Discussing changes about Robocop's weakest abilities

[ShepherdOfFire]

Right now in the current state of the game Robocop is one of the characters that benefits the least from customs variations, the consensus being that Low Auto-9, Flamethrower and Terminal Strip is the to-go loadout with the recent patch allowing this combination in tournament play. So here are my thoughts on Robocop's abilities (or base moves that can be replaced by abilities) that I consider to be either weak or simply lacking a slight change to be balanced and how to make them all more worth picking with some explanations.

Base moves :

Cobra Cannon :
- The opponent can no longer breakaway during cobra canon amplify

I think it is a great move, it is great to convert 121 or f23 into decent damage (16% to 20%, yes it is decent damage for Robocop) and to send the opponent back to fullscreen but breakaway allows the opponent to punish this tiny bit of damage we can have into an even more damaging combo, this is so weird. Right now the lack of match up knowledge is the only thing that allows me to use it, and just praying that the opponent doesn't know that piece of knowledge is not a reliable strategy at high level. As a test I voluntarily not gave that match up detail to my training partner and after a decent amount of matches, I gave it to him and it really makes this move very dangerous and barely usable upclose afterwards.

Straight Auto-9 :

• Straight Auto-9 no longer whiffs on crouch blocking opponents
• Straight Auto-9 jails on crouching opponents if the first hit has been blocked

Straight Auto-9 is not an awful projectile, but Robocop is a premier zoner (or at least his base moveset is designed to be a premier zoner), so his zoning tools must be stronger than the other characters. RIght now low auto-9 is a no brainer for any Robocop players (except some people like me that like to experiment many different set ups), customs for Robocop is basically low auto 9 + two other moves. Straight Auto 9 is not a reliable option in competitive play. if we want diversity in the Robocop loadout, which is the point of customs, then we need a reason not to pick low auto-9. And applying these changes is a huge step in the right direction. I mean the changes I wrote sound more like a bug fixes rather than actual buffs.

Abilities :

Flamethrower :
- The opponent can no longer breakaway during flamethrower and its amplified version

Flamethrower is not bad, it's even a great tool to have when mixed with Terminal Strip (and why would a premier zoner have this kind of setup is another debate). It is a great anti-air with its long active frames but is easily breakaway punishable (even with low and damaging starters) and makes the move barely usable as anti-air and w have to rely on lack of match up knowledge which is not a reliable strategy in mid to high level play.

Upgraded ;
- Upgraded now has the same hitting properties effect as amplified Cheval Trap

Upgraded is probably the second worst Robocop ability and applying this buff would make it much better. The default Shoulder canon amplify is already a great move, so what we can expect from this ability is to be at least as effective in a different way or simply stronger. Upgraded not only replaces default shoulder canon amplify but makes it worse. Applying this change would make Upgraded a true combo extender instead of a very very situationnal tool. Cheval Trap amplify has the property to directly hits the enemy instead of landing and deploying an area of effect, we should apply this property to Upgraded and allow many strings to be hit confirmed into Upgraded grenade, allowing for a full combo. For those who are worried about giving Robocop a combo extender, don't worry, the damage scaling will not make Robocop a high damage combo character, it will simply unlock a bit more damage for every touch, and the move can be changed to be unsafe on block like any other combo extender.

Active & Reactive Patrol :

• Reactive Patrol input is now db3
• The move no longer conflicts with Up Auto-9
• Active & Reactive Patrol is no longer cancellable with amplified button but with block button (or stance switch button)
• Active & Reactive Patrol can now be amplified to shoot three straight shots

Active & Reactive Patrol is one of the worst ability in the entire game, not only it replaces the okay-ish Straight auto-9 while being less effective but also conflicts with his best ability, low auto 9 but it also replaces the great Up Auto-9; This move cripples more the character than it helps him. On paper it looks great, the ability to zone and being mobile at the same time is not only a greater version of the base projectile, but also fits perfectly with Robocop's design. But anyone who played ONE round with that ability can only realise how bad it is. With these changes, it would make the move not only a better version of the regular Straight Auto-9, but Robocop would keep his Up Auto 9 with the currently unused db3 input for Reactive Patrol which would make the move bringing new things to Robocop's gameplan rather than removing them.

I think all his other abilities are viable.

Let's discuss

@M2Dave @RoboCop @UltraDavid and sorry for the others Robocop players I forgot to tag

 

[M2Dave]

Cobra Cannon :
- The opponent can no longer breakaway during cobra canon amplify.

I agree. When amplified, all three hits should connect on an aerial opponent too.

Low auto should receive an expanded downward hitbox to prevent low profiling by moves like Cetrion's ground pound, Rambo's snare trap, Sindel's EX low fireball, etc.

Robocop will need various hitbox adjustments as well as quality of life changes such as the ones mentioned above before NRS even begin buffing the character.

But speaking of buffs, grenades should have more utility. I think they should hit as a physical attack, which will help a ton against anti-zoning moves. I think this buff is fair because Robocop's most difficult match ups are against characters with reflects and projectile parries while the good match ups will remain unaffected.

Krushing blow f+2,1,2 should deal more damage. Probably in the range of 30-32% like some of the more damaging krushing blows in the game.

Perhaps f+3,2,2 should be special cancelable, which would increase the damage output a little bit.

I admit my expectations are low, though. I doubt we will see any significant changes whenever the next balance patch is released, but we shall see.

 

[Pan1cMode]

The Robocop changes I would like:
- low auto 9 has extended lower hitbox (to hit crouching opponents such as cetrion doing ground pound)

- grenades act as a melee attack (like Frost’s chest bomb or cetrion’s vines so they go through projectile parries) and don’t disappear on hit

- cobra cannon cannot be broken out of and the three hits connect more consistently


These are ones I like but I’m unsure if they’d make Robo too strong:

- enhanced flamethrower -9 on block with the same pushback

- Terminal Strip armour breaks

- Upgraded grenade connects similarly to cheval trap

- air charge given more priority so it doesn’t lose to everything and anything

 

[UltraDavid]

Imo cobra cannon is not great in general, so sure, I'd be happy to see a buff for it. It's a 30f high with a very obvious startup animation, so using it in block strings is rarely effective against knowledgeable players. Its pushback on amplify on block and hit is nice in matchups where RoboCop wants to be far away, but he doesn't have enough frame advantage on hit to safely do much, unlike after arm crowd control cannon which is super plus on hit, and being far away is not as effective without arm crowd control cannon anyway imo. So, sure, I'm down with it not allowing breakaways. But it'd need more than that for me to think it's a strong move. And to be clear, I don't really need to it to be stronger.

Flamethrower being unsafe on some breakaways doesn't really bother me either. Sure, I'd be happy to not worry about that. If I were to buff this move, it would be to make it a bit safer on block on amplify, like just enough that if you start it at point blank, the distance it pushes you out to on block would be safe against like slides/shadow kicks/etc. But honestly I'm not too worried about that either.

As for upgraded, the utility is that on hit it allows RoboCop to get a full combo from anywhere on screen including after trades;, it has more hitstun than Sub-Zero ice ball even. I think it'd be cool if its timer blew up faster but I already think it's fine.

Yeah again I'd be cool with active/reactive patrol buffs, but I think you're under-selling it quite a bit. In my mind it's already pretty good at creating & stealing turns. All I'd want to do for it is make it a bit less minus on cancels. Imo with active/reactive patrol, command grab, & cheval trap, he's quite a good pressure/setup character in many matchups. The fact that it takes out straight shot and antiair shot is just the game telling you that it makes RoboCop an offensive character, not a zoner.

Consider that you might have some overly concrete ideas on what RoboCop is supposed to do? You call him the premier zoner a couple times, and it's true that he can zone, and that's why many of us play him, me included. But nobody in MK11 is limited to a single archetype, including RoboCop. He can be a dedicated zoner, a command grab mixup character, a setup character, and lots of things in between. I don't think he's particularly top tier at doing any of it, and I think he could use some buffs. But I don't think anything he has needs significant changes, just some tweaks on the numbers here and there.

 

[ShepherdOfFire]

Flamethrower being unsafe on some breakaways doesn't really bother me either.

I know it might not be designed to be an anti air, but it's an effective but low rewarding one. And being punished for hitting the opponent in a fighting game is stupid, and it doesn't matter if it's a full combo or an anti-air that deals a little 12% for a bar. And since completely removing Breakaway does not seems to be an option for NRS, at least they should at least give us some ways to avoid these kind of stupid scenarii of breakaway punishes

Consider that you might have some overly concrete ideas on what RoboCop is supposed to do? You call him the premier zoner a couple times, and it's true that he can zone, and that's why many of us play him, me included. But nobody in MK11 is limited to a single archetype, including RoboCop. He can be a dedicated zoner, a command grab mixup character, a setup character, and lots of things in between. I don't think he's particularly top tier at doing any of it, and I think he could use some buffs. But I don't think anything he has needs significant changes, just some tweaks on the numbers here and there.

Characters not being one archetype is precisly why this game feels dull and boring. Variations were a mistake in the first place but the only thing we can do right now is trying to make the best out of it, and most of his zoning abilities besides low auto are very lacking to say the least.

As for upgraded, the utility is that on hit it allows RoboCop to get a full combo from anywhere on screen including after trades;, it has more hitstun than Sub-Zero ice ball even. I think it'd be cool if its timer blew up faster but I already think it's fine.

The move is so slow there is no way you can catch a decent opponent on trade, maybe if he's playing on autopilot but there is no way it'll work more than twice. Let's assume you can setup an upgraded grenade while the opponent is sleeping, either he'll block and take the chip damage or maybe you'll catch the opponent dashing or jump with a pistol shot but that's it. The default grenade does exactly this already pretty well and even better since the timer is shorter, so the chances of the opponent respecting it will be better. And let's assume the opponent forgot to press block, you'll have to go fullscreen to maybe convert with an f42, but you're taking a risk of being blocked and d2 KB if they duck the second hit. I fully respect your optimism regarding some of Robocop abilities, but just like Active & Reactive Patrol, Upgraded is a lesser version of the base move it replaces.

Yeah again I'd be cool with active/reactive patrol buffs, but I think you're under-selling it quite a bit. In my mind it's already pretty good at creating & stealing turns. All I'd want to do for it is make it a bit less minus on cancels. Imo with active/reactive patrol, command grab, & cheval trap, he's quite a good pressure/setup character in many matchups. The fact that it takes out straight shot and antiair shot is just the game telling you that it makes RoboCop an offensive character, not a zoner.

Up Auto-9 is also an offensive tool, yes it can be defensive to catch jumping opponents but it is also the only way to cash out decent damage in the corner. I'm not under-selling Active & Reactive Patrol, this move is so easily countered and removes so much utility it's just not worth picking in any situation.

 

[Obly]

Will note that @DarksydeDash put together a nice list of patch suggestions in an earlier thread: https://testyourmight.com/threads/robocop-patch-suggestions.73493/. It pre-dates Ultimate (and custom variations) but it holds up, and probably still reflects Robocop's most urgent needs imo.

Also I agree with @UltraDavid here. Seems like you've invested a lot of time and thought into playing Robocop as a zoner, which he's definitely good at, but you're evaluating all his abilities just from that archetype and not giving them enough credit for the other ways they can be used. Robocop is clearly meant to be a hybrid zoner/setup character. His biggest flaw is that his setups (outside of hit confirm resets into strike/throw mix) are quite weak. If he gets buffs, I want to see his setups improved much more than his zoning.

Cobra Cannon. I'd be happy if they prevented breakaway on amp, but definitely a "nice to have", not a "need to have." I doubt the devs would remove it completely, but they could at least not let you break until the second hit, which would accomplish the same thing.

To play devil's advocate though, you really can't claim the move is unusable on hit. You always have the mind game of "amplify or not." If you don't amplify, you're still doing 2/3 of the same damage and basically resetting neutral, and you're safe even if they breakaway. And if they did, awesome, they wasted both bars on nothing. If you really want the extra damage and full screen positioning, you have to risk the amp, but they're not going to break every time if they know they might be throwing away their bars on a bad read.

Straight Auto-9. Again, you're really only thinking about zoning here. If you want strong zoning, go low auto-9, no question. The reason to keep straight auto-9 is because it gives you similar reset pressure as flamethrower; not quite as good, but without using up an ability slot for a move that's only good for reset pressure. It also gives much better knockdown advantage on amplify than low auto-9, which is good for setups. They're not going to add another "reason not to pick low auto-9"; you either want the zoning or you want the setups.

My only wishlist buff is to reduce the startup by 4 frames (from 22 to 18) and reduce the recovery by 2 frames (from 36 to 34). There's no reason for it to be so much slower than low auto-9; being only highs is limiting enough.

Flamethrower. Robocop already has a dedicated anti-air tool that's better at that purpose in almost every way. They're not going to buff flamethrower to give him a second AA option he doesn't really need.

Upgraded. This would give Robocop an unbreakable combo extender off every hit confirm. Never going to happen. Even if they made it a two-slot ability, that would be stupid broken.

The main problem with this move is the same as with the gas grenade: The recovery on the cannon is ridiculously long. You have to risk your life to get either one out at a close enough range where you can actually pressure and try to get the setup to work. You could end a juggle with it safely, except Robo's launchers are also nearly unusable as is, so that doesn't work either. So the fixes are: (1) reduce the recovery on both ability grenades (taser and gas), and (2) make f42 hit mid (and ideally a little faster startup) so Robo isn't risking a d2 KB every time he dares try to use it.

Active and reactive patrol. This move isn't nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. Again, it's not supposed to be a zoning tool, so they're not going to buff it in a way that makes it good for zoning. If you want zoning, go for low auto-9.

What it does:

• Active patrol gives you excellent reset pressure. You can convert every hit confirm into +9 right in the opponent's face, meterlessly.
• Reactive patrol is a footsies and stagger tool. Use it in conjunction with Robo's dashes: Dash in and immediately back away ready to shoot, or dash forward into an advancing string. Really messes with your opponent's ability to read your spacing, and you get a pistol shot in any time they overcommit. You can also back away from your own block strings so you're never left in your opponent's strike/throw mix range.

That said, I do think it's unfair that it takes away your AA high auto-9. Giving up the zoning (low auto-9) and the knockdown advantage (straight auto-9) is enough of a trade-off. I'd rather keep reactive patrol as db1 and change the AA to db3, but otherwise I agree with you here.

The only other buff it really needs is to let you cancel a lot sooner. I'd like to see it cancel at 13 frames (down from 19), the same as Sindel's scream. If they did that, it might even be worth giving up the AA shot for.

Other abilities. Some other abilities need tweaks as well. His electric shield is hot garbage. The cost is way, way too high for such an extremely situational benefit. If it were a base move I wouldn't care, but taking up an ability slot, it needs to be a lot better (cheaper to activate, lasts a lot longer, meter recovers faster, and a fair amount more chip damage). The other thread has other suggestions.

Thanks for keeping this discussion going. Really do hope Robo gets some much-needed love in the next patch.

 

[ShepherdOfFire]

To play devil's advocate though, you really can't claim the move is unusable on hit. You always have the mind game of "amplify or not." If you don't amplify, you're still doing 2/3 of the same damage and basically resetting neutral, and you're safe even if they breakaway. And if they did, awesome, they wasted both bars on nothing. If you really want the extra damage and full screen positioning, you have to risk the amp, but they're not going to break every time if they know they might be throwing away their bars on a bad read.

Flamethrower. Robocop already has a dedicated anti-air tool that's better at that purpose in almost every way. They're not going to buff flamethrower to give him a second AA option he doesn't really need.

Typical MK11, guesses everywhere, even when you open the opponent. 50% chance you needlessly waste the damage you earned by opening the opponent and 50% chance you die because of it, that's stupid.

I suppose you mean the Up Auto-9 for the dedicatd AA, I agree, it's great, but, like I said, it's a low risk (well, low risk, if the opponent breaks you're dead but in spirit it's low risk) low reward AA, where Up Auto-9 is probably a medium risk/medium reward kind of AA. And what's the big deal in having two AAs ? Noob has his d4 as high risk/hisk reward and his up clone as low risk/low reward, it doesn't make him broken as far as I know.

Straight Auto-9. Again, you're really only thinking about zoning here. If you want strong zoning, go low auto-9, no question. The reason to keep straight auto-9 is because it gives you similar reset pressure as flamethrower; not quite as good, but without using up an ability slot for a move that's only good for reset pressure. It also gives much better knockdown advantage on amplify than low auto-9, which is good for setups. They're not going to add another "reason not to pick low auto-9"; you either want the zoning or you want the setups.

My only wishlist buff is to reduce the startup by 4 frames (from 22 to 18) and reduce the recovery by 2 frames (from 36 to 34). There's no reason for it to be so much slower than low auto-9; being only highs is limiting enough.

I'll just remind you what my changes were :

Straight Auto-9 no longer whiffs on crouch blocking opponents
Straight Auto-9 jails on crouching opponents if the first hit has been blocked

Is that really too much to ask ? I mean come on it looks like bug fixes at this point. I mean even Cassie is able to jail her amplified pistol shots, but not Robocop ? It doesn't make Cassie's high pistols overpowered as far as i can tell, it's a powerful tool... for Cassie, which is not a zoner by default.

Active and reactive patrol. This move isn't nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. Again, it's not supposed to be a zoning tool, so they're not going to buff it in a way that makes it good for zoning. If you want zoning, go for low auto-9.

What it does:

• Active patrol gives you excellent reset pressure. You can convert every hit confirm into +9 right in the opponent's face, meterlessly.
• Reactive patrol is a footsies and stagger tool. Use it in conjunction with Robo's dashes: Dash in and immediately back away ready to shoot, or dash forward into an advancing string. Really messes with your opponent's ability to read your spacing, and you get a pistol shot in any time they overcommit. You can also back away from your own block strings so you're never left in your opponent's strike/throw mix range.

I've also labbed this move, I tried in matches, and well this another exemple of good on paper but lacking on execution (even if it's more like decent on paper, terrible on execution). I mean it's really hard to catch decent opponents with this move for more than one or let's say two matches. People aren't dumb, they can adapt to it on the fly. A move that is only effective for a few games isn't a good move.
Also one of my main problem with this move is what we have to trade to get this move.
I mean on paper I have all the reasons to love this move, I love spacing, footsies, etc. It's probably my main quality in fighting games. But to give up all kind of decent zoning for a move that does what ? 14% and +9 frame advantage after a f32 ? No thanks I'll pass. Even Straight Auto-9 can do that, and you can even amplify it to make like ~20%, which is not possible with Active & Reactive Patrol. No need to play like this if you're not running Command strip that makes Robocop a dumb mixup machine, without it against a great player you'll eat a reversal u2 half of the time.

Other abilities. Some other abilities need tweaks as well. His electric shield is hot garbage. The cost is way, way too high for such an extremely situational benefit.

Funnily enough I think this move can be quite useful, situationnal, yes, but can create some (almost) checkmate situations where the opponent will lose the round on most of his possible options. It'll be more useful against certain characters than others but can create situations where the opponent will don't know what to do and to strike at that moment to take the round. Buff it if you want, i'll take it of course, especially for the duration of the move that will make it so much better while not being overpowered, but even then right now it is far from being among his worst abilities. Electric shield could use a few tweaks, it's right, but I think it's far from garbage. (The meter refill speed right now is honestly fair on electric shield, if I had to buff one thing it would be to increase its duration, even if it would mean to slow down the meter refill speed).

 

[Zer0_h0ur]

Maybe they should give him an extra 100 health (after they remove Kotal's of course)

FWIW to the OP, AF0xyGrandpa said he doesn't see the point of flamethrower, although he thought low shot and cmd are must-haves.
Just sharing what I have heard in streams.

 

[Havikfan15]

I’ve tried some custom loadouts with robo just to get a feel of things and in my experience with any loadout that doesn’t have low auto 9, robocop gets flatout zoned, the shoulder canon goes away on trades and that’s his main source of plus frames full screen, there’s always the option to meterburn it but the damage isn’t all that much and they can just block and continue zoning. Now I know any variation without the low auto 9 isn’t centered around zoning rather getting in and starting the strike throw mixup but up close robo doesn’t get consistent damage and if that’s the playstyle you’re going for then you’re SOL, I think if they give him the same hit reaction for upgraded as amplified cheval trap then he can become a good up close character, he gets good damage and if they want to balance it they could make it not combo off every touch like nightwolf’s spirit tracks pre patch. He also doesn’t have access to cheval trap so he can’t restand you into the vortex all over again, and depending on what other moves you pair with it you either lose zoning or your strike throw mixup vortex, right now tho the move is useless, the amplified shoulder canon does the same thing and doesn’t cost a slot, and you can combo off it up close if they get hit and cheval trap is just better all around with the restand and dot and In my personal experience people get stunned by amp cheval trap way more than they do by upgraded and it has less damage scaling, whereas upgraded just isn’t consistent enough.

 

[Obly]

Typical MK11, guesses everywhere, even when you open the opponent. 50% chance you needlessly waste the damage you earned by opening the opponent and 50% chance you die because of it, that's stupid.

I suppose you mean the Up Auto-9 for the dedicatd AA, I agree, it's great, but, like I said, it's a low risk (well, low risk, if the opponent breaks you're dead but in spirit it's low risk) low reward AA, where Up Auto-9 is probably a medium risk/medium reward kind of AA. And what's the big deal in having two AAs ? Noob has his d4 as high risk/hisk reward and his up clone as low risk/low reward, it doesn't make him broken as far as I know.

The first part is how combo breakers work in any game, not just MK11. But I agree on the second part; getting punished for landing a hit is completely stupid. They could make things so much better by enforcing a delayed wakeup after every breakaway; I don't know why they won't add that.

Having two AA options isn't broken. But lack of AA isn't a flaw or hole that Robocop has. So I don't see them buffing a move (that isn't really meant for AA) to give him a second AA option he doesn't really need.

I'll just remind you what my changes were :
Straight Auto-9 no longer whiffs on crouch blocking opponents
Straight Auto-9 jails on crouching opponents if the first hit has been blocked
Is that really too much to ask ? I mean come on it looks like bug fixes at this point. I mean even Cassie is able to jail her amplified pistol shots, but not Robocop ? It doesn't make Cassie's high pistols overpowered as far as i can tell, it's a powerful tool... for Cassie, which is not a zoner by default.

I'd totally take these buffs; I'm just not sure they'd do it. Right now, Robo's f32 jails into the first shot of straight auto-9 if the oppo is stand blocking. With these two changes, f32 would jail into all three shots on any block. That would let Robo use a 10-frame advancing mid to get a guaranteed nearly 6% of chip damage that's completely safe with pushback.

That's kinda broke... not S+ broke, but hard to see them adding it. You can already get both of these things with low auto-9; it's just really unsafe. That's probably a sign of how the devs want it to be.

I don't play Cassie, so idk her whole deal. In labbing her for a bit though, I couldn't find any button or string that jails into her high pistol; I was always able to neutral duck. And if I did block the first shot, I was only jailed into the second; I could come off block and duck the third and fourth shots. So it doesn't seem all that different... but maybe I'm missing something?

I've also labbed this move, I tried in matches, and well this another exemple of good on paper but lacking on execution (even if it's more like decent on paper, terrible on execution). I mean it's really hard to catch decent opponents with this move for more than one or let's say two matches. People aren't dumb, they can adapt to it on the fly. A move that is only effective for a few games isn't a good move.
Also one of my main problem with this move is what we have to trade to get this move.
I mean on paper I have all the reasons to love this move, I love spacing, footsies, etc. It's probably my main quality in fighting games. But to give up all kind of decent zoning for a move that does what ? 14% and +9 frame advantage after a f32 ? No thanks I'll pass. Even Straight Auto-9 can do that, and you can even amplify it to make like ~20%, which is not possible with Active & Reactive Patrol. No need to play like this if you're not running Command strip that makes Robocop a dumb mixup machine, without it against a great player you'll eat a reversal u2 half of the time.

Tbf, I didn't say it was a great move; I just don't agree that it cripples him. It's good for messing up peoples' spacing if they have to get in on you, and ofc it's great for cmd grab mix-ups.

The main issue is when your opponent is playing patient. They can duck on reaction to the slow startup and wait you out, and you no longer have a good option; you're committed to either (1) burning a bar to reset neutral or (2) whiffing a high shot that has a stupid long recovery and just hoping you don't get punished.

It doesn't need huge buffs, but they should take out at least some of the limitations. It shouldn't have such a slow startup and be a high and have terrible recovery and have such a slow cancel and cost you your AA pistol. That's just too many limitations for what you actually get. Buff any two of those and it would be worth picking.

Funnily enough I think this move can be quite useful, situationnal, yes, but can create some (almost) checkmate situations where the opponent will lose the round on most of his possible options. It'll be more useful against certain characters than others but can create situations where the opponent will don't know what to do and to strike at that moment to take the round. Buff it if you want, i'll take it of course, especially for the duration of the move that will make it so much better while not being overpowered, but even then right now it is far from being among his worst abilities. Electric shield could use a few tweaks, it's right, but I think it's far from garbage. (The meter refill speed right now is honestly fair on electric shield, if I had to buff one thing it would be to increase its duration, even if it would mean to slow down the meter refill speed).

It's good to hear you've had success with it. But be honest--in all the times you've used it to close out a round, how many times can you truly say, "I wouldn't have won the round without electric shield. It made the critical difference." 1 in 10 maybe? Less than that?

It's very similar to Skarlet's blood ritual (which also everyone hates and no one uses). Robo's is safer (he can still move and block with it on) but costs a huge amount of meter for a pretty short buff. And in both cases, you have to take damage yourself for it to do anything at all. So you have to have a pretty big life lead to even want to try it. And if that's the case, who cares, you probably would've won anyway. Maybe it saves you a bit of scramble, but that's not worth an ability slot. I respect your opinion, but I think it's easily his worst ability, by a mile.

 

[Zubro]

I’m a little late to the party. I just started playing Robo recently but I think he needs some help. He’s a zoner and setup character without any setups and outside of low auto his zoning is just ok. I would like to see some variety in play style with him but currently his is too one dimensional. He needs more combo potential and setups.
Here’s my wish list although I’m not sure how realistic it is:

Strings:
F42 should be mid. I can’t see why it’s a high It’s not like his combo damage warrants it being a high.
b2 should be overhead but very minus.
F212 KB should do less damage but pop up for a combo

Bombs:
Amp version should not roll so far away. It’s hard to enforce any pressure when they roll half way across screen and aren’t even usable in the corner.
Amp Chevel trap should have a bigger aoe and maybe a little bit shorter countdown before stun and also slightly longer stun duration. It would be nice to do a grab mixups like D’Vorah.
Upgraded should have a shorter fuse time. I would like it to connect like chevel but that’s prob too op.

Terminal strip should not conflict with parry.

That’s all for now but I’m sure I can think of more. I just really want combos and setups for this character. He would be super fun.

 

[MadPropz101]

f42 second hit should be a mid

 

[ShepherdOfFire]

The first part is how combo breakers work in any game, not just MK11.

What I meant by needlessly wasting damage is that sometimes you do not perform the optimal combo because you expect a breakaway to punish you but if the opponent doesn't break, you needlessly wasted damage you earned by opening the opponent.

 

[Obly]

What I meant by needlessly wasting damage is that sometimes you do not perform the optimal combo because you expect a breakaway to punish you but if the opponent doesn't break, you needlessly wasted damage you earned by opening the opponent.

Ahh ok. Yeah, that's totally true. Having to protect yourself just in case your opponent breaks, so they don't get a big combo as a reward for getting opened up... yeah, that's complete BS. There are a lot of good ideas in MK11, but breakaway wasn't one of them.