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NOTE: This post is not for any drama or derogatory behavior. It's simply a suggestion and feedback post to hear what the community thinks about the current state of Shinobi. I will be presenting data from the game itself and my thoughts. If you've got any, I'd love to hear them!
Shinobi's Purpose:
There's quite a quantity of people who believe Shinobi shouldn't exist in the game. And a lot can be said for other characters/heroes. Everyone has their own playstyles, strategies, and aptitude when it comes to playing to Shinobi. Shinobi is an assassin; therefore, I believe he's/she's QRF (quick reaction force.) Shinobi's speed allows him/her to travel zone-to-zone and get out of sticky situations if need be. Shinobi's ranged heavies and ranged guard breaks allow him/her to assist their teammates in fights. You get the idea...
Before Nerf/Patch 2.11.0 to 2.12.2:
Shinobi was labeled as a "glass cannon." Attacks were deadly; however, the hero was easily brought down. Shinobi had hyper armor on his/her dodge kick, front roll kick, backflip, slide tackle, and sickle rain. The backflip had more distance as well. As stated before, Shinobi was deadly BUT could be killed easily due to having the lowest health pool out of every hero in the game. Then, the nerfed/patch launched. Shinobi's hyper armor for the following was removed:
-Kick after a double dodge.
-Backflip.
-Sprint slide.
-Sickle rain.
-Front roll kick.
-Kick after deflect.
This put Shinobi at a major disadvantage. Some changes were appropriate, but there were some that were questionable. After the first nerf, Shinobi kept taking hits from more nerfs. Will include the full nerf/change list:
Patch 2.11.0 to 2.12.2:
-Rope - long-range grab no longer beats revenge activation.
-Sprint Slide - only has active hit frames for 400ms (from 600ms,) no longer beats revenge activation, and the victim can now activate revenge during the hit.
-Uninterruptible Stance - listed moves HAD uninterruptible stance (removed.)
-Hyper Armor Removal - backflip, roll, double-dodge kick, kick-after-deflect, kick-after-roll, sprint slide, and sickle rain (including if conducted on victim.)
-Backflip distance was shortened.
-Quad dash was removed.
Warrior's Den Recap - June 9th:
-Shinobi's option select/zone was nerfed.
Patch Notes 2.19.1 to 2.19.3:
-Shinobi's sickle rain and any kick would stop the victim from activating revenge. However, characters like Shaman's bite and Shugoki's hug/demon's embrace will keep your revenge locked. And, timed perfectly, gankers can get free heavies while the hero does their bite or hug and heavied from gankers before having the chance to activate revenge.
Core Combat Update (CCU):
-Shinobi's light damage was decreased. (I believe). Stamina drain to twelve.
-Shinobi's deflect damage was nerfed. (I believe his heavies were touched too).
-Shinobi's ranged heavy was increased four damage. Twenty-five to twenty-nine.
August 13th, 2020:
-Shinobi's ranged heavy was decreased four damage. Twenty-nine to twenty-five.
-Stamina on lights from twelve to six.
August 27th, 2020 (2.20.0 to 2.20.2):
All damage was lowered but I'll list the basics.
-Ranged heavy from 29 to 20 damage.
-Heavy from 29 to 24 damage.
-Double lights/Shadow Dancer to 16 damage.
-More were nerfed/lowered or slightly increased.
Some will agree or disagree that Shinobi is in need of a rework or buff. Which is why I made this post to hear from the community.
Data from State of Balance - June 17th, 2020:
-Overall Shinobi was marked at 44.1% for the lowest win-rate. THE LOWEST out of every hero. (Dominion).
-Overall Shinobi was marked at 1.7% for the lowest pick-rate. THE SECOND lowest pick-rate out of every hero. Nuxia took the last spot. (Dominion).
-Every gamemode marked Shinobi at the lowest tier list.
-I don't even want to include duels, breach, and brawls.
In my opinion, Shinobi needs something that will benefit the hero. Whether it's more attacks, combos, health, or damage values, he/she needs something. Getting guard broke in mid dash and backflip isn't cutting it anymore. Getting light spammed out of kicks ain't cutting it either. There have been many posts about Shinobi before this one and suggestions on a rework. And yet, it's been over a year and nothing but nerfs has been coming Shinobi's way. Shinobi isn't a glass cannon anymore. Shinobi is made out of glass with rubber kamas.
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I don't think it should take this long to make a character usable but I do understand it is a big chore. The player base is very split when it comes to shinobi those who vs him hate him because he can just stand off screen throwing attacks and then run away whereas those who like to play him believe he needs a buff or rework. His kit is such mess, backflip used to be super safe whereas now it is unusable, moves like this are either too good or not good at all that being said I don't really see a way the devs can rework him while still staying true to his identity so I think it will st ill be sometime till he receives some positive changes, although the fact that the only buffs he has received since Iv'e been playing is a standard reflex guard and a feintable zone makes feel like they don't really care.
