Dalia WIP (New)

Stats:
-Lighter end of Heavyweight, middling ground speed, good air speed, average jumps, average fall speed, high gravity, low traction.



(Frame data in general leans towards low start up but high end lag outside of specials. Dahlia's attacks requires she commit a bit more than is comfortable, but she can punish mistakes, interrupt opponents, and capitalize on opportunity easily. This also lends to her ability to micromanage her slimes and other effects. She balances out to being semi-decent at comboing her opponent, but she leans on her minions as a crutch to excell at it, relying more on mixups on her own.)



Side Special:

Dahlia holds her staff parallel to the ground and raises her free hand to the sky, the sphere in her staff's headpiece growing and swirling about. She looses the roiling ball of ooze as a projectile, leaving the original sphere in its place. The ooze is a bit smaller than Kirby, and glides forward at Incineroar's run speed, doing 10% damage and modest radial knockback.

On hit, the opponent suffers damage over time without flinching at the rate of 1.5% a second for 4 seconds, duration for this 'poison' effect resetting if hit again. Dahlia can angle this input up or down 45 degrees, letting her aim anywhere in a 90 degree range to either side of herself.

After traveling for 5 seconds, hitting an opponent or their shield, or being struck, gravity takes hold of the ball. It drops in a sharp downwards arc to the floor, where it quivers and solidifies over the course of a full second, becoming a staple fantasy monster: a Slime.


Slimes are simple creatures, their gel-like bodies a transparent green with red vein-like nerves spread out from a like-colored core (changing to match Dahlia's team colors or costume coloration as appropriate). They have 10% stamina, take knockback from enemy attacks like an undamaged Donkey Kong, falls like Fox, and cannot jump. They slither back and forth on their platform in a mindless, endless patrol at Robin's walking speed. They have the same speed in the air, and will attempt to move towards solid ground if over a pit, or the nearest opponent if not.

When an opponent is within 1 Training Stage Unit, the Slime will shiver in place for a full second, then leap that distance towards the opponent in a small arc. This deals the same damage, knockback, and damage over time as their projectile form. They jiggle in place where they land briefly, effectively giving the attack ending lag as well. While in motion, the Slime will bounce off of any other slime created by the same Dahlia, with rapidly diminishing returns (a maximum of two bounces on level ground).

Slimes can be destroyed by reducing their Stamina to 0. Their Stamina starts at 10, and Dahlia has the ability to increase their Stamina up to 20 through some of her inputs. As its Stamina increases or decreases, the Slime's size changes as well, down to half its starting diameter at 1% or 1.5x the norm at 20%, and the damage it does changes to match its current Stamina.


By holding the input, Dahlia can cause all Slimes to halt in place and return to their projectile form. Those that were on the ground levitate upward half a Unit. Dahlia can move the control stick to move all Slimes around at Incineroar's run speed in any direction, though solid terrain will block their movement. They deal damage as normal, and turn back into a Slime minion under the usual circumstances, which includes 5 seconds passing since their creation/return to projectile form to prevent stalling.

Dahlia must exit this stance (with some ending lag) to start moving again. On release, the affected Slimes that are still in projectile form remain hovering in place until one of the conditions to change into their minion form are met, and Dahlia can hold the input again to regain direct control.

Smashing the input (or the control stick while holding the special button) has all Slimes shoot off in that direction as projectiles at their normal speed. Dahlia can only direct her slimes with a smashed input twice per flight; they must return to the ground before a smashed Side Special input will launch them again.


Dahlia has one final means of control over her Slimes: just running up and whacking them good with her staff, magic sparking brightly at the point of contact. Projectile slimes will fly off in a straight line, while minion slimes will be flung in a short arc, the direction dependant on the knockback of Dahlia's own input. This can interrupt a slime minion's own attack, start up lag, etc, making it a great way to mix up her own minion's attacks or make use of them in the thick of a fight. Their ridiculously languid approach to every step of moving and attacking leaves them reliant on Dahlia's micromanagement, at best being brief distractions that can let her sneak in a quick hit without.

Dahlia can only have two slime minions at once; additional projectiles remain projectiles, moving without the normal range limit and being controllable by the same means. They melt away into thin air when they would become minions, after the second-long animation of them splattering onto the ground and trying to solidify; this gives Dahlia some time to exert control over the projectile for further use.

As a final note: reflecting a slime projectile only changes ownership of its projectile state for that instance; the slime minion is still under orders from the Dahlia that created it, and Dahlia can reclaim ownership by exerting control.


Neutral Special:

Dahlia pulls a large vial from her hip flask, drawing her hand back in the same motion, then steps forward as she flings it with all her might. The vial is a Pokeball-sized hitbox that travels a short, low arc at Captain Falcon's run speed that ends 3 Units away on even terrain. It inflicts 5% damage and flinching, with the same poison effect of her Slimes- a hearty chunk of damage from such a quick move!

The vial shatters on contact, its sludgy green contents spraying out across the ground 1 Unit to either side of the point of impact. There it lingers for 4 seconds. The puddle inflicts its poison effect on any enemy who touches it, the duration counting down from the moment they leave it and resetting on touch. Throwing a vial has little start up, but a bit of ending lag as Dahlia regains her footing.


This is not Dahlia's only type of potion. By holding the input, Dahlia can access a menu like Shulk's Monado; on release, Dahlia holds an open vial to her staff's headpiece, its contents pulled into the small sphere floating there and changing its color to match the potion's. Until she respawns, or chooses another potion type, that is the kind of potion she will throw.

All potions create a puddle of the same size, do the same damage on hit, and have an effect they inflict of the same duration. Overlapping puddles have their durations reset, with the newer effect overwriting the previous effect for the overlapping area. The above posion effect is the default, and she has two other options aside from her green-colored Poison Potion.

First is her Metal Potion. The metalic gray potion coats and grabs at foes it touches, the durable and sticky sludge reducing their jump height and movement speeds by 1/6th the maximum on contact, as well as decreasing the distance they are moved by knockback inflicted as if they had an additional 20 weight units. They become significantly more vulnerable to combos while having their own hampered.

Second is her Bubble Potion. The light blue potion drifts slowly to the ground and surrounds those it affects in a loose cloud of slow-moving droplets and tiny bubbles that nevertheless cling well to them. The target's gravity and fall speeds are reduced by 1/3rd, limiting their ability to return to safe ground in a hurry and forcing them to contend with Dahlia's solid air game. Worse yet, their weight is reduced by 1/6th, greatly reducing their ability to survive Dahlia's kill options.


Changing which potion she's using does more than affect her Neutral Special. Dahlia's Side Special is also affected! The slimes created take on the same color and lingering effect on hit of her potions, with a few other changes to boot.

Metal Slimes are slower and heavier by 1/8th their usual speed and weight, and inflict stronger knockback on hit- low damage foes are spaced back far from a single hit, and the slimes can KO at a reasonable percentage. Their jumps are only 2/3rds the distance and height, but are executed faster as they quickly flop onto the ground. Metal Slimes being slower also makes them easier to manipulate, but Dahlia needs to get the foe into position for them.

Bubble Slimes are lighter, fall slower, and move faster by 1/8th. They inflict lower knockback on hit- low damage foes barely budge, and high damage foes are pushed back but kept close enough to follow up on. Their jumps have their distance and height increased by half, but take longer as they slowly rise and fall. Their damage is also reduced to half their stamina (rounded up to the nearest 0.1%), but it's a small price to pay for how well they control space and harass opponents.

Poison Slimes use the default statistics outlined in the Side Special, and specialize in raw damage, aside from being decent all-around and requiring a little less micromanagement than the others.


Dahlia herself and her allies are immune to the effects of her puddles, whereas her Slimes and various slime constructs are healed passively on contact with them by 2% per second!

If a Slime touches a puddle of a different type, they take on some of the potion's qualities for their next leap/stint as a projectile; they essentially split the difference between the stats of their normal Slime type and the puddle's, and inflict the latter's effect on hit instead of their own. This can let Dahlia patch up an existing Slime and briefly tap into the benefits of another kind. This also applies to a Slime she whacks with her staff, letting Dahlia change up the speed of her Slime projectiles and the trajectory of her Slime minions.

Changing Dahlia's current Slime type is a quick process, so don't hesitate to switch things up on your opponent.


Down Special:

-Dahlia draws a vial from her pocket, and deftly and without hesitation downs the viscuous liquid within with a grimace. Her body shifts, turning a distinctive shade of color defined by the potion's; she's turned herself into a humanoid slime!
--This gives her some control over herself, letting her act as a slime for the purposes of her own abilities, albeit to half the normal extent (slime or not, she still strongly resembles her natural state in key ways); Side Special moves her half as far, Neutral Special puddles heal her only half as fast, and so on.
--She receives a general weight buff, as well as the potion-specific benefits that apply to her slimes. (Effect 2) increases her weight further and increases her fall speed, (Effect 3) decreases her weight (relative to the other two) and reduces her fall speed.
--When she flings herself via Side Special, she acts as a freshly made slime projectile in terms of damage and knockback (so X% damage). She does not damage the foe while falling like a normal slime.


Up Special:

-Forms bubble around herself with middling stamina. Gives her slow free flight, duration effectively limited by said stamina that ticks down rapidly.
--Protects Dahlia from hits while inside it, though a blow that pops the slime bubble will get through and blows still deal knockback.
--Dahlia can access her ground inputs while inside her bubble, but using one will cause it to pop; it's not as sturdy as the one she's imitating.
--Smashing input gives Slimes this bubble; minions and constructs will slowly rise before the bubble pops, and will not drop if the duration runs out in the bubble (instead stopping in place as if they landed on ground where the bubble is). They otherwise continue their normal behaviors (including horizontal movement patterns).
--When the bubbles around slimes pop, they fall, naturally.
--Alternate potion types increase speed/lower duration, or lower speed/increase duration? Former could also add a slight push back to any hits that land on her, while the latter adds some minor knockback resistance (might be redundant with Down Special)?

[Slime puddle heals about the rate the bubble loses stamina, letting Dahlia use her Up Special to greatly improve her ground mobility within the affected area, though she risks losing her recovery option to a strong hit that launches her in this state.]

[Bubble can 'snag' slimes on contact and carry them around? This has some fun applications, not the least of which involves snatching a slime, getting in position, then using a tilt to slap it away at your choice of angle. Pick up a Slime Block and then drop it on opponents by toggling the Bubble on and off.]


Shield Special:

-Dahlia drops her shield when performing this input. Dahlia completes the input's lag near instantly.

-Olimar's Whistle equivalent. Slimes in minion form will hurry towards Dahlia as best they can when tapped, lasting until they reach her or have their movement influenced by any other effect (such as being hit). Slimes in projectile form will halt in place briefly, then start moving in Dahlia's direction as if created where they stopped.

-When held, Dahlia can use the control stick to 'stretch' her nearby slimes along whatever axis Dahlia input; left or right has them slim vertically and stretch horizontally, for example. They can be stretched up to 1.5x their normal width in one direction, reducing their width in the perpendicular direction to 0.5x that amount in the process. This takes half a second to fully stretch the slime one way. Hold and don't input a direction before releasing to have the slimes snap back to their normal shape.
--This can be used to mix-up how opponents must space themselves or evade Dahlia's slimes. Stretching them horizontally will let them hit a wider swath of the stage with each jump and possibly duck below some higher hitboxes at low health, while stretching them vertically makes them slowly approaching walls that are easier to duck around, but will soak projectiles for Dahlia and make aerial approaches more difficult. Stretching them diagonally is a mix of both advantages and disadvantages to lesser degrees.
--Stretching does not affect Slime!Dahlia's body, though her model stretches slightly as a visual effect while using this option before snapping back.
--Stretching does not interrupt a slime's behavior or movement. Pull this one out just when an opponent thinks they're safely out of reach!



(Notes on slime manipulation, separate from the attacks proper:

(Forward smash creates a wave of slime that travels across the ground or through the air. Slightly slow moving, giving Dahlia time to capitalize off of it. Range is extended when moving across slime puddles. Gounded version bounces slime constructs and minions a short distance upwards, air version bounces them outwards. Dahlia can use this as a movement option or even a recovery in the latter case; use Up Special, Forward Smash, Side Special to get in front of it. She can also use it to redirect her projectiles upwards.

Deals solid knockback hindered by a high arc on the ground, or moderate knockback buffed by a low knockback arc in the air. Will hug the platform it was made on as it travels, though it will fly straight upon hitting a ledge, being made in mid-air, or the ground it's on vanishing. Height (and distance it launches things up/away) increases with charge. As charge improves, knockback arc on the grounded version is gradually angled slightly forwards, meaning a slime can end up being juggled forward by the slow moving wave.)


(Slime minions and projectiles become solid blocks via Down Smash that can reflect projectiles that fail to destroy them (including Dahlia's own/each other), puddles becoming a bouncy floor that bounces slime stuff up and down (or briefly holds foes in place). Dahlia gains super armor during this effect if her slime transformation is active. Gives Dahlia some more protection in slime form and lets her set her slime projectiles as lingering traps or temporary barriers. Fun in combination with Forward Smash; send them into the air so they fall back down as blocks, and start bouncing if on a puddle. With Up Special active, Dahlia quickly drops as a hitbox, and is free to attack as soon as it lands and opens. If bouncing, they retain their horizontal momentum, slowly advancing or retreating as they bounce.

Down Smash hitbox can create a pair of pillars to either side of herself, short-lasting, act as slime blocks?

Slime minions that have been stretched retain their dimensions as blocks; high blocks form decent walls to bounce things off of (enemies, projectiles, etc) while wide blocks are great bouncy floors/projectiles. Diagonally stretched blocks can act as slopes with the usual abuses they create, or to launch Forward Smash waves from (their shape meaning waves go up and over them instead of underneath).

Repeating the input has existing blocks return to their slime form shortly after the attack ends.

[Thinking on it, what if you want only one of projectiles or minions to 'solidify'? Maybe make it context-sensative somehow? Letting projectiles keep moving opens up some fun with blocks bouncing them back and forth, but that eliminates the easiest way to get these buggers in place. I think I'll keep it as-is, letting the player make new projectiles if they want to capitalize.]

[To prevent extreme wall combos, blocks will respond to an opponent touching or hitting them by shivering a moment and slowly returning to minion form; aside from being unsafe ground, this means Dahlia can't infinite foes and foes have a much harder time keeping Dahlia penned in against her own creation. Her staff hitboxes also serve to move blocks, though only half as far as normal, adding an extra potential for escape or damage as they fall back to earth.])


(Up Smash causes slime to bristle, acting as passive hitboxes unto themselves. These bristles do light damage and radial knockback, retracting after X time, upon contact with an opposing hitbox, or upon bristles on the slime in question hitting the opponent; thus Dahlia can pinball her opponent around briefly, effectively enlarge her projectiles, make her slime blocks and puddles unsafe ground, and protect herself in slime form with a passive hitbox.

Hitbox has Dahlia raise her staff to the sky, the sphere in its center exploding outward into a ball of spikes.)

[Smashes in general should be weak at base, but fairly fast to come out due to their dual purpose of slime manipulation effects, and scale very well in knockback to reward setting up situations where you have the chance to properly charge the attack. Up Smash should be a bit slower due to the usefulness of its effect for denying space and protecting Dahlia.]



As one of her few easy combos (obviously), Dahlia's Jab can keep slimes or opponents in place for a moment, especially when using her rapid jab, or she can complete the combo to launch them with slight delay. Can move while doing the rapid jab version, slowly 'carrying' slimes or opponents backwards or forwards? Actually, the Up Special covers this nicely, letting Dahlia move mid-rapid jab.

[Idea: jab 3's hitbox comes after FAF; Dahlia slams her staff against the ground to create energy, which bursts and then inflicts knockback; delayed hitbox for her slimes and other shenanigans?]

Forward Tilt is angleable, a decently-long poking tool that also happens to be great for angling her slimes as projectiles or popping them along in various arcs in minion form. It does modest knockback with low scaling, angled almost exactly as the hitbox itself, serving to hit opponents into a slime they were running under or away from.

Up Tilt whacks them up and over her own head to land behind her in minion form, or straight up in projectile form. Opponents are whacked away at the former angle, which can put them in a bad spot behind Dahlia if she's just recovered from a ledge or into her set up if she's made an aggressive advance. Its reach makes it a decent option when recovering via Up Special, turning the tables on someone trying to camp the ledge.

Down tilt pops them a short distance forward via a low arc in minion form, or diagonally upward in projectile form. This works as a quick spacer that can counter rolls and interrupt combos, bounce slimes that are behind Dahlia into an opponent trying to cross up or are above her, and set up opponents for a 1-2 hit with another standard input (such as Forward Tilt or Up Tilt) or an aerial (out of Up Special). Dahlia can 'ride' her blocks forward as she hits them with this input, though the distance is short enough that it doesn't have much pragmatic use outside of comboing into a slime block hit on a too-close opponent or riding it down over a ledge.

Dash Attack swats the slime down, returning it to its attack pattern quicker (or hitting it off a ledge) in minion form or turning it into a minion/a possible ledge guard if in projectile form.


Neutral Aerial bounces a slime (projectile) directly away from Dahlia. Use her aerial mobility and quick rise/fall via high gravity to line up odd shots. The shorter reach requires a bit of timing, however.

Forward Aerial has a similar 'sends the projectile straight away from Dahlia' quality, but covers a cone in front of her that extends a decent ways as opposed to a shorter-reaching option all around. Low landing lag allows Dahlia to short hop into this move to continually poke her opponent backwards and her slimes forward, as well as catch foes jumping past her Side Special projectile.

Down Aerial slam-dunks the slime straight downward; great for hitting an opponent lurking below, getting a minion on the ground for coverage, spiking an off-stage opponent, or rebounding off of hardened slime for fun and profit.

Back Aerial rebounds the slime back and slightly down; this lets her catch recovering foes off-stage at the cost of a slime minion (more effective the bigger it is, with the obvious trade off of that being more investment), opponents behind her that she jumped away from to escape, opponents behind one of her slime blocks, etc.

Up Aerial pops the slime into the air and slightly forward (or straight up in projectile form), good for juggling it in the former case)



(Grab commands existing slimes to try and grab the nearest opponents; essentially turns Side Special slime projectiles/minions into grab hitboxes briefly. Slimes perform the same throw Dahlia does when she does it, and have a superior pummel in exchange for the difficulty of landing their grab between the delay and the positioning requirements. The former is an actual advantage for Dahlia when a slime is near her, as it will cover her long lag on a whiff perfectly.

Grab release frees Dahlia, but a slime that's grabbing the foe will continue holding the foe; follow up with a Side Special or Up Smash for fun and profit. Slime minions will not attack a grabbed foe for free damage, keeping it somewhat sane- seems they're pretty docile when left to their own devices.

Z-air input exists to allow Dahlia to use this while airborne without her Up Special? Need to consider what the Z-Air itself would do.)

(Forward Throw leaves foe in a slime bubble briefly; fun for bouncing them off of slime blocks or the like, allowing for combos or set ups normally not available to Dahlia. Bouncing the opponent causes them to flinch, as does the bubble popping when on solid ground (an aerial release frees them with minimal lag). The bubble doesn't last long enough to Down Smash an opponent off the bottom, but can be plenty of fun to follow up on while on-stage, and putting them in a low recovery position is a big win for Dahlia either way.)

(Down Throw transforms foes with similar effects to Dahlia's Down Special. Like Down Special, the effects of slime manipulation abilities are halved in potency and duration; she can't send them rocketing down the bottom blast zone via Side Special or Down Smash, for example, though she can certainly futz with their recovery. Up Smash does not negatively impact them, though in group fights or free for alls they become her unwitting accomplices as another hitbox she can use. When used as projectiles, they're treated as default, freshly made slimes for damage. They are not healed by Dahlia's slime puddles. If a slime grabs the foe, it gives them the potion effect they themselves embody.)

(Back Throw Has Dahlia swing around and whip her foe away for middling low-angle knockback. The high knockback growth causes this throw to change over time; starting as a combo throw early, becoming a positioning throw at mid percentages, and being a genuine KO throw at high percentages near ledge- that last part is especially powerful, as high damage opponents who corner Dahlia or one of her slimes on the ledge need to be very careful not to let her grab them, else they'll find themselves going from a strong advantage to the respawn platform!)

(Up Throw summons a massive fist of slime that shoots up, punching the foe into the air. Slime minions transform into the fist in question, hovering at the apex of their flight for a moment, before falling back down to earth; this leaves Dahlia free to play around and set up at high percentages, while leaving the opponent scrambling to avoid the slime directly below them at low percentages.)