Mortal Kombat 11 just received a whole new update that brings a lot of changes to the brutal fighting game. The new 1.21 update is available on all platforms and brings some much-demanded changes to certain characters and their abilities. Along with different character changes, the new update also brings Kombat League changes and some general gameplay adjustments to Mortal Kombat 11.
Most players are mainly interested in the latest character changes, as each change can have a drastic impact on the character, making it completely unviable for competitive play or turning it into a broken powerhouse. Luckily, most of the new Mortal Kombat character changes are mainly visual effects and some changes to brutalities, which means they will retain their moves and abilities until the next update. Here are all the character changes in Mortal Kombat 11 Update 1.21.
Character Specific Adjustments in Mortal Kombat 11 in 1.21 Update
Every competitive player wants to know if any of the new character changes have affected their mains in any way, but so far it looks like NetherRealm is not really focused on nerfing or buffing any characters, at least for now. Even though some of the community has been asking for changes to certain characters, but that's very normal in any fighting game. With each update, some characters are completely gutted while others are buffed to insane levels which shifts the meta completely. This shift in meta is a part of fighting games as it keeps the games fresh while giving players new challenges to overcome.
Cassie
- Drone moves will no longer become disabled if BL-118 Energy Bounce is interrupted at any time during different circumstances.
Cetrion
- Cetrion’s Smoked Flesh Brutality now requires players to “hold Down during hit”
- No more lingering visuals of Deadly Winds and Deadly Winds Amplify specially after they have been projectile destroyed.
D’Vorah
- D’Vorah’s Ovipositors will no longer disappear during gameplay under any circumstances.
Erron Black
- Fixed incorrect hat animations that occurred at specific timings during a time out loss.
Geras
- The Break Down Brutality now requires players to “hold Down during hit.”
Jade
- The Looking Good Brutality now requires players to “hold Away during hit.”
Jax
- The I Said Sleep Brutality now requires players to “hold Down during hit.”
Johnny Cage
- The And The Award Goes To Brutality does not require the Say Cheese Gear Ability any longer.
Kano
- The Bonzer Brutality now requires players to “hold Away during hit.”
Kitana
- The Punished Brutality now requires players to “hold Down during hit.”
- Edenian Fade does not make Kitana throw immune any longer when she lands and now also displays Punish instead of Kounter when hit during its landing frames.
- Edenian Fade now also displays Punish instead of Kounter when hit during the recovery frames.
Kollector
- The Slice Slice Slice Brutality does not require a first hit any longer and also requires players to “hold Towards during hit.”
- Modified visual effect for the Relic Lure impact effect’s location.
Kung Lao
- Fixed incorrect hat animations that occurred at specific timings during a time out loss.
Raiden
- The Brutal Bolt Brutality now requires players to “hold Up during hit.”
- Adjusted Power Discharge’s hit region while the opponent is in a kombo.
Skarlet
- Bloodshot Amplify can no longer not have a projectile spawn when done with specific timing
- Fixed issue with Dagger disappearing during gameplay if her throw is interrupted at a specific timing.
Sub-Zero
- The Big Leg Brutality now requires players to “hit 4 Brutal Kicks during the match.”
- The End of Round Taunt Ice Clone Teleport will no longer cause Sub-Zero to become invisible.
- Fixed Air Polar Axe using an incorrect animation in a Tower match when done immediately after the match has begun.
Shao Kahn
- Shao Kahn’s The Charging Through Brutality now requires players to “hold Away during hit.”
- The Head Kabob Brutality does not require first hit any longer.
- The Nothing Left Brutality now requires players to “hold Down during hit.”
Shang Tsung
- The Inclement Weather Brutality now requires players to “hold Down during hit.”
- Fixed a rare visual issue when morphing into Raiden that could cause his cape to use an incorrect animation.
Nightwolf
- The No Leg to Stand On Brutality now requires players to “hold Down during hit” and does not require first hit any longer.
- Fixed Razor's Edge now does the correct chip damage on block.
Joker
- The Head Case Brutality requirement is now “perform ‘C C D D E G E C’ 3 times”
Terminator
- Terminator’s Terminate armor is no longer removed when his Fatal Blow misses or is blocked.
- Terminate visual effects will no longer linger after a Mercy is performed.
Fujin
- Wind Barrier is now able to parry Liu Kang's jump & hop attacks, Frost's Hop Kick, and Kollector's Hop Kick.
- Wind Barrier will no longer sometimes have lingering visual effects when it is interrupted.
- Fixed some rare audio issues when Whirlwind and Tailwind are interrupted.
- AI can now perform the attack followups to Sky Wakka.
RoboCop
- Missing with various attacks under certain circumstances will no longer enable autoblock when an opponent is in the Cheval Trap Amplify or Electric Grenade Amplify hit reactions.
- Fixed a visual issue with Cobra Cannon using an improper animation for the first few frames in certain circumstances.
- Active Patrol and Reactive Patrol now displays Punish instead of Kounter when hit during its recovery frames.
Sheeva
- Fixed an audio issue with Untamed Fury Amplify sometimes missing sound effects
Hopefully, these character changes will not really affect the competitive tier-list; however, characters like Fujin might get a slight boost since his changes are significant when it comes to certain match-ups. Along with Fujin, RoboCop has also received significant changes that might give the character an advantage during certain match-ups as well.
Overall, these changes will not really affect the current meta at all, but there’s no telling what the future holds for all the top-tier characters in the game. As always, it's important to note that balancing a fighting game is a very difficult task because some characters are always a bit overpowered while some are at the bottom. However, it looks like NetherRealm is headed in the right direction with regular updates and changes to their roster and balancing things out for its player base.
Mortal Kombat 11 is out now for the PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One
