Class Merging

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by Casey B, Mar 8, 2015.

  1. Casey B

    Infil + Engi = Technologist

    Heavy + Light = Assaulter

    Medic + Engi = Logistician

    Technologist:
    Weapons: Sniper Rifles, Carbines, SMGs, Scout Rifles, Battle Rifles and AMRs.
    Ability: Hunter, Nano Armor and Stalker cloaking.
    Tool: Motion spotter, motion dart, Mana turrent, AV turret, Spitfire.
    Special Grenades: EMP Grenade, Sticky Grenade, Anti Vehicle Grenades
    Utility: Proxy mines, C4, Med kits
    Special Ability: Can hack Turrets and Terminals. Can also hack enemy vehicles if no enemy is inside.

    Assaulter:
    Weapons: ALL weapons, except Sniper Rifles, AMR's and Scout Rifles.
    Ability: Icarus, Drifter and Jump jet packs.
    Tool: Rocket Launchers
    Special Grenades: Anti Vehicle Grenade, Concussion+Flash combined Grenade, Disc Grenade (meant to be thrown like a Frisbee, flies extra long distance)
    Utility: C4, Med kits
    Special Ability: This class has 1000 shields and 500 HP.

    Logistician:
    Weapons: AR's, Carbines, SMGs, Shotguns, Battle Rifles, AMR's
    Ability: Nano Healing or Shield Bubble
    Tool: Heal tool (now recharges friendly shield as well as HP) and Repair tool (Can now de-repair enemy vehicles and maxes)
    Special Grenade: Rez Grenade, Healing Grenade, Anti Vehicle Grenade
    Utility: Land Mines, C4, Med kits, Mortars (Yes, they can put down a mortar and use it similar to a turret. Ammo pack refills ammo!)
    Special Ability: Can toss Ammo packs like a engi, included as a weapon selection.


    My balancing Philosophy is to make each class simply OP in its own way.

    I guess for Vehicles/Aircraft players, Proxy/Scout Radar comes standard on all vehicles. Thermal Imaging reveals cloaked enemies. This includes the HR/NV scope.

    What do you guys think? Try not to be too defensive... I promise you, devs don't even read this forum so this post is not a existential threat to your existence!
  2. _itg

    So... what problems are you trying to address? Or are you just totally redesigning the game for the sake of it?
    • Up x 7
  3. Liewec123

    heavy and medic, just for the silly name Heavydic.

    but on a serious note imagine an Infiltrator Light assault stalking the rooftops? that would be a fairly frightening class to face!

    i like the sound of your Logistician, imagine the certs? XD
    shield bubble + ammo pack ticking away while you heal, rez and repair :p
  4. Casey B


    I think fewer classes with more options is more fun then more classes with less options.
  5. DramaticExit

    Why is that more fun?

    Or rather, why do you think that it is more fun? So far, you have given us a subjective statement without any reasoning. That is not to say you're wrong, but it just needs more explanation to be clear.
  6. Sunflash

    Light assault with rockets.


    My god. A new level of 'Noob Tube'....
  7. Casey B

    Well, feelings are pretty subjective after all.

    To give a explanation...hmm...I'd say its because more options means more strategies for the single player. As it is, most strategies require players to work together. That's nice, that sounds great in a school setting...but its not how things play out. Every one wants to be their own hero. By consolidating class mechanics it gives the player a greater degree of independence from each other.

    Also I think it moves the game more toward the kind of asymmetric balance that makes games more fun.

    For example...

    You play a technologist. You put on your stalker cloak and notice a enemy tank keeps running behind a certain rock to repair. You run over there and wait patiently for the tank to come back. Instead of blowing it up with your C4, you wait for the Logistician to get out. Once out he no longer has the benefit of Proxy Radar. You gib him quietly and hack his tank. You are now in possession of a enemy tank behind enemy lines. The won't even realize you are a enemy until you start firing into their rear...

    When they finally blow your tank up, you hop out, but a Assaulter sees you with his HR/NV scope. He flies over with his drifter jet and rockets you from above as your pistol bullets tickle his heavy shield. The assaulter moves on to the front, only to be destroyed by a random mortar strike from a logistician.

    As for my selection of what to merge, it was primarily thematic. Engineers and Infiltrators are both very gadget oriented, where Light and Heavy assault are all about the Dakka. Medic was the odd one out so I paired him with the more supportive qualities of the engi. So you have the sneaky bastard, the face F*****, and the cert w****.

    EDIT: OH I just realized I left maxes out entirely.

    WELP since merging the classes made them individually more powerful and created a lot of new threats for the Max, the max is now its own selectable class. No nanite costs!
  8. McMan

    Infiltrator + MAX
    Light assult + MAX
    :eek::eek::eek:
  9. qquqq

    I think maybe the medic and engi should be merged, but only because when im supporting I have to switch them too often,

    pick between heal/shield/turret, both tools in one, assault rifle, and all the nade choices,
    triage only works if aoe heal is equipped, it would also mean carbines can be balanced with out the engi in mind for the light assault.
  10. _itg


    In most ways, what you've suggested actually reduces your options, overall, though. For instance, right now, the choice between LA and HA is often an interesting one. You get mobility OR durability, but never both. With the "assaulter" class, you have both at all times, so there's never a choice to make.

    You've also suggested sweeping balance changes with no justification. For example, giving the "assaulter" 1500 base HP is massively stronger than the current HA shield, which a lot of people already want nerfed. And on top of that, you get to use jetpacks at the same time.
  11. TechMechMeds

    This would make more sense in a smaller 1v1 type of game.

    Sources - Heinz and it's 52 kinds of right.
  12. Casey B

    As for the Assaulter shields....I didn't do any hard math behind any of this. It's all just "Hey you know what would be cool?" thoughts. Of course that is part of the invention process. You start out with rough ideas and hone them down to near perfection.
  13. TechMechMeds

    Except you're not inventing anything.

    You're taking away and compressing variety into less options.
  14. Eternaloptimist

    Isn't that the Valk? heheh
  15. CNR4806

    Dumbing down classes is highly unlikely to be a good idea.

    Look at the difference between Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 3.

    BF2:
    Spec Ops
    Sniper
    Assault
    Support
    Engineer
    Medic
    Anti-Tank

    BF3:
    Assault (Assault + Medic)
    Support (Support + Spec Ops)
    Engineer (Engineer + Anti-tank)
    Recon (Sniper)

    End result:
    Everybody pulls Assault for everything not related to heavy vehicles. Everybody pulls Engineer for everything related to heavy vehicles.

    In BF2 everyone but the AT (minus sneaky Spec Ops) can counter tanks, but AT themselves are not particularly useful for anything else. In BF3 you pull engineer and casually shoot the tank while you're busy repairing yours. In BF2 Assaults spearhead an attack while Medics keep them kicking, in BF3 Assaults kept themselves alive with their own medpacks and defibrillators.

    And frankly, the BF3 class system is boring because of how over-simplified it is. The more classes and more specialized they are, the more important the class choice is.
    • Up x 2
  16. ZomboWTF

    thanks, you just made me spill my cofee xD

    WATCH YOUR BACK! ENEMY HEAVY DIC INBOUND!:eek:
    • Up x 1