Geras's design gameplay wise is kind of bad tbh. He s a character that can only be shit, or break the game. My issue with him is he literally doesn't play MK11 and he forces you to play an entirely different game that none of the other top tiers make you play.
I was half joking, just saw an opportunity for an amusing/cheeky comment. I don't think he doesn't play MK11 so much as he's just too good at everything, which is maybe semantics; but Geras operates within the realm of MK11's gameplay just fine, IMO. It's just done to the nth degree. It's the same deal with Sonya. Character balance needs to be give and take, you should have clearly defined strengths and weaknesses or if you're a jack of all trades you should be master of none, not master of most. This may get long so bear with me.
I'm a Geras main (New Era, but dabble in both), and while I'd like to think I can be totally objective—keep in mind that as such my goal with any changes to the character are in the vein of "I'd like him to be
good but reasonable." I'm sure non-Geras players are fine if he's totally gutted and I don't blame them as I wouldn't exactly shed a tear if Sonya was deleted.
My changes somewhat lineup with yours. NRS needs to decide whether they want to tone the core of his game (that is; nerf him everywhere) and have him be equivalent to the Ryu of MK as far as character direction, or push him into a niche area with pros and cons.
-KBs are the most obvious thing we can all agree on. The damage on these need to be cut in half, at least, and I'm fine with the 111 KB being removed from the game entirely or nerfed so hard the damage of the KB is inconsequential. High/Low 50/50 should not net you massive damage ever. That's just bad design. Ideally other characters are given reliable KBs so the disparity is less noticeable.
-D1 needs to be 7 frames. This is one element of the game that should be unified across the board. As an aside, a universal change should be that D1s are more negative on block and more plus on hit so whose turn it is becomes more cut and dry rather than this constant scramble to steal yours back.
-V2 Sand Trap. There are a dozen ways to address this one and I've seen people suggest they swap it with the New Era variation. I see that as playing hot potato with the problem rather than fixing it. I think it should possibly have the KB requirement switched but otherwise lose whatever the projectile invincibility is which seems to kick in almost immediately. The move is a bit overloaded for sure. They could even eliminate the up variation of it so he doesn't legit have FULL SCREEN sand trap pressure and it's more of a close/mid range thing.
Does he need much more than that? I'm not against 111 being unsafe on block. I like general damage nerfs to Geras, both in combo scaling after amp bf2 and his KBs as a primary focus of balance.
My big thing is: I see so many people suggesting he lose his KBs, lose his oki, d1 changed, f212 become total shit (let's be honest, any proposed changes to this move in effect accomplishes that), better combo scaling, etc etc. Geras should be fine to have oki so long as, as mentioned above, the rest of his kit is kept in check with this consideration in mind. "No one else has it" doesn't mean much to me; no one else has Cetrion's zoning either, but that's the character. That's her shtick. I think Geras is interesting as an oki char if we appropriately address the rest of what he does in conjunction.
Less safe on mix, normalized d1, no more "f*ck zoning" sand trap and significantly less overbearing KBs seems like a good direction while maintaining the character's core. F212 is only a problem because being -3 coupled with a 6 frame d1 means even a frame or two worth of hesitation on the part of the defender (looking for a sand trap ender) results in Geras taking his turn back with d1 and rinse-and-repeating. I think fixing his D1 indirectly fixes some of the issue with F212. I may be in the minority but I'm against this big push for general strings to have flawless block gaps in them. Strings don't change from one use to the next and many in this game force you to commit to their inputs well in advance, so I don't see why we're gunning for people to be able to invalidate something like F212 by labbing a flawless block for 10 minutes. I'd understand it for something like Liu Kang, but his F43 is a different scenario.
Regardless of the direction they go I intend to continue playing him post whatever nerfs and actually find myself looking forward to them so I can pick the character without people one-and-doneing or hearing the mic come on as soon as I hover him in char select.
I like the thought process behind your changes even if I don't agree with all of them. I may be going light on Geras here but I actually want
all adjustments made in this first balance patch to be on the lighter side and making more as necessary rather than the typical NRS approach of cutting off legs.
Thoughts?
