Patch Notes: MK11 v1.28 January 26, 2021

https://mortalkombatgamessupport.wbgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/360062345693-Official-MK11-PlayStation-and-Xbox-Release-Notes-01-26-21

General Gameplay Adjustments

• Move list corrections
• Fixed minor issues with several augments
• Fixed minor visual & audio issues with several Brutalities

Character Specific Adjustments

• D’Vorah - Number of Wasps currently affecting an opponent will no longer sometimes be reset if Strepsiptera connects while opponent is in the hit reaction to Swarm
• Kano - The first hit of Snake Bite now has 1 more active frame and the second hit has 1 less startup frame
• Kano - The hit reaction to Figjam Amplified (Back Punch, Back Punch, Front Kick, Amplify) will no longer sometimes use the incorrect blood color against some opponents
• Kotal Kahn - Now has 1050 health (down from 1100)
• Kotal Kahn - Fixed issue with Eztli Totem providing higher then intended healing when stacked with other Totem types
• Kotal Kahn - Chicahtoc & Eztli Totems no longer have Kustom Variation restrictions in Kompetitive modes
• Kotal Kahn - The first hit of Yeyecame Disk Amplify now has slightly farther reach and the projectile now has 10 less frames of hit advantage
• Kung Lao - Sweeping Razor (Away + Back kick) while having no Hat now properly triggers Krushing Blow reset conditions
• Shao Kahn - Now has 1100 health (up from 1050)
• RoboCop - Now has 1050 health (up from 1000)
• RoboCop - Adjusted the hit region of Getup/Flawless Block Attack (Up + Back Punch)
• Sheeva - Dragon Drop is now off-screen for 2 more frames before her drop attack begins
• Sheeva - Dragon Stance now has 2 more startup frames
• Mileena - Poisonous Butterfly (Towards + Back Kick) now has airborne frames when Mileena is off the ground
• Mileena - The hit reactions to Kahnum Dash Amplify, Kahnum Dash Further Amplify, & Ridin' Dirty (Front Punch, Front Punch, Front Punch + Front Kick) now have airborne frames when Mileena is off the ground
• Mileena - Fixed a rare issue where Play Time (Towards + Front Punch, Back Punch, Back Kick) could leave a lingering visual effect on certain costumes
• Rambo - Slightly adjusted the hit regions & repel regions of Basic Training (Away + Front Punch)
• Rambo - Lieutenant Drop (Towards + Back Kick) now has airborne frames when Rambo is off the ground
• Rambo - Hidden M60 & Hidden M60 Amplify will no longer sometimes use an incorrect animation when Rambo is hit by Kronika's Reverse Time

Not much, but it's something.

 

They have no idea what they are doing.

 

What are airborne frames? (Serious question)

Rambo and Mileena's forward throws require them to not jump or be knocked down for 10 seconds before landing the throw. Some moves show the character leaving the floor, such as Rambo's s4, and thus resets the 10 seconds he needs for the throw.
His f4 makes him deliver a drop kick with both feet, thus leaving the ground, but until this patch using f4 wouldn't break the throw KB requirement. Making those frames considered true airborne means it'll break the KB conditions.
In some cases it may also allow said moves to avoid throws and lows if they didn't before, and any moves that normally only contact airborne opponents would also now work here.

 

we’re in the age of change when it comes to fighting games. new moves & new properties are added every couple of months if we’re looking at titles like tekken and soul calibur. wtf is this

 

we’re in the age of change when it comes to fighting games. new moves & new properties are added every couple of months if we’re looking at titles like tekken and soul calibur. wtf is this

They’re collecting data! Looking at the metrics. The top tier from release is still in flux.

 

This is one of the most balanced fighters out. They are patching more slowly because that's exactly what people have been asking them to do.

Everyone asked them to "just let it rock" and now they're crying about what letting it rock actually feels like.

Can't agree on most balanced fighter out as long as there is stuff like Sheeva's Dragon Drop and Dragon Stance. Moves which are completely unbalanced to the point that semi scrub can pick a char and make it much further than he really should.

 

This is one of the most balanced fighters out. They are patching more slowly because that's exactly what people have been asking them to do.

Everyone asked them to "just let it rock" and now they're crying about what letting it rock actually feels like.

Don't you think after almost two years Shao Kahn deserves more than just 100 extra HP?

 

There is no patch in the world that would make y'all Happy. No matter how big it is you will always complain.

 

This is one of the most balanced fighters out. They are patching more slowly because that's exactly what people have been asking them to do.

Everyone asked them to "just let it rock" and now they're crying about what letting it rock actually feels like.

You’re kinda misinterpreting peoples annoyance here. Patching has been extremely limited and their last big patch just kinda made the S tier and a handful of other characters actually better. Theres a giant pile of useless abilities and issues that have been around forever. The main argument of Pro-nrs people for the community is that a big patch is coming. I think people are just sick of this extremely slow and ineffective patching- before you bring up people complaining about fast huge patches... there is a middle ground between the two.

NRS need to get a substantial patch out soon or interest is going to drop off as it already is.

What specifically are you even referring to with let it rock by the way? Only dumb shit i see NRS allowing is cetrion jacqui and sheeva. Two of which were S tier before one of which is kinda cancer.

 

There is no patch in the world that would make y'all Happy. No matter how big it is you will always complain.

NRS has a well documented track record of either making things too broke, or nerfing characters into the ground. this is nothing new my friend. MK Online was way worse than this.

They’re collecting data! Looking at the metrics. The top tier from release is still in flux.

Lol they need to collect the data from the fans having legitimate concerns about the enjoyment of the game

 

wait this is still January why are we getting an April Fool's patch?
Shao Khan's gonna be on top from now on hehe watchout Jacqui

 

I can hear Reo on the podcast now: "Yall still complaining. You wanted sheeva nerfed, she's nerfed. Lol, mileena needed to be consistent. She's airborne during those strings so she loses KB it makes sense."

 

There is no patch in the world that would make y'all Happy. No matter how big it is you will always complain.

I’m never going to be happy with these patches as long as they keep ignoring the trash tier variation moves. So I suppose youre at least half right.

I really want to give the devs the benefit of the doubt. Custom variations brought me back to the game and I understand they don’t want knee jerk changes. However, some of these moves have been in playable variations for months/over a year and have been terrible since day 1.

Also before anyone says it, yes I’m aware there will always be optimal builds and bad choices. That is not an excuse to not even try buffing bad moves.

 

You’re kinda misinterpreting peoples annoyance here. Patching has been extremely limited and their last big patch just kinda made the S tier and a handful of other characters actually better. Theres a giant pile of useless abilities and issues that have been around forever. The main argument of Pro-nrs people for the community is that a big patch is coming. I think people are just sick of this extremely slow and ineffective patching- before you bring up people complaining about fast huge patches... there is a middle ground between the two.

NRS need to get a substantial patch out soon or interest is going to drop off as it already is.

What specifically are you even referring to with let it rock by the way? Only dumb shit i see NRS allowing is cetrion jacqui and sheeva. Two of which were S tier before one of which is kinda cancer.

Meaning that it’s unlikely that a major rebalance will drop during the Pro Series. Everyone said “just enable Customs and let it rock, everyone will have their dirt it’ll be great”, so that’s mostly the state of the game until the series ends.

They will fix more pressing issues and some smaller stuff during Pro Komp but that’s likely it.

I was actually one of the people predicting that customs would benefit some characters more than others, and that it would continue to make the best characters better. But people didn’t want to hear that — they wanted “let it rock”. So now they need to be patient for the next actual balance patch.

This was me in 2019 when everybody was arguing it’d make everything perfect:

Yet people haven't thought about the fact that opening up custom variations would likely just heavily benefit the top characters as well, making them even better.

Custom Variations will never be a substitution for game balance; rather, the game balance will have to be attended to even more vigilantly if they're in play.

Custom variations introduces yet another level of issues. If it happens, it’s not going to be this panacea of equal options like people think it’ll be. And it’d be nearly impossible for the game to be balanced if most of the options are viable. Likely many options would have to suffer in order to keep characters in a certain place balance-wise.

Yeah, my guess is that if you enabled custom variations as they stand now for tourney, you’d end up with the same level of diversity as now after a month or so, with decreased balance and increased counterpicking.

It’d really take a massive effort to get it right. I don’t think it’s the instant panacea/fix to all issues that people are making it out to be.

 

RIP. When is MK12?

 

Meaning that it’s unlikely that a major rebalance will drop during the Pro Series. Everyone said “just enable Customs and let it rock, everyone will have their dirt it’ll be great”, so that’s mostly the state of the game until the series ends.

They will fix more pressing issues and some smaller stuff during Pro Komp but that’s likely it.

I was actually one of the people predicting that customs would benefit some characters more than others, and that it would continue to make the best characters better. But people didn’t want to hear that — they wanted “let it rock”. So now they need to be patient for the next actual balance patch.

This was me in 2019 when everybody was arguing with me:

Yeah i get what you’re saying but thats not really what is being complained about. There has been a giant mess of issues or stuff that could be easily be fixed that has been ignored since day 1. Folks are sick of waiting for years to get one patch that vaguely changes things.

NRS has undeniably gone too far in the other direction from MKX patching. The patch support has been awful. Since day one everyone has asked for breakaway to have a different input, would that be hard? Nope. Theres lists and lists of examples.

I hate this pro series argument. Pros can adapt they dont need months and months. Everyones meant to suffer through all this jank boring crap with characters who are barely playing the same game for like a year so pros arent even vaguely inconvenienced.

Just dont make a week before the finals or something stupid.

It feels like you’re going with a strawman argument focusing on people asking for kustoms and not addressing the actual grievances people have with the game itself.

 

I get why a lot of people are pissed about this really thin patch. I feel that way too. But when it comes to the "grand re-balancing" of the roster in general and custom abilities across the board, I'm also on the side of (and I bet many would agree) that it's better to get it right than get it fast. Anyone who has worked in IT development will probably agree, those two things are often not compatible.

Feels like ages now, but it really was just two months ago that NRS dropped a hella bomb of a patch, making several huge changes: Global adjustments to poke advantage and recovery, global changes to the wakeup system, three brand new characters, and custom variations in competitive play. Any one of those things would call for taking time to gather data, assess the effects on balance, and then making more adjustments. That they did all those things at once is, I think, testament that NRS is trying to give players what they want, even if a slower incremental approach would have been wiser from an IT development perspective.

The game is (kind of amazingly, given all those changes at once) relatively stable right now. Yeah there's still jank and dead moves that have been there all along, but other than exposing some obvious balance needs (e.g., Jacqui, Cetrion, Sheeva), nothing new really broke as a result of the Nov patch. Frankly I think the devs got super lucky; I suspect they're still wiping the cold sweat off their brows.

Seems like they've shifted back to small, incremental adjustments for now. That seems smart to me, even though I'm as eager for a meaty balance patch as everyone else. Everyone here knows--if NRS rushed a big balance patch out the door and managed to break the game worse instead of fixing it, the community would crucify them 10x worse than they are for making us wait.

I'm not letting NRS completely off the hook here. There are a lot of "easy, obvious" fixes (to us, anyway) that could have been made incrementally over time. If there hadn't been a global pandemic (that's killed over 400k people in the U.S. alone), maybe they would have. It is what it is. Life hasn't been easy for anyone recently.

 

RIP. When is MK12?

After INJ3 and Boon's mystery new project.

 

The ghost of tom brady says uninstall your game, then re-install it again next weekend. That'll show them.

 

Yeah i get what you’re saying but thats not really what is being complained about. There has been a giant mess of issues or stuff that could be easily be fixed that has been ignored since day 1. Folks are sick of waiting for years to get one patch that vaguely changes things.

NRS has undeniably gone too far in the other direction from MKX patching. The patch support has been awful. Since day one everyone has asked for breakaway to have a different input, would that be hard? Nope. Theres lists and lists of examples.

I hate this pro series argument. Pros can adapt they dont need months and months. Everyones meant to suffer through all this jank boring crap with characters who are barely playing the same game for like a year so pros arent even vaguely inconvenienced.

Just dont make a week before the finals or something stupid.

It feels like you’re going with a strawman argument focusing on people asking for kustoms and not addressing the actual grievances people have with the game itself.

They weren't gonna drop a major rebalance every couple months even outside of the Pro Series. The tournament just gives a clearer marker for it.

And just because people ask for something, doesn't mean the devs agree. They changed wakeups, added armor breakers, redid pokes, slightly reduced throw damage and added throw trades, changed most crouching hitboxes, etc., all because people asked for it. Literally all in response to grievances.

Likewise for opening custom variations and "letting them rock" -- even though I think it was always the plan, they clearly didn't just abandon the game and leave it with presets for competitive. If they don't agree that breakaway should be a different input before the next game then it won't change.

It's fine to disagree with the decisions your dev makes, but people painting as if everything is simply a 1-button fix and the devs are too dumb to understand it, would be really surprised if they had to sit in a designer's chair.

 

I can hear Reo on the podcast now: "Yall still complaining. You wanted sheeva nerfed, she's nerfed. Lol, mileena needed to be consistent. She's airborne during those strings so she loses KB it makes sense."

No worries. Tom and I will regulate the shilling as we do every episode.

 

No worries. Tom and I will regulate the shilling as we do every episode.

LOL REO has been WaitingForMK12 since early 2019 and has admitted OnlineIsFuture ages ago

 

LOL REO has been WaitingForMK12 since early 2019 and has admitted OnlineIsFuture ages ago

Good point! LOL.

REO is a contrarian. He does not particularly like the game.

 

First it was "They're not gonna do a major balance patch right after allowing customs, they're gonna wait to see what develops"

Now its "they're not gonna do a major balance patch during the pro series"

Yeah, because they're not gonna do a major balance patch. At all. I don't even count allowing customs as a "major" change, that was just un-restricting what was already in the game. MK11 was designed specifically to be shallow and require the absolute least amount of effort from a game design perspective and at that it has been widely successful.

 

it amazes me how many people wake up and get on a MK forum and read the patch notes just to tell everyone its a bad game anyway and that's why they don't play it. And then tomorrow they'll still be on here letting us all know they don't like it.

 

I personally couldn't give a fuck less about balance. I just want the game to be fun