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Celus Ivara
DUST University
Ivy League
370
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Posted - 2015.05.27 12:06:00 -
[1] - Quote
So focusing solely on the topic at hand, I'd in general say this seems to be largely good. Putting suits on an inverse relationship of speed & EHP is interesting, and I've long been in favor of making all the suits faster (fighting is fun, walking to the fight not so much).
That said though, Kev posted this:
Kevall Longstride wrote:Good changes and the beginnings of some real differentials between the logi and the Commando roles.
The meta of the game at the moment is too geared to slayers at the moment and the logibro's in particular are taking a hit in their gameplay at the moment.
I've been thinking my Galmando could do with an extra slot as well, either low for extra armour rep or high for extra agility.
This is just the beginning of some love towards these two classes so post your thoughts here guys.
(Underline mine.)
So with a request for general input out there, I'll offer what I have:
So this is going to sound moronic, but honestly my thoughts on how to help Logis fulfill the Support role starts with buffing the Assaults ability to Slay.
Way back in the day, Slayer-Logi was a huge problem.
We asked "Why are Slayer players using the Logi?"
We answered that question by nerfing the heck outta Logis' HP, speed and fitting.
One thing we never asked though was "Why are Slayer players not using Assaults?"
The core of the problem is that to a Slayer's eyes Logi and Assault suits are very similar.
The extra equipment slots are nice, but that player mainly chooses based on ability to project DPS and tank/avoid damage.
We've always had this underlying issue where Assaults don't do anything special.
Scouts are fast, sneaky and can turn invisible.
Logi's have a vast array of equipment and the buffs to make them sing.
Sentinels are hyper tanky and are the only ones who can wield special fist-of-god weaponry.
What do Assaults do? They kinda have a nice middle-ground on base stats. :\
Since Assaults only claim to fame is that stat middle-ground, it blocks our ability to fix other classes if the fix pushes them into the Assaults' stat territory.
Support focused players have been clamoring for literal years now for the speed to keep up with their squad, and the eHP to sustain flak while trying to heal a teammate who's under fire. We haven't been able to give it to them because of a fear of returning to the days of the Slayer-Logi.
Buffing Assault's ability to Slay gives us the freedom to buff the Logi's ability to support.
There are a couple options available to us. Maybe grant the Assault unique buffs to being in a squad (the main slaying unit of any team), or perhaps add new combat-focused equipment or mods only Assaults can use.
My suggestion though?
Give Assaults the ability to carry two Light weapons.
Yes, this encroaches massively on Commandos. I will address that later.
Ignore the Commando thing for the moment, and look at what this will allow us to do.
-Gives us the freedom to properly buff Logis without making them the preferred Slayer suit.
-Makes Assault gameplay more interesting by enabling players to really think on the fly about what weapon to use in an ever changing battlefield.
-Weapons' strong-against/weak-against shield/armor ratings will finally mean something because players can now adjust to their opponent's tank.
-Let's Assault players have more compelling fitting choices.
-The present Assault bonus to fitting cost for weaponry starts to make sense.
-Gives our primary combat suit a presumed parity with other FPS game standards.
-As has been pointed out elsewhere by others (in particular, our esteemed Pokey) this will finally make vehicles feel dangerous and satisfying. Presently vehicle players bring a million ISK, steel death-machine to bear; only to then be popped by one small infantry dude with the vehicle kryptonite. If we nerf the DPS of AV weapons while also increasing their battlefield saturation by letting Slayer characters carry them as backup, the end result is a vehicle will on average sustain the same DPS as before, but now is tanking half a squad. That feels bad-ass for the pilot/tanker while also not leaving the AV players utterly defenseless when enemy infantry shows up.
Giving Assaults two Light weapons would ideally fix tons of problems with the game, while also letting us push Logis into the speed & eHP territory they need to really fulfill their role as in-the-trenches support.
[Commandos below] |
Celus Ivara
DUST University
Ivy League
370
|
Posted - 2015.05.27 12:07:00 -
[2] - Quote
I mentioned before I would address Commandos, and I'll be honest, I don't have a solution that I'm confident is the right one.
My short answer here is to encourage us to ask the dedicated Commando players what they want.
That said though, I am in a position where I'm obliged to attempt an answer.
Commandos have an interesting issue where a role was never defined for them and instead were built out of an interesting set of stats. A tool given to the players for them to invent uses for.
If we look at how players have used the suit, I'd say two main Roles appear:
"Area denial."
"Powerful AV"
If we back away from the perspective of Roles, and instead look at playstyles, we get this:
"Feeling powerful and dangerous. If I look at someone, they die."
"Independence / lone wolf / squad in a suit"
So buffing any of those roles/playstyles will help push the Commando into it's own unique space.
- Say, giving them innate ammo regeneration or just more carried ammo would help with Area Denial and Independence.
- A straight buff to AV damage (which I know has been discussed before) would aid the Powerful AV role (especially in a world where AV is nerfed as mentioned above).
- Substantially increasing scan range would help with target acquisition, and thus strengthen all four of the roles/styles.
- Or maybe even the blatant buff of just giving 'em one more Light weapon for a total of 3. |
Celus Ivara
DUST University
Ivy League
370
|
Posted - 2015.05.27 12:55:00 -
[3] - Quote
Booby Tuesdays wrote:Celus Ivara wrote:
Giving Assaults two Light weapons would ideally fix tons of problems with the game, while also letting us push Logis into the speed & eHP territory they need to really fulfill their role as in-the-trenches support.
[Commandos below]
Instead of 2 light weapons, what if Assaults received half the damage bonus as Commandos? 1% to racial light weapons per level? Assaults will still be able to tank more than a Logi, even after the buffs go live.
As far as pushing Slayers away from Logis and into Assaults, that would help. Basically the inverse of the old solution of having Logis do less damage with their weapons (which feels unintuitive and people in general hated being hobbled like that).
My lament though would be we wouldn't gain any of the other benefits of Assaults having 2 Lights. |
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