The Evolution of The Karate Master

The Letter ~Reaching out to Team Ninja~

- This writeup and message to Team Ninja has been over a year in the making and these changes have been evaluated and discussed by a loyal and informed part of the Ein community and playerbase. 

As someone who has been playing as Ein since his debut in Dead or Alive 2 in 1999, I and many others have a strong connection to this character. We've been with him through the good times and the bad times and today, all we wish is for our beloved fighter to evolve in a new game with new systems and become a contender just like every other character currently in DOA5U. All other characters have evolved and improved, we believe, it is now Ein's turn.

Please read through and consider at least some of these well thought out changes and improvements for our character in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round next year. He may not be the most popular fighter and we may not even be the largest playerbase for a DOA character, but his players have a voice and now, now we are here trying our very hardest to make it heard to you today.

We are Fighters. Please, make Ein one too.

~The Ein Players

                                                                                                                                                  

Introduction

Ein in DOA5U is incomplete as a character. In both Japan and the United States, possibly even Europe, he is regarded as one of the weakest characters on the roster for multiple reasons. This is what they are from the perspective of U.S Ein playerbase up to the intermediate level and have yet to be disputed by high level play:

-Poor overall performance in close range.

- No strong high crushing tool to speak of.

-Poorly constructed attack strings. All string finishers are linear with the exception of extremely slow tracking low sweeps and his mixups are all high-low which demand very little respect from the opponent.

-Poor stuns outside of Counter hit 3P and 6P on any hit status.

-Poor manipulation of the stun game. This forces him to either stun > launch for mediocre damage or play an ineffective and fairly predictable stun game.

-Stun > launch damage while slightly above average is still overall behind characters with more flexibility than him in the stun game such as Hayabusa and better performance in close quarters such as Akira and Hayate.

-Poor ways to start the stun game. He has 6P which is a 14 frame high and 3P which is a 13 frame mid. Everything else either forces commitment or is a light stun.

- No current form of maintaining pressure or real frame advantage on block to speak of. All frame advantage is +1 and only higher in the form of almost unusable chargeable guard breaks due to their extremely slow speed.

-Ineffective guaranteed options. 8P and 6KK normal hit sit down stuns rarely ever occur in a match.

Given all of this Ein is forced to play a keepout/punishment based style that is not very effective in high level play for various reasons:

1. Ein's ability to play keepout is not safe like Ayane's and Momiji's. If anything but 46P and P+K is blocked he can and will be punished. His recovery on whiff is also terrible even on basic pokes like 3K.

2. Ein has little ability to force his opponent to do anything at range. He does not have the movement options some other characters do nor does he have a strong abillity to approach characters.

3. When he lands a hit there is not much that can be done to make the situation very rewarding unless a wallsplat juggle or dangerzone hit occurs and his stun - launch damage while slightly above average is not enough reward for the type of character TN seems to want him to be.

There have been quite a few patches since DOA5U's release and none of these issues have been addressed. We feel that this may be because TN does not have an idea on the direction they wish to go in for this character and so we will provide suggestions that we believe will do the following for Ein to be implemented in DOA5LR:

-Increase his effectiveness in close combat without making it a primary focus of the character.

-Increase the effectiveness of his stun game by increasing his stun launch damage and providing solid guaranteed options.

-Increase the effectiveness of his spacing capability by restoring strong whiff punishment tools that were taken in the transition to 5U.

-Increase his damage output slightly to compensate for his limitations in the stun game.

The changes are below, please take the time to read through and consider them for the improvement and evolution of this character. 


**NOTICE**

With the announcement of Dead or Alive 5 Last Round, this change list has been altered to focus on and recommend these changes in the newest installment of DOA5.

*This list uses the number pad format for button inputs which is also commonly used in the overall fighting game community in america.*


Mandatory Changes

- 6P+K: Critical Burst property removed, startup frames changed from 20F to 14F. Property of stun changed to +23 belly stun on normal hit. Fall down (crumple) stun on counter hit and in stun remains unchanged.

Animation:

By changing this move to a critical burst, Ein lost not only one of his primary whiff punishers but his best method of initiating a stun. At it's original 14 frame startup Ein was able to start his offense by punishing an opponent's mistake at a distance instead of being forced to fight in close quarters in order to stun his opponent.

By giving the stun a somewhat shallow +23 (+15 fastest slow escape) on normal hit he is able to reasonably mix up with his most potent stunning tools but does not have access to his most powerful launching options unless his opponent holds incorrectly or fails to slow escape the stun.

It is one of his core whiff punishing tools and essential to optimizing his current gameplan and of the utmost priority to return in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round.


- P+K: Changed hit property of attack to Critical Burst. Disadvantage on guard changed from -7 to -9.

Animation:

If 6P+K returns to it's original i14 startup, Ein will be left without a critical burst and need a replacement. His current P+K would be the perfect choice as it already has a 20 frame startup and has a crippling elbow slam animation that suits the devastating nature of a critical burst. The followup should also be kept in tact.
   

- 4K: Startup frames changed from 16 to 13F. Changed property on normal hit from launch to hard knockdown.

Animation:


Along with 6P+K, 4K at it's original speed was another core whiff punishing tool of Ein's that not only punished whiffed strikes at reasonable range, but demanded respect due to it's incredible speed and launching abilities on counter hit and in stun. The idea was a quick launching tool for guaranteed damage in exchange for less damage than all of his other launchers.

In it's current form, 4K is one of his slowest whiff punishing tools and mid kick launchers on top of doing the least damage of all mid kick launchers in his arsenal. By returning it to it's original i13 startup, faster characters are forced to respect Ein at close range and can be punished for whiffing close to him in cases where his 3P will not reach. However, with this speed increase the normal hit launch would make it a bit too dominant of a move. So it should be replaced with it's original hard knockdown from DOA4.

Additionally, at this speed it would be his only guaranteed launcher option after 8K's sit down stun (further below.)


- PP6PK, 1K6PK, 66PK, PKK, PPKK, KK: Added sidestep tracking.

Ein has no tracking in his strings outside of the low hit level and this tracking can be blocked on reaction. With mid kick tracking added to his arsenal Ein's offense becomes slightly more effective.


- Back Turned 2K6P2K: Added sidestep tracking.

Considering all front turned variants of this string track sidestepping opponents already, it's safe to assume that this was merely an oversight. Fixing this issue should be a priority for consistencies' sake.


- 46K: Advantage on guard break changed from +1 to +2.

This move is currently shared between both Ein and Hayate (236K in Hayate's case) and both share the same property of a +1 guard break on block. However being a character with superior speed and mixup ability, Hayate is able to take more advantage of his version of the move. In addition his version has increased range and utility through space coverage and even allows him to jump over downed opponents for increased wakeup game capabilities and overall okizeme. 

Ein is incapable of these things as the range on his version is much shorter (and riskier) and he is not able to take as much advantage of the +1 as his ninja counterpart. On top of that, with 2P being a much faster and more reliable option for the same frame advantage advantage, there is no real reason to risk throwing out a linear 20 frame high kick as the reward on either hit or guard is generally not worth it.

By adding an extra point of advantage you are compensating for the shortcomings of Ein's version of the move and allowing him more freedom to mix up his opponent after the attack has been blocked. Inc onclusion, he is rewarded for his trouble and it's risk/reward becomes more balanced and unique to his character.

- 4P: Damage increased from 17 to 19. ( 24 on CH, 28 on HCH).

The goal of this is to give Ein an option that defeats sidestep during 2P pressure without any major risk. Other strikers have thejr PK strings and mid hitting strings that may have built in tracking or quick followups that retrack to beat SS. With 4P at 19 NH damage it no longer loses to all forms of strike retaliation from strikers. It must now be crushed or beaten by fast jabs which is more fair to the Ein player and acceptable for this string. 

- 4H+K: Changed disdvantage on guard from -15 to -8.

This move as it is has a lot of utility, it is a 14 frame high kick that causes a lift stun on normal hit and acts as an incredibly quick launching tool on counter hit and in stun. It is also a quick way to enter back turned stance and access some of Ein's better guard breaking options.

However in spite of these pros, it's risks outside of the stun game outweigh it's potential rewards on hit. At -15 on block and with his back to the opponent nearly every character in the game gets a free guaranteed back turned combo on him which results in easily over 100 points of damage when Ein himself is getting at the most around 70 if he manages to hit the opponent with said attack.

By reducing the disadvantage to -8 on block, 9, 10 and 11 frame attacks (which consist mostly of jabs) are guaranteed as punishes for the opponents as well as guaranteed back turned throws. This makes the risk/reward of the move much more balanced while not giving Ein a potent spacing tool with no penalty.


- 8P: Counter hit and in stun property changed to +23 sit down stun. Normal hit property changed from +26 sit down stun to +23 sit down stun.

Animation:

Another property of Ein's that was taken away in 5U was 8P causing a sit down stun to his opponents if the move was landed on counter hit.

By adding this property back into Ein's moveset with DOA5U's new mechanics, 8P becomes Ein's new and primary source of guaranteed damage. It's +26 however is decreased to +23 as guaranteeing 33K would result in a bit too much quick damage. 3P and 4K would remain guaranteed options as with 8K's sit down stun.

Despite 8P's quick speed and potential sit down stun's scary properties, the guaranteed damage is reasonable and matched by most of the cast and of course, the unsafety and linearity of the move would be kept in tact.

8P's current bound property (and followup juggle) would still however, be applied to post critical burst situations and of course, if the move itself was used twice, as seen below.

- 6KK: Changed frames on block from -11 to -6.

Ein has a variety of unsafe pokes, most of which consist of attack string finishers, but one thing they all have in common is a reasonable reward on hit. 6KK does a meager 35 damage on counter hit (17 if the first hit connected) and causes a hard knockdown.

The damage on reward for the move is beaten by the damage Ein takes if he is punished if there is no wall or breakable object present which brings the unsafety of the move into question. Nevermind that it can be sidestepped. A linear poke with such little reward and no mixup capability should not carry such a huge risk if it's blocked.


- 8K, 1KK, 6H+KK4K, Back Turned 4K, 4PPK, 4P2KK: - Changed counter hit and in stun property to +23 sit down stun. (Currently this property is exclusive to normal hit)

Animation:

Given that Ein has no flexibility in his stun game options we find it appropriate to change 8K into a sit down stun. This would allow him an efficient way to get some guaranteed damage as well as blitz to the threshold for CB/Launch/Throw mixups. 

It would not replace his other mid kicks because 33K still has use as a stun > launch option and is faster. In most cases Ein's other mid kick launchers are more efficient than 8K on a opponent that is stagger escaping so they would have use in those situations while 8K would be a strong option after his deep stuns. Considering he does not have many of those this move is not a threat to balance. This change also applies to all strings  that end with 8K.

The drawback and balancing factor of this move is that like it's current normal hit counterpart, it has a large degree of pushback which enables it to only be used at close ranges in order to guarantee followups if the opponent slow escapes.

Examples: 

Additionally, like 8P, it wall splats taking away this tool as a whole when close to walls. It would also keep it's current ground bounce property after a critical burst and if the Ein player has breached the critical threshold.

- *NEW MOVE* Added 1P: Tracking low punch, 15F startup, -3 on normal hit, +17 on counter hit, -10 on block. 26 recovery frames.

Animation (Extended version of this): 

Ein is currently one of two strikers in DOA5U without a 1P. In Zack's case this can be justfied given that he has sufficient step coverage in his offense as well as crush capability. Ein however has none of these things and thus to improve his performance in close range a safe tracking 1P is ideal.

This move would give him something to use on the offense during 2P pressure and defensively to steal momentum from the opponent by crushing their highs. This also gives him a solid tool in the fight against Christie who otherwise dictates the match-up with her speed and Jakeiho stance.

Additionally, this gives him a potentially scary tool to use in stages with water and of course, the Ends of The Earth.


- *NEW MOVE* Added 214H+K: 23F startup, mid kick, holdable, tech jumping low crush, no tracking, 40 damage on hit, +3 guard break on block, 29 frames of recovery.

Animation is slower version of existing Back Turned 8K: 

DOA5U's inclusion of Ein saw a great improvement to a tool in his arsenal that was never previously viable in matches, back turned 8K. This move which is nearly identical to Hitomi's 236K in appearance carries the unique property of a +6 guard break on block. However unlike Hitomi, Ein has never had the ability to use this move unless his back is to the opponent.

Ein has always been a character advertised as easy to use and revolving around a gameplan of quick launches for guaranteed damage and strong whiff punishing capability. He however, has also always been more of a character centered around powerful strikes as opposed to Hitomi's speed and mixups. Despite this however he lacks access to any potent guard breaking tools that don't require him to complete a string or risk showing his back to the opponent.

The addition of this move fixes this issue and gives Ein a strong guard breaking tool without negatively effecting overall game balance. The idea is his Back Turned 8K also becoming a standalone move usable in normal stance through 214H+K.

It shares the offensive properties of tech jumping frames and 29 frames of recovery but speed is reduced from i17 to i23 and guard breaking advantage is reduced from +6 from +3 for the sake of balance. As another balancing factor, due to the airborne nature of the move, Ein takes a hi counter lift stun in the event he is hit before it reaches it's active frames. It's property as an unholdable mid kick however is removed for balancing purposes.

With the addition of this move, Ein gains a powerful tool with the capability of pressuring or creating space from the opponent without deviating from his core playstyle.



- *NEW MOVE* Added Running H+K: (Faster version of 214H+K/Same Animation) - 23F, +2 on block, tech jumping low crush, holdable.

Animation:

As previously stated, Ein has only had access to this specific attack while in back turned, Hitomi however has the ability to use it as a standalone attack, attack string ending tool or a run up tool. Running H+K in particular, would be the latter as an addition to Ein's arsenal.

Where as characters similar to Ein such as Hitomi or Hayate have strong approaching tools, Ein has no such ability if he needs to start an offense from a distance. Giving him mixups similar to theirs would deviate from his assumed playstyle. By adding running H+K he gains an approaching tool suitable to his character type.

Continuing to stress the difference between Ein and Hitomi's overall playstyles, whereas Hitomi's running K is the faster, safe variant of this move (18 frame startup, -5 on block), Ein's version would be a slower, more powerful version at a 23 frame startup and a +2 guard break on block. Like Hitomi's version, this would not track sidestepping opponents.


Back Turned 8K: 214H+K properties applied to back turned 8K. 23F, +3 guard break, tech jumping, unholdable, 29 frames of recovery.

It was heard that Team Ninja likes to keep consistency for multiple character attacks that share the same animation. In order to keep that here, Back turned 8K's properties would either have to be added to 214H+K or  the other way around. Considering the first option would be grossly imbalanced, we were willing to sacrifice BT 8K's old properties for the increased utility we would be gaining from 214H+K and running H+K. BT 8K would however, keep it's property as an unholdable mid kick unlike the other two versions of the kick.


- *NEW STRING* Added 1K2K: 1K transition into low sweep. All hit and block properties taken from Hayate's PP2KK.

Animation: 

Ein does not have many good ways to approach or start an offense. We believe this string will provide a nice option for players that dominate the footsies war by allowing them to come in with some frame advantage or a counter hit knockdown assuming 1K stuns on counter hit. 

In addition with the inclusion of a low tracking option to 1K, fuzzy guarding becomes an issue for the opponent and the mid followups to 1K become more threatening.

Hayate lost this string in DOA5 so we believe it is appropriate for Ein to recieve it.

Optional Changes


9KK, 3KKK: Frames on block changed from -9 and -10 to -5.

Currently weather or not Ein finishes either of these strings, the opponent is free to punish him on block. Bringing back safety to this move from previous DOA iterations inspires an intelligent risk vs reward game when Ein is in neutral with his opponent.

By finishing 9KK or 3KKK he sacrifices potential damage in exchange for satefy. If he commits to the string but the opponent was launched he will miss out on potential damage, if they block however he will be safe from throw punishing. Encouraging players to use discretion on when to finish the string for safety or risk being unsafe for a potential higher damage reward.


P+KP: Fully charged frames changed from i36 to i27, Advantage on GB changed from +9 to +5.

*NEW PROPERTY* Added charge feint: Press H any time during P+KP charge to launch a fast recovering feint instead of the guard break on the 27th frame. 15F recovery on charge feint.

Currently the charge is far too slow to use against even intermediate players. A speed increase is necessary in order improve overall viability of the move as currently it demands absolutely no respect from the opponent and Ein can be sidestepped, held on reaction, counter hit or thrown before the charge even finishes. Frame advantage reduction is applied to balance out the decreased charge speed. The charge feint is there for players with superb reactions and allow the Ein player mixup options.

Detailed Explanation of P+KP: A fact few players know is that currently P+K jails on block, creating a situation where the opponent cannot hold, sidestep or strike until a certain frame of P+KP's charge (with P+K at -7 on block currently, they cannot act until the 23rd frame), with P+K at -9 the opponent would not be able to sidestep, hold or strike until the 21st frame of what would become a 27 frame charge. 

This removes the option of striking Ein during the charge but due to the linearity of the mid punch, sidestepping as well as mid punch holding become reliable options to stop or counter the punch on reaction. The charge feint, at a solid 15 frame recovery gives the Ein player frame advantage if the opponent decided to hold during their 6 frame window of the charge and the opportunity to recover and block if they used a sidestep attack instead.

However it carries the risk of Ein being punished if the opponent waited for the feint cancel or chose a powerful strike during the charge in anticipation of the feint.

For a better visual understanding, the move would act like a more flexible variation of Vanilla DOA5 Gen Fu's Senpo charge punch and feint.

Examples: 

3K: Recovery changed from 26 to 24. Advantage on normal hit changed from +3 to +8.

The decrease to the recovery is due to the fact that 26 frames is a bit long and puts the Ein player at a risk if 3K doesnt make contact more so than other characters who have 3K recovery in the 22-24 frame mark. This change is not a necessity just something that would be nice.

3K's current normal hit stun makes it a bit difficult to hit confirm into 3KK unless some commitment is being taken. To take a little weight off the Ein player by making it easier to confirm without being completely hit confirmable a slight increase to the normal hit advantage is advised.

*NEW STRING* Added 4P2KK: All hit and block properties of Ein's 4P and 1KK, respectively.

Animation (Only for example, Ein 4P does not share Hitomi 8P properties on normal hit):

Originally added to Hitomi exclusively (as 8P2KK), this is a fairly basic attack string that should also be given to Ein considering his potential new 8K properties. Out of all the evolutions of his attack strings that have been given to Hitomi this is one of the most basic versions that make the most sense given his character type and gives him another normal hit and counter hit mixup without changing any aspect of his character. Further enhanced by the superior properties of Ein's 4P on normal hit.

*NEW STRING* Added 4PPK: All hit and block properties of Ein's 4PP and 8K, respectively.

Animation: 

Another new string that was given to Hitomi in the original DOA5, this and the string listed before it represent the most basic of mixup tools from 4P that would be most suited to Ein. Not only are these mixups very simple by design to implement and make the most sense but Ein in particular would benefit more from the string itself due to the superior normal hit properties of his 4P and 8K which would force the opponent into a must hold situation on any hit should 4P connect.

These strings add an extra layer of mixup and reward to one of Ein's only tracking tools through mid kick finishers but are kept balanced by the unsafety of 8K's on block properties and their shared linearity with the mix punch finishers. Ein needs these strings to evolve as a character.


PPP: decreased startup frames on fully charged P from 35F to 27F. Advantage reduced from +8 GB to +5 GB.

The balance decision to make Ein's PPP charge a very slow 35 frames caused overall confusion to much of the Ein playerbase. Even considering the large amount of frame advantage gained from the guard break, the charge itself is so slow that it can be reacted to by even moderately skilled players who can counter, sidestep or even simply throw Ein during the charge.

Even more so, Hitomi, a character with more overall tools than Ein at her disposal, has the exact same PPP charge with the same advantage, but six frames faster at a respectable i29 frames.

Considering Ein's lack of options after PP that force the opponent to respect him, we felt it appropriate to put him in the middle between Hayate's fast low advantage guard break (PP6P) and Hitomi's slower more powerful charge (PPP) as a balance between the two. By reducing Ein's charge time by 8 frames and decreasing advantage by 3 points, you have a respectable charge that cannot be used as freely as Hayate's, but can be thrown out cautiously in high level play without giving too much of a reward when blocked.

Juggle damage adjustments

PPP: Damage increased from 10, 10, 25 to 10, 10, 30.

PP6PK: Damage increased from, 10, 10, 16, 30 to 10, 10, 18, 34.

66KKK: Damage increased from 25, 20, 30 to 25, 25, 32.

6KK: Damage increased from 24, 28, to 26, 32.

1K6PK: Damage increased from 16, 16, 30 to, 18, 18, 32.

Ein's stun launch damage is not sufficient enough for a character that must rely on that method of damage more often than other characters. By increasing his juggle finisher damage by a mere 3 points this allows the Ein player a bit more reward for his work. 

All attacks are scaled down by 50% when used after a launch so boosted damage values are adjusted accordingly in order to achieve the 3 point boost in juggle damage.

                                                                                                                                                  

Credits: 

Offbeat Ninja:

The man that put Ein on the map, he may not be with us today, but he is appreciated for all of his hard work and effort with the character, you will never be forgotten.

The DOA5U Ein Players:

Without extensive testing and the loyal, patient minds of the Ein players we would never have been able to comprise this list to reach out to you today, much thanks and love go out to all those who have stuck with Ein through thick and thin.

Assistant Authors:

- Tenryuga, TakedaZX (U.S Ein players and FreeStepDodge.com users)

The Writer: 

- ZeoRebirth (U.S Ein/Akira/Hayate player and FreeStepDodge user).