Life settings:
- 270 is "fine" but I still feel 240 should be the competitive standard. Casuals can play with 5000 if they want but the series has worked with 240 since DOA2 and the overall pace of the game would benefit more from it. Like
Koompbala said, Tina's HCT J.O.Cyclone deals 120 damage, doing two of these should kill a character. Using CB would benefit more and to balance it out, reduce hold damage just a little bit, like 15%. In fact, I'd be very happy if all normal holds dealt about the same damage as Mila's mid punch hold.
Guaranteed damage
- We need more of it, natural combos and unholdable stuns should give enough advantage to guarantee a at least a level 1 critical launcher to take a nice juggle from it.
Stun threshhold
- I'd prefer if it was reduced. Right now the Critical Threshold is 35, I think 25 should be the standard to everyone can get CB in three strikes and if they decide to launch without playing the stun system, they'd get a nice launch height.
Frame Advantage
- Some characters have nice frame traps but I seriously think there should be much more of them. Maybe everyones P and PP should be positive (+1 is more than enough) and a few others, 4-5 moves per characters giving frame advantage on block would be nice. Also, we need more safety, there's still too many unsafe moves. ALL GUARD BREAKS should be positive (Tina's 6F+K for example is -5) as having negative ones kills the purpose of breaking a blocking state.
Sidestep and movement
- Free Step Dodging should sidestep a few moves and the SS animation in general should work like the Defensive Move in VF5FS where if for example I SS Christie's first punch in her PPPPP string, the second and third one won't magically track even if they're NOT tracking moves.
Good tool sets for all characters
- I add OHs to this, OHs are nice but they should be EXCLUSIVE to grapplers and Leifang. When I say grapplers I mean Tina, Bass, Bayman, Mila, Lisa, Leon, Rachel and maybe Busa. Characters like Brad, Kasumi and Ein getting OHs is retarded and practically kills the purpose of them being in the game, it also kills character individuality. Jann Lee's gunner would be the ONLY exception I'd support and it is one of his most important tools.
Besides that, I think character individuality is mostly fine. DOA5 avoids having the entire cast playing the same thing like in DOA4. Brad does things differently than Tina, Helena is much different than Kasumi, Busa does his ninpos and Izunas while Mila takes care of her mounts and Christie spends time being annoying with her lightning fast punches and evasiveness. Only characters like Hitomi, Zack, Eliot and Hayate need tweaks and stuff added to make them more special.
Then we have parries. I believe parries should NOT be able to be done in stun (just like Advanced Holds) and the advantage should be better. For example, Gen Fu and Eliot get +16 from them but I think reverting it back to Gamescom 2012 levels (+20) is more than enough.
Characters like Tina, Bayman, Leon and Bass should get more guaranteed ground throws from their strings and juggles. So if anything, the ground game should be tightened so they get more advantage from it in case they decide to throw in the floor instead of Force Tech.
Minimize the power of the hold
- I agree. In fact, I think most holds should deal about the same damage as Mila's mid punch hold. But they're fine in 1.03a.
All play styles and characters effective
- Yes, of course. We have an excellent cast of 29 characters and this site has proven that (except Rig), all of them have a very nice and solid fanbase and players caring for them. Even Alpha-152. So making them balanced without forcing them to play the same style as in DOA4 is imperative for the well-being of the game.