Character Balance: The Forum's Impressions Poll

UUUGGGHHHH, I get what you mean. I really want to play Arbiter, but you know…

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I’m impressed by how many characters have “Very Solid” ratings, and agree with most of them. I have Kim a bit better than most people do, TJ worse, Sadira better, Riptor worse, Omen better, Gargos a bit worse (Hisako is a tough MU for him, IMO), and everything else spot on (Kan, RAAM, Mira, and TJ clearly need help). We’ll see what the changes do to Arbiter, but if they’re anything like the meaningless laser change to Fulgore I imagine there will continue to be a lot of salt in that direction.

Those characters you listed aren’t exactly on the low end of the spectrum on this poll (besides Kim). There are certain players you can fight for some of those characters (Kan and Mira specifically) that may even make you 180 on that statement.

Also, I think people are judging Arbiter only on his strong vortex game and control over neutral. He has weaknesses that I feel only Arbiter players would notice.

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This is SO BIASED.

People just voted based on who the pros are using. That is very clear.

Gargos is The most OP character? No. People only say that because of EVO. Only very good players can use Gargos correctly, and I bet most people who voted could not beat any pro by using Gargos’ “cheap” tools.

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This is just a random survey lol calm down. Just a test.

Also, everyone is biased.

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(is butthurt)

So am I in some instances.

Mira needs a rework asap

Can you please elaborate?

When barely anyone plays her?

I dunno man, I feel like a lot of these “she’s weak” votes are from people who couldn’t manage her health.

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Thats the problem with her nobody got time to fight the opponent and your self in ki i wish they just tone her damage down and change the way she kills her self most combos in ki take 30% and up and if you take your own life which count for like 30% thats why she sucks

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It’s a great character and everybody loves her but none is playing her… Something is wrong. I have been playing her from her release and I think that blood damage is a great idea but I feel also that the character isn’t working a her best. And with this I don’t mean is weak or something like that but how it feels when you play it.
(alert, scrub level opinions!! )

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One of my friends has a Mira that is just ridiculous. Like “damn near unbeatable” ridiculous.

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Just edited my first post with some opinions about s1 and s2 chars. Some suggested changes were posted, but in most cases all could remain the same.

I wouldn’t sweat it. People are bad is all.

Kim Wu

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Done

So, just make her like a regular character? She’s cool because she her gimmick is strong but with weaknesses. Her being a regular character is a lot more boring.

I dunno, when I watch Mira players play, I think the character has tons of room for creativity and exploration yet, and there are optimizations that can be made (better uses of meter to get health back, not spending tons of health on mixups/mobility that serve no purpose, etc) to reduce the penalty of her blood health system. The character is advanced and nuanced in ways that will take a while to bring out her best, and it’s the type of character that can be bad for the game if she is too strong, so buffing her without enough knowledge is really dangerous.

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I may not be the best at the game (only just got back into Gold) but with every character at Level 50 I feel I’ve spent enough time with the cast to have a rough idea of their gameplans. I probably have some bias that, no-matter how much I try, will likely shine through. I will try my best to be fair to everyone.


Jago: Solid, as always. Jago has always been a good character. Easily accessible for the newbies, alarmingly potent in the hands of a master. His Jack of All Trades nature, while his main perk, is his major downfall, as more specialized character can destroy him if they remain in their element. But with a wide variety of game-plans and a very potent instinct, I suspect we’ll be seeing him around a lot, as we always have.

Sabrewulf: I’m inclined to say “Weak but viable” even though he probably errs much higher than that in the real world (at least Decent, possibly solid). I tend to feel weaker playing Wulf than I used too. He’s not a damage powerhouse anymore, even though he’s still on the high end of pain. He’s got good mix-ups from above, below, AND behind, but his instinct is dramatically less powerful this season (nerfing the cancels and removing the damage buff entirely). I know that in the hands of a loyalist he’s a monster beyond monsters, and even a little bit of effort can make him into a beast. He’s just not as accessible anymore, and I wonder if I’d be able to do half the things I do with him if I hadn’t already gotten 2 years of practice. Great rushdown, excellent footsies, but he’s not nearly as scary as a lot of folks remember him being. His button buffs are very appreciated though… :slight_smile:

Glacius: Solid. KI’s premier zoner (now with a dash…kinda) is also a pretty good CQC combatant. The multi-hails, the unblockable shatter, the ranged combos, the cold shoulder… he’s got a lot of good stuff. Sure a lot of his stuff is unsafe, but when he’s not liquidized he’s still pretty solid. (that was a joke because liquidize, puddle punch, and tele-puddle are all good)

Thunder: Solid. From being the pity pool of Season 2 to being a truly killer fighter in Season 3, Thunder is a character with some excellent abilities. He’s a grappler with good range, great combo tools, a shadow with armor, and an upper-butt (uppercut+headbutt) that can swiftly turn grounded defense into an aerial assault. A very solid character that can take control easily.

Sadira: Middle tier. Still a very potent character with an excellent air game that can switch from cross-up hell to a nagging keep away with the flick of the stick. That being said, her new S3 tools haven’t been too overwhelming, and her Instinct is no longer the death sentence it once was. If she’s kept grounded, it won’t end well. Good, but not broken like before.

Orchid: Middle tier. To me, this has always been where Orchid sits. She’s fast with good damage and decent combo tools, with some great pressure. But there’s always been something that I have trouble quantifying that keeps her from bridging over into being a truly potent character. She’s still really good, but never truly great.

Spinal: Middle tier. Last Season I’d have put him in at Solid, but he doesn’t hold quite as much fear in the hearts of men. His rework was interesting, with a lot of cool new implications and opportunities, but it took away the draining thing which was -I felt- the most important part of his ■■■■■■■■ He still keeps his opponents from popping instinct or shadow pretty reliably, but without as much of his own to spend (and the scarcity of skulls) he has to work much harder for it.

Fulgore: Solid… Really solid. Like, solid steel. He’s possibly one of the most momentum heavy characters in the game. On defense without meter, he’s slow and doesn’t have as many options. If he gains the upper hand and starts generating pips, however, he’s essentially Jago but if laser sword hit low/full screen, plus a teleport. Killer Instinct’s poster boy is certainly great choice. He needs quite a bit of skill, but once mastered he’s an unstoppable death machine.

Shadow Jago: Solid. There’s no denying his potency, his legacy, his reputation. Shadow Jago is, even in his playable form, a boss. The Ultimate newb crusher, yet an easy to grasp character. Teleporting dashes, high-low mixups from nearly anywhere on the screen, and a wicked juggle game. There’s just one problem: If you miss, Shago is the most unsafe character in the game. Nearly all of his moves can be punished on block or whiff, and surging isn’t a guarantee of success. Still, he takes work and patience to defeat, just like his Kyle form.

TJ Combo: Middle tier. He’s still a very fun character, and he can do some very cool new stuff. He’s got a real reversal now, and his new stagger/swagger combos are awesome. Though a lot of his stuff is much easier to deal with than before. He’s got to work harder for his meat. But in the right hands he can still do really well. While he’s on defense he’s characteristically pretty rooted, but on offence it takes a lot to keep him away.

Maya: Middle tier. Another S2 character that launched in God mode, Maya has calmed down quite a bit. Without a lot of her crazier shenanigans (safe on block DP and her Mega Damage Ender aren’t a thing anymore) she’s a lot less of a hassle. She is by no means dead, though. She’s still got a lot of tools, and with the ability to approach from full screen, plus a meterless cache-out in the air, she’s still got some very sharp strings to her bow. Whether the new dagger ender is one of those is up for debate.

Kan-Ra: Middle tier. The monster of S2 got hit pretty hard. Now that his swarms are no longer a seemingly insurmountable mine field and his sand needs a lot more recovery, he’s a lot harder to use than before. Even though he’s much more susceptible to bullying than before, the new Shadow Sand Trap keeps him from going too low (especially now that it’s buffed). With good set-ups and proper keepaway he can still be quite powerful, but the days of rushdown Kan-Ra are gone. Maybe we should keep him away from doing any more evil shenanigans though. He’s kinda caused a ■■■■■■■■ in the lore. :stuck_out_tongue:

Riptor: Solid. I always felt Riptor didn’t get enough credit in Season 2, and while she lost some of her rougher stuff she got a bunch of new awesome tools to play with. Mortars, tail stagger, flip-out, and the increased Primal Linker damage have made her a frightening contender. He still has her classic struggles, but she’s evolved into a creature that seems to have nothing to fear from extinction. She’s fast, she’s mean, she’s a freakin’ fire breathing robot dinosaur. Life finds a way… to eat.

Omen: Solid. Omen went from pretty good to VERY good this Season. His corner pressure could turn coal into diamond or woo a nun into a date at a Deicide concert. He’s mobile, and even with liberal use of Shadow form he has more meter than anyone at nearly any given time. Granted, his non-fireball meterless tools may leave him at disadvantage, and while he can dish it out he has a bit of trouble when pinned. I don’t think he’s going anywhere anytime soon, though. He’s truly a demon that brings about despair.

Aganos: Solid, literally. With his abundance of armor, unparalleled space control (he can literally decide how much space is allowed to exist), and truly impressive shadow moves like the mighty “I win” Shadow Ruin, the biggest member of the cast is certainly living large. Granted, he rivals Fuglore for his dependence on momentum, since without chunks he’s quite vulnerable. If he can keep up his oppressive offence, however, this usually doesn’t become an issue.

Hisako: Middle tier. I don’t feel she’s been truly unlocked yet. She struggles to deal with things that can’t be countered, and her slow movement can make a lot of fights a waiting game if you aren’t willing to risk a dash or teleport. HOWEVER, she’s very good at what she does. She can cancel out enemy shadow moves entirely, she’s got range to contend with characters twice her size, and she can be very tricky to break.

Cinder: Middle tier. Ratehr difficult to pick up and play, due to his low damage and his complex gameplan. But and with masterful air game and plenty of set-ups to boot, plus some wonderful combo stylin’, he’s a character that, with practice, can lead to huge rewards. Plus, burn-out is not only a great way to set-up damage but a powerful psychological tool to force your opponent into a beneficial situation.

ARIA: Middle tier. ARIA is incredibly powerful when she’s on top of things, but the fact that she loses tools as the fight wears on is a huge hampering factor. She has access to a wide variety of powerful movesets, and her assists can make her onslaught downright cruel. But with her limited health in each body she has to make sure she stays on top or else things will get really awful really quick. Characters with big damage are like kryptonite, and no matter what body she has out if she locks out she can usually say goodbye to those tools. An expert’s character that can provide overwhelming power if you can unlock her potential, but a very tough nut to crack.

Rash: Solid. The toad has been unloaded and he’s not pulling any punches…or feet… or his tongue. He’s mobile, he;s accessible, he’s got a lot of ways to deal with what’s thrown at him and humiliate you while doing it. He’s deceptively unsafe on a lot of stuff, but his display makes it much harder to punish him before he follows up with more toadally radical beatdowns.

Kim Wu: Weak but still viable. I’m not going to say Kim is bad, especially since she’s so hard to combo break, but she does need a LOT of effort to get big wins. Even our resident Kim masters tend to have some trouble, but they do prove that she can do frightening work with the right dedication. A character who’s viability relies mostly on loyalty, harder to pick up and play but potent in the hands of a purist.

Arbiter: Mid tier. In the hands of a master, he’s terrifying. His best tools are finite, though, and he can crack under pressure since his reversal options are a bit weird. A true set-up character with a lot less forgiveness for a less careful style play. Do not, however, under any circumstances underestimate grenades and carbine. When he’s locked and loaded, he deserves respect befitting a religious icon (primarily because he kinda is one).

Tusk: Middle tier. In his prime range, Tusk is a beast. 3 anti-airs leads to 60% raw damage, his lockout damage could bring tears to a skeleton, and skewer is a good tool for stacking a bit more damage and baiting counter breakers. However, his lack of any truly projectile invulnerable move and his huge vulnerable windows before/after a lot of his best tools can make some matchups really rough.

Mira: Middle Tier. She’s got some of the best tools in the game, but she’s not very user friendly. Health management scales her back from being too high on the tier list, since for many players (including me) she is the opposite of forgiving. That being said, when she gets going in the right hands, sins will be confessed and punished with a very thorough spanking.

Gargos: Solid. He’s a true monster, this one. He has gnarly range, tracking punches, and something no one else in the KI cast has: friends. When he’s got both minions out, Gargos can be the ultimate chore. However, his defense (especially when he’s alone) is bottom tier. If you get into his safe space, you can do horrible things to them. But Gargos isn’t being hailed as the EVO winner for nothing. In the hands of a master like Sleep it can be hell to deal with. Not a newb friendly character, but his power is enough that he is truly worthy of being a boss even without the buffs.

General RAAM: Middle Tier. To paraphrase Maximilian, “Up close, he’s the best character in the game. At a distance, he’s the worst character in the game.” He has tremendous difficulty getting in in some match ups, but his grabs and the Instinct Mode Instant Death combos more than make up for a lot of his faults. Granted, he’s easy to break and a lot of his moves can be dodged or outpoked. He’s definitely a character that needs to be kept well. When he’s good, he’s very good, and where he’s bad, he’s horrid.

(Bonus!)Eyedol: Insane. Big boss is the only character at the moment that I feel quantifies the term Insanely powerful. While he’s not completely broken and there are still situations that he struggles in, there are still aspects of his gameplay that seem like they need a bit of scaling back. This is probably mostly due to lack match-up knowledge and typical early launch stuff, so I’m not too concerned about the long term. If he gets some tweaks to some of his nastier shenanigans, he’ll fall in line easily. Granted, he’ll probably still be incredibly powerful. Once he’s been regulated and people figure out how to deal with him consistently, he’ll settle back down towards the “Solid” tier.


I’m just throwing out how I feel. I’m sure there will be a lot of debate as to where these characters actually stand, but I’d like to think I’ve made SOME good calls.
Now that I’m finished writing this…thing… I’ll scroll through the rest of the thread and see what everyone else thinks (i.e. how wrong you all are)

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You can count the people trying to use her