Well, actually, for all we know, shield canceling could be a glitch just like the pepper box charge. IMO shield canceling defeats the weakness of slow swords completely: wide arc and long range for low attack speed. When cancelling you can spam it like nuts. It is even worse for the toothpicks because they already have such a high attack speed.

@Damien Please no nerfs. They are a bait and switch for those who have gotten the weapons, and it's just not right (and no, I do not personally own one).

I wouldn't mind some tweaking of the mechanics of lockdown, maybe adding some new tricks for bombers and gunners?

Interesting idea. I appreciate how you did not default to the two suggestions commonly tossed around.

Shield cancel would screw over recons who would have a longer time to being exposed before cloaking, and guardians won't be able to shield as quickly.

The shield cancel would also affect all other swords and guns too. Gunning would be more difficult because you can't shoot-boost-shoot as quickly. Sealed sword animations are also cut shorter by the shield cancel, so you are incorrect to say the other swords would be unaffected. Oddly enough, only bombs would be unaffected as the animation to lower the bomber can't be cancelled (at least as far as I know, this is based on the few bombs that I have).

So ultimately, it's not just flourishes that would be "fixed" by this in lockdown, but the whole pace of the game would be slower and possibly become unappealing. It would essentially come down to a recon game where the goal is to catch someone out of position swinging and smash them.

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Oh, and RSS is easy enough to deal with.

I want to see a slight, 5% decrease in RSS, but a 15% increase in ones like nitronome and BAB, 10% increase on DBB, and a 5% decrease to all haze effects.

Also, ASI needs to be denied to all heavy swords, even through trinkets

Impossible to avoid you say? How many hours of lockdown did it take for you to come to this conclusion?

I agree with Sypsy and Thrillhaus...

IMO, taking away shield-cancelling will leave using swords in Lockdown a hollow shell with no requirement of skill. All you would have in Lockdown for swordsmen would be AA-spamming clones.

I don't think you've put much thought into your grand solution of "balancing" Lockdown.

As of right now, I see Lockdown as pretty well balanced:
Gunners, bombers, and swordsmen can all be deadly, but any one person who is experienced enough and skilled enough can outmaneuver any other. All it takes is some quick thinking, quick reflexes, and practice.

Btw, +1 Thrillhaus; Recons should be able to shield-cancel even after their cloak is gone.

I want to see a slight, 5% decrease in RSS, but a 15% increase in ones like nitronome and BAB, 10% increase on DBB, and a 5% decrease to all haze effects.

"Nerf the weapons that kill me, buff the weapons that don't."

First, hammers are not OP, you're just dumb enough to get hit by it.

Second, RSS is a 4*, doing 5* damage... Yeah, nerf it.

You should have mentioned you're a recon. The striker and guardian classes both have effective ways to fight toothpick strikers. The problem with recon is that once your shield is broken, you're unable to shield cancel and are vulnerable to the other classes. However, the recon class isn't meant to be played as a front line fighter to begin with, so if you're trying to go toe to toe with a striker, you should choose another class. The recon works best as a support class with other teammates around to make full use of its status bombing capabilities. Unfortunately, if you're playing in random games, having your team actually play as a team can be difficult to accomplish.

If I were to change anything though, I would give recons the ability to SC even when their cloak is broken, and also a movement speed buff to improve its ambush/back capture abilities.

As for RSS, it's fine the way it is, just learn to get into safe zones before they detonate.