In general, universal changes were made to improve defense against throws and decrease the amount of Tension gained throughout the match. R.I.S.C. and Wild Assault has also been touched upon.

Throws and command grabs can no longer be Purple Roman Canceled on whiff. This prevents the opponent from being punished by correctly predicting the opponent's throw with something like a backdash.

Guard Crush now has standard throw protection. To maintain its identity as a powerful offensive tool to shut down the opponent's options, it now disables deflect shield and requires extra Tension to Faultless Defense in addition to its previous ability to disable Yellow Roman Cancel.

All Wild Assaults now have forced proration, slightly decreasing the damage of combos using them. They still maintain all of their previous use cases, those uses will simply do less damage.

Canceling a Red Roman Cancel no longer prevents Tension Penalty from lasting until the opponent leaves hitstun. This prevents certain characters from abusing long combos to build very large amounts of meter despite spending meter from the Roman Cancel.

Positive Bonus has been slightly changed to reduce the extra meter gained from various actions.

On the other side, resource gain for the opponent during combos has been toned down. It also now has a cap to prevent incredibly high combos from giving too much resource.

To slightly decrease the risk of being in the air, R.I.S.C gain while in the air has been decreased.

The battle UI has been slightly updated. A new gauge is now present underneath the character's health that will display their current wall damage. This makes the wall much easier to work around in combos and just generally gives both players more information to work with. The notch represents 1500 Wall Damage, the most a character can gain without being near the wall.

*This character is one of the potential recipients of a new move.*

Sol is currently in a pretty good spot, and doesn't need that many changes.

Bandit Revolver has been adjusted to restore some of its use in neutral, but only when properly spaced. When done perfectly, Bandit Revolver can be up to -5 with the opponent pushed away, allowing for a relatively safe push towards the corner.

To emphasize the power of a clean hit Fafnir, the normal hit version now does less damage. This makes it less powerful when used as a combo ender.

6S has been nerfed to maintain the status quo. Sorry.

*This character is one of the potential recipients of a new move.*

Like Sol, Ky is in a mostly stable place right now. The main difficulty in his gameplan is the fact that he was incentivized to use Shock State more... but it wasn't changed enough to compensate.

Shock State now lasts longer in general, similarly to Testament's extension to Stain in a previous patch. In addition, Ride the Lightning now briefly applies Shock State, allowing for extra extensions when using a Roman Cancel but not when breaking the wall.

In exchange for this change, Ride the Lightning now does less chip damage in Dragon Install.

6K has had its startup reduced, making it a slightly more viable pressure reset.

*If I may show my bias for a second... May is one of the best examples of a "privileged character" this game has to offer.*

May is just overtuned. Her various strengths, including very high damage, quick movement, and above average health, are not balanced out by any weaknesses. She needs to be toned back.

Multiple of May's attacks have recieved slight frame data nerfs, making it easier for the opponent to deal with her pressure. Many attacks have also recieved less damage.

May's 5H, a high damage and disjointed attack with great reward and use in neutral, has become less safe on block. It maintains its relative reward, but is harder to use as a neutral tool if the opponent is able to predict it.

May's backdash, previously the fastest in the game, has been very slightly lengthened.

Mr. Dolphin Horizontal (S) now leaves May closer on block, allowing the opponent to take their turn easier.

Mr. Dolphin Vertical is now usable in the air. This gives May another option to vary her air movement, and can allow for new combo tool (potentially).

While Axl is quite powerful in... certain matchups, he struggles against many characters overall. He will be getting multiple general buffs.

5P is now slightly less safe on block or whiff, making it easier for some characters to approach Axl.

6H has been changed to be more rewarding in general, and be better for use as a mixup. On counterhit it offers much higher reward, and on block it maintains relative safety.

Winter Mantis, as a very active and slow command grab, is particularly hurt by the Throw PRC change. It has recieved some slight buffs to compensate.

Snail, one of Axl's main combo and blockstring enders, now gives slightly greater reward when connecting with the grounded version.

Sickle Storm is once again nearly safe on block, unless the opponent instant blocks it. Successfully punishing it requires jumping after the first hit.

Chipp's main problem previously besides his low health was the linearity of his approach. That has been greatly helped by the addition of Tightrope. Chipp is recieving even more new options, at the cost of a few damage nerfs.

Resshou can now be dash cancelled. This can then be kara-cancelled into other specials, giving Chipp even more options for pressure.

Chipp is recieving a few slight damage decreases to make up for the new options in pressure.

Shuriken has been slightly improved, though not to the degree that it becomes central move. In the situations where it was useful, it will now give slightly more reward.

A few of Chipp's Tightrope attacks are being made less disjointed, making them slightly less powerful as pokes.

Potemkin is the undisputable best character in the game. Even worse, he is one of the most obnoxious characters to fight in the game now. Many of these changes are returning Potemkin to how he was prior to Season 4. He also has the honor of getting no buffs.

Potemkin Buster is being toned back significantly. While the move still remains as the centerpiece of Potemkin's Gameplan, it is now harder to land and much more fair. These nerfs combined with the changes to Throw PRC and Guard Crush will return Potemkin Buster to its rightful place as a very powerful but difficult to land grab.

Heavenly Potemkin Buster lost the ability to be PRC'd, which notably means that Potemkin can no longer perform Super PRC.

Giganter Kai is being toned back in damage, as it provides incredibly powerful combo extensions.

F.D.B. has been changed to make Potemkin's approach slightly more difficult against zoners, so they don't lose most of their strategy in this matchup. It also is now incapable of reflecting certain projectiles that visually make no sense to be "flicked".

Damage across multiple of Potemkin's moves has also been slightly decreased.

Faust is a mostly functional character with only a few small issues. He is being given a few new combo opportunities.

Item chances have been rebalanced. Primary changes include a decreased chance to create a Mini-Faust and a high chance of getting donuts.

5HH can now be used on opponents hit in the air, giving Faust new combo opportunities where he previously had none. It also now gains enhanced properties when 5H counterhits.

The standalone version of Hole in One! can now be dash canceled when hitting an item. This dash cancel can not be kara canceled into specials. This reduces his recovery, while also moving him forward for continued pressure. When also hitting the opponent, this may allow for new combo opportunities.

I do not like the character Millia Rage in the Guilty Gear Strive video game.
That being said... I will put my bias aside. Temporarily.

f.S is being adjusted to be a better tool in combos, and to make cancelling into 5H much more consistent.

The horizontal movement of Artemis can now be slightly influenced. Angling it forward allows it to connect from farther ranged, while angling it back makes it somewhat safer. The frame data very slightly changes depending on how it is angled.

Winger can now be used in the air. This allows Millia to end air combos with an overdrive, getting a hard knockdown for continued pressure.

Kapel has been changed to now have variable recovery depending on if it hits or not. It is now much worse on block, while maintaining the same reward on hit.

*This character is one of the potential recipients of a new move.*

Zato=1 has been considered as the worst character in the game for a while now. He will be fixed accordingly.

When the Eddie Gauge is red, hitting the opponent in any way will now restore Eddie's health equivalent equal to how much the attack itself does times three. This rewards Zato for being aggressive, rather than just running away until the Gauge restores.

Break the Law is now a more viable defensive tool. It has increased movement speed, and can now evade YRC. It still loses to Burst, however.

"Oppose"'s attack portion was often underutilized, as it doesn't give incredible reward while draining the entire Eddie Gauge. The attack now does more damage, while also not sending the opponent nearly as far to make continued pressure easier for Zato. The defending portion also now heals Eddie whenever he armors through an attack, gaining the amount of health that the attack did times four. This works similarly to the previously mentioned increasing of the Eddie Gauge while red.

With these changes combined, Zato could theoretically use "Oppose" to extend combos, ending with a large portion of the Eddie Gauge restored.

Ram is getting a few changes to try to find a middleground between her Season 4 and Season 3 versions. Any changes not explicitly described are in service of that goal.

2D can be difficult to make work in its current state due to its range. It now has very slight forward movement.

Agresa Ordono has a slightly expanded forward hurtbox, making it easier to anti-air.

*This character is one of the potential recipients of a new move.*

Leo is a very strong character, and has been for quite a long time. He is being toned back a bit, especially Brynhildr Stance.

The attack portion of Leo's armored stance is now punishable on block. The opponent is now rewarded for successfully calling out Leo's use of this move.

Turbulenz has been reverted to how it was before Season 4, making it possible to punish.

Backturn normals and specials as a whole are being toned back a bit, mainly in their advantage.

Glänzendes Dunkel, a rarely used special move, is now throw invulnerable. This gives it a place in pressure as a high reward option against throws.

*This character is one of the potential recipients of a new move.*

The main change Nagoriyuki is facing is lowered damage on his H normals. That's really the main pain point in his current balance.

Besides that, Kamuriyuki is now a mid. The game is saved.

The advantage of 6H has been very slightly decreased. This definitively means that Nagoriyuki's turn is over when the move is blocked.

Blood Rage Exit now has an additional 10f of endlag in which Nagoriyuki can block. This is identical to how A.B.A's Jealous Rage Exit functions. This once again means that Nagoriyuki is definitively in a disadvantaged position, and therefore the opponent can take their turn back without any worry.

As for buffs, some of Nago's air normals are being improved. While still not having a particularly good air game, he can at least find a few more situations where being in the air is useful.

Giovanna is not in need of any particular changes. In some more niche situations, she will now get more reward. In exchange, 2D is very slightly worse. She is basically unchanged.

Multiple attacks now give greater reward on CH, allowing for new combo opportunities in some instances.

2D now has less active frames, making it less powerful as a stop sign in neutral.

Ventania can now be used during Chave, and gains enhanced properties when doing so.

Anji is a character that is simply a bit overtuned in some very specific areas, and has been quite annoying since the introduction of Midare. A lot of the issue is just that it can be difficult for opponents to punish some of his options. He is just a bit too safe.

2H, a rarely used normal, has been reworked to function as a pressure reset similarly to how is worked in +R. It is now slightly plus, though it has slightly more startup.

Suigetsu No Hakobi now has slightly more recovery. This gives the opponent a better chance to punish it.

Midare is now significantly weaker. It takes marginally longer to start, and more importantly is much less advantageous. This makes it less dominant in certain situations, particularly projectiles.

Charged Fuujin is now a Guard Crush, but can not cancel into itself. This removes a fairly boring knowledge check and instead makes use of Guard Crush's new properties, forcing the opponent to deal with the mixup.

Rin has been reverted to its previous iteration. This version took away any potential use in combos, instead making it a more annoying mixup tool. The old version was better.

Now that Kachoufuugetsu Kai beats crossups, Anji can be difficult to pressure when knocked down at 50% meter. This is particularly prevalent since the Far variation of Kachoufuugetsu Kai is very safe on block. It is now more disadvantaged, rewarding the opponent for calling out Anji's parry.

Outside of a specific player, I-No has been considered a somewhat weak character for most of Strive's life. She is mainly getting new options to mess with the opponent's expectations.

The effective introduction of Antidepressant Scale "feints" in Season 4 has brought up an idea: what if she could feint more attacks? So now she can. All versions of Sultry Performance as well as Mad Love Agitato can be feinted in order to decieve the opponent and sneak in mixups.

I genuinely could not figure out what to nerf for I-No sorry.

Goldlewis does too much damage. That is the issue. ArcSys was wrong when they said Behemoth Typhoon's damage should not be nerfed.

On that note, Behemoth Typhoon has seen a damage nerf due to its ability to be cancelled into itself.

j.D no longer has a disjoint, making it easier to beat with 6P.

Skyfish now has a higher minimum bullet count, forcing Goldlewis to commit more to using it. The new Season 4 version makes Goldlewis way too good at countering zoning, while also not being particularly committal to just send out. This brings it somewhat closer to the old version.

Goldlewis' 5H now staggers on counterhit. This allows him to combo into throw and run his powerful oki.

I genuinely don't know what to do with Jack-O'. I know she is on the lower end, and I've felt that from playing against her and watching matches, but I can't put my feeling on why. I just don't encounter her enough. I gave her some buffs to Servant Shoot and called it a day. Sorry Jack-O' players.

Servant Shoot's dash cancel can now be kara cancelled into any special besides itself. It already cancels into other specials so I don't see why not. It also now hits servants behind her, though not through expanded active time. This works similarly to Venom's j.D.

Chaos is far from his undisputably top 1 overpower state. But he is still a strong character. Enough to get a few nerfs, at least.

f.S, which is often overshadowed by 2S, now has increased pushback on block. This allows Chaos to disengage without needing to spend a bullet.

Fire's reticle can no longer randomly lock on to the opponent. There was no reason it should have been able to do that in the first place.

To continue the war against Happy Chaos' zoning that has happening in multiple patches, a new tier for Steady Aim's Concentration drain has been added. It now takes even more when over a certain distance from the opponent.

Scapegoat's recent nerf took away a pretty major defensive tool for Chaos, so it has recieved a small rework. While it now once again protects Chaos from direct hits, it instead transfers some of the damage to him. This makes it even more health intensive while returning its protection.

As Chaos is particularly good at comboing stray hits into an Overdrive wallbreak, the damage of Deus Ex Machina has been lowered. It also now uses the special extended Tension Penalty, typically given to overdrives that refill a resource, provide a buff, or last a long time. Deus Ex Machina does that by refilling bullets. Typically this will be negated by the following Positive Bonus, but it will still effect something.

Baiken is in a pretty good spot right now, maybe even a bit too powerful. Much better than bottom 1 from before Season 4 at least.

The primary change to Baiken is found in Hiiragi. When canceled out of blockstun, it now has a 4f startup. During this startup, Baiken will automatically block (with a special block animation, to make sure the player knows what happened). This is to reduce its incredible strength against multihit moves, which gives Baiken an unfair advantage against those moves specifically. Multihits with a larger gap will still trigger the parry.

2P is being made into a usable move, rather than just being a worse version of 5P. It has better advantage, damage, and pushback on block.

f.S is being toned back, as it is very fast for its range and has very high active frames. It is now a bit less potent in neutral.

Despite getting a major damage increase, j.D was not included in the emergency balance patch. It has been toned back a bit.

Testament is a functional character that is simply a bit underwhelming. Nothing is egregiously wrong with them, they just aren't as good as other characters.

f.S now has less pushback, making some combos more consistent.

6H has a larger hitbox above Testament's head, preventing a specific edge case when comboing out of throw. It also now has a bit of disjoint at the farthest range.

j.D's hitbox has been very slightly increased, making it better match the visuals.

Grave Reaper's hurtbox has been extended to cover roughly half of its hitbox, slightly undoing a buff from the last patch.

Arbiter Sign now tracks slightly closer to Testament, which probably won't help much but perhaps opens a very obscure new option.

Though Bridget does low damage and has low health, her mixups generally make up for this. She doesn't need many changes.

Rolling Movement's speed is now able to be slightly influeced similarly to Kick Start My Heart.

I wasn't sure what else to change. Oh well.

Sin was wildly overtuned following his many changes in Season 4. He is getting a small rework, as well as a myriad of nerfs.

The rework comes in Still Growing, which is going from nearly useless to one of Sin's most vital moves. The buffs it provides are now permanent, and it now always restores 15 health, 5% tension, and 1/6 of Sin's Stamina. Ice Cream and Lizard have been removed, so Sin will randomly get a buff to damage, defense, or movement. Depending on what the player ends up gaining, they will have to change their strategy around that. In exchange for this rework, nearly all of Sin's stats have been reduced by roughly 2 of the new food levels.

Bedman? is so close to being a good character. They just need a tiny push.

Bedman?'s health has been slightly decreased, as the previous patch's change made them live slightly longer than they probably should.

5P is now mostly disjointed, as it was in xrd. This makes it a somewhat better anti-air.

5K's hitbox now matches the visuals much better, with the hitbox fully reaching the floor at closer range.

f.S and 2S are being reworked to be more distinct. f.S's increased attack level allows for a gapless cancel into 2H, making it better at close range. 2S now vacuums, making it better at long ranges due to decreasing the travel time for 2H to reach the opponent.

!S is often actively detrimental in certain wallbreak combos. To prevent this, the first hits now remove wallstick like the Call 13c version. The final hit deals increased wall damage to compensate.

Call 0x$1.00 has slightly improved recovery, but more importantly has had its timing adjusted to perfectly follow up a throw. This means that it can be used to cancel a blocked normal into a surprise throw, and then get extra reward off of that throw.

Asuka was nerfed somewhat hard, making him simply a less functional then before. He is still able to win, just less. A few of his spells are getting buffed.

Delayed Tardus Metron is now a more powerful tool in neutral. It now takes two hits to destroy, making it more committal for the opponent to deal with.

Bit Shift Metron (Start from Level 5) has been returned to the test case, but now has an increased Mana cost.

RMS Boost Metron has been returned to its former role of having high guard crush, at the cost of some damage.

Bookmark (Full Order) now costs significantly less Mana, allowing Asuka to better continue pressure afterwards.

I have been unable to find it, but I swear the developers said at one point that Johnny is always meant to be a top tier. If that's true... can we do it in a way that isn't as obnoxious?

For some reason, Johnny is one of the most durable characters in the game. His defense modifier has been decreased.

Johnny's stepdash and backdash are being slowed down to make his movement more committal.

f.S has been made very slightly slower to make it less overwhelming as a round start option and midrange poke.

Johnny's looping Guard Crush mixups with Turn Up have been toned down. It is now much harder for him to repeatedly loop them, as his advantage has been lowered.

In addition, Mist Finer now has increased hitstop, making it easier to react to.

Ensenga is now better at catching low profile moves, though it also does less damage. It can also now be used in the air.

As for buffs, j.D now wallbounces for combos. That is all.

I'm not creative enough to fix this mess. Many have called Elphelt the worse designed character in the game — I wouldn't necessarily agree, but she definitely needs a major rework.

Specifically Chain Lollipop. It just isn't a good gimmick.

A.B.A is in a weird spot where she is incredibly powerful in certain matchups but very bad in others. I'm not really sure how to change her without breaking that. It's kind of part of her main gameplay design to be like that. Regardless, an attempt will be made.

Throw now pauses the Jealousy Guage when it connects. This makes throw a much more valid option in a Jealous Rage without wasting a large amount of meter.

j.H is now significantly disjointed. This gives it a niche use, even if it still isn't particularly rewarding.

Intertwine and Tilt has been given back its reward on counterhit.

Judgement and Sentiment now has an expanded collision box, making it easier to grab A.B.A out of the startup.

Slayer's main problem isn't his damage, but rather how easily he gets access to that damage. The only nerfs he needs are to make that more difficult.

K Mappa Hunch is now a less powerful tool in neutral. It is now even harder to make plus, though it isn't impossible.

It's Late is now less advantageous on block. This seperates it from Bump Ahead, which is now the definitive "safe" Dandy Step followup.

Super Mappa Hunch is now easier to interrupt when done in neutral. Its invulnerable frames have been moved to make the startup less safe.

In terms of buffs, j.D has a higher launch and is therefore more powerful in combos.

c.S can now be cancelled into backdash. This allows c.S to be comboed into Hand of Doom, which can allow for some new combo opportunities. Probably not optimal ones, but fun ones.

Dizzy, at first glance, seems like a good character. She has great mixups, high damage, and a high potential for snowballing. The problem is that her frame data is mediocre and her zoning is imperfect. She will be getting a ton of frame data buffs, as well as some new options in her zoning and neutral. Her meter problems are hopefully fixed by the prior combo meter changes, and also a change to combo proration on ice moves.

In general, many of Dizzy's normals have gotten better frame data and are safer.

As in previous games and earlier versions of Strive, Dizzy now has two airdashes. Her airdash distance and duration has been adjusted to compensate.

We talked a lot together is getting a major overhaul. The fish can now be armored to provide extra protection, and can also be "programmed" like in XX to change how they move. This allows Dizzy to make the fish more threatening, and also mix up how they approach.

The only nerf Dizzy is getting is a slight decrease in the size of I used this to catch fish's hitbox.

Venom's main issue is that achieving high damage is situational and sometimes his setup can be difficult. He is getting a variaty of buffs.

Some normals have recieved improvements to frame data.

Placed Balls now last much longer, and also persist when Venom is hit. This lets him build up his setplay for longer, and maintain it even when disadvantaged.

QV is now more advantageous depending on how long it is charged.

During Tryambaka, damage to the opponent has been changed slightly. Venom will get more reward in most situations, while still maintaining the very high reward in specific setups.

Venom's only nerf is a slight speed decrease to H Stinger Aim, making it slightly less spammable.

Unika is too new to get any actual changes besides the universal ones. She will probably need a damage nerf at some point.

I'm preemptively nerfing Lucy because I think it would be funny. Very mild spoilers for move frame data.

Some characters will now have a different home stage when certain DLC is owned. Venom's home stage has also changed.