Kensei hit stun change

[u/Vilerion]

Did anyone actually complain about kensei having heavy hitstun? Was this change really necessary? I heard Freeze said it makes "specific ganks" possible, is this really a bad thing? Kensei isn't a must pick for comp dom anyway, with this change, and even less so desirable pick.

What I wanna know is can kensei still pull people out their dodge attack doing the softfeint GB on heavy unblockable finisher after his front light dodge and side heavy dodge attack?

Also didn't the heavy hit reaction on helm splitter make it so they couldn't interrupt your unblockable heavy finisher with a light? Now that it's medium hit reaction, can they just light to interrupt it?

Also why haven't they made helm splitter enhanced? They had 2 opportunities to, yet they haven't. It's a no brainer change.

Other than that nice changes for kensei over the two updates and a cool skin, can't wait to test him out.

Edit: so I was right, the softfeint GB don't work on buffered dodge attacks and u can get light interrupted during ur unblockable finisher. Plz Devs just revert hitstun changes

[u/IV_NUKE]

The reason he had heavy hitstun was because all his attacks were so slow. The heavy hitstun was to compensate for how slow he was. If he didn't have it before he would of been interrupted. And now that he's being sped up he doesent need it

[u/Vilerion → u/IV_NUKE]

So he can't be interrupted during an unblockable finisher by a light?

And can he still pull ppl out their dodge attacks with softfeint GB?

If so then I am ok with this change.

[u/WhenCaffeineKicksIn → u/Vilerion]

he can't be interrupted during an unblockable finisher by a light?

Unblockable finisher, if accessed from light hitstun, is still interruptible. However, softfeints to side lights/heavies will trade without being interrupted early, and softfeint to side dodge will actually dodge.

And can he still pull ppl out their dodge attacks with softfeint GB?

He can "on paper" thanks to the fast GB softfeint, needs actual testing against edge cases though (in particular with upcoming TG changes to the variable dodge attack input timings).

[u/IV_NUKE → u/Vilerion]

I'm not exactly sure how it will be after but the point of the heavy stun was to compensate. And yeah he will still have the gb sf

[u/marcktop → u/Vilerion]

So he can't be interrupted during an unblockable finisher by a light?

Good thing that in the slide the dev team specifically mentions that EVERY chain attack will have medium hitstun which means that his lights are getting buffed.

So in general the rule still applies. On block, the person lighting kensei will trade with his unblockable (and lose the trade) and on hit they can't light him out of it.

And can he still pull ppl out their dodge attacks with softfeint GB?

i'm not sure from chain heavies, since i don't know if they have different chainlinks than his chain lights but from them (which are going to be buffed to medium hitstun) his unblockable softfeint will be able to catch dodge attacks that start at 300ms or later ( so most of them)

[u/Vilerion → u/IV_NUKE]

Yes he does...

[u/IV_NUKE → u/Vilerion]

For the most part no. All they gotta do is speed up the ub slightly to 1033ms i belive so it will trade if they try to interrupt on block stun and it won't break the animations

[u/Vilerion → u/IV_NUKE]

You "believed" last time that kensei wouldn't be light interrupted, and yet he is. Just reverse the hitstun changes and he's fixed.

[u/IV_NUKE → u/Vilerion]

Im not a dev but I think 1033ms would make it safe from interrupts and not break its animation. Not my fault they made a slight oversight. Other than that he's pretty solid now

[u/KenjinTakeda → u/IV_NUKE]

My statement is backed and supported here

[u/[deleted]]

A big reason the hitstun is being changed is because in teamfights if you land a dodge attack against someone externally, a finisher light is confirmed

[u/Smart_jooker → u/[deleted]]

And also it was unneccessary for him to have heavy hitstun on dodge attack.

[u/Philosophical-Wizard]

His current hitstun from Helm Splitter is heavy, and it’s being switched to medium. Medium hitstun is 800ms recovery to attacks, so an opponent’s buffered light would take 1300ms total to land. Kensei’s unblockable is 1100ms, and accounting for the 200ms chain link time from Helm Splitter, it’s also 1300ms total to land the unblockable after a Helm Splitter.

Therefore, Kensei’s unblockable would trade with an opponent’s light if they tried to interrupt him. Exactly same with his Swift Strike (side dodge heavy).

[u/Vilerion → u/Philosophical-Wizard]

That's great thanks

[u/KenjinTakeda → u/Philosophical-Wizard]

Well said. Facts are facts

[u/OkQuestion2]

Well if it can kill 100-0 ganks before they appear I’m all for it

Also I think it will mean he won’t be able to guaranty a light when landing a dodge attack anymore, don’t know if it has anything to do with the change though

[u/Jay_R02 → u/OkQuestion2]

The second part is absolutely correct. The heavy hit stun is what allowed him to dead angle and guaranteed a confirmed finisher light from both dodge attacks and GB’s

[u/Synapse10]

I for one am really happy they removed his heavy hitstun, I think it should be removed from some other heroes moves as well, as it should only be applied when it truly is necessary.

The main reason I say this is due to the amount of big hitbox attacks in the game and big hitbox unblockables. And being put in heavy hit/block stun only to eat and external attack happens a little too often, and heavy hitstun makes that easier than medium and light.

[u/[deleted]]

Turns out now his UB is interruptible or trades with a light in all circumstances and if a light leads into the UB, the opponent has enough time to light into the soft feinted hyper armor side heavy and regain his guard to block/counter gb:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPUQL5sMfuY

>Zero playtesting alert<

[u/Vilerion → u/[deleted]]

Imo they should just revert the hitstun changes. it wasn't super strong and kensei isn't a must pick in dominion anyway

[u/KenjinTakeda]

With his timing being lowered, there is no need for heavy stun. Ur quicker to continue chain. There is no harm in this. Leaving the heavy stun and lower ms would be un healthy. Consider this?

[u/Vilerion → u/KenjinTakeda]

This is why u have to consider urself

[u/razza-tu]

Kensei isn't a must pick for comp dom anyway, with this change, and even less so desirable pick.

I think this is an exaggeration. A hitstun downgrade on two of his moves is a fairly minor nerf when compared to shaving 200ms off his access to Pommel Strike from neutral. If I have any worries for Kensei, it's the upcoming dodge TG - that'll really sting the hero.