Hello, I’m just going to be jotting down some ideas that have come into my head since I’ve played this game for several hours now (only as Pred, haven’t touched FT), as well as conversing with others. Predators are not as weak as some think, but I do believe the game is slightly skewed towards a well coordinated FT.
-People have been complaining about parrying Predators, a good fix to this? Make it easy to parry Scout Predators, and almost impossible to parry Berserkers. As for regular hunters maybe make it so the FT member has to move forward+melee? Just to make the timing harder. The biggest change will be to the Berserker/Scout. This will help push them towards what their respective roles should be, ranged for the scout, and melee for the zerker.
-A perk to make it easier to find pigs.
-An extra slot for perks for Predators, as well as a slot for “Ultimate” perks, something that only activates after say, killing 2 FT members, surviving second wind, or when the chopper extraction icon pops up, could even randomize what activates it per match. This is just something to give the predator an extra leg up as the hunt goes on. As it is, Predators have so many perk points but they will never get close to maxing it out.
-Could make “spotting” take up a perk slot, or only make it available for recon class, so as to ensure people don’t all play the same kind of class. Regardless, if you are completely invis and not moving, the FT should not be able to spot you by spamming the spot button if they don’t actually know you’re there.
-When you pop thermal vision, and the icon fills up above the FT member’s head, this could serve as a healthbar that decreases as they take damage, yes they get bloodier the more damage they take but it can be hard to determine in the heat of things. Could go away after a set amount of time or if you lose line of sight.
-A way to differentiate between AI and the FT based on sight: Give the AI some kind of armband (Red/Yellow/Blue, just something that sticks out), as I’ve heard several other predator mains having trouble telling who is AI and who isn’t. You could even allow the FT members the ability to take the armband, with a chance of it being visibly damaged, to try and further hide from the Predator (and would allow them to sneak by enemy AI’s at a distance, rewarding stealth). The visible damage could serve as an indicator to the watchful predator that this is a real player. The quieter the AI is killed the less damaged it has the chance of being. Maybe only certain AI drop, so not every AI is dropping it.
-Either a gadget or a perk that allows Predators to delay the chopper extraction by a set amount of time (whatever amount the devs/play testers feel would be balanced) to allow for a better “final stand.”
-Trade a gadget slot/perk slot for the ability to get at least another healing kit or a few more nets/bear traps/audio decoys. Only usable after either all health kits have been used, or after the gadget has no more uses. Would not refill gadgets that aren’t empty (so as to not make it TOO overpowered).
-If you kill a FT member and claim, let it give the predator some intel (maybe just a large AOE?) of where the FT’s objective is for 15-25 seconds or so on the map. A long claim could either have a smaller AOE or last longer. This would be exceptionally useful if a Predator loses his/her biomask, and if the Predator manage to pull off a long claim before the FT manages to make it to their objective, it allows the Predator the possibility to set up traps around the location/scout it out. Could even allow the Predator to sabotage their mission, either adding more time they have to spend doing an objective, or taking time away from the match clock.
-The ability to leap during second wind with the caveat that it HEAVILY drains the second wind meter, as I’ve seen people talk about how easy it is to chase down the predator during this moment; or the ability to turn stealth on, but said camo drains the meter faster.
-Should a ranked mode ever been added, I think it would be wise to include a strictly solo queue option, as a premade squad has a heavy advantage against the lone Predator, you could offer more XP/in-game cash if Predators do not queue as strictly solo mode to balance it.
-Stat tracking. I’d like to know in how many hunts I’ve successfully eliminated everyone, or how many I’ve killed with a nuke (without them killing the Predator before it goes off). I’m sure FT players would like to see how many Yautjas they’ve killed as well. “Damage dealt with X weapon” Would be nice too, as well as showing accuracy with the plasma canon and other ranged weapons. You could also include in-game titles for both FT members or predators who achieve certain stats, with the ability to show it off in the pre-game lobby. Could also be used to unlock future cosmetics.
-Predators could use more to do in the maps. As it stands right now they mostly kill pigs, set off camp alarms, destroy ammo/health boxes and stalk. Tying into a previous point I suggested, killing certain NPCs could allow us to hear radio chatter, showing the last known location of the FT (if they have gotten into a firefight) on the map for 10 seconds or so. It would be nice to also include other animals (that fight back) that we can kill for temp buffs upon killing them. A jaguar increases stamina/speed, while say…a bear (or some other animal) would increase melee damage. I feel it would add some complexity to the game with the thought of, “Is this temp buff worth it for my build? It could give me the edge I need to take down the other players, or I could be wasting my time.”
-Some kind of visual warning (akin to the ! that pops up when aiming the plasma caster too close to yourself) that warns if you will hit a branch, I’ve often had the actual laser hitting a FT member, but when shooting it hits a branch unfortunately.
-Let the predator sabotage (after finding out what the objective is) the objective in a way that requires the FT to split up to say, fix 2 generators at the same time. This can slow the pace of the match down and ensure that the FT is not always together.
Most or all of these ideas are probably idiotic, so feel free to rip them apart.