Do me a favor go and try and open decent players up without using headbutt then come back and tell me how it went.
What you're missing is that almost every other character in the game outside the top 5, have been having to open decent players up with out HB. My point is not that WL isn't weaker than he was, or that the HB nerf was what he 'needed' or warranted or whatever. My point is that 7-8 other characters have been opening people up without HB - which made them lower tier obviously - since the beginning, and even without it, WL has superior tools in many situations.
Also, I havent had a chance to test but..
- Stamina cost increased to 15 (from 12).
- Dodge window increased by 200ms.
- Miss Recovery reduced to 700ms (from 800ms).
- Miss Recovery branching into Attack delayed by 200ms.
Thats what they listed.. am I missing something here because it looks like it still starts up the same speed, which is very fast and IS going to catch people. You just cant spam the thing 6x in a row. I see Dodge Window increased, but that doesnt sound like they are talking about it starting up any slower. Dodge window sounds like there is some interaction between the move and your ability to dodge it, and, well, you now have more time. And, wouldnt Miss Recovery be a buff? Sounds like you recover faster if you whiff it, but you cant attack for a little longer after.
Like I said, I havent been able to test this, but just from reading the changes I dont see how the entire character is now shit tier worthless because you have 200ms longer to dodge a move that appears to start up just as fastr as it used to, unless this dodge window thing is a terrible way of wording 'start up' and if he whiffs it entirely (something you absolutely SHOULD be heavily punished for) you have a net loss of 100ms before you can attack (100ms faster recover kinda eats up 100ms of the new attack delay when you think of it). I mean, am I missing something here or misunderstanding the patch notes? How the hell does this kill a character with as much shit as WL has.. I mean jesus, if you parry a heavy you can steal an entire stamina bar and land a side heavy of your own AND daze them.. If you parry a light you get essentially the same thing minus the entire stam bar unless they are low.
Yes, I get it, he cant open people up now, but the strength of defense is a game-wide issue. WL still has significantly more shit than most characters AND HB seems like it still has a place, you just cant do nothing but HB and win.
If Nobu can land that damn kick on players and Warden can land his shoulder (without a cancel or anything), two moves with almost glacial frame data, HB should still have a place.