Everyone, please vote on this version of Firebrand:
Firebrand:
+Wall cling fireballs no longer leave Firebrand prone until landing.
+Hell Spitfire H startup reduced to 20; aerial version no longer leaves Firebrand prone until landing; only one allowed on the screen at a time - the fire will disappear as soon as Firebrand enters startup frames for a second Hell Spitfire H.
+Luminous Body (air) no longer automatically puts Firebrand in Flight mode unless you hold S during the cinematic screen.
+Chaos Tide is now a level 2; all inputs now cause the helper to perform his H attack; the summoned helper no longer builds meter.
+Firebrand now recovers significantly faster from all throw animations.
+qcb.S (air) now causes Firebrand to rise into the air further like Hell’s Elevator L; no higher than maximum superjump height.
+j.L hitstun increased slightly; can now link into Bon Voyage without Luminous Body.
+Devil’s Claw startup reduced to 10 frames.
+/- Demon Charge (all versions) now air OK; Demon Charge H can no longer be charged; Demon Charge H hitstun increased significantly.
+Hell Spitfire (all versions) now cancelable into Hell Dive (all versions) and Hell's Elevator (all versions).
Assists: Hell Spitfire L, Hell Spitfire H, Demon Charge M
And this version of MODOK:
M.O.D.O.K.:
*M.O.D.O.K. automatically powers his assists up through levels of understanding when able to.
+Psionic Blaster vertical hitbox slightly extended downward.
+Hyper Psionic Blaster damage reworked; scaling with levels of understanding below:
0: 8,000 X 34 (177,100)
1: 8,000 X 40 (201,100)
2: 8,000 X 50 (241,100)
3: 8,000 X 58 (273,100)
4: 8,000 X 68 (313,100)
5: 8,000 X 76 (345,100)
6: 8,000 X 85 (381,100)
7: 8,000 X 100 (441,100)
+c.L hitbox now hits crouching characters near M.O.D.O.K.
+Using specials in the air no longer reduces the number of hits Hyper Battering Ram will be capable of.
+Hyper Psionic Blaster’s beam durability is now consistent across all levels of understanding.
+Untechable time on forward air throw increased slightly.
+Killer Illumination startup changed to 18+0.
-c.M no longer hits low.
Assists: Psionic Blast M, Balloon Bomb H, Barrier
Sorry, I didn't read the Firebrand changes carefully enough. I'm on board the no unblockables wagon now. In the cases where we've removed them, like RR and Task, we've replaced them with buffed versions of the moves while addressing the characters' weaknesses simultaneously, which I like as a general approach. I say we toss out Firebrand's completely, buff him appropriately (with the cancellable fireballs, as described), and make it very clear in the patch notes that the buff is specifically predicated on his unblockable being removed. It's for this same reason that I think forced neutral techs are bad, and we should figure some other way to make Jill's throws scary and make Dante's grapple a useful neutral move. Hell, in Jill's case, you could just make her airthrow cause a forced neutral tech- that'd solve her throw issue w/o giving her what could be functionally an infinite, looping unblockables into each other.
We want to give that command throw some purpose, though.
For Frank, a tools of destruction invincibility nerf would give a select few characters w/ invincible hypers a way to random him out, but for many more characters, the match-up would be unchanged. @Dahbomb- the health boost helps Frank as well: it gives Frank's escort character a much better chance of surviving a combo and getting multiple chances to level up Frank. I also think the ease of getting Frank is being underestimated. Practically anybody can do it off of a TAC as long as you have an assist that lets you take two pictures. What if we did the max of two levels gained per combo thing, but substantially buffed level 3 Frank or something? Nobody has addressed the risk/reward imbalance here- a Phoenix player has to sacrifice an assist and forego meter usage. The Frank player sacrifices nothing and gets jesus Frank off their first clean hit.
I want a suggestion from you on this, though.
For MODOK, I would vote yes if the big barrier buff was removed.
K.
I honestly think Morrigan is one of the hardest characters to balance. We have to take into account system changes, the hidden missiles nerf, the addition of other AA assists she can use or that can be used against her, and the fact that Chris G is the only player that is really capable of making top 8 at a major with her, which makes it difficult to tease apart the strength of the character and the strength of the player. Maybe we should save her for last.
She has clear weaknesses to chicken blocking, though.
Skrull- brutal pile dunker is his air d.H move right? That move is dumb- he should have to use assists to make it safe, IMO.
What?! Skrull has an air dash, and he can only do two things out of it. d.H, and j.S (charged). Neither is safe. I don't get how the move is YOLO when you can always see it coming.
Skrull also pretty much has no neutral game. He has serious problems creating momentum in the neutral for himself, which is why no one uses him aside from XF3 gimmicks at high level play.
