Hey everyone, As promised in our 2022 State of the Game update, the long awaited next update for Black Dahlia is finally here! If you haven't read that post, be sure to check it out! There are a LOT of big Skullgirls announcements! Here's a look at everything coming in this update: [hr][/hr]

KEY UPDATES

• Button icons used on UI menus can now be changed to different platform button icons, instead of LP MP MK LK. You can change this at any time in the button configuration screen.
• Added Black Dahlia's stage, "The Bunny Burrow", along with her new stage theme "Down the Rabbit Hole".
• Added 9 new palettes for Black Dahlia, with many more to come later!
• Added a new palette for Ms. Fortune based on her design in the Skullgirls comic on Webtoon.
• Added Black Dahlia's tutorial and four trials.
• Implemented Black Dahlia's CPU AI.
• Finalized Dahlia's sound and VO.

BLACK DAHLIA

• All of Black Dahlia's art is fully clean! That means no more temporary white "sketchy" frames. If you see a frame that is not colored in properly, please let us know in a bug report.
• Last Call (Super Reload) input has changed from Down Down PP to Quarter Circle Back KK.
• Added COUNTER, STRIKE!
  • A lightning fast counter that works against physical attacks. Throwing it deals bonus damage like all counter style moves.
  • LK version will teleport in front of the opponent on success.
  • MK version will teleport behind the opponent on success.
  • HK version will teleport using Tea Slip to any doily (if one exists) to escape a situation, on success.
• Added PARTING GIFT
  • The first use will throw a bomb that can stick to allies and enemies alike as it travels, or it will just fall to the ground.
  • The second use will enter the bomb detonation stance, where you can press any button to detonate the bomb. You can delay detonating the bomb for "fun", but Dahlia will drain up to one meter by doing so.
  • When the bomb is attached to an assist character (either your own, or the opponent's), Dahlia can only trigger the bomb when they are performing their assist action or during the recovery of it.
  • Performing a successful outtake will remove the bomb from a character.
  • The bomb will automatically explode after a short duration if Dahlia dies.
• Added GIRL'S NIGHT (... This is a very unique super that will require opponents to think about a strategy to mitigate the benefits that it offers. While it does very very low damage as a level three super, the neutral control that it offers is unmatched. We'll be keeping a close eye on this super to see if it is too effective, and tune accordingly.)
  • Summons three of Dahlia's henchbunnies to do her dirty work. Each one has a different weapon and behaves differently.
  • Bunny girls will attempt to attack the opponent on their own - Dahlia cannot influence their actions.
  • Bunny girls can be hit by projectiles and physical hits. Physical hits will knock them down, and projectile hits will briefly stun them.
  • Bunny girls will leave if:
    • They are hit by separate two physical hits. They must stand up first to lose health again.
    • They attack three times.
    • Enough time has passes.
• FIRE SHOT
  • Fire Shot has been heavily reworked. It can now hit opponents before it lands while travelling, which will cause it to drop down and explode on the ground as before. If hitting the ground before hitting an opponent, it will also explode as before.
  • Fire Shot now vanishes like all other shots if Dahlia is hit.
  • Explosion now launches opponents, and no longer creates fire burning on the ground. (... We've received a lot of feedback about Fire Shot being difficult to work into combos and in some circumstances hurting her routing without careful planning or quick thinking. This refactor is meant to make Fire Shot feel simple to use and powerful up close like every other shot, while giving it new opportunities to use in resets and combos. Some of the on block proficiency of Fire Shot will be moving to Ice Shot - more on that below!) (... You may even find the new version of Fire Shot more powerful than the last one! Here are some uses below.) (... cHP x Fire Shot, Onslaught jLK > Explosion Hits, to set up a fast overhead.) (... cHP x Fire Shot, cLP x Another Round? + Explosion Hits, to set up a mid combo reload)
• ICE SHOT
  • Now hits three times (which all freeze) to hold opponents in place on block while dealing high chip damage. (... Fire Shot's strength of lockdown on block and high chip damage are moving over to Ice Shot, which was previously pretty underwhelming on block. The slow multihits are especially effective at restricting movement and hitting assists.)
  • Removed forced damage scaling.
  • Frame data heavily refactored.
  • Reduced freeze time by the amount of time it takes to get to the third and final hit, to keep overall hitstun consistent.
  • When breaking out of the ice mid air, character's now keep their falling momentum.
• LIGHTNING SHOT
  • Damage reduced from 500 per hit to 375.
  • Meter gain reduced (bug fix).
  • Hitstun reduced from 45 to 35. (... Lightning Shot has a lot going for it, but the highest damage (1500) is no longer one of them. Hitstun from stray hits has been reduced to lower her time to confirm, but is still high enough to keep her dash under mix up when used against airborne victims.)
• BUCK SHOT
  • No longer an overhead when used from tag in.
  • Fixed a bug where Buck Shot bouncing characters off of walls would build meter for Dahlia.
  • Lowered grounded L version hitbox to reliably OTG characters.
  • All strengths now deal 1100 damage, instead of dealing varying amounts of damage based on strength. After using a strength of Buck Shot in a combo, that strength deals less damage until the combo ends. (... You aren't penalized for using one strength over another until you've already used it once before. Creatively use all six Buck Shot strengths in a combo to maximize damage instead of looping a single strength.)
• RAIL SHOT
  • Hitstop when hitting grounded characters now matches airborne characters (14 > 16)
  • Knockup increased when hitting grounded characters.
  • Knockback slightly increased.
  • Hitbox size on all beams increased.
  • Active frames increased from 3 to 4.
  • Increased VO clarity for Rail Shot easter egg.
• TEA SLIP
  • Reduced Tea Time (placement) animation length by 3F.
  • Reduced teleport start up by 2F.
  • Considerably reduced teleport recovery. (... The last bit of the teleport animation is cancellable into any action. If no input is pressed, the full animation will play.)
• EMPOWER
  • Reduced blockstun and blockstop, and increased recovery when not successful. It is now -12 on block.
  • Reduced recovery on success, making it plus enough to link cMP after.
  • Reduced victim pushback on success.
  • Tweaked empowered jHP hitboxes to match the final art.
  • Tweaked launch height and hitstop on Empowered sHP so that Empowered sHP > Another Round > Rush Order > cLP is universal without spending OTG. (... This allows Dahlia to reload mid combo from any confirm without using OTG.)
  • Dahlia now loses her Empower state when dying, as long as it isn't a "down" from a solo vs solo fight.
  • Fixed a bug where Dahlia's fingers would vanish inside of the opponent's body when they blocked Empower. This now only happens on hit.
  • Fixed a bug where hitting an opponent with Empower while they were facing the wrong direction would not face them back towards Dahlia.
• Empowered Throw
  • Can be triggered by holding LP LK as well as holding HP as before.
  • Tuned window for when HP can be held to make it easier.
  • Reduced launch height.
  • Reduced recovery.
• STAGE HAZARD
  • When oil puddles or the barrel from Stage Hazard explode off screen, they no longer shake the screen.
  • Improved reliability of oil puddles from Stage Hazard detonating nearby puddles to continue the chain reaction.
  • Fixed incorrect VFX location for barrel bouncing into the left stage wall.
  • Oil explosion hits are now all sliding knockdown instead of knockback. (... Opponents falling out of the explosions will now at least give Dahlia time to prepare instead of having them tech away.)
• Reduced crouching hurtbox enough for her to duck Robo-Fortune's H Theonite Beam.
• Reduced cHK hurtbox height so be usable under Robo-Fortune's H Theonite Beam.
• Lowered collision box when dashing, to make it easier to dash under opponents.
• Dahlia can now chain LP normals into LK normals.
• Dahlia can block during the recovery of Onslaught after she has performed her somersault. Landing from Onslaught also allows blocking immediately instead of leaving her vulnerable.
• When performing Last Call (Super Reload) in a combo, all metergain is disabled from Order Up (shooting the gun) until the combo ends. Performing a regular reload (Another Round) will remove the penalty mid combo.
• Standard Shot frame advantage on hit increased to +10, so Dahlia can link LK after in addition to LP.
• Order Up! (L) pushes Dahlia's collision box forward with her stance. Opponents will be pushed farther away when used too close.
• Reduced cMK trap lifetime.
• Fixed a bug where Dahlia could cancel her dash into another dash before it had entered the recovery portion of the move. Fixed a bug where the button dash input was stricter than intended (same frame only) when cancelling dash recovery into another dash. (... Dahlia must wait for her feet to touch the floor again and land from the previous dash before she can start another one.)
• sHP start up increased by 1F.
• sMK start up decreased by 1F.
• cMP start up decreased by 1F.
• Increased sLP hitbox vertically and adjusted the art to show it.
• Backdash start up reduced by 1F. Airborne backwards loop duration reduced by 3F. Speed increased by 7%. (... Backdash is faster, snappier, and less detrimental to whiff accidentally.)
• Dahlia now has extra recovery on her tag in unless the opponent is in hitstun when she lands. (... This is required to make sure that her tag in is always punishable for every shot type, while still making sure that she can combo into some of her shots as before.)
• jHK saw metergain reduced to match that of a single heavy attack, instead of two heavy attacks.
• cHP metergain increased to be the usual heavy amount.
• Removed character flash when hit by a particular one of Dahlia's random jLP knives, to reduce distractions.
• Big Band can now parry cMK trap high or low. Hitpause reduced for Band when parrying cMK. (... Parrying in mid air against the trap with a forward input was unreliable - depending on his fall speed, he would land before the trap activates making him forced to low parry)
• Standard, Lightning, Ice, and Fire Shots can now strike targets with their first produced hitbox, instead of using that hitbox to detect if a target is nearby and causing them to explode one frame later.
• All shots (except for Buck Shot and Rail Shot) can now be reflected by Umbrella.
• Extended crumple state length to be closer to other characters. (... Average is ~84 and Dahlia is 80)
• Extended Rush Order timing window even more. (... Try erring on the side of being early instead of late if you're still struggling with it.)
• Dahlia's doily from Tea Slip vanishes when she dies, as long as it isn't a "down" from a solo vs solo fight.
• Fixed a bug where shooting two shots back to back could cause one shot to not add Undizzy in some rare scenarios.
• Fixed an issue where Black Dahlia could cause online play to desync between two players.
• Fixed broken pieces from jHK saw not having a shadow.
• Fixed a bug where bursting after hitting a wall from Buck Shot would trigger a safe Gold Burst. This burst is now blue. (... If bursting before hitting the wall, this would be a Blue Burst. If bursting after hitting the wall, it would be a Gold Burst. This is now all a Blue Burst for consistency.)
• Fixed a bug where Stage Hazard barrel explosion could hit characters long after it had exploded.
• Fixed a bug where VFX would display using the wrong color when Lightning / Ice shot bounced off the left stage edge.
• Fixed a bug where Lightning Shot VFX would appear in the wrong place briefly if they were shot off screen.
• Fixed a bug where Ice Shot snowman easter egg could appear in an incorrect location.
• Fixed a bug where the ammo in Dahlia's gun on character select was the wrong color for numerous palettes.

MISC

• Robo-Fortune has been reverted back to her retail iteration, this removes Theonite Beam changes. (... As mentioned in our 2022 State of the Game post, a general character balance patch will be started as soon as possible after Dahlia's FULL release so we can give it the attention it deserves - even before Marie if we're able to!)
• Fixed a bug where damage scaling was incorrect in beta when dealing with grab style hits.
• Fixed a bug where the Art Gallery screen would not respond to controller inputs.
• Removed "Restore Defaults" from the top of the button configuration menu.