So, here are a few tweaks that I think would go a long ways towards balancing the game.
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Reduce tracking laser visibility. Right now, the PC laser is so bright that it blinds you, and can be traced back to the source by a player with both eyes closed. This is encouraging predator players to aim at the ground, aim at buildings, or even turn completely backwards when setting up a shot. It is very immersion breaking.
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No energy drain from thermal vision. At first, this sounds like it’s only for the predator, right? Hear me out. Right now, many predators are avoiding using thermal for extended periods due to the need of energy for cloak, PC, etc. But if thermal was “free”? Suddenly your “ice-cold” build is viable. That “pig in shit” perk is worth it. Stealth becomes fun and it’s no longer a game of “ole’ painless wins again.” Let’s ENCOURAGE thermal.
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Let’s talk about health. Many players will disagree with me on this one, but we need to lower health across the board. Less health = more tactics. If the Fireteam can’t tank the melee from a predator, they won’t fearlessly try to hunt it down from the jump. If a predator can only handle a moderate amount of sustained fire, it won’t jump into the middle of the fireteam with a death stick and melee all 4 into the dust. Everything about this game is encouraging mindless play, when it should be anything but that. Which brings us to the next point.
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Extend match duration. This is a no brainer. 15 minutes? How can the predator be expected to do anything except rush? There’s no time for strategy or waiting, no time to HUNT. Matches should at MINIMUM be 30 minutes. Currently you spend more time WAITING for a match than actually playing one.
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Are pigs an endangered species in the predator universe? Tldr…more pigs.
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Going back to thermal vision. Why the hell can I hear a predator switching vision modes from half a mile away? Cloaking sounds, definitely. The clicking? Hell yes. You’ve already fixed the walking noise. But get rid of that damn vision change notification, it makes no sense.
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If Zeus tells me one more ****ing time that I need to get closer to the group I’m uninstalling. I am a scout sniper. I choose to hang back.
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Remove the health and ammo “pickups” from the map. What you drop in with is what you get. Currently the fireteam has to motivation to conserve any resources, while the predator gets AT MOST 3 heals, and that’s if they waste a perk slot. I’m not including the critically endangered pigs that are rumored to roam the far reaches of the map.
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Bomb disarming? Because suddenly humans can figure out how to read predator glyphs and associate the wrist computer as a means to disable it? It’s a no from me, dawg.
Now for an end to my bitching and we move to suggestions for the future.
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4v4 pvp between two fireteams, with a pred. (Or two) In the middle.
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Missions involving defending a dead predator or its tech from another predator. (Predator respawn)
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Mission where the goal of the predator is to escape capture and reach its ship to escape, while recovering its equipment and evading the fireteam attempting to re-capture it.
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Map variation. Desert map. Antarctic whaling station. Los Angeles. Game preserve planet. Inside a crashed predator ship. There are a lot of possibilities here.
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Make the classes more distinct. Scout predators have better ranged damage, etc.
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Skins from the movies/books/comics. Wolf predator, city hunter, broken tusk. Dutch, Harrigan, Agent Keys. King Willie.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. I do love playing this game, and although it definitely needs some work, with the right changes to improve replayability it could really reach its potential.
