Nudge would be fine if:
1. It didn't go through shields (at least while back pedaling)
2. It had the delay after pulling out a weapon, so that a two-hander, polearmer, or even an archer can't instantly switch to dagger to nudge you and then back to their primary. Chain that with a kick and you've basically got a free hit or two more than you would with just a normal kick.
3. If it didn't chain so well with a kick, god damn that's annoying.
Next patch, if Tydeus ever delievers anims(aka never):
1.
Will still go through block if it connects, but the stagger time depends on the action of the victim. Blocking while getting hit results in the shortest stagger, attacking in the longest. The movement hindering effect of the stagger will be removed.
2.
Will get a delay between activation and connect. Normal nudge will have the shortest, shove the longest. Also all weapon types+shield will get nudges, though 1h w/o shield will have the most effective.
3.
Maybe I put kick on the same cooldown with nudge even though that would need some ugly workaround.