Eliza Skullgirls Guide

Eliza in Skullgirls

Eliza is one of the earliest characters created in Skullgirls. She was one of the proposed characters to be created when the game was in development and on the crowdfunding website, Indiegogo. 

Eliza is a fascinating character as she is someone who has a very clever facade. She is a singer in New Meridian who is famous for her singing, her beauty, and, most especially, her charity. 

Eliza is seemingly a charitable figure who regularly organizes blood drives which are supposed to help those in need. Secretly, however, she uses this blood for herself and is able to maintain her youthful looks because of it. This scandal is soon discovered by the Medicis, who use it as a means to blackmail Eliza into searching for the Skullheart. 

Eliza is narcissistic and is fully bonded to her parasite, Sekhmet. She is also one who hates the injustice she perceives parasites go through and believes that they should be the dominant species in the world. 

While Eliza might seem like the worst, she has been shown to care about her subordinates Albus, and Horus, both of whom she treats with a kindness that no one else enjoys.

Eliza’s Playstyle

You would be forgiven for assuming that Eliza is a rushdown character, and in a sense, she is. However, she is more than that and is just as awesome in the midrange, where she is able to utilize some of her great buttons. Her buttons are one of her biggest strengths, mostly because they reach really far and enable her to deal damage and catch opponents rather easily. 

She has a DP, Upper Khat (623P), which reaches really far and can even be used from round-start space! This is incredible as it lets Eliza have almost total control on the space around her. What more, with the help of her mix-ups and pressure, she is a monster from close range.

All this doesn’t account for another huge weapon in her arsenal, Sekhmet. Sekhmet is Eliza’s parasite and is able to really pile on the hurt. Sekhmet can act independent of Eliza giving Eliza another way to get in against the opponent. Sekhmet makes up for Eliza’s lack of speed, and even though its attacks are less potent, it can be delivered with real speed and accuracy. Even better, when Sekhmet attacks an opponent, blood comes out, and if Eliza picks it up, she can heal herself. She is able to gather all the blood to herself without needing to move if she uses her taunt mechanic. 

Typically, Eliza’s focus in a fight is to control the space around her with Sekhmet, Horus, and Albus. When she isn’t on-field, she provides phenomenal assists to other characters and can be used to maintain pressure or chip out an opponent to win the game.

Eliza’s Best Buttons

As explained above, Eliza is a weird character to pin down in terms of defining her archetype. But, it is clear that she excels at controlling space, and this is largely due to some really good buttons, the best of which we are going to examine in this section. 

j.LK: This is one of Eliza’s go-to buttons for the air approach. It is an excellent IAD (Instant Air Dash) which deals a bit more damage if it hits while she is going up into the air. The low angle of the move really makes it useful, and it is a staple in just about any combo that your Eliza is going to get up to. It’s not an invincible move by any means and can be rebuffed. 

j.MK: This is an incredible button that set-up Eliza’s air control. This is mainly because of how far it extends. The j.MK can hit a wide array of grounded opponents and can be difficult to deal with. What’s more, it is very advantageous in air-to-air situations as it can knock the opponent down but will generally need the user to quickly activate j.H.Sekhmet to sustain its usability. On top of that, it can also work as a combo resetter as it can keep an opponent in the air. All in all, it is a really good button.

j.HP: Eliza’s j.HP can be described as situational in a sense as it cannot be said to be the very best button in the game, but it is also insanely handy in the right situations. This move is BIG and, therefore, has a pretty large hurt box, but, what it can do, is crossup opponents when used with Eliza’s angled air dash. It’s a slow move which can make it unattractive to some, but the hurt box, while large, doesn’t last long. With all that said, it is still a very functional move that should be used with discernment.

s.MP: For this move, Eliza lowers herself and unleashes two serpents over her head to hit the opponent. It is a great anti-air button, and some consider it one of the best in the game. However, it can be evaded and ends up trading sometimes. But, once it hits, it launches the opponent in the air and is at the perfect height for a Dive of Horus confirm. It can also be the basis for a combo start meaning that if an opponent is caught by it; they could lose their life, which is always a good thing. 

c.LK: Eliza extends her leg and summons a bloody cat at the end of it, which inflicts a scratch on the opponent and deals damage. This move is considered one of her best buttons just because of how fast it is. Not only is it fast, but it is also plus on block, making it a great poking tool. For most Eliza users, this is the best way to start a chain combo from the ground. Once the cat claws hit, it’s party time for Eliza, and she can confirm into a damaging combo. Definitely, a move worth using. 

Special Moves

Eliza has quite a few special moves, which we’ll look through because they are very important to at least know about. Let’s start with her grabs. Eliza has a ground grab and an air one, both are great and deal a decent amount of damage. So, how about her unique special moves? Let’s get going with…

Upper Khat: This is a move in which Eliza summons three hieroglyphic servants starting from the shortest to the tallest. As the name implies, this is a DP that on the third hit will launch the opponent into the air and can be used either as a combo ender or as a poke (the H version that is.) The L version will start with the smallest servant, while the M version will bring out the intermediate and tallest servants. The move has invulnerability on all versions, but if Eliza is grabbed before the move’s hitbox becomes active, it will still rise but will disintegrate soon after without dealing damage. 

Osiris Spiral: This multi-hitting move is very useful as it has hitboxes on either side of Eliza, making it versatile. While the move will pop an opponent up, it will not cause a knockdown. The H version is a good combo ender and does so much chip damage that it works as a KO option and also does well in keeping opponents locked in the corner or blocking. 

Throne of Isis: For this, one of Albus or Horace will dash out with Eliza’s chair seeking to ram into the opponent. This might seem like a projectile, but it isn’t, and it is quite useful when Eliza wants to get in on an opponent as it is able to go through projectiles. It also acts as a pseudo-shield for Eliza against IADs that look to tackle her from her less active side since the throne comes from behind her. Unfortunately, but cannot be used as a reliable zoning tool. 

Weight of Anubis: This is another move where Eliza calls an ‘assist’, this time Anubis. He’ll grab the opponent’s legs from the ground and throw them toward Eliza allowing her to combo and damage the opponent. Anubis cannot be hit in this mode and in a sense, can’t be stopped, only avoided. However, this also means that Anubis’ throw doesn’t do any damage. But, this move is still a great way to manage space and to bring closer reluctant opponents. 

Dive of Horus: As the name implies, Horus comes to Eliza’s aid falling out of the sky with a dive kick. This is more like a projectile and can be blocked or dissipated with a move. The best use of Horus’ kick is as an anti-air as it can knock out an opponent who jumps high. It is also a useful combo extender and is relatively safe, though can be punished on some occasions. 

Sekhmet's Turn: This move simply lets Sekhmet loose, which opens up a whole new vista of moves for Eliza as Sekhmet has certain tools at its disposal, including pokes, jumps, and so on. Sekhmet deals less damage than Eliza but also has armor making it difficult to deal with. Sekhmet also causes the opponent to lose blood which can revitalize Eliza if she can scoop up the blood. 

Eliza’s Blockbusters

Now moving on to Eliza’s blockbusters. These are her supers or critical arts, depending on how you understand the term. 

Lady of Slaughter (Level 1): This is a super that ejects Sekhmet from Eliza, who then runs at the opponent and delivers a series of slashes and hits on either side before finishing up by popping the opponent in the air and doing a j.H move. In some cases, it is a serviceable DHC and also, if you input Hathor’s Return (a move that returns Sekhmet to Eliza’s body) early in the sequence, you will be able to bypass Sekhmet’s life drain which can help your Eliza stay alive. 

Nekhbet Breaker (Level 1): Here, Eliza grows wings and reveals taloned feet, which she uses to grab the opponent, take them offscreen, far into the sky, and then bring them crashing down with a sickening crunch and some serious single-hit damage. This move is especially useful in the air after juggling an opponent. On a less serious note, it is astonishing that Eliza is able to take off her shoes while she does the move, and the moment the opponent hits the ground, she is somehow wearing shoes again.

Crimson Scourge (Level 1): This is another blockbuster that utilizes Sekhmet. Here Sekhmet lunges at the opponent and does a signature move. It also repositions Eliza in a very favorable spot for easier follow-ups. 

Khepri Sun (Level 3): This level three blockbuster has Eliza become a large ball of blood in the shape of the sun, and she then travels upwards, across the screen, and finally downward. All through this, she is hitting the opponent until they hit the ground. It has several hits, which makes it a reliable KO move even when fully scaled. It can also be used from mid-screen to carry the opponent all the way to the corner, where you can keep the fighter locked in if the blockbuster doesn’t kill.

Eliza’s Pros and Cons

Eliza is a fun character that isn’t particularly easy to use, but is also someone with very few weaknesses. We’ll briefly look at her pros and cons. 

Pros

• Great space control

• Great assists

• Sekhmet’s power

Cons

• Tall hitbox: Due to Eliza’s height, she is pretty easy to hit with most moves and cannot low-profile anything.

How to Fight Eliza

Eliza is not easy to fight against, but she is certainly beatable. If you are up against Eliza,  keep in mind that while she can do really well at close range, most people tend to look for opportunities to come in and then smother the opponent. So, she can be effectively zoned if planned properly. Moves like her Upper Khat can be blocked and punished as it leaves her slightly vulnerable. Most of the moves Eliza would use to get into the opponent’s face can be stopped and then punished. She can be grabbed, and if spaced properly, even her normals can be adequately punished. Since she has a large hitbox, you can catch her overextending and deal some sweet, sweet punishment.

Eliza’s Assists

One of the best things about Eliza are her assists. She has some pretty good ones, and they are useful in different situations.

Carpenter’s Axe: This is one of the assists that utilizes Sekhmet. Sekhmet will hack at the opponent with an overhead, and due to the armor, it has, this assist is great for 50/50s. The drawback, as with anything involving Sekhmet, is that Eliza cannot build meter and loses health while Sekhmet is in action.

Butcher’s Blade: Another Sekhmet assist. Here, the parasite stabs the opponent rapidly and due to the armor, the person on the other side generally can’t do much against it. True, Sekhmet can be taken down by a sweep but is usually very little time to do this due to the speed of attacks. 

Throne of Isis: We talked about this a bit earlier. As an assist, Throne of Isis is a serviceable move that helps get around projectiles

H Osiris Spiral: As mentioned earlier, Osiris Spiral does a tonne of chip damage which makes it a very reliable assist. It also serves to keep the opponent locked down and unable to move or challenge Eliza. If it does hit, it pops the opponent up, opening the door for the main character to continue their combo in the air.

Dive of Horus: Works as a reverse DP of sorts and is a great anti-air tool. You should keep in mind that it acts as a sort of projectile meaning that if it comes in contact with one, the move fails.