System:
-Non-combo hits (pokes) and the 1st hit of combos now deal additional damage.
Everybody expected this. Its a good change that will reward pokes and general footsies more. It buffs Thunder and Glacius the most (especially Glacius), and hurts Sadira the most.
-Shadow Meter gain rates have decreased 20% overall.
Also good, meter management wasn’t super important most of the time due to how much meter you had.
**-Shadow Enders now scale damage based on current Ender Level. **
This is really just a bug fix. It also puts more focus on breakable interaction.
-Potential (white) damage decays slower than before.
Good again. Buffs reset game, and lets you recover from errors better. Before the life recovered so fast it was basically irrelevant.
-New system extension: Air breakers & Air counter breakers
Okay… This is just kinda a thing, it doesn’t really pull the game one way or another I feel.
-The breaker system has been expanded to cover Air to Air and Air to Ground interactions.
Same as above
-Additionally, all Counter Breaker attempts now will leave you vulnerable to punishment if you fail no matter what the situation or character.
This is mostly a nerf to glacius. But I think they want to make sure this is a real risk (outside of Orchid instinct probably)
-After the 3rd non-chained move, combos that are not part of the Linker/Double ruleset are now breakable via Manual rules. This includes juggled manuals and non-projectile special moves.
Also just kinda a thing. Though this one really devalues juggles. I think it was mostly an attempt to nerf Sabrewulf, which is a shame.
-Combo Breakers no longer cause a Hard Knockdown.
An overall change. I feel it was done mostly to fix the Glacius unblockable. This nerf really hurts spinal and thunder who benefited the most from the HKD (Especially spinal who barely has anyways to cause HKD).
-Juggled Shadow Enders are now subject to Opener-Ender breaker rules, but can cash out a juggled opponent.
This is an interesting mix. It gives air interaction more relevance, but the break means it won’t be over dominating. On the flip side, it also makes air interaction the same as ground (rather than different) which removes some variety.
-Projectiles no longer darken the screen.
I liked the darkening effect, but this is a non-thing.
-Removed the ability to Instinct Cancel during an Ender.
Again, this hurts Spinal more than others, but its a sensible change.
-Removed the ability to perform Ultra Enders from the air.
General fix. Not a big deal
**-Fixed a bug preventing the 4 frame Manual Breaker window from actually working. As a result, you now have 4 additional frames **to break Manuals.
Bug fix.
-New linker rules:
-The rules for performing Manuals after Linkers are now consistent across the cast.
–Doing a Light Linker gives you access to a difficult Light Manual.
–Doing a Medium Linker gives you access to a difficult Medium Manual or slightly less difficult Light Manual.
–Doing a Heavy Linker gives you access to a difficult Heavy Manual, less difficult Medium Manual, and even less difficult Light Manual.
–Exceptions still exist but for the most part you can count on these rules for all characters.
Alot of people are overreacting to this. While it does remove manual options (hurting Jago and Thunder the most), really its just makes the option tree more elaborate. Before, almost all your option fed into… almost all your options. With the new system each option feeds into more specific options. I feel that this change could actually add alot of depth and dynamics to the match. It also affects the calculus about when to end your combos.
Jago:
-Shadow Wind Kick travels 60% as far as before.
This is a good change. Before this move straight shut down a ton of stuff, and with the amount of meter built in S1 he always had it. The move is still good, but is less of a catch-all. The meter reduction also means that it won’t always be on tap or worth it. Basically, the move is much less thoughtless.
-Heavy Wind Kick does not push back as far and is more negative on block.
Again, this move was overly abusable. Now move selection and spacing will be rewarded better as opposed to YOLO wind kick, or just waiting for the wind kick opportunity.
-Can no longer Counter Break from Opener - > Ender situations.
Okay. shrug
Updated Instinct:
-Jago no longer heals automatically during instinct.
-Jago now throws Double Endokukens during instinct.
-During instinct, all Endokukens (Double, Enders, and Shadow) that hit the opponent heal Jago.
-Jago maintains his frame advantages during instinct.
This is a significant improvement to Jago’s instinct. Before, Jago got frame advantage, and the healing was irrelevant. The instinct barely did anything really. Now, it actually gives him a new tool, and he can leverage the tool for a more significant amount of health. He also gets to keep his frame advantage. This is more important, because of the change to the Manual rules, Jago’s instinct will basically give him all his old manuals back.
Overall, I think Jago’s just different. He gained as much as he lost. He gained from some system changes and instinct, but took a few nerfs from changes as well.
Sabrewulf:
-The final hit of Shadow Leaping Slash now recaptures an airborne opponent into a ground combo.
This is a massive buff and gives Sabre one of the best Anti-Airs in the game. cHP>EX Leaping Slash is huge. It also gives him an amazing anti-backdash option.
-While the forward Dash is the same duration as before, Sabrewulf gets behind his opponent quicker now so that properly timed punish attempts are less likely to come out facing the wrong way.
This is a very smart way to nerf the dash. It lets him keep the speed and range, but makes it much less stupid as it will be easier to call him out. Once again, a change that makes something less brainless.
-One additional frame has been added after the Super Flash before Shadow Eclipse hits.
Good. Makes the move less derp. I don’t need to really explain this one.
-Backdash distance reduced.
Once again, he has an amazing DP, he doesn’t need a nigh unstoppable backdash. Also, in my opinion backdashes of this quality are generally bad design.
-Crouching Light Punch pushes the opponent back further.
Mean’s Wulf has to pressure with more than mashing light punches. Thankfully he still has tons of ways to do that.
-Fixed a bug that let Sabrewulf cancel Crouching Medium Punch into his Heavy Chain during Hitstop, which also prevented Manual Breakers from firing correctly.
Okay.
Updated Instinct:
-In addition to its previous properties, while in Instinct Sabre now gains the ability to perform a Feral Cancel (HP+HK) which can cancel any grounded move back to neutral. This has a short cooldown on it but can be performed as much as you want during Instinct.
The new feral cancel is a massive buff to his instinct. Like Jago it makes his instinct an actual new tool, rather than just a powerup. And this is a good one.
Overall I think Wulf is weaker. But not by much, as he got some powerful new options to offset some nerfs. This is still a very stong character.
Glacius:
-Medium and Light Hail now bounce along the ground instead of breaking when hitting the floor.
It will be interesting to see how this works out. I’m not really sure if its better or worse than before. It covers different angles in different ways.
-Shadow Cold Shoulder is slightly less negative on block.
I don’t agree with this one. Its a buff sure, but I’m of the opinion this move SHOULD be negative on block.
-Shadow Cold Shoulder will now combo from Ice Lance at maximum distance.
Okay I guess. Give Glacius more options from lance other than auto, but I don’t see it getting used much.
-Shadow Puddle Punch is no longer throwable until after the first active frame.
Its still a terrible revisal and hittable before said active frame.
-Startup time on all jumping Kick attacks has increased slightly.
I think this is again t make them less spammy. Not a big deal I don’t think.
-Shatter has a few additional frames of recovery.
Same as above, but on a move that already had lots of recovery. It makes Glacius mixup a bit riskier I guess… but it was already really risky.
-Fixed a bug that let you cancel out of a Shadow Cold Shoulder early.
This was annoying. And this isn’t the only EX move that you can do this with. I hope they fixed the others.
-Fixed a bug that let Glacius perform an attack facing the wrong way after going under his opponent with a Cold Shoulder.
Okay
-New Command Move: Liquidize
-Press all three kicks (hold). Glacius melts into a puddle.
-Can move left or right a bit while in liquid state.
-This is a dodge move. It is immune to projectiles on the way down, but vulnerable to everything else.
This seems really gimmicky. I won’t really get him out of pressure. At best it lets him do some positioning stuff if the opponent throws a fireball.
Glacius is much better, but I feel its due mostly to system changes and not character changes. Most of his personal stuff is pretty “meh”.
Thunder:
-Light Sammamish has bit more vertical travel.
Okay. This is mostly to help against Sadira and maybe some S2 characters that can get up really high. But not a big deal.
-Skyfall is now considered a special move instead of a command normal.
A nerf I guess. But not a big deal. Mostly affects spinal as far as I can tell. This a good change because spinal had more trouble than most with this thing.
-Every character’s reaction to Back Throw is now identical in duration so that Thunder can manual properly.
Bug fix.
-The low crush effect of Ankle Slicer is more reliable now, and it is less negative on block.
Good, even though this movehad low crush it was really bad at crushing lows. This move is supposed to be the anti-jump/tech to set up his grab. This will help it work properly.
-Medium Sammamish now hits 2 frames earlier, in the same number of frames as Light Sammamish.
Shrug its a buff I guess. But not huge. Really this just makes it a marginally better YOLO or wiff punish.
**-When performing a manual after back throw, Thunder automatically moves in a bit to ensure that the intended combo works against all characters. **
Bug Fix
-Fixed all instances that caused Thunder to miss with Shadow Call of Earth following a Back Throw.
Bug Fix
-Opponents who are locked out can no longer tech out of Thunder’s Back Throw.
Bug Fix, but significant as not thunder can reliably use his throw linker to end with CotE and not lose the corner.
-New command move: Call of Sky
-Press all three punch buttons
-Thunder calls a bolt of lightning from the sky that strikes at his opponent’s current location.
-This move has very long startup and recovery, but hits quickly.
This is a very smart buff. it will help alot in matchups where he needs it, but be almost useless in ones where he doesn’t. Won’t be a big game changer overall, but still very important.
Overall Thunder is better. he got a move custom tailored for his bad matchup and the change to single hit damage helps him more than others. However, the change to meter gain will render some of his options useful less often.
Sadira:
-During instinct, using a jump cancel and then canceling into a normal or special during pre-jump frames used to ignore the combo system and skip doubles and linkers in favor of manuals or openers. It now obeys the normal ground combo rules.
A fix for the unbreakable is good.
-It is no longer possible to avoid the special landing recovery from Web Cling by throwing a Widow’s Bite.
This was annoying. Glad I fixed it.
-Removed the ability to place a Web Trap from Counter Breaker stance.
Good. While this is a nerf, its also has the side effect of better differentiating Sadira and Orchid’s instincts.
-Web Trap’s hold is slightly shorter.
Also good. While it is a nerf, Sadira’s instinct was stupid good. This should only affet sloppy use of the instinct and not calculated
-The cross-up hitbox on Jumping Heavy Kick has been reduced slightly.
Again, makes this move less abusable, a good overall change.
New target combo:
-Ground MP->HK or Close MP->HK, chains into launcher.
shrug doesn’t seem that useful with the new breaker mechanic. But we will see. I suppose it gives her an interesting manual option, maybe that will lead to something.
-New Reversal: Shadow Web Cling
-QCB+2P
-This is useable only on the ground, but when used, Sadira is invulnerable until she hits the wall.
This is actually a good buff. While not a good reversal per-se it is still a real reversal. Something that Sadira lacked.
Overall Sadira is much weaker. Between the system and character changes she got hit the hardest of the whole cast. That said, she still has a very difficult to deal with playstyle. So I predict she will remain a solid overall character. Its also hard, while I agree with the nerfs… she just seems hit hard.
Orchid:
-Shadow Ich Ni San now sends out a shockwave of energy columns. Charge the move up by holding the buttons to fire additional towers of energy that travel further. The final charge level is not unblockable.
This is really cool. Its a full screen blowback/anti-air. I like this buff because it gives new utility to a move that didn’t have any before. I don’t think its all that good in practice. But very cool
-Danger Zone (Air Throw) causes a recapture when used outside of a combo.
Very good buff. Depending on how “combo” is defined, it might let her convert off a DP too. Gives her s stellar air option
-Flick Flack’s low crush effect now lasts until the first active frame.
Good. Make the move do what it was supposed to.
-Standing Medium Punch and Standing Heavy Punch become active slightly faster and their hitboxes are a bit larger.
General buff. Helps solidify Orchid as the footsies character.
-Shadow Cat (Knee Slide) has a larger hit area and slightly smaller vulnerable area.
This move was really bad. So any slight buffs should make it more relevant.
-Crouching Medium Punch animation has changed slightly and now hits low.
Also good. Orchid had the Elena problem in that she really lacked in lows. This gives her a solid low threat to go with her overhead.
-New Command Move: Grenade Toss
-Back+HP throws the grenade. Hold HP longer to set a longer timer and throw it further.
-The grenade does not explode on contact with the opponent, and is governed only by its timer.
-Colliding with an opponent’s projectile will detonate it immediately.
Depending on how she can set this up it will either be really good or useless. Pesonally, given the overall lack of HKD’s in the game (outside of Thunder), this isn’t as big as it sounds. I suspect it will be mostly used after throws.
Orchid is alot better but her basica gameplan hasn’t changed much. Most of the changes just make her old tactics work more as intended, and she got some stuff added on top that should make her less dull. Again, I think her biggest buff is from system changes.
**Spinal:
Color and skull logic:
-Spinal’s attacks have been color-coded to more clearly show what does what: Green attacks give you skulls, Blue attacks curse the opponent’s Shadow Meter, and Yellow attacks curse the opponent’s Instinct Meter.
-Any time Spinal hits with a ghostly attack (green) he gains one skull.
-Searing Skull (with skull stock) projectiles are now colored Blue.
-Shadow Searing Skull’s projectile is now colored Yellow.**
This is a good change from a design standpoint, but irrelevant from a gameplay one.
-All of spinal’s green attacks now reward one skull. That includes:
-Hitting with Crouching HP
-Hitting with any Spectral Manual
-Searing Skull (no skull stock)
-Spinal’s throw
This is huge. it gives you a way to get skulls back without having to trade positioning or damage. It also makes Spectral Manuals not useless.
Other changes:
-Crouching Medium Kick no longer sweeps and is now cancelable.
Spinal needs the decent low, so that is a big help. But at the same time he lost another HKD move. Leaving pretty much only his throws.
-Shadow Bone Shaker is now projectile immune.
Okay. A buff, but not huge.
-Throw Range increased slightly.
This is a big buff. its obvious why, but Spinal’s throw is super important to his game, and the old range made using it a pain.
-Shadow Searing Skull applies its curse on the 1st hit instead of the 5th.
Most a change to go with the new breaker mechanics. Gives him marginally more curse time.
-Divekick causes a Ground Bounce when hitting an airborne opponent.
shrug good for some combos and random situations I guess, but I don’t think this will come up much. Will give him some cool corner combos (but inefficient).
New skull use option:
-Spinal can now cancel all normal attacks (except c.HP and c.HK) into his run at the cost of 1 Skull.
This is titanic, and it makes great use of his throw and bone runner. I think this was to offset his loss of HKD mostly, but its still a great buff.
Overall i feel Spinal is only a bit better than before. He retains most of the issues with his normals, and he lost lots of HKD setups. But on the flip side he got some powerful new tools to offset.
**Fulgore:
Fulgore’s meter mechanics have been completely reworked to reward aggressive play with faster meter gain. As a result, he can no longer manually charge his meter and the charge command has been removed.
New reactor system:
-Fulgore now gains reactor pips at a pace based on how fast his reactor spinner is turning.
-The reactor always spins, so Fulgore is always gaining pips at a minimum rate at least.
-A new energy bar has been added above the pip display to show you exactly when your next pip will appear based on the current spin rate.
-Any of Fulgore’s physical attacks that make contact (hit or blocked) increase spin speed.
-Auto Triples give a huge spin speed bonus.
-Using energy systems (Energy Bolt, Plasmaport, or Eye Beam) reduces spin speed.
-Getting knocked down reduces spin speed.
-If Fulgore does nothing, spin speed will decay over time, eventually returning to its minimum speed.
-Activating Instinct Mode makes the reactor spin at maximum speed for the duration regardless of what Fulgore does or doesn’t do, or what happens to him.
-Fulgore gains the walk forward speed buff after green pips are full, the walk back buff after yellow pips are full, and his dash buff at full pips.**
Oh Lord. Fullgore is completely different. I can’t even really say if this is better or worse because its so radically different. What can evaluate is that it makes him a more agressive character and allows him to be a bit less stingy. But it hurts his zoning overall. This one is a wild card, it could be really good or really bad. The change to walk speed is good.
Energy bolt:
-Energy Bolt has been reworked.
-Light, Medium, and Heavy inputs now all fire a single projectile, speed determined by the button used.
-Tapping LP, MP, or HP while firing will spend 1 pip to fire an additional projectile at that button’s speed.
-This can be done twice for a total of three projectiles traveling at various speeds on the screen.
-You can still spend an additional pip during any of these to cancel into another special move.
The new energy bolt is a much more powerful use of PIP and since Fullgore actually has a HKD ender, he can exploit it better than say… Spinal. This is a very cool and powerful change.
Other changes:
-Devastation (hype) Beam does considerably less damage, but is now available outside of Instinct Mode when Fulgore has full pips
This is a bit better, but still only usefull in instinct or at max spin so you don’t piss away your tools. Still, it does expand his options slightly.
-Plasmaport motion has been moved to QCB+K.
Okay
-Auto Triples are now performed by pressing the button again instead of holding it down.
Okay
-Medium Cyber Uppercut now hits twice, and Heavy hits three times.
Okay. Depending on how the single hit buff works, this could be a nerf to damage.
-All versions of Cyber Uppercut can be Shadow Cancelled into Air Shadow Eye Beam.
This isn’t as powerful as it seems at first as almost every character can punish air EX Eye laser. Still, it gives him more DP damage and some tricks. An okay buff at best.
-Air Shadow Eye Beam no longer hits low and damage has been reduced, but the hitboxes are taller and it now juggles.
Change to go with above. Nothin major.
-Axis Smash (F+HP) is slightly less positive on hit and block.
Not really sure why they changed this. But not huge as Fullgore can still cancel to LP laser for frame advantage.
Overall fullgore seems better, but its really tough to tell. I would argue the most significant change is his staggered energy bolt. Fullore is going to be very interesting to see how he develops this time.