Squig-Lee: Return of the Draugen (Advanced Combos Video-Guide)

[NinjaPenguin76]

Howdy everyone (￣▽￣)ノ
(Skip to the red text if you don't care about context and just wanna see the combos lol. It should be noted that these aren't meant to be implied as best combos or what you should even necessarily do, but rather examples of what you could do and why you might want to.)
So initially I was just going to record a combo with the Squigster that I find fun/amusing/effective and share it, mostly as a conversation starter. During the process I got lost in all the different combos Squigly is capable of whipping up, and given that she's my favorite character at the moment it's easy for me to do that anyways lol. Before I knew it I had discovered things with her I never even considered before, used those to do new combos, and once I had some building blocks to play with I went to town mix and matching to see how spicy she could make this dish- and by dish I mean game. Skullgirls is not food. Though it'd probably taste great.

Afterward I had the thought to look and see if there was any sort of combo discussions here when I saw the one and only thread was from almost a year ago, and at that it was text based only. Not it's an issue at face value, but-
A) Not everyone inherently knows the combo lingo for the game (idk what L4 and stuff is lol, I'll educate myself after this but I digress) so that may limit peoples ability or willingness to process it all-
and
B) Some people are visual learners. Beyond that, even though I generally could still read alot of the text guide, there's a point where Squig's combos get so long that even if you can read it, the visualization of it can get blurry. Also I saw some people when theorizing sorta question if/how they'd work because it's just simply hard to translate that without some reference in front of you.

Squigly's combo potential is insane, and she has a massive number of theoretical chains you can make- I equate her with being like Legos in terms of flexibility here. Not only that, but just in general she has the ability to do some of the most useful and all around neatest combos visually out of any of the fighters when equipped with a shallow movepool. Someone like Beowulf has a mighty impressive standard combo string, but little in terms of flexibility since he's based around getting grabs and stuff in, and you can't combo off those for the most part.

Squig however doesn't have either of those issues- she's got alot of self synergy that is only complimented by her team. So, I thought I'd record a set of videos in progression and post them to show her ghouly, dragony, squiggling stuff off to the community. The hope is that it will help teach people who don't know how to make the most of her, give people some combo's that are specifically intended to be most efficient in certain matchups, and the ones who know how to combo well with her can help add to the list if they wish. I'm by no means saying these combos are 100% perfect- some were combos I didn't drag out to the maximum potential and some could've gotten a couple more hits in if I'd have timed everything flawlessly. Still, they're better than just the standard stuff. I gave them all nicknames since I spent time putting them together, for fun.

I don't know how many of these are already known about or exist on the text thread, so if anyone see's the text equivalent feel free to point it out and I can add that below the video.
As far as I know and made an effort to ensure, no combos here should be capable of being interrupted (besides burst) if performed in the manner demonstrated- meaning it's ALOT of guaranteed damage should you get a window. Without further ado-- let's heat things up.

I Like My Fries Curly- Uh, I mean Squiggly: Intro Combos (Sub 20 Hit)
Standard Combo vs Enhanced Combo (16 Hit & 18 Hit)

First up is a simple comparison. This shows why in most of my combos I don't use Squigly's normal juggle combo- while I'm sure there are ways to work it in, and as I've said I expect people will improve on them- her normal juggle has 2 less hits and also deals less damage. Now the Squigs I use aren't gonna scale damage compared to higher rarities at higher levels, so anyone who wishes to recreate these and provide damage numbers for any of them to have tacked on here for reference, I welcome to do so.

Note that most of the combos will take place near walls, which is where you usually want to be anyways, but Squigly comboing simply works better that way anyhow in my experience. Also note that combo's effectiveness will vary by opponent due to hitbox differences- Painwheel seems to be the perfect punching bag lol.

Concussive Flames (8 Hit)

This is the base for alot of Squgly's chains. It functions off a Wyvern Charged basic attack that launches the enemy a great distance, causing them to bounce back significantly if they hit a wall. You can use this to reset mid combo or to launch one, and you can do it more than once per combo. Technically it can be done as many times as you can manage to get a charge in before the opponent touches the ground after bouncing 1 time (If they're airborne, doing this with low juggles won't work). This is invaluable as most characters can't perform this sort of thing without using a tagout ability on the final opponent, or using a running hit at the start only. Big Band would be even more disgusting if he could do this rofl.

Draugen Ignition (12 Hit)

This is the same as the previous one, but it shows that the WC (Wyvern Charged) attack can be used on a falling opponent, since the 2 leadup hits will stop the falling. I actually only hit the 1st one in the video so this should actually be 13 hits.

Squiggle Fury (19 Hit)

This is just a simple improvement on your enhanced combo that makes use of WC'd attacks and Silver Chord, which people I'm sure widely know is invaluable for a ton of reset potential on combo juggling.

Yo, You Got Any Hot Sauce?: Intermediate Combos (20+ Hit)
Wyvern Raquetball (26 Hit)

This is a demonstration of how you want to get in your optimal combo space if the opponent is too far from a wall, but you can still get through their block. Using silver chord to catch an opponent before you lose the frame, as well as showing that it's very useful for tacking on Drag N' Drop at the end of a combo while you've got a guarantee it won't be blocked. Even though I use WC'd attacks from a run in some videos it works exactly the same from standing position, so no need to worry with that.

 

[NinjaPenguin76]

Bandage Burner (34 Hit)

This Combo is centered around only using Battle Opera and Leviathan Inferno to leave other moves open for any desired follow up or use upon the opponent standing- with the intended follow up to be Daisy Pusher when they do (as you see in my moveset). The purpose primarily is to deal damage and then inflict Heal Block at the finish to prevent regenerators like nurse-kun here from healing it back up if they have a trigger for regen after dropping below an hp threshold. This Squigly doesn't have the extra juggle node yet so there are actually a handful more hits to be gotten from this else-wise.

It's still probably better used when they're at higher HP if you are outputting damage lower than the enemies regen, as the healblock doesn't last extremely long. It's a viable execution strategy if they're not regening so heavily that half your output is being restored before your combo ends- provided they're already low and you want to press the fat NO button on tagouts, regen, and counterattacks. It'd be alright by itself, but when Daisy Pusher is the immediate follow up you're looking at a guaranteed execute on most opponents without last stand or revive in their pocket.

A Silver Bullet for My Valentine (36 Hit)

This shows how to maximize WC'd attacks and SC for getting a saucy combo off on even opponents that appear to be miles away from where you wanna be. It's hard without being a disgusting.....LY fabulous
() Squigly main, and it's definitely a risk if you don't play her alot or don't practice the move. You gotta know your distances and frames pretty much to perfection on this or you WILL fail and you WILL be upset when you get UB'd by someone lol.

Also take note here that using Battle Opera is a very good time to sneak a charge in for a follow up attack, since you're not gonna be doing more than getting 1 or 2 hits on their toe if you're juggling em' with it like this. I named it in honor of Valentine who was unfortunately impaled in her windpipe- she's not used to being on the receiving end of that.


I Wanna Go Swimming...IN LAVA!: Advanced Combos (40+ Hit)
Painkiller (41 Hit)

Like the previous combo, this was named in honor of it's victim. Specifically though, it's designed to be a long combo with good damage potential that doesn't rely on a blockbuster. It does rely on good timing and use of your specials, but since a cooldown is much easier to work around than having to dish out hits if you whiff it, I'd say it's a very fair exchange. The idea here is on someone like Painwheel who is squishy as heck anyways, you'll do better to pummel her and take advantage of her sweet hitbox that's oh so much easier to unleash your Squig-Lee moves on.

Searing Smackdown (43 Hit)

A spiritual successor to Bandage Burner, this one involves all your big-girl moves. It's purpose is to inflict Armor Break at the start for max damage during the remainder, and then the Heal Block to effectively have melted opponent defenses with Draugen fury. Daisy Pusher highly recommended if you plan to use this for execution, since everything about Bandage Burner with it is better here thanks to Armor Break.

 

[NinjaPenguin76]

The Big Three: Flashy 50+ Hit Combos for the Squiggliest Squigglers
There's not much to say about these other than they're big wrecking ball combos meant to inflict serious pain on your unfortunate victim. Performing these separate the Lizards from the Dragons- Draugens technically but I digress. If you unleash one on your foe there's a high chance they're not moving again unless you're weakened or they're monsters (or have lame death defying voodoo on their team). Even if they survive, you're gonna be leaving some marks. Burn marks, lacerations, and bruises, specifically. Enjoy

Leviathan Onslaught (51 Hit)

Molten Rampage (54 Hit)

Dead Meat (63 Hit)

Wooh. Well, that was worth a grade if I were still in college. I apologize to the mods and community in general for it being split over 3 messages, the limit of 5 media links embedded kinda interfered with being able to view the combo on this page. It'd have been frustrating to switch over on mobile and even on a computer just overall a bit of an inconvenience. Also it'd have looked real wonky. Please forgive.

I 'd like to add on to this as time goes, if I get around to it. I hope you guys enjoy, and be sure to let me know what your thoughts are! K, ima go play the game now- I've not done that in a good while since I was making this instead rofl.

 

[cappatacus]

I love this! Normally videos confuse me more than a written out combo - don't ask why - but the fact that each video is it's own combo rather than one lumped together video really helps for some reason. Plus you used a lot of moves that I've been neglecting! I can't remember the last time I used Draugen Punch. Also, that last combo? Imagine that with Bio. 26 seconds of the opponent trapped right next to you; 52% health automatically drained, nevermind what the actual hits dealt. Beautiful.

 

[NinjaPenguin76]

I love this! Normally videos confuse me more than a written out combo - don't ask why - but the fact that each video is it's own combo rather than one lumped together video really helps for some reason. Plus you used a lot of moves that I've been neglecting! I can't remember the last time I used Draugen Punch. Also, that last combo? Imagine that with Bio. 26 seconds of the opponent trapped right next to you; 52% health automatically drained, nevermind what the actual hits dealt. Beautiful.

I'm so glad you liked it and that it helped you! I didn't even think about that Bio thing since I don't have her yet, but now that you bring it up...oof that's pretty spooky right there rofl.
Now that you've got my mind on that train of thought- if you were running Dead of Winter in your starting position and sent out another Squigly after she's ko'd, you could use that for a meaty stall tactic to get DoW revived with her SA. This is one of the biggest reasons I wanted to make this guide- someone else will always think of things I never even did and just make the pie all that much sweeter

Honestly I don't know the consensus on Draugen Punch for everyone else, but I just love the move. On its own it's not especially impressive but even then just the utility is surprisingly versatile. It's useful in a I suppose similarly comparable way to say Beur Overdrive, Tympani Dive, and Drill Tempered in it taking your character airborne but they all are less valuable in utility factors than Draugen Punch;
all of those moves are in need of charging with being blockbusters and all, only Filia's aims upward for its damage, and all of them come out much slower framewise.
Drill Tempered is better used when the opponent is near the ground anyway because its hits begin at the very bottom so you'd lose like half of your damage and crit chances, given the total damage is spread over a lot of tiny hits (yknow, cause Filia). Its windup time is also consistent of a few frames before she actually launches the attack which while it won't get interuppted I think leaves a slightly longer opening for taking a last second hit from something potentially devastating and may give the AI time to block if you're not like seriously up in their grill. Correct me if I'm wrong there.
The other two won't hit an opponent if they're too high, and even though TD will catch them on the way down it's a similarish thing as DT's multihits. Buer just will straight do nothing if they don't land in it fast enough. In general TD is the only one of them you'd wanna shoot for using as a dodge+counterattack simultaneously. DT is the only one that's low enough on cost it's not just the end of the world if you whiff it- well then again Big Band get's BB's like nothing so..but I digress.

Draugen Punch however brings a bunch to the table. It comes out lightning fast so it can be both used for a counterattack/bait on practically the last possible frame and still connect first, and in the same way dodge some scary incoming attacks. I've (unintentionally mind you, lol) dodged Diamonds Are Forever with it before. It's real meat and potatoes lies in the charged version though, which gives it additional reach and a significant damage boost. Also unlike the others, that damage all comes out over faaaar less hits, which is really useful for avoiding unwanted enemy triggers or match modifiers that are hit based.
Obviously the biggest advantage besides its chain potential on her, but the fact that it can do everything it already does even if you don't combo with it is still really noteworthy for 2 move points and being cooldown based, which is reduce-able at that. Truthfully I probably negelct moves I shouldn't because I just can't let it go lmao.

Drag n Bite is probably the move I'd most likely be inclined to let go, but It's still pretty useful in a chunk of situations. I like the frequent rotation I have with 3 specials, buuuuut Leviathan Inferno is a no contest reason to boot it from the lineup. My Dead Heat just isn't quite there yet, mostly because I spread my resources and exp dispersion across all of my Rift defenders and as such my overall growth curve gets delayed on characters quite alot. If I wanted to I could have a fair number of maxed out fighters, but having all your eggs in one basket never seems to be very efficient ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[infine]

Idunno, between all the moves, DP falls out for me, since it's a move that makes sense at a start of a combo (what with the curse duration), but is hard to followup, especially midscreen. The only potential way to continue off DP is SBO and trying to catch people out of SBO with the Silver Chord, which is prone to failure (basically it's very hard to DnD after DP).

My standard procedure on non-poltergust Suigs is L5->Silver Chord->L5->DnB->L5-DnD->Levi->SBO. Full 5 slot combo ending with lots of wither. Optionally L5->SC->L5 can be turned into L5->Launcher->Juggle->SC->L5 for even more hits (but I think it's character/position specific - seems to not work against Filia/in the corner). It's available from zero meter with a bit of meter gain, all the specials recharge by the combo end, works on everyone and from everywhere, not just in corner.

Also DnB is good at clearing buffs and can dash intercept even Big Band.

Against people with annoying reactive SAs I just prefer Polter with less of a combo maniac setup and ramped up ATK. With all the buffs expiring she makes it rain coffins for massive damage.

 

[NinjaPenguin76]

Idunno, between all the moves, DP falls out for me, since it's a move that makes sense at a start of a combo (what with the curse duration), but is hard to followup, especially midscreen. The only potential way to continue off DP is SBO and trying to catch people out of SBO with the Silver Chord, which is prone to failure (basically it's very hard to DnD after DP).

My standard procedure on non-poltergust Suigs is L5->Silver Chord->L5->DnB->L5-DnD->Levi->SBO. Full 5 slot combo ending with lots of wither. Optionally L5->SC->L5 can be turned into L5->Launcher->Juggle->SC->L5 for even more hits (but I think it's character/position specific - seems to not work against Filia/in the corner). It's available from zero meter with a bit of meter gain, all the specials recharge by the combo end, works on everyone and from everywhere, not just in corner.

Also DnB is good at clearing buffs and can dash intercept even Big Band.

Against people with annoying reactive SAs I just prefer Polter with less of a combo maniac setup and ramped up ATK. With all the buffs expiring she makes it rain coffins for massive damage.

This is a valid point, and I suppose I didn’t really think too much about the buff clearing situation since I guess from playing so much Rift and expert/master dailies I’m just used to the enemies having buffs so incessantly refreshing every 4 seconds that I’ve just been bashing them to death rofl. The thing about the dash cancel is true too, and honestly I use it for that I feel more than anything. One thing to take note of is that I only have 1 variant of silver and gold respectively for her which are who I used for these, it’s very much possible I’d have considered other movesets if that weren’t the case since neither of them are particularly gods among attackers. I don’t myself have a large amount of moves with stats that are worth using them for, so with DH especially I have a lot invested into attack and crit buffing. Hovering around 40% crit, 60% if you put Sheltered parasoul on the passenger seat, over the course of the combos they really stack up and are even nuttier with Wyvern Charged specials/BBs.

Course this is a nono vs crit triggers (and dreadlocks, yuck.) but given the units and FS’s I’m working with I guess it’s been my go to solution. If my moves were max level then the Crits and overall damage are going to be pretty crazy, and since it’s not uncommon for me to be faced up against fighters far over my FS I just gravitated towards making Squigs ability to oppress an enemy so well into her bread and butter for me. As I get more units and moves to have breathing room I don’t doubt that I’ll inevitably find different preferences, but I can at least say I do see value in DP when it’s used for the purposes I use it for. Plus, it’s cost is a benefit for units who haven’t gotten upgraded enough to run everything you may want if you’re in the early stages with one I suppose.

I agree with the mid screen thing, but I also almost never try to use it there anyways really. I grab a ton with Squig since it gives her way more breathing room than other characters and in my personal observations seems to come out faster in some form that has made my rate of it getting throw broken lower than any other character. Due to those my typical strategy is always to get them away from me, charge up, if they try running for me I use the WC’d down attack since they almost never block it, and it just pushes them right back to the wall. Then I dash, grab unless they’re wide open, then either get to 2 charges or just combo and work with the one I have already. She’s got a lot of resources for getting the opponent wherever she wants them so I don’t guess I’ve ever had to really branch out. Usually if I lose it’s either by such a small amount it’s just attributable to my own mistakes, or the enemy does so much damage it’s not so much an issue I feel like my moveset would’ve altered a lot.

On the curse thing, my main thought here is that in line with the damage being over less hits being a good preventative to hit trigger SAs, if the curse is applied towards the end it’s good for things like ICU and Trauma Center- but maybe I’m wrong here and they are applied anyways due to some order of processing in the algorithm or whathaveyou. I’m actually not sure now that I think about it, but it’d be pretty dumb if it were since DP hits first and curses entire purpose it to prevent things like that from happening. Curse at the start of a combo is still for sure a good option though. It’s pretty easy to follow up on if you’re near a wall with the WC’d basic attack to catch them and reset. I really need to look up actual terminology for these things so I know what to call them anywhere outside my mind lmao.

Thanks for your response and perspective though- much appreciated (๑･◡･๑)

 

[NinjaPenguin76]

I do like the your approach on squigly combo. It is unconventional and exotic but refreshing on how you used dragun punch. Though these combos are pretty flashy and aesthetically pleasing, they are not really that efficient IMO. I personally do not like using liver mortis because liver mortis requires you to be near wall to connect any combo and consumes dragon charge which could be used on something else like drag n bite(you need dragon charge to use drag n bite in between combo). Also, using both dragon charge early is not a good idea because it decreases the max amount of hit you can deal in ground combo.

One other problem with these combo that uses liver mortis is that they are not that easy for its potential. Some other combos like Combos that uses two empowered Drag n Bite (ground combo>Drag n Bite->ground combo->Drag n Bite->ground combo...) usually gets at least 30 to 40 hits at minimum and very easy for anyone to do at anywhere(both near and away from wall). Also, the damage potential of using skills like dragun punch is not great compared to drag n bite because dragun punch cannot connect with additional ground combo while drag n bite can connect with ground combo which makes drag n bite deals a full ground combo worth of more damage. However, dragun punch can be good against brain freeze and useful to Nearly Departed for making odd combo count.

TL DR of the cons of these combos:
1. it requires some precise timing which can make this combo fail if your hand is too slow either because you are bad at this game or you are out in cold waiting for the train(it happened to me.)
2.It's damage potential is not that great compared to certain combos.
3. It requires you to be in corner.

Despite of my rambling and dissing about these combos, I like these combos for its unconventional nature and have one suggestions for it: You should use try starting a combo with grab->ground combo(3rd hit will lift enemy up)->silver chord. This combo starter is very useful in actual battle because it allows you to start your combo even if ai just keep blocking your attacks. Using this combo starter in your combo may make your combos much more practical and give additional variety.

I appreciate that you see the other side of the coin for the purpose of what can be taken away from them c:

I probably didn't do the most stellar job at conveying it, but I never really intended to give the impression these were by any means most efficient nor easy to perform at that, but as you play the game longer and longer you'll inevitably find yourself in all sorts of situations, and you'll play match after match with the same characters. The same strategies just factually don't work all the time, and I'm sure everyone has had a few matches where they had to do some funky stuff in their eyes to clutch one out.
When you're like me and try to let your own characters do as much carrying of themselves as they can in order to get the most exp out of their energy from longshots (excluding the early levels that you can rocket them through) you gotta be creative because the same approach that works with a properly matched FS doesn't with the underdogs. Ideally you don't want your opponent doing...anything, rofl. If they get a chance to let up for even 1 frame they can erase you depending on who they are (looking at Cerebella). Even then, if you're not positive you can prevent that then my strategy is usually to tag out when I finish abusing my lockdown on them to prevent that situation so I can negate the unfavorable position while having burned all my skills.

That said, if I go for a combo situation it's far less often than some may think looking at this. I grab a tooooon with her, and in reference to your grab lead for a combo that is by far without question what I do most of the time. I had intended to include a video of that but I had already accumulated a large number of recordings so my plate was rather full, and I figured that was something more people would be aware of than the other stuff I had. While yes I can and at times do perform these combos (maybe not specifically, but more or less the same general ball park with varying order and junk) it is not my standard and exclusive means of playing her; that is to say I don't open every single Squigly match going "KEEEEEEYAAAAH" and just combo flurrying as my only strat lol.

My main goal with these was to present an assortment of things that I was pretty sure alot of people didn't do more than likely when they played her- or rather things they didn't realize they necessarily could. Mostly, it's meant to be like "Are you in a situation where a combo is what you want? Check these out, it might give you ideas."
Does that make any sense? I know for the longest time I had a very linear/binary way of playing her, and slowly it fleshed out. At this point, these are really just for enthusiasts or niche situations and I felt like maybe people would appreciate them for what they were.

Thanks for the response and perspective (･ω･)b

 

[NinjaPenguin76]

I already got your purpose of this combo page and I think you succeeded in that for sure. Before I read this post, I sort of gave up on draugen punch but now I found out more uses of draugen punch thanks to your combos. I am also trying to apply this on my Nearly Departed Squigly combos.

I am just too obsessed with the orthodox way and rambled a bit.

Fret not, rambling is something I do way too much and usually feel self conscious about lol. It’s understandable to state anyway since it is important for new players to have clear distinction on what they should be garnering for and why, so as one who likes to ensure clear understanding on all sides of a subject I’d likely do the same. I’m really glad I’ve been able to offer something fresh for anyone, I really didn’t expect the DP to be the main thing people were drawn to but it makes me happy I’ve sparked some embers for it in some people ( ◠‿◠ )

 

[NinjaPenguin76]

Idunno, between all the moves, DP falls out for me, since it's a move that makes sense at a start of a combo (what with the curse duration), but is hard to followup, especially midscreen. The only potential way to continue off DP is SBO and trying to catch people out of SBO with the Silver Chord, which is prone to failure (basically it's very hard to DnD after DP).

My standard procedure on non-poltergust Suigs is L5->Silver Chord->L5->DnB->L5-DnD->Levi->SBO. Full 5 slot combo ending with lots of wither. Optionally L5->SC->L5 can be turned into L5->Launcher->Juggle->SC->L5 for even more hits (but I think it's character/position specific - seems to not work against Filia/in the corner). It's available from zero meter with a bit of meter gain, all the specials recharge by the combo end, works on everyone and from everywhere, not just in corner.

Also DnB is good at clearing buffs and can dash intercept even Big Band.

Against people with annoying reactive SAs I just prefer Polter with less of a combo maniac setup and ramped up ATK. With all the buffs expiring she makes it rain coffins for massive damage.

I just wanted to do a quick update and say I've been showing Drag N' Bite some more love in my Squiggly fights and now I feel bad rofl, I got most people over here playing twister with DP and yet I've been mixing DnB into my attack patterns more. I feel sorry for the stuff I've been doing with it in my adjusted rotations- in the most mischievously satisfied way.

Now I'm trying to convince myself not to shelve DP to play with new configurations using some other move I've neglected
:v