jetstreamwolf12
New member
Okay, I'm about to spew so many of my thoughts on the game, without the writing skill to effectively do so. and i currently have a concussion, so buckle up. Im posting this as an item guide but I do go over character changes I would like to see as well, simply because the overarching idea of my post is to make melee play-style more accessible to more characters. All of this is personal feedback that i dont expect to get implemented, but I do hope that it can create a discussion on balancing a new archtype into the game.
The ability to have multiple viable build paths per character is a great way to eliminate boredom in the game. More options make for more interesting gameplay loop. Between full weapon damage, full spirit damage, hybrid builds, and tank/melee builds, some characters have more options to build into than others. I wouldn't call this a design flaw or an oversight, it makes sense that you may want players to have a good idea of what some characters can do at a glance rather than forcing players to check each individual item they have built to know their play-style. However, I do think that melee builds should have more items dedicated to the synergy, and that more characters should have an incentive to build into them.
For instance, Yamato has the ability to charge a heavy melee attack when grappling towards an enemy. I'm not sure if this is intended or not, but I do think it would be very healthy for the game if it was kept in, albeit the sound cue should be made more clear when it is happening.
A lot of the "high mmr games" seem to be building CC active items which in itself is fine, but it seems that the end game is getting a little stale. Plus, there are very few items that counter these actives.
In response, I would love to see a cleanse melee item added(1.25k);
An active item that buffs your next charged melee to stun the enemy for 1.1 base seconds(3K);
An item that applies anti-heal on melee hit(1.25K weapon item);
Characters with melee-adjacent abilities (examples further down)
Below are some character changes ive been cooking since the game released, and some changes that i made up on the spot right now. You likely won't be able to tell them apart.
=Abrams= Either reduce his lifesteal against enemies or turn it into an antiheal aura. He already has 2 movement abilities and a damage mitigation ability, he feels unkillable once he comes online at the 10 minute mark.
=Bebop= Change the bomb to a charge slot ability, and change the number of max stacks to 5, with a +10% damage per stack, losing all on death. This will keep bebop from either being useless in a game, or running away with a lead and dealing 2k damage per bomb. This will allow him to be useful on any life and if more melee scaling items are added, he wont have to build purely spirit.
=Dynamo= cast speed buff on his 2 as an ability upgrade. other than that he doesnt need anything. Devs cooked fr
=Grey Talon= Change the pattern of his 2nd ability to shoot arrows in an X shape rather than a line, or alt fire while hes airborne. Feels like a 1:1 copy of vindictas kit, just worse.
=Haze= Make sleep dagger remove her Fixation stacks so she can reapply them more often. Now haze can effectively be built hybrid.
=Infernus= give him an alt fire that claps his hands (5 ammo) and send out a 2m shockwave that applies 3-5 stacks of afterburn. Now melee infernus can thrive.
=Ivy= I do not play with enogh ivy's to suggest anything other than putting a shirt on her.
=Kelvin=Add a parry effect to his dome. I am not under the impression that his dome needs a buff, I just think it would probably stun someone if they punched a block of ice as hard as they could.
=Lady Geist=Siphon life should leave geist stunned if she gets melee attacked while channeling. For one, the ability will silence the opponent at max rank, which funnels an opponents options to escaping, shooting, or meleeing her. But this also plays into her ultimate, where an enemy will approach you to try to get the stun off on you. Increased outplay potential is a healthy thing in any game imo.
=Lash= Stomp should scale off of melee damage instead of height, since majestic leap is already an insane engagement tool, it often leads to him doing 1k damage off of one ability before the 30 minute mark of the game. (pulled these numbers out of my ass, I die a lot to Lash)
=McGinnis= Parry effect on her wall, makes her stronger in duo lanes and she would likely have to bring down wall to capitalize on the stun.
=Mirage= Okay. Mirage needed more time in the oven. Firstly, his tornado should be a controllable ability. 3 second base lifetime, targetable in the tornado, no more bullet evasion afterwards. His scarabs should circle him, like a beyblade, and be usable while he is in his freecast tornado form. His three is fine. His ult should be a magic carpet. If warden can have an active item as an ability, so can mirage. I know for sure the ability wouldnt be balanced, but it just makes sense.
=Mo and Krill= Add melee scaling to his ult. Mo punches and Krill tazes, there should be two instances of damage on the enemy.
=Paradox= Kinetic carbine speed boost should ramp up with her charge. thats all.
=Pocket= Dont play him any at all so i have no clue what he does, but i do think hes too good at it.
=Seven= reduce enemy vision in range or give him bullet evasion in his ultimate. hes just a sitting duck and its not that great of an ability
=Shiv= increase rage decay by a lot. he shouldnt be in rage unless he's in a teamfight. stupid sexy elvis
=Vindicta= +1 base DPS please
=Viscous= already insanely good with every build variety available to him. by all accounts this is what I think most characters should be like. infinite options, zero boredom
=Warden= Cage shouldnt be single target, should be an area that targets the closest 2-3 enemies to him, allowing him to deny area and split up teams. Or throw the flask on a charge slot and call it a day. he sucks early game and is broken once he buys leap.
=Wraith= Solid character IMO
=Yamato= Make grapple scale with melee damage. You can already charge a melee while grappling, I think this would fit her ability to be built tanky, and take away some (barely any) kill potential from her spirit build
Currently, there are no items that reduce fire rate for higher damage numbers. This leaves characters like Lady Geist, Shiv, Lash, and Gray Talon to have really underwhelming gun builds. It would be nice to have some item to build on sniper characters that makes them feel like snipers and not skill-shot mages.
sacrificing fire rate would be really strong on these characters, and paradox, which would grant more build paths open to choose from. It would be nice to see an item at tier 2 and tier 3 much like how Swift Striker and Burst Fire operate for fully automatic characters.
Alright, if you read this far I love you dearly. This game is absolute cinema.
The ability to have multiple viable build paths per character is a great way to eliminate boredom in the game. More options make for more interesting gameplay loop. Between full weapon damage, full spirit damage, hybrid builds, and tank/melee builds, some characters have more options to build into than others. I wouldn't call this a design flaw or an oversight, it makes sense that you may want players to have a good idea of what some characters can do at a glance rather than forcing players to check each individual item they have built to know their play-style. However, I do think that melee builds should have more items dedicated to the synergy, and that more characters should have an incentive to build into them.
For instance, Yamato has the ability to charge a heavy melee attack when grappling towards an enemy. I'm not sure if this is intended or not, but I do think it would be very healthy for the game if it was kept in, albeit the sound cue should be made more clear when it is happening.
A lot of the "high mmr games" seem to be building CC active items which in itself is fine, but it seems that the end game is getting a little stale. Plus, there are very few items that counter these actives.
In response, I would love to see a cleanse melee item added(1.25k);
An active item that buffs your next charged melee to stun the enemy for 1.1 base seconds(3K);
An item that applies anti-heal on melee hit(1.25K weapon item);
Characters with melee-adjacent abilities (examples further down)
Below are some character changes ive been cooking since the game released, and some changes that i made up on the spot right now. You likely won't be able to tell them apart.
=Abrams= Either reduce his lifesteal against enemies or turn it into an antiheal aura. He already has 2 movement abilities and a damage mitigation ability, he feels unkillable once he comes online at the 10 minute mark.
=Bebop= Change the bomb to a charge slot ability, and change the number of max stacks to 5, with a +10% damage per stack, losing all on death. This will keep bebop from either being useless in a game, or running away with a lead and dealing 2k damage per bomb. This will allow him to be useful on any life and if more melee scaling items are added, he wont have to build purely spirit.
=Dynamo= cast speed buff on his 2 as an ability upgrade. other than that he doesnt need anything. Devs cooked fr
=Grey Talon= Change the pattern of his 2nd ability to shoot arrows in an X shape rather than a line, or alt fire while hes airborne. Feels like a 1:1 copy of vindictas kit, just worse.
=Haze= Make sleep dagger remove her Fixation stacks so she can reapply them more often. Now haze can effectively be built hybrid.
=Infernus= give him an alt fire that claps his hands (5 ammo) and send out a 2m shockwave that applies 3-5 stacks of afterburn. Now melee infernus can thrive.
=Ivy= I do not play with enogh ivy's to suggest anything other than putting a shirt on her.
=Kelvin=Add a parry effect to his dome. I am not under the impression that his dome needs a buff, I just think it would probably stun someone if they punched a block of ice as hard as they could.
=Lady Geist=Siphon life should leave geist stunned if she gets melee attacked while channeling. For one, the ability will silence the opponent at max rank, which funnels an opponents options to escaping, shooting, or meleeing her. But this also plays into her ultimate, where an enemy will approach you to try to get the stun off on you. Increased outplay potential is a healthy thing in any game imo.
=Lash= Stomp should scale off of melee damage instead of height, since majestic leap is already an insane engagement tool, it often leads to him doing 1k damage off of one ability before the 30 minute mark of the game. (pulled these numbers out of my ass, I die a lot to Lash)
=McGinnis= Parry effect on her wall, makes her stronger in duo lanes and she would likely have to bring down wall to capitalize on the stun.
=Mirage= Okay. Mirage needed more time in the oven. Firstly, his tornado should be a controllable ability. 3 second base lifetime, targetable in the tornado, no more bullet evasion afterwards. His scarabs should circle him, like a beyblade, and be usable while he is in his freecast tornado form. His three is fine. His ult should be a magic carpet. If warden can have an active item as an ability, so can mirage. I know for sure the ability wouldnt be balanced, but it just makes sense.
=Mo and Krill= Add melee scaling to his ult. Mo punches and Krill tazes, there should be two instances of damage on the enemy.
=Paradox= Kinetic carbine speed boost should ramp up with her charge. thats all.
=Pocket= Dont play him any at all so i have no clue what he does, but i do think hes too good at it.
=Seven= reduce enemy vision in range or give him bullet evasion in his ultimate. hes just a sitting duck and its not that great of an ability
=Shiv= increase rage decay by a lot. he shouldnt be in rage unless he's in a teamfight. stupid sexy elvis
=Vindicta= +1 base DPS please
=Viscous= already insanely good with every build variety available to him. by all accounts this is what I think most characters should be like. infinite options, zero boredom
=Warden= Cage shouldnt be single target, should be an area that targets the closest 2-3 enemies to him, allowing him to deny area and split up teams. Or throw the flask on a charge slot and call it a day. he sucks early game and is broken once he buys leap.
=Wraith= Solid character IMO
=Yamato= Make grapple scale with melee damage. You can already charge a melee while grappling, I think this would fit her ability to be built tanky, and take away some (barely any) kill potential from her spirit build
Currently, there are no items that reduce fire rate for higher damage numbers. This leaves characters like Lady Geist, Shiv, Lash, and Gray Talon to have really underwhelming gun builds. It would be nice to have some item to build on sniper characters that makes them feel like snipers and not skill-shot mages.
sacrificing fire rate would be really strong on these characters, and paradox, which would grant more build paths open to choose from. It would be nice to see an item at tier 2 and tier 3 much like how Swift Striker and Burst Fire operate for fully automatic characters.
Alright, if you read this far I love you dearly. This game is absolute cinema.
