EA Sports continues to keep to its word as another set of fighters will joinUFC 5with today’s newest update. The patch also makes some significant adjustments to stamina costs, a substantial nerf to spinning elbows, and more.
But before we get into all of the new balance adjustments to striking and grappling, you’re all probably eager to know which UFC fighters will be joining the roster with today’s update. Unlikethe last few updates, today’s will only be adding two new fighters: number seven ranked welterweight Sean Brady and number nine ranked lightweight Jalin Turner. Both of the fighters' in-game stats can be seen in the images below.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always be grateful to see the addition of new fighters, but not adding Benoit Saint-Denis when he’s fighting Dustin Poirier this weekend feels like a monumental swing and a miss.
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Alongside two new fighters, EA will also be adding new fight week challenges for UFC 299, which takes place this Saturday, March 9th. There will also be the addition of new alter egos, but EA has yet to confirm which fighters will be receiving new styles. Both the fight week challenges and new alter egos will go live at 4 PM PT today, 2 hours after the patch is expected to be released.
EA Makes Big Striking Changes To UFC 5
One of the biggest changes being made in today’s update is the increased cost of stamina when a strike is blocked, missed, or evaded during stand-up. This means that any sort of strike that is missed or blocked is going to have a greater impact on your stamina. To be specific, EA says there is a 7.5% increase in stamina loss for blocked strikes and a 10% increase for missed or evaded strikes.
EA also explained that the studio is listening to fan feedback, but must be cautious when adjusting stamina as any major adjustments can have a “heavy compounding effect.” Therefore, the studio has opted to make incremental changes rather than a complete overhaul.
Alongside a few other tweaks, such as a fix for tracking issues with spinning strikes, today’s update looks to make some pretty significant changes to spinning elbows. Lead spinning elbows have had their base damage reduced from 30 to 25, while rear spinning elbows have had their damage reduced from 35 to 20. The range of spinning elbows has also been reduced “from that of a jab range to that of a regular stand-up elbow range.” Given how overpowered elbows can be, I’m no stranger to having players constantly spam them on me, so this is a welcome change.
There’s also a plethora of other adjustments to spinning elbows, including a reduction to the block stun caused by the strike and a reduction in block bleedthrough from 10% to 5% (this is the percentage of damage that goes through regardless of the block meter).
As for regular stand-up elbows, they are also receiving a welcome nerf. The base damage has been reduced from 20 to 17.5 for lead elbows and 25 to 22.5 for rear elbows. A full list of changes to striking can be found in theofficial patch notes.
More Grappling Adjustments Inbound For UFC 5
For all you wrestling aficionados and jiu-jitsu rollers out there, EA has plenty of grappling adjustments inbound too.
A highly requested change that EA says “aims to encourage more variety in wrestling” will be made with today’s update. Canceling a double leg into the over-under clinch will now require a 1% stamina advantage. This means you’re going to need to keep an eye on your stamina when you go for the double leg and bail into the over-under clinch, essentially requiring players to be a little more strategic.
The next major change comes to ground and pound submissions, which will now require a health event. This is a massive change, as it now means that players cannot be submitted from the ground and pound position without being hurt and sparking a health event. Previously, it was too easy for players to attempt a submission, such as an armbar, deplete the opposing players' stamina, then posture up into the ground and pound position and attempt another submission. Now, however, players won’t be able to attempt a submission from ground and pound unless they’ve rocked their opponent and sparked a health event.
Alongside some other fixes and tweaks, EA is also reducing the stamina advantage requirement of some ground and pound positions. The affected transitions can be found below:
If you want to check out all of the other grappling changes in the latest UFC 5 update, head over to the game’s official website for thefull patch notes.
EA Sports UFC 5
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