Mostly I just hate how easily it gets stuffed or trades.
Ken fj.LK, Sagat fj.MP, Balrog fj,HK, Adon NJ.HK (though to be fair this tends to trade with any anti air that doesn’t have at least upper body invincibility), Cammy’s fj.HP and all her cannon spikes (though trading a cannon spike with HK Ruffian is a net win for Cody.), Akuma fj.LP/MP, Dudley’s nj HP and fj.HP just to name a handful are all moves that trade with HK Ruffian if the ruffian isn’t done early so that you catch them with the tip of the foot.
See the nature of most anti airs is either A. they have upper body invincibility, B. they move vertically to meet the move more so than horizontally, thus generally making it harder for moves to go over and hit behind where the hurtbox is. and C. are almost exclusively throw invincible if it is a special move (Not a big deal except against like elf, gouken, and cammy who have airborne based command throws.)
Now Cody’s move horizontally which allows him to catch jumps farther than some characters, but because of that many characters best jumpins hit in in his very wide upper body hurtbox in addition to getting hit by his fairly large hitbox. The move also because it gains no extra height can be easily jumped over by many characters who have either higher jumps or smaller than usual hitboxes while jumping (Cammy for instance) It is more inconsistent at certain ranges, especially against stopping someone from jumping out of the corner.
Really though the weakness of it’s horizontal movement is unique and I’d rather just have the hurtbox lowered a bit say to where hi shoulder is in that picture (the top part of his left shoulder) or maybe even just to the top of his head and made a little bit less wide (make his back arm lose the hitbox) one or the other.
I see it trade A LOT even in top matches and while that usually lets Cody follow up with a MK Ruffian against some characters I’d rather it be more consistent.
Of course apparently I am in the minority on this issue and I can understand that, especially given cody’s amazing b-mp.
I’m all for some minor buffs, and there are some really good ideas in this thread, but I think it’s difficult to predict how even small changes might significantly alter existing match-ups. There’s also the fact that I wouldn’t want Cody to become too un-Cody-like - having a godawful backdash seems too much a part of his character to change drastically
That being said, these are the ones I like:
Improved Ultra 1. Not entirely sure how I’d improve it, but some of its limitations have already been described here, not to mention the fact that hit confirming into it off heavy ruffian requires a standing opponent. I like the idea of reducing the startup, but that might make it a bit too easy to land crack kick > Ultra 1.
Airborne Crack Kick. Plenty said about this already.
Improved c.mk. As has been said, it’s a pretty poor slide compared to other characters.
Improved invincibility on EX Criminal Upper.
Fixes to Super. It would be nice if the various drops etc. could be fixed, but I think this would still be a very minor improvement given super is so infrequently used.
The Knife. I still think the knife needs serious attention in terms of making it more attractive to pick up. At the moment you just sacrifice so much to use it, plus there’s the fact that it’s so difficult to hold onto given all the various ways you can lose it. The knife throw is embarrassingly bad too - they might as well have left it out altogether so you don’t accidentally lose it by doing an auto-pilot bad stone! As Techtun said, even if there are no changes to the functionality of the knife whatsoever, having the input as 3 punches instead of 3 kicks is crazy.
And not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but I’d quite like to see Cody’s j.mp juggle in the same way as some other characters. This would improve the utility of Ultra 1 significantly - how many times have you seen a Rufus make a comeback with j.hk > Ultra 1?
In general Cody’s Air 2 Air options are weak (fj LP and LK are good as is nj MP,MK, and HP but he doesn’t get anything off of them and the damage other than HP is pretty low compared to what the opponent could get from landing their jump-in) and that is probably intentional as his ground to air options outside of an invincible anti air are strong and his air to ground options outside of a dive kick / ability to modify his jump arc are strong.
I’d like to see Cody’s fj.MP do SOMETHING (maybe be a 2hit attack that he can use against people who focus, or make it cause a knockdown like nj.HP) but I experimented with the ability for him to juggle after and it felt a bit too good. That said I think his jumping mp with knife should work that way given the difficulty of getting/retaining the knife, the lack of juggle options, and the fact that the MP with knife is one of the worst jumping attacks in the game right now (7F startup 3F active, poor hitbox, does the same damage as his j.MP without knife but gains less meter.)
What made you think it was too good? If it was 2 hit attack that juggled like most other characters, the scaling would tone down an Ultra 1 follow up pretty heavily. I was also thinking of it as another possible opportunity for a reset, which I think someone else had mentioned previously.
Mostly because you could follow up with crack kick - EX Criminal upper for around 270-300dmg. Without super/ultra typically Ryu doesn’t get more than like 200-220dmg off of a fj.mp. The only characters who really get a lot off of their jumping moves that put the opponent into a juggle state without using Ultra/Super are Rufus, Seth, Gouken and E. Ryu (E. Ryu IMO shouldn’t have it in the first place but w/e).
I do think Cody should have more ways to go for a reset though, for a character that is able to do fairly strong juggles his resets are pretty much crap (f-MP only move that can be used for a reset and it only has JP1 so you only get crack kick - f-MP or HK Ruffian FADC f-MP)
Are you sure it would be as much as that? Don’t you get fewer hits off the exCU the longer the juggle goes on? But yeah, even if it wasn’t j.mp specifically I’d like to see more reset options.
If you did Cody’s fj.MP EXACTLY like Ryu’s (2 hits, first hit puts opponent in free juggle state where you can use any normal attack and it will hit them, 2nd hit causes a juggle of 1 count meaning only moves with JP1 or higher can connect.) The juggle count would be the exact same as if you had done HK Ruffian FADC Crack Kick - EX Criminal Upper. Or 2x Crack Kick - EX Criminal Upper.
If you made it so that fj.MP puts the opponent in a JP1 state on the first hit and JP2 hit on the second hit you would be able to combo into EX Criminal Upper or a Zonk but not into Ultra 1 because Ultra 1 only has JP1 (that is why you can’t do crack kick - hk ruffian - FADC ultra 1)
Yeah that is one of the MANY issues with the knife. When you lose it (either through being hit or throwing it away yourself) the time before you can even attempt to pick it up again is pretty massive. It uses the same physics system as Vega’s claw and mask but Vega walks ~70% faster than Cody and only has to touch the mask/claw to pick them up instantly. Of course the mask/claw are also far more important to Vega since the mask makes him take less damage / deal less damage and the claw extends the range on all of his moves and increases his punch damage by 10. The difference being that while Cody plays differently (but worse) with the knife, Vega plays the exact same but better with the claw.
Being able to catch the knife (which notably does track your position once it hits the target so if you are half screen or less it will drop at your feet, any more and it just goes half screen.) would be cool and very in-character for Cody’s personality.
Yes, lets make a move that will beat throws, is +1 on block, starts juggle state and moves you hella far forward, airborne.
I would give Cody a better hit/hurtbox on HK ruffian, Give EX CU a couple more frames of invuln, give his sweep a little more range and make picking the knife up faster/not dropable when you focus/tech throws. That’s all he really needs.
Haven’t seen anyone complain about El Fuerte’s f-MK (overhead +1 on block +5F on hit airborne and beats lows) E. Ryu’s f-MK (hits crouchers -2F n block 0F on hit can be canceled into tatsu and has twice as much juggle potential but causes a reset.) Ibuki’s f-HK goes over fireballs does 210stun is -3F on block but +6F on hit and once again hits crouching. F-MK is an overhead that is slow but goes over fireballs and lows and can’t be thrown and can be comboed after.
There are many similar moves all of which are airborne. The weakness for Cody’s f-HK is that it is very focusable and it whiffs entirely on crouching opponents. Many of the moves that go over lows actually BEAT the low attack. Cody’s f-HK simply avoids them.
None of those characters get as much utility out of the move as Cody does, nor is any of theirs as safe (aside from fuerte, but really who cares about Fuerte?). Cody on hit gets Crack > MK/EX Ruffian (Sets up unblockable lolol) /EX CU and even straight ultra 1 on some characters. On block you get frame advantage and a good setup for cr. HP xx EX Rocks.
If it’s airborne the worst you would have to worry about is getting jabbed out of it–and that gives the other player what, an air reset? Cody already has plenty of tools to beat stand tech and get in at frame advantage.
Why nobody ask to make crouch LK +3 or why not +4 (perfect !) on hit !?
Currently, you usually have to confirm Cody’s crouch LK with a special move or nothing.
With a +3 crouch LK, Cody gets more offensive pressure and he can be played a little bit safer in some situation :
better combo possibilities (link 2LK themselves, with 2LP, or 2MP in counter)
more safe crouch tech follow up, not need to OS (and miss this OS :-/ ) all 2LK with special move in order to be safe.
with more safe crouch tech you get better footsie, better frame trap pressure and batter empty jump fake outs.
When I see all the characters in the game able to combo crouch LK like Fei to quote only the best known, it’s not a big deal to ask the same for Cody too.
By the way, is there a post where Capcom might read any v2013 suggestion ?
Because that would give Cody the single best c.LK in the game hands down. Right now Cody’s c.LK is probably the farthest reaching 3F normal or close to it. It also is a 4F frame trap when blocked and a 2F frame trap on hit if you don’t cancel it the first time. And Cody’s c.LK has 4F active which is 2x more than most. Right now Cody’s c.LK is arguably the best but it’s weaknesses keep it in check with other really good c.LKs. For example: Chun’s c.LK is 3F with 4F active but is -1F on block +2F on hit she can chain cancel it but she can’t special cancel it so she HAS to chain it into a c.LP which adds scaling to her followup attack. Fei’s is 3F with 3F active and +3F on hit and chainable, however it can’t be special canceled so once again Fei has to cancel it into a c.LP or s.LP if he wants to follow up with a special attack.
Worst or most likely worst wake up option in the cast but best crouch LK in exchange may be a good deal
Dictator and Guy get real good crouch LK too, both combo or special cancel can be but lesser active frame.
However you must have right coz as I told it before nobody ask for it so Cody crouch LK seems good enough.
All Cody really needs is a decent backdash, slightly faster back walkspeed, being able to not drop the knife during focus/throw animations and airborne crack kick. Otherwise he’s a rather complete character.
It would be great if the knife was adjusted, so that it improves Cody’s defense when picked up(making dealing with dive kicks easier, for example).
Slight buff to throw range and damage would be nice, as it would force people to press buttons.
If only Cody could Kara cancel his f-MP like Ken with step kick for extra range on his throw. So good. (too good even lol)
The knife DOES improve Cody’s defense in the sense that he has longer reaching pokes but those pokes also increase his hurtbox size massively and he loses the ability to whiff punish since he can’t cancel any knife attacks. I wouldn’t mind if they added like a threshhold for the knife where you need to be hit by a certain amount of damage before you drop it, like 65-75dmg. Enough that you can lose it via a fireball or a jab but any more than that and you’ll drop it, a buffered normal, any heavy attack, any heavier characters medium attack and even some not so heavy characters. Just enough that you wont lose it off of stupid stuff like trade jab or someone doing a crouch tech.
The idea that Cody drops it after 1 hit is a throwback to Final Fight, but if they want to do that then they need to make his knife MP do more damage and make his s.HP with knife cause a techable knockdown and keep him from losing the knife when throwing the opponent just like in Final Fight
