Laura Buffs thread

Street Fighter V Character Discussion
1

So I figured now that the game has been out for quite a while it would be fun to discuss what buffs Laura could/should be getting in SFV. Seeing as how the yearly update is looming its head it would be a good idea to discuss what she needs to be a better character. I would like for her to be top 8 worthy but right now Mika is holding that spot as the go-to grappler. I will start off by saying that in no way do I believe she should get ALL of these buffs at the same time. At least ONE would make her stronger IMO.

The must haves

So at least one of these changes I feel MUST be given to Laura. Its what’s keeping her down and if she gets these I feel she will break into the upper echelon of the current top 8.

Thunder Clap (projectile) no longer disappears when Laura is hit.
For some stupid reason she is the ONLY character with a fireball that has this property. Why can every other fireball character trade with people while she can’t? They should act like all other projectiles and continue going regardless of whether or not Laura is hit. If this cannot be done for regular projectiles, then apply this to EX Thunder Clap. Again she has to burn meter to be more reliably safe.

**EX Bolt now has armor starting from frame 1. **
Her wakeup suffers heavily. She needs a way to get out safely. As a tradeoff this move doesn’t even always hit on wakeup, so its more of a get out of jail card that everyone seems to have in the top 8. Not only that but she is forced to blow meter for it. Fair trade.

**Volty Line (V-skill) is 100% throw invincible from start to finish and is airborne from a certain point until it ends. **
Here’s another headscratcher. She has a move where she is visually seen fully airborne doing a wheel kick as an overhead ala Abel’s wheel kick. Yet not only can she be thrown out of this mid move, she can also be swept out of it at any point. This is completely stupid. The funny part? She is still considered airborne if your CC her at a certain point during the move. Change this and make her airborne and unthrowable. No new frames of invincibility or anything, she should still be able to get crushed or hit out of it. But I’ve actually gotten THROWN out of this move in such a way that I traded where I hit the opponent then i just collapsed because he was in hitstun but managed to grab me. The move is super unsafe and super punishable. Either that or change the animation so she is seen rolling on the ground instead of being mid air.

And that’s it honestly from what I personally believe. She is a super strong character overall but these few things here is what she’s lacking that is keeping her from top 8 potential. Below I will list things that would be nice to have. Keep in mind that unlike the above which I feel she needs to be even considered top8, the adjustments below I feel are not necessary but would be nice to have in place of any of the above.

The nice to haves

Invincibility frames on HP Bolt starting from frame 3. **
Unlike the top 8, I don’t wanna make her too good. What I notice though is that unlike the top 8, her HP bolt which acts like a DP trades way too often for a move that is supposed to be a reliable anti-air. It would be cool if she could get some invincibility on it but not to the point where we could just mash it like you would Ryu or Ken. Putting invincibility on frame 3 would be similar to how her current EX bolt works. If you time it right you can still stuff it, as you should be able to. It takes no meter to use. Another option instead would be:
**
Using QCF MP+HP gives a fully invincible EX version of HP bolt.
Instead of buffing her regular HP Bolt, why not give her an invincibile version of it? Using QCF LP+MP would result in the current EX bolt we have now, an armored version of the MP bolt but faster. Using MP+HP instead would cause Laura to execute a HP version of the Bolt, also invincible. This way she could use this as a reliable tool for jumpins. It would still whiff grounded opponents as the current one does, only now its invincible and takes up 1 bar.

**Increase grab range of all versions of her Sunset Wheel **
You know whats sad? Other than Vega, every other character has a farther command grab than Laura. Laura is considered a command grappler, so why is it she has the second worst one in the game? Non-Saiyan Necalli beats her range. Its incredibly stupid. We should not have to rely on getting V-trigger to be just as effective as Necalli is on a normal basis. If this were to happen I’d say her regular throw ranges should be the same as Birdies normally and should be close to or equal the range of Mika’s throws in V-trigger mode.

So what do you guys think? What buffs do you think she needs? What I’ve suggested above are some realistic(ish) requests. Again giving her ALL of these would make her too good, but one or two would definitely make her much stronger than she currently is.

2

Give her some FUCKING range!!

ahem But if anything I dont care the reason but her fireball needs to not disappear on hit. Who cares if they have a struggle getting in? So does she and it doesnt make sense that hers is the only one that does that.

3

The one and only thing that I feel holds me back when playing her compared to almost every other character in the cast is her non-existent wake-up. Meaning one change I really want is armour from the first frame on EX Bolt Charge. It’s still throwable, so by no means overpowered and I would even be okay with them making it even more unsafe to compensate. Because right now it’s just stupid being knocked down as Laura as the opponent can pretty much hit every button he wants without having to fear anything. Even Zangief at least has a throw invincible SPD, Laura has nothing.

I also approve of giving her an EX Heavy Bolt Charge but I don’t multiple EX versions is something Capcom doesn’t want in this game. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think any character has a move that benefits from different button strength combinations in EX.

4

I’m not sure Volty Line should be completely throw invincible, but a nice amount of airborne frames is definitely needed. The EX Bolt and Thunder Clap buffs are no-brainers, entirely agree with you there.

Other stuff I wouldn’t mind:

LP Bolt cancels into Super
It kinda bothers me that Laura doesn’t have a lot of ways to consistently combo into her super, even though she’s rarely sitting on full meter. Would love the potential damage boost and a somewhat scarier poking game.

EX SSW throw invincible
Throw invincibility would give some real purpose to this move and create an interesting mix-up with a fully armored EX Bolt. Would still be a somewhat gimmicky move, but at least a viable one (and give us something to work with against true grapplers).

Standing HP 0 on block
Standing HP moves her forward, crush counters and is comboable on hit; but being -2 on block it just kills your pressure. Rashids St HP is 0 on block (according to the guide), so why couldn’t Laura’s be? As a frame-trap heavy, rushdown monster she would benefit from a strong St HP, especially when your opponent isn’t falling for the obvious mix-ups.

A Combo?
Not really sure about this one. St MP, cr MP would be nice, or even St MP, st LK but it’s not like she’s lacking in damage. That said, it does suck that all of her MP-strength frame-traps only combo on counter-hit, whereas Ryu, Karin or Cammy can just spam MP all day. And without her regular mix-ups or gimmicks, her damage output isn’t that high imo, something that might become more problematic over time as people become even more accustomed to the match-up.

Just my two cents obviously, and as a lower ranked gold player, I’m far from an expert on this stuff.

5

You can’t really talk about buffs in a vacuum like this. You also have to consider the buffs/nerfs the other characters will receive

6

Obviously, but where’s the fun in that? =)

7

Very true. I’ve said it before but my biggest fear right now is a buffed gief. He already gives Laura trouble and he’s viewed as the worst in the game (for good reason) so I am predicting that he’ll be getting a lot of tools that could potentially make it an unwinnable match.

In terms of Laura, I’m sort of okay with her being a punching bag on wakeup but it would be great to tweak a few of her normals and specials so that we don’t feel so helpless in neutral. I’d also like her to have a little bit more advantage/stay closer after a sunset wheel. Yes, there are setups but it seems dumb that most of the time I opt for back throw because you get more bang for your buck.

8

Well that’s why I said this was kind of for fun. Also there isn’t really a need to consider other characters considering how much Laura suffers from a lot. Lets put it this way, if Capcom is smart they will see that the top 8 need nerfs while everyone else needs buffs. This is shown by the fact that no matter what “vacuum” you’re talking in, the top 8 in this game is the top 8. Period. No one argues it. Everyone’s tier lists is a variation of the same top 8. Laura has no matchup against those top 8 that is better than 5-5. Most are closer to 6-4 in their favor. Some 7-3 (oh god Chun and Karin). So really the whole “you need to compare it to the rest of the cast” trope is irrelevant.

Not to mention that you know for a fact that her GOOD matchups will be getting buffs as well as they suffer even harder than she does.

Unless Laura gets buffed by not having her projectile disappear after being hit. Then Zangief could only trade with her over and over against her projectiles instead of blowing through them.

9

Guile’s V-Skill projectile has the same property and for the same reason: having a slow moving projectile right in your face that doesn’t disappear when hit means basically that your opponent has NO way to jump in or to low profile your fireball without getting hit in return. The only way to beat her projectile would be to cross her up every time.

I think that giving that property to regular fireballs would make her way too powerful. I’m a fan though of the idea to make the EX fireball stay on the screen since you have to spend meter to get that defensive shield.

10

Does the V-skill projectile have that property once he hits it with a Sonic boom? I don’t use Guile all that often and frankly any time I try to jump in on him throwing anything i eat a flash kick.

11

Guile also has the benefit of having real booms which are way faster so you’re never quite sure until you see the animation which projectile he is going for. Also, I haven’t seen photos so feel free to correct me but the hit box on his v skill projectile seems much larger and more active than Laura’s.

12

No, it’s the same as Laura’s pretty much, maybe slightly bigger. But that move is the least of the problem when facing Guile…

13

Really? I feel like his V-Skill is actually a game changer in that matchup because it gives him a meterless two-hit projectile that you can’t go through with EX Bolt.

14

Some random thoughts I was thinking fall under the Nice to have.

While in V-trigger, EX Thunder CLaps are now 3 hits without charging

Found it odd how her V-trigger didn’t power up her EX claps to full 3 hits unless you charge it. They should get a buff in adding one more hit for a bar. Would be nice.

15

Wait what? You can’t charge EX claps? And EX claps are 4 hits in VT.

16

Wait what? I’ve never ever seen it hit 4 times ever. Am I missing something? God damnit I can’t be that big of a scrub can I? I’ll check after I get home from work. Also what I meant was that in V-trigger EX’s should not NEED to be charged to get full hits. Again a nice to have buff, far from necessary.

17

I’ve never counted the amount of hits but EX claps can’t be charged, they always come out instantly even when holding the buttons.

18

EX claps being 4 hits during VT is the reason why you can juggle with an overhead or a H bolt in VT while you normally can’t.
And again… EX claps require no charge, they’ll always come out in 17 frames no matter what.

19

I rarely ever charge EX claps while in V-trigger so that explains my lack of knowledge. Good stuff thanks.

20

I only counted 3 hits with her EX FB in VTrigger. 2 in regular mode and 3 during Spark Show. 4 hits doesnt sound right.