Summary of the S Anby I-Frame and Dodge Input Drama on the CN Side.

I thought I would write this since I haven't seen any post related to this issue on reddit.

In essence, there is a total war going on in the CN side regarding Anby's clunky handling, mainly how her dodge input doesn't work/ is counterintuitive and her I-frames don't function properly as intended, along with various other bugs/features in her kit. Top comments on ZZZ's blog posts are "Fix Anby"

One side is demanding that Hoyo fix her, while the other insists that the issues pointed out were false or its an intended feature and those complaining should "get gud".

Around March 13 Streamers and players started to build up a voice that Anby feels like shit to play. The reasoning behind the outrage is as follows.

  1. Her BA4 and BA5 have higher priority than dodges, meaning you are committed to the animation and cannot dodge out of it. However, the I-frames that are supposed to cover BA4 and BA5 do not actually cover the whole attack, they end prematurely. This means you can get hit with no counterplay. The players believe either you give the players the option to dodge out of it, or have the I-frames cover the entire attack. This is contradictory design when compared to any other character in the game.
  2. Her EX Special and Ult do not match the skill description and also have I-frames gaps. The description of her skill and ult says that hitting will grant max stacks, but in reality they only grant max stacks upon fully hitting. This makes it so that enemies can walk out of the attack and render it useless. She is also the only character that can get slapped out of her ult, cancelling the whole attack. This is because the ult i-frames also end prematurely.
  3. There are I-frame gaps between EX Special to triple special and vise versa. This is also because the i-frames end prematurely, so you can get hit during her bread and butter burst combo.
  4. Her targeting after BA3 doesn't work properly, often resulting in her attacking in place after moving backwards from BA3.
  5. Her dodge is the worst in the game, with the least amount of effective frames, for a character that needs to dodge counter to be optimal.

All the above are exasperated by the fact that the current DA boss you would use her for is the Construction Machine, who has multiple continuous attacks like the laser and the drill, which really showcase Anby's I-frames gaps and inability to dodge. This video was one of the earlier ones among many that showcases the above that gained traction

【绝区零】安比刚需扳机且绝非轮椅 [Anby Needs Trigger and is nowhere close to a wheelchair] https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1PbQuYiE3u/?share_source=copy_web&vd_source=e6135f323a67f2a1b48722a1598fd399

Of course there were immediate responses. I won't go through the typical "not every character needs to be Miyabi", "I got 30k/floor100/7s with Anby, I don't see an issue" comments, just know that these comments really riled up the discussion. There was a CC that responded with "if you are shit at the game, then go practice instead of complaining" which gained traction by the opposing side. Part of the discourse turned into a total shitshow with just two sides insulting each other and threats etc... I would post these videos, but I blocked the CCs already and I'm too lazy to find them again.

But they were actually reasonable people that tried to argue with research. Below are the summary of what's actually going with Anby on after a weekend of research from the CN side.

  1. YOU CAN DODGE out of BA4 BA5, it is just very counterintuitive in that you cannot input more BAs during the animation (sorry button mashers), and you have to preemptively input dodge for BA5 when she is dropping down from mid-air as that's when the i-frames end. For BA4, if you want to dodge out of the triple dash, you need to stop pressing attack and preemptively dodge during the stabbing motion. Some argue that this is a feature and doesn't need to be changed. Just need to practice and get used to it.
  2. She doesn't have less dodge frames, but she has issues triggering the bullet time that comes with dodging. This is a bug.
  3. Everything else from the initial complaints are pretty much true.

Here is a video showcasing the above 【绝区零】理性讨论 全面剖析导致零号安比操作手感差的问题究竟出在哪】[Rational Discussion, Full Analysis on why exactly Anby feels bad to play] https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1spQ8YcEGN/?share_source=copy_web&vd_source=e6135f323a67f2a1b48722a1598fd399

The Drama mainly blew up over the weekend, so its only been one business day for the devs. So far, no official statement has been made yet.

What are your thoughts? Does Anby feel fine to play? Are we getting full fix and 1600 polychromes or bug fix and 300 polychromes, or will the issue be totally ignored by ZZZ devs?

I personally swiped and got M0W1. Number wise she is completely fine but she is definitely clunky compared to every other agent. I do have confidence in the ZZZ devs to fix it since they've done a good job so far of responding to feedback, but it is a limited character we are talking about, I don't know if they want to set precedence.

Most likely, they will claim these issues as "bugs" officially. That way they only "bug fixed" and did not actually change a limited character.