PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale: Balance discussion and theory

Most of the cast is capable of building one bar of AP. I think Kratos’s AP gain is fine.

but 1 bar does nothing for the chars that dont have decent super 1s, alot have to work to level 2s just to be usable or have a chance, if there gonna give chars horrible super1s the deserve faster ap to make up for it if not a bunch of the cast is fucked…and then a bunch are not

Character’s like Sackboy have horrible level 1 supers, I still see people whining about him.

thats becuase he gets to level 3 for what seems like almost doing nothing while im kicking mofoz ass,s across the screeen with nariko and im hoping for a level 2, he seems like a constant not doing shit char that can get level 3 sometimes 2x in a match, it would not be a problem if when we are trapped n the bubbles if the speed was increased by a bunch to make it a bit of a challenge to get like 5 kills and it seems to last for ever,

Couple of the better characters have shitty level 1s. Sackboy, PaRappa, “Dante”

I’m saying that it isn’t hard to build a level 3 if you can build over 100 AP in one combo. It only took me 5 combos to get Parappa to level 3.

Jak:
needle laser needs more range

mass inverter needs more range and faster cooldown. It’s too slow and hard to chain attacks with it

more range on level 1 super. It’d be nice to combo into it with the mass inverter.

My 2 cents:

At the moment, I feel like All-Stars has a lot of potential, though it is held back by a few issues that (hopefully) will be addressed by Superbot in the future.

  1. Grabs feel inconsistent to me. I have difficulty using them because I am never sure what they will beat/be beaten by. I think they would benefit from a better “hitbox”, so to speak. Also, when fighting someone who has recently used a super, grabs become useless as a mix-up, since there really is no reason to fear being grabbed if you have no meter and are ahead in kills, which makes maintaining your lead easier. I am not sure how to rectify this, but it has been an issue while playing.
  2. On the topic of balance, the most common characters that receive complaints (Sly, Raiden, Sackboy, Kratos, etc.), I do not feel they need to be extremely nerfed (maybe in slight ways like reducing Sackboy’s AP gain and making it easier to stuff Sly’s level 1). Rather, the rest of the cast needs tools to be able to better deal with it. For example, Dante, one of the characters I play as, benefits from a pretty good pressure game and some good AP gain (albeit from relatively difficult combos that are easily ruined by the game’s weird platform mechanics). However, it is extremely difficult to approach with him, and he is no safe ways to do so, where as someone like Sly or Raiden has many ways. Dante’s level 1 is also, as far as I know, difficult to land/ set-up like other characters can (Drake, Sly, Raiden, Heihachi, etc.). I have yet to find a method as reliable as said characters have of landing a super short of level 3 with Dante, and many other characters can do this. Rather than nerfing them, I would like to see the cast members all be given various ways to set up resets/ good situations for their level 1s, which is likely to help reduce the sort of long war of attrition some 1v1 matches can end up in (I’m looking at you Sly v Sackturd).
  3. This game was rushed, please complete it soon Superbot and give us lobbies, 1v1, item AND hazard options, etc.
  4. Though this is probably beyond the rectifying capabilities of a patch, I feel the game would benefit much more from greater movement. At the moment, no dash mechanics makes movement and spacing much more plodding and difficult. This is part of the reason the game feels so slow (to me) and bogged down at times. Characters like Dante, Nariko, etc. who rely on agressive close range gameplay would benefit greatly from improved methods of approach to counter the already strong zoning abilities of the Sackboys, Toros, and Ratchets out there.
  5. I like this game, it’s a good concept, I hope it improves with time. All of my criticisms may be washed away with time; the game is still very young.

Those options are there dude. If you want 1v1 you’ll have to invite an online friend in VS mode. Items and hazard options are there. Press L2 in VS. You can disable items in quick match.

I agree with the whole “dash” mechanic not being in this game. This game does feel clunky at times when trying to rushdown when there isn’t a dash.

True, but I feel like they ought to be there for general online play as well. Why not create separate ranking systems for different types of matches? I don’t think this is asking too much of Superbot, plenty of fighting games offer good online options (though to be fair, Superbot did offer way better options than SSBB, and I use that as a comparison because it’s the only similar “party fighter” to use online I can think of).

They do have separate ranking for different match types. FFA and 2v2 have their own leaderboards.

How does everyone feel about the “Coles”? Both are really good in 1v1 imo.

Sackboy’s level 3 seems pretty easy to not get hit by, but maybe I’ve just been lucky with the stages I’ve encountered it on.

I feel Evil Cole is the better one of the two. He has more reliable methods of landing his supers, more mobility options, better tools and level 3.

If players are going to make this a tournament fighter, shouldn’t items and hazards be on since they are major ways to remove AP. Throws and character specific moves don’t seem like enough

Watched the Vitality tournament and saw that E.Cole can be REALLY good if he has a charged arm and a lvl1.

Is Sir Daniel really the worst character in the game?

Vitality tournament? What’s that?

I’ve yet to play an Evil Cole, though I play a Good Cole fairly regularly. I think they’re both pretty good and well balanced, sort of like the Chun-Li of All-Stars. Good mobility, good zoning game, zoning easily leads into combos/guaranteed level 1’s, and he has a pretty good tech chase game.

I liked the play of both E.Cole and Sackboy in this tourney. I felt though if we had a dash, charging arm with E.Cole would be punished. Its hard to keep pressure when there are no means of mobility.