Hoping for a defense nerf in Smash4

[BlixtG]

There are a lot of threads discussing whether or not the gameplay should be more like melee, more like brawl, or completely different. I think that, no matter what direction the next smash will go in, some defensive options should get nerfed.

Why? First, simply because in my opinion they have in previous games breen slightly over powered.
Second, making approaching more viable for more characters would IMO make for a more intense and interesting game.

I'm not suggesting that anything too extreme should be done, the gameplay should still work and feel like smash. I am just hoping for some changes like limiting air dodges, increasing shield damage to make shield breakes occur more often, or maybe even just giving areals less landing lag to make not approaching relatively worse.

 

[EddyBearr]

Brawl was far too defensive and lacked offense, Melee was fine offensive wise but there wasn't enough defense.

I would make it so it's easier to get knocked off the stage, and add back some things like dash dancing and retaining things like L Cancelling and etc.

You just can't go hard in Brawl, and you can't defend in Melee.

So I somewhat agree with you, but only thing from Brawl I'd change is how hard it is to get knocked off stage. I think shielding is perfect.

The game needs to be in-between where both strategies are viable, or where "passive-aggressive" reigns supreme.

 

[Big-Cat]

Haven't the Smash games lacked block stun specfic to each move?

 

[Renji64]

Faster, more offensive less defensive. I randomly watched a brawl stream on twitch and people camping it is so boring to watch.

 

[RODO]

What kinds of defenses? What is overpowered? I think your argument needs to be a little more fleshed out before I can weigh in on it.

 

[LiteralGrill]

This is gonna become a melee vs brawl debate. I called it now. 10 pages later and it'll be talked about STILL after II mention this post at about 5 pages.

But there is a point of maybe trying, so you need to be more specific on what needs the nerfing. Get nitty gritty with it, minute things are important in game balance.

 

[Lemonwater]

Yeah, I do agree that there has to be a configuration where both offensive and defensive playstyles can work about equally well. Ideally, this will be the case in the new Smash.

 

[HeroMystic]

This is gonna become a melee vs brawl debate.

You bet.

Anyway, the best way to get rid of defensive properties going from Brawl to SSB4 is to nerf powershielding (to those that don't know, powershield doesn't decay at all. In fact it regerates your shield back to full), and to increase aerial speed.

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

Make power shielding easy like Brawl, but give the shields the ability to reflect projectiles to prevent camping.

Decrease the shield drop speed according to the shield stun applied to the move. low stun=fast drop, medium stun=medium drop, high stun=slow drop.

Bring back running jumps so that characters will retain the momentum from the run into their jump so characters can rush down or cross up when necessary.

Also, allow power shielding to decay on shield. At least half of the moves original shield damage

 

[Vkrm]

Melee is overly defensive as well.

 

[Senario]

Melee is overly defensive as well.

What game were you playing? Last I checked it was highly offensive.

Lower landing lag, higher hitstun, ONE airdodge (non directional is fine, just one), and no auto sweet spotting the edge of the stage imo would do some work to prevent too much defensiveness. And most of these would not be noticed by most "casual" or "regular" players so they would be good. Not sure about grabbing the ledge backwards for most characters...kinda defeats the purpose of some moves like Mario's cape.

If shields were buffed in brawl (which I wouldn't know since I haven't played the game in ages) it needs to go back to around where it was in melee where it decays and becomes smaller. Eventually they will have to stop defending because of a small shield.

 

[Vkrm]

I still think melee is too defensive. mostly because of the how long our timer is, and remember that most of melee's cast are floaty. It's normal to see at least one fast faller being played in any given match because of prevalent they are. When you see matches like Samus and peach it starts to resemble brawl more than you think.

 

[Hong]

I liked SSB64 the best. So what if you died easily? It just meant that you could set the game to five stocks and know it will end in a reasonable time-frame. Brawl matches usually only have three and it can take forever for anyone to die.

 

[Senario]

I still think melee is too defensive. mostly because of the how long our timer is, and remember that most of melee's cast are floaty. It's normal to see at least one fast faller being played in any given match because of prevalent they are. When you see matches like Samus and peach it starts to resemble brawl more than you think.

I don't really see how most of melee's cast is floaty. With the exception of peach who float-cancels lol. But either way most of melee's cast is not floaty to my knowledge or at least to the amount of floatyness of brawl. Defensive options are definitely not as useful as offensive options and any long time player of the game would realize that you cannot power shield or roll away and have a degree of success that is higher than actually attacking. All characters can do a short hop fairly well and generally don't go too high unless you are jumping with the control stick...which in that case you really should be pressing the button.

The only character I've had trouble doing a short hop properly with is Shiek, and that is because you have to be super fast for her's.

 

[SmashCentralOfficial]

I'm not suggesting that anything too extreme should be done, the gameplay should still work and feel like smash. I am just hoping for some changes like limiting air dodges, increasing shield damage to make shield breakes occur more often, or maybe even just giving areals less landing lag to make not approaching relatively worse.

I think more damage on shields would be a great idea. Aerials might actually have less landing lag this time around too:

I still think melee is too defensive. mostly because of the how long our timer is, and remember that most of melee's cast are floaty.

What game were you playing? Last I checked it was highly offensive.

Lower landing lag, higher hitstun, ONE airdodge (non directional is fine, just one), and no auto sweet spotting the edge of the stage imo would do some work to prevent too much defensiveness.

Yeah seriously, what game were you playing? I don't really want to argue about this because it IS a matter of opinion I suppose, but Melee - floaty? Really? Brawl and "floaty"are usually always in the same sentence.

 

[KingofPhantoms]

I have faith in Sakurai that he'll balance it out as he says he will.

 

[Ogre_Deity_Link]

I wouldn't mind more offensive options. Just don't make defensive ones worthless. The key here is balance.

 

[smashbrolink]

It's already going inbetween Brawl in Melee in terms of speed, and tripping is gone.
If the videos are any indication of their work so far, then offense and defense are pretty well balanced so far as well.
It's going to be a great competitive game at this rate even without AT's, but I do agree; it wouldn't hurt to get a more extensive look at how the balance between offense and defense is going to be handled in the final product.