News

Today we’re excited to unveil our brand new Buddy System. Unlike the typical buddy system that’s supposed to prevent you from drowning in a lake or whatever, ours lets you bring small creatures from Aether into action-packed battles! These buddies will primarily be used to support Rivals players and events throughout the 2019 competitive season.

Read on for a little more information about them as well as some additional bugfixes we’ve fit in with patch 1.4.7.

The Buddy System

Buddies are now available in-game, with the first being the adorable Frostbear Cub. This new feature lets you choose creatures from Aether and beyond as companions during local and online matches. Buddies are cosmetic additions similar to skins in that they don’t affect gameplay, but instead each bring their own personality as they tag along.

They even have their own taunts.

Another thing to mention about most buddies (one of the best things in fact) is that funds raised go towards supporting Rivals players and events. More are planned for release throughout the year, so make sure to let us know in the comments which buddies you’d like to see.

Pick and choose your buddies on the character select screen. You can also optionally disable them online in the “stats and options” online menu.

Genesis Colors

A new Genesis 6 color palette has been added as the latest seasonal skins for all characters. Genesis 6, our Championship Series World Finals event, begins in just about 2 weeks.

Rep the event and make sure to tune in for the stream on ShowDown and VGBootCamp. Full viewing schedule to be announced soon.

Bug Fixes

• The purple kill effect now functions correctly when below any stage floor.
• Etalus’ Down Special will no longer create the purple kill effect when freezing an opponent.
• Ori & Sein’s Down Special now ignores Eid (the guy in the window on Tower of Heaven).
• Sylvanos’ Upward-angled Bair now maintains grass the same as the other angles.
• Elliana’s steam can no longer create the purple kill effect.

With only a few days left until Christmas, we decided to give everyone an early gift this patch. Along with some gameplay and balance changes we’re introducing a brand new way to play – Turbo Mode. Read on to find out more about our last update in 2018.

Turbo Mode

Turbo Mode is a fun new gameplay type you can choose to enable locally or online. Once you activate Turbo Mode, each Rival becomes super charged and gains the ability to cancel any hit into another action.

While this change may seem simple, it opens up a wild world of of creative and fast-paced gameplay:

We can’t wait to see what you come up with, so make sure you help us find your best clips by sharing them with the tag #RivalsOfAether.

• TURBO MODE ADDED!
  • • Turbo allows characters to cancel any attack into any other action on hit.
    • In Turbo Mode:
      • SDI distance increases by 1 pixel each time you get hit.
      • SDI distance bonus resets after 30 frames of not being hit.
      • After 10 consecutive hits, all SDI multipliers less than x1 will be ignored (such as Absa Fstrong multihits) and SDI will function as if you’re aerial, allowing you to SDI off the ground.
• DI Lines now work in frame advance and replays for all controller types and CPUs.
• CPU SDI option added in training mode.
• Input Display now available in training and replay modes.
• Dev Mode updated to version 0.4 because of new hitbox properties.

• Up Special multihits SDI multiplier decreased from x1 > x0.5.
• Up Special multihits hitstun modifier increased from 1.5 > 2.0.
• Up Special no longer has 1 less frame of flinch state.

• Bug Fix: Down Special spikes no longer move double speed on moving platforms.
• Bug Fix: Kragg will no longer have his vertical momentum halted by Spirit Flame after using Forward Special.
• Window for Aerial Down Special to transition into grounded Down Special on landing: 12 > 8 (Makes doing the grounded headbutt a little easier)

With Maypul, we wanted to address her campy options by allowing parrying projectiles to remove the Watcher’s Mark. We also took a hard look at the Up Special platform cancels and made it a more intended feature. We updated the Non Tether Up Special to have two hitboxes allowing us to keep the cool cancels while controlling the knockback so we can make it more of a read than a guaranteed tool.

• Parrying ANY move now removes Watcher’s Mark.
• Up Special can no longer be platform-cancelled during hitpause.
• Wrapping an opponent with a strong attack starts a 3 frame lockout where they can’t be wrapped again. The lockout timer doesn’t start counting down until they break free from the wrap.
• Update: Non Tether Up Special now has a 1 frame hitbox before the rising hitbox that has less scaling than the rising hit. Uspecial can only be cancelled between the 2 hits. Side effects:
  • Uspecial total damage: 8 > 10
  • Uspecial startup: 10 > 9
  • Uspecial hitpause increased
    Up Special cancel into Up Air was a guaranteed combo that required no reaction/prediction to the opponent’s DI. Now it still combos, but you must react/predict the opponent’s DI if they mix it up between fully left/right.
• Bug Fix: Down Air’s root no longer moves double speed on moving platforms.
• Bug Fix: Down Air hurtbox fixed.

• Absa no longer receives a boost when using Neutral Special in Clairen’s Plasma Field.

• Up Air SDI modifier decreased from 1.0 > 0.0.
• Bug Fix: Down Air SFX corrected.

With Ranno, we wanted to make some Quality of Life changes while redistributing power from his kit. Ranno has some awesome attacks but in the air, Neutral Air and Back Air overshine the others. We are buffing Up Air and Down Air while removing some power from Neutral Air and Back Air to make his potential combo trees more varied. We are also making Forward Tilt and Up Tilt more reliable.

• Forward Tilt 1 now has 6 frames of “Extra Hitpause” which is Hitpause that extends after the attacker’s hitpause is over. This should allow it to link more reliably.
• Up Tilt has a new hitbox inside the swing to stop the attack from having a large deadzone. This hitbox has the same properties as the sour spot.
• Up Air hitboxes are now larger.
• Down Air hitboxes are now larger.
• Down Air Hit 3 Hitstun Modifier reduced from 1.0 to 0.9 to reduce Down Air chains on the wide characters.
• Back Air active frames decreased from 16 > 8.
• Neutral Air initial base knockback decreased from 7 > 6.
• Back Air endlag increased from 13 > 16 on hit (20 > 24 on whiff).

• Bug Fix: Clairen can no longer counter inactive Elliana steam bubbles.
• Dash attack non-tipper hitboxes can now reverse (angle flipper 0 > 6).

• Update: Forward Special (Beast Dash) has been updated:
  • Forward Special is no longer jump cancellable on whiff.
  • You must hold the special button to continue travelling along grass.
  • Forward Special now has an IASA cancel on hit. Allowing Sylvanos to cancel into Jump, Attack, Special or Dodge upon hitting an opponent.
  • One goal of this change is to shift the power in Sylvanos’ Forward Special. We are removing some of its strength in Recovery (where Sylvanos is already strong) and distributing some power into low-mid percent combos.
  • We also wanted to distinguish Beast Dash from some of the other Dash Mechanics like Etalus Dash Attack, Shovel Knight Forward Special and Kragg Forward Special. By giving it an IASA cancel instead of a Jump Cancel, we can double down on Sylvanos having more grounded tools than some of the other characters.
• Jab loop endlag decreased from 32 > 27.
• Down Tilt sourspot damage decreased from 4 > 3 each.
• Down Tilt sweetspot damage decreased from 6 > 5 each.
• Bug Fix: Flowers no longer glitch when they are hit by projectiles while they have projectile immunity (first second of being planted).

• Down Tilt 1 now has 6 frames of “Extra Hitpause” which is Hitpause that extends after the attacker’s hitpause is over. This should allow it to link more reliably.
• Inactive steam bubbles are now partially transparent.

• Bug Fix: Objects on platforms can no longer be transferred to the mobile gear (Flames, Puddle, Rock, Earth Spikes, Lily, Root, Ice, Grass, Flowers, Abandoned Mech, Steam Bomb, Treasure Rocks, Gems, etc).
• Bug Fix: Down Special will no longer reel in treasure if the anchor moves to the ground (happens if you’re on a moving platform over the blastzone that moves to be over ground).