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                                       C O N T R O L S
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The game is played with a joystick and 6 buttons. The six buttons are denoted as A, B, C, X,
Y, and T.



When indicating special motions, this document uses the following notation:
 - 1-9: Directions. This is based on your numpad and your character facing right. For
   instance, 6 means forward, 2 means down, and 3 means down-forward. 5 means neutral (don't
   press any direction).
 - A, B, C, X, Y, or T means press that particular button.
 - Putting a bunch of directions or buttons together means press those directions/buttons in
   sequence. For example, 2AB means press down, then A, then B. When a sequence of directions
   leads to a sequence of buttons, it's implied that you continue holding the last direction,
   so in the example of 2AB, you would continue holding down when pressing A and B.
 - A comma in between a sequence of buttons is "or." For example, 22A,B means press down
   twice, then press A or B. If A and B produce different results, the description of the move
   will explain what the difference is.
 - A plus sign in between a sequence of buttons is "and." For example, A+B means press A and
   B at the same time. There is a tolerance interval of roughly 3 frames (1/20 of a second)
   before it decides whether you're pressing just one button or both of them together.
 - j. before a sequence means it must be performed in the air.
 - > before a sequence means it follows after the previous move has been performed. Dashes
   before the > indicate nesting; for example, a normal move might lead into a > move that
   might lead into a -> move that might lead into a --> move and so on.
 - EX: before a sequence means it is an EX move; it uses up a quarter of a full super gauge.

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                                  U S E R   I N T E R F A C E
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(/'.')/ Baron von Coolguy                 _________                     Mistress Evil Q('.'Q)
_________________________________________/         \_________________________________________
\            \:::::::::::::::::::::::::::\  Time   /::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/         /
                                    T T T \  46   / T T T T T
                                       O X \_____/ X O







                                  lol fighting goes on here






  +-----------+                                                               +-----------+
  | Character |                             _____                             | Character |
  +-----------+                            /     \                            +-----------+
 _________________________________________/       \_________________________________________
/:::::::::/:::::::: |          \          \_______/       :::/:::::::::|::::::::::\:::::::::\

Across the top:
 - The crappy ASCII faces kinda show where character portraits and names will go.
 - Life bars for both players. While the bars are always the same length, characters might
   have different amounts of health.
 - Time remaining in the match. The timer stops for a short delay whenever an attack lands.
 - Triggers. Triggers are used to activate certain abilities.
 - Win/loss record.

Across the bottom:
 - Super bars for both players.
 - The boxes indicate where character-specific UI elements will go.

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                                S Y S T E M   A R C A N A E
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Quick note: In most cases, "specials" means both specials and arts.

Basic movement:

 - 2: Crouch. Makes hitbox shorter.

 - 8: Jump.

 - 7,9: Jump backward or forward (respectively).

 - 66: Run forwards.

 - 44: Backstep.


Basic actions:

 - A: Jab. Light attack. Combos indefinitely into itself and also into B, C, or specials.

 - B: Short. Medium attack. Combos into a second medium attack and also into C or specials.

 - C: Long. Hard attack. Combos into specials, probably jump-cancellable (but depends on
      the character).

 - AABBC: "Bread-and-butter" combo. This can then be chained into a special or, depending on
          the character, a Super.

 - X: Soft art. Arts are special moves that are integral to the character.

 - Y: Hard art. Hard arts are stronger than soft arts, but they use a trigger.

 - X+Y: EX art. An EX art is identical to a hard art, but instead of using a trigger, it
        consumes 25% of your super gauge.

 - 5T: Taunt. Taunts the opponent. Restores one trigger, but leaves you open to an attack.

 - 2T: Variant taunt. Uses a different animation, but is otherwise equivalent to 5T. Some
       characters will use this to restore a character-specific resource in addition to or
       instead of triggers (e.g. Rain reloading her gun).


Basic defending:

 - 4: Standing block. Can guard high, overhead, or neutral attacks.

 - 1: Crouching block. Can guard high, low, or neutral attacks.

 - j.1,4,7: Air block. Can guard high, overhead, or neutral attacks, but some attacks may
            be air-unblockable.


Throw attacks:

 - 2,5A+B: Slam throw. Penetrates block. Does most damage, but doesn't move the opponent
   very much.

 - 6A+B: Forward throw. Penetrates block.

 - 4A+B: Backward throw. Penetrates block.

 - j.A+B: Air throw. Penetrates block.

 - A+B (after opponent grabs, before they throw): Counter the throw.


Advanced actions:

 - B+C: Smash attack. Uses a trigger. Powerful and instantly causes guard break, but has long
        windup time.

 - A+B+C: Burst. Uses a trigger. Makes you briefly invincible and knocks opponent back. Can
   only be used when you're being attacked.


Other mechanics:
 - Guard break: As a player blocks, a small bar appears that tolls how much damage the
   block has "absorbed" (normal damage minus chip damage). The bar has a maximum, which is
   determined per-character; if the bar fills up and the player blocks another attack,
   they're hit with guard break, which has these effects:
   - The player is stunned. The duration depends on the bite of the attack. The stun does
     not dissipate after being hit by an attack.
   - The player loses a trigger. If that is not possible, they may lose some super gauge
     instead.
   - Some special attacks augment the guard break damage they inflict. That is, if they
     are blocked, the guard bar is filled more or less than it would be for a normal attack
     of the same strength.
 -

Notes on attacks:
 - Attacks have four statistics that are relevant to their effect on your opponent: Damage,
   bite, type, and characteristic.
   - Damage is how much unprorated damage the attack does.
   - Bite is how long the opponent is stunned when the attack hits. (Guard break stun
     is always five times this amount.)
   - Type affects how an attack must be blocked. Generally comes in 5 flavors: high, low,
     overhead, neutral, and unblockable. It may also be air-unblockable.
     - High attacks can hit anywhere, and can be blocked standing or crouching.
     - Low attacks will miss aerial opponents, but can only be blocked crouching.
     - Overhead attacks can hit anywhere, and can only be blocked standing.
     - Neutral attacks are equal-opportunity: they can hit anywhere and be blocked anywhere.
     - All of the above can be air blocked, unless they are specifically air-unblockable.
     - Unblockable attacks are, well, unblockable. They hit both ground and air.
   - The characteristics of an attack are special abilities associated with certain attacks.
     For example, Tumorox's strong specials have the "firey" characteristic, setting his
     opponent on fire if they connect.
 -

Notes on blocking:
 - There is chip damage. Chip damage is a small fraction of the normal damage dealt by the
   attack. The exact fraction varies per character and per attack.
 - There is blockstun. Block stun depends on the bite of the attack, but is generally
   at least 10 frames.
 - Chip damage and block stun are unaffected by proration, and blocked attacks don't build
   combo. However, if a combo had started before a blocked attack, "continuing" the combo
   on the blocking opponent will maintain the combo counter where it is, and it can resume
   if the block is broken or bypassed.

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                                    C H A R A C T E R S
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DIAMOND

Attributes: Medium speed, weak melee, strong ranged

Art: CRYSTAL SPROUT - Some of Diamond's specials create crystal seeds and place them at
     various points on the stage. With X and Y, he can sprout attacks out of these seeds.



DRIFT

Attributes: Very fast, weak melee, attacks come out fast

Art: DARTING - Drift teleports a short distance, ignoring everything in between, by
     pressing X and a direction. Drift has a gauge that regulates his darting. The gauge
     has 5 segments, and each dart costs a full segment. It regenerates naturally over time
     as long as Drift is active, and stops refilling if he's stunned or knocked down. Y does
     not use his gauge, and shortly after darting with Y, a trail of fire appears between
     Drift's old and new location, damaging enemies.



SURINAM

Attributes: Slow, strong melee, high reach on attacks

Art: CURSED BLADE - Surinam draws her cursed blade against her opponent with X. If she
     uses Y, she can curse her opponent - this makes X attacks do more damage and also
     makes her able to use certain specials. Cursing lasts a short time, but this time
     is replenished when the opponent is hit by an unblocked X or Y attack.



CHROMA

Attributes: Varies

Art: SPECTRUM SHIFT - Chroma switches from light ink to dark ink with X. While light,
     he is faster and weaker; while dark, he is slower and stronger. With Y, he changes to
     a different color, temporarily giving him the advantages of both forms with none of the
     weaknesses. There is a cooldown on this ability in addition to using a trigger.



MARKER

Attributes: Medium speed, strong melee, attacks have high priority

Art: DANCING SWORD - Marker can use a series of quick sword strikes with X. With Y, he
     can use a finishing move that ends his Dancing Sword, but with a much more powerful
     strike than normal.



RAIN

Attributes: Fast, weak melee, powerful ranged abilities

Art: BULLET RAIN - Rain uses her gun to shoot her opponent with X. With Y, she does the
     same attacks as X, but firing three bullets in rapid succession. She has unlimited
     ammo, but a limited magazine, and must reload periodically with 2T.



BOOTS

Attributes: Medium speed, strong melee, attacks come out slowly

Art: PRESSURE POINTS - Boots inflicts a precisely targetted blow with X. Each blow
     builds up a weakness gauge; as the gauge fills up, the opponent becomes slightly
     slower. This art combos 3 times, releasing a flurry of blows on the third strike.
     Y, conversely, releases a palm strike, which inflicts more damage the more the
     weakness gauge is built up, but slightly drains this weakness afterwards.



ROOT

Attributes: Slow, weak melee, attacks have long reach

Art: UNDERGROWTH - Root can throw seeds to plant vines with X. Vines grow over time and
     seek out the opponent; when they make contact with the opponent, he/she is slowed.
     Multiple vines have a cumulative effect. Y plants a much thicker vine, which is
     otherwise identical to normal vines. Root's specials usually interact with vines.



DEUCE

Attributes: Medium speed, medium-weak melee, attacks come out quickly

Art: PRIDE - Deuce uses broad swings of his mallet with his X arts. Each mallet
     attack that lands partly fills his pride gauge. The pride gauge increases the
     damage and bite of all of his attacks, especially his X attacks. His Y art
     releases a fearsome kiai, stunning the opponent briefly if they are nearby and
     significantly filling his pride gauge. The pride gauge decreases over time.



TUMOROX

Attributes: Slow speed, strong melee, many vacuuming attacks

Art: RYUUSOU - Tumorox throws out a long chain with a dragon's jaw on the end of it
     with X. Directional variants change the direction. If the jaw connects against a
     grounded opponent, it pulls them up in front of Tumorox; against an aerial opponent,
     it pulls them around Tumorox and slams them into the ground. This is functionally
     equivalent to a throw except that it can be blocked. Y is similar, but has a longer
     reach, is much faster, and sets the foe on fire, which temporarily increases the
     damage Tumorox's attacks deal to him or her. One of Tumorox's supers also uses
     Ryuusou.



DARK

Attributes: Slow speed, strong melee, many different styles of attacking

Art: WEAPONS - Dark's body is filled with a variety of blades. His C attack uses one
     of these blades. X switches to a different blade (in the order: dagger, spear,
     zanbatou, and then dagger again), then launches his C attack instantly. Y uses
     a more powerful weapon, his drill, for several seconds.



TINKER

Attributes: Medium-fast speed, medium melee, good ranged ability

Art: CLOAK OF GUNS - Tinker fires a variety of different projectile attacks from weapons
     concealed in his robes with X, one for each of the eight directions. (Forward and
     neutral are equivalent.) Y fires a swarm of the appropriate projectile instead.



DEITY

Attributes: Slow speed, very strong melee, constant health leak over time

Art: SYMBIOTE - Deity wields her massive sword, Symbiote, with X or Y. Each swing that
     connects drains some of Deity's life, but the attacks are powerful. Y attacks are
     faster, stronger, and - most importantly - refund all health paid if they connect.