Down Strong knockback: 7.5 + 1.05 > 7 + 1.05
  
  • Slight reduction to this extremely fast move's kill power.
    
• Empowered Forward Special no longer goes into special fall on whiff.
  
  • This reduces the risk of using this move against offstage opponents.
    
• Forward Throw knockback: 9 + 0.45 > 9 + 0.55
  
  • Slight power increase to this positioning throw.
    
• Empowered Forward Throw knockback: 9 + 0.7 > 10 + 0.7
  
  • Slight increase to the reward for landing a grab on a puddle or successfully using Special Pummel.
    
• Empowered Forward Throw damage: 10 > 12
  
  • This throw is basically another strong attack, so we want it to also increase the damage by 5%.
    

Forsburn's Down Air was huge, safe, and powerful, so we're toning it down to increase the counterplay against it and reduce the frequency of unexpected reverse hits. We're also increasing the cooldown when an opponent destroys his clone to reward them for overcoming his deception.

• Forward Air knockback angle: 65 > 60
  
  • This helps opponents escape more frequently when DIing out.
    
• Down Air front hit damage: 10 > 8
  
• Down Air spike hit damage: 11 > 9
  
  • This decreases the advantage on shields.
    
• Down Air spike knockback: 6 + 0.5 > 6 + 0.46
  
  • Very slight decrease to the spike's power at high percents.
    
• Down Air innermost hitbox removed, next innermost hitbox shifted forward.
  
  • This reduces the chance of reverse hits on the early active frames.
    
  
• Clone cooldown: 2 seconds > 3 seconds
  
  • This matches the Rivals 1 cooldown, giving more reward for destroying the clone and making it more of a limited resource during recovery. It also has a cooldown indicator on the HUD now.
    
• Bug fix: Up Special no longer casts a shadow while traveling.
  

Etalus' Dash Attack is getting a significant speed boost, which should allow him to be much more aggressive with it, while also opening up new combo routes. He's also getting some shield damage buffs and a new ice armor interaction with Down Throw.

• Max horizontal jump speed: 17 > 15.5
  
• Max horizontal jump speed when Dash Attacking: 17 > 18
  
  • This makes jumping during Dash Attack better than just a normal jump from dash.
    
• Neutral Special damage: 15 > 25
  
  • This damage felt too low for such a slow, heavy attack.
    
• Neutral Special shield damage multiplier: 1 > 0.66
  
  • After the damage increase, it dealt 45 shield damage (50 is a full shield). This change brings it down to 30, which is actually an increase from the previous patch's 20.
    
• The falling and landing hits of Down Special can now both hit a shielding opponent.
  
  • This greatly increases the shield damage inflicted by this move, since it previously would only hit shields with one of the two hitboxes.
    
• Special Pummel will now freeze shields when shielded.
  
  • This makes it more dangerous to shield, incentivizing opponents to go for more punishable defensive options like roll or spotdodge.
    
• Jab 2 recovery: 13 > 18
  
• Jab 3 recovery 19 > 21
  
  • These jabs had relatively low endlag for how large they are.
    
• Dash Attack speed boost: 26 > 30
  
  • This increases the effectiveness of Dash Attack as a burst movement option, especially on ice. This does not affect the speed he retains when jump-canceling it.
    
• Dash Attack ground friction when not on ice: 0.43 > 0.7
  
  • This keeps the travel distance on his normal Dash Attack around the same as it was before.
    
• Dash Attack's recovery window can now be jump-canceled during the first 10 frames.
  
  • This prevents situations where a late jump-cancel input would be ignored if the move's active frames just barely ended.
    
• Forward Strong final hit knockback: 7 + 1.1 > 7 + 1.15
  
  • Slight boost the kill power of this attack, to compensate for the upward knockback angle and inconsistent linking.
    
• Down Throw now has unique knockback when armored: 7.5 + 0.45 @ 65 > 8.5 + 0.75 @ 45
  
  • This gives the throw more utility in specific scenarios. Armor is lost upon use.
    
• Etalus will now have normal friction when in the Knockdown Start and Parry Stun states.
  
  • This prevents him from sliding off too easily when missing a tech or getting parried.
    
• Bug Fix: Grabbed players will no longer be frozen by Down Special's shockwave.
  
• Bug Fix: Dash Attack no longer loses its momentum when reaching a ledge in the Jump Cancel Squat window.
  
  • This prevents Etalus from jumping straight up if you press jump just before reaching the ledge.
    
• Bug Fix: Strong Attack ice shards can no longer all hit on the same frame.
  
  • This matches the Rivals 1 functionality and prevents them from dealing massive damage to point-blank targets.
    

That's it for today! Thank you for reading this far and please be sure to check out our Nolt Board, where community members can leave feedback about the game and help us continue to add helpful features!