"Where order has broken down, where cruelty and lawlessness rule, Lawbringers are justice. They go wherever they are needed, and they come prepared. Their armor has no equal, its construction a secret of their order. And they carry the Most Versatile weapon ever invented: the poleaxe. Pray that you do not need them. And when they arrive, pray that you have done no wrong."
I see the current state this hero is in and have decided to pitch in. There are many threads discussing Lawbringer all over For Honor forums, to a point where they are met with hostility, and while most of them touch on certain issues they are never “complete”. I may not succeed at making a comprehensive list of things that require attention from Developers, nor getting through to Ubisoft, but I will certainly give it a try like many others.
I like Lawbringer. I am going to be biased simply because I am passionate about this hero and want him to be more than a novice player stomper and a Ledge Lord.
He deserves better.
Lawbringer is a Hybrid Hero, a cross between Heavy and Vanguard. A Heavy Hero usually has a good mix of Defense and Harassment abilities, while a Vanguard Hero has a balanced kit for Attack and Defense.
It’s important to note the differences and similarities between the two; both Heavy and Vanguard enjoy good Defensive kits and differ in their Offensive kits. Heavy is typically focused more on Harassment, which would normally be Light Hits or Confirmed Damage on mix ups or follow ups, as well as Knock Downs and Stagger inducing abilities; Vanguard’s kit is typically focused more on Offense and being able to punch through Defensive play with Unblockable/Vortex Abilities and Fast Light/Zone Attacks. Vanguards may also have Confirmed Damage from Defensive play follow ups.
It follows then that a Hybrid Hero Type would have Harassment, Offensive and Defensive abilities in one form or another. A Hybrid would typically enjoys all three while not having the variety of moves/mix ups of more Specialized Heroes.
That, however, is not the case for most of the abilities Lawbringer has in his arsenal.
Legend:
Punish – ability to damage opponent for making mistakes/bad plays.
Wall Shove – usually done after Guardbreak near a wall, or with help of certain Hero Moves. Stuns your opponent long enough for you to do Confirmed Damage with a Top Heavy Attack.
Confirmed Damage – damage that cannot be avoided.
Heavy Feint – canceling your Heavy Attack mid-swing in order to confuse your opponent. Usually done to Bait Parry or immediately followed by Guardbreak.
Bait Parry/Parry Bait – canceling your Heavy Attack mid-swing in order to deny a Parry attempt by your opponent; usually done to provoke your opponent into making a mistake by trying to Parry your canceled attack, which in turn gets Parried by you for Confirmed Damage Guardbreak Side Heavy, Wall Shove into Top Heavy, or Riposte mix up.
Stagger – a short Stun that interrupts you (ex. Heavy Attacks can be interrupted by a quick Light Attack if timed correctly).
“Quick” overview of Lawbringer:
• Guard
- Slow Guard Change speed, cannot keep up with certain Light Attack/Zone Attack mix ups
• Dodge
- Difficult and short window to Dodge most Unblockable/Vortex abilities with no invincibility frames (ex. Assassin Dodge)
• Stamina
- High Stamina cost on Abilities and All Attacks
• Renown
- Low gain across all activities
• Attacks
- Range – low range on most attacks despite having a Long Range weapon type
- Light Attacks – slow speed, low damage; Top Light only viable Poke
- Heavy Attacks – very slow speed, low damage; easy to Dodge, Block, and Punish with Parry
- Unblockable Attacks – telegraphed, slow, and easy to avoid with Dodge, Punishable with Parry
• Attack Chains
- Near impossible to complete Attack Chains on non-AFK opponents due to long wind up between attacks, which results in being Staggered out of Attack Chains by fast Light Attacks/Zone Attacks; can be Guardbroken between Light/Heavy, Heavy/Heavy mid-chain
• Damage Dealing Ability
- Light Attacks are not protected, can be interrupted at start up; slow speed
- Heavy Attacks are not protected, can be interrupted at start up; very slow speed
- Unblockable Attacks are not protected, can be interrupted at start up; telegraphed and avoidable with Dodge, Punishable with Parry
• Punish Ability Specials
- Light Riposte used only vs Long Ranged Champions, low damage; Guardbreak after Parry currently does more damage if followed by a Side Heavy
- Blind Justice easily avoidable with Dodge; due to its telegraphed nature can be Parried and Punished by a skilled opponent
- Shove cannot be confirmed with Damage nor Guardbreak, does not Stun if used near walls; has minimal tracking and is Avoidable/Punishable unless used in a mix up after successful Block. Shove takes away Lawbringer's Offensive Ability to Punish his opponent after executing a successful Dodge by taking place of Guardbreak right after Dodge (most Heroes can Dodge an attack and follow it up with Guardbreak to Punish their opponents with Side Heavy or Wall Shove/Etc).
What follows now is an in-depth look into Lawbringer Move List and my take on why his abilities are lacking. There is no TLDR.
Hero specific perks:
• Renown – “balanced” across activities, if we go by its tooltip, but is painfully slow to build up. No matter what one does in-game it feels like it is never enough. Since Lawbringer is a Counter-Attacker his forte should be in Defending or Attacking Objectives, places one would expect to be Attacked in. He is too slow to chase opponents and relies on being engaged by enemies.
• Revenge Mode – anyone who has played For Honor knows what Revenge Mode is; discussion as to its power and whenever or not it should be nerfed or balanced will not take place here. Suffice it to say that Lawbringer gets very little from having Revenge Mode. Aside from Shove getting a Knock Down, he is no more dangerous than he was to his opponent before activating it. I am unsure how to make Lawbringer more threatening with Revenge due to his kit. Most of his Attack Chains rely on being attacked. Experienced opponents are not going to attack Lawbringer while his Revenge is up.
• Stunning Top Heavy Attacks – it is extremely difficult to land a Top Heavy attack on any Hero without it getting Dodged, Blocked or Parried. Lawbringer’s slow Attack Speed makes this task even more difficult; if it connects a Stun from it provides little help as most of Lawbringer’s attacks are easy to read and blurred vision from Stun does not hide his Poleaxe’s position which makes blocking his follow ups rather easy. Stunning an opponent in 2+v1 situations provides utility as they will not see Guard Attack Indicators, however doing so with a slow Top Heavy Attack is a surefire way to help build your enemy’s Revenge Meter as it will most certainly be Blocked or avoided in a Team Fight. Not advisable. Underwhelming perk which should be replaced with Uninterruptible Light and/or Heavy Attack Protection during start up to help Lawbringer trade Attacks due to his slow Attack Speed.
• Shove – tooltip states that it initiates chains. Chains that rarely result in damage, unless one mixes up Heavy Feints with Guardbreaks, which can still be countered by good play; its best use is to push your opponent around and drain their Stamina, or to try for Environment Kills. Shove needs something; confirmed Damage on Shove after Block mix up would help Lawbringer keep up Offensive Pressure and give him the “bite” a Counter-Attacker should have against opponents who attack him. Finally, Shove should be able to Stagger/Stun opponents if used near a Wall for a confirmed Top/Side Heavy Attack.
Hero Specific Moves List:
• Book, Chapter and Verse – an unexciting chain, which rarely gets past its second Heavy Attack due to its slow speed. This will usually be Parried, and you will be punished with a Guardbreak. It is possible to outplay your opponent with a Heavy Feint to Bait Parry for yourself. Certain Heroes with fast Light Attacks/Zone Attacks can Stagger you out of your Heavy Attack wind up as well. This Attack Chain could use a speed increase.
• Judge, Jury and Executioner – another chain doomed for failure due to having two Heavy Attacks in succession. This chain suffers the same drawbacks as Book, Chapter and Verse. Your Heavy Attacks can get Dodged, Blocked, and against skilled opponents, Parried and Punished. Once again, clever use of Heavy Feints into Guardbreak and Parry Baiting will, at times, allow you to do damage. For the amount of time/Stamina and risk it takes its’ Damage and/or Speed should be increased.
• Swift Justice – reversed Book, Chapter and Verse; works against bots and unaware opponents. Starting and committing to a Heavy Attack from the get-go is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. Best use is to bait Parry with first Heavy or continue on with the chain and Feint last Heavy Attack to Parry Bait. Suffers same drawbacks as Book, Chapter and Verse and Judge, Jury and Executioner. This Attack Chain could use a speed increase.
• Swift Justice Finisher – I have only seen this attack chain work versus AI. Should you win a lottery and get close to executing it, pay attention to how much damage your last hit makes. For the amount of effort, risk, Stamina cost, and its' requirement for a successful Top Heavy to complete the chain this move should have its’ Damage increased significantly. Another slow and impossible to execute chain Lawbringer has at his disposal; speed increase and removal of Top Heavy requirement to finish the chain would do justice to this move.
• Impaling Charge – this can cost you 50%+ of your Stamina bar if it is Blocked, or worse, Parried. Its only use is to push unsuspecting players off Ledges or into Wall/Wall Spikes. If used to push opponent into a wall, you will only have enough Stamina for one Heavy Attack; if used to push opponent across terrain no Confirmed Damage will be possible by the end. High risk, low reward. This move should be Unblockable and/or Uninterruptable, as well as Knock Down opponents caught in its path.
• Impaling Riposte – the amount of frames it takes for this animation to kick off lets your opponent Block or Parry your Attack, which makes this move unusable. Should have its Speed increased, as well as give it Uninterruptable status for the duration of its execution.
• Blind Justice – a perfect Punish if it was not possible to Dodge or Parry it. Too slow to confirm its’ damage makes this move unusable, as well as dangerous to use against most players due to possibility of getting Parried and Punished. It must be noted that its' damage can be confirmed after successful Parry of a Light Attack, parrying a Light Attack to make this move functional is not acceptable nor is it good game design however.
• Light Riposte – for the amount of effort it takes to execute its damage is pitiful. Only useful versus Long Ranged classes like Nobushi or Valkyrie as Guardbreaking after Parry versus them is usually out of range. Currently you should Guardbreak after successful Parry into Side Heavy or Wall Shove into Top Heavy for Confirmed Damage. Needs to match or exceed Guardbreak/Side Heavy mix up Damage in order to justify its spot on Lawbringer’s Move List.
• Make Way – suffers the same slow animation speed as Impaling Riposte, this is most likely the least used ability currently in game if it even functions as intended. Having an ability that hits enemies all around could be of huge benefit if it was Unblockable; as it currently is (when it works) it costs a lot of Stamina, can be interrupted out of due to not having protection to Stagger, and is blocked due to its slow speed.
• The Long Arm – easy to avoid, telegraphed. Slow execution and low range. Very lackluster move unless spammed versus a single opponent, and every Lawbringer knows it should not work like that. This needs longer Range and better Confirmed Damage. Currently you only get a Light Attack from successful execution, should confirm in Top and/or Side Heavy due to its Knock Down effect.
• Shove and its variations –both useful and useless; it does not Confirm into Damage, it does not Stun/Stagger opponents if used against walls. Its’ uses are limited to pushing opponents off ledges or into wall spikes, which any half-awake opponent can usually steer clear of, and breaking and “starting” Chains. Shove should have a follow up which results in Confirmed Damage just like many other abilities similar to it can deal.
Guard:
• For being a Counter-Attacker Lawbringer has a very slow Guard Change Speed, which results in difficulty and at times inability to block fast Light Attack/Zone Attack chains/mix ups. Guard switch speed should be increased across the board for all Heroes. It could also be argued that certain Attack Chains/mix ups are too fast and need to be slowed down instead, however. Main offenders for speed decrease are Zone Attacks, which should ideally be used to clear soldier minion waves, or to preemptively keep opponents away in 2+v1 scenarios; instead certain Zone Attacks are used Offensively due to their fast speed; their usage and speed needs to be looked at for all Heroes.
Attack Range:
• Lawbringer has a poleaxe at his disposal, and yet his Attack Range is rather short. Comically his Side Attacks tend to phase through his opponents; for having such a large weapon Lawbringer’s Side Attacks should be in Arcs and damage all who get caught in them.
Dodge/Dodge Follow Up:
• Unlike Assassins Lawbringer, and select few other Heroes, do not have i-frames on Dodge; i-frames are short for invincibility frames. This allows Assassins to easily side-step most Unblockable/Vortex abilities as well as Side Attacks even when they Dodge in the same direction of incoming attacks. It is near impossible to Side Dodge a Conqueror’s Shield Bash/Shield Crush without perfect timing on Lawbringer, as well as Shoulder Bash from a Warden, as well as many other abilities that work the same way, your only escape is to Dodge backwards. Adjust Lawbringer’s hit-box, Dodge speed, or give him i-frames (with the rest of the Hero cast). Let us assume that you are successful in Dodging such an attack your only follow up, currently, is a fast Light Attack; trying to Guardbreak will result in Lawbringer using his Shove ability which does not confirm into anything. As a Counter-Attacker Lawbringer has surprisingly few abilities to Punish his opponents. A look into how Shove works will help balance this out; it needs to confirm into damage one way or another, however.
Armor:
• Look at Lawbringer and his armor. Glorious. One would assume that it would be difficult to Stagger or Interrupt his attacks. Once in-game, however, his armor turns out to be paper thin or just an illusion. His Light and Heavy Attacks can be interrupted at start up; his Unblockable Attacks can be interrupted at start up. He has no Uninterruptable Stance or Hyper Armor like Shugoki. He is just a slow push over decked out in plate, who gets winded at the first sign of stairs or a ladder; his Attack Chains deplete most of his Stamina. Lawbringer’s image does not match his abilities. Needs across the board look at Stamina cost of abilities and Attack Protection on either Light or Heavy Attacks. Unblockable Attacks should be Protected from Stagger by default.
Lawbringer, a rushed Hero:
After "some" research and many hours of playtime it is evident that there was very little testing done in regards to Lawbringer’s abilities due to how all over the place his kit is. He needs help and he needs it now. Hearing Developers say that his win rates in Dominion are high makes me think they are focusing on the wrong parts of his kit. Shoving players off ledges or into spikes does not make a Counter-Attacker. Lawbringer needs ways to do Confirmed Damage, he needs to be able to punish players for attacking him, not punish them for not being aware of his off-the-screen-impaling-charge-off-a-cliff.
What can be done?
His Light and/or Heavy Attacks should be Uninterruptable at start up if he is to be as slow as he is to give him a better ability to trade blows. Increasing Damage as well as Range of both Light and Heavy Attacks will go a long way, he has a poleaxe. Not a tooth pick. As a Counter-Attacker he surprisingly lacks ways to Punish people attacking him. His one true Punish, Blind Justice, is easily avoidable and usually ends up being used against Lawbringer by getting Parried. Unacceptable.
His Renown gain should be switched to Defending and/or Attacking contested objectives, places where his Counter-Attacker and Disabler kit will be used. He is too slow to chase his opponents.
Attack Chains should have their speed increased and Stamina values adjusted. Lawbringer gets winded as quickly as Shugoki. A fat man. Lawbringer is a mountain of muscles. Not fat.
Last, but not least, Guard Stance Change Speed must be increased so that Lawbringer can defend himself versus fast Light Attack chains with Zone Attack mix ups.
Hopefully some of this will reach the proper channels, if not, hopefully some of what is stated can be talked about by other Lawbringer players in-game and/or forums and will eventually get to the right person in charge of class balancing.
I tried to touch on most of Lawbringers kit and the difficulties he currently faces in-game, of course, this is not a complete list.
Give Lawbringer a try in-game and see for yourself! Report your feedback through proper channels.
PS: I am aware of "leaked" Lawbringer buffs and fixes, most of the changes will be of tremendous help. Not all of them hit the spot, however.