I've seen a couple new game developers and even some pros say that balancing a fighting game is one of the hardest parts of the genre and even a reason to think about other genres.

I dunno about that one. To even worry about balance, you need people to play your fighting game.

If you are worried about balance really early into a game's development, then you are doing it wrong in my opinion.

Balance is a part of design that comes later. The meta to your game is going to be so underdeveloped with just a handful of testers.

When you make a new character for a fighting game and are first playtesting it, your first thought shouldn't be

"This character feels strong, how do I balance them?"

Your first thought should be

"This character is fun, how do I make them more fun?"

If you are worried about balance right away then you are handcuffing both your designs and your iteration process.

If something doesn't fit, you'll go looking for the more conservative and often less interesting solution.

Do you think we would have made Clairen if we were worried about her being balanced? Tippers that stun and lead to other combo options is just stupid.

What about Etalus? That character shouldn't even exist. Why would a heavy have that projectile and dash attack cancels?

Balance comes later because there are so many unanticipated ripples that come through the game.

And sometimes, you just never balance it and hope for the best. That's what I did with Sylvanos and Ori and Elliana and Kragg and Orcane and Etalus and Ranno and...