Noticeable changes from v5.0 to v5.0a

I see that Elle got quicker rush attack moves, but other than her, Rudra and Shiva are slowed down. I use to see some Shiva strategy like BBB->dash forward to catch -> grab attack->jump over slam. Now he can't seem to be quick enough to dash forward when enemy is stunned by BBB.

I do not use those characters but just to be sure. Are you using SoR3 Pause delay (shorter time stop while hitting someone) + SoR3 Combo Type (walk/run allowed with no delay after hit)?

On a side note, Shiva Leg throw (Tomoe Nage) has been upgraded and is now fully functionnal against Bongo, but it can still be safe landed, and still have better damage than his body slam.

kmc wrote:Rudra and Shiva are slowed down.

No way. Rudra is still as fast as always, I still can do her rush combo, run & grab, double vault and rinse/repeat. It might have to be your pause delay.

thanks, so that's some settings I missed.

I'm really happy about the changes. It's nice to see all the bugfixes and balance issues being addressed, but really the things I wanted most were the fixing of the double vault exploit and SoR3 invulnerability on offensive specials back. The vault exploit was really hard for me not to abuse because well... Mania is so rough that it's hard to ignore that kind of an AI exploit for me. :PI notice that there's actually a few enemies you can immediately regrab safely like the SoR2 Electras after a double vault... but the majority of the enemies punish double vaults now like they should, so it's fine, not all enemies would seriously punish a double vault in the original games anyways.

I used to use Combined Pause Delay cause I felt like on SoR3 Pause Delay the SoR2 characters were basically just stronger versions that moved at the same speed, especially with respect to Axel and Skate's variants (SoR3 Blaze has a better Kikoushou than SoR2's in my opinion though and was pretty competitive). Now even under the fastest pause delay, the SoR3 characters have an advantage in that they get invulnerability frames no matter which special they use (which helps Axel a lot as it's very easy to accidentally use Dragon Smash and stand there punching thin air while you end up hit from behind).

Actually, there's another thing I noticed has changed: enemies will no longer aggressively break open containers in Mania. Before you used to see enemies walk up to boxes and break them on purpose. Now, the only way enemies get broken is if their attack happens to hit it incidentally (fat guy breathing flames and running at you, bikers throwing grenades) so it's much easier to save those health items like in the original games by not breaking open the boxes (enemies still seem to grab items though, I've just not yet seen an enemy break a box on purpose by running up to it, even on Mania).

The only things I'd like to see back currently are SoR3 Axel and Roo's ability to hit in front with their back attacks cause they could both do silly combos with this. Edit: actually Axel doesn't hit in front with back attack, I'm a derp. I just now notice the enemy faces the other way when Axel hits with the back punch, so it's hitting because he's standing so close to the enemy, not because he has a hitbox in front. Roo still used to hit in front with his, though. Wouldn't be entirely broken as it's easily interrupted on Mania's speed I imagine. That, and a 'Remake' weapon type that works like the best of all types - SoR1/3's ability to grab enemies and not drop your weapon, SoR1/2's no health drain, SoR2/3's ability to throw weapons (and allow poking with knives as opposed to SoR1 type where they are thrown weapons only) & SoR3's no picking up another weapon if you have one and attack while standing over a weapon (if I want to switch I can throw it away on my own thanks) and having using weapon specials (Blaze's invulnerable knife special, Shiva's insanely strong invulnerable sword special) drain the special gauge, so that even though the weapon doesn't have a health bar and won't break by simply hitting enemies, you can't spam an invulnerable attack for free.

But that's just me being greedy. Love the update, feels like it's got a superb coat of polish that makes it truly feel like a final version. Also love that the site's still around.

Okay, using 5.0a at current, tested a few things about it...and my own response is decidedly mixed. On one hand, it's nice to see that Elle has been made stronger and that the Raven kickboxers are no longer blocking as constantly as before. On the other hand...Abadede appears to me to have been SIGNIFICANTLY WEAKENED. On 5.0 flat, he was one of the more challenging bosses, and I always enjoyed that; with 5.0a, he's a major disappointment for me (I didn't even have to break open the boxes with the food to save myself at all). Poor Abadede.  

Abadede is still tough, he's just more like he was in SoR2 where he was difficult, but still exploitable without being crazy broken. Remember that Abadede is supposed to represent both his SoR2 and SoR1 forms, and he was frankly ridiculous on Mania. The game is still extremely hard, especially when Abadede shows up with helpers. SoR1 Abadede could simply be jabbed to death, like many enemies.

SoR2 is tougher, but there's plenty of AI loops to use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLWPPwMm2j8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qowz92WBCNQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69-5TBDMYY0

I think maybe you're so used to Abadede being hard that you forgot that he does have some fairly exploitable AI in SoR2, whereas he was quite brutal in 5.0 even if you were playing cheap. Even in the update you can't simply rely on specials as he still attacks quite fast anyways.

bareknuckleroo wrote:I think maybe you're so used to Abadede being hard that you forgot that he does have some fairly exploitable AI in SoR2, whereas he was quite brutal in 5.0 even if you were playing cheap. Even in the update you can't simply rely on specials as he still attacks quite fast anyways.

I will admit right now, I never did get to fight Abadede in the original SoR2 (whether on the console or via emulator). But when I fought him (as Z. Kusano) on Stage 8 while playing SoRR's SoR2 path two nights ago, and playing on Mania mode, even then I pretty much had to LURE him into performing his dashing attack - as in, actively stand longer than three seconds in his way to get him to use it. And his flexing attack only got used every other time I tried to combo him.

Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed that it's much easier to hit enemies with Skate's forward-A pipe special...in 5.0 you'd be lucky to get a single hit.