Input/control issues are particularly bad for me this update.. anyone else?

I know that on any given day, of any month, of any year.. there will be always *some* group of players that is having input issues

But while there is always some form of them present most times, this month has been particularly bad for me
Nearly every AW fight I have done this off season has had multiple input/control issues

Control issues in solo content? Eh.. inconvenient, but I usually don't care too much
But input issues in competitive game modes such as AW and Battlegrounds where every single input matters and just one can mean a loss instead of victory is a big deal to me, and I assume others as well

Reliable controls in a fighting game is literally the most important aspect of game performance.. there's also some questions about AI recovery time and whether it's used as a means of tuning (adjustable to difficulty) and if it is, should it? Etc.. but what I can tell you is that reduced AI recovery time (the speed at which you can use another input after the execution of the last input) *on top* of slower player input execution combines to form a major issue

Battlegrounds is underway.. AW Season begins soon, but my controls have been horrible during off season

- slow execution of all basic attacks.. they are sometimes executing so slowly that the defender breaks hit stun/input lock mid combo and lands counter attacks and/or our combo just essentially ends abruptly
- light attack executes as heavy attack randomly mid combo (when you don't want it to)
- heavy attack input doesn't execute at all (when you do want it to) and you stand open to attacks instead
- dexing out of a block doesn't execute quickly enough.. often resulting in the defenders dash attack (or special) connecting with your block when even if you input a dash back at what should be the correct time
- parry input is delayed.. just enough to eat an attack instead.. combine this with the advanced AI techniques of "walk up lights" etc. and eating an attack is just plain unavoidable by a human player - even some of the best ones

But yeah, all these control issues are a problem, especially for competitive games modes.. but when highly tuned AI: special intercept, side step lights, frame perfect walk up lights, throwing specials into hard block (simply because that particular character has a defensive ability in their kit that benefits from sp1 - there are several) etc. combine together with control issues it becomes even more frustrating

Tldr: I can handle highly tuned AI (to a point), but I need my controls to be working properly to do so, thank you

https://youtu.be/VfnR8AKHKSA?si=PM8er_Iw4G4irBb6

Comments

BigBlueOx

AW is very buggy, but it’s just how it is now. They don’t care to fix it because it these posts would exist anymore if they did.

hungryhungrybbq

Ah, I forgot one.. light attack input executes as a medium - can result in being hit as it immediately ends your combo before you intended, if you even intended to at all.. especially if it was a block hit string 🙃

unknown

This content has been removed.

DrZola

I’ve made peace with it.

Been this way more or less for well over a year. Stutter and skip, dex timing seemingly changes mid-fight. Inputs drop. Dashes reverse.

My opinion: They don’t know how to make it work reliably for everyone and have more or less moved on.

Dr. Zola

TheUglyone123

This has been happening for a while unfortunately for me at least. I don’t think Kabam will be fixing it anytime soon either

Usagicassidy

I find I am constantly 'whiffing' attacks in scenarios where that shouldn't be a thing.

I am also SICK of the game lag that occurs when I launch a special, when they launch a special, or when I activate a striker: in all scenarios the game causing me to have wrong timing that im suddenly taking hits - or the game/Defender AI can react in an inhuman way to be so fast as to block a striker when I was already doing a 5 hit combo to their face.

My other least favorite thing that absolutely grinds my gears - is when the defender activates their Heavy and in the 'warm up' stage, you can see that's what they're doing, and you see it immediately and fast enough that you could swipe back, but somehow your champ has some sort of "invisible root" and you just watch helplessly as the defender heavies you and you get knocked down. Complete BS.

hungryhungrybbq

Agree and have seen most of the above.. I've seen sometimes where the defenders hit box seems to inexplicably shrink or disappear momentarily lol.. but maybe that's that is similar to what you're saying about whiffing attacks

Unyonface

Whiffing attacks and parry has been a problem after this update. It happened a lot when I was going through 9.3. I ate a lot of 5 hit combos with my champs whiffing attacks. I had quite a few fights that I used OG Hulk with the stun loop, he would whiff when I would through a heavy attack.

BigBlueOx

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2882627#Comment_2882627

I wouldn’t say I’ve made peace with it, I’ve just given up on expecting them to care.

DrZola

Fair @BigBlueOx

I just knocked out 9.3 and apart from three fights (Sauron pre-boss, Sable boss and Doom) I don’t think I used any heals or revives.

I’ve had them expiring regularly, so it was kind of nice to use them. That’s the only saving grace of the controls issues—when they inevitably happen and I’m not prepared to play around them, extra potions are a safety net.

Not meant to be a brag post—I’m never posting videos of my (frequently laughable) game play. Just noting that the mechanics issues won’t be a major problem (other than frustration) as long as pots are plentiful.

Dr. Zola

BigBlueOx

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2882715#Comment_2882715

so I’m aligned to that perspective on solo content, but these flaws happen more in competitive content where all damage matters and dying lets down a hole team. And solo content isn’t good enough to keep me engaged as it’s either easy (story content) or uninteresting (adaptative EQ)

JESUSCHRIST

Regarding input issues

Sad but true

12345678901

I know this is irrelevant but love your diablo I like his quirky playstyle and glup on sp1 would totally love to have him

I am experiencing a bug in crucible hope they fix the input and this -

https://youtu.be/WzNMfYDoGSE?si=fuFStI04aZsFIuec

Kold112

Screenshot_2025-09-04-19-35-04-41_23a125b6c07cd8b15b17da4ddef0768b.jpg

Screenshot_2025-09-05-14-37-21-18_23a125b6c07cd8b15b17da4ddef0768b.jpg

Screenshot_2025-09-04-19-35-15-40_23a125b6c07cd8b15b17da4ddef0768b.jpg

My fight duration is 19 seconds, my opponent's is 37 seconds + 4 seconds maybe for the loading screen time, which is okay but mine is 13 seconds, it 15s average in every bg match. At first i was fine with it but now that I'm competing in gc, this actually bothers me a lot.

CrashOut

@Kabam Crashed @KabamPinwheel

Wanna weigh in here?

Those input issues from 4 years ago, that we used to get WEEKLY compensation for, never resolved, pushed under the rug?

Any update? Any comments maybe? Are you still trying to fix this or just given up?

CrashOut

@DrZola

Having input issues and taking damage/dying unnecessarily in story isn't so bad but when it happens in war and it causes the entire ally to lose or BG and it costs you the match which subsequently costs you double points, or AQ which still has limited item use for some stupid reason? it's horrendous

hungryhungrybbq

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2882715#Comment_2882715

Sure, as I mentioned I'm not as fussed about solo content - for the reasons you mention, my main complaint is competitive game modes where a control issue can affect the outcome of a season AW or BG match.. where the consequences for losing are real

Fauconnoir

Same problems.

Worse the last update of September.

I would also add SP and striker not throwing even after 3 frenetic pushes on inputs, defender waking up from stun before the end of timer, dash backward in middle of combo, not dashing forward but light or medium attack very far from defender.

Not sure if it is linked to, but it's impossible to throw any SP during Okoye's combo. Any time, each time, defender is getting into block... And punish SP just after…

DrZola

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2883031#Comment_2883031

You are absolutely correct on all points. I no longer play anything other than casual AW/AQ (partially for this reason, partially because I only have so much time). But in BGs for me 100% yes—it is simply demoralizing.

Dr. Zola

WayWorn2525

went in to start 9.2.6 with the lotan boss, leading up to the lotan boss, everything was pretty straightforward. When getting into the Lotan fight that’s when manure hit the windmill. None of basic attacks would work when Lotan is dashing forward. I had to double check if there was a node turning off basic attack. The Lotan fight is pretty straightforward as well with the different phases. Occasionally I get the “dash back” when trying to dash forward, where I’ve learned to deal with but this nonsense of not knowing what the inputs are going to happen or not happen ain’t fun. I don’t want revives n portions, I want the units I spent on unnecessary revives and

DrZola

Blank screen, black screen, unable to register a reaction on forums. Add to that the 5+ minutes it took to write this post because the screen kept auto-scrolling back to the top of page.

Just a small sampling of in game and forums experience over the past half day. And all I’ve really done is hit a few low tier AW fights and auto-fight the daily quests.

My point? While there has been some good, the overall structure the game (and the forums) is running on appears unwell at best.

Apology compensation is great and well warranted. But the game working reliably would be even better

Dr. Zola