Skullgirls 2nd Encore: Beginner-to-Advanced Guide

Everything a new player needs to get into Skullgirls: team ratios, assists, the anti-infinite systems, meter use, a roster overview with beginner picks, and how to practice efficiently.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Steam version 3.7.13+ (the May 2024 balance update, v3.7.10, plus June 2024 networking and bug-fix patches). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

Do the in-game tutorials. Skullgirls has one of the best tutorials in fighting games. It teaches not just the buttons but fighting-game fundamentals like hit confirms and mixups.
Pick a team size (ratio) of 1, 2 or 3. Fewer characters means each one has more health and hits harder. More characters means more assists and more comeback potential.
Six buttons: light, medium and heavy punch, and light, medium and heavy kick. Chains like light into medium into heavy work for everyone.
You choose your assists. Any character can call in a teammate to do almost any special or normal move you pick at character select.
The game stops infinites for you. Repeating the same combo loop lets the opponent Burst out, and the Undizzy/Drama bar caps how long you can keep someone stunned.
Meter is called Dramatic Tension. Build it by attacking and getting hit, then spend it on Blockbusters (supers), snapbacks and more.
Learn one character well before building a full team. Many strong players started on a solo or duo team.
Use Training Mode's frame data and hitbox display once you know the basics.

Controls and Notation

The community uses numpad notation (5 = neutral, 2 = down, 6 = forward, 4 = back, 236 = quarter circle forward, 214 = quarter circle back). Button abbreviations:

Abbreviation	Button
LP/MP/HP	Light/Medium/Heavy Punch
LK/MK/HK	Light/Medium/Heavy Kick
cMK	Crouching Medium Kick (2MK)
j.HP	Jumping Heavy Punch
DHC	Delayed Hyper Combo ("Blockbuster Ensemble")

Button combos for assists, tagging, throws and other universal actions are shown in the tutorials and the Command List, and you can remap them in Options.

Core Systems

Team ratios

Ratio	Pros	Cons
1 (solo)	Highest health and damage per character; no assist to manage	No assists or tag-outs, no comeback through fresh teammates
2 (duo)	Balanced; one assist	Moderate health per character
3 (trio)	Two assists, two extra lives, huge combo potential	Lowest health and damage per character

Assists

At character select you pick an assist move for each teammate. Assists let you:

Extend combos
Cover your approach (projectile assists)
Lock down the opponent (mixup assists)
Protect yourself (anti-air or invincible assists)

Beginners should pick a projectile or anti-air assist; they make neutral much easier.

Tagging and Blockbusters

Tag-in: switch your active character.
Blockbusters: supers that cost Dramatic Tension (you can store up to five bars).
Blockbuster Ensemble (DHC): cancel one character's Blockbuster into a teammate's to switch in with a big combo.
Snapback: costs meter; forces the opponent's active character out and brings in one of their teammates. Useful for killing a damaged back character.
Alpha Counter: an invincible tag-in while blocking, for meter.

Infinite Prevention System (IPS) and Burst

Skullgirls stops loops automatically:

If an attacker repeats a chain or combo route in a way the system flags as a loop, the defender can Burst out.
Don't mash it. A Burst the attacker sees coming can be blocked or baited, and then you eat a full combo.

Unblockable protection

Skullgirls also gives the defender a short grace period after blocking, so high/low and left/right attacks timed to land at the same moment can't create true unblockables. You still have to guess on real mixups, but you won't lose to a setup you literally couldn't block.

Health recovery on tag-out

On duo and trio teams, a character sitting in the back slowly recovers part of the damage they took (the red portion of the health bar). That's why snapbacks and DHCs that drag a hurt character in matter so much.

Undizzy / Drama bar

As combos go on, the Undizzy (Drama) bar fills. A full bar means the combo can't keep going and the opponent drops free.
Hitting someone at max Drama heavily scales damage. The May 2024 update set minimum scaling for combos started at max Undizzy to 45% (previously 35%), and damage still drops to 55% if you cross into max Undizzy during a combo.
The bar resets as the defender gets hit and recovers. Plan resets around it.

Defense

Blocking: hold back. Low attacks must be crouch-blocked, overheads stand-blocked.
Reaction Shot / Push Block: pushes the opponent away while blocking. The May 2024 patch fixed bugs on the last frame of this.
Alpha Counter (see above) is your meter-based way out of blockstun on a team.
Armor: armored normals take full damage; armored specials and Blockbusters take 50% (with character-specific exceptions like Painwheel's Buer Overdrive).

Roster

The base 2nd Encore package includes 14 characters, and four later DLC characters bring the total to 18.

Character	Style	Beginner-friendly?
Filia	Fast rushdown with double jump and air dash	Yes
Cerebella	Grappler with command grabs and armor	Medium
Peacock	Zoner with projectiles and traps	Medium
Parasoul	Setup/zoning with Napalm and tear setups	Hard
Ms. Fortune	Rushdown with a detachable head	Hard
Painwheel	Flight, armor, big pokes	Medium
Valentine	Fast mixups and poison vials	Medium
Double	Shapeshifter with long-range tools	Medium
Squigly	Stance-based zoner/setups	Hard
Big Band	Heavy with super armor and parries	Yes
Fukua	Filia-like rushdown with clones	Yes
Eliza	Summons with a big body and stance	Hard
Beowulf	Grappler with his chair, The Hurting	Medium
Robo-Fortune	Zoning with lasers and heads	Medium
Annie (DLC)	Space-themed zoning/mixups	Medium
Umbrella (DLC)	Rushdown with Hungern and a Starving mechanic	Medium
Black Dahlia (DLC)	Gunner with teleports and ammo types	Hard
Marie (DLC)	Summoner with minion setups	Hard

Beginner picks: Filia, Big Band, and Fukua have simple game plans, easy combos, and strong tools.

Roster history: the original 2012 game shipped with the first eight (Filia to Double). Squigly, Big Band, Eliza, Beowulf and Robo-Fortune followed in 2013, and Fukua began as a 2014 April Fools' joke that was kept because players liked her. The paid DLC era added Annie (2021), Umbrella (2021), Black Dahlia (2022) and Marie (2023).

Game Modes

Mode	What it's for
Tutorial	Step-by-step lessons from blocking up to advanced team play. Do all of it.
Training	Frame data, hitboxes, recording the dummy, and assist setups. Where you'll spend most practice time.
Trials	Character-specific combo challenges. Good for learning each character's bread-and-butter routes.
Story Mode	Fully voiced story for each character, ending in the Skullgirl fight. A fun way to meet the cast.
Arcade	A ladder of fights against the AI at your chosen difficulty.
Online	Ranked and casual matches plus lobbies, with rollback netcode (GGPO).

Tip: play every character's Story Mode once. It's short, it teaches you a bit about each matchup, and the Michiru Yamane soundtrack and hand-drawn animation are half the reason people love this game.

Building a Team

When you move from solo to duo or trio, think in roles:

Point character: the one you're best with. They'll spend the most time on screen.
Assist provider: someone with a great assist (a full-screen projectile, an invincible anti-air, or a long-lasting lockdown move).
Anchor: a character who is strong alone with meter, since they're often the last one standing with a full five bars.

A classic beginner duo pairs a rushdown point character with a projectile or anti-air assist behind them. Pick the assist move first, then see if you actually enjoy playing that character when they're forced in.

A Beginner Game Plan

Pick one character (solo or duo team) and learn one bread-and-butter combo from a jab.
Learn to hit-confirm: check whether your attack hit before committing to a Blockbuster.
Anti-air: find one move that beats jumping attacks and use it consistently.
Block patiently. Many beginners mash buttons after blocking; wait for real openings.
Throw: use throws against opponents who block a lot.
Add an assist once you're comfortable, then a third character.

Latest Balance Changes (2024)

The final balance cycle, tested in a Steam beta after Combo Breaker 2024, went live in version 3.7.10 on May 28, 2024:

Valentine got her new cross design.
Beowulf no longer takes damage from blocking bursts without his chair, and several chair-related bugs were fixed.
Parasoul's Egret Dive now blocks unlimited projectiles.
Umbrella got a new Taunt while Starving (later tuned).
Black Dahlia's Tea Slip gained extra recovery when teleporting far away.
Eliza's Crimson Scourge invincibility bug was fixed.
Undizzy/Drama scaling and armor rules were tuned (see above).

In June 2024, Steam networking was upgraded to use Steam's relays, and the in-fight connection indicator changed to a ping display.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Skipping the tutorials. They teach you more than most guides.
Picking three characters immediately. Each character has less health and you'll spread your learning too thin.
Mashing Burst. A baited Burst gives the opponent a free combo.
Ignoring assists in neutral. A well-timed assist changes the whole fight.
Doing the longest combo possible. Undizzy caps you; a shorter combo plus a reset is often better.
Not blocking low. Many Skullgirls characters open you up with fast lows.

Advanced Tips

Learn resets. Because Undizzy cuts combos short, strong players end combos in a mixup instead.
Use DHCs to switch characters safely and extend damage.
Snapback damaged characters so you can kill them off instead of letting them regain health in the back.
Protect your assist. Assists can be hit; don't call them carelessly.
Study frame data in Training Mode to know which attacks are safe on block.
Play online with the ping display on to find good connections.
Join the community: the official Discord and Skullheart forums are where tech and balance notes are shared.

FAQ

Is Skullgirls still updated? The last balance update landed in May 2024 (v3.7.10), with Steam networking and bug fixes through June 2024 (v3.7.13 and later).

How many characters are there? 14 in the base 2nd Encore package, plus four DLC characters: Annie, Umbrella, Black Dahlia and Marie.

Is solo, duo or trio best? All three are viable. Solo is simplest and hardest-hitting; trio has the most options but the least health per character.

What's the easiest character? Filia, Big Band and Fukua are common beginner recommendations.

Why did my combo stop working? The Undizzy bar may have filled, or you triggered the IPS and the opponent Burst out.

My online matches keep disconnecting. What can I do? Make sure you're on the latest build (the June 2024 patches moved Skullgirls onto Steam's newer networking and relays), and use the ping display in lobbies to pick opponents with green or yellow connections.