My suggestions for limitations/improvements on special abilities on mercs


(Chronicler) #1

This post will deal mostly with special abilities, but I would like to add a side note on weaponry, it would be nice for Splash Damage to add maybe an SMG on some of the shotgun-only mercs, for those of us not too fond of shotguns. Vice versa maybe on SMG only mercs. (Preferably an SMG with higher rate of fire than the Blishlok like for example on Aura who could be counted as shotgun merc).

Some examples of mercs that could use an SMG is Fletcher, RedEye, Rhino, maybe Kira/Arty, I know now you will say that Rhino has minigun, though minigun isn’t very flexible and not good long range in my experience (have only used him a bit). Burst rifles are almost a bit shotgun like but better long range.

Anyhow, to the mercs special abilities (the mercs I leave out I have not played or have no opinion on):

Arty: Arty is probably the most ridiculously overpowered merc there is right now, the deploy of his special ability is much faster than Kiras laser for example, he also has 2 charges and much quicker cooldown, if you join a public server with 3-4 Artys it’s pretty much a constant artillery barrage, can be real annoying on some maps. Suggestions for improvement: Either reduce charges, increase cooldown, or make deploy slower like Kiras laser

Aura: Auras health station can be very efficient, sometimes annoyingly so, I am not sure yet if it needs a nerf or what to do, perhaps a solution could be longer cooldown on the health station and giving Aura small medpacks+increased merc speed

Bushwhacker: I think Bushy is probably the weakest objective specialist compared to the other two, Proxy and Fletcher, a person that is good with Fletchers sticky bombs can be very efficient, same with Proxy and her mines. The turret of Bushwhacker is weak enough as it is, and then it also gives a noise so people know where it is, like if it wasn’t weak enough. Solution: Give turret more health/dmg, give Bushwhacker two turrets, or decrease cooldown. And remove the noise the turret gives off, obviously.

Fletcher: I’m kind of ambivalent on Fletcher, but in the right hands he is deadly…maybe make the stickies weaker? Or 1 less? It’s basically a frag grenade as it is now in the right hands.

Kira: Kira is another hard one, people say her laser is OP, but it takes some time to deploy, it’s easy to avoid, and Kira is kind of a squishy merc (low health). Maybe just keep her as is. Btw, for some reason when I use Kira on chapel (on offensive) my laser get stuck over transmit, is this on purpose or bug?

Fragger: I like Fragger as he is, but even I can admit maybe the cooldown on his grenades is a bit short, maybe longer cooldown and higher rate of fire on his K-121?

Nader: The spamming grenade launcher…though it’s almost fair, considering that Nader doesn’t have Thunder and Fraggers special weapons and she also has lower health.

Proxy: Two gamey strategies are used by Proxy players, shooting their mines, and throwing their mines in groups of people, solution: Either make Proxy unable to shoot her own mines, or at least make her arm them Quake Wars style, to balance a bit maybe make her have 3 mines.

RedEye: I have heard RedEye was nerfed in the past, but I actually think he is weak as he is now, maybe make his smoke cloud a bit bigger? And give his infra-glasses the additional ability to x-ray through walls or something, maybe at a limited range not to be OP. And give him an SMG, he isn’t really a sniper since he doesn’t have the decent sniper rifles like Aimee and Vassili.

Rhino: This guy just have close range weaponry it seems, shotguns and minigun, give him an SMG, he just seems weak which he shouldn’t be, maybe remove the spin up on the minigun without removing the lack of flexibility when it’s out. I’ve never seen a player with Rhino doing well, unless maybe with an Aura backing him up. Compared to Thunder and Fragger, Rhino could use an improvement.

Sawbonez: Poor Sawbonez, he doesn’t have Phoenix self-revive or Sparks revive gun, Sparks small medpacks are basically almost as g ood as Sawbonez large ones, but actually better since you get the health instantly. He should get something, maybe more health.

Phoenix: Lower cooldown on his self-revive

Sparks: Give her defibs as an additional way to revive

Thunder: Give his con grenade a few extra secs, as it is now, Fragger seems more useful.


(watsyurdeal) #2

Honestly I think Fragger is fine as is, Aura’s healing station should just have a pulse, every x seconds, not a constant stream of healing imo.