Post by Nekkowe! in Wizard is wildly OP

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Viewing post in Wizard is wildly OP

I still can't believe Mana Strike is as fast as it is.

It beats out stuff like Lightning Slice easily, including on Whiff Cancel, with a much more versatile range. And you can position it to knock your opponent towards you for a combo. Even with the startup increase in 0.3.0, it was still just about the fastest move in the game besides a jab or two, and then the startup was decreased again in 0.3.3 - along with the startup for Tome Slap, y'know, just in case someone got in past Mana Strike range.

As a neutral or whiff cancel option, it's incredibly strong - is there some counterplay I'm forgetting about?

Oldsparkychair1 year ago (1 edit) (-2)

Yeah, you can jump over it. Just basically jump, lol. Also, it's not so imbalanced. It's very predictable because of range and can't be aimed on you when you in air. Also, ninja's dash easily evades it, but I highly recommend escape from moves like this one only backwards, because even if you escaped, you mentioned that it's really fast so you 90% get caught.

Nekkowe!1 year ago(+1)

Jumping it is even worse than blocking it, though? At least when blocking it, some attacks (new Horizontal Slash) can actually punish it. Ninja's just kind of out of luck on block, there's not much they can really do before the recovery ends. Same when you evade it. In most situations, for most responses, the move is completely safe.

I'm not sure what you mean by it being predictable because of range - Wizard has a lot of other options at any given range, and the range of the attack itself can be adjusted in a pretty huge window to preempt a lot of possible responses.

Hailish1 year ago(-1)

Mana strike is incredibly predictable (people are basically guaranteed to use it as long as you're in range, especially on whiff cancel when they have nothing else) and you can counter it by simply tech rolling. You can also parry it in certain scenarios. It's basically just a more dangerous Lightning Slash.

Nekkowe!1 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

I think part of what bothers me is how noncommittal it is for such a strong option - unlike Lightning Slice, it's barely punisheable even on parry in most situations. It's such a universally strong move, and any space it doesn't cover, Tome Slap now covers with only 4f startup. Pommel used to at least be a faster jab, but no more - since the update that reduced its startup, they clash.

The zoning character is incredibly good at every range now.

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Viewing post in Wizard is wildly OP