Them's Fighting Words: Skullgirls Guide to Valentine

Alright folks, part three of the Skullgirls guide is the walking malpractice suit, Valentine.

 

The Run Down

Valentine is everything you’d expect a ninja-nurse to be: incredibly quick, lots of weapons, and special skills to trip up her enemies. Her versatility and speed are her main assets and her various supers give her a lot of options. Unfortunately, you’ll have to do some work to build her super combo gauge.

 

The Basics

Along with Ms. Fortune, Valentine is one of the fastest fighters in the game. Her basic running speed is incredibly quick and can cover ground in rather short order. In the air, she has access to a double jump and forward and backward dash. Her dashes however are a bit different than most. Her forward dash sends her leaping into the air at 20 degree angle before landing, the same happens during her back dash as well. While this may seem odd at first, the small boost in the air can give way to a quick combo or even a special way to continue a ground combo.

Her standard attacks also provide a nice mix of angles and timing tricks, and her standing light punch is a quick two-hitter that can easily be used to poke and prod her targets. Another rather useful maneuver is her heavy punch which starts with her taking a step backwards before swinging with a huge bladed IV pole.  Not only does it have good range, but the back step also sets up some nice bait and switches by tricking your foe into dropping their guard.

In addition to her attacks, her throws are also play into her trickster style. Her throw consists of a grab which causes a stun animation leaving her target open to more punishment. Overall, her standard attacks all offer good range and extreme speed, all of which is perfect to set up for various combo strings and the like.

  

 

“Ready for your shots?”

While her basic attacks are all quite effective on their own, Valentine really shines with her various poisons and traps which can cause a lot of grief for her opponents. She has access to a projectile attack called “dead cross” where she fires a shuriken. The shot itself is rather slow but she can also throw it from the air for some well-placed timing shots. Her go-to set ups are her poison skills called “vial hazard,” of which she has three versions she can imbue her projectiles with.

Type A causes poison damage over time, Type B increases the hit and block stun on her opponents, and Type C causes an input lag on her target which can be deadly against slower fighters especially compared with her insane speed. Along with her vial hazard throws, she has access to a strong command grab which leaves the target in a ground state, a perfect opening for some on the ground wake up games.

 

Super Combos

One of Valentines' high points is that she has a total of five super combos to work with. Her two level ones are called “Checkmate incision” and “EKG Flatliner.” Checkmate is a small damaging projectile attack that you can also fire from the air at an angle similar to her Dead Cross special attack. While the damage is minimal, its strong suit comes from the fact that it also carries the same effects from her Vial Hazard skill. The specialty of the attack is its quick speed which makes it a bit easier to actually hit them with the poison of your choice.

Her other Super Combo, EKG Flatliner is her more damaging level one super that not only can be done on the ground or air, but it also nearly spans the entire screen, making it a perfect pursuit technique for the type of opponent that likes to run and gun. In addition, it can also hit multiple targets if they try to call in extra help. Essentially, these two are best used as the exclamation point to a combo, and in regards to her Checkmate attack, it can lead to some more suffering to her foes.

Her level two Super is called “Acquisitive Prescription” and works a bit differently than her other moves. This one activates when she is physically attacked during the animation. If she can activate it, she counters with a move lock on her target, freezing them in place for a couple seconds. While it is a bit tricky to time it, if done correctly it can lead to some nice set ups or at least some free hits.

Her level three is her strongest attack and acts as a command grab called “Dead on Arrival.” The move sets her off in a quick dash leading up to a command throw. It cannot be blocked because of its throw status but she can be knocked out of it if her target is waiting for it. Some nice set ups for this one to connect are using it after inflicting her target with Type B or C version of Viral Hazard.

Lastly, all the way up at level Five is a very special move called “Rebirth Ex Machina.” On its own, it can cause some moderate damage and act as a launcher, but its true power comes into play upon a teammate’s death. When a team partner is downed using this move near their downed body will actually resurrect them with about a quarter of their health once again adding to your ranks. The only thing is it does take a while before you can build enough Super Combo levels to raise the dead.

While Valentine has a lot of Supers and tools at her disposal, her downside is that she builds Super meter very slowly so it’ll take a lot of her hitting or getting hit before she can really unload some of her more fancy moves.

 

As a Team Player

Valentine is one of the best candidates for an anchor character. The sheer number of specials and attack variations at her disposal make her capable to handle most any situation. The best people to team her up with are those who can build Super meters at quick rate so she can tag in and reap their efforts or just use it bring them back into the fight as the field medic.

 

Previous Chapters

Ms. Fortune

Peacock

 

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