Credit: Hidden Variable Studios/Autumn Games

They say that when you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s a nice outlook, but perhaps a bit worrying when the profession someone is enjoying so much is “contract killer.” Coming face-to-face with an assassin is already a pretty harrowing experience, which makes someone like Skullgirls’ Black Dahlia, who genuinely loves hurting people, downright scary. Here’s what you need to know about Black Dahlia in Skullgirls 2nd Encore.

Skullgirls 2nd Encore Black Dahlia Guide

Black Dahlia is one of the head enforcers of the Medici Mafia, acting as both personal bodyguard to the family’s higher-ups and their most proficient assassin. She also serves as an assassin trainer for the organization, raising the next generation of mafia thugs and cutthroats. She is generally an unpleasant person, to say the absolute minimum, but darn if she can’t handle herself in a fight thanks to her arm-mounted grenade launcher and hidden sawblade attacks.

Dahlia is a long-ranged, keep-away character, kind of like a more aggressive version of Peacock’s kit. Her grenade launcher fires a variety of ammunition, she can teleport around the stage, and she can empower herself to boost the damage of her attacks. She’s deadly from just about any range, and at her peak, she’s in complete control of the entire stage.

Black Dahlia Abilities and Specials

Credit: Hidden Variable Studios/Autumn Games

Dahlia’s first and foremost weapon is her grenade launcher. On its own, it launches simple, powerful shots with a bit of an arc, but the twist is that Dahlia can load special ammunition into it with various effects. The next rounds in the chamber are shown as colored symbols in her character portrait, and they are as follows:

• Red Standard Shot: Normal projectile, arcs downward as it flies, explodes on contact.
• Yellow Buck Shot: Shotgun, fires a short-range burst right in front of Dahlia that launches opponents.
• Cyan Rail Shot: Railgun, fires a powerful beam in a straight line.
• Orange Fire Shot: Same trajectory as a standard shot, bullet doesn’t have a hitbox but explodes into flames when it hits the ground.
• Blue Ice Shot: Same trajectory as a standard shot, freezes and immobilizes opponents for a few seconds on impact.
• Purple Lightning Shot: Fires in a straight line and inflicts longer hitstun and blockstun than a standard shot on impact.

Next, here’s a list of Black Dahlia’s special moves:

• Order Up! (QCF Punch): Dahlia fires the currently-loaded round from her grenade launcher, with the angle of the shot depending on the button pressed. LP fires forward, MP and HP fire upward, air LP fires down, air MP fires forward, and air HP fires upward.
• Another Round (QCB Punch): Dahlia reloads her ammo, with the types reloaded depending on the button pressed. LP reloads all chambers with Standard Shots, MP loads the third chamber with a random special shot, and HP loads the third and sixth chambers with random special shots. Special shots are loaded in a random cycle; you can’t get the same bullet twice until every shot type has been used at least once. Tap the punch button in time with Dahlia’s reloads to perform Rush Order, speeding up the reloading process.
• Tea Time and Tea Slip (QCB Kick): Dahlia tosses a large doily onto the ground. Perform the same input again to teleport to the doily’s position. Using an input with a different strength will replace the doily with a new one, and you’ll need to perform that same input strength again to teleport. If you hold kick while teleporting, Dahlia will perform a feint, pretending to teleport while remaining in place. She’ll also feint automatically if she attempts to teleport while an assist is on the field.
• Empower (QCF Light Punch and Light Kick): Dahlia grabs the opponent, deals damage to them, and starts to glow red. While in this state, performing an HP normal, aerial, or crouch or an HP throw, while holding the HP button, will produce a more powerful attack, using up the Empowered state.
• Counter, Strike! (DP Kick): Dahlia assumes a counter stance, automatically attacking the opponent if they hit her with a physical attack.

Finally, here are Black Dahlia’s Blockbuster moves:

• Stage Hazard (QCF two Kicks, 1 Super Bar): Dahlia kicks an oil barrel across the stage that leaks a trail of oil behind it, damaging opponents if it hits them. The barrel can be hit again to send it rolling, and if the oil slick is hit with a fire attack from Dahlia, it’ll produce a localized burst of flame. If the barrel is hit enough or is touched by an oil flame, it’ll explode, damaging both opponents and Dahlia if she’s close enough.
• Parting Gift (QCF two Punches, 1 Super Bar): Dahlia throws a bundle of dynamite that sticks wherever it lands, be it on the ground, on opponents, or on assists. Performing the input again will detonate the bundle in a large explosion, though detonating does require a second Super Bar. In the event an opponent with the bundle on them tags out, it can’t be detonated, but it will still be on them when they tag back in.
• Last Call (Down Down Two Punch, 1 Super Bar): Dahlia performs a special reload that allows you to manually select the ammo she loads. Dahlia will also be in her Empowered state after the reload ends. Tapping different buttons in sequence will determine which ammo is loaded:
  • LP: Standard
  • MP: Buck
  • HP: Rail
  • LK: Fire
  • MK: Ice
  • HK: Lightning
  • No input: Standard
• Girl’s Night (QCB two Punches, 3 Super Bars): Dahlia summons her minions, the Bunnies. Each Bunny is equipped with a different weapon, including a shotgun, a pistol, and a knife, and they will move and attack independently of Dahlia. Dahlia can stick dynamite to the Bunnies using Parting Gift and detonate it while they are near the opponent.

Black Dahlia is an extremely aggressive ranged character that can appear just about anywhere to pelt foes with bullets and explosives. While she can hold her own at melee range, she really shines at firing distance, so make sure to practice your zoning a bit to get the most out of her.