I like the idea of still having PD after a successful break, but I also think not gaining any instinct after breaking would be a good change too.
I think the reward for breaking should be a little bit of breathing room, and recovering a bit of PD. Makes it less rewarding, and more in tune with the “risk/reward” aspect of the game. Breaking becomes more risky because there’s still PD, and you wouldn’t be building a valuable resource.
just my thoughts 
They aren’t dealing more damage or more PD than before. Its just that they have a little more time after a reset to claim some PD, and if you break them they have some PD left to try to claim. If they are doing combos with enders, its already cashed out and playing normally.
It does seem like a good idea tbh. It rewards the player for constantly beating the other in neutral which is a huge part of fighting games. It will force players to be a little less nutty in the neutral. Maybe look at the instinct gain from breaking too? My struggle to constantly open up opponents as Cinder the 2nd time around to get that cash out knowing I can lose it all in a blink of an eye is tough while other opponents can get that in an easy lockout. If the potential damage is still there it makes it a bit easier(especially against the harder MUs with strong defense).
As for reduction in the amount of PD for certain characters, I would like to talk about Cinder. He can get lvl 4 enders only if the opponent locks out at the beginning of a heavy auto -> light linker combo, if he spends the meter, or if the opponent was already burnt out. It’s already tough enough opening someone up when your buttons are obviously not that wonderful and the best ways in are through grabs, fired up fission, and constant bomb placement. (This is by design I understand that)
If the amount inflicted is going to be reduced then maybe consider the timers on each lvl for Cinder. This will force the opponent to be more cautious while still retaining the new amount inflicted. Of course this might not matter as much against certain MUs since they can easily use their other buttons if they aren’t burnt out either. However, that extra time added will certainly help give Cinder more time to try and break the defense.
I’m just extremely concerned for Cinder. Losing a small amount of PD can ruin him. He lives and breathes PD b/c his damage output is AWFUL without it. However, I expect you guys to get it right.
Thank you Keits and the rest of the staff for constantly supporting and listening to the community.
The reward for a successful lockout or counter-breaker are huge for most characters. Land a lockout on an opponent and they’re likely going to be eating at least 40-50% damage for it and up to 60-70% if we’re talking counter-breakers specifically. And for particularly high-damage characters, the damage can get even more extreme.
If that isn’t a big reward in a fighting game, especially in one where you’d usually only be getting around 20-30% on the opponent per combo otherwise, I don’t know what is.
no puns intended:
the current system isn’t broken, so don’t fix it.
I prefer that my tips remain on the aesthetics of KI. the technical side I do not compete.
But I can not find Maya, fun. I enjoyed very first to use her, now I can not do anything…too much nerf.
I like the idea, I say yes to the change.
I also have the concern of how often will a Counter Breaker be used.
Since I am not going to lose all the PD, I can just expect the Combo Breaker and then look for an opener->Linker->Ender, which is less damage than the Counter Breaker, but still a low risk alternative.
Maybe a successful Counter Breaker should increase the PD a little bit? I don’t know, just ideas in my mind.
Anyways, I want to see this new mechanic.
People are generally doing hard-to-break combos leading up to a lockout, which means combo will already be close to blow-out. Most people aren’t locking out on opener. They’re guessing somewhere near the end of an already relatively short combo. So, 40-50% is best case - lockout at opener. 60-70% is also unusual in S3.
Counter breakers definitely give you a good reward, but it isn’t huge. In S2 some characters earned a huge reward for counter breaking, but that’s not really the case in S3, for the most part.
Man, I wish we could see this change in action. Hopefully people will know that it will be an experimental change, and will understand that this may or may not be altered/removed.
I’m all for it, it sounds really cool.
I think this is horrible … combo breakers are KI’s signature, it’s what all the memes are made of, and it’s good that a combo breaker pro should be near invincible.
it’s why yelling “C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!” is a symbol of being powerful.
being a great combo breaker should make you near invincible.
40-50% isn’t enough for you? Good god XD
Ooh, I am VERY interested in hearing what this is.
I do agree with this. Cinder’s inferno on block is powerful enough as it is (this is coming from someone who secondary’s him).
Go for it seems like a good idea.
Try it at 50% let’s see how it feels for season 4 
️
this is horrible … imagine a match between 2 great combo breakers, BOTH are in “danger! danger!!” … and combos are being broken left and right …
that’s the hypest thing, and the SIGNATURE OF KILLER “C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!” INSTINCT!!!
it makes spectator crowds scream OHHHH!!!, it makes the players sweat buckets, THAT is the image of Killer Instinct. Being a great combo breaker SHOULD make you near invincible.
Oook, but you can still break the combos? You still get that breaker. It’s just less rewarding to get the break since you have a 1/3 chance of guessing correctly and the guess breaking has gone pretty nutty in recent time.
This will actually force higher level players to play the neutral. To go into defense/offense instead of mindless gimmicky offense. Lower level players won’t really care.
This really won’t affect that, you know…
That’s certainly the case some of the time, but there’s also many times where players will attempt to break almost ASAP or with the KV around the middle. And I’ve seen several instances where players fail to react to and capitalize on these kinds of lockouts where they could have easily tacked on at least 15% more damage.
You can also choose to tack on that much additional damage even in a late-combo lockout if you have the meter for it. I think that often a significant portion of the potential reward for lockouts is untapped on the whole.
I dunno, at least around half a life-bar for counter-breakers seems like a lot to me and the reward can go significantly higher than that depending on when you landed it, how much damage your character can generally do, and how much meter you have. It’s enough to majorly shift the momentum of a match.
■■■■ I’m good.
Anyways, I’m not really sure how I would feel about this change and as others have said would have to physically test out the changes myself before giving a final answer. My initial response however is I feel this would change the meta of the game a lot theoretically. Resets would become more dominant than they already are this coupled with ever changing mind game after combo breakers in the first place. While I still feel combo breakers themselves could use a change, a step in the right direction is a good step none the less. Anything to minimize the reward for guess breaking I’m down for.
Interesting. I wonder how/if it would change the pace of the game. Would players start to be more cautious in the nuetral game, since getting caught in a combo is now potentially more dangerous, or would players start to be more aggressive, since landing an opener is suddenly more valuable?
Out of curiosity (and fear of potentially going off topic), what kind of change are you thinking?