Dear reader,

After playing in the last closed beta and in the open beta that is still currently going, I thought I'd post my findings on the official forums.

In closed and open beta I played all possible game modes, and have watched a variety of streams to see what the streamers were saying about this game. Here I go:

Game practice against bots
I'm one of those guys that tries new characters against bots. Sometimes atleast. I'd go to "how to play" and then just enter the battlefield against a bot level 0. After some movement checks, I'd like to scale it up to a bot level 1 to see some of the moves in action. At the moment I'd have to go back to the menu to start a new round.

My suggestion: When fighting bots in 'how to play', give me an option in the menu to increase the bots level on the go. Saves a few seconds/minutes depending on your setup, but it does make life feel easier.


Death Match
I am happy death matches were added. It fits right in and is a game mode I did miss in the closed beta ( although some people reported playing it in closed beta). There's one problem in death matches, and that is bots and their replacement.

The issue at hand is, not enough players are in a room. May it be rage quitting, or just started off with not enough players. The empty spots are filled with bots. When a new player does enter the battlefield, the bot gets replaced. Sounds okay, right? Nope. Usually the bot would be in a fight with someone else, and just *poof* it's gone. The new player that joined, gets to join with full health again. This seemed to frustrate most of the people I played with in death matches.

My suggestion: if a death match round has started with a bot and a new player joins, don't replace the bot until that round is over. Yes, the player will have to wait until the end of the round, but I'd say that is the lesser of two evils.

Dominion: Breaking fase
When fighting in dominion, you'll get to the breaking fase. One of the teams has reached a 1000 points, and the other team will start breaking. If, by some unfortunate event, a character is in the animation of being beheaded while the thousand points are reached, that newly beheaded hero will not get a last chance. I wasn't sure if this was the way it was supposed to work. I do know it got me frustrates from time to time. ( Tip on my part: Don't fight your enemies when they're close to reaching a 1000 points.)

My suggestion:As a matter of fact I find it hard to think of a suggestion to change this in any good way. (Don't want someone poofing to life mid animation)

Raider customization
In the customization area of the raider is a tiny bug. Try clicking on 'weapon' and then 'head' of the weapon. Chances are, you just opened the Social menu. The social button seems to cover the middle part of the 'head' button of the weapon.

My suggestion: Shorten the Social button's click area.

Character Balancing
I think this is an incredibly sensitive subject to post my findings on. I hesitated a few times, but I do think it's important to post my findings. I think that balancing overall is a job incredibly well done. You can pretty much use any character you like (may it be visually, or technique wise), and be savage all you want. Sure, you'll get killed, but you'll also kill. Some characters seem to have an edge over other characters, but that is common to all characters.

I took some time and wrote down what opinions I could find in streams, and in some games where people were chatting a lot. I was surprised by the variety of characters that are being called over powered. Pretty much any character got called too strong, except for (by my findings) berserker and kensei. All other heroes are, on multiple occations, called too strong. This shows how incredibly well done the character balancing is. If (almost) every character can be called too strong, none of them really are.

I also found what most people would call logical: When people get emotional, they will start focussing on how strong their opponent is, and will call the character they play too strong. The misconception is that there usually is a difference in player strength instead of character strength. Emotions will cover that conception up to the point that people seem to not recognize it's more about the fast reactions, then the powers the characters have.

On a character to character basis in my own opinion:

Warden: Probably one of the most seen characters. A solid character that works well even without too much practice. The learning curve on Warden on the other hand is pretty big. Players will need time to master this character. In my opinion this character is perfectly fine.

Conqueror: This character doesn't seem to be played too often. It's a defensive character that really has to fit your style of play, and will see less play because of that. Apart from a weird infinite attack that I've only seen once, and haven't been able to reproduce, this character seems fine. As the description says, slow, hard attacks evened out by heavy defenses.

Peacekeeper: Together with warden one of the most seen characters. For an assassin this character feels like you need less fast reactions then you would with the other assassins.The attacks the peacekeeper gets in when guard breaking an opponent seem quite strong. This is probably the main reason the Peacekeeper is called too strong. It is incredibly hard for new players to block guard breaks. Where other characters don't get too much of an advantage with guard breaks, the Peacekeeper seems to get a bit more of an advantage. Overall though, I would say this character is also fine the way it is. As soon as people start to learn how to counter guard breaks, the Peacekeeper will probably see less play and feel less strong.

Raider: Probably the easiest character to play. Very straight forward and without practice already quite strong. In the closed beta this hero was seen too strong by quite a few players. In the open beta, however, I can't find a person that still says the raider is too strong. The raider in my opinion could use a small buff. The buff is needed when you'r facing technically skilled people. The raider falls off against experienced players and seems to loose it's beginners strength. The scary part of buffing the raider is buffing a part that every beginner can use. That'd make for a lot of 'too strong' calling in especially with the beginners in the game.

Warlord: The warrior that uses his head, a lot. Not in the thinking way, but more in the physical way. That's how the character feels and plays. Incredibly dumb, but really strong. It's a fun character to play, a less fun character to face, especially in the hands of an experienced headbutter. With quick fingers you can dodge the headbutt. It gets annoying when you fail to counter the headbutt, and the Warlord doesn't seem to be doing anything else then that. The warlord, apart from his headbutt move, seems perfectly fine, if not even quite strong without the headbutt. I'd really like to see a more limited usage on the headbutt by increasing it's stamina usage, or decreasing the speed in which the animation plays (because dang it's fast).

Berserker: A character occasionally seen. Usually in the hands of skilled players. I think the Berserker is the hardest character to learn. You need incredibly fast fingers, you need to trick your opponents, and you need to bring incredible pressure in the fights. Exactly what you would think a berserker should do. When played by a skilled user, this hero is strong. When played by someone less skilled(me), this hero can be incredibly frustrating to play. Overall though, again, this character is probably right where it needs to be.

Kensei: A character I've seen very few of, strangely enough. Kensei is strong, and confusing. It's the hero that dashes and then attacks in the opposite direction of all other dashing heroes that attack. As I haven't seen too much of kensei, I find it hard to really say anything on him. He seems fine just the way he is.

Nobushi: A character I see a lot of. Probably a third place if Warden and Peacekeeper take the first and second place. The fast attacks on this character and it's long range, seem to frustrate a lot of people. It's tough to find an opponing. When you do find one, you usually break them entirely. It's another one of those characters, given time, people will figure them out. Right now they feel strong, as soon as people learn what to do against Nobushi, I feel like this character is, again, perfectly fine.

Orochi: A character I see less of in the open beta, then I did in the closed beta. The character at first felt really strong. Right now, not so much. His moveset is interesting and fun. Makes you feel like a real ninja samurai thing, and that's cool. The character seems especially efficient against beginning players. As most other characters, in experienced play he's on equal footing. He hits fast, and quite hard sometimes. Just like an assassin. Cool. Again, fine in my opinion.

TL;DR; All heroes are pretty much fine and counterable. Some may need slight touches, but dang did they do a good job on balancing this game out.


Community
Last but not least, one of the biggest compliments a developers, publisher, and a community can get. I have rarely, if not ever, seen a community that seems so happy, fun, and forgiving. There is rage, and there is frustration, but a game can only have that if people care about the outcome of something. This game makes you care, and makes you want to win.
At first I was a bit afraid of the factions and its war. Three sides to choose from. I've got to say I am happily surprised by how well the community is shaping around this mechanic. I usually open a reddit page, and shut it within 5 minutes. People completelty raging, and calling names, and calling out the publisher and developers for outragious decisions and what not. This Reddit however, filled with neck bearded savages, pillow hugging weebs, and "deus vulting" tin cans, is the most awesome Reddit I ever visited.

This same feeling goes on when playing the game. I've joined sessions that were completely Roleplaying it all the frickin way. I've met incredibly skilled players that will take the time to fight a person that wants to learn, and teach them all the tricks they know. I haven't had this much fun and such a good feeling, playing a game in years.


PS. English is not my first language. I try my best. If you do find the need to comment on parts, please do so in PM's. Keeps the comment section clean!