DarksydeDash
You know me as RisingShieldBro online.
With Kombat Pack 2 quickly reaching its release date, the beta will soon be coming to a close. With this in mind, I thought I’d give my review of the changes made to our favorite blind swordsman.
The good:
B1, F211, and F214 are amazing mids and are great for staggering.
The extra damage on his specials makes Balanced and Possessed easily hit in mid 40% range, with Kenjutsu reaching a max of 60% 2 bar.
His new reflect is absolutely amazing literally nothing can throw a projectile at you with them eating twice the damage.
Bf2 in possessed definitely has a better hitbox. I noticed a lot of my opponents could not jump in on me when they normally could.
His new d1 helps Kenjutsu execution combos be a lot more easier, and allow a B1 followup for 31% no meter, and 39% one bar.
MB 22 now allows Kenshi to extend and end combos into restands. This is extremely good in Possessed to continue pressure, and makes an armored Rising Karma combo nearly 50%.
Possessed new teleport allowing j1/2 gives amazing block strings that jail.
Hitbox issues on female characters vs tele-flurry is fixed.
As mentioned 2 bar 50%+ combos across all variations, you do not want to get hit by this man.
The Bad:
322 is sped up, making it impossible to stagger this string anymore.
Bf3 in possessed can still be run through easily, and has too much whiff recovery in balanced. More than half the cast can punish this move on whiff without even trying.
Spirit Charge in Balanced is still too negative so most characters can punish it, even at maximum distance. The MB'd version still remains at -2 and does not allow midscreen followups; not even with tele-flurry.
Both versions of DF1 in Kenjutsu are punishable and do not recapture airborne opponents. This makes this variation extremely vulnerable to those who love to jump.
441 despite having a gap is not mid, oh, mid.
Db4 in balanced and possessed still has a gap after being canceled on his main strings.
Speaking of strings, the majority of Kenshi's strings are still useless.
Possessed still can't teleport in the air.
MB version of BF3 in kenjutsu still has no armor, making this variation unable to get him on most zoners.
All hits of tele-flurry do not come out on block, not even when MB'd.
Db4 in balanced is still minus on hit, and has no armor. The MB'd version has no use, despite looking like a possible launcher.
Db4 in balanced is not sped up so your opponent can run under it.
J1 is still neutral on block so you opponent can armor your jump followups.
The Majority of Kenshi's armor can be jump over.
Df4 in Possessed remains only +6 on hit. Expect your opponent to mash armor if they get hit with this move.
My final thoughts are I am actually quite happy with the changes made to Kenshi, even though the ones we desperately wanted are missing. Even so, changes in the beta are not final so more could be added.
If I had to rank them from best to worst:
#1 Kenjutsu (50/50s, insane damage, practical combos, vortex).
#2 Possessed (psudo 50/50s, good damage, fast armor, safe specials, extremely meter dependent).
#3 Balanced: (Great armored damage, poor zoning, no overhead, unsafe specials).
The good:
B1, F211, and F214 are amazing mids and are great for staggering.
The extra damage on his specials makes Balanced and Possessed easily hit in mid 40% range, with Kenjutsu reaching a max of 60% 2 bar.
His new reflect is absolutely amazing literally nothing can throw a projectile at you with them eating twice the damage.
Bf2 in possessed definitely has a better hitbox. I noticed a lot of my opponents could not jump in on me when they normally could.
His new d1 helps Kenjutsu execution combos be a lot more easier, and allow a B1 followup for 31% no meter, and 39% one bar.
MB 22 now allows Kenshi to extend and end combos into restands. This is extremely good in Possessed to continue pressure, and makes an armored Rising Karma combo nearly 50%.
Possessed new teleport allowing j1/2 gives amazing block strings that jail.
Hitbox issues on female characters vs tele-flurry is fixed.
As mentioned 2 bar 50%+ combos across all variations, you do not want to get hit by this man.
The Bad:
322 is sped up, making it impossible to stagger this string anymore.
Bf3 in possessed can still be run through easily, and has too much whiff recovery in balanced. More than half the cast can punish this move on whiff without even trying.
Spirit Charge in Balanced is still too negative so most characters can punish it, even at maximum distance. The MB'd version still remains at -2 and does not allow midscreen followups; not even with tele-flurry.
Both versions of DF1 in Kenjutsu are punishable and do not recapture airborne opponents. This makes this variation extremely vulnerable to those who love to jump.
441 despite having a gap is not mid, oh, mid.
Db4 in balanced and possessed still has a gap after being canceled on his main strings.
Speaking of strings, the majority of Kenshi's strings are still useless.
Possessed still can't teleport in the air.
MB version of BF3 in kenjutsu still has no armor, making this variation unable to get him on most zoners.
All hits of tele-flurry do not come out on block, not even when MB'd.
Db4 in balanced is still minus on hit, and has no armor. The MB'd version has no use, despite looking like a possible launcher.
Db4 in balanced is not sped up so your opponent can run under it.
J1 is still neutral on block so you opponent can armor your jump followups.
The Majority of Kenshi's armor can be jump over.
Df4 in Possessed remains only +6 on hit. Expect your opponent to mash armor if they get hit with this move.
My final thoughts are I am actually quite happy with the changes made to Kenshi, even though the ones we desperately wanted are missing. Even so, changes in the beta are not final so more could be added.
If I had to rank them from best to worst:
#1 Kenjutsu (50/50s, insane damage, practical combos, vortex).
#2 Possessed (psudo 50/50s, good damage, fast armor, safe specials, extremely meter dependent).
#3 Balanced: (Great armored damage, poor zoning, no overhead, unsafe specials).
