A substantial balance patch is due to roll out for Street Fighter V next month, Capcom has announced via its blog. The Season 2 Balance Update includes various intended changes being made to the beat ’em up’s various combat systems, including increasing the number of frames required in order to successfuly perform a charge attack. Capcom says the adjustment has been made in order to combat issues wherein players were unintentionally performing charge abilities due to the short time required to charge them.
Additionally, Ryu, Ken, Akuma and other characters that can perform Shoryuken or similar attacks will now enjoy invulnerability status in certain situations, in order to restore the risk vs. reward nature that they exhibited in Season 1.
As for specific character changes, there’s an arm’s-length list of tweaks to go through, but the main highlights include buffs to Akuma, Zangief and Vega, all of which have had their weakest areas improved to varying degrees. Akuma’s health, for example, has been increased in order to encourage players to be more aggressive with the combatant, rather than only react to what their opponent is doing. Vega’s changes come in the form of a buff to several of his attacks, specifically those performed in the Spaniard’s Claw Stance, which players had been ignoring due to the seemingly superior nature of his clawless form.
Russian wrestler Zangief may just take the cake for the most drastic changes, however, having been given two brand new attacks – Flying Head Butt and Tundra Storm – in order to make him less predictable. If you fear he may now be too strong, rest assured that the hulking mass of muscle has had the effectiveness of his Double Lariat reduced to compensate.
The Season 2 balance patch is scheduled to go live around the end of April, which is likely to be around the same time that Capcom releases a new character for Street Fighter V. Last month saw the release of Kolin, the first of six new fighters planned for release throughout 2017. See her debut trailer here.
