QuantumEntanglement
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2016
- Messages
- 12
I think I can say with relative confidence that Banjo and Kazooie have received a mixed reaction since release. While there are certainly players who use them in competitive play, Tearbear and Utopian Ray perhaps most consistently in the West, Banjo definitely didn't receive the player representation that Joker and Terry have since release.
While that could be attributed to a limited fanbase or difficulty curve, it is my opinion that Banjo is the most underwhelming of the DLC characters so far. So, as a thought experiment, let's collectively explore how they could be buffed in an upcoming patch were it to happen, the goal being to make BK more of a gatekeeper for top tier than being top tier themselves.
Potential buff ideas (per move):
Grab - This would be crucial for Banjo mains. Banjo's grab range is pitiful, doesn't even extend to the end of his hands. Give him a above-average grab range. Just sayin', G&W has a longer grab.
Up-Throw - This could really benefit from having an actual true combo at low percent. Up-Air and Nair are not even that good as followups when they are actually true, let alone when they aren't.
Egg Firing (Neutral B) - Remove the damage reduction per bounce on the ground. 6% is small enough as-is for something so central to his game plan, and staling makes it even more pitiful.
Breegull Blaster (Held Neutral B) - This move would be obnoxious without the damage reduction, so I'd recommend reducing the number of frames in the animations at either end. Pulling out Kazooie takes 28 frames, cancelling takes 11, so a significant reduction in either (especially the cancel) would be really good. That or a reduction in the speed of the turnaround animation.
Wonderwing (Side B) - How do we buff this move without making it broken? If they don't want to add feathers, which I get, then making it less unsafe would be best. A reduction in startup frames would be amazing, say, 3 frames (15 instead of 18), that way it would be harder to react to but still allow players to stuff out Wonderwing with proper prediction. Leave the end lag alone, some characters will need an option left to punish it.
Grenade Egg (Down B) - This move is already pretty fantastic and central to Banjo's gameplan. The main thing I can think of would be to allow 2 onscreen simultaneously like Snake's, but that might make him busted.
Neutral-Air - Needs a landing lag reduction HARD. I can get around the weird way it pops the opponent to the opposite side of Banjo, but 16 frames of landing lag on a Nair is atrocious. Also really needs a damage buff, you can only get 10% if completely unstale and get all the hits, so your net reward for dragdowns is like 6% if you're lucky.
Up-Air - This move is great in terms of range and speed, and utterly awful in terms of damage and comboability. Give it one or the other. At 10-12% damage it'd be pretty decent, but if you kept the damage at 8% and made more followups possible that'd be arguably better.
Forward-Air - Already good, but can be fixed with 3 words: Late Spike Hitbox. Banjo could really use a spike aerial, and this one makes the most sense.
Down Tilt - Extend the hitbox a little lower. It's a fantastic 2 frame option, but a bigger hitbox would make it consistent on the entire cast. Could also shave a couple frames off the startup.
Up Tilt - NEEDS a hitbox adjustment. Should be the same as Snake's, so extend it a little further forwards and allow it to hit crouching shorties.
Most of the other moves I feel are in a pretty good place, those are just some quick ideas I had.
Do you agree? Does Banjo need buffs? Would these buffs in particular be too much or too little? If you have any additions or criticisms, post away!
While that could be attributed to a limited fanbase or difficulty curve, it is my opinion that Banjo is the most underwhelming of the DLC characters so far. So, as a thought experiment, let's collectively explore how they could be buffed in an upcoming patch were it to happen, the goal being to make BK more of a gatekeeper for top tier than being top tier themselves.
Potential buff ideas (per move):
Grab - This would be crucial for Banjo mains. Banjo's grab range is pitiful, doesn't even extend to the end of his hands. Give him a above-average grab range. Just sayin', G&W has a longer grab.
Up-Throw - This could really benefit from having an actual true combo at low percent. Up-Air and Nair are not even that good as followups when they are actually true, let alone when they aren't.
Egg Firing (Neutral B) - Remove the damage reduction per bounce on the ground. 6% is small enough as-is for something so central to his game plan, and staling makes it even more pitiful.
Breegull Blaster (Held Neutral B) - This move would be obnoxious without the damage reduction, so I'd recommend reducing the number of frames in the animations at either end. Pulling out Kazooie takes 28 frames, cancelling takes 11, so a significant reduction in either (especially the cancel) would be really good. That or a reduction in the speed of the turnaround animation.
Wonderwing (Side B) - How do we buff this move without making it broken? If they don't want to add feathers, which I get, then making it less unsafe would be best. A reduction in startup frames would be amazing, say, 3 frames (15 instead of 18), that way it would be harder to react to but still allow players to stuff out Wonderwing with proper prediction. Leave the end lag alone, some characters will need an option left to punish it.
Grenade Egg (Down B) - This move is already pretty fantastic and central to Banjo's gameplan. The main thing I can think of would be to allow 2 onscreen simultaneously like Snake's, but that might make him busted.
Neutral-Air - Needs a landing lag reduction HARD. I can get around the weird way it pops the opponent to the opposite side of Banjo, but 16 frames of landing lag on a Nair is atrocious. Also really needs a damage buff, you can only get 10% if completely unstale and get all the hits, so your net reward for dragdowns is like 6% if you're lucky.
Up-Air - This move is great in terms of range and speed, and utterly awful in terms of damage and comboability. Give it one or the other. At 10-12% damage it'd be pretty decent, but if you kept the damage at 8% and made more followups possible that'd be arguably better.
Forward-Air - Already good, but can be fixed with 3 words: Late Spike Hitbox. Banjo could really use a spike aerial, and this one makes the most sense.
Down Tilt - Extend the hitbox a little lower. It's a fantastic 2 frame option, but a bigger hitbox would make it consistent on the entire cast. Could also shave a couple frames off the startup.
Up Tilt - NEEDS a hitbox adjustment. Should be the same as Snake's, so extend it a little further forwards and allow it to hit crouching shorties.
Most of the other moves I feel are in a pretty good place, those are just some quick ideas I had.
Do you agree? Does Banjo need buffs? Would these buffs in particular be too much or too little? If you have any additions or criticisms, post away!
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