Member
First of all I want to say thank you for this patch coming out with shinobi and centurion balancing, it is much needed. It is a step in the right direction of balancing and as a die hard fan of the game it is exciting to see.
LIGHT PARRIES
CONFLICT. Light parries have too big of a punish. All the high tier players rely on light parries for huge punishes. I still think players should be rewarded for light parries because it is harder to do than a heavy parry, but it is also a safer parry as lights cannot be feinted and it undermines the punishes of counter attackers with more damage output. There is no incentive to use crushing counter, deflects, or shadow strike as shinobi or highlander as light parrying for a free heavy or guard break rewards the player more.
I heard they were considering taking away free guard breaks after a parry because it's a guaranteed kill if near a hazard. They probably don't know how to implement this change fairly. but fixing the light parrying punish system would also fix this aspect.
SOLUTION. Parrying heavy attacks should be rewarded with a free heavy, as heavies can be feinted, this would also allow the free guard break on parries to be taken out but still reward players for parrying heavies. Parrying light attacks should be rewarded with a light attack. Parrying light attacks is harder to do and should still be rewarded, but it is also safer than parrying heavies with a guaranteed punish because lights cannot be feinted.
Results. Reducing the punish on light attack parries would not only give counter attackers more of an incentive to use their built in counters but it would also level the playing field for players with slower reflexes or slower hardware and open up an opportunity for changing the heavy parry punish and allow the removal of guaranteed guard breaks after a parry. This change would provide a much more fair playing experience and allow characters to play their role for a more enjoyable experience. Countering Light for a light, heavy for a heavy, no free kills. This makes sense.
Hardware is a huge factor with light parrying. I could not win a single duel tournament or light parry on a 70inch TV, I recently switched to a monitor and won 10 duel tournaments in a row and can light parry everything. Also, not every player has the reflexes to light parry. Please spread awareness on recommend hardware for an optimal playing experience.
EXCEPTION As of now Centurion gets a double punish on a light parry. He gets a free charged heavy with guaranteed follow up heavy. he should only get one free heavy from a parry or a heavy parry if changed.
SHINOBI
On a side note, shinobi needs a damage buff on shadow strike and deflects. This will make also make him able to have a fair chance in group fights. He still has the lowest health and therefore should have a higher damage output on counter attacks, he is designed to counter attack but is hardly rewarded for it. You risk 1/3 to 1/2 of your your health on a deflect or a parry but are only rewarded with doing 1/5 to 1/6 damage of the enemy's health. Also, what is the incentive for using the built in counter mechanics? Shinobi still gets a bigger punish on a parry guaranteed ranged guard break into sickle rain, so using a deflect or shadow strike is not only less effective, but is more dangerous. The deflects should be just like Orochi's, but faster. Deflects should do 2 to 3 bars of damage instead of one bar. And 1.5 to 2 bars of damage on shadow strike. these moves should do more damage than his heavy and make up for his slow heavies, so that would not need to be buffed anymore. It will enable him to quickly counter and stand a fair chance in group fights. Deflecting as a Shinobi looks so cool but there is not reason for it as his parry guard break counter is a bigger punish and it ruins the experience of playing him. The deflects are so aesthetically pleasing but are not practically rewarding for in game success and is very disappointing there is no incentive to use this mechanic. It should be high risk, high reward. not high risk, no reward.
As far as the kick opener for Shinobi. it was nerfed because it's basically a free heavy. That's understandable, but as a player who wants to be rewarded for skill, I don't care for this feature. I want to use skill to win and not rely on a kick exploit. Even as a Shinobi main, I think you should take away the free heavy on a kick. Since Shinobi is so weak in these other aspects like fast counter attacking damage output You end up having to rely on a kick exploit. His kick should be a defense mechanism and used for escapes or repositioning to open up space, not for attack. take away the free heavy if you need to trade that for attack buffs in other areas. I would rather be able to defend against guard breaks while dodging. So please buff the kick and chain it to a dodge making it faster and have more range, like pre nerf. that's better than a free heavy. Maybe consider a free follow up light instead of a heavy. but every assassins has a dodge light attack that protects against guard breaks except Shinobi. Shinobi needs this defense in his mobility. his double dodge kick needs to be fast enough to avoid guard breaks. The double dodge is also buggy and allows players to blindly throw a guard break and teleport to me if I dodge out of range. Shinobi should be hard to hit with how mobile he is, he should not be so exposed by guard breaks.
HIGHLANDER
Highlander also suffers from weaker punishes on crushing counters as opposed to free heavies on light parries. It makes his counter mechanism pointless for countering light attacks which is what it should mainly be used for.
Peacekeeper, Berzerker, Warden, Shinobi, Highlander and maybe a few other characters all lose incentive for using built in counter on light attacks as of now.
Junior Member
Member
it would also make everyone's counter on heavy parries a lot faster so they don't have to guard break to get the free heavy, the guard break was essentially the middle man for the heavy punish, which not every character gets a heavy on a guard break like highlander doesn't get a heavy on a guard break so it would also address this issue as well.
Member
Another thing I just thought of is that parrying heavies would stagger opponents longer to open them up for a counter heavy, but it would also allow a more fair fight in group fights even without revenge. If you get a quad parry it will stagger the gang longer, giving you an opportunity to connect one heavy with one or more attackers or get a light attack on say 2 of the enemies. It will allow a bigger window of opportunity in group fights so that you are not constantly barraged with heavy attacks in a group fight.
Member
I just keep thinking of reasons why this is a great idea. It would give new players an incentive to join and pick up the game because heavies are easier to parry but would have a bigger reward and will stress the important of feinting and timing, and not exclude new players from getting big punishes. It would give experienced players an edge with light parries but will also reflect diminishing returns based on being rewarded for experience and reflexes as opposed to strategy or timing.
Senior Member
