NBA 2K13: Kevin Durant signature skills revealed and overall rating now a 94

NBA 2K13 is coming out Oct. 2. Up until then the team over at 2K Sports has been revealing some of the new features in the game as well as some of the overall ratings of players.

Kevin Durant, who will be on the cover of the game along with Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin, was first revealed to have an overall rating of 95. Since then it seems his rating has dropped one point.

Apparently this isn’t because Durant has gotten worse but because they have changed the formula by which they interpret an overall rating and Durant and many other players have seen the 1-point decrease.

One of the new features in NBA 2K13 that 2K Sports is really promoting is signature skills. Signature skills are basically certain areas where a player really stands out at compared to the rest of the league, something that can’t always be captured in ratings. It is intended to make playing with star players feel more authentic.

There will be 31 signature skills in the game with any player capable of having as many as five. They range from “Corner Specialist” (think Shane Battier) to “Brick Wall” (think Kendrick Perkins).

Durant has five of these skills: Shot Creator, Microwave, Deadeye, Closer and Finisher. Below are the descriptions of each skill via the 2K Sports Tumblr page.

Shot Creator: A player with this skill can hit shots at a higher percentage than most if he creates space for his shot. For this skill to fire off there are a number of rules that must pass:

1. The shooter must break his defender down to create space, either with iso-moves, triple threat moves or drives into special shots (i.e. step backs, drifters, hop shots, spin jumpers, etc). The space he creates when he starts his shot must be more than the space he had when he started to break his defender down.
2. The Shot Creator must be closer to his matchup (within 7 feet) when he starts to break him down.
3. The shot must be taken within 2 seconds of the initial break down.
4. The shot must be taken in a half-court context (i.e. not in transition and not on a fast break) and must come from 33 feet to the basket or closer.
5. The shooter must not be smothered by the defender at both the break down and the release of the shot.

If the shooter passes all of these rules, then the shot penalty enforced by the defender on the release of the shot is reduced up to 100%.

Microwave: A player with this skill can heat up in a hurry. It takes fewer made shots and good plays for a Microwave to get hot than players without this skill. Once hot, various offensive and defensive attributes are given a boost for a period of time.

Deadeye: Late arriving defenders have less impact on this type of shooter than most. When we determine the final outcome of a shot, part of the calculation comes from how well a shooter is defended at both the start and release of the shot. When a Deadeye shoots and the defender is more heavily guarding the Deadeye when he releases the shot than when he started it, we reduce the impact of the release up to 100% depending on how heavily guarded he is at the beginning (the more heavily guarded, the more we reduce). A couple more things to keep in mind:

1. In order to ensure that closing out on a Deadeye matters, there must be some sort of defense applied at the start of the shot.
2. The shooter must not be smothered by the defender at both the start and release of the shot or the skill will not trigger.

Closer: This player raises his game in clutch moments. For the last 40% of a fourth quarter and all overtimes, a Closer receives the following perks:

1. Attribute boosts of up to 12 attribute points
2. A widened “Excellent Release” free throw release window, thus making it easier to knock down clutch free throws
3. Energy boosts during timeouts so that he retains more energy through breaks during clutch moments
4. Shot chance percentage boost of up to 5% for “moving” shots, such as drifters and step back shots.

Finisher: This player is adept at finishing contact layups and dunks at a higher rate than others. There is a shot penalty that all offensive players receive when they make contact with defenders in the air. Finishers decrease this shot penalty by 30%. This skill combined with our existing Draw Foul Tendency lends itself well to creating and-one opportunities.

That all sounds about right for Durant.