User blog comment:Megadracosaurus/Adam's skill level/@comment-5426254-20190518135625

@Megadracosaurus My two complaints are that Yang's PTSD has a lesser presence in the fight, and that for some reason, Yang's arm merely gets scratched despite Yang still having Aura.

The hand shakes that are supposed to be a sign of this also show up when she's angry (which confuses me because it may imply that it happens even without PTSD, which creates a lack of a designated tell regarding PTSD), and the amount of struggle-less victories that don't involve external hallucinations send a mixed message based on the way she fights. It's as if her PTSD isn't a factor in combat at all. Combined with the relative lack of gradual progression and only one major episode in Volume 4 taking place over one day touching on the topic, it sends a mixed message that PTSD is something that can easily be overcome with little struggle...

I mean, look at the bandits. The big, scary bandits that are supposed to be intimidating by Qrow and Lionheart's account. What happens? Yang takes out a bunch of them no sweat, despite showing no signs of PTSD during the fight. Where's the struggle? And why should we believe Qrow and Lionheart, for that matter, when we can point to Yang to refute their argument? Having her falter because of her PTSD and struggle for a few moments lend credence to both the bandits' threat and that PTSD may affect how she fights. Same with the eventual rematch against Adam.

In regards to the arm, I have no clue as to why it's scratched despite Yang having Aura. If it had no scratches, it may be more believable, because recklessly damaging your arm by disengaging Aura on small parts of the body makes no sense, along with the side benefit of implying that maybe the ground beam wasn't that powerful to begin with. Instead, we have a half-scratched but still barely functional arm that still has Aura on for some reason.

And don't even get me started on the high expectations of Adam being strong presented to the audience based on the power behind his cutting slash in Heroes and Monsters, let alone the Black Trailer - that set a precedent, which means that the comparatively underwhelming power and lack of attack opportunities in this fight for Adam means a lack of a payoff from him, regarding him fighting at his fullest potential.

And because this is the first and only rematch where Yang and Blake fought Adam in person (which is resolved rather quickly), combined with the fact that Adam was taken by a double hammer last volume (despite Blake teleporting in front of his sword path, a big no-no), it's easy to see why people accuse Adam of being nerfed. Though I assert the claim that Yang was buffed more than she has any right to be at this time.

P.S. Adam previously fought Blake with a gun when he was disarmed moments before. What the hell happened to that? Either he shoots it, uses the sheath as a blunt instrument, or there should be an indication that he's out of ammo. His Semblance still works on other objects, so why not?