The Battler who was sent to Rokkenjima by the theatergoers to fulfill his role as the story's culprit. He is the embodiment of all Battler culprit theories.
Introduction
Black Battler is essentially the "Akuma" or "Evil Ryu" of Battler. He shares pretty much everything with his regular counterpart, minus his ability, health, fireball and SP2, latter being the main reason you want to play Black Battler over regular for the good burst damage it offers. Black Battler might not be as versatile to fit into team due to his very low health and less reliable ability, but he does offer fun counterpart for people who are into edgy prettyboys.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Good neutral: Black Battler shares exact same great normals as his regular counterpart, so he can dominate neutral quite well.
Amazing SP2: His SP2 is one of the best in the game, offering amazing damage and conversions, which can be made burst safe too.
Massacre can be more powerful than Regeneration: With the right combo routing, Massacre can heal a lot more than Battler's passive Regeneration.
Invincible Meterless DP: While it still whiffs on crouchers, his DP now makes for an amazing anti-air and a way to escape an opponent's pressure.
Fireball is more niche: Black Battler's fireball cannot be used as meaty like his counterpart's, and it also doesn't hit crouchers, despite going fullscreen. It does have use in some MUs to interrupt some characters, but overall is not as reliable.
Lowest health in the game: Black Battler melts fast against big damage characters.
Less versatile ability: His ability requires you to hit opponent to get health, which is not always possible, while regular Battler gets health back passively.
Average pressure: He also shares same weakness of regular Battler where their pressure tends to end fast.
Changes
Patch 2.31
+Health values have been raised from 800 to 1000 for normal mode.
Patch 2.30
+ The health absorption rate of Massacre has been adjusted. http://puu.sh/qrHr Massacre now has the potential to heal roughly 2.2-2.4 more health than Resurrection does per meta, in theory.
Patch 2.10
+ The health absorption rate of Massacre has been adjusted.
Ability
Massacre - Gains health upon dealing damage.
Differences from Normal Battler
Black Battler has no unique normals compared to Battler, and his meterless 214X, 623SP, and MetaSuper are identical for both characters. Since there's so much overlap, we have decided it would be moot to have those same tools in here. If you want to learn about them, go to Battler's wiki page.
The differences between Battler and Black Battler are surprisingly few. Their health, 236X, 623X, 214AB, j.214AB, SP2, and ability are the only changes.
Special Moves
【Black Truth 「黒き真実」】 236A/B/C
Bomb set
Bomb set
Bomb detonate
Bomb detonate
Version
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
236A
300
-
28
x
46 total
HLA
-
+10
+7
x
B.Battler shoots a dark projectile that tracks the opponent
It whiffs on most of crouchers, and the tracking stops right before it detonates, so it's easy to whiff on opponents on the move. The fact that is fullscreen and relatively fast makes it better as an anti-zoning tool rather than a pure zoning one. Can also work for some punishes from far away.
A Version has the fastest with the least damage.
Unlike regular Battler's fireball, the sigil deals damage.
Version
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
236B
330
-
36
x
52 total
HLA
-
+10
+7
x
B Version has a slower startup with more damage.
Version
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
236C
360
-
42
x
58 total
HLA
-
+10
+7
x
C Version has the slowest startup with the most damage.
【Black Blow「黒き一撃」】 623A/B/C
Version
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
623A
360
-
12
4
23
HL
-
KD
-8
1-12
Battler does an upwards diagonal strike. The only difference with normal Battler is that B.Battler has invul in it.
Mainly used as an anti-air. It can be used as a reversal also on attack strings from the opponent, but it is a bit slow to be used on wake-up
A, B, and C versions are identical.
Version
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
623B
360
-
12
4
23
HL
-
KD
-8
1-12
Version
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
623C
360
-
12
4
23
HL
-
KD
-8
1-12
SP Supers
【Sharp Black Truth 「黒き鋭き真実」】 236A+B
Bomb set
Bomb set
Bomb detonate
Bomb detonate
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
492
x
25
x
46 (total)
HL
-
KD
-7
x
B.Battler sets a miriad of bombs that hit the opponent in a row
Hits fullscreen, and is faster than his non-SP 236 series. The major difference with Battler's 236SP is that it isnt as fast, but its tracking makes it harder to avoid for the opponent.
【Rapturous Gouging Time 「満悦のガウジングタイム」】 214A+B
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
540
x
10
6
27
HL
-
KD
-36
x
Only difference with Battler's 214AB is that B.Battler can cancel into his meta super with Will's ability while Battler's can't. This makes his confirms while in meta when his partner is Will a tad better than Battler's, but the difference is not too big.
【Elegant Black Raid 「黒き優雅なる急襲」】 j.214A+B
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
540
x
25
32(19)15
27
H
-
-
-
x
Battler does a downwards kick in mid-air, followed by a high backwards somersault kick. Hits high.
Invulnerable on startup.
Puts the opponent in a juggle state, allowing for further follow-ups.
The only difference with Battler is that it has different hurtboxes during the attack
Level 2 Super
【Checkmate by Gouging Truth 「打撃的真実によるチェックメイト」】 236236C
"We are...the culprit!"
"We are...the culprit!"
Damage
RecDamage
Startup
Active
Recovery
Guard
Cancel
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
480
-
12
6
29
HL
-
KD
-6
x
Battler rushes forward and hits the opponent. Rudolf and Kyrie show up and shot his opponent down, and laugh maniacally. Last hit launches the opponent. Hits mid.
Does not travel the full screen.
Contender to the best SP2 in the game alongside George's. Any confirm with 2 bars lets B.Battler combo into it. While Kyrie and Rudolf are shooting, B.Battler can actually move! This lets him combo during the shotgun shots to get a lot of damage and even possibly a stun after.
General Strategy
B. Batter is essentially an Evil Ryu in this game. In other words, it's a gamble to use him. B. Battler has possibly the best SP2 in the game and a good Dragon Punch move, but has an absurd lack of health. Now that B. Battler's ability has been buffed twice, you could potentially gain more health than Battler would from his ability in the meta. Play him like you would with normal Battler. Except that if you make a mistake, you would take more damage than Battler would have, so you must use his advantages wisely. And B. Battler needs more meter than Battler would because of his SP2.
236X may seem like the best projectile in the game, but most characters can either crouch underneath it, or walk/run through it. You can use it in blockstrings, or against people foolish enough to play keepaway, since the move tracks the opponent's location.
B. Battler's main strategy pretty much involves around getting enough meter for SP2, and then going to town with it. While 2.01 made SP2 send the opponent flying away on the last hit, negating its followups, the move is still kinda useful. When you land the move, you have a few seconds to do stuff like multiple jump attacks before the SP2 sends the opponent flying. If you were in Meta World before activating the move, do around 2 or 3 J.Cs, and then use your Meta Super, for the *probable* maximum use of B. Battler's ability. If you weren't, then you can activate it and then do whatever you like. If you don't have the meter, then keep on pummeling the opponent, and use a finisher of your choice (623, 214, etc)
Why pick him over regular Battler?
While this is normally be in the Team Building section, the overlap between him and Battler make this section needed for him specifically.
B.Battler is much more niche than regular Battler, since Massacre can only really surpass Regeneration if your team can do a lot of damage during Meta or with certain neutral touch set-ups, and combined with his low health, B.Battler is usually a downgrade in a lot of teams compared to regular Battler.
There are 4 major components that make including B.Battler over his regular self in a team worth considering.
How much can my team make use of Massacre?
How fast can it generate meter for B.Battler's SP2?
How useful is an invincible DP in a certain MU?
How useful is his fireball in a certain MU?
Massacre alone makes his skill floor inmediately higher than normal Battler. His Ability directly correlates to a player's optimization of combos. In the current PC version of the game, and asuming 3 health bars are being used, the difference between Battler and B.Battler's health is 1200 HP. Every second Regeneration is up heals Battler's team 45 HP. While it's almost impossible to make up this difference (B.Battler is meant to have less health, after all), the more able the player is to shorten that health gain gap, the better, which directly asks whoever wants to pick him to maximize Massacre's health steal to stay as competitive with him as they possibly can. Because of this, B.Battler likes partners who can also do a lot of damage.
Meter advantage is very important for B.Battler. His SP2 is extremely powerful, probably the best in the game, but needing a constant flux of meter for it is hard for most partners. However, certain partners like Beatrice, Kanon, and Virgilia, are able to help his cost, try to reduce the opponent's meter, or try to share it between the two partners respectively. Virgilia may be the worst when it comes to meter of the three, but she is a really good user of Massacre.
His meterless DP being invincible changes a lot of interactions, and could theoretically increase B.Battler's survivability. While it's laughingly easy to go under, and a bit slow at 14f, too slow for a wake-up reversal, it makes for solid counter-poking, and as an amazing anti-air. This turns it into an useful tool against characters that outrange him in the neutral, and who like to jump-in a lot.
His fireball has lost the oki usefulness like regular Battler's has, and in return, makes for a very good tool against zoning. While it's very hard to hit someone in the move with it, characters that like to set-up at a distance will find it very disruptive.
If you have found any of those criteria meet for your partner of choice, give him a try. He is very unexplored compared to Battler due to the lack of consistency, and need to optimize Massacre, but he can be surpringsily useful if the situation is fit for him.
Team Building
The information displayed here is from the 2022 Team Tier List from the Ougon Discord Thus, it is open to change, but it should work as a building block for people looking for team pairing ideas. If you are a player of any of the teams and want to change anything feel free to do so.
Image
Team Composition
1 Bar of Health
Notable information
Black Battler/Ange
Health
Fragile, poor damage, too neutral-heavy. StunBoost makes up for BB’s lower stun, but it’s not like you can follow this with anything.
Black Battler/Battler
Health
Battler has one of the best neutrals in the game so two of him let you keep that up constantly. Obviously, you’ll struggle against characters Battler doesn’t like, such as Lambdadelta and Lucifer. Black Battler’s terrible HP is offset by the combination of Resurrection and Massacre, and the issue of normal Battler being better with most partners is null because he’s with his counterpart. So this is arguably Black Battler’s best team.
The damage on these two is relatively bad, so you need to outplay the opponent to win. Very honest, but they can build meter for each other with their MetaSupers.
Black Battler/Beatrice
Health
One of the only team where Black Battler could be considered a better partner than Battler, at least for some matchups. The bulk of this team leaves much to be desired and Massacre, even paired with the pair’s high damage, might not do as much to make up for it as one would hope. It also doesn’t trigger for chip damage which is sometimes what Beatrice would be doing more of in MetaWorld; Resurrection is preferable here.
That said, similar to Beato/George, the free SP2s are a great advantage. Beato’s high stun and meter generation pair well with BB’s slightly better neutral, but lower stun and more meter-hungry playstyle, compared to normal Battler.
Fantastic neutral and Bern is an okay Massacre user, but this team is unacceptably fragile (pretty much the worst bulk in the game) and Beato is a better option than Bern.
Black Battler/Chiester 410
Health
Fragile and suffers from the same issues as Bat/410 in addition to basically never stunning. Far too reliant on mixup that will get pretty desperate. 410 isn’t a good Massacre user. You can use BB SP2 to get a free 410 MetaSuper though so there’s that.
Black Battler/Dlanor
Health
BB’s fragility is somewhat assisted by ArmorBoost but Bat/Dlanor is a lot better since Dlanor likes to stall. Shines neither offensively nor defensively. Bat/Eva or Bat/Rono are similar but much better.
Black Battler/Erika
Health
Bad damage, bad bulk, great neutral but no synergy. Just disadvantage for no reason. Bat/Eri is better but probably just play Eri/Will.
Black Battler/EVA-Beatrice
Health
Berserk and Massacre have a direct synergy, but this isn’t really enough to offset Black Battler’s lower health. Battler is the better option for Eva, but she does complement BB’s more offensive playstyle. These two find it surprisingly hard to stun. Great neutral and hard to hit, but ultimately B.Battler probably isn’t worth it. There may be marginally less need for BB’s meterless reversal because of Eva’s jelly too.
Black Battler/George
Health
Bad bulk and damage, no synergy, suffers from the same issues as Bat/George. Relies on reset and mixup even though it’s the easiest team in the game to punish.
Black Battler/Jessica
Health
In no way preferable to Bat/Jess, which isn’t the best option for either character in the first place. Massacre doesn’t activate for chip damage which means it has zero synergy with ShaveBoost, although you can still spam BB’s MetaSuper fullscreen to get damage and meter.
Jess can have a habit of getting hit a lot because her meterless 214 series is so tempting but doesn’t tend to work if the opponent has wised up to it,so less health for her is not a good thing.
Nevertheless she’s one of the best users of Massacre with her huge damage.
Black Battler/Kanon
Health
Plays the same as Bat/Kan but with pitiful bulk and difficulty stunning. BB’s meterless reversal makes this team’s neutral that much better, but his low health leaves absolutely no room for error, so this team hates getting hit. Just play Bat/Kan, unless you are extremely confident in your survivability skills.
Black Battler/Lambdadelta
Health
Same issues as Bat/Lam but also unbearably fragile, just use Beato. Lambda can use Massacre to an alright degree but she probably still prefers Resurrection.
Black Battler/Lucifer
Health
Hopelessly fragile, Bat/Luci is a straight upgrade, imposing neutral but even one mistake could lose the match.
Black Battler/Ronove
Health
One of Black Battler’s better teams but again the minor improvement to offense isn’t a good trade for reducing Ronove’s health so much when compared to normal Bat/Rono. CounterBoost suits BB’s fireball more than regular Battler’s though. But then again, Resurrection suits Ronove more than Massacre does.
Generally plays exactly the same as Bat/Rono."
Black Battler/Rosa
Health
Basically a worse version of Bat/Rosa, which already isn’t that good. Slightly higher damage at the cost of poor bulk and issues with stunning. Have very little to do to an opponent that is in the corner. Rosa/Will is better in most ways.
Black Battler/Shannon
Health
Fairly fragile when Shannon kind of needs some leniency for momentum drops and misreads, Bat/Shan is better and has a little more synergy. Bat/Beato is even better than that.
Black Battler/Virgilia
Health
Fragile Lia is a bad idea, but Virgilia is one of the partners where it could be argued BB works better with than Battler.
Brimful doesn’t compensate for BB SP2 usage completely, but it's still a major help for BB. His MetaSuper + Brimful also gives a lot of meter to Lia back, so this team is a self-sustaining loop in that sense. Lia can also capitalise on Massacre at least.
A team focused on gaining meter advantage and snowballing from there. The damage is terrific, gains back a lot of health back with Massacre thanks to both characters having high damage, and BB's DP helps covers Lia's bad anti airs.
They crack under pressure though, and they kinda lose if the opponent has a significant meter advantage over them, as they are meta reliant.
Black Battler/Willard
Health
There’s no real reason to pick this over Bat/Will, Bat/Beato, Beato/BB or Beato/Will. Black Battler actually makes less use of SPCancel than usual Battler as his fireball series is different, and the team is fragile. Best suited to rushdown, which it performs acceptably well.
Combos
Pretty much shares the same combos with Battler, with the exception of combos involving SP2.
