Rivals of Aether News

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

https://youtu.be/mM0tGVRe4i8

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

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

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



Exciting Features Include:

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

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

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


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

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

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

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




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

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

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



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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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