ULTIMATE MARVEL VS CAPCOM 3 BALANCE CHANGES DISCOVERED/SUSPECTED THUS FAR
Disclaimer: Take most of these changes with a grain of salt. Not only is there insufficient time for people to be experimenting but some of these changes might be revised for the final game as well. Stuff like "X is a bit faster/slower" should also be taken lightly as some people may exaggerate minor changes in frame data.
Read changes as:
+ = Buff
- = Nerf
+/- = A change in mechanics that can be either a buff or a nerf and needs more experimentation to determine which it is
There are going to be additional notes in the changes concerning the implications of said changes. I think it's important for people to know why stuff was changed and which characters needed what. There will also be discussion on the implication of how a character's position in the tier list might change due to the changes. Tier list change will take into account other mechanics change like aerial X factor and TAC changes.
Akuma
+ Akuma is able to use Demon Flip and moves in the air now.
+ Akuma has a Demon Flip Command Throw now (?)
+ Teleport seems slightly more useful, better but no real confirmation on this.
- Tatsu Assist is no longer a soft knockdown, so it's a bit more difficult to extend combos with it.
- Demon Flip dive kick OTG ground bounce relaunch is much more strict.
- Does not have a light Tatsu infinite in LVL3 XF anymore.
Some small nerfs and some nice buffs puts Akuma more or less where he already is... a strong anchor/assist character with some decent tricks of his own to hold his own in a highly competitive match. Ability to air X factor is a huge buff for Akuma as his assist punishing game goes up tremendously as well as his zoning game.
Amaterasu
+ Cold star appear to be faster when on point
+ Gets a speed bonus in X-Factor LVL2
- TAC gitch gone
Removal of DHC glitch was a nerf to Amaterasu but ability to X factor in the air and speed bonus on X factor are significant buffs for her (due to persistence of Okami Shuffle after usage). Expect her to still be a highly competitive almost dominant character, more or less where she already is currently.
Arthur
+ Increased overall health
+ J.S drops him downward more quickly for easier OTG after air combo
+ Arthur can throw 3 lances out (?)
Buffs for Arthur were a given, he was in the bottom 2 in MVC3 (lowest of low tier). Air X factor is a buff and every change suspected/discovered for him thus far have been buffs. Much needed for him and he still needs more to be a competitive player.
C. Viper
+/- Unconfirmed, unseen new move hinted by Nitsumo himself
- It's possible her infinite from MVC3 is removed but it's not confirmed yet
Not enough game time or experimentation time has been given to C Viper. She is on paper a very lethal character in MVC3 but execution holds her back a bit. Barring massive buff or nerf, she should remain a very competitive character just like her incarnation in SSF4. There have been rumors about decreased meter uptake from EX moves but no more special cancels into EX moves but they are highly unconfirmed so they were not worth listing.
Captain America
+ Shield Slash specials are faster
+ Has a Double jump now
+ Captain America overall is a faster character
+ M/H versions of Charging Star now cause Soft Knockdown
Buffed all around and he should be. Definitely in the lower end of the roster, stuff like double jump and faster overall speed/moves will definitely help him be more competitive. He is still not quite there yet, needs a few more buffs.
Chris Redfield
+ Supposedly he has faster special moves start up now
Not enough experimentation done with Chris but he is in need of some slight buffs. Would love to see faster specials on him if true. He is around middle tier right now, the right buffs will make him quite competitive.
Chun-Li
+ Appears to do overall more damage in combos
+ Chun-Li appears to be no longer vulnerable after doing her up kicks in the air (?)
+ Supposedly has new move properties (like chargeable fireballs). Very much unconfirmed, need more information on this.
Not enough experimentation done with Chun Li but she too is a candidate for buffs. While she has some nice tools, lack of damaging combos really hurt her competitive viability. Some buffs would definitely move her up a tier.
Dante
+/- There have been changes to jab move (either addition or substraction of frame start up). Need more information on this.
- Hit stun scaling has been changed a bit for Dante particular on combos involving his Sky Dance. There may be other changes to his other special moves.
+/- J.S start up/frames changed up (either addition or substraction)
- Possible changes on Hammer (?) but unconfirmed
The only confirmed nerf for Dante deals with his Day 1 combos with Sky Dance, his advance OTG combos appear to be unaffected aside from stuff like Pop Shredder Up shots loops. He was a dominant character in MVC3 and he is still very much dominant. Sword ranges appear unaffected as well. Unless there are additional changes to his special moves, expect him to be the king of combos in UMVC3. DHC glitch removal however is a considerable nerf to him.
Deadpool
+ Quick Work: The distance/range/speed of this attack is said to have been increased.
+ Supposedly faster specials and Ninja gifts (?)
DHC glitch removal is a bit of a nerf to Deadpool. He is a bit in the upper mid tier right now and the right buffs would see him be very competitive as a very a solid zoning character. Needs more experimentation to find more stuff. Air X factor is a slight buff to him.
Dormammu
+ Reports that his Zoning Specials have become better in speed and recovery.
+ Dark Dimension has a larger hitbox. No longer passes under bouncing opponents.
+ Increased distance on backdash
+ Can use Purification in the air
+ Can charge Dark Spells while airborne. Can only charge one at a time and is vulnerable until he lands. He stops in the air when performing this special, in the same manner as Dark Hole.
Liberation in the air causes him to teleport to the ground and then perform the release.
+ Can attack out of down-back airdash. Most likely up-back too.
- Reduced hitstun on cr.M
- Dorm puts Flame Carpet slighty further out & hitbox change(?). Can cause OTG to hit once and knock people away mid-screen. Causes corner Flame Carpets to hit once on some characters because of the distance it's laid out. Flame Carpet also disappears when Dorm is hit.
Air X factor is a nerf to Dormammu because his chipping game is weaker now against characters in the air. He got a significant nerf to his Flame Carpet but the possible buff on his speed and Dark Arts in the air is a significant buff. Dorm is a highly competitive character and he will remain at that spot still... possibly even higher now. Expect more creative Liberation play from Dorm players from now on.
Dr. Doom
+ Dooms j.H laser is faster
+ Faster cr.L
+ Launcher appears to be safer on block
+ Overall, Doom's projectiles appear to be faster now
+ Doom's forward throw causes a hard knockdown now
+ Air S moves faster vertically
+ Air S causes ground bounce on juggle
With no nerfs in sight, Doom's buff will make him even more competitive. Already a powerful assist/anchor character, with recent technology Doom has surprised many with his high damaging combos, great OTG game, pressure game and solid mobility. These buffs are the icing on the cake. Expect to see a lot of Doom/Strider in UMVC3. He might have moved up a tier with the upper characters getting nerfs and him getting buffed.
Felicia
*No balance changes found or suspected thus far*
While Felicia is a strong character she requires a bit of execution. With Wesker being nerfed, it allows Felicia to be more viable as that fast unblockable/command throw reset type character. Still a candidate for some buffs. Not enough experimentation has been done on her.
Haggar
- Lariat assist no longer causes Hardknockdown (it causes Soft knockdown)
+/- Haggars f+H now causes bounce rather than huge hitstun (?)
- He might be more vulnerable during Lariat
Haggar was the typical assist character in UMVC3. He received nerfs to his assist (but it's still good) so he has become less competitively viable. With no substantial nerfs to his point game in sight, things are not looking good for Haggar. He requires some drastic changes to his overall game to be competitive. Possible reduction in tier status with the changes (shockingly). There's an unsubstantiated rumor that he throws a trash can as a projectile.
Hsien-Ko
+ Appears to be slightly faster, generally much less "floaty"
+ Appears to do slightly more damage due to less hit deterioration from her previously multi-hitting normals (some of them still have multi-hitting properties)
+ Airdash is a bit faster
+ f.M has slight better recovery (?)
+Senpuu Bu seems faster (?)
+Grounded Henkyo Ki recovery is faster
+ Anki-Hou (the Gong) has faster startup
+/- Supposedly she has new projectiles like a big Log. Need more confirmation on this. Seems like she got more than a couple.
Aside from Arthur, Hsien Ko was the biggest candidate for buffs in the game. Needed better speed, better damage and better tools. Most of these changes appear to be pretty substantial and should definitely improve her on point game. Should definitely move up from lowest tier in the game but still questionable as to how competitive she is. Her godly assist is still godly.
Hulk
+ St.H has 3 points of super armor now
- OTG Gamma Wave into Gamma Crush is tighter now
St.H buff makes one of his strongest moves even stronger. Now it will not lose to any normal in the game, including the once feared Zero j.H. Hulk is still pretty much where he was before so he needs more tools to be more competitive.
Iron Man
+ Iron Mans UniBeam is faster and recovers faster, spammable
+ Ground dash moves him at least 1/2 screen across. Before it moved him about 1/3rd distance.
+ Even faster flight cancel
+/- Triangle jump/air dash mechanics changed. Seem to have different trajectories and acceleration.
- Possibly removal of double jump (?)
Aside from the rumored loss of double jump, Iron Man got some nice buffs. Iron Man has always been a somewhat competitive characters but odd design issues held him back. The buffs are nice to see on him but he needed buffs in other departments as well (like cr.H, launcher, dash cancel etc). Probably will move up a few spots in tier rankings.
Jill Valentine
NOTHING TO REPORT
M.O.D.O.K.
+ MODOK has a new air Psionic blaster done with S
MODOK needs more testing and buffs. Not enough data.
Magneto
+ New move, that modifies your momentum anywhere on the screen (similar to the wind effect from Storm, or like Rachel's Wind Drive in Blazblue). Can pull you forward, push you back, or force you to stay more-or-less stationary. HUGE buff, due to the free nasty mixups on people jumping in. Pull them closer so they accidentally cross you up. Punish.
- Air dash reduced in range, and maybe slighty reduced in speed. Slightly affects some ROM midscreen combos of Magneto. Triangle jumps overall appear to be slightly slower.
- J.H pushes enemies away more and combined with the dash range reduction, combos are harder to do. He still has access to his Grav loop in the corner but you get less repetitions out of them.
- Disrupter start up slowed down and is generally slower but still a dominant projectile
- Throw trap time decreased slightly
Magneto generally got nerfs in the area that he needed to be nerfed in. To make up for it, he got a new set of tools which allow him to position the enemy to his will like a true master of magnetism. This new move is very powerful and definitely buffs Magneto's overall zoning and rushdown game. Magneto is still very dominant in the game although lack of DHC glitch affects his character killing game. He is still around A tier in the game.
Morrigan
+ Appears to do more damage on combos
+ Flight cancel combos appear to be more reliable/useful
+ New meter sucking fireball QCF+S that steals about 1/3rd of the opponents meter. Very buff new special for her.
+ Start up times on Missile hyper and Astral Vision buffed up (?)
Morrigan got much needed buffs all around. Better damage, start up on hypers and easy to use mobility are just what she needed and the meter stealing meter is the icing on the cake. The new fireball is an indirect nerf to Phoenix as it signifies a very potent threat to her. She might have moved up a tier in the roster. Aerial X factor is also a significant buff to Morrigan.
Phoenix
- Only one action per jump. No more multiple fireballs, no more fireball into teleport.
The character in the game that required the most nerfs... by far. The restriction on her air specials is a much needed change to her normal Phoenix game plan and makes her a much easier target for many characters. Existence of Morrigan's meter sucking fireball and meter stealing TACs, there has been a slight nerf to the Phoenix meta-game. There might be more nerfs needed to Phoenix especially Dark Phoenix. Still the dominant character that she was in MVC3 unless more nerfs are found out.
Ryu
+ Ryu now has a "buff" super (d, d+ two attacks) that enhances everything he does. This was seen in the UMVC3 trailer, when his Hurricane Hyper looked like a level 3 - its because of this buff. This buff also enhances his hadoken, which is best noticed in his Hadoken assist. It gets ridiculous Projectile Durability, and it seems harder to knock Ryu out of it. It also allows his Shinkuu Hadouken to bounce off of walls. Overall, it makes him a much threatening character.
+ Ryu's Hadoken and Shoryuken can be charged for additional effects, such as making Hadoken so fast it's invisible and causing wall bounce. Can be used in the air.
+ Ryu can cancel his overhead into specials now
+ Can now cancel his Tatsumaki's into other specials (?)
The character in UMVC3 that has received the most confirmed buffs in the game thus far. Ryu's game plan is totally altered and he is so buffed that he has moved up at least one tier possibly two. Ability to cancel his overhead is a much needed buff, chargeable Hadoukens definitely ups his zoning game. The buff hyper is indeed a very buff hyper and gives him access to very powerful versions of his moves. It also persists on him when he tags out giving you assess to very powerful assists. Not only that but the existence of Air X factor buffs him even further to the point that calling out assists against a jumping Ryu is suicidal. Most people are very pleased with these changes and Ryu is now at least on par with Akuma in terms of viability.
Sentinel
+/- Sentinel drones have been sped up. They are now a true block string.
- Air combo into L Rocket Punch into HSF does not work anymore or at least isn't reliable.
+ Rocket punches and overall speed of Sentinel has been increased
Sentinel changes put him pretty much where he already is. The increase in speed is nice to see but lack of comboability after L Rocket punch into HSF is a bit of a nerf to lower level Sentinel play. Change on Drones is also a very logical change. He still has a powerful assist and he still hurts if you get hit by him. No news on changes to his health.
She-Hulk
+ Appears to be overall faster (?)
+ New lampost projectile executed with RDP motion and causes wall bounce on impact. Has considerable start up.
- Slide now covers less distance
- TAC glitch removed
She Hulk remains pretty much where she always was, a very competitive and dangerous character. New move is nice to see and gives hope for other characters who are weaker against zoning.
Shuma-Gorath
NOTHING TO REPORT
Spencer
+ New OTG Dive bomb move "Death from Above" that Spencer can combo after connecting
A nice new move give Spencer a new tool to work with and be more dangerous against grounded opponent. Spencer is pretty much where he always was, a surprisingly dangerous and competitive character.
Spiderman
NOTHING TO REPORT
Storm
+ New Move: DP+S = Fair Wind, pushes opponent away
New Move: RDP+S = Foul Wind, pulls opponent towards her
+ Appears to do better damage
+/- Slight changes to her jump cancel loops
- Cannot call assists while floating
Storm changes are quite interesting. The new moves that allow her to position the enemy are a huge buff to her as it really ups her zoning/rushdown game just like Magneto's. Aerial X factor is also a huge buff to her as all her hypers make her airborne. Her assist punishment game goes up drastically because of this. However, no assist calls during floating and no DHC glitch are also substantial nerfs to her. With that said, this pretty much puts Storm where she was before or slightly higher which is that she is a competitive character but not as dominant as Magneto (yet).
Super Skrull
+ Meteor Smash is doable from the air now
+ LVL3 causes massive stagger, allowing you to combo after it
Allowing with the aerial X factor, Skrull got some very nice buffs. Aerial Meteor Smash really ups his aerial game. He probably needs a few more to make his moves safer. Might have moved up a few spots. Still very lethal in X factor LVL3.
Taskmaster
+ New Move: Stab n Grab can be linked into Shield Charge
+ Shield Charge has its distance increased
Taskmaster remains where he always was, a highly competitive character. Aerial X Factor is a substantial buff to Taskmaster. Nothing much else to say.
Thor
NOTHING TO REPORT
Trish
+ Recovery on air and ground Hopscotches reduced
+ Recovery on air and ground Peakaboo reduced
+ Peakaboo assist comes out faster
+ Low Voltage projectiles have faster start ups
While Trish was considered by many to be a very strong character in MVC3, she was not very popular in tournaments due to dominance of rushdown style of play. With general nerfs to many rushdown characters and style of play, zoning seems to be stronger in UMVC3 And with that Trish appears to be an extremely powerful character in the new meta-game. With buffs to her specials, she should be very close to a dominant character in the game. Expect her to move up a few spots.
Tron Bonne
- Tron Gustaff Fire assist has been nerfed, a bigger hittable box
- Tron's j.H knocks away making it difficult to hit confirm into a combo
+ Trons Bonne Strike has quicker recovery
+ Servebot projectiles come out faster (?)
Some of the most questionable changes in the game regarding nerfs were made to Tron. Already in the Middle tier as far as point ability was concerned, Tron was competitive mostly due to her godly assist. Now it's nerfed and punishable, causing Tron to drop in usability. Much like Haggar, there are no substantial buffs to her point game meaning she has essentially dropped a tier at least. Much like Haggar, most people are a bit disappointed by this unless more info pops up about her point game.
Viewtiful Joe
+ New Dodge move that dodges mid/low moves easily.
+ Possibly faster mobility/j.S
New dodge move is very nice and it makes Joe even harder to target and can easily punish moves that might otherwise be unpunishable. A welcome buff but more needs to be found out about him. Still in the lower end of the Middle tier.
Wesker
- Much lower health overall. Estimates put him in the 800-900K category now. We are talking at least a 200K drop in health.
- Appears to have slower teleports (?)
- Air throw pushes the opponent all the way to the corner making it harder to follow up.
Some very substantial nerfs to Wesker puts him at least a tier below now when originally he was always in the top 5. Health nerf was much needed and the air throw nerf makes his throw/reset game much less deadly. DHC glitch removal is a nerf to him as well. Still a very powerful character, his mix up game is very strong, his gun zoning is effective and his front loaded damage is good. Low gun shot assist is still good.
Wolverine
- Seems to have less health.
- Berserker Slash is slower, lost invincibility
- Seems slower overall perhaps to make Berserker Charge more balanced overall
- Contrary to popular belief, Wolverine can still relaunch after a Dive Kick in the air combo the ground bounce may just not work if a dive kick stagger was used to start the initial combo
+/- Some sort of button-mashy Swiss cheese move
Wolverine was the character right under Phoenix who was in need of substantial nerfs... and he got exactly what was coming to him. Nerfs on B Slash makes zoning a very viable option against him and the mix up is a bit easier to read although still hard to read on reaction. He is overall slower to make up for the buff he received in B Charge. Dive kick nerf is also a welcome change. He is probably no longer in top 5 but he is still a very dangerous character when he gets in. Incidentally, his new move is a nerf to low level Wolverine play as you can't just mash buttons with Wolverine anymore or you will get punished (move itself seems pretty useless). Aerial X Factor is a buff to him but removal of DHC glitch is a nerf.
X-23
+ OTG slash seems to have a slightly larger window, making OTG + assists easier.
+ X-23 Rage Trigger hyper is faster
Due to the rampage of Wolverine in vanilla MVC3, X-23 had little chance to shine. Now with Wolverine losing most of his former glory, it paves the way for X-23 to be a dominant rushdown character in UMVC3. With lots of tools at her disposal including the very nasty Dirt Nap, these additional buffs will help her become a more competitive character. DHC glitch removal is a slight nerf to her.
Zero
+ Zero Rekoha hyper is now wider and covers more ground
- Zero's lv.3 Buster causes soft knockdown now (was hard knockdown before).
Due to the top 5 being generally nerfed across the board, Zero is now in closer proximity to a top tier. While he did receive a nerf to his LVL3 Buster, he is overall a very deadly character in MVC3 and remains so in UMVC3. DHC glitch removal is a nerf to Zero as he was a major abuser of it in MVC3. Expect him to be a dominant character in UMVC3 unless more nerfs are discovered on him.
Some sources used:
http://iplaywinner.com/news/2011/7/22/umvc3-character-system-changes-thus-far.html
http://crosscounter.tv/home/2011/7/22/umvc3-part-1-ch-ch-ch-changes.html
http://www.neoempire.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11445
http://rev-depot.com/2011/07/20/ultimate-marvel-vs-capcom-3-info-post/