Raphael Wishlist 2.0

WuHT

WuHT

Premium Moderator
I'm making the replacement thread here to set down the ground rules (not to poo-poo on anyone)

This one here, everyone is entitled to their own opinion (hence we dont need to go attack each other's ideas here), but please keep it to one post per person and edit your post if you change or have a new idea.

Discussion on your own and other people's ideas belong in the other appropriate threads. I will edit posts if people forget the purpose of this wishlist thread (its not a discussion thread fellows)

Guess popular opinion wants this to turn into a discussion thread, and i'm tired of deleting/merging posts.

SC5 Wishlist:

  1. Bug/hitbox fixes – 22B crimple alignment fixed asap. As I understand it, there is only 4 possible angles that an opponent can crumple and when raph hits them at any angle other than directly in front, directly from the sides or directly from the back, there is a significant chance that his follow-through 3B will whiff due to the way the opponent collapses after eating 22B. This is easily replicated by stepping 45 degrees to either direction of your opponent to 22B and you'll see your opponent crumple 90 degrees and your 3B will whiff behind them as they crumple "forward" to raph's side. I don't know if its a simple fix to re-align the victim, or maybe a fatter 3B hit box (yes please!) like 6K. Importance : 10/10
  2. Bug/hitbox fixes – 4B on hit (at slightly closer than tip range) causes a stupid staggering bounce where the opponent bounces just out of range of your prepBB guaranteed follow-through. This only occurs at that particular range, as – while 4B attacks cause the opponent to bounce backwards a bit (except tip range) – they bounce far enough so prepBB fails to hit which really makes guard impact risky and frustrating as well as punishing certain moves can result in a whiff. Importance : 9/10
  3. Bug/hitbox fixes – A+BA against grounded opponents seem to depend very much on how they are aligned. I agree that scoring all 3 hits against a grounded opponent is pretty absurd damage for Raphael, but at the same time whiffing all 3 attacks is a common occurrence and is quite bothersome. The opponent needs to be splayed on the ground across Raph, as opposed to having their head or feet towards Raph. Consistency please ? The 3rd hit of A+BA should have more accurate re-alignment, especially if the 2nd hit actually connects. Importance : 3/10
  4. Bug/hitbox fixes – 3A on CH pushes the opponent sometimes out of range of 3B, BB and AA which means now that Raph may have to risk throwing out a 66A (which is noticeably slower than does only 22 damage) just to try to stop their quick-step. The pushback should be reduced so that the opponent is at tip range of BB/AA (plus the pushback fix for AA) in order to force the mixup it was originally intended. Importance : 4/10
  5. Bug/hitbox fixes - 66A+B (upclose) launching opponent backwards so far that BT B+K does not hit. That is probably just poor testing than intentional. Importance : 6/10
  6. Bug Hitbox fix: 2nd hit of AA, 33KB, 33K (BE) may not necessarily connect because at certain ranges the 1st hit pushes them out too far. This is just laziness or poor design imo. There is even a certain range where the 2nd hit of 6BB and prepBB will whiff due to the pushback from the 1st hit. This doesn't occur nearly as much so its not as critical as the other moves listed above. Importance : 9/10
  7. Character moveset design: 22A vs 33A vs 22K vs 4A. All these are sixteen damage. That is 1 more damage than 15 which seems like such a insignificant number (less than AAs for all characters). Maybe this damage would have been barely acceptable in SC4, but this is SC5 now. There is very little differentiation between the moves too, which is something that should be tweaked so each is used in different circumstances. A) 33A being the short-mid ranged mid horizontal with barely positive on hit/CH and unsafe on block. B) 22A is high, barely faster, and is negative on hit, but a nice CH spin for juicy frames. C)22K being the short ranged, high CH fisher that is safe on block. D) 4A being the fastest, tracking high with built in evasion, but compensated for being negative on NH and CH. Horizontals like these are laughable if they are on any other character. I accept 22A being negative on NH given its range, but being 16 damage on CH with no guaranteed followup is pretty weak. Would it kill them to give him 20 damage for that ? Given 33A's short range and tiny advantage on hit, does it justify it being -16 on block for only 16 damage ? I understand that his horizontals are not supposed to be powerful by any stretch, but that doesn't mean it has to be laughable. Importance : 8/10
  8. Gameplay balance – 3B being 18 damage. Eighteen pitiful damage for something that is -14 on block. Why must you force us to enter preparation or resort to using this poke only for guaranteed punish situations ? 24 damage is a suggestion, but the key is that it must be over 20 damage to avoid the orange life bar reduction that affects too many of Raph's moves. It feels that 3B got unfairly adjusted so that it wont conflict with BB (which wasn't a good move to begin with). Importance : 8/10
  9. Gameplay balance – prepK being i20 while being the only mid option. Plus, the move is very easy to step at close range (Raph's right is steppable at any distance while stepping to raph's left requires a deeper step). Also, it's surprisingly short ranged. I accept it being a short ranged, mid horizontals that needs to be unsafe (-i16), but buff prepK BE to have 100% tracking (same logic as maxi's LI A BE). Prep K doesn't need 100% tracking as far as I'm concerned. I don't know why prep K is only 18 damage and even on hit for being the "heavy and unsafe" move from prep though. Raph does have combo potential on CH but imo the combo dmg should be 50+ and not 30ish damage on CH. PrepK should return to being 30 damage on NH and at least give some advantage on hit. Importance : 9/10
  10. Gameplay balance - 1A has terrible numbers associated with it. Its not particularly fast at i20, is -16 on block. On hit, it's -4. To top it off, its only TEN damage. There are very few moves with lower damage than this one. I would like to see a damage buff to this just to make it worth using as a low poke(16 to 18 damage). Additionally, increased pushout only on hit (and only at close range) would be acceptable if it stays at -4 on hit. If the mandate is that it must remain low damage, then 1A will have to end up being like xianghua's invisible low pokes that sweep and that would make Raph terribly annoying. Importance : 10/10
  11. Gameplay balance – 3(B)~prepAB being very range-dependent for punishing -16 as a lot of the times prepA is simply too short ranged to connect. Seems too ambiguous and will lead to a lot of frustration (but not as bad as 22B crumple mis-alignments). Probably would classify this as a "buff 6A and prepA range" to make them useable after a 6B(B) transition as opposed to only a 3(B) transition. Importance : 3/10
  12. Gameplay balance – SE stance seems to last unnecessarily long (19 frames). Too tell-tale considering Raph has to choose a prep entry move, enter prep, then input SE which makes reacting to this move all too easy. Decreasing the duration would allow raph to apply more pressure and fish for whiffs and baits as the opponents will be more pressured and less time to play passive and react. Importance : 5/10
  13. Gameplay balance – SE A on block changed to something that can sustain offense, but not too strong. Prep into SE can be dealt with step-guarding because SE stance takes so long before you are allowed an input. Maybe even on block is too strong, so maybe -2 to -4 is a good sweet spot. Importance : 7/10
  14. Gameplay balance – 2_8B+K to track to their respective sides regardless of how deep the opponent steps. I don't care if it's negative on hit or under 25 damage, it'll be worth it to have a reliable 100% tracking to one side (which means only 50% IF you guess they are stepping in the first place). Eitherway, using this move strictly for B+K evade setups is really lacking. Importance : 7/10
  15. Gameplay balance – B+K to have early active auto-evade window (frames 3 to 12 ?) as opposed to later (like 10-27). For a character with little offensive potential from combos or 50/50 mixups, Raph could gain some offense from his defense. Currently, there is a whole mess of problems. B+K is anticipatory as opposed to reactionary due to the slowness of the active frames as it is better off manually stepping the move. It doesn't actually aGI so nothing is guaranteed, as well as you run the chance of teleporting into the 2nd hit of the string and eating a CH for your "read". The attack only triggers when the auto-evade triggers, but certain moves recover faster than the attack so they simply just have to crouch the last hit and punish raph for his "counter move". Due to the opponent's animation, they may not always be BT on hit. In a nutshell, the primary change should be that the auto-evade frames should be earlier. For reliability's sake the attack should always turn the opponent BT on hit, and should end with a mid attack as opposed to high attack. Importance : 10/10
  16. Aesthetic – 4A+B aGI: Why does it still do the multi-stab into 3B animation when it is already existent as 6BB BE or prepBB BE? Should totally bring back SC4's 44B attack-throw animation (heck i'll accept it returning for only 48 damage and less the wallsplat potential of the SC5 current version). Importance : ?/10
Summary:
Fix hitbox/whiff/realignment issues
Better damage on pokes (10% to 20% damage increase max)
More useful auto-evades and aGIs.
"SC4 influenced wishlist"
  1. 2_8B+K to track to their respective sides regardless of how deep the opponent steps. I don't care if it's negative on hit or under 25 damage, it'll be worth it to have a reliable 100% tracking to one side (which means only 50% IF you guess they are stepping). What I’m willing to give up: Lose the 60 NH combo damage. Even if it knocks down for a simple 2K/2B I’m more than happy.
  2. B+K to have a super early active auto-evade window (frames 2 to 10 ?) as opposed to later (like 10-20). What I’m willing to give up: Considering that VE A is the only forced option, and that it does pretty low damage there is not much to give up. Evading moves does not guarantee the damage unlike an aGI would, and even risks eating a CH from the opponent’s 2nd hit in their string. However, I’m willing to trade VE A’s crazy + frames on block and even crazier + frames on hit and forced backturn IF VE has more than 1 option. I’m even willing to consider for it to cost METER if the evade window if Raph gets different and more devastating attack options from VE (including with aGI properties).
  3. 33B to track against people who make shallow steps only. How this can be accomplished is that the move should begin to re-align/track later in its animation (at the end of Raph’s side step instead of the beginning of the step) and to compensate Raph’s maximum angle of tracking should remain small. This “maximum angle of tracking” can be best envisioned thinking of Ivy’s 214B where, once you reach a certain angle to her alignment she’ll whiff completely and miserably. That way, opponents who make shallow steps and hold guard will be matched by Raph’s own 33B, and they’ll remain within Raph’s alignment for him to poke them in the toes. What I’m willing to give up: Lose some NH damage (if the move drops to 20 damage that is fine), and I’m even considering losing the toe-hop stun if the tracking improves to be better than what I suggested.
  4. His anti-step horizontals should give a side-step CH specific stun. This won’t be triggered if you counterhit them from attacking or backdashing. This is a buff for moves like his SC2 4A (maybe a spin stun on side-step CH for a small mixup from raph), and nerf to his SC4 4A (having crumple stun only available for side-step CH means the move should be safer on block or even + frames on NH). What I’m willing to give up: Tradeoffs already mentioned above. In fact, I do not believe it appropriate for Raph to have insane NH properties and damage on his quick step kill moves.
  5. Prep 8 = hop evade “stance” (great idea from fendante). I however see other follow ups as more reasonable. SC4 prep K:K would actually look natural from his twirl hop evade. His SC4 44B attack throw animation could be his B attack from hop evade. And I don’t really have any suggestions for his hop evade A, so it may be a step-kill option of his SC2 hop evade AB command. What I’m willing to give up: The problem (and this can be discussed in an entire “Prep analysis thread”) is that hop evade will kill 2K, 2A, but Prep currently is still vulnerable to TCing mids, like sieg’s 3B.
  6. Retreat step (SC2 214 motion). I can live without the advance step 236, as Raph rushing arm’s length to an opponent for a grab mixup seems un-fencer like. The retreat step is totally overly dramatic, exaggerated and flamboyant, which means its perfect for Raph. The pain from losing 44B from neutral stance will be greatly alleviated by the return of his SC2 214. What I’m willing to give up: Err make sure he doesn’t end up overpowered with both this and a seung-mina like backdash.
  7. SC2 214B to return. Well, in honestly that’s just a template move. The properties I would like to see is Raph having a fencer-esque looking move that aGIs weak attacks (under 20 damage, no knockdown, like nightmare A+B) and ending with a poke. I’m not suggesting anything as powerful and brain dead as asura, but if his SC2 214B returned with a anti-weak move aGI, I can see it slotting into Raph’s fencer poking game nicely. I guess 4A+B “could” be this suggested move, but I have a soft spot for his 214B (cuz that sucker rings out!) What I’m willing to give up: Err.. I’d give up his 6B+K for this!
  8. Prep 214 retreat shouldn't have a "2" command as it seems like it will conflict with prep 2 (SE sway). Maybe just simplify to prep 4 instead of prep 214
Overall, I’d like Raph’s gameplay to enable more intelligent and deliberate poking, using his verticals for damage and spacing, and his horizontals for step-killing.

I think it’s imperative that Raphael be given solid options when at frame disadvantage (good evades, tech crouches, VE, aGI) without changing the entire momentum of the round with 1 lucky guess.

Also, I believe he “should” be able to easily and fluidly switch between a spacing + poking game with stance-enhanced rushdown strings.

I don’t believe that he should be a 50/50 mid low mixup/knock down type character or the type to fish for a giant safe launcher combo where he proceeds to chase you down for wake-up pressure. His main source of damage should come primarily from pokes and then reading and reacting to the opponent's frustration with the proper evade/aGI/whiff bait/CH.

I do not see him being a great guard crusher (in SC4 his soul gauge to me was more mystical than physical damage), which should be compensated for him having many useable “invisible” low pokes to draw a reaction from the opponent safely.
 
So the problem with Raphael as current is that his relatively weak linear moves do nothing to make up for his even worse horizontal game. He is a fencer, and should play as such. Thus, he needs to utilize fencing maneuvers to properly emulate the style. However, fencing and Soul Calibur are two completely different things. Hell, in 2 out of 3 mainstream forms of fencing, you're not even allowed to use the edge of your blade to score points! But there are many ways that Namco could make Raphael a much more realistic - and thus, a much better - fencer.

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MOVEMENT
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Advance - Basic forward movement; utilized as 6 in game, should be a relatively large range compared to others

Retreat - Basic backward movement usually into en garde stance; utilized as 4 in game and would leave Raphael in neutral

Fleche - A move in which the fencer sprints past his opponent; can be utilized as a Special Movement that allows a free attack if a attack is successfully anticipated and dodged

In Quartata - a quarter turn to the inside; Vurkolak Envelopment is essentially this

Lunge - an essential part of fencing where a large forward movement is made; used to successfully punish whiffs from middle to long range, or to attempt to bait a reaction when used from long range

Recovery - a return to en garde (neutral) from any other stance; essentially it shouldn't be so hard to get out of Preparation.

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BLADEWORK
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Attaque au Fer/Beat - an attack specifically aimed at the opponent's weapon to put them off balance and create an opening; can be utilized as a Guard Break or Guard Crush move in-game. (AA is called "Attaque au Fer" in game and most definitely is NOT one.)

Conversation - back and forth play of blades; can be seen in game as both characters using safe moves and then blocking their opponents' safe reprisal, repeated ad nauseum. Trying to get the opponent to do this should be the focus of Raphael's game, and he should have a better ability to be successful in this kind of a fight.

Feint - making your opponent think you're going to attack, and then not attacking. Can be used to provoke a reaction or create an opening. Can be utilized in game as aG, bG, etc; moves, which Raphael has traditionally had very few of.

Posting - holding the weapon farther down the handle, which gives longer reach at the cost of power and accuracy; can be a long range, weak, linear poke in-game.

Redoublement - attacking immediately after having an attack miss, fall short, or be parried; being able to interrupt successful GIs is stupid so limit it to giving him the option of adding a weak hit after certain moves. e.g. 236bB, the 236B part whiffs, but the second hit is a quick slash or hit that does little damage, doesn't track, is negative on CH and very unsafe block, and under no circumstance can combo, but is quick enough to interrupt if Raphael guesses correctly. The whiff must be anticipated and planned for, thus the slide input - making it 236BB would make it so people would be unreasonably terrified of attacking immediately after 236B, since you could input the second B on reaction. This needs to be a decision that is realized as it's about to whiff, not after it has.

Riposte - an attack after a successful parry; essentially an aGI with guaranteed followups on a successful GI.

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PREPARATION
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Preparation - Any action that comes before an attack; in Raphael's case, the stances.

Balestra - a sudden jump forward during Preparation; just give Prep a TJ movement without an attack on it.

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OTHER
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Invitation - essentially letting your opponent make the next move. Raphael's SCIV taunt is a great example of this, as it has a great step forward, but completes with stepping completely back to his starting place.

Essentially, Raphael needs to have extremely powerful verticals to make up for his nearly non-existent horizontal and tracking moves. In practice this has been a problem because:
  1. Raphael's verticals have not been extremely powerful, only "good" at best.
  2. Step G has made having a powerful step-killing move almost necessary to even compete.
SC5 has already been shown to have solved one of these problems. Step G is no longer, and Quick Step is a fully committal defensive option. Have Raphael's verticals lose to a well timed Quick Step, but give them just enough tracking to beat both a regular side step (2 and 8) and a Quick Step at sufficient negative frames (dependent on the moves), or rather an "ill-timed" Quick Step. If it becomes absolutely necessary to have a step-kill, make them rather weak as to not make him a character with no weaknesses. SC4 8B+K and 2B+K sound good in theory, but in practice they didn't catch step because they assumed that Step G didn't exist. The same moves could, in SC5 (and with a possibly more acute angle in relation to the opponent), be his "linear step-kill" option. They each cover a single side, but they cover that side absolutely.

The second problem is properly making Raphael's verticals powerful enough without making it so he doesn't even have to play his own game - that is, he shouldn't be able create a stupid, safe, invisible mixup that gives heavy damage and guard damage with his verticals. Instead, they need to be good enough that the opponent wants to try and get Raphael to use his risky step-kills and horizontals instead of his powerful verticals, but also need to be tame enough that the opponent can beat Raphael at his own game if Raphael gets predictable with his attacks and movements. I have no idea how to do that. Good luck, Namco.
 
Bring back sc4 prep k a+k 4b+k and 8a+b

also keep 4a -2 on ch thats totally fine how it is
 
Fix 33B tracking
Bring back SCIII's Prep B+K
Change 6_2_8B+K to its SCIII form
Eliminate 4B+K and use the command for something actually useful
Bring back A+K AE too, and make all the options from it accesible again (if the SCV AE only leads to VE A as said on the wiki)
 
Give prep a solid mid : either does good damage and is unsafe, either it's safe and does limited damage.
Prep K seems too limited and prep kBE's second hit is a high, making it easy to dodge.

And he needs a real retrat/counter move like Leixia's 44B or Mitsu's 4B. Raph's 44B, in its present form, is too weak : slow and poor backstep.
 
1. Advance step
2. Retreat step
3. Prep sidesteps into preparation, but during the sidesteps a set of moves like if you go into prep
and sidestep and press AB during the step animation he does his scIV 44AB. but if you let the animation complete itself he just twirls and goes back into preparation. This would be epic!
4. OMG the pokes and the pokes with aGI's and pokes that go back into preparation (like sc2's 214B.)
5. prep sidestep into shadow evade or this new prep hop idea or both :)
6. His oldschool bounce ready to strike :)
7. preparation out of every level of triple botta in tempo (just to mix it up, 6(B)~SE A or 6BB(B) the opponent thinks they can counter but Raphael goes into SE.
8. I'd like to see the return of scII 214B auto GI. :) and how bout some stabbing, SCIV 4A+B :)
9. Flashier looking fencing stance and moves. Steps for distance and spacing. More moves into preparation like the 8wr version of his SCIV 8A+B which would have some use if you are actually stepping around.
 
1. Give him a win quote that refers to his hat (armor break) ~Idea by Runemaster
2. Please test his keepaway options carefully.
3. New 4B. ((27 February): animation)
  • It's animation just doesn't look good in V.
  • If 4B is still safe, just give a new animation.
  • If 1K is safe, perhaps 4B is Night Botte -> quick TC high (no prep)
  • If 236B isn't a reliable TC, make 4B the advancing Night Botte - TC, high, huge step forward on other leg.
4. SC3 2*8B+K. Hit deep step only, but for the love of God, catch attackers and wide stance characters like Aeon when it looks like it should, not just in obscure , memorize with 40 hours of testing, situations.
5. Please don't change a thing about 6B+K. (27 February)
6. Keep his command list short and sweet.
7. Something unique with teleporting.

>> (27 February) Points 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 achieved!
Not that I'd expect these changes to happen in a patch, but:
8. Give 33A (BE) to do the cut back across and then (old FC 3B) low poke . Combo.
9. Make Prep K (BE) into Prep (K). Really? Meter as a gimmick move? I'd be willing to commit on input to do it, not give up a GI.
 
Keep 2A exactly as it is, but make it a true low. That'll make Prep entry much more likely, and be his cheap little low that defines him, but his remaining weaknesses exist.
 
edited:
scV raph is just wrong completely wrong...
look at how its played and think what happens replacing stuns/damage with an aGI >.>

give raph back his poke damage/tracking from scIV or just rethink his prep games at all....it makes no sense having 2 players dancing around for 3 rounds with sporadic fast low or high...

lacks of non linear threats makes raph a joke

antistep tools would've worked in scIV but not in a game where you can punish for half health and every character can match raph's range...

6BB is awesome unfortunately it doesn t cover the problem.
Preps are horribad in ANY form and mixup, 44AB is a joke, prep4 instead of the old stun chain is simply illogic (wht GIing on HIT ?_?)

i wonder if raph have been tested at all or just have been given random tools for scV without taking in accounts the difference in gameplay.

I think it will be clear when we'll see how raph will be played at higher competition....if he'll ever be considering everyone is abandoning him.

I hope it will be seriously reBalanced completely....

KowtowRobinson said:
I think the 22B combos need to be fixed so they don't randomly whiff, and MAYBE give prep K better tracking. That's enough honestly, I think he's fine as is. The 22B is a must fix, the prep K would just be a HUGE luxury. He doesn't even really need it considering you can just let prep rock for a second and retrack anyway.
Click to expand...
yeah and having any prep mixup punished on hit by more than half cast is also tasty.....

prepK is THE ONLY thing tht prevent most characters to have an all around answer to preps on hit, unfortunately prep K is not a huge threat and its unsafe.....only prepK BE is a threat but its sucks due to range and whiffs.

if you think that asta is the only who can punish reliably raph prep on hit you are wrong...SE is not even an option, prep 4 is risky does work only against few characters.

Basically HUGE risk, where the reward is not to deal huge damage but to enter a mixup?
Raphael lacks potential he will plummet as players gains experience in the matchup...and having tools is a poor excuse if risk/reward is not balanced....

Really defending raph as it is, is not good expecially since facts says raph is not doing well in competitions.
You want to say you read minds and are awesome players? cool, but think also that other players would like to have a balanced game where NO character is accepted as "not tournament worthy".

cool story...i could win in theory with only 2K and BB....

does this make raph balanced?
is this a point that explains why half cast can punish preps on hit with reverse mixups hugely against raph?

i don t think so
People ask for nightmare and patsuka buff in other sections, here we have to learn to use subpar limited tools?

well do you think thay they could change raph moveset with a patch?
i don t think so :|
I think the most they will do is changing frame/damage and maybe moves properties (high/mid)

Mr.Hai said:
Fixes


15.Prep A+B. Safer on block. This move is still too risky for anything other than a 66B followup, while lows are nerfed in general, a linear low only available from stance shouldn't be worse than lows from neutral. Realigns before the stab? (A+B) transitions to SE?
Click to expand...
its combo after 66B and prep4 aGI if i remember well (i miss so many -.-).
Also its TC and slightly backstep i think this move is a success as it is......

but i'd like to see some better frame on prepK too

Also a HUGE damage boost to 44AB and 33A
And a boost also to 22A damage.

Also better frames for AA and to fix that nonsense on 66A tracking we are suffering since scIV (aka 66A tracking only at tip range)
 
piggy said:
Allow Prep4 to be guard cancelled so you don't have to stay in prep after 4.
Click to expand...

I think that's actually too much. Allows you to enter prep with no commitment, in a game that's been designed around committing to your options. If he can just tip range 3b, prep 4 cancel and take his range back, he could slow down the game TOO much. He's already got good enough movement and ranged tools to play his game, he doesn't need to be able to safely backdash and cancel prep.

I think the 22B combos need to be fixed so they don't randomly whiff, and MAYBE give prep K better tracking. That's enough honestly, I think he's fine as is. The 22B is a must fix, the prep K would just be a HUGE luxury. He doesn't even really need it considering you can just let prep rock for a second and retrack anyway.

Gojira said:
He can already do something like that by doing empty SE after Prep 4 anyway. As long as the opponent fears SE (and they should) it's a pretty safe cancel.
Click to expand...

Empty SE carries a TON more frames than a true Prep 4 cancel would. I think even a quick Prep B carries less total frames than an empty SE. I used to get away with Prep 4, empty SE to reset, but not as much lately. A cancel out of Prep 4 would be MUCH stronger. However it would just contribute too much to stalling tactics, which isn't really part of the current team's design philosophy.
 
KowtowRobinson said:
I think that's actually too much. Allows you to enter prep with no commitment, in a game that's been designed around committing to your options. If he can just tip range 3b, prep 4 cancel and take his range back, he could slow down the game TOO much. He's already got good enough movement and ranged tools to play his game, he doesn't need to be able to safely backdash and cancel prep.
Click to expand...

He can already do something like that by doing empty SE after Prep 4 anyway. As long as the opponent fears SE (and they should) it's a pretty safe cancel.
 
Hitbox/Whiffing Issues:
1. 66A+B - Sometimes it launches opponents too far away to connect with BT B+K (or any follow up for that matter). Usually occurs as the opponent is getting up.
2. A+BA - Vs grounded opponents guarantee at least the 1st/2nd hit(s). This allows for at least one hit after a stun, regardless of orientation and crumple issues.
3. 4(B) - Fix pushback issue where prep BB whiffs near tip range.
4. SEK - Near walls SEK will whiff.
5. 33K has less pushback to prevent the second hit from whiffing.

Moveset Issues.

6. Prep~K not catching TC moves, some characters can use non-vertical TC moves to completly shut down prep, as prep~K is too slow:
Speed increased (i15) to counter TC non vertical moves (Prep~K speed increased to match Prep~A).​
7. Prep can be stepped to Raphael's right, K and A which presumably are for catching step (A in particular), will both whiff:
i) Prep~A/6A tracks both sides better. Also an indirect buff to 6A, which helps further differentiate it from 3A, and 6A is pretty weak as is. (Alternativly Prep K could also have increased tracking, but as 6A/Prep~A is also a neutral move, and would benefit the overall step kill game more).​
8. Revert SEA back to pre-patch, SEA A in SC4 was 0 on hit and +10 on block, and was available from a safer stance; if SE is to be a powerful and risky (due to transistion speed) mixup then A should be this strong at least.
9. Horizontals. With no increase to verticals in damage or frames, Raph's horizontals could use small buffs. Unfortunatly the current horizontals are all similar in properties. Giving them more variation helps Raph's weak (understatement) horizontal game, without really buffing it beyond its design (to be weak).
33A - Increased damage or safer.​
44aB - Safer (with no Prep), and more damaging (in SC4 it did 50 dmg, now it does 30dmg). Basically back to SC4 properties (where is wasn't even that great of a move).​
8A+B - Earlier and longer GI window. 8(A+B) transitions into prep.​
4A - Better frames on CH.​
1A - Increased safety, contrasts with 33B as the semi-tracking, low damage, safe low.​
6AB - Jails so the second hit cannot be ducked(or the second hit is changed to a mid), tracking increased. As a reverse mixup between K, SE and BB/AB, Prep~AB can be stepped, ducked and ducked on block, meaning it is countered along with K and B.​
66(A) - Transitions into prep. This increases safety without making it truely safer. If not increase tracking.​
Cantarella series - (see 10):​
10. Cantarella Series (2_4_6_8B+K) - Currently these moves are slow and only the side and BT ones are of any use (albeit little use), and this has been the case for the last 2 games now. First of all, these are verticals (raph's strength), they hit 1/3: if the opponent steps to opposite side or "steps" by not stepping, they will evade the move. Lastly even though they hit mid they don't have that great a range, in fact they have less range than B.
i) Track step to their respective side completly: it is a 50/50 on what is already a 50/50.​
ii) 6B+K stuns on CH or does higher guard gauge damage.​
iii) Make them more damaging (or faster). These should be Raph's most powerful step killers, they are fairly slow (19), and they are verticals.​
11. The similarity between 6BBB, BBB and 3B - In general, 3B is the slow punisher and longer poke, 6BB is the faster punisher and quick poke, while BBB is a better CH fisher, but has less range and damage on NH, and less damage at very close range.
i) BBB has tracking (catches non QS to either side). This option allows BBB to be better used as a poke over 3B (more like Sc4 BB tracking).​

Buffs:
12. Prep~K - Safer on block or CH stun time increased (Allows for 3B re-entry). The extra 5 damage given on CH does not outweigh the decresed damage, decreased safety and decreased advantage on normal hit; the move was not too powerful pre-patch.
13. 66(A+B)G - cancelable into prep/faster cancel to neutral. The current cancel hardly worth using, and it gives no frame advantage over the regular version, in fact, it is less safe.
14. 22B - Longer stun or more damage, simply due to crumple reliability issues.
15. B+K - earlier activation and/or B+K B activates the auto evade manually (during the end of evade window). AEs can be stopped by multi-hit moves and strings, so the evade should activate at least as fast as an Auto GI, which carries no risk of being interrupted after countering. A manual activation would give Raph a usable (but still risky) teleport (which is pretty badass).
16. 4A+B - earlier activation. 4(A+B) transitions into prep and/or manual activation for the followup ala SC2/3.
17. 44(B) - Realigns after the retreat to track step (not QS) and/or more pushback/safety and/or more guard guage damage and/or more damage. SC4 44B was powerful as it forced the opponent to move or actively respond to 44B, the current version doesn't have that same power (Mitsu stole it).
18. 4B+K - Currently this move near useless, it cannot even preempt Natsu and Algol's teleports (the sword will go through them but not hit):
i) Builds amazing meter on whiff (20ish). Since the move will never hit it might as well have a use.​
or​
ii) teleports to opponents back then does BT B+K (make it slightly faster than SC4 A+K4, BT B+K setup).​
​
Wishful thinking:
19. Prep B+K does 236B (like SC2). With the retreat step back in prep and now extremely long prep duration, this move fits nicely. (Not sure how this would affect prep 4.)
20. Prep does the B+K Auto evade into VE A against verticals if left advancing, like in SC4. Alternativly, increase the window for prep~4/add B+K to prep (like old VE) so it can be used on reaction. Prep lasts for so many frames now that advancing in empty prep is very risky, adding an evade/GI like the old prep would allow empty prep to be more intimidating.
21. Prep A+B - Safer on block, and/or tracks. This move is the same as the old Prep~A+B, too slow and linear, and with much higher risk than reward.
22. 66A+G. Mash to drain opponents critical meter instead of gaining health. Alternativly mash for pitifull damage and make it drain considerable meter.
23. Prep~A+B laughter can play during 6BB/PrepBb(BE), after a ring out, and after a time out.
24. CE. Drains opponents meter or guard guage (at a flat rate) considerably. (In SC4 Raph had a soul gauge game which did give him a subtle increase in pressure. Since a guard gauge game seems more blunt (and was given to lexia, xiba and high damage chars), meter draining moves are a unique and arguably vampiresque function, additionally, Raph is not as reliant on meter as other characters, so attacking their meter game seems appropriate).
25. Teleports between stage changes, for balance reasons ofc.
26. Damage increased if he is missing his hat (like Balrog's mask).
 
Reposted from the Q&A

My prefered buff for Raph would be to make his 4A+B GI effect mid verticals and horizontals. For those moments i know that a mid is coming, just not which one. Pattycakes auto GI works similarly and it is a really powerful and very balanced tool of his. It's strong enough that you have to respect it but punishable enough that if you abuse it you will eat big damage for simply throwing it out. I would also like it if his auto GI moves like B+K and 4A+B had either quicker activation, or a longer window to GI. His B+K also could use invincibility upon successfully landing it, currently the move is entirely useless to multi-hitting verticals and even on moves with long and big hitboxes Raphael will still get hit out of his counter. It's kinda pathetic how even when you land the counter he'll still get hit, just because some moves have hitboxes that last forever.

Followed by delaying the input for prep K BE and making the second kick track.

Mr.Hai said:
Buffs
4. 66A+G. Mash to drain opponents meter instead of giving meter. Alternativly mash for pitifull damage and make it drain considerable meter.
Click to expand...

I love this idea, i would actually like it to drain both meter and health. With a slight buff to the health drain. He is a vampire after all. I was actually disappointed by the lack of draining moves he had, i thought his CE would be something where he takes away like a quarter of the opponents life and meter for himself.

As for the laughter it cant say where i like it better, it seems appropriate for it to be in prep A+B, but it helps give away the low.

Edit: Actually i think allowing his 66A+G to be brave edged would be a good way to make this move better. It could increase the damage of the attack and drain significantly more life at the cost of meter. But i think allowing the normal version to suck meter and health would be a good way to make this move a truly threatening tool of his.
 
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