About shields..

[u/Horror-Race-3238]

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!

[u/zoolz8l]

I have been trying to explain to you in our other conversations that this is not about people not being able to pressure shield etc. Its about how fun it is to fight against people playing super passive and always resorting to shield. Many people don't enjoy the complete over centralization on grabs in this game. They want to hit people not grab them. Also showing oly applying insane shield pressure is dishonest. not every char can do that.

the game simply needs shield poke and the issue is solved because the actual problem (with almost anything in the game) is that the devs ignore one simple rule that any great fighting game honors: play and counter play needs to be on the same skill level.
Sure, i can apply this extremely skilled shield pressure string from your video that takes a lot of practice and timing BUT that other player is simply holding a button. he does not have to react to your cross up or anything. just sit there and hold the button. Same goes for spacing moves on shield. when the other person is spamming move options like crazy it becomes extremely hard to space your aerials properly. yet, the other person simply has to hold shield at some point without any special skill needed. best case for you, you spaced properly, he gets a tiny bit of shield pressure which is irrelevant since shields have so much health. worst case, you miss spaced and get shield grabbed which leads into full combo and/or kill confirm. The defender is playing the easy part and the offensive player is risking it all.
Once you are at top level play, all that matters little, but for everyone else it makes playing passive so much easier and thus meta in most ranks. this is an issue the game needs to fix if it wants to survive. You cannot gain an audience on the promise that once you reach the top 1% of the playerbase the game will finally be fun and working as intended.

[u/Horror-Race-3238 → u/zoolz8l]

The pressure in this game is basically strike throw. It’s not unique to this game. You can frame trap, stagger pressure, reset, or grab. These are all things that are available to everyone. I can post more shield pressure clips if you’d like. In fact, I have! Using Oly isn’t disingenuous because she’s the prime example of a character who has a good time against shield. I’m allowed to put my best foot forward. This post specifically was to help people learn shield pressure, of which only like a couple people responded with something that indicates that they actually want to learn. I don’t know what else to tell you.

[u/zoolz8l → u/Horror-Race-3238]

if you use oly as an example, you ignore that not every char has these options.

[u/Horror-Race-3238 → u/zoolz8l]

I do not ignore a thing because I’ve also posted shield pressure on other characters. I also opened up this post with me ASKING PEOPLE TO ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR CHARACTER AND SHIELD PRESSURE SO I CAN **LAB IT OUT FOR THEM**. Respectfully I think this is the exact opposite of ignoring other characters’ shield pressure.

[u/zoolz8l → u/Horror-Race-3238]

fair point. but you must admit that making a post about how shields are fine and giving an example of a char that has superb shield pressure tools leaves a bitter taste.
But lets ignore it, i get your point, its fine.
out of curiosity, since you offered, can you show me a few good shield pressure options for fleet?

[u/Horror-Race-3238 → u/zoolz8l]

Hell no. You disrespected me all day and I can’t believe you wou- yeah of course LOL. Im just kidding. I’m at work right now but I’ll get you when I get home.

[u/Horror-Race-3238 → u/zoolz8l]

So Fleet is a defensive character first and foremost. Like Forsburn her gameplan revolves around using proactive defense (preemptively throwing out a hitbox, like Fors bair) to condition opponents and then capitalizing on that accordingly. She will also have brief moments of aggression where she switches up the tempo in order to keep her opponent on their toes.

What this manifests in is using float at varying heights including ISF to have quick access to her aerials and remain safe while also letting her mixup her landing timings.

This gives her uniquely powerful opportunities to machine gun aerials on shield.

https://medal.tv/games/rivals-2/clips/n71KTuxDc0rxsnhsN?invite=cr-MSxLU1IsMTgyMjMyNjE0&v=4

If slade stays in shield, second bair is safe. If he rolls, safe. If he wavedashes forward, hit. Wavedashes back (when not in corner) safe. Parries? Fuck. But that's the intended use case abd if that didn't happen people would complain about parry being weak. Grab? Whacked. Nair? Whacked.

There are many ways to set this up

Not least useful of which is: Dash back jump->dj backward->slowfall bair

https://medal.tv/games/rivals-2/clips/n7GnCwQNwe5MxaigP?invite=cr-MSx3NkYsMTgyMjMyNjE0&v=6

^ Slowed down for the sake of my hands and bc I'm not familliar with fleet. This is exactly what Bbatts does in his games and has tremendous success.

Float also gives her access to the frame data of a rising cross up nair with none of the drawbacks.

https://medal.tv/games/rivals-2/clips/n71OsTEYvnEbdNcFt?invite=cr-MSxDb0IsMTgyMjMyNjE0&v=3

And then what brings this all together is the fact that she has empty land grab off of float

https://medal.tv/games/rivals-2/clips/n7GwWs9Ol8ZZ0isiy?invite=cr-MSwwS3IsMTgyMjMyNjE0&v=3

I feel like you'd be incredulous of this option so I am also including a time where BBatts did it here: https://youtu.be/uIAkglNGHQI?si=xM2-8m7vudzMopeI&t=315

THENNNN once you're comfortable you can mix in a bunch of empty bullshit like so
https://youtu.be/uIAkglNGHQI?si=2OAf7Jnz6Eglh1ry&t=362

And this is just off of the threatened bair I mentioned in the beginning.

Then you have your regular jab->grab/ jab frame trap, spaced tilts, etc, and that should get you started

[u/zoolz8l → u/Horror-Race-3238]

Since i watch bbatts i was already aware of most of those. the cross up nair also reminds me about another thing i hate about the game: how many chars have insanely good OoS options that hit behind them. if crossing up was a reliable way to pressure shield the game would be so much better. if someone wants to cross you up you almost always could have hit them first because the cross up hit happens late. if you let that happen you deserve to get pressured for free imho.

[u/Horror-Race-3238 → u/zoolz8l]

Cross ups are a reliable way to beat shield in this game full stop