To add to that, 2-player animations get interrupted if they contact the edge of the bubble, so Electric Fly gets stopped cold and Raiden suffers a hit react for it.
Also, major lol at the preset variation that pairs Jo Push with Lightning Rod. Since the latter occupies your staff for its duration you cannot use Jo Push, you don't even get Lighting Bolt back as an exchange; simply nothing. Lol why can these even be paired?
I so want this move to be good but until Lightning Strike gets buffed I don't think it will be. It's far too much setup for its payoff and meterless just doesn't do enough with how slow his projectile startups are.
It is cool that at medium-close range of the rod, Lightning Bolt will travel through them for a hit before arcing back off the rod and hitting them again if you choose to hold the button while they're in front of it. Creative ability, but it's likely this was designed around Lightning Strike being faster, which it clearly was at the reveal exhibition.
Likewise I've been trying to get some uses out of Rolling Thunder, but either they can easily avoid it manually or Raiden is constantly pushing them away from it or past it if you land an attack. I suppose it could be said that its presence can create mistakes in the opponent but I'm just not seeing its value yet. They can just as easily land a hit on you and push past it too, so I feel like equipping it isn't worth what you give up right now.