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New changes on the PTS...Assault Buff, Tactics Nerfed


ZillaElite

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Hey there,

 

Here's are patch notes WRT Vanguard. The way I read it, Assault gets some buffs and Tactics gets nerfs....at least that's the way I'm reading it. Can somebody confirm the Tactics changes, I don't know enough about the changes but it looks like a bit of a nerf. I've made some comments on the Assault changes.

 

 

Tactics

•Combat Tactics has been redesigned: While High Energy Cell is active, damage dealt by Stockstrike makes the next High Impact Bolt an automatic critical hit. The Vanguard skill tree has been rearranged, making Combat Tactics require Cell Generator instead of Serrated Blades.

 

•Charged Loaders no longer increases ranged critical chance.

 

•Blaster Augs now further improves the internal and elemental damage done while High Energy Cell is active by 1% (down from 3%).

 

•Havoc Training now increases Gut critical damage, but no longer increases Ion Pulse critical damage.

 

 

Assault Specialist (Vanguard)

•Assault Plastique has been redesigned. The Trooper now throws a moldable plastic explosive that sticks to the target and detonates after several seconds, exploding for kinetic damage and burning the target for elemental damage over 12 seconds. Standard and weak enemies enter a state of panic when the explosive attaches and are knocked down when it explodes.

- AP get's a DOT...NICE!!!

 

•Assault Trooper (Vanguard) no longer increases the critical damage done by Charged Bolts, but now increases the critical damage done by Ion Pulse.

- I spam that more than any other skill and they've increased the Crit Damage/Surge on it.

 

•Rain of Fire (Vanguard) no longer increases Full Auto damage to burning targets.

- The way I read this is a target no longer has to be on fire, you get a flat 3/6/9% damage increase from Full Auto....I don't really use this as an Assault VG...I hate having to be rooted but the increased damage is interesting. May be something you may want to throw in the rotation for PVE.

 

Please comment and disuss. Eager to hear your opinions on the changes.

Edited by ZillaElite
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Assault was in no way buffed. Assault plastique's direct damage was nerfed, and CGC dot was nerfed by 50%!

 

Thanks for clarifying....not on the PTS so just reading from the Dev notes. The nerf to AP bites. Can you explain further the CGC dot nerf?

Edited by ZillaElite
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•Assault Trooper (Vanguard) no longer increases the critical damage done by Charged Bolts, but now increases the critical damage done by Ion Pulse.

- I spam that more than any other skill and they've increased the Crit Damage/Surge on it.

 

So does this mean that Assault Commandos get a nerf since it is a shared ability?

 

•Rain of Fire (Vanguard) no longer increases Full Auto damage to burning targets.

- The way I read this is a target no longer has to be on fire, you get a flat 3/6/9% damage increase from Full Auto....I don't really use this as an Assault VG...I hate having to be rooted but the increased damage is interesting. May be something you may want to throw in the rotation for PVE.

Actually, it reads to me as if Full Auto gets no damage buff. They simply removed it from the list of skills that did get it from Rain of Fire.

 

Once again though, does this mean Assault Commandos get a nerf since this is a shared ability? Full Auto for them figures into their rotation a lot more than it does for VGs.

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So does this mean that Assault Commandos get a nerf since it is a shared ability?

 

 

Actually, it reads to me as if Full Auto gets no damage buff. They simply removed it from the list of skills that did get it from Rain of Fire.

 

Once again though, does this mean Assault Commandos get a nerf since this is a shared ability? Full Auto for them figures into their rotation a lot more than it does for VGs.

 

WRT Rain of Fire, you're right, I totally read it wrong. They just removed FA. Not a big deal for Assault VG's, I never use it because of the root, better ways to be mobile and burst than FA for a VG, but I can see it being a Nerf for Assault Commandos.

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Not that it'll do much good, but I'd like to echo the complaint in the thread and chime in on the consensus that these nerfs were, for the most part, unwarranted.

 

I have played Terminal Velocity(AP/Pyro Hybrid) going on 10 months now, and although its not exactly what elitists would call "competitive," it happens to be a very fun spec and much more entertaining than pure Pyro, at least in my opinion.

 

2.0 patch hits the PTS: Everyone starts playing TV. With the changes to the trees and the extra talent points, we're able to pick up Steely Resolve for an overall Aim increase, and Firebug/Assault Trooper for a massive DPS increase to the main focus of the hybrid: Railshot/High-Impact Bolt. After some testing, it was widely considered to be the absolute BEST DPS on the test realm, putting out significantly higher DPS than anything but Smash-monkeys and Sniper/Gunslingers.

 

Now fast-forward to the patch on the 14th: EA/BW guts(see what I did there?) Terminal Velocity. With the numbers they were putting out on the PTS, I can understand this to a certain degree. But honestly, how hard could it have been to just push Firebug further up in the tree to put TV closer to where it is on live? It isn't OP on live at all, so why not allow it to exist, but limit its players to being able to take either SR or Firebug/Assault Trooper? I really hate to see hybrids across the board being neutered like this because it truly limits the choices that players are able to make. Not much balancing has to be done if hybrids are always slightly below the full trees in capability. Trust your players and adjust things with a lighter touch on a case-to-case basis(I'm looking at you, hybrid Assassins >.>), rather than pulverizing anything existing outside of the norm with the nerf-bat.

 

So not only that, but they decided to wreck the AP/Tactics tree too. All that had to happen to shut down TV really, was to attach the CG/CT proc to HEGC/HEC. They absolutely could have stopped right there and things would've almost been balanced, but did they? Nope. They decided that the full AP/Tactics tree was doing too much damage, so they hit not only the already mediocre stats for the HE stance, but one of the main sources of damage for the tree by removing the crit damage on FB/IP, made it so CG/CT would proc more reliably but less often, and reduced crit chance even more. To top it off, there are no buffs whatsoever to speak of to make up for this atrocious assault on the already sub-par tree that is AP/Tactics.

 

Although I may just be repeating suggestions made by other players in this thread, among others, it can't hurt to reinforce the positive feedback and suggestions for keeping us all happy. Here is what I think should be done as an alternative to the nerfs introduced with the March 14th patch:

 

 

 

1a. Move Firebug up a tier so that it is un-reachable by Terminal Velocity or other hybrid specs. This change would keep the damage very close to what it is on live, with the exception of a 9% increase in Aim, if players deem that to be the most efficient way to spend their extra points.

*or*

1b. Attach the CG/CT proc to HEGC/HEC, but still allow ticks of RB/Gut to intiate the auto-crit mechanic. 25% has always been more than enough of a chance to have it up whenever your RS/HIB would be off of cool-down anyways.

 

2. Keep FB/IP in the surge talent for the middle tree. It is a large source of consistent and efficient damage for AP/Tactics players. It is also one of the only skills we can 'spam' given that RB/Gut should only be refreshed as it is about to fall off, Flame Sweep/Explosive Surge costs too much to be used all that often, and the rest of our abilities have decent cooldowns. Adding RB/Gut surge to the talent isn't a bad idea, but unless the tree is designed to focus on MULTIPLE DoT's, I don't agree with forcing us to rely on RB/Gut for than its utility.

 

3. Instead of removing the critical chance altogether from Power Loaders, make it TECH instead of RANGED.

 

4. If you absolutely must nerf HEGC/HEC, do this instead -> Change it to 7%(down from 8%) and then change the stance talent to give 2%(down from 3%), for a total of 9% increased internal/elemental damage.

 

5. For the sake of Pyros all over the world, hit CGC a liiiiiiittle lighter and try something like a 20% damage nerf to its proc in exchange for a 15% proc rate(up from 10%).

 

6. The TD changes are cool, but unless it gets a little more damage, I think it will still be a questionable choice in the tree. Give it enough 'oomph' that people won't have second thoughts about going all the way up to the 36-point talent.

 

*This is what I would do to make the AP tree better. It is simply my opinion, so tweak it at your own discretion*

 

7. Add a new effect to one of the talents, or even a brand new trait higher up in the tree, that adds the Trauma debuff(20% healing debuff to the target) to RB/Gut when it crits. This would allow for the middle tree to excel at killing targets that they would otherwise be unable to with their lack of burst. It would also make them excellent healer-killers, although other changes in addition to this would be needed to garner them a special spot on ranked teams.

 

8. With the removal of HO/HtL as a unique skill to AP/Tactics, I am not the only one who feels that a new ability to be added in its place to make the tree feel special again. Before I say any more, I am of the opinion that giving HO/HtL to both AC's is a fantastic idea, so I would be against reverting that decision. But yeah, AP/Tactics needs something else to make it a complete package again. A fantastic idea that I saw in another thread involved a knockdown ability with a 30s-45s CD so as to give them more control over their opponents and allow for better usage of PFT/PG. Another idea would be to give them some sort of root with burst or a bleed attached to it. In either case, flesh out the overall design of the AP/Tactics tree a little further and give us something to look forward to again; Make us need to play the full tree again. I definitely feel like the entire tree is centered around control, with all the CC and cooldown reduction on said-CC, so add another option that strengthens this ideal if it is what you intended for the class.

 

9. With the above change, tie the duration increase for HO/HtL to the tree-specific stance(for both ACs mind you) through an existing talent. Most notably, this would free up room in the tree for the 'unique-skill' above.

 

10. Immolate/Fire Pulse needs to be adjusted number-wise. It doesn't really contribute to the tree as a whole. It feels kinda out of place to me as it provides excellent burst(unmitigated as it is Elemental damage, right?), whereas the rest of the tree focuses on sustained damage. Give it some sort of added bonus when it hits a target that is effected by RB/Gut or maybe while HO/HtL is active. Heck, IMO, Immolate should put a DoT on the target like the updated TD does =P

 

 

 

 

Overall, these are my thoughts on the changes. It would be REALLY nice to get some Dev feedback on these recent changes so we know what their plan is for adjusting both of the PT/VG DPS specs. Honestly, I'm starting to think that these nerfs are a psychological test in that they will revert them later to make people think that AP/Tactics was just fine all along.

 

EDIT: I'm posting this is every relevant thread to get it more exposure. Hopefully if enough of us keep active and push for BW/EA to rethink their changes, we can catch their attention and maybe get the respect we deserve.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Doesn't explosive surge trigger plasma cell now or did read that wrong? If it does that should make up for the cut on plasma cell because it on more people ( at least in pvp)? i think pyro/assault vg/pts will alright i would like to see more tactics vanguards ( tired of it just being me) but that doesn't like its going to happen:(
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Doesn't explosive surge trigger plasma cell now or did read that wrong? If it does that should make up for the cut on plasma cell because it on more people ( at least in pvp)? i think pyro/assault vg/pts will alright i would like to see more tactics vanguards ( tired of it just being me) but that doesn't like its going to happen:(

 

If you like padding numbers while wasting ammo for inconsequential aoe dps than explosive surge is for you. Essentially they nerfed assault burst dps which was the only thing VGs were useful for in pvp over other classes and gave us some neat little tricks that (shoulder cannon, ES DoTs) aren't all that impressive in actually killing someone in pvp.

 

Now, Hold the Line will be wonderful I will say all though just another of many changes that makes tactics less appealing. But looking at testing done I don't know why ANYONE would ever spec up into assault plastique anymore. Before you never did in pve because it was a dps loss but pvp it was still very useful as burst is king. Now burst got nerfed and hybrid is getting much more dps still than either pure spec of assault or tactics. So basically they ruined the top several tiers of both dps specs for VG. And instead of fixing them they tried to nerf the hybrid which they did but still not enough to make it worse. So basically the trees for VG are a mess. Luckily it looks like the hybrid will still be fun to play and useful dps. All though in pvp do you still bring one to ranked groups when other classes with similar dps can bring more utility and survival?

 

I will admit I'm basing this off a couple nights of testing myself and pts discussions. So I may be very wrong here but these are my impressions.

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Dev response over on the PT forums. Seems like they do not intend to roll back the AP nerf, nor do they plan to buff it in anyway.

 

Hey guys. I've seen a lot of posts about "nerfs" to Advanced Prototype. In reality, AP was nerfed only on PTS. For 2.0, we initially made some errors in AP's balance, which we later corrected on the PTS.

 

Players coming to 2.0 straight from the live game will not see any nerfs to Advanced Prototype. Some damage has been moved from some skills and put into other skills, but AP is not getting nerfed from the live game to 2.0. In fact, like every other skill tree, AP is receiving the appropriate amount of damage increases to see it hitting new targets at level 55.

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Dev response over on the PT forums. Seems like they do not intend to roll back the AP nerf, nor do they plan to buff it in anyway.

 

Yeah, don't know the guy in charge of class balance nor have I looked up his track record, but he seems to have no idea how the class works so he rolling with the "nerf both specs in order to nerf the hybrid" route instead of fixing the class. His concept of a buff/nerf seems somewhat delusional, especially after seeing his Gunnery "fix".

 

The tank nerfs seemed unwarranted as well. Tanks finally get the feeling that they may ACTUALLY be mitigating damage in PvP, so they nerf SC and absorption. Their lack of explanation for many of these nerfs and "buffs" seem pretty lame as well, and the explanations they do are often very lacking. Hoping these changes don't break this class b/c it seems likely given the showing from PTS from the last patch.

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Yeah, don't know the guy in charge of class balance nor have I looked up his track record, but he seems to have no idea how the class works so he rolling with the "nerf both specs in order to nerf the hybrid" route instead of fixing the class. His concept of a buff/nerf seems somewhat delusional, especially after seeing his Gunnery "fix".

 

The tank nerfs seemed unwarranted as well. Tanks finally get the feeling that they may ACTUALLY be mitigating damage in PvP, so they nerf SC and absorption. Their lack of explanation for many of these nerfs and "buffs" seem pretty lame as well, and the explanations they do are often very lacking. Hoping these changes don't break this class b/c it seems likely given the showing from PTS from the last patch.

 

The fact we get a developer to come here and claim they havent nerfed our class is simply laugable.

 

He is full of **** and that is all there is to say about that joker... what a clueless ****!

 

So its time to enter the subscription plan and take the regulary payment out of the equation, maybe it will be easier for the developers to calculate with one number less in the pile.

 

I encourage everyone to do the same, even if your still going to play to remove your payment plan, they lose enough of subsciption plans we will get a response. Just the fact that you are not listed as a subscriber anymore even if your still playing the game will have some effects on their advance planning.

 

So go hit that unsubscribe button, you can always Flick it back on when its time to subscribe, but they aint going to know if you will or not. When we get a response like we got from that developer after they have deleted our posts its time we send a clear signal that cant be missread.

 

/Gajol

Edited by GostGajol
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