THTB
Arez | Booya | Riu48 - Rest Easy, Friends
So having had a chance to take Reptile against a human yesterday, I feel like I'd give some feedback on the changes.
d3 change feels so good to have. It seems miniscule, but it changes a good chunk of things. Being able to be +2 and actually have a move not dash completely beat out a 6 frame d1 felt great. Really great. My opponent started having to wait for my d3 or reading my choice to keep going with staggers...or armoring to eliminate both options. It opened up a lot more pressure for me, and because of that, it felt easier to get damage and get meter.
I didn't get to really use b1d4 that much (Shinnok is a mawfucka and makes using normals hard), and my use of 34 was pretty sparing, but the d3 was used in full effect. The 21 change came in handy a lot, because I didn't feel like my timing had to be as strict on every corner juggle just to get 2 of them in, so I was able to be more consistent in getting the damage I needed.
So all in all, the changes help. Are they the only things Reptile needs? Nah, not by a long shot...but the d3 change fixes glaring issues on being able to take advantage of frame traps and actually being able to poke out of pressure. It will help out in matchups where he just got bullied with no meter, and helps out in giving him the ability to maintain pressure through his frame traps.
That said, there's still changes that need to be made. There still stands the issue with his variations being too meter-hungry (except for Noxious). Reptile doesn't build meter very fast (though he somewhat gets the opportunity to build it in block pressure better due to d3 checks). Both Deceptive and Nimble's variation specials have very little room for application without meter, as the total frames are way too long to get any decent setup. The properties on the specials are otherwise pretty good, though. Here's my suggestion for them:
-Both stealth and basilisk match their EX versions in animation frames (In stealth's case, the total frames without holding stealth)
-Using stealth a second time no longer removes the stealth state, but rather extends stealth's timer
-Stealth's damage negation can be stacked again, up to 3 times
-EX stealth adds 2 stacks instead of 1; being hit once only removes complete invisibility
-Basilisk's duration is now half of the duration of the EX version
-Armored attacks now absorb the DoT of EX Noxious
The total frame tweak is obvious...gives you more leeway to apply them, which in turn reduces meter reliance and helps with the meter building as they are specials. With Deceptive, a big part of what makes that variation is stealth's damage negation property. I feel like the stacking was an interesting part of the variation, too, that shouldn't have been removed. I feel like that's part of what the variation should be based around. I did want the stealth state to not go away on block, but I feel like that's not interesting enough and would honestly be ridiculous with these changes. Nimble was fine, just the startup on regular basilisk was way too long to be applicable outside of after X-Ray. But, to give EX basilisk a reason to be used, regular basilisk doesn't last as long, and as a result doesn't get nearly as much time to do dirty stuff. The Noxious change, I wouldn't be upset if they got rid of the link after gas if they gave it this. This would add onto the variation quite a bit (probably would be way too good LOL!). It's already solid without any meter investment, but this would add more utility to the EX version.
I think working on the variations like that nails a bunch of issues. Meter dependency, meter building, and further diversification of the variations. I would like better forceballs and spit, but I think doing this would allow him to live without improvement on either one, and I think his core toolset is mostly fine, otherwise. He has some pretty safe normals that he uses on the regular, and while his specials aren't safe, not being forced to burn meter to use his variation stuff opens doors for him here. Now you can do Nimble combos and setups without burning a bar you could have used to armor something, only to get hit. Now Deceptive presents some very powerful perks and gives Reptile a ton of room to make mistakes and play the trades game in projectile wars. Now Noxious makes it risky to attempt to armor your way out of Reptile's pressure if he burns a bar for it.
So what do you guys think of this? I feel this would be a good next step for Reptile buffs without making too many drastic changes on his core, and while touching on some of his problems, not completely solving them.
@RapZiLLa54 @RM Cossner @Fraud Blank @MrInsaynne @UsedForGlue
d3 change feels so good to have. It seems miniscule, but it changes a good chunk of things. Being able to be +2 and actually have a move not dash completely beat out a 6 frame d1 felt great. Really great. My opponent started having to wait for my d3 or reading my choice to keep going with staggers...or armoring to eliminate both options. It opened up a lot more pressure for me, and because of that, it felt easier to get damage and get meter.
I didn't get to really use b1d4 that much (Shinnok is a mawfucka and makes using normals hard), and my use of 34 was pretty sparing, but the d3 was used in full effect. The 21 change came in handy a lot, because I didn't feel like my timing had to be as strict on every corner juggle just to get 2 of them in, so I was able to be more consistent in getting the damage I needed.
So all in all, the changes help. Are they the only things Reptile needs? Nah, not by a long shot...but the d3 change fixes glaring issues on being able to take advantage of frame traps and actually being able to poke out of pressure. It will help out in matchups where he just got bullied with no meter, and helps out in giving him the ability to maintain pressure through his frame traps.
That said, there's still changes that need to be made. There still stands the issue with his variations being too meter-hungry (except for Noxious). Reptile doesn't build meter very fast (though he somewhat gets the opportunity to build it in block pressure better due to d3 checks). Both Deceptive and Nimble's variation specials have very little room for application without meter, as the total frames are way too long to get any decent setup. The properties on the specials are otherwise pretty good, though. Here's my suggestion for them:
-Both stealth and basilisk match their EX versions in animation frames (In stealth's case, the total frames without holding stealth)
-Using stealth a second time no longer removes the stealth state, but rather extends stealth's timer
-Stealth's damage negation can be stacked again, up to 3 times
-EX stealth adds 2 stacks instead of 1; being hit once only removes complete invisibility
-Basilisk's duration is now half of the duration of the EX version
-Armored attacks now absorb the DoT of EX Noxious
The total frame tweak is obvious...gives you more leeway to apply them, which in turn reduces meter reliance and helps with the meter building as they are specials. With Deceptive, a big part of what makes that variation is stealth's damage negation property. I feel like the stacking was an interesting part of the variation, too, that shouldn't have been removed. I feel like that's part of what the variation should be based around. I did want the stealth state to not go away on block, but I feel like that's not interesting enough and would honestly be ridiculous with these changes. Nimble was fine, just the startup on regular basilisk was way too long to be applicable outside of after X-Ray. But, to give EX basilisk a reason to be used, regular basilisk doesn't last as long, and as a result doesn't get nearly as much time to do dirty stuff. The Noxious change, I wouldn't be upset if they got rid of the link after gas if they gave it this. This would add onto the variation quite a bit (probably would be way too good LOL!). It's already solid without any meter investment, but this would add more utility to the EX version.
I think working on the variations like that nails a bunch of issues. Meter dependency, meter building, and further diversification of the variations. I would like better forceballs and spit, but I think doing this would allow him to live without improvement on either one, and I think his core toolset is mostly fine, otherwise. He has some pretty safe normals that he uses on the regular, and while his specials aren't safe, not being forced to burn meter to use his variation stuff opens doors for him here. Now you can do Nimble combos and setups without burning a bar you could have used to armor something, only to get hit. Now Deceptive presents some very powerful perks and gives Reptile a ton of room to make mistakes and play the trades game in projectile wars. Now Noxious makes it risky to attempt to armor your way out of Reptile's pressure if he burns a bar for it.
So what do you guys think of this? I feel this would be a good next step for Reptile buffs without making too many drastic changes on his core, and while touching on some of his problems, not completely solving them.
@RapZiLLa54 @RM Cossner @Fraud Blank @MrInsaynne @UsedForGlue
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