Black Dahlia Pre-alpha Gameplay Analysis & Speculation

[Chrono_Tata]

Well, I guess there is nothing in this section yet so let's get the ball rolling.

Gameplay trailer dropped today:

Update on Steam including gameplay sypnosis:

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Black Dahlia Alpha Announcement - Steam News

The Master Murderess of the Medici coming soon to Skullgirls 2nd Encore

store.steampowered.com

Black Dahlia’s key Special Move is using her massive gun-arm to launch slow-moving explosive rounds that detonate on contact. These explosive rounds don't have the fullscreen reach like other zoning tools, so she's more effective at mid-range where she can approach alongside them using her forward dash and unique “Onslaught” jump.

Onslaught is Dahlia’s unique movement ability that leaps towards the opponent allowing her to attack from the perfect angle. It can be used from the ground and the air, and the distance covered by the ground version adjusts based on how far she is from the opponent.

In future Alpha updates, Black Dahlia's reload will be enhanced with unique rounds beyond her classic explosive shot. For example, one unique round creates a flaming hazard on the stage to enhance her zoning, while another turns her next shot into a powerful short-range buckshot. Her gun holds six rounds, after which she'll need to reload.

Her remaining Special Moves will be focused on escaping and tricky movement, and you'll just have to wait and find out what's in store for her Blockbusters!

What are your thoughts on her gameplay style? Anything from the trailer that caught your interest? Speculations on her remaining special moves and supers?

 

[Holy Goose]

I hope flamethrower would be involved.
And perfume grenades.

I wonder if Dahlia's bunnies would be assisting her in fights.

Anyway, what a good trailer. Makes you want more, indeed.

 

[tso]

Maybe not a flamethrower, but we have that flame shot ammo coming.

 

[Stuff]

At least according to the steam page that further describes her it looks like she'll be having more than one movement special and because she has a slow projectile I'm partly expecting her to have a teleport similar to meta knight's, part of me wants her to have the fast fall special move that Spiral has but also I almost want her to have a move like dual wing slash like how Hibiki from Blazblue does (and lots of other older characters in fighting games) perhaps even Lambda's versions of Act Parser

If she's getting more Guilty Gear +R stuff (she has Dizzy imperial ray [based on the drawing] and Justice nukes) Maybe I'll see a Micheal Sword equivalent or perhaps Justice's force break move.

I'm still really hoping her play style revolves more around being evasive and doing lots of chip damage but idk I think she'd be fun regardless though her projectiles apparently don't go full screen so who knows. She already looks like a slower character that relies on big buttons and her movement options though so fingers crossed. She doesn't seem to airdash so it looks like she relies on her movement specials to do anything which I think will be interesting. I think she's getting more movement specials because I don't think she'll have very many movement options otherwise but who knows. It did look like she had a ground dash but there's only so much you can see from one trailer. I think she's the closest to a +r character or perhaps a full moon mbaacc character.

Her bear trap move looks like it could be an interesting assist, I hope it doesn't scale like a throw lol.

I really hope she gets a pink color, this game needs more pink colors.

 

[tristePinguino]

Wanted to point out some fun things that caught my eye!

Characters get dark and smoky after being struck with an explosive round:

Spoiler: Smoky Robo-Fortune

I assume this is purely a cosmetic thing, but the blade for this air attack changes:

Spoiler: Air Slash

Same goes for this crouching attack:

Spoiler: Crouch Stab

And I just thought the gun-knees were funny:

Spoiler: Gun-Knees

Do you think her aerial yo-yo/circular saw-thing is a Normal??? It looks like she cancelled it into her gun-arm Special at two instances in the trailer.
Also, on my first viewing of the trailer, my initial thought was that her reload was tied to her throw.
It'd be cool if she had a Blockbuster that changed according to the ammo you have loaded. :D

This feels like a silly thought in retrospect (considering this is Skullgirls), but given Black Dahlia's veil+mask combo, I was curious as to how expressive her "face" would be in her animations. I'm happy to see she's not at all lacking in that regard, lol.

 

[Triviality]

I want to active reload every bullet one bullet at a time

i want venom levels of creative play as I load 6 unique bullets

I want to DHC into elephant round install

I want my taunt to spin the chamber so I can bm my opponent

I went P4AU Naoto Aim Cancels or 0 recovery empty gun stance cancels

I want to fan the hammer

I want to shoot backwards in the air and dash across the screen for conversions like roshi

 

[Corridor89]

I want to active reload every bullet one bullet at a time

I like this idea, actually. Kind of like a typical shotgun in an FPS. Can start or cancel a reload at any time.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

Yeah, I think active reload with 1 bullet at a time would make sense especially since we will have different types of ammo, so we can line up and mix-and-match multiple types of ammo depending on the gameplan.

 

[Nuuance]

I like this idea, actually. Kind of like a typical shotgun in an FPS. Can start or cancel a reload at any time.

Curious how the resource graphic turns out. combinations alone is a fun thought.

With the grenade rounds, shooting/ricocheting off walls and ground would be fun. besides that, love to see some 'trickshot' interplay across ammo types like A) rounds/knives catching fire when touching flames B) shooting/exploding grenades out the air w/shotgun rounds like duck hunt C) Ricochet grenades off each other like venom poolballs, etc. Umbrella brought a tiny bit of this vibe with specials having various contexts from bubbles so would be nice seeing it continued here more in depth.

I want my taunt to spin the chamber so I can bm my opponent

sidenote, taunt randomly chambering a loaded round giving a (*small* yet interesting) powerup to that unique round i imagine would be hype

 

[Holy Goose]

I really hope she gets a pink color, this game needs more pink colors.

I hope she'll get a Dahlia Hawthorne palette. It would be amazing. And pink. And deadly.
And with butterflies, yay!

I assume this is purely a cosmetic thing, but the blade for this air attack changes:

Couldn't see this one, what a nice detail.

By the way, what about her poster in the Arena? Looks nice.

And I just thought the gun-knees were funny:

Best part of the trailer, for sure.
Should be implemented in Mobile.

With the grenade rounds, shooting/ricocheting off walls and ground would be fun. besides that, love to see some 'trickshot' interplay across ammo types like A) rounds/knives catching fire when touching flames B) shooting/exploding grenades out the air w/shotgun rounds like duck hunt C) Ricochet grenades off each other like venom poolballs, etc.

This would be very cool. I hope that at least some part of it would be implemented. Makes a lot of sense for a character like her.

 

[Corridor89]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1529917005549015040

I wonder what the yellow rounds do.

 

[Corridor89]

Some Dahlia hitboxes and footage with Softie and Cloud

https://twitter.com/x/status/1530206266223624192

https://twitter.com/x/status/1530204544298262529

Edit: Additional footage with cloud and sonicfox

https://twitter.com/x/status/1530219187624456192

 

[tristePinguino]

The bear trap is a Normal???

Edit: Additional footage with cloud and sonicfox

There's a couple instances in their third match in which an angled yellow round/buckshot seems to cause ceiling bounce (?) on an aerial opponent.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

(Reposting from the Discord) Screenshots of all Black Dahlia’s normals and other notable information we have so far (by Taterade)

Link

 

[Holy Goose]

6 ammo types. Sounds epic. So many opportunities.
And we're not even on Blockbusters yet (for quite a while).

 

[Chrono_Tata]

And we're not even on Blockbusters yet (for quite a while).

I remember Umbrella initial alpha launch coming with one super (albeit in an unfinished state) so I assume Dahlia will get a basic level 1 super with her launch as well. Feels a bit weird to get an alpha character without at least 1 super to dump meter on.

Based on what I've seen in the CB footages, she seems sloooow. That's certainly not a bad thing but I hope that means her damage output will be higher than average - something along the line of other slower characters like Big Band and Painwheel.

Another thing I noticed is that in her win animation, she kinda teleports off the screen and then fall back down along with the props and her assassins. This makes me think that one of her specials will be a Meta Knight-style "Dimensional Cape" teleport, which would fit with the "escaping and tricky movement" theme teased in her gameplay synopsis. And also fits with the Meta Knight inspiration listed way back in the IGG write-up.

I've always said about the old proposed Dahlia gameplay that I'm not super convinced that the whole cloaking start-up of moves thing would work well in Skullgirls. I'm not sure if one of the incoming specials will have something to do with this. If they can make it work somehow, I'd be impressed.

One thing I do hope to see with the incoming specials though is her gun turning into more "unexpected" weapons like flamethrower, chainsaw, etc., that were shown in her concept arts. We have seen a bit of it in her current moveset, but I feel like there is a lot more potential in that department, and it's a big part of her appeal.

 

[fayestra]

Her mobility seems like "low speed but high maneuverability" so far, especially if she does end up with a teleport. I remember in a previous thread that counter-type moves was one of the things a lot of her listed inspirations had in common. Tying into that, her 2MK seems like a strong assist option which could be special cancelled after an alpha counter.

 

[Nuuance]

anyone found out about active reload one bullet at a time if it’s included at this time? the doc said 7f window or something but wasn’t sure on complete context

 

[Chrono_Tata]

anyone found out about active reload one bullet at a time if it’s included at this time? the doc said 7f window or something but wasn’t sure on complete context

From what I have read the CB demo has preset reload for now (3rd bullet always being yellow). But it was said that this is a very early version and the reload will most likely change in the future.

Since it was also said (if not confirmed?) that there should be 6 different types of ammo, the way I envision it working is that each ammo type would correspond with an attack button. So once the reload animation starts, maybe you can hit the buttons in sequence to select the 6 bullets you want to load. That would make the most sense to me but guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Holy Goose]

More Dahlia, more action.

 

[CaioLugon]

Tying into that, her 2MK seems like a strong assist option which could be special cancelled after an alpha counter.

I've seen people mention dahlia can be hit by her own cMK, if that's true and also the case for the point character when it's used as an assist, it doesn't really seem like a very strong option to me.

 

[Nuuance]

I've seen people mention dahlia can be hit by her own cMK, if that's true and also the case for the point character when it's used as an assist, it doesn't really seem like a very strong option to me.

Yeah…that’s kinda weird…also noticed it stays on screen even after being hit which i like

 

[PaperBag_Sniper]

I want to fan the hammer

I want to shoot backwards in the air and dash across the screen for conversions like roshi

Yes to all but particularly these two.

 

[Holy Goose]

Hooray for different ammo types.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1535038836769796096

https://twitter.com/x/status/1535038626832187398

 

[Caleb]

Dahlia is amazing

 

[tristePinguino]

Some more fun visual things:

As sometimes seen during her j.LP:

Spoiler: Razor Sword and Type-1 Energy Sword

You can knock around any scattered shells with her c.HP (live or otherwise).

Spoiler: Shell Scatter

Her loss pose, Black Dahlia "dessert", and Bloody Marie cake:

Spoiler: Just Desserts

It sure would be a shame if that particular cake asset was exclusive to this singular instance. :P

I wanted to make this post in this thread because it mostly pertains to visual things instead of directly to gameplay. I can also see myself returning to this thread to discuss anything revealed but not yet implemented (if that's okay).

 

[Sayouri]

Well, I guess there is nothing in this section yet so let's get the ball rolling.

Gameplay trailer dropped today:

Update on Steam including gameplay sypnosis:

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Black Dahlia Alpha Announcement - Steam News

The Master Murderess of the Medici coming soon to Skullgirls 2nd Encore

store.steampowered.com

What are your thoughts on her gameplay style? Anything from the trailer that caught your interest? Speculations on her remaining special moves and supers?

Ammo reload is rng and why like rather then mk being for only one special ammo in the third bullet rather then they can do it like when reloading with mk first two bullets are normal third is fire bullet other 2 is normal and the last one is explosive and opposite for hk reload first two normal 3 explosive other two normal last one is fire bullet and people can go for like bullet specialized combos like conversions out of explosive ammo and stuff and they can know what they are throwing at enemy and move accordingly to that. Like exp ammo gives knockdown when dahlia knows that she is gonna send a exp ammo to her enemy she can rush up and close the distance rather then have to react to it without knowing anything.Maybe we can chain the inputs for reloading for the 3 and 6 the ammos like again example when reloading we can choose our ammos and queue them for what we want because I know there will be more ammo types. Really do something about the rng system of reloading. If we come to the onslaught no assist on onslaught no canceling on onslaught why tho if u can make it cancellable people can go for mixups such as rising j lp onslaught j hp or so because , it's not cancellable mixups gonna be boring like double low throw mixups it is bad tbh . maybe give us more tools to come like u can say that j hp is a overhead but I mean it's only one move and it's so hard punishable and u can read the start frames easily so please do something to the new dlc character .

 

[PaperBag_Sniper]

Preview for her barrel super is up. I do wonder how many supers Dahlia will have. I imagine a level 3 is a weapon barrage but there's room for a number of supers that just give her unique ammo or specific weapons on some of her other normals to increase their range or damage.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1539009784023752706

 

[tristePinguino]

Hooray for third character who spills a liquid everywhere, lol.

I can't help but wonder how many ways she'll be able to ignite the fuel. Maybe some of her aforementioned remaining movement Specials will have incendiary properties?

 

[Nuuance]

probably not a thing since most other characters dont work with fire, but squigly, parasol, peacock(?) would be cool if they could ignite it if they're your other teammate. Idk who else would, maybe beo, shoving his metal chair across screen to spark flames. Overall DHC-wise i'd love to see some team interactivity. Same w/umbrella & her puddles unless teammates can already trigger puddles

 

[Sebbb3rr0r]

I wonder how she would work on mobile

 

[Golbat]

Played with hinzae around at the local and I have to say I'm very impressed by how "complete" Dhalia feels despite still not being complete. Her normals and movement really showed off a good cohesion even if the character isn't for me so far.

 

[Caleb]

Have you guys seen the SonicFox vs PenPen exhibition match?

I wasn't aware of all the new stuff Dahlia is getting!

-Electric, Freeze and Lazer rounds.
-"Rage mode"
-New lvl.1 blockbuster that allows you to choose which type of ammunition to reload.
-Teleport.
-Ammunition bar to keep track of what's available.

The rage mode seems to change the properties of certain moves.

She looks incredible. Probably my favorite season 1 character!


edit

nvm I just saw the other thread about Dahlia's gameplay lol

 

[tristePinguino]

Yet unreleased stuff!

Spoiler: Explosive Payoffs

https://twitter.com/x/status/1575983703485952000

"Nothing personnaal, kid."

An update to her Empower visual effect!
A non-Super counter? :D I'd be neat to choose what side of her opponent Dahlia reappears (almost like Peacock's "The Hole Idea"/teleport). Does it have DP utility???
An entire bundle of dynamite. Sounds like it might detonate on its own with time. I wonder if Dahlia actually lobs it like a projectile, or if it only sticks up-close.
Why does the detonation super-flash
take
so
long? What does it mean??? Here's hoping that explosion ignites oil!
Finalized visual effects for her Buck Shot and Rail Shot!

When this video dropped, I immediately thought, "Oh cool, her Level 3." But that would mean Dahlia doesn't really have much by means of pay-out Blockbusters. And then they revealed this:

Spoiler: Bunnies on Parade

https://twitter.com/x/status/1578520293869436928

I automatically assumed this is the result of a Blockbuster (and feels more Level 3-worthy), but we'll have to wait and see.
As mentioned in another thread, these seem to be the same three who accompany Dahlia in her win pose.

Dahlia doesn't seem to be getting a reversal Super (or even a YOLO Super, for that matter), but we still gotta see how her Bunnies help her out in battle. But her Blockbuster arsenal seems to make Dahlia an especially technical character when considering all her features and gimmicks thus far.
(Of course, this is assuming her entire kit has now been revealed; they could always hand her another Blockbuster, lol.)

 

[GWiz]

Is black dahlia playable on ps4 not on betta are stream l have season 1 pass and I see she on updates and on the screen with umbrella and Annie on season 1 pass

 

[Chrono_Tata]

Is black dahlia playable on ps4 not on betta are stream l have season 1 pass and I see she on updates and on the screen with umbrella and Annie on season 1 pass

The beta is only for the PC version. On the PS4 version, you need to wait for her full release update which should be soon.