Will anything be done to Stryker soon?

You need to understand his character design. Stryker is all about zoning, counter zoning and building meter quickly and safely. That last one, meter building, is very important in MK because it means the difference between breaking a combo or dying. Getting 32% bnbs mid screen (and off blocked combos) without meter is actually very good damage output for what he is capable of.

Back 2, forward 2 builds approx 1/3 of a bar on block and is incredibly safe. It also leads to a juggle on hit. Every one of Stryker's juggles he can follow up with Gun shot (approximately 1/12th bar on activation; plus 1/4 bar on block,). If you aren't in your opponent's face, you should be full screen away firing guns and grenades all day, and thus building meter safely.

This in conjunction with every one of his specials causing knockdown means you have one of the best meter building characters in the game. So what do we use all this meter for?

Combo breaker = Stryker can get meter fast. The ideal norm in this game is you should always be sitting on 2 bars so you can combo break - 2 bars is not hard for Stryker to gain.

X-ray = 38% damage by itself. Has armour. Can be used as an anti-air. Not the best x-ray, but at damn near 40% life, it's a god-send. Noone is going to go anywhere near you when you have 3 bars stocked, which leaves them in range of zoning. Again, meter building and zoning is Stryker's forte. 3 bars is very much doable.

EX gun shot = it's one of the fastest specials in the game; you can interrupt pretty much any move (including torpedoes, shadow kicks, teleports etc). It only does an extra 2%, but it's because it comes out so fast, and you can prime it like regular gun shot. It's not used for damage, it's used for zoning. (safe on hit and block)

EX ground roll = super armour, extended range and approx 25% more damage. Used for damage, mix up and space clearing (Safe on hit; unsafe on block)

EX Baton trip = super armour, extended range and an extra hit (mix-up). Unsafe on block, but you do get some armor and more damage. Used mainly for damage and mix-up (safe on hit; unsafe on block)

EX grenades = extra damage, 2 grenades. Almost impossible to avoid. Excellent long range zoning (safe on hit and block) Use it mainly for literally pinning an opponent to the ground and thus starting zoning shenanigans.

The only ex move that could really use a buff, is his ground roll in terms of super armor. But, if he gets 1 frame too much, he's broken (because of how fast he can build meter, he'll ALWAYS be able to get out of low zoning via enhanced ground roll.).

Now let's see his "bad" match-ups:
* anyone with a teleport (Raiden, Scorpion, ermac*, Noob*, Smoke, Kung*, Sektor, mileena)
* anyone with low zoning (liu kang, sub-zero, kabal, reptile*, sindel)
* misc (nightwolf due to reflector and unblockable thunder, cyrax due to capture net/bombs)

His favourable match-ups:
*anyone else because Stryker is so god-damn fast.

Overall, he has 14 "bad" match-ups - imo only 4* if them are actually bad matches (i.e. 6/4s in opponent's favor); the other 11 he's at a slight disadvantage i.e. 5.5/4.5 (with a bit more time and play, I think he'd go even 5/5s), because of teleports/low zoning shutting down his zoning game, but it's not that big of a deal because he can get decent damage off his juggles, without spending any meter and at mid-screen.

The other 14, he really has no problem with i.e. 6/4s in his favour (JC, Sonya, Kitana get zoned hard. Even CZ, who has a teleport can't do much). Seriously, he whoops half of the cast with zoning alone (i.e brain-dead fighting), struggles with about 10 others (can't rely on zoning alone, so you have to get your 32% juggles in) and has to play perfectly (good reads; damage maximisation off any blocked move; correct spacing; meter management - basically high level play) to beat a handful of top tiers.

One buff on enhanced roll (the move he could really do with a buff on), and all his bad match-ups are now favorable, including the top tiers. That's how close he is to being perfect.

Pakman said:

You need to understand his character design. Stryker is all about zoning, counter zoning and building meter quickly and safely. That last one, meter building, is very important in MK because it means the difference between breaking a combo or dying.

Back 2, forward 2 builds approx 1/3 of a bar on block and is incredibly safe. It also leads to a juggle on hit. Every one of Stryker's juggles he can follow up with Gun shot (approximately 1/12th bar on activation; plus 1/4 bar on block,). If you aren;t in your opponent's face, you should be full screen away firing guns and grenades all day, and thus building meter safely.

This in conjunction with every one of his specials causing knockdown means you have one of the best meter building characters in the game. So what do we use his meter for?

EX gun shot = it's one of the fastest specials in the game; you can interrupt pretty much any move (including torpedoes, shadow kicks, teleports etc). It only does an extra 2%, but it's because it comes out so fast, and you can prime it like regular gun shot. (safe on hit and block)

EX ground roll = super armour, extended range and approx 25% more damage. (Safe on hit; unsafe on block)

EX Baton trip = super armour, extended range and an extra hit (mix-up). Unsafe on block, but you do get some armor and more damage (safe on hit; unsafe on block)

EX grenades = extra damage, 2 grenades. Almost impossible to avoid. Excellent long range zoning (safe on hit and block)

The only ex move that could really use a buff, is his ground roll in terms of super armor. But, if he gets 1 frame too much, he's broken (because of how fast he can build meter, he'll ALWAYS be able to get out of low zoning via enhanced ground roll.).

Let's see his "bad" match-ups:
* anyone with a teleport (Raiden, Scorpion, ermac*, Noob*, Smoke, Kung*, Sektor, mileena)
* anyone with low zoning (liu kang, sub-zero, kabal, reptile*, sindel)
* misc (nightwolf due to reflector and unblockable thunder, cyrax due to capture net/bombs)

His favourable match-ups:
*anyone else because Stryker is so god-damn fast.

Overall, he has 14 "bad" match-ups - imo only 4* if them are actually horrible matches (i.e. 6/4s in opponent's favor); the other 11 he's at a slight disadvantage i.e. 5.5/4.5 (with a bit more time and play, I think he'd go even 5/5s), because of teleports/low zoning shutting down his zoning game, but it's not that big of a deal because he can get decent damage off his juggles, without spending any meter and at mid-screen.

The other 14, he really has no problem with i.e. 6/4s in his favour (JC, Sonya, Kitana get zoned hard. Even CZ, who has a teleport can't do much). Seriously, he whoops half of the cast with zoning alone (i.e brain-dead fighting), struggles with about 10 others (can't rely on zoning alone, so you have to get your 32% juggles in) and has to play perfectly (good reads; damage maximisation off any blocked move; correct spacing; meter management - basically high level play) to beat a handful of top tiers.

One buff on enhanced roll (the move he could really do with a buff on), and all his bad match-ups are now favorable, including the top tiers. That's how close he is to being perfect.

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I agree on many points, though not all. I still consider my buff suggestions very valid.

His EX gun shots are not that special. if you hit with it, then there's a VERY high chance you would also have hit with normal gunshot, in which case you would have wasted a Super Meter for just 2% damage. I assume EX gunshot was ment more for combo extenders, but it doesn't do that good of a job at it. And doing 1, 2, EX Gunshot imo is not that easy, and why I think many end up doing just 1, EXgun shot, which is really sad because the 2 punch does 5% I believe (or was it 7%?).

EX grenades ONLY does extra damage if you hit with BOTH grenades at once. Otherwise you just wasted 1 Super Meter to do 3% LESS damage, than hitting with one regular grenade. Imo it's only useful at the end of a match with your opponent having low hp at a distance, and you want to make extra sure you just do some damage. Usually I would rather save 1 Meter AND do 3% more damage, at the risk of not hitting with one of the grenades.

Why EX ground roll don't armor out ALL non-enhanced projectiles is beyond me.

EX Baton Sweep is good. It does DOUBLE damage, and in case the opponent don't notice you used enhanced, and blocked the first hit, he might lower block and get surprised by the second hit. At least that's my experience.


And I don't know if you noticed, but all the characters you say Stryker has disadvantages over (Raiden, Scorpion, Ermac, Noob, Smoke, Kung Lao, Sektor, Mileena, Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Kabal, Reptile, Sindel, Nightwolf, Cyrax...), are ALL THE MOST PLAYED CHARACTERS, meaning those you will face most of the time. There's absolutely no reason Stryker should not be buffed to be amongst those (unless NRS hates cops ).

I think it would be a shame to justify Stryker as only a zoning character. That would make him not only sound even weaker/situational, but also very limited. No character should be this limited.

Brodersen said:

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And I don't know if you noticed, but all the characters you say Stryker has disadvantages over (Raiden, Scorpion, Ermac, Noob, Smoke, Kung Lao, Sektor, Mileena, Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Kabal, Reptile, Sindel, Nightwolf, Cyrax...), are ALL THE MOST PLAYED CHARACTERS, meaning those you will face most of the time. There's absolutely no reason Stryker should not be buffed to be amongst those (unless NRS hates cops ).

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Indeed they are the most played ones. But they don't have a massive advantage over stryker. Like I said, imo, only four of them actually give Stryker a hard time (but they give everyone a hard time, that's why they're top tiers). The rest are close to being even because of the damage Stryker can get off his juggles. Sure he can't rely on zoning in those matches, but it's not that big of a deal: block any teleport attack and you take 30% off their life. If they manage to get through your zoning, you have one of the fastest uppercuts and roundhouses in the game.

I think it would be a shame to justify Stryker as only a zoning character. That would make him not only sound even weaker/situational, but also very limited. No character should be this limited.

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The thing is though, his normals are exceptionally fast for a zoner/counter zoner (heck, they're fast for ANY character type), which makes him very viable up close (and he can build meter incredibly quickly in a safe manner). He can actually interrupt other people's moves on start up - that's how fast his moves are. As an example: Face to face, Sub zero loses to Stryker, because of how fast Stryker's normals come out.

I and every stryker player will agree a buff wouldn't hurt him (more than 1 frame of armor on his enhanced roll please NR!). But right now, when he only has 4 really bad match-ups (Kung [he got nerfed badly. I actually think the match-up is pretty even now], Ermac [big nerfs], Reptile [his dash attack got nerfed so it's punishable on block] and Noob [apparently got a buff; nothing game changing though]), it's difficult to justify Stryker getting a buff, for only a small hand full of matches.

Again, I agree he could do with a favorable tweak, but most of his match-ups where zoning (his main play style) doesn't work simply require you to block and punish accordingly (32% is really not that bad, especially considering he is gaining meter the whole time). Yes, his bad match-ups require you to play very sharply, but that's a universal thing that every character on the roster has to do in order to compete with the top tiers.

Brodersen said:

how can that not mean shit?

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Because he doesn't need them.

Brodersen said:

No I'm looking for COMPENSATION for all the stuff he lacks.

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He HAS compensation to make up for his weaknesses damn are you serious? HE'S A ZONER AND COUNTER CHARACTER. Do you even know what that is? That's why he has a poor wake up game. Because if he had an easy gtfo special he could just abuse it, get out of the way and start zoning the opponent down. That's why he doesn't have an amazing offense, because he's a defensive character.

Look at characters like Shang Tsung or Sindel, they also have amazing zoning tools but they lack that great offense. Inversly, characters with great offense like Sonya and Johnny Cage have weak or subpar zoning to balance it out. Imagine if they gave Johnny Cage very fast projectiles and a low projectiles. He would be broken. Well it's the same for Stryker dude. If Stryker had good wake up options and a great offense on top of it then he would litteraly be untouchable. You're just greatly underrestimating what Stryker is capable off.

My guess is you just don't understand anything about zoning and footsies and you don't see the utility of gunshot cancel.

Vulcan Hades said:

Because he doesn't need them.


He HAS compensation to make up for his weaknesses damn are you serious? HE'S A ZONER AND COUNTER CHARACTER. Do you even know what that is for christ's sake? That's why he has a poor wake up game. Because if he had an easy gtfo special he could just abuse it, get out of the way and start zoning the opponent down. That's why he doesn't have an amazing offense, because he's a defensive character.

Look at character like Shang Tsung or Sindel, they also have amazing zoning tools but they lack that great offense. Inversly, characters with great offense like Sonya and Johnny Cage have weak or subpar zoning to balance it out. Imagine if they gave Johnny Cage very fast projectiles and a low projectiles. He would be broken. Well it's the same for Stryker dude. If Stryker had good wake up options and a great offense on top of it then he would litteraly be untouchable. I guarantee it. You're just greatly underrestimating what Stryker is capable off.

My guess is you just don't understand anything about zoning and footsies and you don't see the utility of gunshot cancel.

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i think he just loves stryker aesthetically but its not his gameplay style at all and he doesnt understand the different gameplay styles/expects nrs to cater to what he thinks stryker should play like.

aedanwolfe said:

i think he just loves stryker aesthetically but its not his gameplay style at all and he doesnt understand the different gameplay styles/expects nrs to cater to what he thinks stryker should play like.

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Lol, thats random bullsh*t your putting out.
Btw there's no reason for me to think you are any more experienced in MK than me.

I like Stryker because of a few things.

1. I like his Roll Toss (and it's speed and recovery), Gunshot obviously, and roundhouse a lot (because of it's speed and flexibility into Roll Toss and Baton Sweep)!
2. I like that he have good ranged options (gunshot + high and low 9% damage nades).
3. While it's sad that there isn't a greater mixup of characters being used (almost everyone is Scorpion, Ermac, Smoke, Raiden, Kung Lao), I've actually started to like that I don't meet many other Strykers online, which makes me a bit unique also to them (yes there really is no strykers!). It means they are not very familiar with my moves, and when to use breakers. Plus I avoid mirror matches
4. He is NOT one of the best/easiest characters to play, which makes it more challenging/fun. It's almost to the point where I feel Ermac and Scorpion is getting lame. (Him, Nightwolf, Sektor and some Sub Zero is probably my most played right now)
5. He actually has to work for his combo's and pay attention to timing, which makes them more rewarding to pull off.
6. I like his fast uppercuts punishing air, his Gunshot punishing air and gives time to react and decide if I can do another punch into gunshot, or end with roundhouse into roll toss.

Things I hate about him is:

1. Getting up from the ground during even slight lag vs a good corpse camper (someone who spams attacks on top of where you are lying), and vs someone who knows Strykers weakness. His Wake-ups are horrible and easily countered by an experience corpse camper, who spams fast mixed medium/low hits.
2. Opponents that zone him with mix of low/high projectiles, that for whatever reason still hits his Enhanced Roll Toss. Enhanced Roll armor fail.
3. Some of his best combo's require decent timing multiple times, which has a much higher chance to fail Online due to lag.
4. His X-ray is so slow to hit on top of the very short range. You can receive multiple hits before it lands. Also someone can apparently crouch kick spam his way out of it and other strange instances.
5. His enhanced Gunshot is rarely useful for more than combo's and here again it does like no extra damage (2% or 1% in a combo).
6. His Enhanced Grenades doing just 6% damage instead of 9%, meaning unless you manage to hit with both the high and low, you actually loose 3% damage at the cost of a Meter. if you hit with both you get +3% damage done. Imo they should do at least 7%.
7. His Roll Toss and Baton Sweep have really bad hit detection when trying to use it as a combo finisher, even though the animation clearly hits the airborne opponent.
8. His combo starters are damn slow, and almost impossible to start on an experienced starter, they almost rely on jump punch starting.

Vulcan Hades said:

Because he doesn't need them.


He HAS compensation to make up for his weaknesses damn are you serious? HE'S A ZONER AND COUNTER CHARACTER. Do you even know what that is? That's why he has a poor wake up game. Because if he had an easy gtfo special he could just abuse it, get out of the way and start zoning the opponent down. That's why he doesn't have an amazing offense, because he's a defensive character.

Look at characters like Shang Tsung or Sindel, they also have amazing zoning tools but they lack that great offense. Inversly, characters with great offense like Sonya and Johnny Cage have weak or subpar zoning to balance it out. Imagine if they gave Johnny Cage very fast projectiles and a low projectiles. He would be broken. Well it's the same for Stryker dude. If Stryker had good wake up options and a great offense on top of it then he would litteraly be untouchable. You're just greatly underrestimating what Stryker is capable off.

My guess is you just don't understand anything about zoning and footsies and you don't see the utility of gunshot cancel.

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Many characters have teleport, slide, invulnerability/reflect projectiles OR low projectiles to counter his zoning. You sound like he should almost rely on his zoning, which he can't vs 75% of the characters in this game, or 95% of the characters that are being used most often, Online.
And his gunshot cancel is rarely useful, and more often that not, just gives the opponent time to slide, teleport, shoot back, or block when you could have hit. The only practical use I've had for it, (instead of moving around like wannerbe pro), is very Reflects like Smokes, Nightwolf, Kratos, and Jades projectile invulnerability (I'm probably forgetting some).

Vulcan Hades said:

Imagine if they gave Johnny Cage very fast projectiles and a low projectiles. He would be broken.

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Oh hey you just described Kung Lao.

Brodersen said:

Many characters have teleport, slide, invulnerability/reflect projectiles OR low projectiles to counter his zoning. You sound like he should almost rely on his zoning, which he can't vs 75% of the characters in this game, or 95% of the characters that are being used most often, Online.
And his gunshot cancel is rarely useful, and more often that not, just gives the opponent time to slide, teleport, shoot back, or block when you could have hit. The only practical use I've had for it, (instead of moving around like wannerbe pro), is very Reflects like Smokes, Nightwolf, Kratos, and Jades projectile invulnerability (I'm probably forgetting some).

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Teleport: Cause them to teleport. Block. Bye bye 30% of their health. You WANT them to teleport.

Slide: Same as above. Cause them to slide. Block Low. Bye bye 30% of their health

Invulnerability: Only person I can think that has this is Jade, and Stryker is a million times faster than her up close

Reflect: You CAN block projectiles after they are reflected.

No his gunshot cancel is used for waaaay better things than that. You use it for mindgames and mixups against your opponent. You pull out that gun after zoning the whole match, they WILL react one of the ways you've listed. Knowing that, you're first reaction should be to cancel out of the Gun shot, block, and punish. Fighting games are about getting in your opponents head, and exploiting as much of their strategy as you can. Stryker is a beast, he doesn't need a buff. He's definitely not a Scorpion where you can pick him up the first day and do "well" with him. I think this is why many people think he's weak. He's definitely not.

U quote me telling me I'm wrong in my assumption then prove me right half way thru your post . if u received all or even half the changes u want stryker would be fotm overpowered. Ur upset that he has weaknesses. Boohoo everyone has them and no he doesn't have more then the avg char. I can't comment on whether I'm better then u in the game. But my ability to see thru bias and what is balanced vs what is too weak or overpowered is a bit sharper I think. Noobs my main and after the patch I've seen people pulling 35% and up midscreen combos. Won't bat an eye if he gets nerfedm. Wouldn't be surprised and wouldn't be upset