Skullgirls/FAQ
Beginner
I want to learn Skullgirls, where do I start?
Start by playing through the tutorial if you haven't already. It will get you up to speed with the game, for people with or without previous fighting game experience.
I'm stuck on the tutorial!
If you are stuck on a certain part, here is a link to a video walkthrough.
Do I need to finish the tutorial?
Some of the later tutorial lessons ask you to perform combos which some new players may not be ready to execute in order to demonstrate some concept (such as lesson 4-7). If these lessons become more about struggling to perform the combo than understanding the concept, it may save you some frustration if you just come back to them later, or not at all if you feel you understand the concept.
What should I do after the tutorial?
It may be tempting to spend a lot of time in the lab before playing online. It's true that picking a character, learning their moves, and learning a bread and butter combo will be very useful before hopping into a match. But beyond that, if you want to use your time most effectively to learn how to play, it's recommended to play others as soon as possible. This will get you acclimated to the pace of the game and give you a foundation to build off of. For example, during a match you may realize you don't know how to confirm off a move you use a lot, then that will be a thing you can use training mode for. This way the time spent in training mode is highly likely to be useful in real games.
What do LP, LK, MP, etc mean?
Main article: Skullgirls/Controls.
There are 6 attack buttons in Skullgirls: 3 punches and 3 kicks, each with a light, medium, and heavy variant making 6 total. They are notated using LP, MP, HP, LK, MK, and HK. The game and community uses this notation because it is universal across all controllers and button configs. Not to mention this button layout originated in Street Fighter which predates modern console controller layouts. Use the picture on the right to learn what each attack button is mapped to by default on Playstation and Xbox controllers. You can also modify the buttons to your liking.
LP = Light Punch / Jab MP = Medium Punch / Strong HP = Heavy Punch / Fierce LK = Light Kick / Short MK = Medium Kick / Forward HK = Heavy Kick / Round House
What do the numbers mean in combo / move notation?
Main article: Skullgirls/Controls.
There are two notation systems that the Skullgirls community typically uses interchangeably: Capcom notation (c for crouching, s for standing, f for forward, etc) and numpad notation (using numbers 1-9 to indicate direction, so 2 indicates crouching and 5 indicates standing). Refer to the image for an explanation. This wiki will use both, typically using Capcom notation for basic normals, then using numpad notation for when a certain direction needs to be specified.
|
= |
|
= |
|
What is Double?
Double is a character who fights by turning into other characters during her attacks. Her moves borrow animations from other characters, but their properties are usually different and their uses are recontextualized by belonging to a different character. Her luger, flying butt, and slide special moves are new special moves their original characters don't have. Double appears as a blob figure when she's not attacking, and takes the form of a nun during her intro and win poses.
What is the difference between Filia and Fukua?
Filia and Fukua are two different characters who share many of the same animations. The way they play and the properties of their moves are completely different. Filia has an air dash and can travel across the air by turning into a ball. Fukua has a double jump and attacks with fireballs and clones of herself. To further visually differentiate herself, Fukua also has floating orbs surrounding her at all times, as well as her own unique color palettes. If all else fails, the character portraits will spell out which character is which.
What's the difference between one, two, and three characters?
See this section of the team building page
As a new player, what team size should I play?
If the idea of learning multiple characters is overwhelming, pick a solo character. You will do a lot more damage to compensate, and you can focus on learning one character and the basic systems. Of course if you feel confident you can also start with a duo or trio, which will teach you how to use team mechanics. Solos, duos, and trios are all seen at high level play, so the choice of which to stick with is up to you.
General
How come it seems like the opponent can keep on hitting me until I die?
Video: Understanding Resets vs Combos
The opponent cannot hit you once and kill you in this game under normal circumstances. You most likely got hit by a reset, which means to drop the combo intentionally (therefore giving you a chance to defend) and perform a mixup. Resets are extremely important for maintaining momentum in Skullgirls and is unlike most other fighting games in that sense. Resets are supposed to be quick and hard to see, doubly so if you are a new player. A way to tell for sure if one happened is if the combo counter got reset back to zero. Usually a reset is done with some kind of overhead attack, a throw, or a crossup. Be sure to watch this video for a more in depth explanation.
Where can I find combos and resets?
Check the character pages on this wiki for combo and reset sub-pages.
Where can I find people to play with?
Quick match, lobbies, and arranging matches on the Skullgirls discord or PSN discord.
Who are the best and worst characters?
At the time of writing, there's no community wide consensus on tiers. However, we are confident that the gap between tiers is very small. Every character is seen at high level competition.
Newbies worried about picking a good / bad character should instead worry about constructing a good team. Since there is custom assist, and characters have multiple supers to DHC to, it's not hard to craft a workable team using most combinations of characters, especially at a low or mid level of skill. Check out the team building page for more on this.
What's the best team size?
At the time of writing, there's no community wide consensus on the best team size. Trios, duos, and solos are all seen at high level competition. Check out the team building page for more on the differences between team sizes.
Are solos viable?
Yes. Solos typically appear in major top 8s, and there are several strong players who play solo. While not having access to some of the game's main mechanics, such as assists, hinder them, once they get an opening they do an absurd amount of damage. Check out the team building page for more on the difference between solos and teams.
Which characters are the easiest / hardest?
With regards to execution, all of the characters are roughly similar, and perceived difficulty will largely be determined by personal preference. There are no characters that demand 1 or 2 frame timings to play effectively, or characters that are designed to be difficult to execute with. Much of the execution difficulty in this game will come from adjusting combos slightly, whether it be substituting moves or adding delays, based on the situation. This will mainly become a factor the more you try to optimize your routes for damage, however the BnB routes should be relatively stable.
How do I save and view replays?
See here. Replays are only available on the PC version.
How do I use frame advance?
See here. Frame advance is only available on the PC version.
What are the tournament rules for Skullgirls?
- PS4 is the platform used for tournaments (note for tournament organizers: the PS4 version comes with all the DLC)
- 3/5 games for every match
- Default settings for time limit and number of rounds (99 seconds, 1 round for teams, 3 rounds for solos)
- Loser may change teams on character select
- Winner may change their team order as allowed by the loading screen shortcuts. (soft rule, may be up to discretion of TO)
- This loading screen shortcut is not available online
- Either player may request random stage to be chosen instead of picking a specific stage.
Things to note:
- Tournament mode is highly recommended for convenience, but it doesn't affect the gameplay so it's not a requirement.
- Be sure to disconnect all unused Bluetooth devices before playing, since it can cause extra input delay. (PS4 home button → press up → Settings → Devices → Bluetooth Devices → for each one, select it with X, then press Options and select 'Forget Device')
- There is no required resolution, as 720p and 1080p doesn't affect input delay significantly.
How many frames of delay should I use online?
Start by setting it to 0 and only increase it on really bad connections where the rollback jumps are noticeable.
How can I get the best possible performance on PC?
- Set 2D backgrounds on
- Use the -disablelighting launch option
- Play at a lower resolution
- Be sure your monitor's refresh rate matches the in-game settings
How do I get a lobby link?
Press Ctrl+C on the keyboard while in a lobby, which will copy the lobby link to your clipboard and make a sound effect. Paste and send it to the person you want to join.
How do I beat nightmare Filia?
Controllers
Do I need an arcade stick to play this game?
No. Anything works as long as you're comfortable with it. The only caveat is if you are a PC player and want to play on a PS4 at events, you will need an input device that works with it. The most common controllers are arcade sticks, gamepads (such as a DualShock 4), and hitboxes.
I'm playing on keyboard, and I'm unsure what button config to use.
A popular keyboard button config is the hitbox layout. It emulates the layout of a hitbox controller, and allows all your fingers to rest on each of the four directions at once. Another benefit is it allows keyboard players to smoothly transition to playing on a hitbox, which is a good option for a controller when playing on PS4 that is similar to a keyboard. An example of this layout is pictured here.
If you use this layout you may want to use the -socdlikehitbox launch command.
I'm playing on keyboard and certain button combinations don't register.
This is an issue with some keyboards called ghosting.
How do I map player 2 controls on keyboard?
Bring up the button config menu, then the backslash key '\' is default for a button on the player 2 side, which will select 'config all' on P2 side and let you map buttons.
Skullgirls won’t recognize my controller, how do I fix this?
First, try opening Steam Big Picture Mode and setting up a controller configuration there. That will usually get SG to pick up on it afterwards. (Mac/Linux users) If the above doesn’t work, you’ll have to manually define it in gamecontrollerdb.txt. Find this file by right-clicking SG in your Steam library and going to Properties -> Local Files -> Browse Local Files and then use SDL2 Gamepad Tool to create an entry that should be pasted into this file.
DLC and Updates
What are the upcoming updates for Skullgirls 2nd Encore?
A season pass has been announced with four new characters and other content.
Do I still need to buy the old DLC characters and colors?
What was formerly paid DLC before 2021 is now free for all users.
Platform Differences
What is the difference between different platforms?
The PC version has some extra features, mainly the ability to automatically save and play back replays in game, and frame advance. Much of the Skullgirls online community is on PC as well, since when the game was receiving updates, the PC version got to play the updates while they were in development on a beta version.
The PS4 version is what is played at events, and there is an online community for this version as well.
There is an Xbox 360 version, but it should be avoided as it's not updated to the latest version.
What is the amount of input delay between different platforms?
There is a noticeable additional delay on the PS4 version compared to the PC version. A commonly cited number is 1 frame of delay, but due to the variance in PC hardware and additional variables involved compared to console, treat it as a rough estimate. Below are some tests:
- PS4
- https://twitter.com/noodalls/status/961933608922460160
- Note: there is no difference between 720p and 1080p. Additional confirmation: https://twitter.com/WydD/status/1053002939143467010
- PC
Is there cross-platform multiplayer?
Windows, Mac, and Linux can all play against each other. PS3, PS4, and Vita can all play against each other. PC cannot play against console.
