Tekken 8 Patch 1.03.02 just dropped on all platforms, with a focus on fixing the balance for newcomer Azucena Ortiz. Though she was already nerfed in the previous patch which also added Eddy Gordo to the roster, the way they did so unintentionally made her Espresso Agresión (WR 3,2) practically safe on whiff.
via Bandai Namco
This update nerfs the move even further, particularly in terms of recovery frames and the distance she covers with the second part of the string on whiff. Previously, she would continue flying across the screen after the second hit whiffed, making it practically impossible to punish her accordingly.
But with Patch 1.03.02, Azucena now lands much closer to the opponent on whiff, and with an extended period of recovery thereafter to boot. This makes it much easier to collect your reward for successfully sidestepping the first hit of the string. Furthermore, the increased recovery time means that she cannot just cover most punishment attempts with her Libertador parry (f+3+4).
This is certainly a welcome change to Tekken 8, considering how strong and oppressive Espresso Agresión is on a normal day. Giving players more opportunities to punish those that rely on this move too much should bring Azucena a bit more in line balance-wise.
Other Changes
The patch also includes two general system changes. The first fixes a bug wherein characters could move freely during Rage Art animations, which in turn allowed them to sidestep away from the Rage Art user in order to avoid having to block it entirely. From there, they could simply run up to the opponent while they were stuck in the whiff recovery frames, and get a backturned punish combo or back throw for free.
The bug itself could be triggered by the defending player executing a crouch throw during the Rage Art animation itself. The Rage Art would armor through the crouch throw as normal, but would not freeze the defending player.
Patch 1.03.02 also addressed the issue regarding collision detection on tornado moves. In the previous patch, the Tekken 8 dev team tweaked collision detection when executing Rage Arts after a tornado near the wall, to prevent characters from slipping through their opponents during the Rage Art.
This caused some combos to become inconsistent, however, so the team has reverted this change. Interestingly, they did not revert or adjust the change from the last patch that greatly weakened moves that caused floor breaks, such as Devil Jin’s Heaven’s Door (cd+1,u/f). Several pro players and high level streamers complained about how this removes combo creativity, so it remains to be seen whether or not the dev team will double back on this change.
There is a big balance patch scheduled for May, so if they are indeed going to revert the aforementioned change, it’s likely going to be in that update.
The full patch notes can be found on Bandai Namco’s official Tekken 8 website.
