-This is essentially copying from Hitomi. The properties may have been reworked to fit Ein's playstyle, however these are the exact same strings Hitomi has. Might as well give him a variant of her 3KP4PP too...
Not even remotely the same thing. Hitomi and Ein have two completely different 3Ks with completely different uses both in neutral or in stun.
4P and 8P on the other hand are moves that they both share with the exact same followups, the question is why is one character getting more options out of the exact same move? Hitomi is a mixup character obviously so that's understandable, which is why Ein only gets the most basic of the move's new mixups. You can complain that it's copying, but in that case, take away Hitomi's 236P, 46P, PP6PK and a whole lot more as she's "copying" just about half of Ein's moveset with improvements to boot. When all those things are removed, I'll change my notion on Ein's 4P additions.
Plenty of characters share the same moves already, I don't think this in particular is that big an issue. Especially when the string was originally his to begin with, and I will continue to stress, he is entitled to the improvements, he is the original DOA Karate character.
-Outside of 6P+K his whiff punishers are solid. Ein is one of the best keep out characters in the game. He does not need anything besides 4P+K and 4K. What he lacks is not solid punishers but cqc moves. Remember, if it's not broke don't fix it.
All I really meant by that was making 4H+K -8 on block as that's his only other whiff punisher that was changed. Ein is only one of the best keepout characters with 6P+K and 4K returning to as they are. Otherwise run up and block and Ein can't do squat. All of his whiff punishers are unsafe except for 46P and P+K (which is never seeing use). He can get a hit in if he makes a good read, but a good player is getting in, and they're not going to take very long doing it, especially if they have range and whiff punishing tools like him.
-I disagree. Ein already hits like a truck. Two well placed lvl. 2 or lvl. 3 thresh-hold launch stuns could easily take off half a life bar.
Just no. At level 1 threshold he's getting 73/80/78/89 for each respective stun launch at max potential, that's slightly above average if not dead average. Any threshold above that and he's losing out to a fair group of other characters. If "Ein is hitting like a truck", he's playing the stun game which he's not good at and your opponent just sucks at making reads. The fact that you mentioned level 3 is almost comedic, unfortunately. He's never getting there vs a good opponent aside from the occasional CB.
And for the record, a two level 2 or 3 combos from most of the cast is half a life bar or more (Akira is taking 2/3rds of your health from 2
level 1 threshold combos actually...) only difference, about 70% of the cast is better getting there than Ein and have better ways of getting that initial stun.
-Unecessary if he has a proper cancel string used to strengthen his already decent tracking options. More is less, especially for Ein.
A cancel string doesn't suit Ein, he's never been that type of character. Giving him unique tools to him is a good idea but that's not the way to go. He's always been a whiff punishing and stun > launch character and everything in EOTKM strengthens that
primarily.
As for "already decent" tracking options, what ones are you referring to? The i13 crushable short range high punch (with all unsafe followups) that's beaten out by jabs and mids of the same speed due to it's low damage? The telegraphed i23 low kick that's never getting thrown out in neutral expecting a step because you're basically asking to be counter blown and he has no form of frame advantage to make you respect it?The 20 frame unsafe mid kick launch? LOL.
All he has here is H+K, which while decent, is i18 so it's not that great of a tool in neutral or CQC unless spacing and both followups are negated by crouch blocking. Additionally considering it's his only form of legitimate tracking aside from the unreliable 4P, it's prone to mid kick holds from opponents that have a read on you.
More is less in this case though. Which is why we only wanted tracking on PKK (Which nearly every other character with a PKK or KK already has) and his 66PK finishers which finish in a circular motion and should already track. They grant a knockdown at best so it's not easy mode tracking, but it is something he should have.
I'll agree that a lot of characters have more tracking than they need, but we'll stop pushing for Ein's
reasonable tracking additions when everyone else in the game gets their easymode in string tracking taken away and has to do what he does in every single match.
-Although I like your idea of cancelling P+k P into H, higher guard break advantages on top of that would be overkill. It'd go like this. I feint=you counter=HC 33 grab. I follow through=you block=I can OH grab you if you aren't a strike character or don't have a crushing move.
I'm assuming you read through all of EOTKM. Rather I hope so because you'd know the advantage ends there at +5. Let's look at everything he has, I'm doing this only because you said "higher guard break advantages on top of that would be overkill" which P+KP is actually being reduced by 4 points from what it is now. Now let's see.
236K - i30 Jumping Mid Kick = +1
46K - i20 High Kick = +2
Running H+K - i23 Jumping Mid Kick = +2
4P+K - i33 Mid Punch = +3
214H+K - i23 Jumping Mid Kick = +3
PPP Charge - i27 Mid Punch = +5
P+KP Charge - i27 Mid Punch = +5
7P - i30 High Punch = +13
It looks like he's peppered with advantage, but every single one of these strikes has over 20 frames of startup, can be sidestepped, held (exceptions = 46K, 214H+K, Run H+K) and only add up to 5 points of advantage on to a character with few options for mixups, pressure and 0 options for string canceling. 7P is worthless and shouldn't even be discussed for reasons you should already know if you play Ein.
The reason why this advantage is ok for Ein is because it's his only genuine source of pressure outside of 1K2K. Any other buttons are disrespectful as you know now. This is how Ein becomes unique compared to other characters, specializing in GB 50/50s in place of string pressure during his offensive turn. That combined with his whiff punishing and stun launching capabilities makes him a complete and strong character but also with his own unique playstyle not mimicked by anyone except possibly Hayate (which.. in hindsight, should make sense.)
Now to touch on P+KP. Your concerns on this move are understandable which is why it was carefully balanced. The opponent is able to strike, step, hold or grab on the 21st frame of the charge and the feint carries 15 frames of recovery. The Ein player must commit to the grab or the strike which turns this pressure into a 50/50 guess. Eating a NH button or a grab by an opponent expecting the feint, getting the CH blow on them if you went for the punch. There are tons of possibilities and it opens a door for a lot of shenanigans. I'll admit this move deviates from Ein's character more than any other just from the amount of yomi and mind games involved, but I'd like to think it gets a pass because the pressure is primarily in the mind and it acts as a GB from first glance.
I am not saying through your requested list of changes that Ein is not evolving. I am saying, however, that Ein needs his own set of moves exclusive only to him. Imagine a reworked parry system only usable by Ein. He would keep his normal counters, and like Akira, have his own brand of parries (minus crumple stun). The catch would be that he could have the options I proposed earlier (minus the dash cancel as it would be useless). Or a combo throw into a stun. Things like this stray away from how Ein used to be in DOA 3 and 4, and allow him to become something new. I understand a lot of Ein players are salty he got nuke-nerfed in 5U (me especially), but that's in the past. The question should not be "how do we make him like he was in 3/4" rather "what moves can he get to help utilize his other properties?" Like I said, if TN follows through and accepts your changes that'd be fantastic. Logically, however, Ein only needs a few new moves along with the stuff I specified.
You're actually being a bit hypocritical here. Before you said that the changes turn Ein back into DOA4 Ein (which they don't btw, there were no guarantees or real frame advantage on block in 4) and that the nerfs in 5U stressed that he was supposed to be a bare bones fundamentals character, but then you speak of adding things like parries and string cancel mixups which are completely left field out of his character when 90% of the changes in EOTKM more or less fit with the current aspect of his character and strengthen his foundation more than anything.
Now, there's nothing wrong with having your own view on what he needs. The idea for a parry is cool, string canceling is certainly different for him but... it isn't the "logical" choice. At least, not for DOA
5 *hint hint*. Evolution of the Karate Master is about optimizing his current tools and playstyle for suitability in a high level environment as well as adding a few changes that allow him to compete in foreign areas with a degree of comfort-ability without them becoming his forte.
But for the record, with these changes, Ein is unlike anything he's ever been before. This isn't DOA2 Ein, 3 Ein, 4, 5U or even 5 Last Round Ein. This is
The Karate Master.