DarksydeDash
You know me as RisingShieldBro online.
So, Ultimate has been out and I'm sure we can all agree that the majority of his custom moves are lacking compared to his other options.
First off, no, he is not bottom 5 nor is he "bad," but he does have issues, the biggest being the variation system since it severely limits the Rain Player's options
Rain's best punisher is his 133 and there is only one move, geyser palm, that allows a full combo punish off of it. This move is also Rain's most damage combo ender. Rain's other custom moves such as Water Bubble only allow it in the corner, and moves such as quantum slice replace valuable assets like Argus Plunge, which is his armor break. The trade off is that you get a safe KB launcher when equipped with Quantum Rift that is essentially "checkmate" if Rain has Fatal Blow or the opponent has no breakaway.
This brings me to Edenian force and how powerful it is with Quantum Slice, being a very strong zoning and runaway tool that still triggers the KB when the conditions are met. However, despite being safe on amplify, Quantum slice is a move with very slow startup, high, and once again it forces the player to equip both Quantum Rift and Edenian Force to make the best use of it.
So what about Rain's two slot moves like Water Bubble and Purple Pain? Water Bubble is honestly very good, until you realize it's a high that can't be made safe unlike the move it replaces: Katar Toss. Water Bubble also disappears if Rain is hit during the animation so you can't count on trades unless the water bubble has already made contact. With no Katar Toss, so the Rain player must make the decision to equip Quantum Rift to possibly win trades, or Tidal Wave to cover flawless block gaps and maintain the poke mind game that Katar Toss enforces.
Purple Pain on the other hand is meant to be a setup tool but it's startup and travel speed are too poor, preventing practical setups and sacrificing Rain's already mediocre damage. So for two slots, you're left with a move that goes away on hit, is too slow, and most characters can simply just walk back to avoid it entirely. But hey, at least the lightning changes colors based on the skin you're using.
Lastly, is Rain's Hydroboost. This move does so much for Rain at the cost of replacing his signature Super Kick. Not only does this move keep the opponent on the same side, but it also sets up pressure on block and leads to Rain's highest damage on hit, especially in the corner. There is basically no reason not to use this move which makes keeping Rain's Super Kick on pointless, other than the nostalgia/swag factor.
So what can be done?
Honestly it's not Rain's base kit that needs a lot of changes, other than some hitbox issues and minor damage scaling. Instead, NRS should focus on improving Rain's custom special moves, to encourage more options in his loadouts.
I suggest NRS consider the following changes:
First off, no, he is not bottom 5 nor is he "bad," but he does have issues, the biggest being the variation system since it severely limits the Rain Player's options
Rain's best punisher is his 133 and there is only one move, geyser palm, that allows a full combo punish off of it. This move is also Rain's most damage combo ender. Rain's other custom moves such as Water Bubble only allow it in the corner, and moves such as quantum slice replace valuable assets like Argus Plunge, which is his armor break. The trade off is that you get a safe KB launcher when equipped with Quantum Rift that is essentially "checkmate" if Rain has Fatal Blow or the opponent has no breakaway.
This brings me to Edenian force and how powerful it is with Quantum Slice, being a very strong zoning and runaway tool that still triggers the KB when the conditions are met. However, despite being safe on amplify, Quantum slice is a move with very slow startup, high, and once again it forces the player to equip both Quantum Rift and Edenian Force to make the best use of it.
So what about Rain's two slot moves like Water Bubble and Purple Pain? Water Bubble is honestly very good, until you realize it's a high that can't be made safe unlike the move it replaces: Katar Toss. Water Bubble also disappears if Rain is hit during the animation so you can't count on trades unless the water bubble has already made contact. With no Katar Toss, so the Rain player must make the decision to equip Quantum Rift to possibly win trades, or Tidal Wave to cover flawless block gaps and maintain the poke mind game that Katar Toss enforces.
Purple Pain on the other hand is meant to be a setup tool but it's startup and travel speed are too poor, preventing practical setups and sacrificing Rain's already mediocre damage. So for two slots, you're left with a move that goes away on hit, is too slow, and most characters can simply just walk back to avoid it entirely. But hey, at least the lightning changes colors based on the skin you're using.
Lastly, is Rain's Hydroboost. This move does so much for Rain at the cost of replacing his signature Super Kick. Not only does this move keep the opponent on the same side, but it also sets up pressure on block and leads to Rain's highest damage on hit, especially in the corner. There is basically no reason not to use this move which makes keeping Rain's Super Kick on pointless, other than the nostalgia/swag factor.
So what can be done?
Honestly it's not Rain's base kit that needs a lot of changes, other than some hitbox issues and minor damage scaling. Instead, NRS should focus on improving Rain's custom special moves, to encourage more options in his loadouts.
I suggest NRS consider the following changes:
- Less scaling on Super Kick to make the damage more in line with Hydroboost
- Allow Water Bubble to combo from 133 to give the string another combo option besides Geyser Palm.
- Water Bubble No Longer goes away on hit, this would allow Rain to dash up for a combo on a trade or use another water bubble to bring the opponent to him at the cost of a bar.
- Allow Rain to combo off the non amplified version of Purple Pain
- Reduce the time it takes for the lightning bolt to strike on the non-amplified version and amplified version of Purple Pain
- Increase the hit advantage of Riptide (+4 to +10), reduce the startup to combo more consistently, and lower the knockback on hit to allow Rain to somewhat take advantage of this move mid-screen.
- Increase the damage of Riptide slightly to justify it as a combo ender.
- Reduce the startup slightly on Quantum Slice to combo more easily on opponents in a juggled state.
- Hydroplane becomes more safe the longer it is held.
- Bonus: Unban Wavedash and make the cost of activation one defense and offensive bar.
