[Shelpies]

places my hands on the desk
gives a hot take

HOT TAKE:

Reduce Sword of Heaven's sd from 12sd to 10sd and the number of its follow up ticks by 2-3 from approximately 10.

But Freeter, it's just Cinderflare as Metal or Eviscerate as a Metal Master. What makes them different?

Sword of Heaven can be cast safely from afar, and the follow up ticks land far more consistently than the stationary area left by Cinderflare.
Cinderflare and Eviscerate, while they knockback, also dashes you to their faces and requires that you put your Dash into CD by dashing away in time with it to safely confirm you don't get punished.

But why? Did you get beat by a Metal user?

No. Because it's a Homing from afar with very little wind-up or tell that currently deals approximately 22sd. Everyone who touches Metal eventually decides to get it because of its free high damage potential. By reducing its initial sd to 10 and the number of its follow up ticks to 7-8, the damage is effectively lowered to 17-18sd. Still better than Cinderflare, still better than Eviscerate; not just in raw damage output but how safe it is to use.