TLDR: can’t balance the game because the learning curve is the biggest problem. Nerf FT damage by 5%, buff LMS damage 20%. Leave pred melee alone. Nerf splash damage of caster in the open, have it use 10% more energy to limit spamming.
So lately I’ve been seeing a lot of back and forth with regards to balancing the game. The majority of the arguements are FT OP because of damage output, Pred Melee OP and currently the Plasma Spammer is OP. So here’s my take as a filthy casual console peasant.
FT OP - Overall as it stands right now I agree with this. I still feel the FT does too much damage. 1 mistake in close engagement for a pred results in second wind or damn near close too. By close engagement I’m talking accurate grenade range, not melee. The FT simply puts out too much singular damage. When multiplied by a team effort the Predator really doesn’t stand a chance. While this is able to be worked around by good preds, it takes time. Usually with a half decent/good fireteam, enough time to clear the mission and push exfil.
I think FT needs to have a small (3%-5%) damage reduction. Buff last man standing however (make that have a 10%-20% damage boost) to balance out 1v1 situations and make the endgame a real challenge in the spirit of the movies.
Predator Melee OP: I disagree with this because of the fireteams damage output. As it stands right now, clever melee is effective and rewarding. If you know you’re 1 on 1 and know how use the weapon you’re holding, the Fireteam member by himself doesn’t stand a chance. If you jump in the middle of all 4 swinging a combistick and 1 FT member has a brain, you don’t stand a chance. Hit and runs are effective though, but again as I mentioned earlier, this can sometimes be just slow enough to allow exfil. I think pred melee overall is in a good spot. It could be better, it could be worse. I don’t know if tinkering with it is the best idea however.
Pred plasma spam: This isn’t “OP” exactly but I do think it’s an issue. Pred can honestly just rain plasma with the right build and the splash damage is a little too wide. I think the splash should stay the same in buildings to help deal with campers, but in the open reduce the cone back to what it was so a little bit of accuracy is needed. Also raise the damage (a LITTLE not to one hit down levels) of charged blasts that hit dead on. This would encourage more charging and less blind fire. This balances things a little better I think.
Overall: The balance of this game is and will forever be all over the place. Simply because there is no thought into teaching FT the mechanics to work together and work effectively. Especially right now I’ve noticed an influx of newer and younger players. This is fine but they don’t understand, and won’t understand the fundamentals of team work the FT was designed around without being taught. Until that’s addressed, your never gonna have balance. You lower the bar for the potatoes it makes capable players god tier. You raise the bar for the capable players, your average Joe COD crossover is a Predator trophy in waiting. The only way to fix this is to break things down Barney style to new players so they get the point.