Thrill Kill/System

From SuperCombo Wiki


Blocking


 Your character will automatically block any attacks as long as you're not holding a direction or performing an action within 2f of the attack hitting you. Standing still will automatically block High.png and Mid.png attacks, while crouching will block Low.png attacks. This makes the block button largely useless outside of pressing it to ensure you're blocking, with the exception of pressing it during a dash to cancel it and immediately begin blocking (which does not reset the dash cooldown like pressing crouch does).

Counters


 Counters are a defensive tool that can be enabled or disabled in the options menu. Every character has access to two different kinds of counters, which can be used in two different ways: Parries and Breakers.

 Pressing TK-input-S.pngTK-input-plus.pngTK-input-T.png will parry High.png and Mid.png attacks, and TK-input-X.pngTK-input-plus.pngTK-input-C.png will parry Low.png attacks.

 When a successful counter is performed, it executes a universal move that deals 15 damage and causes a hard knockdown to any opponent caught in its large hitbox. Counters last 7f, however the game only checks to see if you're currently in this 7f window before beginning another counter, which means with proper timing you can constantly be in a countering state, even if your animation doesn't portray you doing so. A common camping tactic is to hold crouch while constantly switching between countering high and low.

Parrying

 Parrying is performed by pressing either counter input when you're not in an attack animation or in or hitstun, and can be performed while crouching. Parrying will perform an animation where your character reels back, but this same animation plays whether you're parrying high or low, allowing you to mask which parry you're using. You are unable to move, attack, or block during the parry animation.

Breakers

 Counter inputs can be performed even when you're in hitstun and actively being attacked by another player. A combo string can be countered out of when the string switches from a High.png or Mid.png attack to a Low.png attack, or vice versa. Pressing TK-input-S.pngTK-input-plus.pngTK-input-T.png counters the change to a High.png or Mid.png, and TK-input-X.pngTK-input-plus.pngTK-input-C.png counters a change to a Low.png attack.

 This mechanic keeps (almost) all of the 0-to-death combos in check, as most of them contain several opportunities for victims to counter out of them. This also adds a lot of value to characters that possess multiple combo paths from a single attack forcing a knowledge check of when to counter out of it.

 The combo strings present on each of the character pages will denote where in the string an attack can be high or low countered. Inputs coloured cornflower blue can be high countered, and inputs coloured light coral can be low countered. For example, this Tormentor string has two opportunities to counter out of it after the first hit:

Square (High counterable)TK-input-comma.pngSquareTK-input-comma.pngForwardTK-input-comma.pngSquareTK-input-comma.pngCrossTK-input-comma.pngCrossTK-input-comma.pngCircleTK-input-comma.pngCircleTK-input-comma.pngBackTK-input-comma.pngForwardTK-input-comma.pngCircle (Low counterable)TK-input-comma.pngCrossTK-input-comma.pngCircleTK-input-comma.pngCrossTK-input-comma.pngForwardTK-input-comma.pngQuarter CircleTK-input-comma.pngSquare (High counterable)

 Strings that have no way of being broken out of after the first hit are called "Safe" strings. They're particularly useful for punishing an opponent after a mistake to score guaranteed damage, but these strings aren't very good for neutral pressure as they contain no high/low mixups to get around blocks.

Crouching


 Crouching is performed by holding TK-input-l2.png. High attacks and grabs will always whiff crouching players. However, a lot of characters lack good attacks or strings from a crouching position, so being able to launch or hard knockdown an opponent from a crouching position (either through a single move or a string) is considered a very valuable asset to the character.

Damage


 Characters in Thrill Kill don't have health bars, and one character doesn't have more health than any other. Instead, rounds are won by dealing damage to fill your bloodlust meter. Once you deal 100 damage, you win the round. In a multiplayer game, you then grab one of the remaining players in the game and Thrill Kill them - removing them from the match.

Bonus Damage

 Special moves, which are moves that require one or more direction inputs to perform, deal double damage if they're linked into from a combo string. For example, Belladonna's Vegas Vertical (ForwardTK-input-comma.pngCircle) deals 6 damage on its own. However, when strung into using TriangleTK-input-comma.pngTriangleTK-input-comma.pngCircleTK-input-comma.pngForwardTK-input-comma.pngCircle, Vegas Vertical deals 12 damage instead. This means strings with a lot of linked specials can rack up damage very quickly, and certain moves in particular can deal a ludicrous amount of damage using this mechanic.

 Sometimes a string will end with a special move, even though a different attack was inputted to string it. For example, Tormentor has a CircleTK-input-comma.pngCircleTK-input-comma.pngCircle string that ends with a Spin Kick attack, even though that move is performed with Quarter CircleTK-input-comma.pngCross. If you input CircleTK-input-comma.pngCircleTK-input-comma.pngQuarter CircleTK-input-comma.pngCross instead, you get the same string except the final hit will deal double damage.

 Strings that use SquarePlusTriangle or CrossPlusCircle for special move linkers don't get bonus damage.

Damage Reduction

 Players who are in a juggled state or on the ground receive 40% less damage, rounded down. This reduction is applied after the bonus damage is applied, which is important to note since the damage gets rounded down.

Dashing


 Dashing is performed by double tapping a direction. This is the fastest way to move in the game, however dashing has a fair bit of endlag before you can move again, and it has a short cooldown before another dash can be attempted after this endlag. However, both of these downsides can be completely negated with some tricks.

Dash Canceling

 Pressing TK-input-l2.png to crouch will cancel the momentum of the dash, but it will cut any endlag as well as reset your dash timer, allowing you to immediately dash again once you release crouch. If used near the end of the dash once your character starts slowing down, very lightly pressing crouch and then inputting another dash allows you to greatly speed up your momevement.

R-Canceling

 The R1 and R2 buttons are not bound to any action, and do nothing in game. However, they have a weird quirk where pressing either right shoulder button interrupts the game's ability to see which inputs you've pressed recently. This means that you can perform a dash, press either R button, and then halt the dash's momentum to attack with a normal instead of performing a dash attack. This allows you to extend the range of normals dramatically, rewarding good spacing with devastating punishes by landing shorter ranged attacks with better combo routes that otherwise would be awkward to land.
 R-Canceling is only necessary for normals - any directional inputs made after the double-tap dash input will not result in a dash attack.

Hit And Blockstun


 Every move in the game deals the same amount of hit and blockstun.

  • Blockstun lasts for 8f.
  • Light hitstun lasts for 11f.
  • Medium hitstun lasts for 18f.

 This means that a large majority of moves in the game are unsafe on block (or sometimes on hit). This is a large reason why some character's combos aren't true strings, since the startup can be long enough that your opponent exists hitstun before the move fully comes out.

Stunning Attacks


 A lot of special attacks characters can do stun or dizzy their opponent. Almost every single stunning attack can be mashed out of with both the button and directional inputs.

 When you are attacked by a stunning move, an invisible "Stun Escape" value gets set to 0. After 9f, this value becomes 2, and afterwards you will be able to mash inputs to increase your Stun Escape meter. Every frame this value decreases by 1 if an input is not pressed. Each input adds 4 points to the Stun Escape value (2 points over a 2f time span). If this value rises to 8 or more, you will exit the stunned state. This means with perfect timing, you can escape the stun with only 3 inputs, with a total stun duration of 20f.

 An attack that connects with a stunned opponent will juggle them. This combined with the very short time a well practiced player will spend stunned makes it very difficult to continue strings and pressure after a stunning ender.

 A few moves that stun have unique animations when they attack an opponent. Most of these stuns cannot be escaped from, and will say so on that move's data table.


TK Navigation

General
Controls and Notation
System
FAQ
Characters
TormentorOddballBelladonnaDr. FaustusThe ImpVioletMammothCleetusCainJudasMarukka