Senior Member
I think that lots of balance problems could be solved by introducing a new attack type.
The most obvious existing attack type is the unblockable attack (represented by orange), all heroes have at least one (even if only as a deflect followup). The other obvious attack type is the armored attack (represented by white), and there are the undodgable attacks (like zerker's spin chop or orochi's top storm rush, represented by blue/purple). The valkyrie and maybe the shaoling has the rarest type, the sweep (represented by yellow/gold). This new attack type could be represented by a color too for better understanding.
This attack type would be a weaker version of the unblockable attack: it would deal increased block damage (let's say 30% of the attack itself), and it would have the potential to kill with the block damage (if it would hit, it could act like any normal attack). This would be a good way to give some slower characters a well needed buff without breaking them: every shugoki heavy and the zone could act like this (his weapon would probably damage any shield or weapon on block with his strenght, so logical to break through them), the lawbringer could get them on his heavies too, maybe the warlord should get his etc. It would also give the orochi and the pk a small way to force reaction if their heavy finishers would work with this property.
I think it would be a nice addition to the game, it would force out more reactions without giving more characters full unblockables.
Senior Member
Ehm i have a better idea, i think they should add Command Grabs to the game, kinda like tekken, what's the difference with normal grabs? they have animations and specific ways of getting out.
I will give you the example of tekken, in tekken you can get out with any punch button on simple grabs, but if the opponent makes a command grab (you can see if they do it with the left, right arm or both arms at the same time) and click that specific button to get out, for example for command grabs of UP we could click the counter guard break button, for left command grabs it would be a light attack and for a right direction command grab it would be a heavy button.
This could be a good idea to add to heavy characters, since they really need a buff (they are outclassed by most assasins and only work for hard CC lockdown on 4vs4 modes)
Member
I want to respond to both of you.
@Roland:
I think this property should be applied to all heavy attacks across the board. Blocking them should not be sufficient defense, you would have to parry them. Additionally, a heavy parry would not guarantee a followup light attack, so normal heavy attacks can only be defended against by parrying. Unblockable attacks could not be soft-feinted anymore (for balance), but still guarantee a light punish.
Light attacks should only guarantee a light attack punish when parried and not stop the chain when blocked. This means light attacks could be used more for pressure. OF COURSE they would have to be slowed down and hit-stun should be reduced to a MINIMUM to balance them out. Light attacks right now are very binary. You either eat the first one and therefore the whole chain, or you block the first one and everything is back to neutral. If light attacks continued after blocks, but you could block them more easily. You could find yourself in situations, where maybe, you get hit by the first light, block the second and then dodge the third to punish your opponent. It would make for a more even playing field and more exciting fighting experience.
@Azure:
I like the idea, though I'm not really sure what a command grab is, so I will assume it's a directional guardbreak, because literally grabbing and holding on to someone would be unbelievably OP in 4v4s. I would not however put it on separate buttons, since it's not very intuitive to react to directional input by button specific output. Instead, I would suggest directional guardbreaks using the movement input as direction. (left stick/ WASD) Another reason for this is, that this input is unique.
That would make the guardbreak harder to defend against, which means the guaranteed heavy MUST be removed for any hero. As for heavy characters, you could have a second directional guardbreak after the first one landed (similar to the throw) BUT if the player manages to defend against that as well, he will only be shoved as normal, but if he doesn't, he will be thrown MUCH further and/or fall to the ground + stun. (up for debate)
This will make heavy heroes very strong when they are up in your face, which is where they should be the scariest.
Senior Member
@AzureSky
I think it's a bad idea. Spamming guardbreaks is still a viable and almost totally safe tactic, making it more rewarding would mean that warlords won't do anything else anymore (most of them barely do by the way). If anything is changed with these grab like moves, then it should be further nerfs. And those warlords and shugokis spamming only guardbreaks 50 times during a match and demanding results for it really deserve to be spammed to death by orochies (those ones actually trying to fight would benefit from my suggestion).
@Camberto
I don't think that all heavy attacks should get this property. Some classes have insanely fast heavy attacks, some kenseis already don't do anything but spam zones for the chip damage, so it should be selected which character gets it on which attack. The berserker, for example, doesn't need it on anything, maybe with the exception of the simple heavy.
