Melty Blood/MBTL/Defense
Blocking
Ground Blocking
Holding [4] will block all High (H) and Mid (LH) attacks. Holding [1] will block all Low (L) and Mid (LH) attacks. While there is crossup protection in Type Lumina, it only applies to stand block. If you crouch block, crossup protection will not help you. Blocking is always vulnerable to Throws or Unblockable attacks. Having your attack clash with another gives the same cancel options as if the attack were blocked. There are no infinite blockstrings in Type Lumina thanks to blockstun decay, which reduces blockstun by three frames every 28 blocked hits.
Air Blocking
Holding any back direction in the air ([1], [4], or [7]) will make your character Air Block. Air Blocking will succeed against every air button in the game and almost every projectile, but it comes with a major weakness. You cannot block grounded normals while in the air, and you cannot block Air Throws. If your character gets stuck blocking a highly plus projectile in the air, your opponent is free to run up and unblockable you with a grounded normal.
Shield
Shield is a parry-like defensive option that is available to all characters. Standing Shield (4D/5D) will block highs and mids, and crouching Shield (1D/2D) will block mids and lows. Generally, if the opponent is airborne you should use stand Shield and if they're grounded you should use crouching Shield. Some attacks are unshieldable (mostly grabs) or require specifically standing or crouching Shields (unblockables).
On a successful Shield, one hit of an incoming attack is nullified and a small amount of health is restored for the defender. When the first hit of rapidly-hitting multi-hit attacks is shielded, all subsequent hits are automatically shielded also (known as auto-shielding), but health is only restored once.
Shields interact with the Moon System, giving 2 Moon Icons on success and losing 1 if the Shield recovers without catching anything. The recovery frames of Shield also varies based on your Moon Icons, becoming worse with fewer remaining.
Shield Counters
Successful Shields enable three different follow-ups: Shield Counter A, Shield Counter B, and Shield Counter B+C.
Shield Counter A performs an attack using your character's 3C animation, launching into a combo. In the air, your character uses the animation of their j.C instead. This Shield Counter can also be performed using the C button.
Shield Counter B performs a slow side-swapping teleport into a jumping attack, which ground bounces on counterhit for a combo.
Shield Counter B+C is the only follow-up that requires resources, requiring at least 50% Moon Icons to be filled and consuming 5 Moon Icons to perform, but it crosses through opponents and recovers in an airborne state, getting you out of almost any sticky situation. It launches high enough on hit for a combo. The successful shield still rewards 2 Moon Icons afterwards, effectively making Shield Counter B+C cost 3 Moon Icons when performed that way. It is also possible to cancel directly into B+C counter in response to one's own attack being shielded, without having to perform a successful re-shield first.
| Shield Counter Type | Startup | Active | Recovery | Total | Adv. on Block | On Hit | On Counterhit | Damage | Invincibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A/C | 11 | -7 | Launch | Launch | 1000 | ||||
| B | 25 | -2 | 0 | Ground Bounce | 1000 | ||||
| B+C | 7 | Float | Fatal Counter | 1200 |
Shield RPS (Rock, Paper, Scissors)
Most attacks that are shielded can be cancelled into Shield themselves, which results in a Rock Paper Scissors-esque mind game. At a basic level, Shield Counter A will beat any attack that isn't Shield. Shield Counter B has a slower enough startup to punish people immediately trying to shield your Shield Counter A. Shield Counter B+C can be whiff cancelled into, giving you a safe out unless your opponent manages to shield it.
However, if a Moon Skill, EX Special, Arc Drive, Last Arc, Forced Release, or invincible special are shielded, they can not be cancelled into Shield.
Shield Frame Data
| Moon Icons during Shield | Minimum Active (all) | Whiff Recovery (stand) | Whiff Recovery (crouch) | Minimum Whiff total (stand) | Minimum Whiff total (crouch) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 19 | 10 | 12 | 29 | 31 |
| 9 | 19 | 12 | 14 | 31 | 33 |
| 8 | 19 | 12 | 14 | 31 | 33 |
| 7 | 19 | 12 | 14 | 31 | 33 |
| 6 | 19 | 12 | 14 | 31 | 33 |
| 5 | 19 | 12 | 14 | 31 | 33 |
| 4 | 21 | 12 | 14 | 33 | 35 |
| 3 | 21 | 12 | 14 | 33 | 35 |
| 2 | 21 | 12 | 14 | 33 | 35 |
| 1 | 21 | 12 | 14 | 33 | 35 |
| 0 | 22 | 13 | 15 | 35 | 37 |
- Successful shields with no Shield Counter remain in shield for 25f and have 0f recovery.
- Air shields are in recovery until landing. They have an additional 12f landing recovery on whiff, but no landing recovery after shielding an attack.
- Shield FD behaves as if the Moon Gauge is full for the duration of Moon Drive.
Throw Teching
The throw tech window in Type Lumina is 8 frames. This includes the beginning of the catch animation. The player who actually techs the throw (typically the defender) ends the throw tech at +3. Techs will also occur from throw inputs during the attacker's throw startup.
Option Selects
If you don't know what an option select is, check the Glossary page for it before reading on.
Anti-Heat OS
Input: 5A > 5B~D
Explanation: 5A > 5B will come out on block, and 5A > Shield will come out if the 5A whiffs (I.E. Heat Activation), giving an easy punish.
How to beat it: Vary the timing and situations of Heat activation to keep from being predictable.
This OS allows you to counter wake up moon drive activation with your own via a delayed 5BC input (the so-called [redacted] option select.)
Shield + Throw Tech
Input: 1D~AD
Explaination:
How to beat it: Punish the throw tech.
Fuzzy Mash + Throw Tech
Input: 1 > 1A > slight delay AD > 1
Explanation:
How to beat it: Frame trap it, the OS will result in mashing if there is no throw.
Backdash + Throw Tech
Input: 1 > 4AB~D > 1
Explanation:
How to beat it: Frame trap it or chase the backdash.
Heat + Throw Tech
Input: 1ABCD
Explanation:
How to beat it: Shield the Heat activation.
Moon Drive + Throw Tech
Input: 1ABCD
Explanation:
How to beat it: Block.
Moon Skill + Throw Tech
Input: 1 > 1BC > 1AD
Explanation:
How to beat it: Depends on the Moon Skill, blocking is the best option.
Ground and Air Recovery
Forward recovery is punishable, all other recovery options are fully invincible and safe.
Magic Circuit
Earning Magic Circuit Defensively
Heat
Heat functions as a universal reversal and guard cancel option. Heat activation is slow but it is omnidirectional and unblockable, but there are specific Option Selects found to deal with it. Heat requires one bar or Magic Circuit to use, but starts a timer equivalent to how much meter you had. While your character is in Heat, they will slowly regenerate blue health and have access to their Arc Drive (at the cost of ending heat). EX Edge moves will consume a portion of the timer. Heat also gives your character a 10% damage boost.
Blood Heat
Blood Heat works similarly to Heat but requires your character to be in Awakening state. Blood Heat is functionally a stronger Heat mode, with a higher damage bonus of 20% and higher health regeneration rate. Blood Heat also gives access to Last Arc, making Shield very threatening as Shielding anything can lead to 5K damage.
Defence Modifiers
Health
All characters have 11,001 Health. There are no guts values that change how much damage a character takes.
Heat/Blood Heat
Heat has a x1.1 damage modifier for the attacker. Blood Heat has a x1.2 damage modifier for the attacker. There is no defence modifier for heat or blood heat.
Stand/Crouch/Air States
There is no defence modifier for any state (stand/crouch/air), so all base damage of any move will be the same regardless of state.
