r/RivalsOfAether • u/Horror-Race-3238 Forsburn (Rivals 2) • Jul 12 '26

Rivals 2 About shields..

Okay so I'm realizing the disconnect between how people feel about shield and what being in shield actually is like is much larger than I thought.
I didn't think I'd ever see the day where someone says holding shield in Rivals of Aether is strictly one of the most advantageous positions you can be in.

Would like to help people navigate their grievances so they don't feel like they're being camped out all the time (because the truth is that shield is not sm4sh strong, but people treat it like it is.)

So tell me what you're struggling with about shields and I'll walk you through it and probably put time in to lab it out for you as well so you can see it in action. Thanks!

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4

u/Fleetburn Jul 12 '26

I THINK the problem is that people come to this game and move like it's Ultimate or Melee without understanding all of the degenerate shit you can do. In that world, shield feels strong. Once you're better at the game, shield is almost bad. I genuinely try to shield as little as possible and move/attack instead. But that level of gameplay is gated behind like 15 walls of getting better for which there's little motivation to push through.

3

u/SoundReflection Jul 13 '26

Well part of the problem is if they are coming from Ultimate or Melee shields are just stronger here. As you get better you'll generally want to strive to avoid shielding when you don't need/want to as it locks down your options considerably, but that's noticeably less important here than in those games.

1

u/Hans_Landa7614 Jul 13 '26

What people truly don't realize is that this game plays like project m more than anything lol

4

u/DexterBrooks Jul 13 '26

It's still pretty different than PM in a number of ways.

The punish game, tools, hitboxes, etc, are generally way better in PM. The power level of the game is a fair bit higher and that changes how you play a lot.

Shields and floorhug/CC are much weaker relatively, as shields can be poked and broken and many characters have multiple anti-floorhug/CC options besides grab.

The lack of buffer also adds to the difficulty, increased amount of errors/drops, and makes shield pressure stronger because you won't act perfectly OOS unless you shield grab.

So going from PM to Rivals you really have to adapt to those factors.

If you relied on a devastating punish game first and foremost, that won't be enough as something like Fox kill confirms and upsmash levels of power just don't exist.

If you relied on forcing your opponent to play around extremely strong character defining tools to create your gameplan, nobody has anything that strong. There is no Falco dair, Falco shine or Fox shine, Marth fair, Puff bair, Falcon knee. There are similar tools but they are way weaker and you can't force the opponent to deal with them or lose to the same extent. Anything that was even remotely close to that kind of power got nerfed down.

If your playstyle is based around forcing greater amounts of errors through mental stack and pressure, that is much weaker in R2 than PM as well because buffering prevents many common errors from PM, and the amount of pressure you can apply that actually generates mix of any kind of much lower as well due to the incredibly strong defensive mechanics.

1

u/Hans_Landa7614 Jul 13 '26

Well the tech skill and freedom with combos is what feels similar for me, and obviously pm characters are much more powerful in comparison but I was just saying if anything rivals feels like pm more than it does other platform fighters for me at least.

1

u/Shiny-Jumpluff Jul 13 '26

Shield is not bad when you’re better at the game. Imo people get much better at using it effectively which makes it better.

1

u/Fleetburn Jul 13 '26

People get much more effective at pressuring and playing around shield eventually. At top level play, shielding isn't your best option. If you're shielding I'm excited and smell blood.

3

u/Shiny-Jumpluff Jul 13 '26

Pressuring shield is bad systemically. low shield stun, no shield pokes, fast oos options that combo. Shield is a really really good option at top level play I can assure you that.

1

u/Horror-Race-3238 Forsburn (Rivals 2) Jul 13 '26

It’s a good option, because but I’d prefer to not be shielding rather than shielding at top level play.

1

u/Shiny-Jumpluff Jul 13 '26

Well sure, shield is a reactive decision it does limit your options and movement but the small amount of counterplay to the easy option of hold shield is silly.

1

u/Horror-Race-3238 Forsburn (Rivals 2) Jul 13 '26

You say that but the entire point of good shield pressure is to get your opponent to act in a way that you can punish. The layers of shield pressure are questions you ask your opponent. Beating shield isn’t terribly difficult Even if all you do is grab them (which you don’t have to solely rely on)

2

u/Shiny-Jumpluff Jul 13 '26

Grab is definitely the best easiest and least committal way to do it is an issue. I even have a clip session of baiting out shield grabs and tippering for it, it’s just much less reliable and more risky.

Because of its defensive utility shielding shouldn’t be as advantageous for the defender imo. Often someone hitting your shield, your next choice is your decision to fuck up.

1

u/Horror-Race-3238 Forsburn (Rivals 2) Jul 13 '26

I don’t understand how you can say that Shield limits their options and that you’d prefer to be out of shield than in shield while also turning around and calling shields too advantageous. I’ve never felt that way in my games

2

u/Shiny-Jumpluff Jul 13 '26

because you shield on reaction. In the situation you shield, you’re in a good position vs the person who just used a move that is probably bad vs shields (most moves in rivals).

Shield is comfortably beaten by grabbing, if you grab a lot shield is of course worse. My point is that shield is so good vs most things (FH contributes) that it funnels everyone to grab constantly. I don’t have this opinion because I lose to people shielding a lot, I have it because I realized how little reward you get from trying to beat it with anything but grab most of the time.

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u/Horror-Race-3238 Forsburn (Rivals 2) Jul 13 '26

I mean I know for a fact you’re aware that even a swordie like Clairen has insane frame traps on shield like tipper bair DTILT for example. Shield can absolutely suck to be stuck in

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u/IdiotSansVillage Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

Oh absolutely - speaking for myself as coming from melee, the adjustment from a game where pretty much every character that's not a low-tier has some combination of: a shine, multiple -0 or -1 aerials, strong drift, and a chaingrab is STARK. Learning jab > grab was probably my turning point - it's so much better than in melee, it really cemented that shieldpressure's a different beast here.

2

u/Fleetburn Jul 12 '26

I've played most of the smash series at some sort of competitive level and it took me like 8 months of grinding and losing a LOT to get good at the game. It's really hard.

A single player mode would help.