Existing Character Balance
Note that this is all a work-in-progress as I continue to ponder the game and its characters. Characters will be presented in alphabetical order; Capcom side first, then Marvel side separately. Characters with particularly lengthy notes will get their own page (eventually every character may have their own page once I've thought about them enough). Some inspiration for these changes come from the "UMvC3 EX" mod, or the "UMvC3 Moderate Balance" mod. Such ideas will be noted with an asterisk at the end of the change (and, if it's just slightly tweaked from such a change, an additional comment, such as "* but lesser").
Overall Game Balance:
- TAC Infinites removed.
- X-Factor duration adjusted from 10s/15s/20s to 10s/12.5s/15s.
- X-Factor speed and minimum scaling boosts remain the same. X-Factor level 1 damage boost removed except for characters who get no speed boost at level 1; theirs is instead cut in half. Current XF1 damage boost becomes new XF2 damage boost, current XF2 damage boost becomes new XF3 damage boost.
Capcom
Akuma
Amaterasu
- Gamma assist Bloom recovery changed from 180f to 177f. Increase hyper meter gain from 3000 to 3200.
- Level 3 Hyper Divine Instruments damage increased to 405,000 from 400,000.
- More to come in the future... probably emphasizing her point value.
Arthur
C. Viper
Chris
- Grenade Toss L maximum duration increased to 120 frames (from 90).
- Combination Punch L now has 1 hit of armor from frames 4-13, is now -5 on block, cannot proceed to its follow-ups on block, only on hit.
- Sweep Combo is now invincible from frames 2-16 (until the end of the first attack).
- Prone Position input changed to dd+S.
- Prone Position now allows Chris to throw his opponents.*
- New move: Tactical Roll. Press S during Prone Position to perform a backwards roll that results in him standing (travels slightly shorter distance than his backdash, in slightly more time).
- New move: Herbs. dd+L/M/H. Can only perform each once per point period (must leave and re-enter the field to be able to use again). Consuming an herb takes about 20 frames. L herb converts 150k red health into yellow health over the course of 6 seconds. M herb rewards Chris with 2880 meter over the course of 6 seconds (8 meter per frame). H herb boosts Chris's defense by 20% for 6 seconds.
- New move: f+M in the air. A straight-across aerial gunshot. 17f startup, in recovery until grounded, cannot cancel into anything but X-Factor, deals 50k damage.
- Chris is a zoner of the Sagat school: an immobile fortress with a variety of angles, powerful projectiles, healthy, and deals big damage. His mines often allow him to trade favorably when people rush in on him (not just because they let him get a full combo whereas the opponent merely touches Chris once, but also because of his high health) and he controls the ground very well. Unfortunately, he gets dominated by people who can rain projectiles down on him from the air, which includes many top tiers. Now he has a weak, slow, low-reward, committal air-to-air option so they don't get COMPLETELY free reign over him, but more importantly, his ability to set up the ground for when they eventually return is stronger, and he's able to heal and buff himself to put pressure on such an opponent who runs away from him. Additionally, he has better defensive options in the form of armor and iframes to deal with speedy rushdown (Sagat has this in his games, why not Chris?).
Chun-Li
- Health increased to 900,000 (from 850,000).
- Kikoken M recovery reduced by 1f. Kikoken H recovery reduced by 2f. L projectile lasts for however many frames it needs to just barely reach full-screen (same applies to assist version). Kikoken M now travels a slightly shorter distance than the old L did, and H now travels just a hair shy of the distance M previously traveled.
- New input: qcb+P for Hyakuretsu Kyaku (aka "Lightning Legs" or just "Legs") (can still mash to increase duration).
- Mashed Hyakuretsu Kyaku now deals 17k damage per hit. (This gives easier access to legs while rewarding players who are used to the old way. Everybody wins. Chun is so hard to do combos with and it's not entirely justified for the reward she gets.)
- OTG Yosokyaku pops characters up a little bit higher and with slightly more hitstun early on. (Another ease-of-use change.)
- Minimum damage scaling on all Normals increased from 10% to 15%.
- j.u+H command normal - her split kick that is her typical neutral jump Heavy Kick in Street Fighter games. Hitbox is wide and can cross-up.
- Crouching Light gains one additional frame of hitstun and blockstun (going from 0/-1 to +1/0, respectively) and deals 36k damage instead of 33k. I don't see why anyone would use this move, currently, so let's give it some minor benefit over Standing Light (which can already anti-air).
- Gains Shichisei Ranka level Hyper Combo 3 in the air (dp+PP in the air). Has 1f of invincibility at the start, travels 80% of the screen (and quickly), deals 395k damage. In full recovery until she lands. Opponent goes into brief hard knockdown.
- New Beta Assist (replaces Tenshokyaku M): "Gomen Ne!" She performs her taunt and gains 3000 meter. Similar frame data to Morrigan version.
- Start-up of Kakukyakuraku (f+H) reduced to 27f. Causes a hard knockdown on airborne opponents. Cancellable into an airdash at its apex. Can cancel into special moves, hyper combos, or S. (This gives this move niche combo applications, a more usable start-up, and more flexiblity in Chun's mix-ups; now she could either do a 2-hit high air series before going into a low, or land and go straight into the low, even on small opponents.)
- Chun-Li is an interesting take on a runaway character in the Vs. series in this iteration. She spends a lot of time in the air above her opponent, but she doesn't have very rewarding options for being up there, and her combos are very hard to do for not as much reward as other characters. This should give her more air combat options and increase her damage, as well as help ease her execution requirements slightly.
Dante
Felicia
Firebrand
Frank West
- Gamma assist Pick Me Up recovery changed from 177f to 165f. Increase hyper meter gain from 3000 to 3100.
- More to come in the future...
Haggar
Hsien-Ko
- Increased walkspeed, perhaps nearly doubled.
- Senpu Bu (pendulum swings), upon reaching active frames, can be cancelled with S.*
- Anki Hou (item toss) H version OTGs.
- More to come... she's going to need a lot.
Jill
Morrigan
- Soul Drain durability lowered to 3 points (from 5).*
- Soul Drain start-up reduced to 24f (from 26f).
- Soul Drain damage increased from 85k to 90k.
- Soul Drain causes slightly longer float hitstun on airborne opponents; blockstun unchanged.
- Gamma assist Dark Harmonizer recovery increased to 28 (from 25). * but lesser
- Astral Vision recovery increased from 13f to 15f.
- Air and Ground Soul Fist damage decreased from 85k to 75k.
- Unfly recovery increased from 1f to 2f.
- Morrigan cannot build meter during Astral Vision unless she uses a meter-stealing/building move.
- New move: dd+S, performs point Dark Harmonizer. 15f start-up, 28f recovery, lets next non-S Soul Fist steal 500 meter.
- New move: hcb+S Vector Drain, 7f start-up, M Vector Drain's reach, L Vector Drain's damage, but 32f recovery (4f worse than the previous worst version in this regard, H Vector Drain). Cannot be cancelled into flight. Drains 3000 meter from the opponent.
- Essentially, this makes it so Morrigan has to specifically work for the meter if she wants to keep up her Soul Fist barrage. However, she can also use these tools outside of her install to increase her total meter gain. I made Soul Drain a little bit faster and a little better at juggling to help with this. I also think the meter-stealing her Soul Drain does helps emphasize the succubus angle and I think that's neat, so I'd like to further emphasize it.
Nemesis
Phoenix Wright
Ryu
Ryu's Changes
Spencer
Strider Hiryu
Trish
Tron Bonne
- Jumping Heavy hit properties restored to vanilla MvC3 (i.e. reduced knockback).*
- More to come in the future...
Vergil
- Lowered priority on Spiral Swords from Hyper to Medium (projectile supers win as well as strong non-hypers such as Arthur's golden armor lance). Might need to adjust points it has so it doesn't really get beaten by non-hypers in general either.
- More to come in the future... probably tweaking what his non-Rapid Slash assists are to be cooler and maybe a tiny point buff to make up for this nerf.
Viewtiful Joe
Wesker
Zero
- Sougenmu is a level 3 but Zero can build meter during it.
- Sougenmu duration increased from 300f to 365f (5 seconds -> ~6 seconds).
- Raikousen (Lightning, air dp+P) meter gain reduced from 1000 to 960.
- Hyper Zero Blaster Level 3 meter gain reduced from 960 to 940.
- Special Move minimum scaling reduced to 25% (from 30%).
- Hold H during Rekkoha's flash to change it to Rakuhouha. A half-circular fan of fireballs radiates out from Zero all the way across the screen (pictured below). Less damage than Rekkoha, but comes out moderately faster than it. True soft knockdown on hit, opponent carried away by the blast. Moderately unsafe on block point-blank. Does not OTG.
- Explanation for this change: Sougenmu becoming a level 3 means Zero has difficulty accessing a strong tool for DHCing in, and has completely lost a tool for DHCing out. The former is acceptable, but the latter is perhaps harsh. Rakuhouha gives Zero a new tool for his meter usage that doesn't deal much damage but does give him better DHC-out options. Since it deals low damage (approximately ~230k let's say) and is unsafe on block up-close, it fills a very different niche than Rekkoha. And since it causes a soft knockdown, it also gives you a choice; end a combo in Rekkoha (which deals more damage but has a less useful hit state afterwards making DHCing finnickier) or end it with Rakuhouha (soft knockdown allows follow-ups into previously un-DHCable supers for Zero like Dante's Million Dollars). Since it's faster than Rekkoha, it also allows Zero to be somewhat able to use tricks like doing a team super with Dante, finishing before he does, and acting while he locks them down.
- Pictured: Rakuhouha from Mega Man X4
Marvel
Captain America
Deadpool
Dormammu
Dr. Doom
- Hidden Missiles disappear when Dr. Doom is hit as an assist. They already are the best anti-air assist in the game, along with providing lockdown, pressure, OTGs for incredible and unique combo extensions, and more. They don't ALSO need to be one of the best defensive assists in the game.
- His standing S is now -5 on block (from -1). He already has an alternate launcher in f+H Hard Kick which can be dash cancelled for more pressure; if he fails to hit confirm ONE of his 2 launchers, then it might be possible he'll be tagged with a Light.
- More to come... some tiny buffs to balance these nerfs out a little. Maybe something for Rocks assist or some niche point tool.
Dr. Strange
Ghost Rider
Hawkeye
Hulk
Iron Fist
Iron Man
Magneto
M.O.D.O.K.
Nova
- Nova can perform Gravimetric Pulse L or M in front of a powered-up Gravimetric Pulse H to sacrifice the H shield and turn the L/M versions into a beam (same angles as the original moves, beam does 3 hits, 45k each for 121,950 raw, 3 frames X 3 points of low-priority durability, soft knockdown)
- j.H loses 1 frame of hitstun, is now input with j.d+H (so he can't option-select throws); new j.H that's basically s.M in the air (like he does for j.HP in Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite)
Phoenix
Rocket Raccoon
Sentinel
She-Hulk
- Crouching Light is once again chainable into itself.
- Crouching Heavy has its Vanilla travel distance restored.
- More to come... this just puts her back at Vanilla status, where she'll still be terrible. She'll need more than this to get her right.
Shuma-Gorath
Spider-Man
Storm
Super-Skrull
Taskmaster
Thor
Wolverine
X-23