Luminos564

To ASW's credit, they ARE trying to make a character that was so overpowered before into something balanced and tournament legal. Bumps along the way are to be expected.

Also like to add that the grab was actually OD cancelled, meaning the duration Haku-men's Overdrive was cut in half. And yet, in the 6 seconds that it lasted he did 9590 damage, effectively undoing all the work Goro had to do during the round to get momentum (or lead) going. Goro being, well Goro still won but if Haku-had even 1 more second of duration on that OD or did the TK Tsubaki>Hotaru>OD instead it'd have ended in Haku-men's victory. And that's a pretty damn scary thought.

If held long enough and it catches something anyway, he can perform a cost-free 623A~A so that's a bit of a plus for him. Yeah same. I've been dying to see him in the hands of players for a while now. That trailer could only tide me over for so long. Why do you figure that? Considering the current date, it is possible that the game is finished and is currently going through the shipping process. I kind of doubt they added Kokonoe at the last known minute onto the disc. In a way yes. However, Carl would only have so long to land that combo in. We've already established that Haku-men gains meter like he's running on Red Bull, Starbucks coffee and Pixie Sticks. One of the things that grants him meter? Blocking (specifically Instant Blocking). So unless Carl gets that hit in prior to Haku-men hitting 4 Magatama, he's always going to need to tread carefully.

He's always had great damage output though. It's just that, until CP and all this OD business, he had limits and had to keep a close eye on how he spent his meter. CP however broke his reins and so now he deals out Touch of Deaths like he's handing out business cards. He's like the Alteisen Riese of Blazblue: instead of focusing on his weaknesses, ASW took what he does best and cranked it to Gene Simmons levels.

Oh that's just when you want to have a swag victory since OD+Mugen is not necessary (but damn fun to watch) for him to Feng Shui your health bar into oblivion. Basically: -OD combo: I took my time and activated OD at an opportune moment to clench the victory. -OD+Mugen: Honey, I'm SO going to wreck your ass and wear it like a hat for the next 20+ seconds *EVIL GRIN (had he a face to grin with, which he does not). Haha, I guess. Someone once mentioned to me that they believed ASW designed the Overdrive system soley around Haku-men and then tried to apply it to the other characters. But despite all the insane meter gain, Haku-men still has his share of bad match-ups (I hear Valkenhayn is his resident antithesis). It's more like ASW simply enabled him to go wild without actually making him the answer to everything. Basically this, yeah. He's hits like a truck. Gains meter so much that his specials costing him anything is almost a moot point. But he still has problems (like how a bad Drive read could cost you a nice 4K loss of health).

Insanely high meter gain for doing what he always does: -Cut projectile? Gain meter. He especially loves the flavor of Amane's drills. -Use Drive on projectile? Gain meter. Hell, CATCH anything with your Drive (even if the opponent blocks it) and get free meter. -Use Overdrive? Easily gain 3~4 Magatama. Said Overdrive can do this at the start of the round before the "less health = more OD time" even kicks in. He gains so much meter, that I constantly see players tossing Agito (his new aerial special) non-stop since they know they'll get it back very easily, whereas before they were a lot more conservative with meter use.

So, barring a re-balancing patch at some point (which I figure is somewhat likely in light of Yuuki Terumi, Kagura and Kokonoe being very recent additions), odds are the top 6 will remain in their spot?

Don't hold out hope for anything too abusive though as that will likely get patched out sooner rather than later. Remember CS1's Makoto Parry loop?

Whew that's a relief. I was starting to get worried that fewer and fewer players seemed to be using Amane. We got a little more than a month left of waiting so I guess we will see then.

Oh it is. Just that your 1000 words may not necessarily be my 1000. Like how we could each write up a 1000 word essay on Kokonoe's announcement and end up with very different impressions and conclusions. At least until we see full confirmation (in this case, the TGS) then all we can really do is speculate, make educated guesses and so on. Ergo, I eagerly await that incoming info.

So let me see if I can grasp this altogether. Apologies if this sounds obvious to others, I'm just not good with characters with a lot of gimmicks. -Graviton pulls in enemies depending on where it is at, impairing the opponent's movement. Mirror matches with Graviton active should be fun to watch. -Active Bit repels. What it can repel though I am not certain. Projectiles seem like the obvious choice, but I also suggested that it might alter her specials. Please correct if I am way off the mark. -She's got a lot of gadgets that do different things. A freeze ray gun to immobilize the opponent outright. The scan seems to suggest that it can be followed up with the gatling guns. She's got a rocket punch which she can uppercut people with or shoot it at them. A "fire cage" (the move where she's seen firing a blaze straight into the air), which I assume is to further impair movement. A satellite beam that may/may not use a targeting device. I guess we found our trap character. Set up traps and control the opponent's movement options. Then when they're immobile bust out the spanners, wrenches, rocket hammer drills into their faces. Alright, I can dig it.

So then, why is the gauge green in this instance? Is it because she's using neither Graviton or Active Bit?

Ah so the Graviton (Pull) consumes that gauge to the right. And Active Bit (Repel) might not? Interesting. I can't wait to see how it is implemented in the actual gameplay. Thanks for answering.

Actually I got a question for anyone that can read that scan: what does Kokonoe's Overdrive, Graviton Rage, do exactly? I get that her normal Drive focuses on the "pull" and "repel" but what about the Overdrive? Is it just the strengthening of those effects or is it something else?

I see, thanks for explaining. It's been years since I played GG and even then, all I seemed to gravitate to was Sol (normal and Order flavored) so I never really understood I-no. Kinda wish I did since she sounds very fun now that I have not played the game in so long. Then again, that's what Xrd is for after all. New game, new possibilities and a whole lot of "Heaven or Hell".

Funny you should mention that because I just had the brainwave that when you activate repel, you could alter moves through it. Let's take the Rocket Punch (I assume it is a special). In "Graviton" (pull), it acts as an uppercut. But during "Active" (repel) instead of uppercutting, she can shoot it like dear ol'Mazinger.

That's if she's a zoner though. But the rocket punch, wrench and rocket hammer drill speak more of a melee focus, while the freeze raygun (from the screenshot) doesn't cover much range. Only her gatling gun seems to cover the necessary distance. Perhaps she's a sort of hybrid character with a toolbox gimmick. However, nothing is set in stone and actual gameplay>>>>>still screenshots.

So she basically has Nu-13/Lambchop's Gravity Seed as a NORMAL move? Am I reading this right? Oh but then again, it is likely any normal character can just punch it and it'll die. Oh wait it can repel as well? Well damn, I wonder if that's work on projectiles/bursts? You try bursting and all you end up doing is flinging yourself to the other side of the screen for damage.

I forget; how good was I-no between AC+ and ACR? Was Chemical Love FRC really what made her stand her ground or was it something else that made her either good/bad?

Zut alors! Maybe, this Axl is not the one we know. He is, after all, carrying "Row" as opposed to "Low" as his last name. Perhaps it is a completely different, time-traveling Axl and that's just the style where he's from :8/:?

What you mean something like this? Maybe it is a good thing I never picked up a fashion sense in my life. Some of that stuff is downright scary and utterly weeeiiiirrrrd.

Actually he is wearing a long-sleeved jacket (with the sleeves folded a bit). The "robe" you're seeing is because he actually tied/attached the British flag to the back of his shorts using his belt. It gives the appearance of a longcoat or duster, but it actually isn't. I'd question the fashion statement that is supposed to make but then I remembered that I don't give a flying puck about fashion. Especially in a Japanese fighting game.

Why am I suddenly reminded of Robo-Order Sol and his Ultra Gurlfrend from Blazen?

But Lizzie does not do revenge. All she does is learn even more effective ways of inflicting pain. And Fear. And Paralysis. And Freeze. And pretty much any status ailment under the SMT Rainbow barring Berserk since Lizzie should never make you angry XD.

Alternatively, maybe Sol just used Fireseal as a core to make an even better zippo lighter...err, I mean sword.