Last week we were scrambling to keep up with NetherRealm’s Watchtower livestream where the team went over most of the nerfs and buffs to many of your favorite characters. Today, the big August update has gone live, and so too have all of these huge character changes. Top-tier favorites like Aquaman and Deadshot have seen considerable changes, and lower-tier lightweights like Supergirl have been beefed up considerably. Most characters have had positive and negative changes made, and now we finally have the full list of tweaks at our fingertips.
Below we’ll list every single character change that just went live in the August update. If you have a favorite character that you love to play, or a dreaded character that you hate to fight against, take note and make sure you see how their strengths and weaknesses have been shifted:
Videos by ComicBook.com
- Aquaman – Huzzah (Away + Light, Medium, Hard) has 3 more recovery frames
Aquaman – Rising Trident (Down + Medium) has 1 more startup frame and 3 less active frames
Aquaman – Trident Rush & Trident Rush MeterBurn do less damage for each hit
Aquaman – Tentacle Strike MeterBurn now does an additional hit that causes a hard knockdown
Aquaman – From The Deep MeterBurn Gear Ability base damage reduced from 6 to 4
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
- Atroticus – Slightly Increased the amount of character power meter drained from Atrocitus when push-blocked while Dex-Starr is out
Atroticus – Slightly increased the amount of Character Power Meter drained for using Blood Ball, Hate Pounce, or Regurgitate Rage Gear Ability while Dex-Starr is active
Atroticus – Significantly increased the amount of Character Power Meter drained for using Blood Wall while Dex-Starr is active
Atroticus – Reduced the cancel advantage of the second to last hit of Blood Ritual (Towards + Medium, Medium, Hard) by 3
Atroticus – Napalm Vomit has 5 less active frames and 3 more frames of recovery on miss
Atroticus – Napalm Vomit block advantage properties adjusted to be more consistent between close and long ranges
Bane – base stats adjusted to have 50 less strength, 50 less health, and 100 more defense
Bane – base damage of most normal attacks and special moves have been increased by 1
Bane – Brutal Jab (Light) now has 7 startup frames (down from 9)
Bane – Brutal Hammerfist (Medium) base damage increased to 5 (from 3)
Bane – Spine Buster MeterBurn (Towards + Medium, Down, Light + Hard MeterBurn) base damage increased to 8 (from 3)
Bane – Knightfall (Away + Medium, Light) base damage increased to 9 (from 6)
Bane – Bane Bomb MeterBurn base damage increased to 16 (from 13)
Bane – Body Press MeterBurn Gear Ability base damage increased to 18.8 (from 15.8)
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
Batman – Fixed bug preventing the use of negative edge to perform Bat Swarm with Release Check On in controller settings
Batman – Pressing a button not bound to any attacks after performing Air Scatter Bombs MB will no longer prevent further inputs
Batman – slightly increased combo damage scaling after Mechanical Bats Character Power and it is now consistent regardless of how many bats hit
Batman – Batarang MB and Up Batarang MB damage scaling increased
Batman – Batarang MeterBurn now has 8 active frames (from 9) and has 6 more recovery frames on hit/block
Batman – Up Batarang MeterBurn now has 8 active frames (from 9) and has 6 more recovery frames on hit/block
Batman – Fixed bug which was preventing the AK Battle Armor 5U89R (Alternate) Shader from dropping from Mother-Boxes and end of match rewards
Black Adam – Riddle of The Sphinx (Towards + Light, Medium, Light + Hard) base damage reduced to 10 (from 13)
Black Adam – Orbs of Seth Character Power base damage reduced to 2.5 (from 3) on each orb and now increase combo damage scaling
Black Adam – Boot Dive and Boot Dive MeterBurn base damage has been reduced to 8 (from 10) and has increased combo damage scaling
Black Adam – Black Magic hit advantage has been reduced to 24 (from 47) and now triggers auto-block on a grounded opponent
Black Adam – Black Magic has increased gravity against an airborne opponent
Black Adam – Black Magic Meter burn has decreased combo damage scaling
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
Black Canary – No Turning Back (Light, Light, Medium) had 7 less recovery frames, 5 more frames of blockstun and increased pushback on blockBlack Canary – New Wings (Light, Light, Medium, Light + Hard) is now a throw attack and has base damage increased by 1
Black Canary – Soaring High (Away + Light, Medium) base damage increased to 7 (from 3), 5 more frames of blockstun and increased pushback on block
Black Canary – High Heel (Hard) has 5 more frames of blockstun and increased pushback on block
Black Canary – Holding Back (Hard, Hard) has 1 less recovery frame, 10 more frames of blockstun
Black Canary – Front/Back Handspring into Flying Scissor Kick now recovers 3 frames faster with increased pushback on block
Black Canary – Front/Back Handspring into Thrust Kick now recovers 4 frames faster and has 15 more frames more blockstun
Brainiac – Coluan Form (Light, Light) base damage increased to 3 (from 2)
Brainiac – Collector of Worlds (Light, Medium) base damage increased to 3 (from 2)
Brainiac – Dual Strike (Away + Medium) base damage increased to 5 (from 4)
Brainiac – Tendril Swarm (Hard) base damage increased to 7 (from 5) and has increased combo damage scaling
Brainiac – The delaying of Beta Strike and Beta Bomb no longer gets cancelled when Brainiac is hit or blocks
Brainiac – Beta Strike can no longer be parried by low projectile parries
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
Captain Cold – Fixed bug with Upward Cold Blast Gear Ability not aligning properly when done from some 2in1 cancels
Captain Cold – Big Freeze MB now ignores projectile immunity
Captain Cold – Adjusted hit regions on several normal attacks
Captain Cold – Freeze (Medium, Light, Hard) has 4 less recovery on hit/Miss, 7 less recovery on block, and causes 5 less frames of blockstun
Captain Cold – Prison Break (Away + Medium, Hard, Medium) has decreased combo damage scaling
Captain Cold – Grip Hit (Hard) now has 10 startup frames (from 12), active frames increased to 5 (from 3), 5 less recovery, and has 6 more blockstun frames
Captain Cold – Fixed bug that caused Glacier Grenade to have higher input priority then Cryogenic Blast when performed as a cancel
Captain Cold – Absolute Zero Supermove and Cryogenic Blast can no longer get destroyed by some Background Interactions
Captain Cold – Force Field now activates 5 frames faster and has 5 less recovery frames
Captain Cold – The Wall has reduced pushback on block, 9 less blockstun frames, and 9 less recovery on block
Captain Cold – The Wall MB startup is now 6 frames (from 14) and recovery increased by 2 frames and now ignores projectile immunity
Captain Cold – Reduced the gap between The Wall missing and The Wall MeterBurn active frames to 1 (down from 6)
Catwoman – Tail Spin (Away + Hard) has pushback on block reduced and victim regions slightly increased during the active and recovery frames
Catwoman – Whip Strike (Jump + Medium Attack) has its hit region angle slightly adjusted
Catwoman – Cat-Lateral Damage character power damage on each hit changed (overall reduced)
Catwoman – Cat-Lateral Damage character power no longer has invulnerability on wakeup
Catwoman – Cat Stance Cat-Wheel has 13 more frames of recovery on block, 8 more frames of recovery on miss, and increased combo damage scaling
Catwoman – Cat Dash MeterBurn no longer has armor, has increased damage scaling when hitting airborne opponents, and decreased damage scaling when hitting grounded opponents
Catwoman – Cat’s Tail and Up Cat’s Tail damage scaling increased
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
Cheetah – Fixed issue with Graceful Hunter (Away + Medium, Light + Hard) input window which made it difficult to perform follow ups with Input Shortcuts Off in controller settings
Cheetah – Fixed bug that could cause her tail to no longer animate after losing a clash to Red Hood
Cheetah – Silent Stalker (Medium, Medium, Hard) has 25 less recovery frames
Cheetah – Blood Ritual (Hard, Hard, Medium) recovers 3 frames faster on hit, 6 frames faster on block/miss, has 5 more frames of blockstun, and increased pushback on block
Cheetah – Last hit of Blood Ritual (Hard, Hard, Medium) now causes a splat reaction instead of a juggle state when hitting airborne opponents
Cheetah Auto-block is enabled after a 2nd Blood Lunge in the same combo
Darkseid – Fixed bug that caused Boss Darkseid Supermove to get destroyed by some interactables
Deadshot – Ops Strike (Towards + Light) now has 7 startup frames (up from 6)
Deadshot – Low Burst (Down + Light) now has 7 startup frames (down from 8) , 5 less hit/miss recovery frames, 3 less block recovery frames, and blockstun increased by 2 frames
Deadshot – Knee Burst (Away + Light) now has 14 startup frames (up from 13) and 3 more recovery frames
Deadshot – Triggered (Away + Light, Medium) has 5 more recovery frames
Deadshot – Hammer Slam (Towards + Medium) now has 16 startup frames (up from 15)
Deadshot – Reduced his effectiveness in fighting up close.
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
Dr Fate – Can no longer spend meter trying to Meter Burn Displacer Orb after it has been projectile parried
Dr Fate – After Displacer Orb is Meter Burned, it will ignore projectile immunity and cannot be projectile parried
Dr Fate – Fixed issue with his win screen being obstructed by foreground objects on some backgrounds
Dr Fate – Fixed issue with some Displacer Orb effects lingering on screen during clash
Dr Fate – Evoking The Gods (Medium, Light, Light) and Blood Price (Medium, Light, Light, Hard) had their hit regions adjusted
Dr Fate – Summoned Force (Away + Medium) now has a growing hit region instead of a static one and has 9 startup frames (down from 10) and 3 more recovery frames
Dr Fate – Glyph of Osiris and Glyph of Anubis recover 1 frame faster on block
Dr Fate – Glyph of Anubis MB has decreased combo damage scaling
Dr Fate – The Pillar of Magic after connecting with 3 Ankhs of Final Judgment has decreased combo damage scaling
Firestorm – Fixed bug causing Energy Shield effects to persist during the win screen
Flash – Quantum Tunneling and Sonic Parry Gear Ability can now be selected in Wakeup Mode and Reversal Mode in Practice Mode > AI Options
Flash – Lightning Punches now has 10 startup frames (down from 12)
Flash – Speed Zone Character Power has increased damage scaling
Flash – On Your Mark into Sonic Pound has its hit region adjusted, blockstun increased by 10 frames, has increased pushback on block, and hit advantage has increased to 30 or 49 (from 39) if the last hit only or both hits connect
Flash – On Your Mark into Charge now has a different reaction and has 30 hit advantage (down from 39)
Flash – Freeze Tank interaction on Red Sun Prison now works correctly if Flash uses it while Speed Zone Character Power is active
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
Gorilla Grodd – base stats adjusted to have 50 less Ability, 50 less health, and 100 more defense
Gorilla Grodd – Slaughtering Humans (Light, Light), Cutthroat King (Medium, Medium), Salvation Run (Away + Medium, Light + Hard) base damage increased by 1
Gorilla Grodd – Low Bash (Away + Light) has 5 more frames of blockstun and 6 more hit advantage
Gorilla Grodd – Bloodthirsty Ruler (Away + Light, Light + Hard) and (Away + Light, Light + Hard Meter Burn) base damage increased by 1
Gorilla Grodd – Hyper-Intelligence (Towards + Medium, Light) base damage increased to 7 (from 5)
Gorilla Grodd – Carnivore Sweep (Down + Hard) has 2 more hit advantage, recovers 4 frames faster on block/miss, and has 3 more frames of blockstun
Gorilla Grodd – Secret Sweep (Down + Towards + Hard) has more 10 more blockstun
Gorilla Grodd – After using Leap 3 times during a combo Savage Kick (Jump + Hard) will cause a splat knockdown
Gorilla Grodd – Fixed bug that prevented meter build from occurring when exiting Psionic Lift then canceling into Primal Lunge, Savage Strength, or Mind Control
Gorilla Grodd – The window for canceling into Psionic Push or Savage Strength from Telekinesis now starts 14 frames sooner
Gorilla Grodd – Telekinesis recovery reduced by 4 frames
Gorilla Grodd – Stampede base damage increased to 9 (from 5)
Gorilla Grodd – Stampede Meter Burn base damage increased to 18 (from 10)
Gorilla Grodd – Stampede Carcass Toss Gear Ability Meter Burn base damage increased to 25 (from 18)
Gorilla Grodd – Primal Lunge into Head Bash damage increased to 11 (from 10)
Harley Quinn – Fixed visual bug that caused her mallet to instantly disappear if she is hit by a freeze attack while performing Mallet Slap (Away + Hard)
Joker – Fixed bug that caused Side Order of Pie Gear Ability Supermove to get destroyed by some interactables
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
Poison Ivy – Rhytidome Skin, Thistle Coat Gear Ability, and Datura Hammer now requires a more precise input when buffered
Poison Ivy – Up Rooted (Down + Medium) now has a growing hit region instead of a static one, has 16 startup frames (down from 20), has 7 active frames (up from 3), and recovers 3 frames faster
Poison Ivy – Quick Bloom (Away + Hard) now has a growing hit region instead of a static one, has 26 startup frames (down from 29) and has 10 active frames (up from 4)
Poison Ivy – Straight Datura and Up Datura have increased combo damage scaling
Poison Ivy – Swinging Datura has greatly reduced combo damage scaling
Red Hood – Fixed bug causing Ground Mine explosion to have interactable properties
Red Hood – Battle-Chain MB now has 20 advantage on hit (from 39)
Red Hood – Lethal Lunge now has 9 startup frames (up from 8)
Robin – Haunting Legacy (Light, Medium) has 2 less recovery on hit / miss, 3 more recovery on block, and 5 more blockstun
Robin – Fighting Authority (Light, Medium, Hard) has 20 startup frames (up from 16)
Robin – Family Secrets (Light, Medium, Down + Hard) has 2 less recovery and 5 more blockstun
Robin – Quick Draw (Away + Light) has its hit region adjusted
Robin – Skill And Training (Away + Light, Medium, Up + Hard) has increased pushback on block
Robin – Deep Laceration (Medium) hit region adjusted, has 5 less recovery, blockstun reduced by 5, and 3 less cancel advantage
Robin – Blades And Blood (Medium, Light) has its hit region adjusted and 1 more active frame
Robin – Inner Darkness (Towards + Medium, Light) has its hit region adjusted
Robin – Never Lose (Away + Medium, Light, Hard) has 1 more active frame and 12 less recovery frames
Robin – Flip Kick (Towards + Hard) can now be directed closer or further by holding Towards or Away
Robin – Flip Kick (Towards + Hard) recovers 3 frames faster on hit, 8 frames faster on block, 13 frames faster on miss and has 10 less frames of blockstun
Robin – Low Cutter (Down + Hard) now recovers 5 frames faster on block
Robin – Assassin Strike cancel input can now be buffered
Robin – Swoop has its hit region adjusted
Robin – Swoop MB now auto faces the opponent, has 8 startup frames (down from 16), the projectile travels faster with improved initial tracking
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
Supergirl – Elseworld’s Finest (Light, Light, Up + Hard) has 10 more frames of blockstun
Supergirl – Last Daughter of Krypton (Away + Light, Medium, Hard) has its hit region adjusted and 5 less recovery on block and miss
Supergirl – Face Smash (Medium) has its hit region adjusted, starts up in 10 frames (up from 8), and is a mid attack
Supergirl – Forbidden Fortress (Medium, Light) has increased pushback on block, 5 less blockstun, and 3 less recovery frames
Supergirl – Crossroads of Time (Medium, Light, Medium) now has 16 startup frames (down from 18)
Supergirl – Matrix (Away + Medium, Light + Hard) has 5 less blockstun, 20 less recovery on block, 15 less recovery on block
Supergirl – Frost breath MB base damage increased to 2 (from 0) and combo damage scaling reduced
Supergirl – Kryptonian Force now recovers 4 frames faster
Supergirl – Fixed bug that caused the hit region of Kryptonian Force MB to be offset when done on right side of the opponent
Supergirl – (Air) Power Slam MB can now be Air Escaped
Supergirl – Adjusted the stat distribution on her Epic Set Items to be more in line with similar items.
Superman – Fixed bug preventing superman from canceling Steel Fist (Jump + Light) or Double Strike (Jump + Medium) into Ankle Breaker (Down + Hard) or Flying Low (Down + Towards + Hard)
Superman – Flying Punch is now a high attack and has had its repel proximity adjusted
Superman – Flying Punch MB no longer has armor and has its hit region adjusted
Superman – Rising Grab has 4 more frames of recovery on block and 9 more frames of recovery on miss
Superman – Super Breath base damage decreased to 9 (from 10)
Superman – Super Breath MB base damage decreased to 6 (from 10)
Superman – Fixed bug preventing combo damage scaling from applying to (Air) Flying Smash when used as an OTG in certain circumstances
Nerfs and Buffs Continued
Swamp Thing – base stats adjusted to have 50 less Ability, 50 less health, and 100 more defense
Swamp Thing – Log Slam (Towards + Hard) and Log Smack (Away + Hard) have their hit regions adjusted
Swamp Thing – increased base damage of most special moves by 1
Swamp Thing – Abigail’s Garden recovery has been reduced by 9 frames
Swamp Thing – If Swamp Thing has Abigail’s Garden character power active, hitting an opponent with Vine Grab or Green Thumb causes Swamp Thing to gain armor for a short duration
Swamp Thing – Abigail’s Garden will no longer stop growing when Swamp Thing blocks an attack, attacks with Healing The Breach (Towards + Medium, Light), hits with Bio-Fission MB, or does a dash
Wonder Woman – Eyes of The Gorgon (Towards + Medium, Hard) has 5 less frames of recovery and 10 more frames of blockstun
Wonder Woman – Challenge of The Gods (Away + Medium, Hard) now has 21 startup frames (down from 24), 10 more frames of blockstun with increased pushback, and recovers 15 frames faster on block / miss
Wonder Woman – Upward Shield Toss is now a high attack, recovers 17 frames faster and has increased hit advantage
Wonder Woman – Upward Shield Toss MB has its hit region adjusted and has increased hit advantage
Wonder Woman – Air Shield Toss is now a high attack
Wonder Woman – Air Shield Toss MB is now a high attack, has 2 more active frames, recovers 12 frames faster, and no longer triggers autoblock on a grounded opponent
Wonder Woman – Air Downward Shield Toss MB now recovers 9 frames faster and no longer triggers autoblock on a grounded opponent
Wonder Woman – Hippolyta’s Light character power recovers 9 frames faster
