Claw - NL

To nerf his abusive stuff is the main goal. His main problem is the Wall Dive abuse, so that will be nerfed. But not by removing the knockdown (like in HDR), because that simply made the move dumb. Instead, i just made it do a fast knockdown (i.e. like a sweep) instead, this allows the opponent to wake up faster, making the loop impossible (not enough time for the subsequent dive to be a meaty). Another good idea that I have is that, when his claw is dropped, make it bounce in front of him, so the opposing character will have a chance of zoning Claw out when he tries to retrieve his weapon back. It's known that some Claw moves get considerably worse when he is not wielding his weapon, so this will be an opportunity for the opposing character to maximize on this advantage. Also, some other moves will receive additional nerfs for when he's not wielding his weapon, like, for example, his Jumping Fierce will have worse priority, and his Wall Dive will not knock down grounded opponents (will not even give you the fast knockdown, it will be like a normal hit against grounded opponents). Also, his weapon is now slightly easier to be dropped. With all these changes, the opponent now has an incentive to go for block strings as much as possible to force a claw drop. Basically, NL Claw pretty much still has a strong ground game, and the strength of the Wall Dive in the neutral game is similar, but he has no access to Wall Dive loops anymore. Also, he now must be aware of the danger of dropping his weapon. Anyway, Claw will still be good on the ground, the main difference is on the Wall Dive, which is still a strong move on neutral, but won't be "loopable" into itself anymore.

Colors

New Legacy colors

Original colors

Old character : confirm the color choice with Start.

MISC

Crouching animation:

- Priority nerf/Behavior tweak: body hurtbox expanded 5px upwards.

REASON: So now Fei's Rekka Ken 1st hit will connect properly on Claw after a Close Standing Fierce.
IMPACTS: The following moves now can hit Claw around his body hurtbox as well (before they could only hit around his head), which allows them to hit claw also from 5px farther: Honda HHS 1st hit, Green Hand 1st hit, Cammy Standing Fierce/Rh, Hawk Standing Jab (!), Standing Forward and Crouching Strong and Dictator Standing Forward (!).

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ST		NL

Claw dropping:

-- Behavior nerf: the claw weapon now bounces at front of you when dropped.

REASON: So it's harder to get it back. The opponent can now zone it out from the Claw player. The direction the claw weapon bounces was inverted, and starting on v0.6, the horizontal speed was also decreased so now the claw weapon is 60px closer to you (moves only 2/3 of the ground that it used to travel till v0.5, roughly).

- Behavior nerf: minimum amount of hits taken/blocked before the random chance of getting the claw dropped reduced from 8 to 7.

REASON: this will make claw's weapon drop be considerably faster. The claw dropping mechanic works as follows: there's a counter that is added by one each hit Claw takes/blocks. Once that counter is equal to 8 (now changed to 7 for N.Claw), each hit taken/blocked has a small chance of having the claw be dropped. With this change, that small chance is actually intact, but the minimum amount of hits taken/blocked required for Claw to be on the "random phase" is reduced.



ST		NL

Fast knockdown animation:

- Behavior nerf: proper (i.e. smaller) pushboxes.

REASON: now it fits the sprites better, although it's only a single frame that was off. The only meaningful effect is that O.Blanka can cross over a little easier with his Horizontal Roll.

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ST		NL

GROUND NORMALS

Close/Far Standing Jab:

+ Damage buff: from 4|4 to 14|12 (claw|clawless, respectively).

REASON: No ground light normal that is not chain cancelable should do so little damage, unless there's a reason for it, and I don't think it's the case here.

4|4 ➔ 14|12

with claw|without claw

Crouching Jab:

+ Damage buff: from 4|4 to 14|12 (claw|clawless, respectively).

REASON: No ground light normal that is not chain cancelable should do so little damage. Crouching Strong was the one that was used mainly anyway.

+

4|4 ➔ 14|12

with claw|without claw

Close Standing Strong:

+ Startup buff: 1f faster.

REASON: so it can be special canceled. That's just an idea to maybe make this move a little more usable. I know, Claw is the least character that needs buffs, but if you compare Claw's normal set from this hack with ST's, you'll notice that, overall, ST's still better.

ST	5/4/9
NL	4/4/9

Close Standing Fierce:

+ Startup buff: 3f faster.

REASON: so it can be special canceled and can be linked into easily enough, from a Crouching Forward kick. That's just an idea to maybe make this move a little more usable. I know, Claw is the least character that needs buffs, but now that the Wall Dive loop is not possible anymore, it's OK for Claw to receive some buffs here and there just so NL Claw isn't just about nerfs. Now, Claw has a Heavy normal that is special cancelable, though that still won't make much difference (e.g. it still doesn't give enough frame advantage for it to combo into Rolling Crystal Flash).

- Recovery nerf: 3f slower.

REASON: this move can't remain with +6 of frame advantage anymore now that it can reach most crouching characters, because Close Standing Roundhouse would then be useless, since it having +6 and hitting crouchers is the only selling point of that move. So, in NL, while both Close Fierce and Close Roundhouse can reach most crouching characters, it's Fierce that can be linked into easily and can be special cancelable, and it's Roundhouse that gives good frame advantage, so each move have it's own uses.

+ Priority buff: hitbox expanded 5px downwards but reduced 1px upwards.

REASON: so now it can reach most crouching characters (only whiffs against Cammy and Blanka). This allows Claw to do block strings like: Crouching Forward (point blank), Close Standing Fierce xx Wall Dive/Rolling Crystal Flash/etc. I am doing this just so it's a way to give NL Claw something interesting, otherwise NL Claw would be only about nerfs. I doubt this will be revolutionary, but at least Claw got something new now (a heavy normal that is special cancelable).

- Dizzy/dizzy timer nerf: from 10~16 to 3~9, timer reduced from 80 to 40.

REASON: a good portion of cancelable Close Fierce moves on this game have this property, to keep them in check (e.g. Shoto's, Fei). Some don't have it though (e.g. Cammy's, Chun's). Claw is already receiving a buff that he doesn't really deserve so I'm doing this just to play it safe. Maybe this isn't really needed but I'm not sure.

ST	6/6/10
NL	3/6/13

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ST		NL

10~16 ➔ 3~9

Far Standing Fierce:

o Behavior fix: 2nd startup animation frame now have a pushbox.

REASON: just bug fixing.

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ST		NL

Crouching Fierce:

- Damage nerf: from 26 to 22 (when wielding the claw only).

REASON: so trades with an aerial Fierces/Rhs are disadvantageous. The loss in damage is now evident against N.T.Hawk's Jumping Fierce, and is by a very little amount against Zangief's Forward Double Knees.

- Priority nerf: arm hurtbox during active expanded 2px upwards (when wielding the claw).

REASON: so it can get beaten by Zangief's 3K Lariat. This won't came up that often into play vs N.Zangief, but will vs O.Zangief's HF styled 3K lariat. It does also makes it a little less effective as an anti air, but it's still pretty good at it anyway so it's OK.
IMPACTS: DJ's Jacknife Maximum can beat it now from farther on the 1st active frame.

+

26|20 ➔ 22|20

with claw|without claw

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ST		NL

Close/Far Standing Short:

+ Damage buff: from 4 to 12.

REASON: No ground light normal that is not chain cancelable should do so little damage, unless there's a reason for it, and I don't think it's the case here.

4 ➔ 12

Close/Far Standing Forward/Roundhouse:

+ Damage fix: not reduced anymore when the claw is dropped.

REASON: for some reason these kick moves got worse when not wielding the claw, which doesn't make sense. I know this is a buff and buffing claw is not a good idea, but this makes no sense.

/

close	close

20\|18 ➔ 20\|20	24\|22 ➔ 24\|24
with claw\|without claw	with claw\|without claw

far	far

20\|18 ➔ 20\|20	24\|18 ➔ 24\|24
with claw\|without claw	with claw\|without claw

Far Standing Forward:

- Priority nerf: body hurtbox during the last startup part moved 22px forward.

REASON: So it behaves somewhat like Zangief's Standing Forward, i.e. has a projected hurtbox during startup so it's vulnerable to Red Hadoukens or to Jab DPs on footsies.

- Priority nerf: leg hurtbox during the active part expanded 4px downwards and 8px forward.

REASON: The downwards priority nerf is for it to be in reach of Shoto's Crouching Strong (as well as of Sagat's Crouching Punches), so they are able to counter it from a crouching position (Claw's answer for this is his slide). The horizontal nerf is for it to be beaten from a little farther. The move will still be a good poke, but won't be as "abusive" anymore vs Shotos.
IMPACTS: Regarding the vertical priority nerf: Honda's Cr.Jab/Fierce (beats), Chun's Cr.Strong/Fierce (trades), Sim's Far St.Strong/Fierce (beats), Cammy's Cannon Drill's (trades), Sagat's Cr.Punches (beats !), Dictator Cr.Strong/Fierce (can beat, but range is too specific).

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ST		NL

Crouching Roundhouse:

- Recovery nerf: 4f slower.

REASON: so the safe range is considerably smaller. This is by far his biggest nerf on his footsies tools.

+

ST	7/17/14
NL	7/17/18

AERIAL NORMALS

Neutral Jumping Jab:

- Priority nerf: hitbox reduced 2px vertically, 6px forward and 14px backwards (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Unlike the ground moves, the aerial moves didn't get affected (priority wise) on ST when not wielding the claw, and I think they should.

+ Damage buff: from 4|4 to 14|12 (claw|clawless, respectively).

REASON: No air move should do so little damage, unless there's a reason for it, and I don't think it's the case here.

,

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ST		NL

4|4 ➔ 14|12

with claw|without claw

Diagonal Jumping Jab:

- Priority nerf: hitbox reduced 1px vertically 3px horizontally (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Unlike the ground moves, the aerial moves didn't get affected (priority wise) on ST when not wielding the claw, and I think they should.

+ Framedata buff: stays active for double the time it used to be.

REASON: As it is in ST there is no reason to use it because Strong outclasses it on all aspects.

+ Damage buff: from 4|4 to 14|12 (claw|clawless, respectively).

REASON: No air move should do so little damage, unless there's a reason for it, and I don't think it's the case here.

/,

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ST		NL

4|4 ➔ 14|12

with claw|without claw

Neutral Jumping Strong:

- Priority nerf: hitbox reduced 2px vertically, 6px forward and 14px backwards (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Unlike the ground moves, the aerial moves didn't get affected (priority wise) on ST when not wielding the claw, and I think they should.

,

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ST		NL

Diagonal Jumping Strong:

- Priority nerf: hitbox reduced 1px vertically 3px horizontally (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Unlike the ground moves, the aerial moves didn't get affected (priority wise) on ST when not wielding the claw, and I think they should.

- Damage nerf: from 20 to 18 (when the claw is dropped).

REASON: Some aerial punches didn't get affected (damage wise) on ST when not wielding the claw, and I think they should.

/,

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ST		NL

20|20 ➔ 20|18

with claw|without claw

Neutral Jumping Fierce:

- Priority nerf: hitbox reduced 2px vertically and moved 10px backwards (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Unlike the ground moves, the aerial moves didn't get affected (priority wise) on ST when not wielding the claw, and I think they should.

,

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ST		NL

Diagonal Jumping Fierce:

- Priority nerf: hitbox reduced 4px forward and 4px downwards (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Unlike the ground moves, the aerial moves didn't get affected (priority wise) on ST when not wielding the claw, and I think they should.

- Damage nerf: from 26 to 24 (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Some aerial punches didn't get affected (damage wise) on ST when not wielding the claw, and I think they should.

/,

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ST		NL

26|26 ➔ 26|24

with claw|without claw

SUPER / SPECIAL MOVES

All Specials/Super (minus Back Flips):

o Behavior tweak: Input window is no longer random and is fixed at the minimum value.

REASON: The input window on all special moves is now fixed to the minimum value of 7f instead of being random at 7~14f. Having random input timers makes no sense.

Short Back Slash:

-- Behavior nerf: super meter given decreased from 5 to 2 points.

REASON: was too easy and safe to fill the super meter.

++

5 ➔ 2

Flying Barcelona Attack (kick dive):

-- Behavior nerf: gives a fast knockdown (i.e. like a sweep) when hitting a opponent that is on the ground (still gives full knockdown against aerial opponents).

REASON: with this change the wall dive loop is finally gone. All the other rebalance ideas proved to not work properly so I am finally doing the last resort kind of change. With that said, this really feels very "natural" still, unlike in HDR that removed the knockdown completely. I should have done this sooner. Anyway, with this change the followup game from a wall dive is nerfed greatly, but at least Claw still gets the space and momentum advantages of having the opponent being knocked down, so going for it in neutral on the match ups that it was useful is still a valid option.

- Recovery/Behavior nerf: Claw can't block on the 1st grounded recovery frame after the little "hop".

REASON: so fast sweeps can be used as punisher when a dive is blocked. Before, claw had "trip guard" on it, so no matter how many frames I added to the grounded recovery, all that did was to force him to not move during that time, but he always could block as soon as the little "hop" ended. Now this problem is solved and claw can be punished properly.

- Recovery/Behavior nerf: Claw is now considered on the ground during the grounded frames of the little "hop" animation.

REASON: so he can be knocked down from sweeps and be thrown on these frames. This allows Zangief to counter Claw's dive with a sweep if Claw's spaces it so it can beat Zangief's Standing Rh with Dive's claw attack superior vertical priority, creating a mix-up situation. This of course has impact in other match-up's as well. This requires the low move to have considerable horizontal range though. This can be used by Dhalsim to punish claw with his Crouching Punches, but is obviously risky since his limbs can be hit by claw's attack if Claw decides to delay it.

- Behavior nerf: won't knockdown grounded opponents (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Just to emphasize more his dependency on having the claw.

+ Framedata buff: the claw attack changed for each version: Jab changed to 7/10/7 (Startup/Active/Recovery), Strong changed from 3/6/3 to 5/8/5, Fierce kept as is.

REASON: Just so now there is a reason to do the Flying Barcelona Attack with any button other than Fierce. Now, each version have it's own frame data, giving the other versions a reason to be used (Jab: slightly less damage and slower startup but also more active frames; Fierce: more damage and faster startup but also less active frames; Strong: in between Jab and Fierce).

- Dizzy nerf: reduced from 9~15 to 5~11 (when not wielding the claw only).

REASON: to emphasize his dependency on having the weapon.

.../,

'SURE YOU CAN ?

9~15|9~15 ➔ 9~15|5~11

with claw|without claw

ST	3/6/3
NL	7/10/7

ST	3/6/3
NL	5/8/5

ST	3/6/3
NL	3/6/3

Sky High Claw:

+ Behavior buff: no pushbox during the off the wall frames.

REASON: so it's now like the other horizontally moving moves (Blanka's Horizontal Beast Roll, E.Honda's Headbutt, Dictator's Psycho Crusher) in the sense that it can cross over in case it doesn't hit the opponent. This move was coded to make Claw land abruptly if there's a pushbox collision without a hitbox to hurtbox collision, and when that happened Claw was very easy to be punished. Now, Claw will just continue moving forward without hitting anything instead of landing, since that's preferable. I know, Claw is a very strong character and probably doesn't need buffs, but he received a very meaningful nerf (the loss of Wall Dive loops), so, just for NL Claw to not only be about nerfs, I think he deserves a few small buffs to make him unique in some good ways.

- Priority nerf: arm hurtbox during the button press attack nerfed 2px downwards.

REASON: So a well timed Standing Roundhouse from Zangief will always trade with it.

- Priority nerf: hitbox during the non-button press attack reduced 16px forward (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Just to emphasize more his dependency on having the claw.

- Priority nerf: hitbox during the button press attack reduced 14px forward (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Just to emphasize more his dependency on having the claw.

- Damage nerf: the non-button press attack reduced from 16 to 14 (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Just to enphasize more his dependency on having the claw.

- Damage nerf: the button press attack reduced from 28|30|32 to 24|26|28 (Jab|Strong|Fierce) (when his claw is dropped only).

REASON: Just to enphasize more his dependency on having the claw.

.../ (),


16 ➔ 14	28\|30\|32 ➔ 24\|26\|28
no button	button pressed
without claw	without claw

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ST		NL

Scarlet Terror:

-- Bug fix/behavior nerf: fix for the store bug.

REASON: all store bugs are being fixed.

- Priority nerf: hitbox on 1st active part reduced upwards by 20px.

REASON: won't hit as high so it won't beat N.Shoto Jab Shoryus anymore when they start near at the same time (this is more true for N.Ken than it is for N.Ryu tho). This also makes it a little harder to be used as an anti air (which is only fair): timing it too soon now will result in a trade (still favorable for Claw though, since he's not the one being knocked down).

o Priority fix: Forward version's 2nd active part when the claw is dropped is now exactly like when the claw is not dropped and is now a 1 hit move.

REASON: Just bug fixing. CAPCOM probably just forgot to fix the clawless version on the final adjustments of this move. Now they have the same hitbox (this difference was useless in ST) and are both a 1 hit move.

+ Damage buff: Forward version increased from 20 to 24 (when wielding the claw).

REASON: to be in between Short and Rh (with 3hit).

o Behavior fix/Damage tweak: Forward version 1st part damage increased from 20 to 24, 2nd part increased from 12 to 24 (when his claw is dropped).

REASON: for some odd reason, when the claw was dropped, the Forward version did the same damage as the Rh version, you could start the 3 hit juggle with it (this is removed on a change below).

- Damage nerf: Rh version on 1st part reduced from 20 to 12.

REASON: It does too much damage when landing twice for 3 hits. Now the first 2 hits do the same damage as 1 hit of the Short version. Then there will be the 3rd hit for additional damage.

- Damage fix/nerf: Rh version's 2nd active part reduced from 14 to 12 (when his claw is dropped).

REASON: Bug fixing... On ST this move actually does more damage than it normally would when the claw is dropped! Bizarre!

- Behavior nerf: Short and Forward versions can't juggle anymore.

REASON: this is not widely known, but the Rh version was only required on the first Scarlet Terror, for the last hit any version could be used. Since I am nerfing the damage on the Rh version to make that particular anti air combo less powerful, this change is needed to not allow players to do more damage than designed by doing the second Scarlet Terror with Short or Forward.

...

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ST		NL

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ST		NL		ST


/
20\|20+12 ➔ 24\|24	20+12\|20+14 ➔ 12+12\|12+12
with claw\|without claw	with claw\|without claw

Notes about match-ups:

Boxer:

Claw can't wall dive loop anymore so it was only fair that Boxer's throw loop vs Claw was made weaker. In ST, Claw had a very hard time dealing with Boxer's throw loop, because Boxer could negate the Scarlet Terror charge by doing a double side switch after the first grab, and then going for a Crouching Forward tick into walk up grab was almost inescapable for Claw, since that tick setup would put Boxer in such spacing that Claw's reversal throw wouldn't reach Boxer, but Boxer can then reach Claw a few frames after, grabbing him out of the startup of his normal. The Back Flips were no good either, since Boxer could just walk forward and grab him anyway. This meant Claw had only 1 way out: reversal throw before the tick happens, and he had only a 1f window to do this, which was very hard to pull off. Now he can escape with a 3K Back Flip, since Boxer's Close Standing Strong was now made slower, if Boxer's throw whiffs, he wont be able to reach Claw out of his Back Flip recovery. Of Course, Boxer can still make a read and just keep walking, without trying to grab right after the blocked Crouching Forward, to grab Claw out of the 3K Back Flip recovery.

Blanka:

His Horizontal Beast Rolls are now safe on hit, and that is by design. They're still punishable on block, but it must be done so with a slide. Punch normals can still work, but requires Claw to block the Beast Roll while standing (this matters because of how Claw's Standing hurtboxes are set up - when the Roll is blocked standing, the character's axes are closer to each other than if it was blocked crouching) and requires a very precise button press. This new punish will be very easy to do if the Roll is blocked standing, but is also possible if it's blocked crouching. This was also a valid punish in ST, but it required a stand block.

Ken:

Since Claw lost his store ability on the Scarlet Terror, i then removed the granted built-in safe jump Ken had after Knee Bash. Now it will only be a safe jumps sometimes (depends on which was the last animation frame on the grab), meaning if Ken jumps, he is gambling, because Claw may deny his landing with a Reversal Scarlet Terror.