Sole Fenychs
Sinq Laison Gendarmes
Gallente Federation
447
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Posted - 2014.05.18 20:06:00 -
[1] - Quote
(I hope I didn't miss a currently active thread on this)
So, Assault and Logi bonuses were both controversial when they were introduced and I'd wager that opinions are still negative.
From what I've seen, the Amarr bonuses is the only one that everyone likes, with Minmatar being in second place.
Caldari is seen as pointless, while Gallente can be actively detrimental in certain situations, as we've seen when the HMG had pinpoint accuracy.
Meanwhile, the Logi bonuses are extreme pigeonholing. As a Gallente solo player, I can't make use of my Logi bonus at all, while Amarr's bonus is something that applies maybe every few minutes during a match. Meanwhile, Caldari will often make use of nanohives, while a Minmatar can basically be going around and repping people all the damn time.
I feel that the issue with these bonuses is that they take the wrong approach - Instead of encouraging a racially aligned playstyle, they enforce racially aligned equipment.
Wouldn't it make more sense for the Gallente Assault bonus to be a bonus to close-combat handling for all weapons? Something like reload speed?
And shouldn't Minmatar get the general hit and run bonus?
The bonuses don't even necessarily have to be about weapons. Suits already have inherent bonuses to their racial playstyle, like Gallente's regeneration, but what if an Assault is the archetype of a faction's playstyle?
Wouldn't it make sense for Amarr to get a small damage reduction, lighter than the Sentinel, or a bonus to armor plates, in addition to a bonus to weapon handling (something that applies to heat-based weapons like the current bonus, but is substituted by something on weapons without overheat)? Or Gallente with reload speed in addition to a bonus to reppers?
I prefer natural bonuses like damage resistance to module bonuses, as the latter still amounts to enforcing a certain kind of equipment, but even module bonuses would make Assaults more appealing.
Basically, I'd propose that Assault bonuses are changed from enforced weapon selection into dual bonuses for everyone. One bonus to suit handling and one bonus to weapon handling, with both encouraging a faction's playstyle instead of a faction's equipment.
Ideas:
Amarr: Overheat bonus and armor damage resistance.
Gallente: Reload speed bonus and... Well, they already have a regeneration bonus. Make it stronger, maybe?
Caldari: Kick reduction and shield damage resistance.
Minmatar: Reload speed or kick reduction would fit equally well here. And the suit already has a speed bonus. So no idea.
For Logis, it's a bit harder. The quickest way to alleviate the issue would be to simply grant a secondary bonus to the equipment of a faction's least hated enemy, which would be weaker than the primary bonus, similar to the Sentinel bonuses. I don't know enough about fluff to go into detail - Gallente would get an additional bonus to either repair tools or drop uplinks, for example, depending on what makes more sense.
Other than that, I'd suggest a support role bonus. Like, Caldari gets a bonus to Swarmers and AV grenades, while Gallente gets a bonus to PLC and flux grenades. Which is still pigeonholing, but it allows Logi role bonuses to do more than tell Minmatar to be healbots.
tl;dr
Bonuses to specific items = bad
Bonuses to specific playstyles = good
Also, Assault and Logi bonuses suck currently, even if you ignore the impeded freedom.
So, any input? Proposals for suitable bonuses? Possible insults? |