Eliza

• sMK damage increased from 175, 175, 175, 250 to 225, 225, 225, 325. (1000 damage total)
  
• Sekhmet's back flip input is now relative to her facing direction, like Specials and Supers.
  
• Sekhmet can back flip multiple times per outing again.
  
• Back flip life cost increased to 600 from 550.
  
• Back flip auto corrects on start up to make sure she always jumps away from the opponent.
  
• Speed at which Sekhmet's health loss over time ramps up has been increased by about 15%. (Remember, successfully hitting the opponent with any Sekhmet attack resets the health drain back to the minimum of 1 life per frame.)
  
• Sekhmet can no longer recall to the anchor from a blocked hit anymore. (Reverted to retail logic)
  
• Sekhmet no longer makes blood when attacking dead characters.
  
• Sekhmet blood healing increased back to 200, from 170. (Reverted to 3.1.6)
  
• Sekhmet heals for 75% of the damage dealt from her new super, and it creates 8 drops of blood again, up from 6 in the last patch.
  
• If Sekhmet is hit with an armor breaking move that pulls her in towards the attacker (Robo-Fortune's cMK, Double's Cilia Slide...) or Beowulf's L Hurting Hurl, she will retain the original hit launch trajectory instead of overriding it.
  
• Fixed a bug where Eliza could collect blood while offscreen, such as right when she's snapped in.
  

Painwheel

• Fixed a bug where Painwheel would only return stored Hatred Guard to an assist, if she hit an assist and the point character at the same time. Now, both characters receive bonus Hatred Guard damage.
  

Squigly

• Numerous improvements were made to improve the consistency and reliability of Squigly Battle Opera compared to the previous update. Most notably, it will hit quickly against OTG opponents to pull them off the ground. (Note, there will still be some expected differences between what is or isn't possible between Retail and Beta)
  

Fukua

• Adjusted trajectory and recovery of ground throw (again) to prevent unintended follow ups on many characters from the previous changes.
  

Ms. Fortune

• Fixed a recently introduced bug where Ms. Fortune couldn't attack an opponent as they were being bitten by her head during Om Nom Nom,
  

Annie

• Fixed a bug where Annie could perform Re Entry low enough to the ground for a hit not to come out.
  
• When using JHK in Star Power, OTG is no longer restored for the opponent if they are hit.
  
• Fixed an issue where performing a low to the ground JMK could advance the combo stage for IPS earlier than expected.
  
• Added more variance to Annie's JHP voice lines when used after an Air Dash. When used during a normal jump, followed by another Air Dash Cancel JHP, she will still always say "Rolling" followed by "Maneuver".
  
• Fixed an inconsistency between P1 and P2 side when using JHP against Valentine.
  
• Star Power no longer drains meter during the down period of a 1v1.
  
• Fixed an issue where Annie would stand up too quickly after Beowulf's Canis Major Press, making Beowulf -1 on success.
  

Eliza

• sMK damage reduced from 300, 300, 300, 400 to 175, 175, 175, 250.
  
• Modified Sekhmet's VO during her new Super.
  
• Fixed an issue where returning to the anchor during Sekhmet mode could cost Eliza her perfect lifebar in some instances.
  

• Blood collection heal reduced to 170, from 200.
  
• Sekhmet's grounded M attack spawns blood every other hit (5 hits), rather than every hit (10 hits).
  
• Sekhmet's new bite super (QCF+KK) damage reduced to 2000, from 2250. Number of blood drops spawned reduced from 8 to 6, and it no longer heals for 100% of the damage dealt. (Remember it still heals her for 1020 if you collect the blood, and will reposition the Eliza anchor behind for the best Sekhmet combo confirms)
  
• Sekhmet can only backflip once per outing, use it wisely!
  
• Sekhmet can now cancel blocked attacks (in addition to attacks that connect, just as before) into Hathor's Return.
  

Fukua

• Fixed a bug where Fukua's Level 3 (QCB+PP) would deal non-recoverable damage.
  
• Platonic Drillationship (M) hitstun, recovery, and blockstun increased by 5F. Advantage on hit and block unchanged. (It can combo into Best Friends Forever now.)
  
• Fukua's Ground Throw is now a hard knockdown, like her Air Throw, differentiating it further from Tender Embrace (QCF LP+LK). She cannot combo off it without BFF, as before, but she does get Oki.
  
• Forever a Clone (M) doesn't slow down as much before grabbing the opponent if they're in hitstun, fixing drops where it wouldn't grab correctly in some confirms (ex: cMP cHP) despite the opponent being very close to Fukua.
  

Painwheel

• If any of Painwheel's grounded charge normals are charged fully until their active frames start, they will be armored through the start of the active frames, preventing trades and having Painwheel always win the exchange. Armor ends before active as before if Painwheel releases them early.
  
• Fixed a bug where Painwheel's JHK would come out 2F earlier than expected when done from a forward jump.
  
• Level 3 (QCB + PP) recovery reduced by 4F so that L Buer Reaper is possible on all characters for a stable pick up.
  
• Added a buffer after Level 3 ends to help make the above link consistent on heavy characters.
  
• Fixed a bug where Buer Reaper inputs after Level 3 could accidentally become Flight with frame perfect timing.
  
• Added a visual blood effect for when Painwheel performs her somewhat hidden "Unfly Block" mechanic which is done by using Unfly just before blocking an airborne attack.
  

Robo-Fortune

• Robo-Fortune's timer during Systemic Circuit Breaker no longer counts down during a 1v1 down.
  
• Each second on Robo-Fortune's Circuit Breaker timer is x1.25 longer than a normal second.
  
• By holding any K during the leap portion of Magnetic Trap while Robo-Fortune is in Systemic Circuit Breaker, she will always explode after slamming the opponent just as before.
  

Squigly

• When performing Fallen Woman (divekick) out of Air Throw, it will ignore assists and only target the point character to prevent assists from ruining Air Throw confirms.
  
• Level 3 (QCB + PP) is now a knockdown, to prevent opponents falling out of it. (If Squigly players prefer the old version, please let me know)
  
• Squigly Battle Opera (QCB + KK) now pulls opponents slightly towards the center of the orb with each hit.
  
• Squigly Battle Opera now always delays its airborne hits (giving Squigly more time to do things like charge) consistently rather than requiring specific or lucky bounces. When blocked, or hitting a grounded opponent, it behaves as before. (Squigly players REALLY need to tell me if they prefer the old version =] )
  
• Cancelling out of cHP into Silver Chord (uncharged) will always connect instead of dropping with unfortunate timing, via increased hitstun on the hits before the last.
  
• Fixed a bug where Daisy Pusher would scale to 50% instead of 55%. Now scales to 55%.
  
• Squigly will stop charging her stances during a 1v1 down now.
  

VFX

• Burstable projectile hits use green (Undizzy) and red (IPS) burst sparks instead of always being Gold burst sparks, going back to the way they are in retail. Gold Burst sparks now only appear 90 frames after the first burstable hit to signal (as they did in Beta already) when it is safe to burst and keep your Undizzy.
  

Annie

• Gravity Collapse (Down Down + KK during Star Power) now always drains at least 1 full bar on use, rather than reducing Annie's meter down to the nearest full bar.
  
• Gravity Collapse no longer adds Undizzy to the opponent.
  
• sF+MP now staggers when used to start a chain, like the old cMP. Rejoice, lovers of stagger!
  
• North Knuckle M has had its knockback and knockup reverted to its old v3.1.3 values.
  
• North Knuckle damage reduced:
  
  
  
  • L: 550 → 450
    
  • M: 700 → 550
    
  • H: 900 → 700
    
  • Slam (All Strengths): 1300 → 900
    
  
  
• Ground Throw has had its release trajectory modified again, universal throw conversions are still possible.
  
• The first hit of sMK is now +3 on hit, down from +5.
  
• The second hit of sMK will now auto correct, like all other double button press normals.
  
• The first hit of sHP will now drag opponents down towards the floor.
  
• The first hit of sHP has had its hitstun increased by 4F.
  

Quick Match

• Fixed a bug where some players weren't able to find matches in Quick Match, even during busy times.
  

Annie

• cMP no longer staggers when used to start a chain.
  
• Star Power now drains at 50% speed when Annie is in hitstun, greatly reducing the risk (of meter loss) when getting hit during it.
  
• Annie can now chain MP buttons into MK buttons. Her chain type is now L > M > M > H.
  
• Annie's throw leaves the opponent slightly closer to her.
  
• North Knuckle (M) first hit launches airborne opponents at a different trajectory to allow better confirms.
  
• Adjusted push back on North Knuckle and cMP for more consistent confirms, especially during Happy Birthday combos.
  
• The previous two listed changes allow Annie to convert off her throw, midscreen, universally. Let's try it!
  
• sF+MP start up reduced to 16F, previously 18F.
  
• sMK advantage on block changed from -6 to +3. Advantage on hit changed from -1 to +5.
  
• Sagan Beam recovery increased. Advantage on block changed from -14 to -26 on ground at point blank, and -6 to -18 for the air version at point blank.
  
• sHP hitstun reduced by 2F.
  
• sHP's second hit launches the opponent higher for even MORE consistent cancels into Re Entry in the corner. This should also help prevent Annie from being too low to complete an Air Dash Cancelled jHP out of Re Entry during her combos.
  
• jHK will ground bounce the opponent in Star Power to ensure the star always bounces the opponent rather than hit as an OTG hit.
  
• Star Power activation start up increased by 2F.
  
• Fixed a bug where Annie was missing hurtboxes on jMP immediately before the active frames.
  
• Fixed a bug where JLK star effects would leave lingering hurtboxes on Annie after she recovered.
  
• Fixed a bug where the DHC input for Pillar of Creation (QCB+KK) would require the input to end on a back input.
  
• Fixed a bug where Annie's taunt would sometimes grant the opponent unexpected amounts of meter, including 5 bars.
  
• Fixed a bug where cHK would add lower Undizzy than expected.
  
• Sagan Beam now pushes the opposing Lonesome Lenny away from Annie, like Robo-Fortune's Catastrophe Cannon.
  
• Annie's L and M Destruction Pillar strengths are now safe on hit. L hitstun increased by 5, M hitstun increased by 10. Launch height for both L and M slightly increased.
  
• Fixed a small clean up coloring error in her intro frames where Sagan brings her the sword.
  

Eliza

• Eliza can no longer pick up blood (from Sekhmet) while she is in hitstun.
  
• Sekhmet health drain should no longer ruin Eliza's perfect. (There's a known bug with Eliza picking up blood cancelling her perfect sometimes.)
  
• Eliza can use QCF + P or QCF + K to recall Sekhmet again.
  
• Eliza's Sekhmet assists all drain a flat 800 life, instead of their usual values when she is the point character.
  
• Blood spawned from Sekhmet expires after 10 seconds, down from 15 seconds.
  
• Blood bounces off the corner walls earlier than before, preventing blood from clumping up behind the opponent's feet in the corner where she can't collect it.
  

Parasoul & Filia

• Fixed a bug with lenient button dashing activating when calling an assist. Lenient button dash will not activate if any kick input is used. (As an update, we're getting close to being able to implement this for all characters, but please us know in our Discord if you see any other issues with it!)
  

Robo-Fortune

• Fixed a bug where cancelling from sMK or cMK had incorrect input priority and could lead to unintentional special moves, or even an outtake.
  

Linux

• In case you missed it, the Linux build was released late last night and should be available for all! If you're running into any issues with the Linux build, let us know in our Discord in the #2e-retail-bugs channel.
  

Beta Mode

Sound Stage 15 (Annie's Stage)

• Now properly plays Annie's stage theme, "The Stars and Stage are Set!" composed by the brilliant Vincent Diamante!
  
• Added a 2D background variant for those playing with 2D backgrounds on.
  

Annie

• Fixed a bug where her outtake VFX could get stuck on screen if she was hit out of it at the perfect time.
  
• Fixed a bug where Annie could call assists during her taunt.
  
• Fixed a bug where the landing recovery of Destruction Pillar would activate preblock.
  
• Fixed a bug where JMP was only adding 5 Undizzy during Star Power combos.
  
• Removed the ability to DHC out of Star Power activation. This is likely to see more tuning in the future and possibly return, but it has been disabled for the weekend.
  
• sHP's 2nd hit launch trajectory and hitstop have been tuned to allow for almost universal conversions into Re Entry in the corner. (It will still drop on Peacock)
  

Cerebella

• JdMP no longer forces the combo stage to stage 3.
  

Double

• Cattelite Lives, as a DHC, has half the amount of time to command the heads compared to when it is used normally.
  

Eliza

• Fixed a bug where Eliza could revive after dying if she fell into a blood drop. This also fixes a soft lock that could occur during the downtime between a health bar reset in a solo vs solo match.
  
• Eliza's blood drops now vanish when she dies.
  
• Fixed a bug where Sekhmet would not fly backwards and bounce of the wall when hit with an outtake.
  
• Fixed a bug where Sekhmet would not transition into Eliza form if she was hit with an armor breaking move while crouching.
  

Move List

• Fixed a small localization issue with Trichobezoar in Filia's move list.
  

Ms. Fortune

• Fixed a bug where a Gold burst spark would appear during the first hit of Nom Nom Nom even if you didn't trigger IPS or Undizzy.
  

Peacock

• (L) George is thrown at the old height when used while the opponent is in hitstun, to keep her combos the same as before.
  
• (L) George assist now has Peacock arrive in front of the point character FOR REAL this time, the previous build didn't have this change despite listing it, but this one does!
  

Robo-Fortune

• Systemic Circuit Breaker's timer counts down at the same rate, always, regardless of whether the opponent is in hitstun.
  

MAJOR CHANGES

• Updated hurtboxes on the ant spawned from Peacock's cMK to be more accurate.
  
• The ant spawned from Peacock's cMK can now be destroyed by Robo-Fortune's cMP, and her Air Theonite Beam (L).
  
• Fixed a bug where Peacock's ant spawned from cMK would vanish before it was fully off camera.
  

OTHER CHANGES

• Added Annie.
  

LINUX SUPPORT UPDATE

GENERAL BALANCE & TUNING - DAY 1

REVERSAL WINDOWS (EXPERIMENTAL!)

• When exiting hitstun or waking up from a knockdown, the reversal window (which only impacts Specials, Supers, and Throws) has been increased from 3F → 4F, back to its original value before it was changed in 2014. That's a 4F buffer, plus the 1F where you gain control, for a total of 5F.
  
• Heavy normals now have a 3F* reversal buffer from hitstun and wakeup. For medium normals, it is a 2F* buffer. For light normals, it is a 1F* buffer.
  
• When exiting blockstun or performing a PBGC, the Special, Super, and Throw reversal buffer has increased from 1F to 2F.
  
• All normals have a 1F* buffer from exiting blockstun or performing PBGC, up from 0F.

VFX

• "Stab" hitsparks (the straight line one) are now randomly rotated slightly.
  
• When exiting hitstun on the ground or in the air, the recovery spark is more pronounced and easier to see. In addition, characters now flash white briefly.
  
• When ending a pushblock with blockstun remaining, characters will faintly tint green to point out the PBGC window.
  
• Any burstable hit which is always safe to burst after (a projectile, or 90F has passed since the first burstable hit started) will now be GOLD instead of green or red.
  

BURSTS

• Bursts taken 90F after the first burstable hit started (which are always safe) will now keep your Undizzy instead of clearing it.
  

FILIA & PARASOUL

• First pass at implementing "lenient button dashing" has been done for Filia and Parasoul. During the first frame of any (P) normal, you can press another (P) to cancel into a dash as long as you would normally be able to dash using the previous logic.
  
• Numerous bugs and exploits have been taken care of up front, including meter gain being moved to frame 2 instead of 1 for affected normals, plink dashing being impossible, etc.
  
• If this implementation has no bugs or issues, I'll do it for all characters. Please let me know if you come across any exploits or differences in dash behaviour for these two!
  

PAINWHEEL

• In the spirit of the above lenient button dash changes, Unfly now has 1F leniency when hitting PP as well.
  

CEREBELLA

• Fixed a bug with Diamond Deflector where the projectile would pass through opponents without hitting them.
  
• Diamonds are Forever is now post flash blockable on DHC by clearing hitstop from the opponent on DHC if they are not attacking, blocking, or in hitstun.
  
• Added a buffer for the first follow up punch in JLP, making it feel like other chained normal cancels.
  
• JdMP always goes through its start up before going active, removing a bug where J2MP could come out in a single frame if done too close to the floor.
  
• JdMP advances the combo stage to stage 2, making the follow up hits stage 3.
  
• JHP's forced damage scaling (75%) has been removed and restored to 100%, but it is now a mid hit.
  
• Normal throw leaves Peacock and Valentine closer to Cerebella.
  
• Pummel Horse hitbox slightly lowered to hit all characters OTG reliably.
  
• Note: The previous two changes give Cerebella universal midscreen normal throw conversions. Throw → Pummel Horse connects on everyone.
  

ELIZA

• cMP recovery reduced by 4F. -6 → -2 on block. 0 → +4 on hit.
  
• Osiris Spiral (M) metergain greatly increased.
  
• The 2nd hit of sMK is a restand rather than a knockdown.
  

SEKHMET (GENERAL)

• Sekhmet no longer drains meter over time when attacking. Instead, she drains life over time, and loses chunks of health when using attacks.
  
• Her life drain over time starts small but ramps up the longer Sekhmet is active. Hitting the opponent with any Sekhmet attack resets the drain back to its minimum value.
  
• As an assist, she will always lose life at the fastest rate, and this also locks her assist out for longer as if it was hit.
  
• Any hit from an armor breaking move (Sweeps, Cilia Slide, etc) revert Sekhmet to Eliza form and put her in a special trip state that allows combos. This also applies to her assists.
  
• The recall to anchor input is now QCB only, instead of QCB or QCF.

SEKHMET (NEW MOVES)

• Sekhmet can now backflip to safety during any normal that makes contact (hit or block) with a backdash input. This drains a huge chunk of life, but can be used to keep her attacks safe. (Play Sekhmet neutral for as long as you want, but the longer you go without getting a hit, and the more your hits are blocked and cancelled into backflip, the more life you'll lose. If that's not your style, just using Sekhmet moves to bait opponents is safer at the cost of health.)
  
• Sekhmet has a new Lv1 Super (QCF+KK) that performs a jumping hitgrab neck bite, crumpling the opponent, creating blood, and healing for the damage dealt. It also repositions the anchor nearby so she can convert into Eliza combos even if she was far from the anchor previously.
  

SEKHMET (BLOOD MECHANIC)

• Any Sekhmet attack involving her red blood weapons creates blood if it hits a character, which flies somewhere behind them. Blood can go off camera, but not off stage.
  
• Only 25 blood drops can be out at once, and each one lasts for 15 seconds. Collecting a blood drop restores 200 health to Eliza. (Tips: Use LLL and M to make a lot of blood to create health positive combos and situations at the cost of damage and granting meter to your opponent. Opponents, try and stop her from getting to the blood to heal!)
  
• Eliza's taunt pulls all blood in front of her for easy collection, as long as it's within 1400 units. All other taunt effects are removed.
  

PEACOCK

• Lonesome Lenny's hitstop doesn't carry over on DHC anymore.
  
• While Lonesome Lenny is active and Peacock is the point character, meter gain is reduced to 33% like Painwheel's Hatred Install, Robo-Fortune's Systemic Circuit Breaker and Double's Cattelite Lives.
  
• The Hole Idea (H) will become The Hole Idea (M) and teleport in front if used while any of Peacock's assist are on screen attacking, removing cross-up teleports for all assists rather than only keeping it for slow ones.
  
• Bang! (M) recovery increased. It's now -17 on block, previously -9. Knockback on block reduced. Knockback on hit slightly reduced.
  
• Bang! (M) hitbox lowered to prevent characters low profiling it.
  
• George (L)'s very good hitbox reaching far behind only appears for 1F when George spawns. If the opponent is in hitstun, the good hitbox stays out to keep her combos (ex: GDO loops in the corner) the same as before.
  
• George (L)'s lob height slightly reduced. As an assist, Peacock spawns in front of the point character instead of behind.
  
• Fixed a bug where Peacock's bombs would only vanish if they hit something, not when they are hit. Most notably, this fixes a bug where two bombs couldn't be destroyed by a single projectile.
  
• Peacock's Air Throw leaves the opponent slightly closer for more consistent and stable conversions.
  

ROBO-FORTUNE

• Robo-Fortune has a two frame double jump lock out when jumping, this removes her "Instant Double Jump Cancel" overheads. (This change will come for other characters as well later)
  
• Increased Magnetic Trap's hitstop before active frames from 4F → 6F. Opponents can't act before the active frames now if it's released immediately.
  
• Danger! (M) will stagger when it is used outside of a chain, like Beowulf's sHK or Cerebella's sMP.
  
• Danger! (M) is now -17 on block, previously -12.
  
• Danger! (M) has bonus hitstun against assists, allowing them to be hit by Catastrophe Cannon after.
  
• All hits of Danger! (L) knockdown now.
  
• Grounded (L) Theonite Beam, and ground and air (M) Theonite Beam are 25% wider.
  

SYSTEMIC CIRCUIT BREAKER

• She loses access to her double jump but gains access to an air dash.
  
• Her remaining time until detonation is displayed on new art over her head.
  
• Once per combo, Magnetic Trap will floor bounce the opponent for a combo opportunity, and she no longer automatically explodes at the end of it.
  
• L and M Beams (Ground & Air) have less recovery and tuned frame data.
  
• L and M Beams (Ground & Air) have special hit properties once per combo, similar to Painwheel's Hatred Install Buers.
  
• Fixed a bug where one second on her timer was 70F instead of 72F.
  
• Circuit Breaker's timer counts down at half speed if the opponent is in hitstun, reflected by the slower animation on the timer. (I suspect this will be too much, but we'll start with it.)
  
• The explosion vacuums opponents towards Robo-Fortune on hit, instead of knocking them away.
  
• IPS and Damage scaling are reset on her explosion if she's hit out of the recovery, but Undizzy is still frozen.
  

WARRANTY EXTENSION

• QCB + P during Systemic Circuit Breaker will make Robo-Fortune consume one head and self inflict 750 damage.
  
• Each consumed head adds 6 seconds to her detonation timer. The detonation timer cannot exceed 20 seconds.
  
• LP / MP / HP determines the number (1 / 2 / 3) of heads consumed at once.
  
• Robo-Fortune's meter gain penalty (x0.33) increases towards x1.0 by 0.15 for each head consumed. After consuming 5 heads, her meter gain penalty will be fully removed for the remainder of Circuit Breaker.
  

RELEASE TIMELINE

HOW DOES THE BETA WORK?

HOW DO I PLAY WITH ANNIE?

IS THE BETA BALANCE PATCH ARRIVING WITH ANNIE?

WRAPPING UP

MacOS

Other Changes

What's Changed?

DLC

Linux Support

Other Changes

• Updated the opening splash screen.
  
• Robo-Fortune and Fukua have updated banners in NMO Arena and NMO Arena (Empty).
  
• Fixed a small coloring issue with the SonicFox NPC in Class Notes.
  
• Simplified palette unlock logic by removing unlock conditions for all palettes except for ones earned for clearing Story Mode and Arcade Mode. Big Band's 26th is an exception.