Vell0cet
SVER True Blood
General Tso's Alliance
1053
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Posted - 2014.03.10 02:29:00 -
[1] - Quote
First let me start by saying that there will certainly be further balancing necessary after 1.8. I'm sure CCP realizes this. My hope is that 1.9 will hit 3-4 weeks after 1.8 and will only contain small, incremental balancing tweaks based on how things are play tested once 1.8 goes live.
I think people are underestimating the blaster AR. It has 2 major advantages, laser-like precision, and big clips. In a low TTK game those don't mean a whole lot, but in a high TTK game, those differences are huge. Every bullet will count, and spray/pray will be much less effective. This gives the AR a lot of advantages in a higher TTK game. The blaster AR also has a fairly well-balanced damage profile. I expect a lot more shield buffers in 1.8 as the recharge mechanic will be much more useful in longer engagements where you can duck in-and-out of cover, also because damage mods will be less attractive. I think people are being premature in pronouncing the death of the blaster AR based on spreadsheet data. We really need to see how things play out when this patch goes live.
I also think damage mods will still have an important place. In some roles, having more gank is much more advantageous to more tank. It is the only way to boost DPS against your weapon's weaker damage type. As a fan of Amarr weapons, I know I will be relying on them more than ever to chew through armor before overheating. A larger shield buffer won't help me if I can't eat through my target's armor before he ducks into cover to rep up.
Regarding heavies being OP, I expect scouts to help substantially with this. I'm hoping to see more paper-rock-scissors where heavies beat mediums which beat scouts which beat heavies. That's an interesting dynamic that keeps things fun with checks/balances. I like heavies being slow, tough behemoths that require teamwork to truly shine. My biggest concern is the nerfs to AV grenades making the LAV-Heavy combo way too OP. AV grenades should be an effective counter to LAVs (especially cheap/BPO versions). If heavies do end up being OP, I think nerfing their turn speed would be a good place to start.
Overall I've never been more excited/optimistic for a release since beta. Having a viable LR, and a healthy TTK will be fantastic, and make fights so much more tactical and fun. We will certainly need more balancing tweaks, but I think they can be smaller in scope and much easier to manage +- 2-3% here and there. Also AV/vehicle balance seriously needs to be addressed.
Best PvE idea ever!
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