Heya Duelists!
The latest Duels of Fortune update is out, featuring a big moveset rework for Doodle, plus some other new things! In terms of content, this update is somewhere between a major update and a minor patch. Hopefully this'll be the last version before we get to focus on that new guest character we teased in our last status update! ;)
This update includes:
- A big rework for Doodle!
- A new stage, Burnin' Go Gas!
- 3 new costumes!
- A new Mission!
- Character tutorials for Baron and Doodle!
- Additional balance changes and bug fixes
Damage Scaling
- Projectiles now calculate their damage scaling based on when they connect, rather than when they were initially thrown
- Fixed an issue where certain install Supers were not resetting damage scaling correctly
- Made numerous other backend changes to the damage scaling system, but the above changes should be the only differences in practice
Burst
- Slightly increased the size of Break Burst’s hitbox
- Adjusted the Break Burst effect to more closely match the hitbox
- Slightly increased the knockback of Break Burst
Universal Grab (Forward + Heavy)
- Burst lockout on grabs has been normalized across the cast, making it properly impossible to Burst out of a grab
Controls
- Renamed the “Start” button in the Menu Controls to “Skip”
- The menu “Skip” button is now used for skipping intro dialogue in battles, rather than the game “Reset” button, making it consistent with the binding for skipping the between-fight jumbotron animations in Arcade Mode. The button is also still used for selecting ERROR
Victory Screen
- The winning character is now made invincible after the end of the final round, preventing certain softlocks from occurring
Character Select Screen
- Reorganized the character select screen for final time, adding placeholder slots for the remaining fighters
- Reorganized the stage select screen for the final time, adding placeholder slots for the remaining stages
Lore Journal
- Added new lore entries:
- King Rattley (Unlocked by playing 5 matches on Burnin’ Go Gas, or its variant)
- Molock Wolframium (Unlocked by playing 5 matches on Burnin’ Go Gas, or its variant)
- Ace (Unlocked by beating the new Mission “Cube Dudes,” or by defeating him in Arcade Mode while using the Fractured Fighters theme)
Arcade Mode
- When starting a new Arcade Mode run, there is now an additional pop-up window showing you which settings you are using, and prompting you edit them if you wish
- When the “top 8” part of the bracket is reached, the remaining fighter icons shown are now guaranteed to all be playable characters, leaving a bit more room for suspense as to who you’ll be fighting
- Added extra fighters to certain themes, out of necessity from the above change (including an additional unique NPC figher in the Fractured Fighters theme!)
- Fixed an issue where fully selecting a character, deselecting them, and selecting a different one would cause the Arcade Mode run to start instantly
Mission Mode
- Added a new Mission: Cube Dudes
- The Mission “Old Friends, New Forms” has been removed, with the above Mission replacing it
Tutorial
- Added new lessons in the Character section:
- Baron Brightstar
- Doodle
- Added a small effect when changing which lesson you’re hovering over
Combo Trials
- Completely overhauled Doodle's combo trials to utilize his new moveset
Miscellaneous
- When hitting “minion” enemies (such as Shooting Star’s Starlings or the Necrocrystal’s skeletons) you can now cancel into other attacks, with the same rules as when hitting an opponent
NEW STAGE: Burnin' Go Gas
- A popular gas station chain across Eagleton, this place gives a look at another corner of Victory Island's cityscape, and the interesting people dotted around it! With Hazards enabled, you can throw gasoline at your opponents to make them extra flammable!
- Also includes a nighttime variant!
Sylvan's Office
- Added a roof to prevent certain cinematic camera angles from seeing up into the skybox
Portable Supercharged Tesla (Down Special)
- Fixed multiple issues related to cinematic Supers being used while the tesla trap was being thrown
HSC Function 174-A (Neutral Super)
- Fixed an issue where Gizmo could fire energy balls from Down Super during Neutral Super under very specific circumstances
- Fixed multiple issues related to cinematic Supers being used while Gizmo was on-screen during this Super
Standing Heavy
- Fixed an issue where the move could be jump-cancelled multiple times in the same combo
Skull Toss (Neutral Special)
- Fixed an issue where the jump timer of the skull continued counting down during Super cinematics
Axe Kick (Back Heavy)
- Fixed an issue where the move could be jump-cancelled multiple times in the same combo
Costumes
- Added a new costume: Desktop Azutron (Unlocked by default)
- Added some unique sound effects when using the Classic Azutron costume
System Override (Down Super)
- Fixed an issue where the final explosion could be reflected
Miscellaneous
- Fixed an issue where walking backwards against the edge of the screen as Master Locks caused the camera to shift noticeably
Costumes
- Added a new costume: Shocker Evilobster (Unlocked by beating Arcade Mode while using the Evilobster costume)
Supernova Lariat (Back Special)
- Increased the duration of the move’s projectile invulnerability
Miscellaneous
- Fixed an issue where Baron’s crouching idle animation did not loop properly
Ace of Clubs (Back Heavy, with Ace)
- Each projectile now advances hitstun decay by 0.5 instead of 0.33
Security!! (Neutral Special)
- Fixed an issue where Withers’ knockback animation after taking too many hits did not properly lift him off the ground
Slot Machine (Down Special)
- Fixed an issue where food items from the slot machine could become frozen in midair if a cinematic Super was used
Pick a Card (Jumping Special)
- Each projectile now advances hitstun decay by 0.5 instead of 0.3
Break the Bank (Down Special, Full House Mode)
- Reduced damage from 3000 to 2100
MORE SWORDS!! (Down Super)
- Fixed an issue where the spinning sword hitboxes would sometimes not disable themselves properly after hitting
Deadbolt (Neutral Special)
- Fixed an issue where the move’s damage scaling was treated as if it was a Heavy attack
Costumes
- The Karate Black Heart costume must now be unlocked by completing 30 lessons in the Tutorial
The Perfect Chug (Down Super)
- The time stop hitbox now bypasses armour, fixing an issue where an armoured opponent would stay armoured while time was stopped
- Fixed an issue where, if time was stopped during an opponent’s attack, that attack’s hitbox would briefly remain active after the time stop ended
- Fixed an issue where Gritallica would be unable to move during his time stop if he was hit into the air right as time was stopped
Miscellaneous
- Fixed an issue where Gritallica recovered 5 frames sooner than other characters after using a Burst
- Fixed an issue where Gritallica briefly entered a T-pose after cancelling his forward dash
Miscellaneous
- Fixed multiple issues involving Mira getting frozen in place if a cinematic Super was used
Costumes
- Fixed an issue where the Punchick Callowman costume would fail to load correctly when selected for an “any character” Mission in Mission Mode
Doodle has received a fairly drastic rework to his entire moveset. We’ve tried to keep his core essence and feel intact while greatly diversifying his game plan, adding plenty of new options for both zoning and pressure while cutting ones that felt redundant or useless. At the same time, we've also issued some nerfs where we felt it was needed, helping to keep him fair and fun to fight as well as to play. After this update, Doodle should hopefully feel more interactive, less one-note, and much more defined in his role.
Base Stats
- Doodle can no longer air dash, except during his Ultimate Doodle install
Standing Heavy
- Slightly reduced vertical knockback
- Doodle now rises slightly higher than before
Crouching Light
- Slightly reduced recovery time
Crouching Medium
- Slightly increased recovery time
- Doodle now retains a small amount of momentum during the move’s recovery period
- Adjusted animation to better distinguish the move’s recovery period
Crouching Heavy
- The move is now cancellable on block
Jumping Heavy
- Fixed an issue where using this move during a long jump caused it to not bounce Doodle upward
NEW MOVE: Fish Slap!! (Back Heavy)
- Doodle slaps the opponent with a fish. How humiliating!
- This move gives Doodle a proper horizontal launcher to help get his opponents off of him. Doodle also steps forward with this move, giving him the niche ability to inch forward while holding a back charge
- Replaces Doodle’s old Back Heavy, “Scribble Slash”
Hot Sauce (Neutral Special)
- Hot Sauce can now be used on the ground, making it Doodle’s new Neutral Special. This replaces his old Neutral Special, Pitiful Doughnut
- Reduced the size of the puddle’s hitbox
- When the puddle expires, it now takes a moment to fully disappear, effectively giving it a small cooldown before a new jar can be thrown
- Reduced the blockstun inflicted by the jar hit
- The jar hit now ignores knocked-down opponents, making it so it can’t launch them away from the puddle on an OTG hit
Molten Doughnut (Charge Back, Forward Special)
- Reduced total damage from 1950 to 1500
- Slightly reduced the size of the projectile
- Updated the visual effects for the projectile. The slow version of the doughnut also has a distinct effect
- Slightly increased the speed of the slow version
Fractured Haymaker (Charge Down, Up Special)
- Increased recovery time
NEW MOVE: 4th Wall (Back Special)
- Doodle creates a wall of energy in front of him, then kicks it forward. A slow-moving projectile that can hit multiple times
- The wall has special interactions when hit with Doodle’s charge Specials
- Hitting the 4th Wall with Molten Doughnut creates a huge burst of flame that knocks the opponent away and causes a wall bounce
- Hitting the 4th Wall with Fractured Haymaker causes it to shatter, sending pieces of it flying forward one after another, increasing the amount of time the opponent is in hitstun/blockstun
- The wall has a high projectile priority, making it difficult to overpower with projectiles. However, it can be hit by strikes, taking up to 2000 damage before it breaks
- Replaces Doodle’s old Back Special, “Plot Armour.” That move’s functionality has now been integrated into Doodle’s Down Special instead
Ya Like Parries? (Down Special)
- Countering a projectile now reflects it back at the opponent
- Fixed an issue where reflected projectiles did not flip their facing direction
- Doodle can no longer counter Super moves
- Adjusted the animation and effects of the counter stance
- Fixed an issue where Doodle had reduced friction during the counter stance
Meter Burner (Neutral Super)
- Drastically increased the startup time after the cinematic
Ultimate Doodle (Down Super)
- The install is no longer on a set timer. Instead, the install ends after using any 4 Special Moves
- Each of Doodle’s Special Moves now receives a unique buff while in the Ultimate Doodle state
- Hot Sauce’s puddle is significantly larger
- 4th Wall is larger, hits more times, and takes more damage to break
- Ya Like Parries? has the counter-attack activate automatically after the counter stance
- Molten Doughnut is larger and does not require a back charge (performed with Forward + Special)
- Fractured Haymaker deals more damage, hits Overhead, and does not require a down charge (performed with Up + Special)
- The install no longer grants Doodle a passive damage bonus
- Ultimate Doodle now has a unique UI element in place of the default install timer, to differentiate it from timed installs
Costumes
- Added a new costume: Cool Kid Doodle (Unlocked by default)
- Fixed an issue where the Stryker costume’s shurikens (Molten Doughnut) did not disappear when he was hit
- Updated the visual effects for Stryker’s shurikens to be in line with the new effects for the normal Molten Doughnut
Boss Mode
- When in Boss Mode, Doodle now stays permanently in the Ultimate Doodle transformation after taking a round off him
Miscellaneous
- Fixed “Ya Like Parries?” being misspelled as “Ya Like Parrys?” in the move list
Boss of the Plains (Dashing Forward Medium)
- Fixed an issue where the move was mistakenly treated as jump-cancellable