The new Kensei rework and Parry changes

[Starwight/ttv]

I have played a LOT of Kensei today. My initial reaction was, WTF, these heavies are way too slow. But after practicing a bit. Wow. I am VERY impressed.

Not only does Kensei get a reliable opener vs turtles, I can now have HARDER TO PREDICT MIXUPS, which has been one of the banes of Kensei since BETA. I am so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ happy to see Kensei in a very well balanced place. His pommel strike is fairly easily dodged, and yet lands enough that it seems pretty well balanced. His soft feints are a huge part of his game, and he feels VERY rewarding to play.

when I lose I no longer feel cheated. I feel like I was legit outskilled. I cannot belive I am about to say this after so many seasons but...VERY good job Ubisoft. THANK YOU!

The parry changes are great. Fighting feels less turtley already, and a lot faster paced. Seriously, these parry changes are amazing. This feels like a much better game already.

Now we need to see reworks for Orochi and Valkrie!!

[Nitromethane]

Well, my personal feeling is that Kensei´s core was changed a bit too much. What made Kensei unique was his fast top heavy feints. Not having that anymore makes me sad. No more feints into parries etc. So yeah, not really feeling Kensei anymore. They should have keept the top heavy as is, and just given him more mixup potentials from feints/top/side.

Imo they just made him easier to play, and removed what made Kensei fun to play (for me).

[Starwight/ttv]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Shakta:

Well, my personal feeling is that Kensei´s core was changed a bit too much. What made Kensei unique was his fast top heavy feints. Not having that anymore makes me sad. No more feints into parries etc. So yeah, not really feeling Kensei anymore. They should have keept the top heavy as is, and just given him more mixup potentials from feints/top/side.

But he does have this. His mixup potential is DAMN good now. He can soft feint heavies from top into either side, he can soft feint heavies into lights, he can soft feint UB into side attacks or dashes, or cancel altogether. He still has his old mixup too, albeit a bit slower, and he has some new moves to boot.

What more could you want from Kensei? imo he still plays very similar, he just has some added mixups and a few new, creative ways to get damage in.

[Nitromethane]

Początkowo opublikowane przez alonesilverwolf:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Shakta:

Well, my personal feeling is that Kensei´s core was changed a bit too much. What made Kensei unique was his fast top heavy feints. Not having that anymore makes me sad. No more feints into parries etc. So yeah, not really feeling Kensei anymore. They should have keept the top heavy as is, and just given him more mixup potentials from feints/top/side.

But he does have this. His mixup potential is DAMN good now. He can soft feint heavies from top into either side, he can soft feint heavies into lights, he can soft feint UB into side attacks or dashes, or cancel altogether. He still has his old mixup too, albeit a bit slower, and he has some new moves to boot.

What more could you want from Kensei? imo he still plays very similar, he just has some added mixups and a few new, creative ways to get damage in.

He lost his fast top heavy cancels, thats the core of Kensei for me, and what made him unique. Now he feels like a slow heavy character (800ms dodges) with a lot of soft feints. Imo they really didnt need to change the top heavy at all. All Kensei needed was better mixup potential and an opener (he has better mixups now but I just dont feel that I´m playing Kensei anymore).

[HotBurritoInColdRoom]

Didn't you see his zone? Oh boy, it is like male PK version.

[Starwight/ttv]

Początkowo opublikowane przez HotBurritoInColdRoom:

Didn't you see his zone? Oh boy, it is like male PK version.

I don't think it's that bad, considering it has been blocked more often than not today.

[HotBurritoInColdRoom]

Początkowo opublikowane przez alonesilverwolf:

Początkowo opublikowane przez HotBurritoInColdRoom:

Didn't you see his zone? Oh boy, it is like male PK version.

I don't think it's that bad, considering it has been blocked more often than not today.

it is really fast. Mb not as fast as PK but very close to it. But the thing is: it is harder to read PK because of her fast lights and zone, and not so hard to read and react on kensei's lights because they just slower. Don't get me wrong, I love what they did with Kens. Glad he is in high league now.

[Trippy Drug]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Shakta:

Well, my personal feeling is that Kensei´s core was changed a bit too much. What made Kensei unique was his fast top heavy feints. Not having that anymore makes me sad. No more feints into parries etc. So yeah, not really feeling Kensei anymore. They should have keept the top heavy as is, and just given him more mixup potentials from feints/top/side.

Imo they just made him easier to play, and removed what made Kensei fun to play (for me).

For me I think Kensei got more complex.You can pull tons of tricks with his feints now.I also am a bit sad that we don't have 700ms heavies from top anymore,but we also have tons of new mixups that we never had before,actually making him viable.I mean,technically,he is easier,because now you can actually do well with him without suffering from turtles,but he is also more complex than before,since a lot of stuff was added to him.

Początkowo opublikowane przez HotBurritoInColdRoom:

it is really fast. Mb not as fast as PK but very close to it. But the thing is: it is harder to read PK because of her fast lights and zone, and not so hard to read and react on kensei's lights because they just slower. Don't get me wrong, I love what they did with Kens. Glad he is in high league now.

Kensei's zone is 500ms,as much as warden's or orochi's.

[meh¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Shakta:

Well, my personal feeling is that Kensei´s core was changed a bit too much. What made Kensei unique was his fast top heavy feints. Not having that anymore makes me sad. No more feints into parries etc. So yeah, not really feeling Kensei anymore. They should have keept the top heavy as is, and just given him more mixup potentials from feints/top/side.

I've played kensei for 99% of my playtime in this game and I understand what you're talking about. After playing around with him yesterday, I saw that most of my old gimmicks with him were still viable, though, and combined with the new stuff Ubisoft gave him they actually gained more value due to unpredictability and the plethora of new options. So the more you play with him now, I think you will like that the changes to his core are probably for the better.

The only thing I didn't like was that they made his dodge-block exactly the same as Valkyrie's. I liked how I could dodge forward and block a side attack for a free gb. Something that would gain more value now that you can't gb after a parry. It was also something really unique that no other hero could do. Not such a huge deal, though, I'll get used to this eventually

[HotBurritoInColdRoom]

Początkowo opublikowane przez CybermΩnk:

Początkowo opublikowane przez HotBurritoInColdRoom:

it is really fast. Mb not as fast as PK but very close to it. But the thing is: it is harder to read PK because of her fast lights and zone, and not so hard to read and react on kensei's lights because they just slower. Don't get me wrong, I love what they did with Kens. Glad he is in high league now.

Kensei's zone is 500ms,as much as warden's or orochi's.

Probably just feels faster because of animation or idc.

[Nitromethane]

Początkowo opublikowane przez meh¯\_(ツ)_/¯:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Shakta:

Well, my personal feeling is that Kensei´s core was changed a bit too much. What made Kensei unique was his fast top heavy feints. Not having that anymore makes me sad. No more feints into parries etc. So yeah, not really feeling Kensei anymore. They should have keept the top heavy as is, and just given him more mixup potentials from feints/top/side.

I've played kensei for 99% of my playtime in this game and I understand what you're talking about. After playing around with him yesterday, I saw that most of my old gimmicks with him were still viable, though, and combined with the new stuff Ubisoft gave him they actually gained more value due to unpredictability and the plethora of new options. So the more you play with him now, I think you will like that the changes to his core are probably for the better.

The only thing I didn't like was that they made his dodge-block exactly the same as Valkyrie's. I liked how I could dodge forward and block a side attack for a free gb. Something that would gain more value now that you can't gb after a parry. It was also something really unique that no other hero could do. Not such a huge deal, though, I'll get used to this eventually

I see, I only played Kensei for an hour or two with the changes - I really like the mixups and it feels quite nice when you score a 3-4 chain with the soft-feints. But the top heavy fast cancels :(
I´ll take your advice and try him some more. Didnt realize they also changed the superior block on dodge, so now its basically just a hit /stun like valks?

I really like the parry changes though. Finally you can let heavy attack mixups go with out being deleted.

[Nitromethane]

Początkowo opublikowane przez CybermΩnk:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Shakta:

Well, my personal feeling is that Kensei´s core was changed a bit too much. What made Kensei unique was his fast top heavy feints. Not having that anymore makes me sad. No more feints into parries etc. So yeah, not really feeling Kensei anymore. They should have keept the top heavy as is, and just given him more mixup potentials from feints/top/side.

Imo they just made him easier to play, and removed what made Kensei fun to play (for me).

For me I think Kensei got more complex.You can pull tons of tricks with his feints now.I also am a bit sad that we don't have 700ms heavies from top anymore,but we also have tons of new mixups that we never had before,actually making him viable.I mean,technically,he is easier,because now you can actually do well with him without suffering from turtles,but he is also more complex than before,since a lot of stuff was added to him.

Początkowo opublikowane przez HotBurritoInColdRoom:

it is really fast. Mb not as fast as PK but very close to it. But the thing is: it is harder to read PK because of her fast lights and zone, and not so hard to read and react on kensei's lights because they just slower. Don't get me wrong, I love what they did with Kens. Glad he is in high league now.

Kensei's zone is 500ms,as much as warden's or orochi's.

Well the complex part on Kensei for me was always being able to cancel top heavy into fast parries (400ms attacks) - I think he became easier, in the sense that his skill cealing went down a bit (as he has better tools and mixups - you dont have to top heavy feint 20 times into a parry anymore to get damage in - but that was Kensei to me, and I miss that he had a fast heavy cancel window, since you could play very aggressive with feints). Now its more soft feints that I can do with very little reaction required from my end. But perhaps I need to play him some more, was just not feeling it yesterday.

[Trippy Drug]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Shakta:

snip

I see what you mean,but I still don't think that his new mixups lower his skill ceiling.If anything they raise it,due to all the new combos available to the player now.

As someone who plays duels often this rework is godsend.There you could feint 100 times but you'd still not be able to get even one hit in.
I think that kensei will be easier to use,especially for new players,but at the same time he'll be harder than before if you want to master him,since now there are a lot more things he can use.
That's just my opinion only ofc.

[Paradox]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Shakta:

Well, my personal feeling is that Kensei´s core was changed a bit too much. What made Kensei unique was his fast top heavy feints. Not having that anymore makes me sad. No more feints into parries etc. So yeah, not really feeling Kensei anymore. They should have keept the top heavy as is, and just given him more mixup potentials from feints/top/side.

Imo they just made him easier to play, and removed what made Kensei fun to play (for me).

This is kind of what I expected. Too much of a change and a hero feel completely different, and if you found that hero fun, it kind of ruins that hero for you. The changes might even be an improvement, in terms of viability, but if it's too different, it doesn't matter.

I feel this way about shinobi, when they butchered his double dodge into kick combo, where you can no longer input the kick at the end of the double dodge, but have to do it at the beginning of the double dodge. It's a small change, but it makes his playstyle radically different. (nevermind that they never actually mentioned that in the patch notes, trying to sneak it in...or was just unintended, who knows, cuz they won't say)

Though, shinobi didn't really get any buffs as compensation or any mixups to replace that one mixup he had...not that that would change my opinion. Viability doesn't always = fun.

Another example, from a different game, is League of Legends, when the bastards took away my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ AP Yi and before that my Tank Morde.

[meh¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Shakta:

I see, I only played Kensei for an hour or two with the changes - I really like the mixups and it feels quite nice when you score a 3-4 chain with the soft-feints. But the top heavy fast cancels :(
I´ll take your advice and try him some more. Didnt realize they also changed the superior block on dodge, so now its basically just a hit /stun like valks?

I really like the parry changes though. Finally you can let heavy attack mixups go with out being deleted.

When I say it works like valks, I mean your stance automatically switches to your dodge direction now

[Dorito Man]

Początkowo opublikowane przez alonesilverwolf:

I have played a LOT of Kensei today. My initial reaction was, WTF, these heavies are way too slow. But after practicing a bit. Wow. I am VERY impressed.

Not only does Kensei get a reliable opener vs turtles, I can now have HARDER TO PREDICT MIXUPS, which has been one of the banes of Kensei since BETA. I am so ♥♥♥♥ing happy to see Kensei in a very well balanced place. His pommel strike is fairly easily dodged, and yet lands enough that it seems pretty well balanced. His soft feints are a huge part of his game, and he feels VERY rewarding to play.

when I lose I no longer feel cheated. I feel like I was legit outskilled. I cannot belive I am about to say this after so many seasons but...VERY good job Ubisoft. THANK YOU!

The parry changes are great. Fighting feels less turtley already, and a lot faster paced. Seriously, these parry changes are amazing. This feels like a much better game already.

Now we need to see reworks for Orochi and Valkrie!!

Pommel Strike is not easily dodged, I can tell you that. His Pommel Strike is the only thing I’m concerned about right now. If you’re close to the opponent, it’s 9/10 times going to land and give you free damage. Te only thig that’s holding it back is the fact that you need to soft feint a top heavy for it, leaving you able to be interrupted. Personally, I feel that Pommel Strike should do damage on its own (something small; like 10 damage), but not guarantee any damage. If that was changed, I feel that would make Kensei a little more balanced, while keeping Pommel Strike useful.