I don't think these were the right PK nerfs...
I'm a PK main and I think that right now she's a bit too strong. However after watching the livestream I was quite disappointed with the changes they announced. I think that the light attacks spam was the main problem, and was hoping Ubi would address that so people would stop hating on PKs. It's really annoying for people like me who refuse to use lights (even just a few) because of how they are viewed. I don't want to feel like I'm restricting myself.
First let me say that I am happy about the zone attack nerf. The fix on the indicator will hopefully make it less annoying to block, because before it was a bit ridiculous how easy it was to get a hit with it. Also treating it like a light attack when blocked was the perfect change to make it more punishable and less safe.
The increase on the deflect damage will hopefully make it more useful, as right now it's rather high risk and kinda low reward. Contrary to what many say, deflect can be very useful in certain situations, more so than parrying. I mostly use it when fighting long range characters like the Nobushi (her lights are also pretty slow and hence easy to deflect) because when I parry her I never get the GB. I also find it easier to deflect right after cancelling a heavy (on controller) because of the dodge button's proximity. When fighting Valkyries (the class I have the most trouble with), I try to bait them by feinting. Problem is that, unlike the assassins, her dash attacks are so fast that I never parry or even block them in time after the feint. What does sometimes work though is a quick deflect.
However I am rather disturbed that they chose to nerf the dash attacks by increasing block recovery time and decreasing damage. From watching tournaments and skilled players on YT/Twitch, it seems at high level this move is rarely used because it is already too risky and easy to avoid/block/parry. If so much damage really is coming from these attacks then I doubt their data is coming from high end play (as it should IMO). All the change is gonna do is encourage light spam even more, which I think is the real problem with the PK.
Honestly it's disgusting watching how some PKs play, using nothing but light attacks to overwhelm. This is what they should have focused on instead. I'm not exactly sure how to nerf this, but I have some suggestions:
• Slow it down ever so slightly on consoles. I think that most of the hate for her light spam is coming from consoles because lower fps and increased latency mean faster characters have a huge advantage.
• Reduce the damage. Just slightly. Right now its low risk high reward. Make it low risk low reward. After all, if you just watch the animations it doesn't look like those weak slashes would do much damage anyway; there's no power going into them whatsoever.
• Increase recovery time if the second light gets blocked - maybe even make it so that you can guarantee an GB. Similar to the zone attack nerf, this would make it much more risky and less safe.
• Add some sort of extra delay if the PK decides to cut out of the light light heavy chain and go for a third light instead. This would give people getting overwhelmed by her spam a bit of a breather to pull themselves together. With some practice, the first light isn't that hard to block, especially when you are prepared.
I don't think all of these changes would be necessary to discourage the light spam; in fact all 4 would be a bit too much. I would mostly like to see the last two, so that spamming become less safe rather than less rewarding.
As an AC fan, I will always be in love with the PK. When the game was first announced and the only known heroes were the Warden, Warlord (iirc) and Orochi (or Oni as he was known at the time), Ubi had some images on their website with concept art showing the silhouettes of all the other heroes. The moment I saw that one of them appeared to be wearing a hood and dual wielding swords, I knew they would be my main. I wouldn't mind it if Ubi made her underpowered (in the right ways) so people can stop whining and i can feel a sense of achievement whenever I make that killing blow.
I was very pleased with everything else that was said in the stream.
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