Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-118.211.8.204-20150302141811/@comment-6697950-20150928171756

73.19.129.12 wrote:

3. Kirito was most of the time fighting AI controlled monsters usually. Feints are unlikely to work on them. Also when he was fighting Yuuki both times we don't know if he used feints, since the author didn't go into great detail on either fights. Kirito not using feints in most of the battles we know about makes sense considering the above.

Not all feints are exactly the same. Yuuki being able to recover from one instance of someone using a feint doesn't mean she'll be able to do it all the time.

AI monsters are susceptible to trickery too. This is especially important to solo players, since they can't switch with other people to burden the AI.

Although not all feints are the same, we're not talking about falling for feints, but about how fast can she respond to what comes after it. So, an example of Yuuki responding so quickly despite being completely surprised does cast doubt on the usefulness of feints against her, since it's more of a character trait that can apply to most if not all feints. And if one example of feints being not so effective against her isn't enough, there's another example in Sisters' Prayer where Yuuki sees through Merida's feint of hiding a shuriken attack (though the way she notices that feint is a bit ambiguous).

5. Kirito doing it almost subconsciously doesn't mean he didn't put any thought into it. Asuna even told Kirito that she'll protect him during that fight, so he may of had that in the back of his head when taking action.

The fight with Heathcliff seems like more of an uphill battle then Kirito's fight with Yuuki. Yuuki may be a strong opponent, but it seems Kirito had an easier time with Yuuki then Heathcliff.

If it was a one-time thing, then you could brush it off as him keeping Asuna's promise in mind subconsciously. However, it's not the first time. During the 2nd Floor battle, he also threw logic out the window and ran to Asuna who was in range of Asterius's breath attack, and ended up getting two people paralysed instead of one.

Weren't you defending an opinion that Kirito does better when lives are in danger here? Because the battles he had with Yuuki did not have that aspect, so it's unfair to claim that he had an easier time with Yuuki than with Heathcliff when you're trying to prove that he would do better in a serious fight.