Zeru

5B was ALREADY really good, they should have buffed something else to make it better instead of turning an already good normal into an absurdly good one.

Exactly, why make his drive exclusively a counter if his play style doesn't utilize it?

I agree with the general sentiment here, I really don't want to see Hakumen turn into an all out zoning character. I hope future loctest's revert some/most of those changes. I thought Hakumen was perfect the way he was, except for some input changes and 6B being buffed a bit.

So from my understanding, the change to Yukizake is a buff? At least that is one good D move. :/ Not sure what is up with these changes, buffing Hakumen's C attacks but nerfing his D moves is a really confusing balance choice.

From the LokeTest thread: Hakumen - Changed to 5 primers. - Slower magatama recovery. - 6B damage increased. - 623A cancelable during movement. - MUGEN: after gauge depletes, will not increase for at least 6 seconds. - Yukikaze: will only show superflash after a successful counter. Gauge depletes on use either way. AH still has superflash. (Was this in the first loketest? Not sure.) Seriously?

Haha, that is true, I have done that on more then a few occasions myself.

Maybe I just don't have my thinking cap on straight, but how does the change to Renka make Hotaru more powerful?

You mean in the first loctest? Because I know it doesn't come out currently if you do 236A for Kishuu, I know they changed Gurren to 214A. Just saying it would be a smoother motion for 236A for Kishuu.

Why on earth are they nerfing Hakumen's drive of all things? They are making them too high risk vs reward, and Hakumen is supposed to be a punish-style character in the first place. Not being able to combo off of 6D = LOL It is going to be annoying to get my muscle memory to switch to 236B for Renka, but that is a minor complaint. Kind of wish they would make 623A to 236A though, just for personal preference. >.<

Can you explain how Hakumen vs Lambda went from 5/5 to 6/4? Quite curious how you guys view that match-up.

I have never gotten Hakumen's Astral Heat off, but I have been hit by: Ragna, Noel, Tager, Hazama, and Litchi's AH The AH's you can easily combo into are a bit annoying, but you do have to save all your heat up (easier for some characters then others) and have a Burst Counter left. That said, I do consider it a "jerk" move most of the time, because it really is frustrating to get hit by some of those, especially if your opponent was 1-hit away and baits you into a CH with his AH (full body Invulnerability ftw!) I have seen some players drop combos and back up simply to prepare to AH to troll their opponent.

Yeah, purple throws seem much harder to reject in CS then CT for some reason, maybe its the lag? I swear I have rejected more green then purple throws in CS.

I have this same problem as well, been playing Hakumen since CT, and can't seem to get my groove with anyone else now. Been trying with Tsubaki, but not feeling it yet. Will try with Valk as well when he is out.

I'm not entirely sure it was his experiment, it almost seems like it was Kokonoe's experiment.

Didn't really mean to make it sounding like Block is a bad thing, I just hate it when it is the only real way I can react to some (alot in Ragna's case) of my opponents moves. I don't mind playing defensive (I play Hakumen after all), I just hate being FORCED onto the defensive. For beating Ragna's jC, if they space it correctly won't jD whiff even if I do catch it? Hotaru sounds like a good response, though I'll have to practice throwing that out on reaction to jC. I'll definitely have to try out back dash into gurren or kishuu against 5B though, certainly wouldn't mind punishing that move. I'll have to get into the habit of using neutral tech more often, I usually roll back against most opponents, unless I see them running up, then I usually roll past them. Seems to work reasonably well against most characters, but Ragna seems especially good at punishing it. On another note, how does one deal with Ragna's 6A it seems to stuff air completely, and I often feel ground-bound against Ragna due to all his AA options. Is it simply a matter of guessing what they will do and jumping in with a barrier block to bait it, or am I stuck with a ground approach when they seem AA happy? Thanks for the help, any advice helps. edit: thanks for the advice/correction mAc Chaos