Almadiel

Also the wolf cancel itself costs a fair bit of meter.

Dunno if anyone has done this yet, but I came up with what might be a pretty nifty block string/reset. Do anything then force opponent to block 6C->9D->(delay for crossup)2C, then take your pick of [w]jB, land [w]5A, [w]236D, etc. Seems like it works well against anyone who doesn't have a good antiair.

Game updates are purely automatic on PS3. You launch the game and it downloads any available patch as long as you are signed into PSN. There are no other options, unless you are a PS Plus subscriber in which case the patches may be installed in the background.

When they also have purple pants and yellow trim, yeah.

Since it seems to matter a lot for this character, could you maybe list the exact amount of heat you need to begin the distortion combos instead of just the amount consumed? Thats going to factor a lot into the decision of which one to use at any given time.

How odd... Valk's ground super cannot be normal blocked low, but it can be barrier blocked low. See the Makoto match at the end http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm12202009

Is he in counterhit status while in wolf form? How unsafe is beast cannon on block?

I find that hard to imagine, given that his wolf form is basically toned down furinkazan, and his beast cannon can move at four different angles, and he has rushing mixup specials. The guy in that video was just fighting flat footed, barely moving at all, approaching with nothing but air dash jC most of the time. Only the last guy seemed to be doing anything offensively, and still was doing tons of empty jumps.

They have only stated that there was a problem with the code in the Xbox version. The fact that Valk was released in Japan shows that the PS3 version does not suffer the same complications, so there is no reason to think that it will be delayed any further based on the information so far.

Yeah... that challenge 10 combo only needs 52% heat to start.

Since the patch notes say they changed Makoto's space counter properties, it seems that DLC characters are fair game for changes before the big CS2 rebalancing. Makes sense considering that these characters are not in any arcade version yet, and thus they don't have to care about being consistent between versions. Though it may have been too late for them to incorporate what they learned from the loketest in the initial release due to console submission process lead time (Sony and MS always test patches before releasing them, and that takes time), he could get changed in the Platinum patch, or earlier if he is really broken.

Valk may not be able to run... in human mode.... but he has a lot of moves that close distance. Those mixup rush specials look pretty good. In wolf mode his approach options look quite varied, save that he can't block quickly. From the descriptions it seems like that wolf run move can quickly cancel into itself and change directions, and its a special move so you should be able to cancel normals into it too. This sounds like ideal hit and run capability almost like mini furinkazan.

In one of the videos Valk's wolf meter empties and the icon gets crossed out, then the meter starts to build up again. Looks like its similar to Carl's Nirvana meter.

I think a subtle speed nerf on his chains is exactly what he needs. The nerf on his gauge recover time is also warranted, since it will prevent him from whiffing chains for huge momentum as often. His approach game is just a little too strong right now.

As a more general answer befitting a general forum, if your combo counter stays red, its a valid cant-be-escaped-except-with-burst combo. Otherwise you will see numbers with crosses next to them telling you during which hit your opponent could have escaped.