Iron Man (Infinity War) is not gaining full power

I enjoy using Iron Man Infinity War (IMIW) but have long-suspected that he takes longer to get a bar of power than most other champs, so I wanted to test this suspicion.

To test, I took a series of champs to fight RoL Winter Soldier. I recorded these trials. In order to have a successful trial, my power gain had to come exclusively from hitting the opponent. This means no blocking or parrying. Also, since IMIW has 2 hits on his second Medium attack, I had to stick to MLLLL combos for all champs in the trial. Finally, the champs tested were not allowed to have any power-altering portions in their kits. This means champs like Psylocke, Aarkus, Cyclops (Blue), and Hyperion are ineligible.

To get a baseline, I took a 5* Rank 5 Sentinel and Void and recorded their hits. In both cases, it took exactly 36 hits to get to an L3. This tracks with the understanding that champs of the same rank and rarity have the same inherent power gain rates.

So I moved on to Rank 3 5* champs. I started with Iron Fist:

It took 39 hits to get to an L3 using MLLLL combos and no blocking.

Then Karnak:

It took the same 39 hits to get to an L3 using MLLLL combos and no blocking

Then IMIW:

IMIW took 43 hits to get to an L3 using MLLLL combos and no blocking

I think moved up to r2 6* Champs, starting with Cap IW to get a baseline:

It took 41 hits for an R2 6* to get to an L3 using the same criteria.

Then IMIW:

It took IMIW of the same rank & rarity 46 hits to reach an L3.

So it seems that IMIW gains power more slowly than other champions despite not having any mention of such an aspect in his kit. Without knowing exactly how much power was gained on any hit, it's impossible to nail down the exact shortage IMIW is seeing, but looking at the data collected, it appears that IMIW gains roughly 10% less power than other champs.

Is there a reason for this? Is there something I'm missing? I'm interested in hearing what others have to say. Thanks.

Comments

Mirage_Turtle

Honestly never noticed it with my IMIW
But makes sense due to his sig
I'd disagree and say that if they wanted to keep his power in check because of his signature ability, they'd have lowered the power gain that's explicitly given in his signature ability and not just lower his innate power gain rate from hits.

Why would you hinder a champ's whole kit just so you can keep a small portion of it in check? Especially when that small portion already has it's own power gain component that could be altered.

For me, it doesn't make sense to reduce all of IMIW's power gain just to give the slightest of edges to players fighting him in his last 15% when duped. I mean, it took me this test and building to a full 3 bars of power in a controlled environment to verify that there is indeed a difference in his power gain rate. If he has a passive power gain going already, you're not going to notice a difference in a subtle power gain rate change in the closing moments of a fight. You've either got it under control or he's going to crush you. A 10% change in power gain rate on hits won't change that.
I think his sig is only one aspect. I do actually think that if this was for balancing reasons then it was actually done with his whole kit in mind.

Sig and sp3 aside, without any automatic powergain in place the opponent is essentially locked down once you've reached your first sp1.

Now, I vividly used imiw in all kinds of content and the way I understand all of this becomes exceptionally noticeable against opponents with increased powergain. With a bit more powergain it would be far easier to get to your sp1 and lock the opponent, but with his lower powergain rate you need to approach these matchups a bit more carefully and tactically.

This way they can have his base kit function the way it does and still add a bit of challenge for balancing reasons.

Thinking about it this could actually mostly or even only be about his pseudo-powerlock mechanic. Again, the fight is essentially completely under control once you've reached your first sp1/sp3. Decreasing his powerdrain for example would do nothing to balance this ability, because even the smallest possible powerdrain would still allow him to lock his opponent's sp3 with simple m-l-l-l-l combos.

In order to balance this mechanic it would make sense to make it slightly harder to access/keep up, since it's potency are essentially irrelevant. The only other thing would be the duration of his debuffs, which would make it exceptionally harder to actively combine shock and incinerate to a plasma passive. It would potentially achieve the same goal as in making him harder to play, but it would also negatively impact his kit as a whole.

I think the community as a whole is just yet in the process of really understanding what imiw even is as a character.

He's a tanky offensive control champ that rewards an agressive playstyle.
The sig is only one aspect, but it was the only aspect we were discussing. My response was specifically to the guy who said that a decreased power gain "Makes sense, due to his sig".
I know, sorry it was meant to add to both of your thoughts, it wasn't meant to be a rebuttal to yours lol.

No worries. I appreciate the interest in the subject and it's always good to see another player who appreciates IMIW's offensive capabilities. I feel the community too often relegates him to purely a defensive champ and he gets overlooked despite being a swiss army knife.

It's my fondness of the champ that has driven me to get to the bottom of this and hopefully a mod can chime in.

Eb0ny-O-M4w

I've also tested it myself, doing MLLLM combos and comparing with other champions with 6-hit combos. No block damage/power gained
IIW IM needed an additional 2 or 3 hits in order to get to full power

Mirage_Turtle

I see Kabam Miike is around. I'm hoping he can weigh in on this.

Mirage_Turtle

In reviewing the original post, I see one of the pictures was duplicated, causing another one to be missing. Here's the image of IMIW as a rank 3 5* reaching his L3

Mirage_Turtle

Based on the lack of evidence to the contrary, this appears to be a bug. Perhaps a mod can weigh in? Why is IMIW's power gain rate lower than other champs?

Moot4Life

I also noticed this. I thought I was going insane so I just ignored it, but I'm glad to see that's not the case. I think he should be changed to gain more power because it wasn't stated in his description that he gains less power than a normal champion, unless maybe the repulsor attacks don't generate power??

Kabam Zibiit

Hey there, do you have the footage from these fights by any chance? And would you be able to confirm what other Champions were on your team during these fights?

Mirage_Turtle

Hey there, do you have the footage from these fights by any chance? And would you be able to confirm what other Champions were on your team during these fights?

I do have footage of the fights, but I'd need a few hours before I can upload them. Is there something specific you're looking for?

As far as the teammates, I did my best to make sure there were no power-affecting synergies in place.

For the rank 3 fights, the only champs on the team were IMIW, Iron Fist, and Karnak.

For the 6* fights, only Cap IW and IMIW were on the team.

Kabam Zibiit

As much of the footage as you can include from entering the quest and selecting your team through the end of the fight is helpful. Having as much information as possible goes a long way to help us replicate the fight as closely as possible, which helps with the investigation. Even if certain things don't seem relevant, the extra info can help give us a more accurate starting point to rule things out.

Mirage_Turtle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh0UXFQUUIg

@Kabam Zibiit Here's a video with the relevant information that led to the original post. I also added some duels at the end for extra examples. IMIW's lack of power is across all game modes. I've used him in quests, AW attack, duels, and Arena.

Mirage_Turtle

Is any other information needed on this?

Kabam Zibiit

We've passed the video on to the rest of the team. If we need to ask more questions, we will do so here or send a message.

Mirage_Turtle

Thank you.

Feeney234

Any word from Kabam on this issue?

DementedAlly

Is this confirmed to be a bug or a part of his kit?

shield456

Maybe his repulsars gain less power.

gp87

Maybe his repulsars gain less power.

If it is that lets inform us. But no answer is not what we want.

Hector_1475

As an extremely frequent user of my R5 IMIW, I would like to have an update on the findings of your investigating team, Kabam.

Thanks in advance.

Kabam Zibiit

Hey there, the team reviewed back through the logs and this is something that has always been an intended part of Iron Man (Infinity War)'s kit. Between some of his attacks not granting any Power and his signature ability allowing him to constantly be generating Power when it activates, him gaining slightly less power from a basic combo was needed to keep him balanced. The team will be working on adding a description in his text to clarify this.