My opinions on what needs to be changed

#1

Some context: Back when Evolve Stage 2 was active, I was one of the best Behemoth players on PC and one of the better Goliath players (at least on the forums). Used to be “GoGoGoliath” on TRS forums if anyone recognizes that name. I bring this up because I think some ideas from Evolve would be pretty great models for balancing in this game.

Regardless, here’s what I’d like the developers of Illfonic to consider.

Fireteam

  • Reinforcements either needs to be much slower, or the mechanic needs to not be there at all. Evolve was balanced in this - there was no way you could respawn unless you survived against the Monster for about 3 minutes. That’s a lot of time and if the monster doesn’t kill the last person then that’s on them. In this game, the Predator basically has to blitz the Fireteam because this game doesn’t reward slowly picking them off, because Reinforcements come back in about 17 seconds after being called for.

  • Defusing needs to be harder. It should feel really intense to be defusing a literal nuke but it doesn’t.

  • The fireteam needs a penalty for being downed. Again, this is something I think Evolve did well in Stage 2, if anyone played that. The Hunters were punished for not being able to successfully kill the monster quickly. They got permanent health debuffs. 25% from the first down, 50% from the second down. Right now, not only does the Fireteam have a SUPER fast way of recovering health, they aren’t penalized for dropping to 0 HP. Meanwhile the Predator loses Second Wind if he survives going down to 0 HP and has to wait a long time for it to recharge. One would think that being stabbed or blasted to the point of not being able to get up without help would leave some lasting injuries on a fireteam member.

  • Damage in general should be toned down. The fireteam already spawns in with so much ammo and the tools necesary to be effective at any and all ranges (Sniper Rifle on Primary and a Shotgun or Minigun on secondary???)

  • Parry also needs to be completely readdressed. I should not be able to parry while the minigun is active and the stun on it seems weird. Make it so that you can only parry while your melee is actively out, or don’t include it.

Predator

  • Splash on the Plasma Caster should be a little stronger imo, but I’m not sure how good it is right now. The Predator needs a way to be able to split up the Fireteam.

  • Predator needs better ranged option besides Plasma Caster. The Bow also shouldn’t light up, nor should it be forced to fire after a period of time. The drawback of limited ammo should be being allowed to use an essentially silent ranged weapon.

  • '87 and Scout both need their bugs fixed. Right now they’re basically straight downgrades to Hunter or Berserker. For those unaware - Scout has a stamina issue reportedly, and '87 is supposed to be the exact same as the default Hunter from a gameplay perspective, but for some reason drains energy much, much faster. You can find stats of that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/HuntingGrounds/comments/g7jnfy/87_predator_energy_is_either_bugged_or_vastly/

  • Melee needs better tracking. Combos are susceptible to whiffing due to terrain issues, costing the Predator player vital health

  • The Isolation scan needs to never EVER bug out or be beaten by mud. Something like in the clip below (which is in patch 1.05) has no excuse for acting the way it does, especially when it is SO VITAL to the Predator’s early game strategy!!! Some fireteams complete their games in 4 minutes, the Predator has no time to waste!!

  • The Plasma Caster needs to not explode because it hits a tiny, inconsequential twig-branch on a small tree. The Fireteam can shoot through that shit.

Other

  • AI opponents should be smarter, or do more damage. Something to give the Predator a better chance to take advantage of a distracted Fireteam. They’re pathetic opponents.

  • Show stats with the perks. Fearless increases my melee damage by how much? Down Range increases my weapons damage by how much?

4 Likes
#2

I fully agree i want to play as a stalker pick them off one at a time make them mess up but the OBJ for fire teams are way way to easy to complete and they can do it in no time flat and whats the point in taking a trophy if it doesnt effect the respawn timer for the Fireteam i mean yea i get the head on my belt but they still spawn in like nothing happened like i didnt just rip their spine out of their backs.

2 Likes
#3

There is a huge bias here from the predator side. The game is equal once everyone has everything unlocked. The right combination is necessary to take down the right predator. The right predator can shred a fireteam or light them up from a distance.

#4

No, not the case at all, current game mechanics literally disallow the predator to stalk their pray and hunt one by one - you altho go in full blast to get them down (counter unfair reinforcment) or you leave them alone

#5

I would have to agree with you on everything. Maybe not so much the shoulder cannon. You can one shot people with a fully charged shot with the down range perk. I’ve been one shot by it before. I ended up obliterating an entire fire team with only using the shoulder cannon one shotting them all before. (They weren’t very smart either and kept going for a revive on their bleeding out teammates so I just used them as bait to pick off each one)

But yeah, one thing that I absolutely hate is how rushed the game is. Fire team objectives are not long enough at all and the fact the whole game is timed gives no allowance at all for the predator to hunt how a hunter should.
Like, an example would be, if I’m hunting a dangerous animal like a bear, I’m going to be more methodical and take my time, I’m not going to rush into the bear to get myself killed because of some made up time in my head.
The same goes for this game. The predator should not have to be rushed from very beginning of the game to end of the game to the point where if you are playing as the predator, that you literally have to forego any and all planning and methodical engagement of your “prey” but rather, rush in like a fool hoping that you can tank them and hit them enough with the already bad melee tracking where only like 30% of your melee will hit because the fire team is constantly back peddling and jumping which some how dodges most attacks only for the pred to get filled with bullet holes… all for the sake of just to prevent the fire team to exfil after 4 minutes of doing nothing basically.

If anything, the game needs to be called Human Rushing Grounds. Nothing really pertains to actual hunting tactics in this game.
I absolutely abhor rushed games. Which upsets me because I really like the idea of this game. But, it’s just very poorly executed.

I can see this game flopping like Evolve and dying out quick If these things aren’t addressed.

#6

Well said bud , i agree with this post 100%. I hope the devs see this and take these points to heart.

1 Like