[Suggestion] Decoy Flares rework

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by YellowJacketXV, Dec 23, 2019.

  1. YellowJacketXV

    Decoy Flares are by far the weakest option you can get for air upgrades. Their cd is much too long for an effect that is much too little. Instead I have a better idea. Flares are weaker than fire repair in almost every aspect. Considering A2A missiles are what they are they should receive a buff on larger aircraft.

    On libs and gals, the flares should be on a 15 second cooldown. However, they should only break current locking and any existing missiles. Once used it resets lockon, essentially an immediate delay.

    What this does is give gals and libs at least some form of defense against A2A missiles. They don't receive squat in fire suppression, at least not to the level of an ESF. So let flares be more of a larger aircraft go-to rather than a bit of repair.
  2. Demigan

    While it would help some it does feel a bit like a desperate solution rather than a full-fledged rebalance.

    I would make them more engaging for both the user and those fighting against itgas well as balance them based on who uses it.

    Example: if you deploy a flare it is a physical object that remains airborne for its duration. Any locks that pass through its AOE during flight will have permanently lower maneuverability allowing the aircraft in question to dodge while the lock-on user isnt prevented from using his weapon. The larger the aircraft the more effective this is to allow them a better chance to dodge a lock-on despite their size and slower movement.
    As a bonus it becomes more of a team support item in that it can protect other aircraft as well. You can even add other things, like any aircraft that flies through a flare will basically be flash-banged. This allows players to blind enemies that chase them.
    • Up x 1
  3. YellowJacketXV

    There uhh... Already is something team-based for anti-lockon capabilities. Its the Galaxy. Galaxies have "lockon jamming field" for an upgrade item yet does not include themselves. Its where nanites repair or ammo repair would go.

    Its pretty nice honestly. It prevents all lockon missiles from working for enemies, save for that Galaxy.
  4. OneShadowWarrior

    Actually the rework on flares did improve them. It’s time to move on to other content. Tired of balance.
  5. Demigan

    And that's exactly not what I'm proposing. The Galaxy version prevents lock-ons for everyone around him. My verion reduces the lock-on missile agility so the target has a better chance to escape.

    Also I hate the mind-numbingly dumb idea that just because

    That suddenly anything new should be avoided.

    "Hey guys, let's make an MBT!"

    "We already have a Light tank"

    "Wait, we already had a Flash as a vehicle, so why did we build something similar in the Light tank again?"

    It's dumb to stop building new stuff just because we have something else already. Should they never have introduced new stealth suit abilities? Never introduced the Valkyrie because we already have an aerial transport? Never have introduced new jetpacks, overshields, deployable shield regenerators because we already have something similar in the AOE health regen or just the basic shield regen if you wait a few seconds? Your argument quite literally is an atom bomb argument that does not discriminate between what idea you have and will blow it all to pieces.
  6. Scroffel5

    so basically what Demigan is saying is, just because we have the Hunter QCX doesn't mean we can't have a real longbow in the game.
  7. YellowJacketXV

    That's a mighty fine strawman you built for yourself. Shame it got toppled so easily.

    Firstly, where did I ever imply that I was against new features? The only features I would feel against are for things that exist already. It would feel like the playerbase is getting cheated out of something unique when the team would be making a sidegrade. Secondly, putting the galaxy's lock-on jamming system on everything would essentially break any sort of lock on countermeasures and air zergs would essentially rule the game. I mean, I like flying but I wouldn't force people to fly.
  8. Demigan

    Its not a strawman because as I've already pointed out this is NOT a Galaxy jamming system. Lets compare the two just for you:

    Galaxy jamming system:
    Goes into the defense slot.
    Is always on.
    Is always centered on the Galaxy
    Completely prevents hostiles from locking onto allied aircraft inside its radius.
    Does not protect itself.
    Only useable on the Galaxy.

    My flare idea:
    Its a utility item.
    It needs to be activated.
    Its centered around the position where you activate the flare.
    Reduces the agility of missiles that fly through.
    Protects the user.
    Useable on all aircraft types.
    The power of the flare scales with the size of the aircraft.

    They are quite literally different at every point. They might share a similar goal, but that makes them as compareable as a shotgun and a sniper rifle in that they are both designed to deal damage and kill infantry. Hell a sniper and a shotgun have more in common with each other than these two abilities.

    And thats why I'm telling you that your argument is based on "oh my god its something similar and we cant have that". Which is also why I quite literally quoted the most important part of your text when I build my "strawman" argument.