Official character ratings

[synce]

Added up the total points from strike, throw, etc. that TN assigned to each character.... the end result made me laugh so I thought I'd share. It's not so much the inaccuracies I found funny but the fact that DOA4's least popular characters are at the bottom.

22
Akira
Ryu Hayabusa

21
Jann Lee
Tina

20
Alpha
Ayane
Christie
Hayate
Hitomi
Kasumi
Kokoro
Leifang
Lisa
Mila
Pai
Sarah
Zack

19
Bayman
Gen Fu

18
Brad Wong
Rig

17
Bass
Eliot
Helena

Now if you were in charge of a game and saw that not many people were using Character X, how would you handle that? Would you buff them to high heaven, would you change up their design or fighting style, or would you do what TN did? That is, design them with bottom tier in mind or cut them altogether.

Pour one out for birdman

 

[Rapham0n]

Just out of curiosity which were the most used characters in DOA4?

 

[Koompbala]

It varied throughout the life of the game. Most of all it was the ninjas.

 

[Matt Ponton]

If it wasn't a ninja it was Helena or Gen Fu.

 

[Koompbala]

Yeah I only left those 2 out cause the Helena's didn't start coming out til Mamba started winning more. Then Gen Fu came around the CGS days.

 

[DR2K]

Hah, best character in the game is on bottom.

 

[Brute]

Now if you were in charge of a game and saw that not many people were using Character X, how would you handle that? Would you buff them to high heaven, would you change up their design or fighting style, or would you do what TN did? That is, design them with bottom tier in mind or cut them altogether.

Ever since Dr. Dogg started bitching about Helena (way before release), TN assured everyone that Helena was a perfectly viable character due to her mix-up potential and crushes, and that looking at the frame-data/"on-paper" would not accurately represent how good the character could be. And guess what? They were right.

Those points mean nothing, and TN knows it. They designed DOA5 to be a surprisingly balanced game throughout the roster, with only a few glaring exceptions (and even so, it's arguably the most balanced fighter I've seen, save Divekick). They didn't design anyone to intentionally be bottom tier.

 

[bingsoo]

Ever since Dr. Dogg started bitching about Helena (way before release), TN assured everyone that Helena was a perfectly viable character due to her mix-up potential and crushes, and that looking at the frame-data/"on-paper" would not accurately represent how good the character could be. And guess what? They were right.

Those points mean nothing, and TN knows it. They designed DOA5 to be a surprisingly balanced game throughout the roster, with only a few glaring exceptions (and even so, it's arguably the most balanced fighter I've seen, save Divekick). They didn't design anyone to intentionally be bottom tier.

Yeah there was a lot of bitching about how trash Helena was supposed to be. Eliot was supposed to be top tier with his 9 frame jab. Alpha was labeled as utter garbage.

Contrary to most people's opinions, I really do think DOA 5 is relatively balanced.

 

[Kronin]

There are some errors in your list because actually:
- Jann Lee has 20
- Eliot has 20
- Gen Fu has 23

Anyway the purpose of these statistics is to give an overview about the elements of strenght and weakness of the various characters: a thingh thought overall for the players that started to play the series with Doa5 (in particular the owners of the PS3), helping them in the choice of the character more close to their favourite way to play.

In no way the list was created to appear like a tier list, indeed in my opinion the abilities should be compared individually beyween the characters for the reasons said before: the summa of their points doesn't make much sense according to me.

 

[Brute]

In no way the list was created to appear like a tier list, indeed in my opinion the abilities should be compared individually beyween the characters for the reasons said before: the summa of their points doesn't make much sense according to me.

Even the individual ones can be strange at times. For example, Hayate has 3/5 in Throw when he has a throw launch virtually identical to the Izuna Drop (for reference, Ryu has 5/5 in Throw) and has only 3/5 in Moves, despite possessing some of the best gap-closing, crushes and mix-ups in the game. Jan Lee has 2/5 in both Throw and Hold (which is ridiculous for Dragon Gunner alone). Lisa has a 1/5 in strike, etc. You get the idea.

 

[Rapham0n]

Ever since Dr. Dogg started bitching about Helena (way before release), TN assured everyone that Helena was a perfectly viable character due to her mix-up potential and crushes, and that looking at the frame-data/"on-paper" would not accurately represent how good the character could be. And guess what? They were right.

Those points mean nothing, and TN knows it. They designed DOA5 to be a surprisingly balanced game throughout the roster, with only a few glaring exceptions (and even so, it's arguably the most balanced fighter I've seen, save Divekick). They didn't design anyone to intentionally be bottom tier.

I have yet to see a game as well balanced as Virtua Fighter 5.

I have only been playing DOA5 for about a week now, but it seems that most people say this game is pretty balanced. As long as we don't have another vanilla Street Fighter IV Sagat situation on our hands then I'm happy.

 

[bingsoo]

DOA5 is considered balanced because despite some separation in tiers between characters, there aren't too many outrageous 3-7 or worse matchups like in a lot of other games. At least that's what I've gained from talking to people who play the game regularly.

 

[Rapham0n]

I think it would be very helpful (especially to newcomers to the series) to have a thread dedicated to giving a basic description of each and every character. Something similar to this: http://www.tekkenzaibatsu.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=125509

Are there any of the more experienced players around that would be willing to make something like this for DOA5? It would really be much appreciated.

 

[XZero264]

I think it would be very helpful (especially to newcomers to the series) to have a thread dedicated to giving a basic description of each and every character. Something similar to this: http://www.tekkenzaibatsu.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=125509

Are there any of the more experienced players around that would be willing to make something like this for DOA5? It would really be much appreciated.

There is something along those lines in each character subsection or on their character wikis (in upper right hand of site). They sometimes are hard to find but otherwise just looking up their info on the FSDWiki or external sites gives you an idea of what Team Ninja's intentions were at launch. Usually the threads with the most replies or most recent replies tend to be about current strategies.
While some things change with each patch (Hayate's 1.03 Godlike 3K Sitdown Stun, Mila's 1.03 SS Takedown changes, Alpha's 1.03 7K change, frame data and properties of moves, etc.) signature moves or attack properties tend to be what make or break strategies or styles. This tends to happen each patch.

Example:
At launch Mila was intended to be a quick striker that piled damage via quick strings and catch people off guard with her Takedown moves. She actually was an absolute powerhouse with how much guaranteed damage she could get off of very simple Sitdown Stun combos into insane damage loops that allowed for very easy match wins with little effort due to the number of options she had to make an SDS happen. If you could get a SDS off you could easily eat half a lifebar or more. Her Sidestep Throw was THE go-to "Avoid and Destroy" move with its startup frames, Offensive Hold properties, and due to how easily it could turn entire matches around.
With the changes she has received since then she isn't nearly as powerful because she has lost a lot of SDS power and her SSThrow is significantly slower on startup (there are other things that have gotten to her but this is used to expand upon this example). She lost a lot of guaranteed damage setups that made her absolutely ridiculous to play against.

Just an example but characters often change playstylewise or gain/lose matchups with just the change of one attack. I know I have gone through at least five different ways of how I play Mila since launch just because of patch updates.

 

[Tones]

Total points??