Yeah, I wish they would change that. Suddenly U1 would be a much more attractive proposition 
IMO the biggest problem with HK Ruffian is the fact itâs easily jumped over entirely by most of the cast if they empty jump from the position youâre supposed to be using it.
The position it is best at is either: they did a really really dumb forward jump. Basically jumping at a position no characters are supposed to be jumping in vs any other character. Or you had a really good read and anti aired early (and usually in this case it results in a counterhit)
If the move had a 1-2F faster startup and smaller hurtbox (it doesnât need invincibility just reduce the hurtbox on upper body so itâs not LARGER than Codyâs normal hurtbox) then you could use it more consistently at timings to prevent opponents from jumping over it.
The other thing to remember is that because you need to do it so much earlier itâs much easier to make it whiff for many characters. Example: Zangief does FJ HP you need to do HK Ruffian from a different position than if he did D+LK. With Codyâs B+MP or with a DP you have enough time to react to the actual move itself and properly choose your anti air. With HK Ruffian you are trying to pre-emptively do a move to beat a move you arenât sure is even going to be there.
There is a good reason you rarely see HK Ruffian used by the best Cody players outside of VERY specific matchups (and even then itâs used sparingly)
A lot of characters with dive kicks that cause them to stall for a moment before dropping (Akuma/Gouken/Seth/Evil Ryu) can make it whiff entirely.
Itâd be ok if the move didnât also have recovery comparable to an SRK. At 27F recovery HK Ruffian has more recovery than Ryu/Dan/Ken/Oniâs LP SRK or Yunâs LK Up Kicks.
Anything you guys want me to test this weekend?
Going to a location test?
Just the obvious i suppose.
- Zonk FADC having followups such as U1, f.hk, ex CU etc, or if it is still useless.
- U2 still being punishable when hitting airborne opponents?
- EX CU getting throw invincibility back?
- EX Ruffian faster projectile invincibility?
- Walkspeed improved?
- Does he have a low hitconfirm(does st.lk hit low or can cr.lk chain/link into cr.lp?)
- Can Cody backdash from zangief spd range from point blank or stilll in range to get grabbed?
- Knife still drop when performing a focus, throwing or teching a throw, any knife normals special cancelable, can Cody use f.mp or b.mp?
- Is f.hk faster airborne, try this test: - cl.mp(block), f.hk, can he be throw out of this? if yes then itâs atleast 7 frames before airborne
Hope youâll enjoy your time there 
Thatâs my guesses. Iâm betting there will be something like âCodyâs knife now returns faster after being thrown off stage.â or âcloseLK is now special cancelableâ or âcrHK now has 1F less recoveryâ or âBadstone now gains 15stun per level instead of 10â
You know. âBuffs.â
We already talked in Harrisonâs chat Techtun, but just what Zonk FADC is on block and how EX CU can handle stuff like Dive Kicks, if it can anymoreâŚ
Zonk FADC is the same as EX Zonk FADC or CU FADC. I can tell you that one right now. Unless they changed itâs blockstun (which would in turn change itâs value when NOT fadced) it will be -1F fadc forward -9F fadc backward.
EX CU will likely trade with dive kicks at best, get stuffed at worst. The hitbox is pretty pathetic on the first hit and there is a gap between the strike hitbox and the tornado where there is no hitbox at all (plus of course the whole itâs only invincible until 1F BEFORE active). EX CU will really only be viable for a reversal vs opponents pressuring on the ground with mids / heavies and risky but viable to mash out during staggered lights.
Did not know that from point blank doing a backdash most of the cast could still be SPDâd
Such a perverse approach to balancing⌠besides, with the reduction of pushback weâre giving up two things!
I like how Peterâs like âgotta give up somethingâ yet half the cast are either getting direct buffs with no changes or flat out nothing. (Poor Dee Jay)
Iâm pretty sure at this point they really arenât doing jack for half the cast. Just a typical sugar coating on some characters and trying to do the usual pass off as a new update. Same ole SF4 with 2 new mechanics to basically say ânow vortexs arenât as strong and Focus Attacks are kinda useful again!â
meanwhile they still wonât address the knife not actually working with the mechanics of SF4 aka Focus Attacking.
Though iâm a bit confused on that. Because EX upper isnât safe on block and the pushback being less makes it even more unsafe on block. I donât mind strike invul but iâm really just confused what else is supposed to be nerfed in return there. (at least on EX Upper.) Can they take Zonk>FADC back? no one wants that and people have been saying how useless that addition is since it was said before loc tests were being pushed out.
more editing: Codyâs backdash buff should be enough to bait out DPs without getting hit. Thatâs pretty much the only thing it got. (iâm somewhat fine with this as itâs annoying to see me read the DP and still get hit near the end of the backdash.)
What is more wonky (to me) is the concept of having to give up something to get something on characters who already have a lot of intentionally weak areas but not doing it on characters who are already all around solid. Yang gives up nothing. Oni gives up a small damage amount and has his DP go from âfully invincible startup and majority of active framesâ to âFully invincible startup and early active frames.â woo. Cody / Deejay / Blanka they get buffs to something only to also have that thing nerfed in a way that negates the whole point of the buff. Like, I get making EX CU MORE punishable (though everyone can already punish it pretty heavily if they took the time to experiment in training mode, many for 150-200+ on block) Iâd understand lowering the damage too. But when the buff request was aimed to make the move a more consistently usable reversal you donât take the compensation nerf from that exact thing.
Thatâs like taking Oniâs SRK and making it FADCable but in exchange now it canât be performed as a reversal. Or making Evil Ryuâs crMK 6F startup so he can use it better in footsies but in exchange itâs now no longer special cancelable.
I donât mind the pushback nerf, but I DO mind the throw invincibility nerf.
Were you under the impression at some point that Combofiend (and co.) has any idea what heâs doing and is qualified to be doing what heâs doing?
Cody isnât the only character they are doing an atrocious job with.
Ex criminal feels really bad now.
oh iâm well aware Cody isnât the only one getting that treatment. Like I said, look at Dee Jay. Getting useless or pointless buffs but not paying attention to the things the character needs. I should be happy Rose even got what she did (and she got more than she needed) but switching to Cody from Rose after her crappy AE version, itâs sad to see she got all she needed (and some) and Codyâs still playing catchup trying to get a silly mechanic to work with the general game mechanic. They want people to use the knife more. Ok iâm down with that. But iâm not sure what theyâre paying attention to because the 2 knife changes are things I donât see anyone asking for.
Spent alot of today testing stuff and had a little chat with Dawgtanian, there are more changes to be added and he confirmed that walk speed is the number one change requested for Cody and that heâs pretty confident it will be in the next build!
Tested stuff that we previously talked about, meaty slide can combo into cr.lk but itâs a very hard link. Ex CU trade into u2 works (didnât test other normals than jab though so I guess that wouldnât work?)
Crack kick corpse hops, and I tried to get some delayed wake up setups going but gave up pretty quickly lol.
>EDIT< By meaty slide I mean meaty on a characters wake up, not spaced so it hits on later frames as the cr.lk doesnât reach.
Sweet stuff.
Got any idea on the airborne frames on crack kick got set to like 4th or 5th, or are they still too late to really be useful?