Melty Blood/MBTL/Resources
Magic Circuit
Magic Circuit, often just shorted to "Meter", "Bar", or "Gauge", is a meter that goes up to a maximum of three bars, or four if you have lost a round and entered Awakening.
Magic Circuit is often represented as a percentage: for example, one bar is 100% meter, and the maximum meter in Awakening is 400%. Although it can't be seen in Training Mode, this value is stored with two decimal points of precision, e.g. it is possible to have precisely 137.37% Magic Circuit.
Earning Magic Circuit Offensively
All of the following offensive actions give you Magic Circuit.
- Hitting the opponent with a non-metered move.
- Moon Skills grant double the expected meter.
- Having a non-metered attack blocked by the opponent.
- Having a non-metered attack shielded.
- Activating Moon Drive.
- Utilizing Moon Charge.
Mario's 236C is the sole exception to the rules above, gaining meter on hit and block.
Earning Magic Circuit Defensively
All of the following defensive actions give you Magic Circuit.
- Getting hit by the opponent.
- Blocking an attack.
- The amount of Magic Circuit gained from blocking an attack is a set amount per move that doesn't scale.
- Shielding an attack.
- The amount of Magic Circuit gained from shielding an attack is the exact same set amount gained for blocking.
- Teching a throw. (Defender only.)
- Activating Moon Drive.
- Utilizing Moon Charge.
The precise way one earns Magic Circuit in combos is still being datamined/researched, a user by the name of how has made a calculator that is fairly accurate. You can get the values required to use the calculator ingame with this (PC).
Using Magic Circuit
EX Special
EX Special Attacks (commonly called supers) are always mapped to the C version of a special move and require one bar of Magic Circuit to use, denoted with an "EX Edge" pop-up when performed. These are typically powered up versions of the special move they share the input of and vary heavily by character. EX moves will cause a "superflash", showing a cinematic animation of the character 4 frames into the move and then performing it. EX moves also grant one Moon Icon on hit, tying into the Moon Gauge system. EX moves also have 4 frames of throw invulnerability allowing you to evade and counter attack against throws and command grabs.
Arc Drive
Arc Drives require three bars of Magic Circuit to use and are generally high damage combo enders. They also have a superflash, starting on frame 1 instead of 4. They can be used as a reversal, but they are also generally quite slow. Exceptions to this are command grab Arc Drives (Akiha, Kouma, Dantes), as they start on frame 5 and have a unique 0 frame superflash that forces the attacker to do a grab invulnerable option like jump. They grant 2 Moon Icons on hit as opposed to 1.
Last Arc
Last Arcs require four bars of Magic Circuit, which requires you to lose a round beforehand in a typical First to 2 match. Similarly to Arc Drives, Last Arcs have frame 1 superflashes. Last Arcs will also remove awakening from your character, resetting your maximum amount of meter back to three bars. Last Arcs deal heavy damage and have a long cinematic upon success. Activating a Last Arc with ABCD will start it with a blockable attack, but Shielding in Blood Heat will activate Last Arc no matter where the opponent was or what state they were in. Doesn't grant any Moon Icons on hit.
Meter Penalty
When you use any metered move listed above, you enter a state called Meter Penalty. This state cuts meter gain by a flat amount, in addition to none of the above moves gaining meter on hit or block (excluding Mario's 236C). However, if done mid combo, the meter penalty will end alongside the combo, meaning you get regular meter gain for the hit after if you used a metered move mid combo.
- Meter penalty from EX moves (mid combo, whiff, or block) and Arc Drive (whiff and block) cuts your meter gain by roughly 75% (The precise penalty is per-move).
- Meter penalty Post-Heat/Blood Heat cuts your meter gain by roughly 60%.
- Meter penalty from a whiffed or blocked raw Last Arc cuts your meter gain by roughly 90%, though strangely the penalty is decreased to a roughly 80% cut if you do raw Last Arc while in blood heat.
- Meter penalty lasts 300 frames or 5 seconds from the moment Superflash begins, and ends immediately upon the end of a combo (More specifically, when the combo counter disappears).
- This means using an EX move as part of a setup at the end of a combo such as
Hisui's 22C, or 
Akiha's 236C and then scoring a hit with it afterward results in no meter penalty whatsoever. - It also means that some Arc Drives don't even suffer Meter Penalty on block/whiff due to extended animations (For example,
Severe Break Slider).
- This means using an EX move as part of a setup at the end of a combo such as
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 at least one bar of 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, and Saber uniquely receives a 15% damage boost.
Countering heat activation is key to good offense in this game, otherwise players will utilize systems like Moon Charge to ensure they always have at least 1 bar to heat out of your pressure for free. Here's a table of the startup for each type of heat.
| Heat Type | First Active |
|---|---|
| A+B+C | 14 |
| [A+B+C] | 29 |
| Guard Cancel A+B+C | 29 |
Blood Heat
Blood Heat works similarly to Heat but requires your character to be in Awakening state with 4 bars. Blood Heat is functionally a stronger Heat mode, with a higher health regeneration rate and higher damage bonus of 20%, with Saber uniquely receiving 25%. Blood Heat also gives access to Last Arc from shield, making Shield very threatening as Shielding anything can lead to huge damage.
The Moon System
The Moon System is one of the defining mechanics of Type Lumina, giving players access to extremely powerful offensive and defensive tools at the cost of a separate resource.
Moon Icon
The Moon Icon (more often called the "Moon Gauge") is a new resource in Type Lumina, which functions differently from Magic Circuit. Knowing when to spend Moon Gauge, and how to gain it back, is important to Type Lumina's resource management game.
The Moon Gauge has 11 "phases"—it goes from empty (0%) to full (100%) in 10% increments. Characters start battles with a full Moon Gauge, and the amount of Moon Gauge you have carries over between rounds.
Gaining Moon Gauge
- Hitting your opponent gives you 10% gauge; hitting your opponent with a Fatal Counter gives 20% instead. (Applies only to the first hit of a combo.)
- Getting hit by your opponent gives you 10% gauge; suffering a Fatal Counter or being hit by a Moon Skill gives 0% instead. Suffering a Fatal Counter while shielding removes 20%. (Applies only to the first hit of a combo.)
- Hitting your opponent with an EX Special move gives you 10% gauge. (Once per combo.)
- Successfully Shielding an attack gives 10% gauge after you cancel the shield into a followup, or recover.
- Moon Charging (2A+B) slowly gains gauge.
Spending Moon Gauge
- Using Moon Skills costs 30% gauge. If you have 10% or 20% gauge, you can still use a Moon Skill, at the cost of all remaining gauge.
- Using Shield Counter B+C costs 50% gauge. (Note that, because the reward of 10% gauge for a successful shield is given after the shield followup, you cannot B+C if you land a successful shield at 30% gauge.)
- Clashing with a Moon Skill during Moon Drive uses 30% of your gauge per clash (assuming you used Moon Drive at 100% gauge).
- Whiffed Shields cost 10% gauge.
- Holding Shield slowly drains the gauge over time.
- When the Moon Gauge is at 50% or more, you can enter Moon Drive, which will consume all of your Moon Gauge to enter a powered up state.
Moon Skills
Moon Skills are powerful special moves that cost 30% Moon Icons to use. You can still use a Moon Skill if you only have 10-20% Moon Icons, but this will empty your Moon Gauge. Compared to standard special moves, they have increased strength, simpler commands, are generally quick to start up, have massive meter gain, and in the case of Moon Skill DPs, can be jump cancelled even on whiff. In return, moon skills cause your character to flash blue making it easier to shield on reaction, and you can't reshield if the opponent shields your Moon Skill. This means shielding a moon skill up close is a guaranteed punish which plays a big role in the offense/defense metagame of Moon Skills.
- Every character has at least 3 Moon Skills, but the number can vary wildly. As a general rule, a character will have a corresponding moon skill for each one of their special moves.
- Examples of Moon Skill inputs are 6B+C, 4B+C, 2B+C, and 3B+C.
- Some Moon Skills can only be done in the air.
- Most Moon Skills tend to be combo starters, while some such as Arcueid's 2B+C and Kouma's 3B+C, are DPs that can be jump cancelled on hit or block.
- Moon Skills become enhanced during Moon Drive. See the section below for more details.
- Moon Skills beat clash frames from charged normals, e.g. Arcueid 5[B] or Saber j.[C]. They still clash with other Moon Skills during Moon Drive though.
Moon Drive
Moon Drive can be activated by pressing 5B+C when your Moon Gauge is at 50% or more. This turns your Moon Gauge into a slowly draining timer that cannot be refilled until Moon Drive ends. MD Lasts roughly 33 seconds if activated at 100%, which we call a "Full MD", otherwise it lasts around 10 seconds, which we call a "Half MD". It doesn't matter if you activate MD at 90% or 50%, you'll get the 10 second MD.
Moon Drive Activation
On activation, Moon Drive will restore your airdash and cause the game to pause, giving you time to react to what is happening. It has 3 frames of startup, 2 frames of recovery, and is invulnerable to strikes for the entire duration. This means it can be used to pause the game and assess the situation, or combo off of normally non-comboable hits.
- MD can be activated whenever you're normally actionable or when using a special move (even on whiff). The exceptions to this are when whiffing a Moon Skill, whiffing an EX Special, or using an invincible special.
- If done from neutral/from a whiffed Special, the activation has 3 frames of invulnerable startup and 2 frames of invulnerable recovery. If done from a hit/guarded move however, the recovery is shortened by 1 and the opponent suffers an additional 2 frames of hit/blockstun.
- Moon Drive activation is vulnerable to throws, including when you use it immediately on wakeup, so your opponent can call you out with a grab.
- When used in a combo, multiplies the current damage proration by 1.1x (capping at 75%) and the current untech proration by 1.5x (capping at 100%). For example, if you're at 60% damage proration and 50% untech proration, using MDA will result in having 66% damage proration and 75% untech proration. Likewise, using MDA at 70% damage proration 60% untech proration will give 75% damage proration and 90% untech proration.
- In practice, this bonus is more often than not best used after the second move in a combo, as using it too early will result in getting no damage bonus and too late can result in a lower bonus.
Moon Drive Buffs
Universally, characters get the following buffs:
- Your character is granted passive Magic Circuit gain at a rate of about 4.34% per second, giving ~143% for Full MD and ~47% for half MD.
- You gain a second airdash. The only restriction is that you can't airdash twice in the same direction without performing another action inbetween.
- You gain a third jump. The triple jump can be used after using both airdashes, but it will consume an airdash if you have one remaining.
- Moon Skills remove 15% of the gauge in Full MD, and 30% of the gauge in Half MD, and have a reduced start up by 1 frame.
- Moon Skills gain clash frames. Clashing with a Moon Skill uses 30% of the Moon Gauge, regardless of whether it's Full MD or a Half MD. This is only taken once per Moon Skill, so multi-clashes don't cost any more than singular ones. Clash occurs for a maximum of 11 startup frames, so slow moonskills can still be vulnerable.
- Cinematic launcher moves (e.g. 3C) gain more hitstun, occasionally allowing slightly better combos.
Moon Drive Counter
When an opponent activates Moon Drive, it is possible to perform your own Moon Drive in response as long as you're not blocking or being hit (or using Arc Drive, Heat, or Last Arc). You and your opponent can then act at the same time (The situation is +0). Counter Moon Drive will also allow you to cancel moves that normally can't be MD cancelled (such as invincible specials or EXs on whiff/block). This is useful if your opponent tries to Moon Drive and block in response to your reversal option. Note that if you hadn't already committed to an action, you're typically better off not using Moon Drive Counter, since the opponent's Moon Drive inherently leaves them at -2.
Moon Charge
2A+B performs a Moon Charge, which restores Moon Icons and Magic Circuit gauge for as long as the buttons are held. However, it slowly converts your character's life to Vital Source until both Moon Icons and Magic Circuit are full. HP drain stops once both meters are filled. If the opponent is in Moon Drive, their Moon Gauge will decrease more quickly when you Moon Charge.
Moon Charge has a minimum active time of 23 frames, and increments the Moon Gauge every 45 frames. Minimum charge time generates 11.25% Circuit (0.5%/frame for 21 frames + 0.75% for 1 frame), 22 frames worth of charge towards your next Moon Icon, and drains 86 HP. After this time, Circuit increases by 0.75% and HP decreases by 2 every frame. Partial Moon Icon charges are tracked separately from Moon Gauge, and do not reset when the gauge is filled or emptied by any other means than charging. If your partial Icon charge is at least 50% full (at least 23f worth of charge), the next charge is penalized by up to 15f worth of charge time depending on the exact amount currently stored.
