Defense/Counter vs 2nd Chain

Do these two skills still trigger properly against 2nd Chains?

Tested, they still work fine.

Seems that only 3rd Chains ignore Def/Counter.

...I'm surprised even the 3rd chains ignore defense and counter.

Drop Kick kicks you so hard that you can't even defend from it without being pushed back from the crushing blow.

Pummel on the other hand....neh...but now that I know it can't be defended/countered, I feel fighter is OP again..

Now that you mention drop kick right there I vaguely remember being countered by a monster at one point. I'll have test this myself because I'm not sure. Dunno about pummel either.

I'm in awe that even a fully charged fist doesn't even pierce through it...

You'd think so but actually the most "logical" reason is that the attack was seen way ahead of time, the counterattacker took the fist, and then flinged it back at the attacker...