Sidestep Strike EQ node
I think this node has only shown up twice in EQ history and in its current form I find it very unenjoyable to play and consider not exploring EQ. Before I propose potential changes to the node combo and criticize the defender selection, I do have to admit that since the last time we saw the node I believe there have been some good additions to the TAGtical Edge champions that make the selection pool a decent bit broader for picking your team.
The node itself is possibly the most punishing EQ node out there and I think there are three balance fixes that night make it more enjoyable to play. First, I think boosting the fury potency and reducing the max furies like has been done with other EQ nodes is a solid move. Having to knock a champion down 10 times and then evade to maximize your possible damage output is a little over the top. Second, Escalating Assault could be adjusted so the unblockable timer is only triggered to countdown when the defender does not already have the unblockable attack armed. This would allow players a more regular window to work in parries for knockdown attacks. Third, the passive stun window for evades could be a little longer. Multiple times the evade has triggered a stun when I wasn't expecting and it can be hard to capitalize with the current window. Maybe I'm just getting old and slow, but I think all players would enjoy this change.
Straight to the point here on defender and boss selection. I think Kabam screwed the pooch here. The system as I understand and typically enjoy is players fulfill the node objectives for furies and it makes your fights easier. However, similar to the one EQ where you needed to place bleeds and Kabam had bleed immune champs, (though not as severe here) certain defenders and the boss either directly countered the beneficial portion of the node or made using a wide selection of the TAGtical champs a poor choice for your team. Evade counter champs removing the ability to evade in order to get furies with champs like Stryfe, Emma Frost, and Venom is counter intuitive to the objective/reward system. Similarly, stun immune champs that remove your opportunity to punish with evades/passive stuns such as Overseer and Emma Frost also interrupt the system. These defender picks really negate the benefit of the nodes to the player and leave us with only the negative sides of the nodes.
And for the boss why would you put Size Matters and Micro-Reflect when you are encouraging small champions to build up cross charges? What was the thought process? Almost all the spider-verse heroes are immediately removed from the running here making bring them a hard sell unless you need them to counter a path specific defender.
As always when I make a post like this I wanted to highlight what I think is going wrong, but also provide some ideas to correct the situation. At the end of the day these are just my opinions as player, but I do hope something changes with these nodes before we see them again.
