Kensei hate? | Forums

[RealNo1shooter]

So I’ve been saying superior dodge this whole time and was wrong it’s superior block dodge but what kensei does have is a dodge attack chain starters. Which means your getting caught up in combos.

[Arekonator]

If you are certain the attack is commited, the superior block on forward dodge gives you free gb which can net you lot more than a parry would.
I have played kensei for fair bit, and his GB range is same as everyone else. Every character suffers from t-rex arms syndrome once in a while, its not specific to kensei.

[bob333e]

The things I currently personally dislike in Kensei's rework:

- He can delay the heavy attack input during the side dodge
- If you block the first hit of his zone and he proceeds to cancel the zone, you have little to no window to exercise a counterattack or punish (debatable whether he should be punishable upon blocking the quick first hit of his zone)
- His zone hitbox is now ridiculous

Otherwise he feels pretty solid and he's pretty fun to challenge. And he's certainly the most bearable of the three reworks. I do like him. They only need to tone down the hitbox on his zone and to make it so that he has a tight window to input heavy attack during the side dodge.

[RealNo1shooter]

If you are certain the attack is commited, the superior block on forward dodge gives you free gb which can net you lot more than a parry would.
I have played kensei for fair bit, and his GB range is same as everyone else. Every character suffers from t-rex arms syndrome once in a while, its not specific to kensei.

I’ll digress to the fact I’m probably just not good at GB on time then so I’d rather keep range and not play that game. idk always is a pain in my *** if I’m not in the range I want. I think it’s smarter to Dodge than GB somebody up close with kensei. Everybody attack’s when I dodge sometimes twice kensei is adaptable against anybuddy but that gos down significantly up close if you stay there

[RenegadeTX2000]

The things I currently personally dislike in Kensei's rework:

- He can delay the heavy attack input during the side dodge
- If you block the first hit of his zone and he proceeds to cancel the zone, you have little to no window to exercise a counterattack or punish (debatable whether he should be punishable upon blocking the quick first hit of his zone)
- His zone hitbox is now ridiculous

Otherwise he feels pretty solid and he's pretty fun to challenge. And he's certainly the most bearable of the three reworks. I do like him. They only need to tone down the hitbox on his zone and to make it so that he has a tight window to input heavy attack during the side dodge.

yeah i like the inputs stated here. If this was the case I'd actually use Highlander vs Kensei mains and not get a free win with conqueror.

[Protos_88]

if that how rebalancing looks like now, waiting for shaman... just love what this game came. 0 skill

[Protos_88]

ohh sorry ... u need to have skill when you play old character. ohh wait.... conection dont let you parry or block faint...

[RealNo1shooter]

I think you guys are just getting dodged, countered and are not blocking the shots you need to.

[mrmistark]

I only have the Kensei problem because Kensei nullifies Highlanders offensive form. Hard to dodge kensei's attack and plus he has massive range that can knock me out of the stance. and if i dodge his dodge attack, i can only punish with offensive light, he actually has enough time to dodge my kick or attack option after dodge. I only get a 10 damage punish if I actually dodge his dodge attack.

If I start in OF stance he outranges me and beats me to the punch.

If I pressure him he can nullify my options with a dodge attack.

If I try and bait his dodge attack he has enough time to go into his dodge animation and decide whether or not I followed through with my pursuit and he has the option to go through with dodge attack or not at all...

If I get the GB, i only get 15 damage off a light or go for 25 dmg zone that drains my stamina to the point he can pressure me before I'm able to be offensive again.

he has faster attacks and better zone in Neutral.

He nullifies my kick mix up with dodge attack completely.

I'm forced to fight in Defensive stance most of the time to where I become the worst character in the game by being in DEF stance.

It's a bad match up lol and there's a TON of Kenseis running around so I just CP with Conqueror just to end him.

I will respectfully disagree here for a few reasons. I am a Kensei main (rep 10) since beta and my secondary is HL (rep 7) so I understand the characters very well (though I actually hate the Kensei rework, mostly because I was Kensei master and now any fool can easily do all the mix-ups. Takes the fun out of it....anyways though).

Here’s some good pointers for you (I hope) for the match up.

The first two tips in regard to countering, which aren’t just for HL strictly either, is learn to dodge all attacks later. Especially when in OS with HL, this is very important and his dodge in OS is incredibly good. This isn’t against just Kensei either but rather any good mix up characters that have a lot of options such as shaman. The next thing is don’t be afraid to throw out lights attacks upon attack start ups. This right here is a big one because most people stop and wait to try and respond to all of the mix ups instead of throwing out a light to interrupt the start up. For Kensei admittedly this doesn’t apply as much except for when he goes into UB heavy finisher (which from a dodge attack he would be dumb not to as it forces a reaction), but is still a helpful when you train yourself to do this in applicable situations.

The second part is all about HL DF. The first thing that blew my mind here is your comment about DF. Honestly DF is highly underrated by almost everyone. Not only do heavies have HA but he has is counters which deal 30 damage. That being said forget about parties and go for the counters unless opponent is kind of close to OOS. The key here is to bait for counters into fast flow OS. If it’s a dodge heavy Kensei, which with HL HA I’m sure he will be dodge attacking at least a bit, this makes a good bait. Train the Kensei to be wary of dodge attacking with these counters. It is also important to use your Celtic curse. It’s not an opener, but can dodge attacks when soft feinted and has HA. This is a good counter to many attacks and their options as the trade value typically is pretty good. It is also another ok bait for dodge attacks as you can delay the soft fient pretty long or fast flow if the Kensei doesn’t do anything. Another good bait is whiffing a light attack. This does 2 things: baits an incoming attack for either a counter or chain into a HA heavy. Don’t underestimate HL lights. They are slow but also are not exactly expected. Use these randomly when there seems to be a pause and you’ll also interrupt a lot more start ups randomly than you’d expect and will also let you fast flow.

For HL OS stance, always fast flow if you can. With the added option for Celtic curse this is made a little easier. Any successful attack or wiffed allows you to fast flow so this isn’t too hard. Staying into OS is the hard part. That’s where the late dodges and lights really come into play. The other thing is light attacks right from fast flow, if close enough are almost guaranteed they’re so quick. No one expects them either. Another thing is don’t be afraid to go for Caber toss instead of kick. Caber toss catches almost everything mid attack honestly. It’s impressive how long in an attack it can grab. If you’re getting dodge attack spammed, UB into caber toss. This will catch Kensei before his animations go through. If he doesn’t dodge attack and tries to parry it’s the same thing. The problem is his dodge isn’t “part” of the actually attack animation, that’s why so many people have difficulty with it. Don’t be afraid to throw out light attacks when close in range and don’t forget that his UB heavies can be chained. If you dodge an attack the kick works well, but again, if they start to dodge you can caber toss and catch them. I prefer just a strait heavy into caber if need be though as it uses less stamina and is about the same timing. Also using the emote while OS ends up getting a reaction out of the more jumpy players as if you feinted an attack.

Lastly don’t be afraid to go back into DF as a hard feint into gb or light, or to counter attack.

I know most of this SOUNDS easier said than done so I’ll leave this vid here because this guy helped me become way better as HL and implements a lot of what I’m talking about in an easier to understand visual way.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k8WXrfBgZYo

[ArchDukeInstinct]

Everybody’s mad now that Kensei actually has a superior dodge. When every other character has superior guard break abilities. Quit messaging me after fights.

It's simple. Some people are just butt hurt that the reworked heroes aren't free wins for them in duels anymore. It's not some coincidence that there's huge tantrums all over this forum about every reworked character.