Rivals of Aether - Official Thread

[AbbiDood]

I know that jump cancelable attacks like Zetter's shine pretty much ignore it (which I'd assume isn't intentional), but still. It's not like I'm only gonna be using that attack all the time. And is Wrastors Down B actually considered a grab, or at least considered "not parry-able"? That'd be pretty interesting.

 

[akf09]

I feel that Roa needs a grapple character instead of the whole cast having grabs. then it can be his "thing" to have grabs. som1 mentioned a monkey and i was picturing a monkey with a long staff that while he has the staff in his hands he has long disjointed attacks and he can plant the staff in the ground and using it to his advantage. for example he could jump off of the staff and it would spring him left or right and while he had the staff planted in the ground he could combo people into it and it would bounce them back at him. also not holding the staff would allow him to use command grabs as special moves.

 

[akf09]

sorry for double post

 

[akf09]

idea for air character, bird character alike wrastor only larger. does not have smash attacks at all, instead when u push the C stick in a direction it a huge gust of wind pushes all characters except yourself in that direction. alows for extreme spacing control and combo follow ups. haha

 

[DrMister]

So wait, ideas are still being posted here? I thought that we would stop posting them here. Im ready to paste Nhab in the new idea thread.

 

[steak4prez]

Whew! Just finished reading pages 1-36, researching and compiling data! That took a while.

So, hi! I had heard of Rivals of Aether ever since the first thread about RoA was shared on r/smashbros, and I have been following RoA almost obsessively ever since it was announced as part of the ID@XBOX lineup. I've lurked for forever, and a couple days ago I finally submitted a playtester application. Unfortunately for me (as somebody who's really wanted to be involved with the game's beginnings, development, and community), I'm the type of person who can't be arsed to make a new account on a forum unless I feel that I absolutely have to... so I'm a little late to the party. Now, without a copy of the game, there's not much I can say about it besides "H*CK YEA, LOOKS HYPE, WHEN IT COMES OUT THIS GONNA BUY 20 COPIES AND FORCE ALL MY FRIENDS TO PLAY WITH WITH ME, AS A GAME DESIGNER THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF GAME I GET PASSIONATE ABOUT, I AM LITERALLY GOING TO BUY AN XBOX ONE FOR THIS GAME FSDFSDFLAJF"

However! I do want to do whatever I feel that I can to help this community grow, help spread the word, help Rivals of Aether become more accessible and garner an audience before the big day. I have told some friends about the game and they've responded with "Oh, how can I find out more about the game?" and I tell them about this thread and they tend to respond with "Ah... effort..." I check r/rivalsofaether every couple of days and there is not much discussion, or activity, I mostly just see new people wander in and ask the same questions about the game that continue to be asked, and realize that Smashboards is the only community for RoA. So this morning I set off on a personal project!

After six hours of work, I have made a pretty comprehensive FAQ thread on r/rivalsofaether!

At first, it only had about 5 questions and answers, because I was looking at the questions being asked on the subreddit over the past couple of months. Then I waded through this whole thread, gathering up information that RoA followers, both new and long-time, might want to know! That added about 10 more important questions. Then I looked up YouTube videos for more information... added a couple to the FAQ... scoured RoA's website for every drop of information... read online interviews with Dan about the game... and in the end, I created something I wanted to have. A simple, go-to source of just about everything I could want to know about RoA to understand what it is. And then some.

Check out the thread on r/rivalsofaether (can't hyperlink, too few posts :-( but it is currently on top of the subreddit)
All feedback is appreciated! You guys are the experts. Is there too little? Too much? If you had no clue what RoA was, and you had just finished reading this, was there anything you might have still felt unsure about? Let me know!

also a sticky would be grand if it is deemed good enough

 

[DrMister]

I feel that Roa needs a grapple character instead of the whole cast having grabs. then it can be his "thing" to have grabs. som1 mentioned a monkey and i was picturing a monkey with a long staff that while he has the staff in his hands he has long disjointed attacks and he can plant the staff in the ground and using it to his advantage. for example he could jump off of the staff and it would spring him left or right and while he had the staff planted in the ground he could combo people into it and it would bounce them back at him. also not holding the staff would allow him to use command grabs as special moves.

It'd be cool if his recovery was that he smashed his staff on a wall and just jump up. What I mean is he jams his staff on the wall like a pole and then just spin and jump. The longer you spin, the higher you go.

 

[Yurya]

Whew! Just finished reading pages 1-36, researching and compiling data! That took a while.

So, hi! I had heard of Rivals of Aether ever since the first thread about RoA was shared on r/smashbros, and I have been following RoA almost obsessively ever since it was announced as part of the ID@XBOX lineup. I've lurked for forever, and a couple days ago I finally submitted a playtester application. Unfortunately for me (as somebody who's really wanted to be involved with the game's beginnings, development, and community), I'm the type of person who can't be arsed to make a new account on a forum unless I feel that I absolutely have to... so I'm a little late to the party. Now, without a copy of the game, there's not much I can say about it besides "H*CK YEA, LOOKS HYPE, WHEN IT COMES OUT THIS GONNA BUY 20 COPIES AND FORCE ALL MY FRIENDS TO PLAY WITH WITH ME, AS A GAME DESIGNER THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF GAME I GET PASSIONATE ABOUT, I AM LITERALLY GOING TO BUY AN XBOX ONE FOR THIS GAME FSDFSDFLAJF"

However! I do want to do whatever I feel that I can to help this community grow, help spread the word, help Rivals of Aether become more accessible and garner an audience before the big day. I have told some friends about the game and they've responded with "Oh, how can I find out more about the game?" and I tell them about this thread and they tend to respond with "Ah... effort..." I check r/rivalsofaether every couple of days and there is not much discussion, or activity, I mostly just see new people wander in and ask the same questions about the game that continue to be asked, and realize that Smashboards is the only community for RoA. So this morning I set off on a personal project!

After six hours of work, I have made a pretty comprehensive FAQ thread on r/rivalsofaether!

At first, it only had about 5 questions and answers, because I was looking at the questions being asked on the subreddit over the past couple of months. Then I waded through this whole thread, gathering up information that RoA followers, both new and long-time, might want to know! That added about 10 more important questions. Then I looked up YouTube videos for more information... added a couple to the FAQ... scoured RoA's website for every drop of information... read online interviews with Dan about the game... and in the end, I created something I wanted to have. A simple, go-to source of just about everything I could want to know about RoA to understand what it is. And then some.

Check out the thread on r/rivalsofaether (can't hyperlink, too few posts :-( but it is currently on top of the subreddit)
All feedback is appreciated! You guys are the experts. Is there too little? Too much? If you had no clue what RoA was, and you had just finished reading this, was there anything you might have still felt unsure about? Let me know!

also a sticky would be grand if it is deemed good enough

Well /u/solarDerivative I must give you a thumbs up. It definitely shows drive to both read through all of the pages and then also create a guide from them. I just had to give recognition of that. Well done, I saw the guide earlier today and it should definitely help the community and should probably be stickied over there.

If you want a good reference for a playtester application that compilation might just be the ticket.

It'd be cool if his recovery was that he smashed his staff on a wall and just jump up. What I mean is he jams his staff on the wall like a pole and then just spin and jump. The longer you spin, the higher you go.

Thus far I really haven't liked many of the character ideas too much, but a character (or monkey) with a staff/spear that can be thrown into a platform/wall has some really nice potential.
If I may add to the idea: an Electric/Lightning character could draw lightning bolts which are functional as platforms if thrown and also create traps that harm the opponent. They could lodge in walls and the ground and even float midair. But while held (maybe he always has one ready) it functions a staff-like weapon.

 

[ShinyisSilent]

Whew! Just finished reading pages 1-36, researching and compiling data! That took a while.

So, hi! I had heard of Rivals of Aether ever since the first thread about RoA was shared on r/smashbros, and I have been following RoA almost obsessively ever since it was announced as part of the ID@XBOX lineup. I've lurked for forever, and a couple days ago I finally submitted a playtester application. Unfortunately for me (as somebody who's really wanted to be involved with the game's beginnings, development, and community), I'm the type of person who can't be arsed to make a new account on a forum unless I feel that I absolutely have to... so I'm a little late to the party. Now, without a copy of the game, there's not much I can say about it besides "H*CK YEA, LOOKS HYPE, WHEN IT COMES OUT THIS GONNA BUY 20 COPIES AND FORCE ALL MY FRIENDS TO PLAY WITH WITH ME, AS A GAME DESIGNER THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF GAME I GET PASSIONATE ABOUT, I AM LITERALLY GOING TO BUY AN XBOX ONE FOR THIS GAME FSDFSDFLAJF"

However! I do want to do whatever I feel that I can to help this community grow, help spread the word, help Rivals of Aether become more accessible and garner an audience before the big day. I have told some friends about the game and they've responded with "Oh, how can I find out more about the game?" and I tell them about this thread and they tend to respond with "Ah... effort..." I check r/rivalsofaether every couple of days and there is not much discussion, or activity, I mostly just see new people wander in and ask the same questions about the game that continue to be asked, and realize that Smashboards is the only community for RoA. So this morning I set off on a personal project!

After six hours of work, I have made a pretty comprehensive FAQ thread on r/rivalsofaether!

At first, it only had about 5 questions and answers, because I was looking at the questions being asked on the subreddit over the past couple of months. Then I waded through this whole thread, gathering up information that RoA followers, both new and long-time, might want to know! That added about 10 more important questions. Then I looked up YouTube videos for more information... added a couple to the FAQ... scoured RoA's website for every drop of information... read online interviews with Dan about the game... and in the end, I created something I wanted to have. A simple, go-to source of just about everything I could want to know about RoA to understand what it is. And then some.

Check out the thread on r/rivalsofaether (can't hyperlink, too few posts :-( but it is currently on top of the subreddit)
All feedback is appreciated! You guys are the experts. Is there too little? Too much? If you had no clue what RoA was, and you had just finished reading this, was there anything you might have still felt unsure about? Let me know!

also a sticky would be grand if it is deemed good enough

Thanks for making this

 

[ThePlacidPlatypus]

It'd be cool if his recovery was that he smashed his staff on a wall and just jump up. What I mean is he jams his staff on the wall like a pole and then just spin and jump. The longer you spin, the higher you go.

Would suck if you're not close to a wall.

 

[DrMister]

Would suck if you're not close to a wall.

Exactly. I was just doing it for fun, haha xP

 

[Burnsy]

I'm still very happy with the decision to leave out grabs, and believe jabs and parry baiting to be very well balanced responses to the parry mechanic as it is now.

 

[someonetookjacob]

Hello, I have posted a couple times here but really only in response to things, I have been a playtester for a bit over a month now but havent found any bugs so I havent felt to much of a need to post anything. I recently took the Jan 28th(ish?) build to a fighting game community event though and thought I would share some of the feed back people who played with me had, and some of my own ideas that I think could be (easily?) implemented and might help the game.

The responses from everyone were over all very positive. They ranged from mild interest and a few questions after watching a couple matches to one very interested guy who probably played for like 2 hours. But everyone who played had alot of fun, and wanted more of it.

Some loose demographic stuff (sample size was low, but I think its a little interesting anyway):
-Most Melee players who were interested didnt so much want to play, as much as they just wanted to ask a few questions and said they would look it up later. This could have been partially because there was a melee tournament going on, and no other game had a tournament.
-PM players seemed more open to the game, and many tried it out. Everyone who tried it was really impressed with how good it felt and I think in general grasped the differences very quickly. (the trickiest change being the lack of ledges) They really appreciated the character design and the unique game play elements.
-A few people who were not smasher were interested as well (I think more would have been if they had seen it, I was more over by smash stuff, and the venue we have is kind of... segregated... they put smash in the back >_> <_< >_>....). One guy was really bothered by how similar some moves looked to smash moves. His arguement was that it would make the game look like a rip off to people who didnt play the game, which would leave a bad taste in their mouth before they could even think about purchasing it. I think its a fair argument, and maybe if its not too late the people working on the game could have future characters share less animations, or at least emphasize unique animations in trailers? (Smash people did not seem to mind at all though)

Another thing I noted was that alot of people thought it was just a flash game, even if they had seen it before on r/smashbros or somewhere else. Which I think is something that should be avoided. I dont exactly know how, but I was quick to correct them, and explain it is a indie game with a retro style. Maybe if media posts were more upfront about the platforms its coming too that would help?

Lastly just some things I have opinions about from my play time.

-Projectile collisions seem kind of weird to me. almost too easy? I have especially noticed this with Kragg's rock. Maybe if hurt boxes were brought in a little tighter to the character's sprites that would help? I just know its crazy easy to hit anyone offstage with projectiles, especially zetterburn.
-Some more visual indication that the boxes are a platform on the fire capital stage would help I think. I know you figure out they are platforms pretty quickly but for some reason they look more like a background object to me. Maybe thats just me though?
-More well defined platforms in general might be nice. After playing for a while i know where they are, and they all have visual indicators, but stronger ones might be nice.
-If there was some one player mode that could teach people about wall jumping and other important mechanics in the game I think it would really help new players (not smash players) get into the game. I know when I was first playing melee it was really nice to have target practice to teach me about the platforming aspects to the game. I am not saying it should be a target practice, but maybe a race or tag mode? A "catch" or tennis-like mode could be done to help teach parring too. These are of course not necessary, and I am not sure how feasibly or fun they would be. But I do think they would help get people into the game, and help them appreciate its depth more quickly.
-Alternate control schemes for people from non-smash fighting game backgrounds would be cool when the full game is released. A smash button has been mentioned before in this forum, and some of the people from other fighting games I played with asked about it too. Also if you had that and a walk button fightstick support would be easy which might help pull in more people from the FGC.

 

[4nace]

Hey Guys,

I am preparing a March Playtester Build that will feature Forsburn and the Merchant Port. This build will only be sent out to 40 players both old and new playtesters alike. That means even if you have been a playtester in the past, you may not get accepted. If you are a past playtester and feel like you have a ton to contribute to the next build, then shoot another email to roa.game@gmail.com at your soonest convenience entitled "Past Playtester Application - Your Tag". I will try to make sure those involved at the forum are given priority but I also have a large amount of new applications to read through.

This build I will be prioritizing tournament players and people who can bring the game to tournaments with them to get feedback. I plan on doing a pretty large balance pass at the end of March so will be collecting a lot of feedback.

I hope to have the build emailed out soon. I will spend a chunk of the weekend reading new applications and hand picking some players.

Thanks,
Dan Fornace

EDIT: Thanks a ton for the recent feedback too guys. I will definitely look into making some fixes later this month.

 

[DrMister]

Hey Guys,

I am preparing a March Playtester Build that will feature Forsburn and the Merchant Port. This build will only be sent out to 40 players both old and new playtesters alike. That means even if you have been a playtester in the past, you may not get accepted. If you are a past playtester and feel like you have a ton to contribute to the next build, then shoot another email to roa.game@gmail.com at your soonest convenience entitled "Past Playtester Application - Your Tag". I will try to make sure those involved at the forum are given priority but I also have a large amount of new applications to read through.

This build I will be prioritizing tournament players and people who can bring the game to tournaments with them to get feedback. I plan on doing a pretty large balance pass at the end of March so will be collecting a lot of feedback.

I hope to have the build emailed out soon. I will spend a chunk of the weekend reading new applications and hand picking some players.

Thanks,
Dan Fornace

EDIT: Thanks a ton for the recent feedback too guys. I will definitely look into making some fixes later this month.

Haha, awesome! I'll re-apply. Obviously won't be picked tho, I was absent for too long. I feel itrelevant. xD

 

[Streetwize]

I've been meaning to find places to host the game, but the only one will potentially hold it is a bit of a drive and I don't have my own transportation. Sent an contact form to that place though.

 

[Puppyfaic]

I'll pass on the latest build, I guess. If you're looking for tournament-goers, I'm not an optimal candidate.

 

[dquarius]

well the January was awesome didnt find any exploits from what i played ive played showed it to a couple of my friends an they got hyped for it now

 

[Burnsy]

Between me and AZProjectmelee (Zman), he's gonna be able to expose the game to more tournament goers and get more varied feedback (as you guys discussed on the Rivals subreddit recently).

 

[RoA_Zam]

I am literally so ready.

 

[likiji123]

Hey Guys,

I am preparing a March Playtester Build that will feature Forsburn and the Merchant Port. This build will only be sent out to 40 players both old and new playtesters alike. That means even if you have been a playtester in the past, you may not get accepted. If you are a past playtester and feel like you have a ton to contribute to the next build, then shoot another email to roa.game@gmail.com at your soonest convenience entitled "Past Playtester Application - Your Tag". I will try to make sure those involved at the forum are given priority but I also have a large amount of new applications to read through.

This build I will be prioritizing tournament players and people who can bring the game to tournaments with them to get feedback. I plan on doing a pretty large balance pass at the end of March so will be collecting a lot of feedback.

I hope to have the build emailed out soon. I will spend a chunk of the weekend reading new applications and hand picking some players.

Thanks,
Dan Fornace

EDIT: Thanks a ton for the recent feedback too guys. I will definitely look into making some fixes later this month.

......
Does this mean we have to do another 200 word email as i have nothing else to say

there are some other things i would say but im not going to as im not sure if this is the place to say them

 

[4nace]

Rivals of Aether March 2015 Playtester Build​

Information:
This build is going out to 40 players who have been hand selected from the applicants. The accepted players are a combination of fresh blood, existing playtesters and streamers/tournament players who can bring the game to events. During March I will be collecting feedback regarding balance, stages and character interactions. We have already begun development on the next character but I want to make sure the balance is staying intact.

Updates from February:

General:

• Character Select Images have been upgraded on all menu screens.
• An Info button has been added to Character Select giving 3 pages of text description about each character.
• The Back Button on character select will set options to "Default". I prioritize Veteran controls in playtester builds because they are closer to smash.
• The Merchant Port Stage has been added to the game. The Basic version has moving platforms just like the Aether version. I will make a decision on the platforms on the Basic after getting feedback.
• I am now using the YYC to export builds. If you had slowdown in the past, please try the game again and let me know if it is still running slow.

Zetterburn:

• Zetterburn's jab 1 and jab 2 hitboxes have been extended.
• Zetterburn's Fireball projectile will now break Kragg's pillar.

Orcane:

• Orcane's Water Gun projectile will now break Kragg's pillar.

Wrastor:

• Wrastor's Up and Forward Strong Attacks will now complete before auto cancelling on the ground.
• Wrastor's Dash Attack Recovery on the ground has been increased from 9 Frames to 18 Frames.
• Wrastor's Dash Attack Recovery in the air has been reduced from 9 Frames to 3 Frames.
• Wrastor's Side Special Hitstun has been reduced from .25x standard to .1x standard.

Kragg:

• All players will now go into fall state if standing on a Pillar that collapses.
• Kragg's Neutral Special start up has been increased from 17 frames to 21 frames.
• Kragg can no longer pull a rock from his Pillar. He needs to be on real ground.

Forsburn:

• Forsburn the Exiled Flame has been added to the game.

Thanks for your time and I hope to see new the discussions incoming soon!

 

[Puppyfaic]

First impressions:
omg yas Wrastor nerfs
omg yas Orcane can do something about Kragg's pillar
omg yas Kragg can't pillar camp anymore
This build runs slower for me than the previous one. Not only that, but Forsburn in particular causes massive slowdown with his neutral B.

 

[Aizen]

Hey everyone! so ive been following and watching the thread everyday for a few weeks now, but decided not to make an actual smashboards account until I found out if i could be a play tester, which, thank you so much for the opportunity to be as such @ 4nace . I've been trying out RoA for about an hour now, and I am loving it, but I am getting some slow down, like @ Puppyfaic , Forsburn does cause some slowdown when he has smoke on the screen, also the air armada stage and merchant port especially cause slow down and lag for me, might be my computer I am not sure as of yet but that i would report it anyways. Will be trying a few different setting to see if anything helps. fixed the stage lag on my end. Just Forrsburn causes slow down.

Also, while in a free for all or team battle, if Orcane has a puddle on the ground and he dies with more people still battling his puddle stays, like it isn't affecting game play, but if there was a way to remove it after he died it would at least clean up unneeded particles.

 

[likiji123]

Been playing and wanted to say a few things,
first this

Look at the bottom, the water dosent fully reach the bottom of the screen

Feedback

• The basic version of orcanes stage should just be 2 stationary Platforms on the wheel instead of the 4 moving (just my opinion though)
• Forsburn is so fun to play with, how ever i dont really like his smash attacks, while it dose have 2 parts (one that pulls the opponents and then a dagger attack) to it it did confuse me at first as you have to do the forward or up input twice
• Doing a Forsburn free for all (4 Forsburns in one match) is hilarious and really fun
• Forsburns sprites are beautiful, and so is the new stage which is really fun to play on

Questions

• Will there be a Giant stage (like hyrule castle form melee)

Other than that everything else seems perfectly fine

 

[zman804]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Xa4I6ZOY4&feature=youtu.be

A quick YT video explaining Forsburn's attacks. THIS GUY IS SO COOL. Let me know what you think of the video.

One thing I noticed that was off was the water stages stage select portrait looks zoomed out and pixely.

 

[DrMister]

Input:

-Forsburn is amazinly well-made!
-Wrastor nerf, perfect. I love Wrastor, but he was really good.
-The Water Merchant stage looks BEAUTIFUL.
-I believe the Basic version shouldn't have the wheel, or that the wheel only has 2 stationary platforms like how @ likiji123 suggested.
-I dont like the fact that Fors can Down-Special another enemy/ally Fors' cloud.

Amazing update!

 

[Voodoo Moon]

Looks awesome! Can't wait to try it out!

 

[steak4prez]

I cannot wait to try out the build after work today.

In the meantime, I have shared the patch notes with r/rivalsofaether and I will be updating that thread with any bugs found. I'll also be updating the thread with videos posted about the new patch.

EDIT: I had a bit of time to skim through zman's Forsburn video, and I do have a small bit of feedback on Forsburn's Down-B, because I think it could use a bit of refinement. If you press Down-B with no smoke to absorb, it just plays the animation normally. I think it would help player clarity, at least a little bit, if there was some visual indication to better communicate to the player, "You tried to do something, but failed." For example, in Smash 4, if Villager uses Pocket but there's nothing to catch, there's an obvious animation and sound effect that show "This ability should do something, but failed for a reason."

 

[DrMister]

I cannot wait to try out the build after work today.

In the meantime, I have shared the patch notes with r/rivalsofaether and I will be updating that thread with any bugs found. I'll also be updating the thread with videos posted about the new patch.

EDIT: I had a bit of time to skim through zman's Forsburn video, and I do have a small bit of feedback on Forsburn's Down-B, because I think it could use a bit of refinement. If you press Down-B with no smoke to absorb, it just plays the animation normally. I think it would help player clarity, at least a little bit, if there was some visual indication to better communicate to the player, "You tried to do something, but failed." For example, in Smash 4, if Villager uses Pocket but there's nothing to catch, there's an obvious animation and sound effect that show "This ability should do something, but failed for a reason."

A sound would better fit, because an animation could be punished in such a fast paced game, unless he gets invincibility frames during the animation.

 

[Xanthus]

[BUG] - Teams has a couple of issues.
After some additional testing, the following issues were ONLY present against 3 forsburns. If I introduced 1 of another character, I couldn't reproduce it.
I placed myself against 3 forsburns, and one game I won when I eliminated 2 of them, and the 2nd player who didn't get eliminated has his tile on the report screen the highest. And when they win, they all get 1st place, but one is placed higher than the others and it looks like it glitches vertically occasionally.

Quick first impressions:
Yes pillar nerfs!
Yes wrastor dash attack Nerf!
YES orcane walljump side B fixed!!!!! (I forgot to post about that one here, it was bugging me though )
Yes to forsburn dash attack comboing like Martha uthrow and to forsburn in general

 

[steak4prez]

A sound would better fit, because an animation could be punished in such a fast paced game, unless he gets invincibility frames during the animation.

Yeah, I agree with you.
Although, the default animation for that move is extremely fast (thus hard to punish), so maybe Forsburn could use a couple frames of being left vulnerable if he fails to use his Down-B correctly. I'll have to playtest him later today to have a justifiable opinion on that, though.

EDIT: Another opinion I have on his Down-B is that the visual interaction between Forsburn and the smoke is kind of lacking. When he uses his Neutral-B there's a noticeable effect of the smoke being emitted from his fire-hair. When he absorbs the smoke all I really see is the smoke disappearing. If there could be a refined animation for Forsburn's Down-B that better displays him absorbing the smoke in some way, I think that would be good. This is super nit-picky though.

@ 4nace : Does Forsburn's clone do as much damage as Forsburn himself?

 

[akf09]

wow fun update, just played for a bit and noticed a few things.

Kragg nerf: agreed kragg needed some changes however i do not agree with not being able to pull rocks from pillar. I understand that you did this in order to prevent infinite pillar camping but this in combination with making all projectiles break pillar weakens kragg quite a bit. I think you should be able to pull one rock from the pillar however if you do then the pillar has a 5 second fuse on it before it crumbles. this would stop the camping, be balanced and it would force kragg to act quickly from pillar. also it seems like you sped up kraggs side special? seems a bit zippier.

Forsburn: wow an excellent new design, he feels like an assassin. I only have a few suggestions that i think would improve him and they are minor tweaks. I think it would be really neat if his down special allowed him to float a bit when used in the air and maybe paused his momentum completely when unleashing 3 stacks of smoke. this would allow for more risk reward KOs which are always the most fun. if it halted your momentum you could go extra deep for a spike ( because i noticed that it does spike) i think while forsburn is in the smoke his special moves should not shine through the smoke, meaning i noticed if you up special while in smoke ou can see the begging of his teleport through the smoke. same goes with side special. I think these moves need to be altered so that when used behind smoke they have no start up animation. this would give fornsburn more stealth. And lastly i think it would be really awesome if pushing side b while you already have a smoke clone out would allow you to trade places with your smoke clone for extra trickyness haha.

 

[Streetwize]

Long post warning (it's manageable though). @ 4nace .

-Forsburn's Knife hit on his F-smash has too much stun when fully charged even at 0%. This is noticeable if you knock the Rival off stage. If he doesn't hit the ground or a platform, he's dead. You might wanna weaken the bulid-up on the knife so charging it doesn't become too powerful. Maybe make it closer to his upward knife smash?
-His stance doesn't stay animated between crouching and standing like Zetterburn and Wrastor. Just minor
-Protip guys: Forsburn's Jab 2 is not as disjointed since his other arm is extended out as well. Players fighting him might want to figure out how to trade that hit with attacks like Wrastor's D-tilt. Just be careful since only his hand can be hit, not the area below his hand.
-Smoke should fade away after a given amount of time. It shouldn't be short, but not too long either. Maybe like 15-20 seconds. Possibly 10, but definitely not 30.

If you couldn't tell from that last point, I can't seem to utilize his smoke very well to trick people. I sure as hell enjoy using it to blow people up, however. I'm an aggressive player, so maybe someone else can test how fair moving around in smoke is.

Wrastor
-Killing below 75% with a u-tilt. He's an aerial character yet all of his ground moves are good. I use it against Zetterburn and Orcane and I'm getting easy kills from it. Lower the damage to 8% and either add a sourspot or make it slightly weaker than his sweetspot smashes.
-On the subject of sourspot: It wouldn't hurt to add an extra sprite to his up-tilt to allow early/late hit properties. Make the move a little more interesting.
-Dash attack is so satisfying to watch and use. Loving it.

Kragg
-The helplessness from being on the pillar makes him interesting now. Anyone left on it loses their balance so it's a free punish.
-Indirectly nerfing him seems to be the best idea to keep him as-is. I do not mind the idea of a slow character, but in Melee slower characters suffered. I'd rather not risk it.

Zetterburn
-You just keep buffing him. Well, ever since he got his Flame Blanket faster he's been real good. I won't provide any suggestions on how to adjust him. I'll stick with him either way.

Orcane
-Not my character. Will not comment
-I don't like how his Basic stage picks up characters though. It can interfere with combos. We talked about this earlier. All I'll say is that if you can't separate the function between the two versions then go for platforms instead of the mill.

 

[ShinyisSilent]

I really like the balance changes for Kragg and Wrastor.The basic stage for Merchant Port looks like it would be better having some stationary platforms.And Forsburn just looks amazing.

 

[Xanthus]

[BUG] - Teams has a couple of issues.
After some additional testing, the following issues were ONLY present against 3 forsburns. If I introduced 1 of another character, I couldn't reproduce it.
I placed myself against 3 forsburns, and one game I won when I eliminated 2 of them, and the 2nd player who didn't get eliminated has his tile on the report screen the highest. And when they win, they all get 1st place, but one is placed higher than the others and it looks like it glitches vertically occasionally.

Quick first impressions:
Yes pillar nerfs!
Yes wrastor dash attack Nerf!
YES orcane walljump side B fixed!!!!! (I forgot to post about that one here, it was bugging me though )
Yes to forsburn dash attack comboing like Martha uthrow and to forsburn in general

Also does this in 2v2, but with all Forsburn. Only had to kill one of the other team.

 

[Mum]

Forsburn is my new favorite character, and I've only been playing him for about an hour. I noticed that the AI ignore forsburn's clone, which gives the player a pretty significant advantage.

 

[akf09]

i think the AI should mimic your inputs

 

[Rayden Belmont]

Having just got into the alpha for this, I have a few impression after 1-2 hours of play vs. AI:
- The strongest Rival seems to be Wrastor, but not by a large margin. His tilt attacks are really powerful for an air fighter.
- The weakest seems to be Zetterburn, though that could be due to a lack of experience on my part.
- The most interesting is orcane.
- The Stages are varied, one thing I would like to see would be more layouts for certain stage astetics. (love the sky theme)

And I found a few bugs/glitches while I was playing, but only once or twice because I was pushing for them.
- Kragg up-special pillar sometimes doesn't do damage to enemy rivals if used near the bottom of the stage.
- Forsburn sometimes gets a full charge of smoke when inhaling 2 clouds (I think he should after 3).
- (unconfirmed) I feel like Zetterburn sometimes does not do his % over time with his specials against Wrastor and Orcane.

I'll edit this post as I play more, but so far its awesome.

 

[oksas]

this game looks amazing