Removing blocks from kicks

[slimpyman]

I am wondering, id say less then 5 percent of the population know how to properly utilize the kick, so why was this change introduced.
When you kick someone, youre literally open to attack the for the duration of the animation, minus the way you were blocking.

so, now with this change introduced, you can no longer read an attack, block, and punish with a kick...

So is this a testing change or is it set in stone.  i BELIEVE most people dont know how to implement kicks in their playstyle because kicks generally have a bigger risk then reward.... thats why most people dont use kicks. so now there even more risk to kicks.   its not like we could have changed blocks in mid kick.

So now there is even less reason to use kicks. Shouldnt we be adding depth to combat as opposed to finding more ways to penalize the combat system?

[BlueKnight]

I completely agree. if you miss a kick it's a self-stun for 1,5 sec and if you actually kick properly, you usually get hit because of lack of the block. It's too risky. Now it's play safe, live long during battle.

[wayyyyyne]

Just removing the down block for good and the upblock so every weapon has a chance to punish kicks would have been fine imo

[a_bear_irl]

So now there is even less reason to use kicks. Shouldnt we be adding depth to combat as opposed to finding more ways to penalize the combat system?

this change has been a long time coming, kicks have been reward without risk forever, unless the kickee saw it coming and started sidestepping early very few players had enough ath to actually circle around a missed kick. unless the person kicking actively screws up by kicking at the wrong time it's either a free hit, or a miss with zero penalty

[Pentecost]

I am wondering, id say less then 5 percent of the population know how to properly utilize the kick, so why was this change introduced.

Way more than 5% of the active population knows how to work a kick in if they have to; it's just that you don't usually see protracted 1v1s on battle and siege unless it's the last people standing at the end of the round. As for why this change was introduced, some of the factors that I assume went into it are:

1.) Kicking is supposed to be high risk, high reward. Being able to block while kicking turns that into moderate risk, high reward as long as you're not fighting more than 1 person at once.
2.) Being able to block while kicking gives longer weapons an even greater advantage over shorter weapons than they already enjoy. In a protracted 1v1, which is to say the kind of situation where you will be using kicks, a decent player with a Glaive or a Greatsword has little that can counter him if he plays the range game and kicks every time his opponent gets close. Go watch Rhaelys on duel if you want a superlative example of how to do this perfectly.
3.) You cannot kick if you have a shield. I assume this also applies to the chamberkick that Urist introduced a while back.

[Fips]

Good change. Either everybody gets to kick without penalty or noone does.

[slimpyman]

still, if you had an upblock going and kicked, you werent able to change the block during the kick.  This change definitely affected the people who know how to kick, and it doesnt affect anyone who didnt kick.   All in all, im going to play a bit more and see how i feel about this change...

Kicks were originally risky and most people didnt even know how to get a free attack in anyway....   It almost like they are nerfing the highskill level players

[Miley]

Kicks were changed? When?

[Legs]

I see a lot of people complaining about how kicks weren't risky enough before, but I disagree.

Some disadvantages to kicking:
- Unable to turn, so players can circle around and hit behind a block.
- Unable to move, so enemies can easily mob you.
- VERY short range, enemies must be directly in front and touching you.
- Post kick swings are ineffective if not timed perfectly.

Some advantages:
- Sometimes allows you to get 1 free hit.
- Can stop facehuggers and W key spammers.
- Can stop enemies who telegraph their movement.
- ???

It's very easy to avoid being kicked if you have decent footwork. Even people with relatively short 1-handed weapons can easily stay out of the range of kicks if they're smart enough to avoid facehugging. In most situations if you get kicked it's because YOU made a mistake, not because kicks are overpowered.

Shielders don't have to manually block so for balance reasons it's only natural that their kicks would be less effective. Other players not only have to get the timing and range just right, they also have to block an attack at the same time. It can be very tricky, and if you don't execute everything perfectly the enemy could easily end up being the one to get a free hit on YOU. In my opinion kicks were perfect just as they were, especially with the recent addition of 'kick parrying' which gave skillful people a chance to get a full-on knockdown if they suspected that the enemy was going to try to kick them.

Removing the ability to block while kicking makes kicks borderline useless, which is why you almost never see shielders trying to kick. It's a huge amount of risk for a low-percentage chance of getting ONE free hit.

[Jesse]

I personally am glad to see kicks nerfed because you can really kick after every swing with basically zero punishment if you really wanted to. This will make people slow down and actually think about kicks and not lolkick every two seconds.Kicks are not very risky if you can just block right after you kick anyway.

[Arjay]

As if kicks were ever used before, now you really won't see anyone kicking.  I wish this change was NOT implemented 

[WITCHCRAFT]

Can you still kick from the reloading animation on a crossbow? That was added after I stopped playing arbalest sniper, and I thought it would have been a neat option to have. Gives you a chance to fake out a single opponent that comes in to kill the "helpless" crossbowman.

[Kafein]

I had no problem placing situational kicks without the ability to block before, even without spamming them every other attack like many 2h and pole users. You just have to think a bit more about when to do it. Given they have short weapons, kicking will still be disadvantaging shielders. Before it was just a matter of pressing a button and blocking as usual and I don't think that was much harder than just blocking.

[EyeBeat]

I welcome this change.  It is about time.

[Wingthor]

best change ever. deflecting my swing with his/her feet... yay..y... sounds logic.