So Doombawkz has Bane on total lockdown? Head to toe?
I wouldn't say that, he is a balanced character in a world of unbalanced juggernauts. I'd say I know a fair amount about him, enough to see the potential for growth while still keeping the character out of nerf range. Overbuffing him would pretty much be counter productive because while he is up with the rest of the cast for maybe a 2 or 3 week stretch, after that he gets "normalized".
He isn't made to do insanely high damage without venom, his meter-burn attacks are more to supplement his kit and give him options (not all of which are practical)... But the huge advantage on hit for most of his attacks and the quick cooldown on a lot of them for what they give? A +12 with only 9 frames of recovery is nothing to sneeze at, a 11 frame with +17 on hit isn't either. His air grab is made for the highest mix of damage and meter possible (Giving just short of the body splash in terms of damage and actually giving more meter at early venom levels) while linking into strings that overall do more damage in trade for a lack of advantage. Doing j.d.3 b.23 223 air grab, for example, will be about 2 or 3% shy of body splash but give more meter and wall carry in exchange for the lack of instant advantage. You trade off the now for the later, as it would be.
He is made to smother, to stay in. Obvious given his kit, but then you have to see how good he is at it compared to a lot of the cast. Just off of ground work alone, he can meat through practically anything off of a single d.1 and it forces you to back out. Nightwing can chain d.1s in the corner, yeah that's dangerous but you don't have to block low against it (his d.1 hits mid, after all) but against Bane you have all this advantage AND the risk of overheads and command grabs. You have 22 dash wake-up directional swaps coming from him in the corner, b.23 and 113 charge dash under/overs which are crazy to try and defend against... People downplay him but theres a reason the best strategy is to stay away. Despite his slow normal attacks, just the threat of being locked down against a guy like him where at any moment in his 10 second blockstring of lows he can delay command grab or instant overhead and go into oki is enough to force people out.
Then we get to the corner. At the start of the match, lets say you land a d.1 (which the match usually starts at its max poke range), if you manage to first hit it, b.23 b.23 12 MB double punch will carry most characters fully to the corner and comes out in about 1 frames worth of time. Then you have huge advantage on hit so you can get in and go meaty, or stay in their face and force them to respond while you have dollar store armor to eat through most answers. Add also, once you are in the corner your meter gain explodes as Bane, being able to link 3 b.1s onto any b.23 and still go into a 123 combo or linking 2 and going for a 223 combo is nice. The b.23 traps make people have to respond much much quicker to your advances and can set up some awkward (and sometimes unbeatable) scenarios, while the OHVCS tech keeps a constant threat of an unjumpable, untechable, untradeable, impossible to backdash super looming over you. Grab immune attacks are the only way to go, and most lack wake-up invulnerability. If you can't meager out the attack before the Bane super lands, you'll find yourself taking up to ~85% and being chucked into the corner with us getting advantage. This isn't even including his ability to do his best frame traps in the corner, going from a 10 second trap to far more lengthly traps all of which reset the moment the opponent decides to respect or not respect the double punch. The 10 frame normal throw which can be trapped off of his b.1, d.1 (on hit), b.23, f.1...
Bane reminds me a lot, and I mean more than anyone, of Murduk from TTT2. Explosive, momentum based gameplay that doesn't rely on grabs so much as is greatly complimented by the damage the grabs provide. The damage isn't necessarily the highest, nor the combos or normal being the best, but just the inability for some characters to get away from him while he can keep a constant full offensive is what makes him an effective character. People like Bane aren't for relying on their own tools, but ensuring the opponent cannot respond with as much towards you as you can while forcing yourself forward. Yeah, he has some flaws but I don't think theres a single character who can trap and pressure as well as he can. Bane isn't too scary when his b.1 is 17 frames, but when he sets up those traps and gets 1 (on hit) and 5 (on block) b.1s that may not link into each other but provide enough advantage to make each one a dangerous tool against an unwary opponent then he comes into his own.
Yeah yeah, theory fighting and "he lacks answers to this or that" but imo his tools are great and he is fun to play as. I wouldn't say I have him "on lockdown" as there is still so much to find with him, nor would I consider myself a reliable source, but its not hard to fathom the common words of everyone about Bane...:
"If you don't know the match-up, a Bane will be obnoxiously hard to fight. Once you do, it gets easier."
He needs a few small changes and he will be able to contend. He won't be as lopsided, but he will avoid the nerfbat while most other characters will be "normalized" to fall in line with one another. Armor per venom level, parry immunity, and a bit faster of a charge. Give him that, and he can go even with a LOT more people. As I said though, that's just me.
