Aramusha Mechanical Problems (1.15 Edition)

[Saint Landwalker]

After my catalog of all of the mechanical problems Conqueror has that probably won't ever get fixed, I decided to make some for other characters. First up is Aramusha.

The recap from the Conqueror thread:

引用自 Landwalker：

For clarity, I'm setting the definition of "mechanically wrong" to mean "things that are either clearly not working the way they are intended to work, or that work so badly they could not possibly be intended."

1. Grab-able Light Attacks
   
   Aramusha's light attacks have enormous start-up frames, allowing him to be GB'd out of lights consistently and much, much later than any other character. He can even be GB'd out of his light Tempest chain because of these frames.
   
   Edit: This *also* applies on Aramusha's zone attack, as he can be GB'd out of both parts of the attack.
   
   FIX: Reduce his light attack start-up to be consistent with the rest of the game.
   
   
2. Limited Throw Directions
   
   Aramusha (and Shaman) can only throw in four directions. He cannot throw "diagonally"—that is, he can throw forward, left, right, and back, but cannot throw at 45º angles.
   
   FIX: Allow him to throw on diagonals...
   
   
3. "The Gladiator Heavy Problem"
   
   Aramusha (and Shaman) cannot be GB'd by Conqueror after a blocked heavy. This applies to all of his heavy attacks—neutral, chained, finisher, dash heavies, etc. It took three months for this to get fixed on Gladiator, and now there are two more heroes with the exact same problem.
   
   FIX: Increase the recovery time on interrupting blocks for all of Aramusha heavy-based attacks.
   
   
4. The Shortest Guard Break Time
   
   It's unclear whether or not this is intended, but it's so glaring and so inconsistent with the rest of the game it seems worth mentioning anyway. Aramusha' guard breaks "stun" his opponent for less time than any other GB in the game. This is the reason he can't get a heavy (a 25-damage heavy) on GB.
   
   FIX: Increase Aramusha's GB "stun time" to be consistent with the rest of the roster.
   
   
5. Flawed Parries in Revenge
   
   When Aramusha has revenge and parries opponents (both locked-on an external), the opponents do not fall down.
   
   FIX: Correct Aramusha's revenge state to be consistent with the rest of the roster.
   
   EDIT: Upon further testing, this is not a problem unique to Aramusha. All heroes sometimes (but not always) fail to knock down opponents when parrying while in revenge.

[Starwight/ttv]

Thank you LandWalker. I really hope the devs notice.

[Emperor Palpoutine]

My opinion that I would like to add:

I feel he needs a couple of things to help him a bit without making him redundant, I feel his blade blockade (BB) needs some love and would reinforced the "uniqueness" of aramusha. As of right now, he's mid tier at best and near useless against great players. Watched a pro warden COMPLETELY shut down Praise The Sun (or "Tremily" now) because he could parry any of aramusha's attack mid combo and from neutral making it so Praise had to turtle and only use a light here and there but eventually get demolished cuz the whole kit of the character was useless against that skill lvl. Also, BB is riskier to use than a regular parry because it has longer recovery time and can't be feinted either so somebody that spams BB is prone to be GBed all the time. Therefore, here is a list of things that imo would allow great aramushas (ones using BB correctly) to shine without making it OP:

1. his blade blockade should have superior block property. Certain attacks that are multihits (like shaman's, nobushi's and zerker's ZA to name a few) will still go through your blade blockade (the next hit) and damage you, cancelling wtv you were about to do. The only way that this will not happen is if you follow up with knock back kick.
   
   
2. his knockback kick should knockback further (at least another 20-25% further). Also, if the enemy is wall splattered by the kick, the enemy should eat 15 damage (like raider's charge) and is fully open to a dash attack from aramusha (15+25 = 40 damage total). If you think that's too strong, you need to keep 2 things in mind, BB is riskier than a parry+ GB (longer recovery and can't be feinted like a parry) or simply doing a GB plus you need the enemy to have his back towards a wall for this to work. Also, kensei and cent get MORE damage for free by simply wall splatting somebody after any GB which is, again, less risky than a BB and doesn't require your enemy to have his back to a wall. Also, other heroes such as warden get a top heavy (40 damage) from any wall splatter (from GB and from max charged shoulder bash) thus 40 damage combo is balanced, Same with zerker, etc etc.
   
   
3. top heavy following a successful BB should ALWAYS be guaranteed. As of right now, certain attacks recover faster than others from the BB and allows the opponent to sometimes block the incoming top heavy of the aramusha depending on which attack was BBed.
   
   
4. the "boop" on the nose attack (aka doing a light attack after a successful BB or Ring the Bell or something) with the sword handle BARELY does stamina damage. Certain heroes that have parries that can be followed up by a punch/unblockable like centurion, glad and LB drain WAYYYY more stamina. Ironically, Aramusha, labelled a "counter attacker" if you read his ingame description, doesn't drain nearly as much stamina if he goes with this attack to follow up a BB. Therefore, I say this needs a major stamina damage buff and would go as far as to say it needs a LEAST double stamina damage of what it currently does. Hell, even the knock back kick drains as much stamina so there's barely any reason to use it over a kick or over a regular parry (as parries also drain lots of stamina).

Finally, from a GB he should be able to get a free heavy (25 damage). Final side note: those changes would help the "counter-attacking" side of aramusha but doesn't fix the issue that, fundamentally, his kit makes him prone to be parried by great players. Sadly, I do not have any idea how Aramusha could get some love on that side without making him OP or part of ALL the other brainless heroes that spam 50/50s.

[Saint Landwalker]

There are a lot of possible ways to approach and opinions to have regarding balancing issues with Aramusha. For these types of threads, though, I'm trying to stay away from "buff this" and "nerf that" and just stick to things that would (probably) fall under the umbrella of bug-fixing rather than balance changes.

Unfortunately, even bug fixes take an eternity and a half to enter the game, if they ever enter it at all (rip Conqueror), but I dunno. I guess I'm hoping that the more light is shone on them, the more likely they might happen to one day perhaps get at least acknowledged by the devs and, Volcano-willing, possibly even actually fixed.

Edit: However, I'll point out quickly that even Superior Block doesn't interrupt zone attacks like you mentioned under your first point. It's part of what makes the classes you mentioned tough match-ups for Conqueror.

[Hannya]

I would like to add some other stuff

- He sometimes just doesn't block an attack for no reason, even without any input it just goes through
- Throws occasionally ignore your input, ergo e.g. you have your back to a wall, you grab someone, input BACKWARD, and Aramusha throws them away to the right
- Wallsplat -> Side Heavy -> Top Light makes the light deal a whopping 3 damage because the enemy is in recovery thingy
- After getting executed and respawning he keeps the bloodstain on his clothes
- Blade Blockade -> Top Heavy isn't guaranteed off light attacks (though that's a thing with Superior Block in general)
- His guard break range/tracking is unusually awful as are his attacks after e.g. parrying a Nobushi to follow up with an attack directly which doesn't work for him
- Probably even more things I missed here

[Trippy Drug]

引用自 Legate Gankus：

I would like to add some other stuff

- He sometimes just doesn't block an attack for no reason, even without any input it just goes through
- Throws occasionally ignore your input, ergo e.g. you have your back to a wall, you grab someone, input BACKWARD, and Aramusha throws them away to the right
- Wallsplat -> Side Heavy -> Top Light makes the light deal a whopping 3 damage because the enemy is in recovery thingy
- After getting executed and respawning he keeps the bloodstain on his clothes
- Blade Blockade -> Top Heavy isn't guaranteed off light attacks (though that's a thing with Superior Block in general)
- His guard break range/tracking is unusually awful as are his attacks after e.g. parrying a Nobushi to follow up with an attack directly which doesn't work for him
- Probably even more things I missed here

I also heard people claiming that sometimes his attacks go through if his opponent tries to parry,they don't even get the "forgiveness"window that lets them block

I don't know how true this is,but I've seen at least 3-4 people saying it

[Saint Landwalker]

引用自 Legate Gankus：

- Wallsplat -> Side Heavy -> Top Light makes the light deal a whopping 3 damage because the enemy is in recovery thingy

Allegedly, the damage mitigation in certain situations is intended. However, what those situations are and how they happen is (apparently) weird and inconsistent.

So I definitely wonder whether or not the 75% damage mitigation on Aramusha's top light is an intended byproduct of that mechanic. We know there are plenty of intended mechanics with unintended byproducts.

While it seems odd that it was actually intended for Aramusha to have a mere 28-damage wall punish, that's still more than what Valkyrie has (rip Valkyrie), so I dunno.

引用自 Legate Gankus：

I would like to add some other stuff

- He sometimes just doesn't block an attack for no reason, even without any input it just goes through

I'd have to see video of that. It definitely feels like it, but I'd need to see it conclusively.

引用自 Legate Gankus：

- Throws occasionally ignore your input, ergo e.g. you have your back to a wall, you grab someone, input BACKWARD, and Aramusha throws them away to the right

This one I've definitely run into. It's baffling, and I suspect it's related to his defective throw mechanics in general.

引用自 Legate Gankus：

- After getting executed and respawning he keeps the bloodstain on his clothes

A bug, definitely, but I'm trying to stick to mechanical problems with their combat performance. =P

[Emperor Palpoutine]

引用自 Landwalker：

引用自 Legate Gankus：

- Wallsplat -> Side Heavy -> Top Light makes the light deal a whopping 3 damage because the enemy is in recovery thingy

Allegedly, the damage mitigation in certain situations is intended. However, what those situations are and how they happen is (apparently) weird and inconsistent.

So I definitely wonder whether or not the 75% damage mitigation on Aramusha's top light is an intended byproduct of that mechanic. We know there are plenty of intended mechanics with unintended byproducts.

While it seems odd that it was actually intended for Aramusha to have a mere 28-damage wall punish, that's still more than what Valkyrie has (rip Valkyrie), so I dunno.

引用自 Legate Gankus：

I would like to add some other stuff

- He sometimes just doesn't block an attack for no reason, even without any input it just goes through

I'd have to see video of that. It definitely feels like it, but I'd need to see it conclusively.

引用自 Legate Gankus：

- Throws occasionally ignore your input, ergo e.g. you have your back to a wall, you grab someone, input BACKWARD, and Aramusha throws them away to the right

This one I've definitely run into. It's baffling, and I suspect it's related to his defective throw mechanics in general.

引用自 Legate Gankus：

- After getting executed and respawning he keeps the bloodstain on his clothes

A bug, definitely, but I'm trying to stick to mechanical problems with their combat performance. =P

About the only 28 damage off of a wall splatter, that's why I made my suggestions. I know you are looking only for bug fix but he is in deep needs of some love/buffs. :/ I always find myself falling "in love" with underdog heroes (it was kensei until recentily when I came back and picked up mushu) but, as much as I love him, it can be a frustrating experience sometimes (nothing to do with other heroes I'm fighting but strickly the incapacities of mushu).

[Jowain]

引用自 Legate Gankus：

- After getting executed and respawning he keeps the bloodstain on his clothes

I honestly don't mind this, I think it looks kind of neat :P

[Axel]

What about is ability to stunlock Assassins?

[Saint Landwalker]

引用自 Axel：

What about is ability to stunlock Assassins?

Doesn't exist, and has been repeatedly disproven.

[Axel]

引用自 Landwalker：

引用自 Axel：

What about is ability to stunlock Assassins?

Doesn't exist, and has been repeatedly disproven.

Really? I wonder why they’re so many reports of it.

[Saint Landwalker]

引用自 Axel：

引用自 Landwalker：

Doesn't exist, and has been repeatedly disproven.

Really? I wonder why they’re so many reports of it.

Because people like finding excuses for things.

[Hannya]

引用自 Landwalker：

引用自 Axel：

Really? I wonder why they’re so many reports of it.

Because people like finding excuses for things.

Personally I do want to admit I mysteriously have sometimes troubles blocking his lights as an assassin, but I have no idea what it causes as of yet but I bet it's some reflex guard wonkyness that isn't anyone's fault

Bots can block it just fine and never get stunlocked so there must be something else about it

[Trippy Drug]

引用自 Landwalker：

引用自 Axel：

Really? I wonder why they’re so many reports of it.

Because people like finding excuses for things.

They have also forgotten the secret art of deflects apparently

[Saint Landwalker]

Lead post updated to reflect a newly discovered problem with Aramusha: Parrying while in revenge.

Edit: Upon further testing, this is not a problem unique to Aramusha. All heroes appear to sometimes not cause knockdowns when parrying while in revenge, parrying OOS opponents, or throwing while in revenge / while opponent is OOS.