MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA (MBTL) is a 2D air dasher fighter with lots of air fighting and strong defensive options. Every character can perform two movement options in the air and they gain a third air option during a powered up state. There are several options available after successfully shielding an attack that let the defender turn any situation around. Recoverable health can be healed multiple times a round by spending super meter. Resource management is an important part of fighting and players have to option to sacrifice one resource to build another.
Helpful Resources
The MBTL wiki.The Melty Blood Community Discord server.
Notation
Attack Notation
| A | Weak Attack |
| B | Medium Attack |
| C | Strong Attack |
| D | Shield |
Directional Notation
| up-back | up | up-forward |
| back | neutral | forward |
| down-back | down | down-forward |
Numpad Notation
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
High attacks are overhead attacks that must be stand blocked. Mid attacks are attacks that can be blocked with both stand block and crouch block.
MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA uses Modern frame data notation. If an attack has 7 frames of startup, it hits on the 7th frame.
MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA has the same Beat chain system of its predecessor. Players are allowed a standing and crouching normal attack per button in the same chain. Normal attacks can Reverse Beat into a normal attack of a weaker strength.
Pressing the same input twice during Beat combo starts the Rapid Beat auto combo. To avoid this, hold 1 or 4. 1A and 4A chain into each other three times before auto combo is triggered. Or you can simply turn off this feature from the menu.
Some normal attacks have a property called Blowback Edge. Blowback Edge attacks can be fully held to add bonus properties like armor, frame advantage, overheads, or unblockables. Blowback Edge attacks can be released early to create frame traps.
3C is a special launcher that causes the camera to zoom in. You get one zoom in launcher per combo. You usually only get one jump cancel per combo but 3C lets you jump again. 3C is special and super cancelable. It is unsafe on block unless canceled. 3C can be used as an anti-air because there are frames where it is invulnerable to air attacks.
EX Edge attacks are enhanced versions of special attacks and cost 1 gauge of Magic Circuit. Perform them with the special input and the C button. Special attacks can be canceled on whiff into EX Edge attacks. EX Edge attacks without invincibility can be canceled into shield when shielded.
Arc Drive is the super attack and is performed with 236B+C. It costs 3 gauges of Magic Circuit and is invincible.
Backdashes are invincible at the start. Backdash travels very far. 4A+B and 6A+B are dash macros. Backdashes are also temporarily invulnerable to projectiles and air attacks.
Characters can perform two actions in the air as long as an action isn't repeated. There are regular jumps, double jumps, high jumps, and air dashes. High jump moves the character forward and can be performed as a double jump. Any type of neutral jump can be steered slightly backwards or forwards. Characters don't automatically turn around after jumping over their opponent but they will turn around after a double jump.
Dashing before a jump changes its trajectory. You can dash into a back jump for a jump with very little horizontal trajectory.
Every game starts with 100% Moon Gauge for both players and it doesn't reset between rounds. Moon Gauge builds by successfully shielding, hitting, and getting hit.
Moon Skills are performed with B+C and a direction. They cost 30% Moon Gauge and recover 10% on hit. Moon Skills can still be performed at 20% and 10% Moon Gauge. Moon Skills are very good attacks but they are costly. Every character has multiple Moon Skills.
Moon Charge is performed 2A+B. It turns your permanent health into recoverable health in exchange for Moon Gauge and Magic Circuit. Concentrating while your opponent is in Moon Drive depletes their Moon Gauge faster.
Moon Drive is activated with 5B+C in neutral for 50% Moon Gauge. The activation is very useful defensively in neutral because it freezes the screen, is strike-invulnerable, projectile-invulnerable, and is only -2 on whiff. Normal attacks and special attacks can be canceled into Moon Drive like a Roman Cancel. Invincible DPs cannot be canceled into Moon Drive.
During Moon Drive, the Moon Gauge depletes and the character automatically gains Magic Circuit and their Moon Skills are enhanced. The character also gains an additional jump or air dash.
Moon Skills in Moon Drive gain clash frames. What this game calls clash is very different from what other games call Clash. Clash in this game is an enhanced version of armor. Armor absorbs the damage of an attack while clash does not. In Moon Drive, clashing with Moon Skills heals some health as recoverable health but remember not every clash attack is a Moon Skill. Throws, Arc Drives, and Last Arcs beat clash and armor. EX Edge attacks beat armor but not clash. Clash frames do not activate when getting hit from behind.
Attacks that hit clash frames are treated as if they hit. If the clashed attack is jump cancelable, you can jump then perform an air shield to defend against the Moon Skill. Many command normal attacks that aren't normally jump cancelable become jump cancelable against clash frames.
If your opponent activates Moon Drive, you can press B+C with 50% Moon Gauge to activate your own at the same time. This can only be performed in neutral so you can't negate Moon Drive activations that are used like Roman Cancels. This is best used when your opponent uses Moon Drive's invulnerability and clash frames to react to and beat your attack. Activate Moon Drive to return to neutral and avoid the punish.
Heat is activated with A+B+C in neutral or blockstun with at least 1 gauge of Magic Circuit. The activation is an invincible unblockable Burst that is safe on block, however if shielded it is very unsafe. Heat activation during blockstun is significantly slower. Heat activation can be held like Blowback Edge attacks to delay it. Heat uses all Magic Circuit and the more meter was spent the longer Heat lasts. During Heat, the character regenerates recoverable health and gains a 10% damage boost. EX Edge attacks consume portions of the timer. Arc Drive ends Heat.
When a character is a round away from losing, they enter Awakening and gain a fourth gauge of Magic Circuit. Press A+B+C+D with 4 gauges of Magic Circuit to perform Last Arc. This is the character's strongest super attack. Hitting a Last Arc takes the character out of Awakening. There are very few ways to combo into Last Arc. One way is by canceling an attack with a lot of hitstun into Moon Drive activation into Last Arc.
With 4 gauges of Magic Circuit press A+B+C to enter Blood Heat. In Blood Heat, the character regenerates recoverable health at a faster rate and their damage is boosted by 20%. If a character successfully shields an attack during Blood Heat, they will hit Last Arc. Last Arc will always hit no matter how or where the shield activated.
Play however you want. I know some players spend almost all their Magic Circuit on Heat to recover as much health as possible. Some players use Moon Drive entirely as a defensive tool. There are many different ways to use your resources.
After a knockdown, hold 4, 5, or 6 and A, B, C, or D to quick recover.
There is air blocking and it blocks air attacks. You cannot air block during the pre-jump frames.
Getting counter hit in the air results in a Fatal Counter and the character is vulnerable until they land on the ground.
After getting hit out of the air, hold 4, 5, or 6 and A, B, or C to air recover. All air recoveries are invincible. There are a lot of juggles so make sure to air recover to escape fake juggles.
The first special attack of a combo inflicts more hitstun, preventing the defender from air recovering sooner. This is shown when the words “Skill Bonus” appear on the screen.
Combos that start with air dash have more hitstun deterioration, causing the defender to air recover out of juggles sooner. Counter hitting with an air normal attack negates the extra hitstun deterioration from air dash combos. Moon Drive activation prevents the defender from air recovering for a short amount of time.
Throws are performed with A+D and are teched with the same input. The character runs towards their opponent if out of throw range. The throw tech window is 8 frames. The defender is +3 after a throw tech. Characters are throw-invulnerable for 8 frames after hitstun, blockstun, and wakeup.
There are many throw tech option selects because the throw tech input can be plinked after attacks and system mechanics like Heat or Moon Drive. Type Lumina's throw tech option selects are similar to UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r].
Shield
D button performs a shield. High shield blocks high attacks and standing mid attacks and low shield blocks low attacks and crouching mid attacks. Characters suffer a Fatal Counter when thrown or hit while shielding. Shield is active from frame 1. A successful shield recovers 10% Moon Gauge and some recoverable health, while a failed shield depletes 10% Moon Gauge. Holding shield gradually depletes Moon Gauge. The more Moon Gauge a player has, the less recovery frames a whiffed shield will have.
D can be held during a blockstring and shield will come out the moment the character leaves blockstun. This is a risk because the attacker can leave gaps in pressure to bait the shield and punish it with a throw.
The character enters a special guard state when they high shield a crouching B/C mid attack or when they low shield a standing B/C mid attack. The character loses some health, cannot perform a shield counter, loses Moon Gauge, and the opponent can continue their pressure. This special guard state is not the same as getting hit as the character is still able to block.
Low shield loses to charged B/C Blowback Edge attacks and charged Heat activation. Low shield suffers a Fatal Counter when it loses to these options.
Use air shield to defend against grounded attacks while in the air. Failing air shield leaves the character vulnerable until they land.
When the attacker's attack is shielded, one of the few options they have is to re-shield. Re-shield is not possible after invincible DPs, EX Edge attacks, Moon Skills, Heat, and Last Arcs are shielded.
There are three shield counters available after successfully shielding. Shield Counter A is a fast launcher.
Shield Counter B is a slow overhead teleport attack that switches sides. It is 0 on hit and ground bounces on counter hit.
Shield Counter B+C costs 50% Moon Gauge and restores 20% on hit. It is an invincible rush attack that returns the players to neutral. It can also be performed by the attacker when an attack is shielded. If you don't want to play the shield/shield counter/re-shield mind game, you can spend Moon Gauge to skip it with Shield Counter B+C.
Once an attack is shielded, the attacker and defender both have various options available to them. The defender can perform any of the three Shield Counters or not. The attacker can re-shield or not. The attacker can immediately tap re-shield, hold re-shield, or delay re-shield. The defender's options are immediate Shield Counter A, delayed Shield Counter A, Shield Counter B, or Shield Counter B+C. Shield Counter B is slow and should always be performed immediately. Shield Counter B+C doesn't have to be performed immediately but because it is very fast and fully invincible, there's no reason to delay it.
The defender never has to Shield Counter. If they expect the attacker to re-shield, they can do nothing and punish the re-shield with a throw.
If the attacker waits and doesn't re-shield, they lose to immediate Shield Counter A.
If the attacker immediately taps re-shield, they beat immediate Shield Counter A but lose to delayed Shield Counter A and Shield Counter B.
If the attacker holds re-shield, they beat immediate Shield Counter A and delayed Shield Counter A but lose to Shield Counter B.
If the attacker delays re-shield, they beat delayed Shield Counter A and Shield Counter B but lose to immediate Shield Counter A.
The shield input has input priority over attack inputs, which means pressing D and an attack button at the same time results in a shield in neutral. This is used in an option select. Press D and A/B/C at the end of an attack's recovery frames. If the attack connects, the next hit of the combo comes out and if the attack whiffs, a shield comes out instead. This option select is used to shield invincible attacks and immediate Heat activation. Shield cannot be held after being performed immediately after a whiffed attack. This means this option select beats immediate Heat activation but loses to delayed (held) Heat activation. I'm performing 5A then D+B.
Shield can be kara canceled into throw. This option select rarely shields but it's very easy to perform and the only drawback is it's 1 or 2 frames slower than a regular throw.
