Obama Picks Up The Pace
The Speeeeed!
Obama has a new move! Press Special 2 (right trigger by default) to channel your ki into a speed boost!
Upon activation, Obama's max speed is increased by 66% for two seconds, giving him downright oppressive grounded and aerial presence.
Like Washington's shotgun, this speed boost is on a cooldown (8 seconds).
The Cancel
Speed isn't the only thing this new move does. It also lets you cancel the endlag of any move.
This not only makes his options safer, it allows you to preserve your momentum from your up-special, leading to explosive new movement techniques. Get creative and dominate your opponents with stylish outplays!
New Mechanic: Turnarounds
Fans of Super Smash Brothers Melee will be familiar with this one. All characters can now switch the direction of their attacks during a jump by quickly flicking the stick in the opposite direction.
It takes a bit getting used to, but it ultimately allows for vastly superior control over crucial tools like Washington's blunderbuss and Obama's fireball (since Obama Kick has been moved to side-special).
Balance Updates
This update's changes have shifted the power level of some of the cast, and we've also had a lot more time to gather informal data from playtesters. We've tried to target the most egregious moves in this patch to balance options we felt were over-centralizing or over-powered.
Obama
Our design philosophy for Obama has always been to make a forgiving character for beginners who's biggest strength is his super. As we add more characters, we still want Obamahameha to remain one of the best supers in the game, but with the buffs he received to the rest of his kit this patch, we felt like it might be time to reign it in (if only slightly).
We also made the decision to increase the endlag on Teddy and Obama's uppercuts to make them easier to punish.
New move: Speed up!
Obama Kick input moved to side-special
Obamahameha super startup increased very slightly.
Obama Punch endlag increased
Washington
We feel like Washington is one of our best executed characters, but he's also the character who benefits the most from the addition of turnaround specials. We've nerfed the effectiveness of his neutral special to compensate.
Additionally, we felt as though his blunderbuss into super combo was a bit to consistent for a finisher that only costs 5 super charge. We've increased the startup (before the super flash) to make the combo harder to hit, but we're aware that it may still be too strong. We'll have our eye on this going forward.
Blunderbuss stun duration lowered
Super start up increased.
Teddy
Teddy is intended to be a frame data monster, but right now his command inputs are so good we see no reason to use a regular punch (even when close range). Hopefully these changes will make playing him feel a bit more intentional.
Uppercut endlag increased
Ground slam endlag increased
Ground slam can now be used on the ground with a down special input (it's not very good, and I kinda made it on accident, but I left it in cuz it's fun).
JFK
Jfk has not been changed as he is literally perfect.
What's Next?
Lincoln is well on his way to being release-ready, and our artist has already started spritework on president #6 (no spoilers). If you want to stay up to date with the development (and maybe check out some pre-release content), join our discord for updates and more!
That's all for this update. Thanks for playing, and God Bless America.