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Skullgirls 2nd Encore News

The next Skullgirls 2nd Encore fighter is Umbrella who carries a hungry sentient brolly

Hidden Variable, Future Club, and Autumn Games have confirmed that the next fighter entering Skullgirls 2nd Encore is Umbrella, who carries a huge hungry brolly around.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/05/the-next-skullgirls-2nd-encore-fighter-is-umbrella-who-carries-a-hungry-sentient-brolly

Beta Mode Update [2021-05-07]

Hello everyone, this is Jesse! I hope you're having a good day!

This is a small patch for a few issues discovered with the Season 1 Pass Palette Pack update.

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[h3]ANNIE[/h3]
  • Annie's HUD Portrait has been touched up to address an issue with her sleeves.
  • An errant black frame in Pillar of Creation has been fixed.

[h3]BEOWULF[/h3]
  • The collar color on the new Season 1 Pass Palette Pack palette (#28) has been updated. This affects both Retail and Beta.


(Build version 3.1.20)

INTRODUCING: UMBRELLA! (AND HUNGERN)

In case you missed our Teaser Trailer…

FINALLY, everyone’s favorite salty sister is getting her time in the spotlight! Ice cream for everyone!



[h2]GAMEPLAY SYNOPSIS[/h2]
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Okay, CUTE. But how will she PLAY?! For that, let's kick it over to Liam:

    While Umbrella is still very early on in development, we wanted to share some details about where her gameplay direction is heading at the moment. Please note that this is all HEAVILY subject to change after further testing and development, and the terms used to describe her toolkit and states are a work in progress…

    Umbrella is a small character with BIG swings thanks to her living weapon, Hungern. While she is slow with limited movement options, she can use special moves to approach with some risk.

    Most of her attacks will involve Hungern in some way. Hungern will get hungrier as the match goes on or after performing certain actions, and his hunger level will influence his move properties.

    For example, If Hungern is STARVING, normals that use him are slower, but moves that involve devouring the opponent are stronger. If Hungern is OVERSTUFFED, moves that involve him conjuring something from the depths of his stomach may have bonus effects. Hungern is quite RAVENOUS and dangerous when he is hungry but not yet STARVING - expect to be rewarded if you can maintain this narrow window of power! Umbrella players will have to manage Hungern's hunger level or at least adapt to how her moves change based on Hungern’s state.




[h2]WHEN? WHENNNNN?!![/h2]
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While we don’t have any official dates to share, since Umbrella is being developed in parallel for 2nd Encore and Mobile, you’re going to be able to play her earlier than ever!

Alpha (~2 months)
Steam Season 1 Pass owners will be able to play a “sketchy” version of Umbrella while she’s still early in development (similar to the original 2nd Encore DLC characters). Everything will be subject to heavy iteration - but you’ll be able try her on for size before anyone else. You may even get a sneak peek at her Stage and Music...

(Early Umbrella Stage Concept Art)

Beta / Early Access (Q3 2021)
Similar to Annie’s Early Access release, this is when Umbrella will be made available with full finished animations and other general gameplay tuning adjustments planned for DLC2. Once we are done with our extensive testing/tuning per player feedback, it’s time for...

Full Release (Q4 2021)
Similar to Annie’s Full Release (coming soon!), this will include Umbrella in her final state, along with her full Story Mode! Who knows, we may even have a clue or two regarding the 3rd Season Pass character by then…



[h2]BONUS: SEASON 1 PASS PALETTES - NOW AVAILABLE![/h2]
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In celebration of the Umbrella announcement, we have made the Season 1 Pass Palette Pack available RIGHT NOW! Simply download the latest update to check them out:



[h2]2ND ENCORE + SEASON 1 PASS SALE[/h2]
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In addition, both Skullgirls 2nd Encore and the Season 1 Pass are on SALE on Steam for a limited time! If you’ve been waiting to grab the Season 1 Pass, or you have a friend who has been thinking about getting into Skullgirls overall, now’s a great time to pick it up.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1557981/Skullgirls_Season_1_Pass/



[h2]STAY TUNED FOR MORE DETAILS![/h2]
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Itching for more behind-the-scenes goodies? You’re in luck! Keep an eye on our social accounts (Twitter / Facebook) for regular animation previews and even livestream animation sessions with the amazing artists at Future Club.

We can’t wait to share everything we have in store for Annie, Umbrella, and beyond. Thank you all SO much for your endless support!

All of us at Hidden Variable, Future Club, and Autumn Games

Beta Mode Update [2021-05-06]

Hello, Liam here.

This is a small update that introduces the Season 1 Palette Pack, exclusive to the Season 1 Pass. You can read more about in our recent announcement.

This update also sneaks in a few extra changes for gameplay tuning, but the rest of the changes will be arriving later.

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[h3]ALL CHARACTERS[/h3]
  • Anyone who owns the Season 1 Pass on Steam now has access to one more palette color for each character. If you don't own the Season 1 Pass, it's on sale right now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1557981/
[h3]ANNIE[/h3]
  • Crescent Cut (M) and (H) have 5 extra frames of hitstun against airborne opponents.
  • Crescent Cut (H) knocks the opponent back slightly less far compared to before.
  • Fixed a bug where Annie's jMP would sometimes prevent the opponent from pushblocking it.
  • Photo Bop (QCB+PP during Star Power) now scales as a level 5, instead of a level 3, greatly increasing its damage at high scaling.

[h3]VFX[/h3]
  • Based on community feedback, the new shield block indicator has been adjusted to be more visible. Its size, animation timing, color, and lighting have been tweaked.

[h3]MS. FORTUNE[/h3]
  • If Ms. Fortune double jumps within the first two frames of her leaving the ground, her air normals will hit mid for the remainder of the jump.
    (... This removes her "IDJC" jLK mix up, but keeps "IDJC" usage in combos (where it is considerably easier to execute) the same as before.)

[h3]VALENTINE[/h3]
  • Vial Hazard type C (Orange Vial) no longer drains at half speed when Valentine is being hit.
    (... It will now always vanish in the usual 8 second duration instead of sometimes lasting up to 16 seconds if Valentine is hit. Managing to hit Valentine with input delay isn't met with this punishment anymore. Both players should be able to more accurately estimate when the effects will wear off while hitting her.)


(Build version 3.1.19)

Beta Mode Update [2021-04-28]

Hello, Liam here.

This update is focused on Annie and Beowulf tuning.

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[h3]VFX[/h3]

A new effect has been added that appears when activating several defensive mechanics that are otherwise a bit hidden. The regular block effect will turn into a pink shield under the following conditions:
  • You are performing what is known in the community as "absolute guard" (pushblock high, switch guard to low, or vice versa), and use it to protect yourself from a high or low hit.
  • You jump a command grab and are hit with a "unblockable while rising" style attack (Magnetic Trap, A-Train, Excellabella, etc) shortly after, allowing you to block it when you normally can't.
  • You activate high low unblockable protection and are protected from blocking the second hit without needing to switch your guard manually.
(... Please let me know if you see it appear unexpectedly!)

[h3]ANNIE[/h3]
  • Adjusted the presentation and visuals for Annie's "Sagan Beam" super. With this, all of Annie's visuals are complete.
    (... If you're enjoying Annie's over the top effects, make sure to send a huge thank you to @Persona for putting these amazing visual updates together!)
  • Reduced recovery of North Knuckle (H) follow up slam slightly. Provided a small buffer into normals after to make heavy links not 1F timing on characters like Big Band and Double.
    (... Still requires her to be a bit closer to the corner to convert after on average, but shouldn't remove any of her previous corner routes which were more flexible.)
  • Ground throw damage increased from 900 to 1300.
  • Pillar of Creation second hit hitstop increased, and it now launches heavier characters higher
    (... She always has enough time to convert from anywhere even after using OTG now. For example, Meteor Strike → Pillar of Creation → Dash → Combo.)
  • Reverted meter drain during Star Power to one bar every 10 seconds, instead of one bar every 7 seconds.
    (... The previous Star Power jHP meter drain increase does enough here without this.)
  • Annie now keeps the majority of her momentum again after ending her Air Dash without cancelling it.
  • Gravity Collapse (Star Power deactivation) damage increased from 1350 to 1600.

[h3]BEOWULF[/h3]
  • EX finishers activated from hype gained in the same combo (see previous patch notes) now deal 70% of their original damage, up from 50%.


(Build version 3.1.18)