Here's a somewhat roughly written dump of my initial impressions of the Infiltrator rework with some suggestions for improvement. Please excuse the Markdown formatting. # Cloak changes ## Visual and audio changes I agree with the spirit of these changes. In my opinion, Infiltrators are too invisible on live, as they can easily disappear completely even at relatively short distances if the environment allows. That said, it seems that the visibility and audio volume increases on PTS are very minor. As far as I can tell, Infiltrators are still much less visible than NSO Infiltrators are on live (NSO Infiltrators are more visible due to their character model geometry). I think the sweet spot is right in the middle between live NSO Infiltrators and live regular Infiltrators, but I will take whatever visibility increase I can get. ## Stalker Cloaking The changes to Stalker Cloaking (at max rank) appear to be as follows: - While moving, cloak duration went from 16 to 14 seconds - While stationary and cloaked, cloak recharge duration went from 10 to 16 seconds - While uncloaked, recharge duration went from 10 to 9 seconds I don't have any particularly strong opinions regarding these changes. I don't think Stalker Cloak in itself is a problem on live, but I do think that it is a good idea to have a faster recharge while uncloaked. I would like to hear what the Stalker mains think of these changes. ## Increased delay between decloaking and firing This is undoubtedly the most controversial change. Firing out of cloak is now very, very slow which definitely does help when it comes to getting bolted straight out of cloak. Additionally, it seems that Deep Operative is now fixed and no longer lets you negate the firing delay. A fix for Deep Operative is long overdue, so it is great to finally see it addressed. All that said, I must say that Infiltrator now feels extremely clunky. PlanetSide 2 is a very fast-paced game which means that delays are extremely disadvantageous. This goes for both the handheld cloaking device idea and the increased firing delay idea. If you get caught out in cloak you are almost certainly done for. Another major issue is that you can neither enter nor exit ADS during the decloaking delay. This means that you can trap yourself in ADS for a while which prevents you from moving at full speed. It appears that this effect is also present on live, but it is much, much less noticeable due to the significantly shorter firing delay. If the ADS issue can be fixed, I could see myself accepting the increased firing delay, but as it stands it makes Infiltrator too clunky. Perhaps it would be better to keep the current firing delay and instead prevent ADS completely while cloaked. This would leave fast-paced SMG gameplay mostly unaffected while still slowing down semi-automatics and bolt-actions. # Recon Drone The Recon Drone replaces your other recon tools, which already means that it has big shoes to fill. I don't think the drone in itself is all that strong, considering that it has very little health and must be resupplied between uses. I wouldn't be against the drone having a lengthy cooldown instead (we saw this same evolution with Spitfire turrets). The max rank benefit mentions a darklight effect and being able to spot cloaked Infiltrators, but this doesn't seem to be working yet. Additionally, the drone seems to replace your currently owned vehicle which is a major issue if for example you have a Sunderer deployed. Your other vehicle will become unclaimed and despawn after one minute. As for the EMP grenades, I would prefer to see these replaced with a disruptor grenade that destroys deployables and scrambles the HUD, similar to the disruptor ammunition on the Thumper. Additionally, each drone should spawn with exactly one grenade even if Grenade Bandolier is equipped. Finally, I am worried about these drones becoming yet another obnoxious C4 delivery method. It remains to be seen exactly how effective it will be for this purpose, but the developers should seriously consider the possibility that the ability for the drone to carry C4 may need to be removed in the future. # Observer Implant I don't have any problems with this implant. The benefit it offers is nice to have but probably not worth sacrificing an implant slot for, especially when recon has not been adjusted at all and Sensor Shield remains mandatory. # Wraith Flash changes Although the Wraith Flash changes will not be sufficient, it makes total sense to me to carry over the cloak changes from Infiltrator to the Wraith Flash. The real problem with Wraith Flashes is that the S12 Renegade is completely overpowered and needs a massive nerf. Here's an example of how this could be done: - Refire Time from 320 ms (187 RPM) to 400 ms (150 RPM) - Pellet Count from 10 to 8 - Pellets Spread from 1.33 to 3 These changes greatly reduce the damage output and effective range of the S12 Renegade. # Unaddressed issues The Infiltrator rework currently leaves a lot of major problems unaddressed. It cannot be considered complete without addressing the following topics. ## Semi-automatics It is not much of a 'hot take' to say that semi-automatic weapons, whether Scout Rifle or Sniper Rifle, are currently extremely powerful and in dire need of nerfs. The Infiltrator rework cannot possibly be complete without addressing these weapons. There is little reason for me to dive deeper into this topic here, because others have already done so. Specifically, I would like to refer to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/15ofvjl/slowing_the_bleeding_a_look_at_long_rifles_and/) by Reddit user ItsJustDelta which explains the issue very well and also contains suggestions for improvement. ## Recon Another essential topic for the Infiltrator rework. Recon is currently extremely oppressive and requires significant adjustments in my opinion. The biggest issue caused by ever-present recon is that you are always down one implant slot because Sensor Shield is completely mandatory. It also puts newer players at a massive disadvantage because they do not understand recon, do not know how to counter it, and do not have max rank Sensor Shield unlocked. My suggestions for recon are as follows: ### Passive properties The rank 5 benefit of Sensor Shield should be passively enabled at all times. Recon should never detect players that are not sprinting. Currently, the only way to avoid detection is to stand compoletely still or crouch-walk, both of which are completely impractical for anything but Catlike Stalker Infiltrators. Walking is much more practical but still significantly slower than sprinting, allowing players to make a much more reasonable compromise between mobility and detectability. Applying this change would go a long way to making Sensor Shield less mandatory. ### Motion Spotters Motion Spotters currently cover too large of an area and basically make Recon Darts completely redundant. I suggest the following changes: - Detection range from 30/35/40/45/50 m to 30 m at all ranks - Real-time detection range from 20 m to 15 m - Lifespan from 120/120/180/180/240 s to 120 s at all ranks ### Recon Detection Device (Recon Darts) The Recon Detection Device currently allows far too large of an area to be blanketed by a single Infiltrator in the spawn room, while being almost completely obsolete without an ammo pack to stand on when compared to the Motion Spotter. I suggest the following changes: - Detection range from 25/30/35/40/45/50 m to 25 m at all ranks - Maximum number of active darts per Infiltrator from 6 to 2 - Dart lifespan from 20/25/30/35/40/45 s to 45 s at all ranks - Ammunition Pool from 2 to 7, plus one dart per rank (12 darts at max rank) ### Sensor Shield Sensor Shield needs its values adjusted to match the updated recon devices and also requires a new rank 5 benefit: - Detection distance from 30/26/20/10/10 m to 20/15/12/10/10 m - Rank 5 benefit now prevents real-time detection by Motion Spotters
After doing some more testing, I realize that I failed to understand some of the changes. It doesn't look like I can edit or delete the original post, so I will post the updated version here. # Cloak changes ## Visual and audio changes I agree with the spirit of these changes, but I disagree with the current implementation. In my opinion, Infiltrators are too invisible on live, as they can easily disappear completely even while sprinting at relatively short distances if the environment allows. That said, considering that crouched movement states are extremely compromising, it makes sense to keep visibility very low in these movement states. The visibility increase on PTS is noticeable and a step in the right direction, but I would like to bring up the following concerns: - Deep cloak (stationary while crouching) is now quite visible even with Deep Operative equipped. Although deep cloak in conjunction with Deep Operative is currently too invisible on live, I think that the visibility increase has gone a bit too far. - NSO Infiltrators are already more visible than those of the other factions due to their character model geometry, and any visibility increase will serve to exacerbate this issue. In conclusion, I would like to see crouched movement states remain barely visible while standing movement states receive a significant visibility increase. In my opinion, standing movement states should receive roughly the same visibility as NSO Infiltrators currently have on live, or perhaps a little less. Moving on to the audio changes, Infiltrators now produce a fairly loud hum while cloaked. Although I doubt that this hum will be very noticeable in large fights, it certainly will be very noticeable in smaller fights. In my opinion, the hum is currently too loud and makes Stalkers far too easy to locate. Consider adjusting the loudness of the sound depending on the current movement state, with crouched movement states reducing the loudness significantly. ## Stalker Cloaking The changes to Stalker Cloaking (at max rank) appear to be as follows: - While moving, cloak duration went from 16 to 14 seconds - While stationary and cloaked, cloak recharge duration went from 10 to 16 seconds - While uncloaked, recharge duration went from 10 to 9 seconds I don't have any particularly strong opinions regarding these changes, although I do think it is a good idea to have separate recharge rates for in and out of cloak. I don't think Stalker Cloak in itself is a problem on live. Instead, I believe that the problem lies with over-tuned sidearms such as the Pilot, the NS revolvers, and TR's KCAP ammo sidearams. I would also like to note that the communication regarding the potential removal of permanent cloak is quite vague. Nevertheless, I think that doing so is not necessary considering that Stalker is already a fairly compromised playstyle. ## Increased delay between decloaking and firing This is undoubtedly the most controversial change. Firing out of cloak is now very, very slow which definitely does help when it comes to getting bolted straight out of cloak. Additionally, it seems that Deep Operative is now fixed and no longer lets you negate the firing delay. A fix for Deep Operative is long overdue, so it is great to finally see it addressed. All that said, I must say that Infiltrator now feels extremely clunky. PlanetSide 2 is a very fast-paced game which means that delays are extremely disadvantageous. This goes for both the handheld cloaking device idea and the increased firing delay idea. If you get caught out in cloak you are almost certainly done for. Another major issue is that you can neither enter nor exit ADS during the decloaking delay. This means that you can trap yourself in ADS for a while which prevents you from moving at full speed. It appears that this effect is also present on live, but it is much, much less noticeable due to the significantly shorter firing delay. If the ADS issue can be fixed, I could see myself accepting the increased firing delay, but as it stands it makes Infiltrator too clunky. Perhaps it would be better to keep the current firing delay and instead prevent ADS completely while cloaked. This would leave fast-paced SMG gameplay mostly unaffected while still slowing down semi-automatics and bolt-actions. # Recon Drone The Recon Drone replaces your other recon tools, which already means that it has big shoes to fill. I don't think the drone in itself is all that strong, considering that it has very little health and must be resupplied between uses. I wouldn't be against the drone having a lengthy cooldown instead (we saw this same evolution with Spitfire turrets). The max rank benefit mentions a darklight effect and being able to spot cloaked Infiltrators, but this doesn't seem to be working yet. Additionally, the drone seems to replace your currently owned vehicle which is a major issue if for example you have a Sunderer deployed. Your other vehicle will become unclaimed and despawn after one minute. As for the EMP grenades, I would prefer to see these replaced with a disruptor grenade that destroys deployables and scrambles the HUD, similar to the disruptor ammunition on the Thumper. Additionally, it is critical to ensure that each drone spawns with exactly one grenade even if Grenade Bandolier is equipped. Finally, I am worried about these drones becoming yet another obnoxious C4 delivery method. It remains to be seen exactly how effective the drones will be for this purpose, but the developers should seriously consider the possibility that the ability for the drone to carry C4 may need to be removed in the future. # Observer Implant I don't have any problems with this implant. The benefit it offers is nice to have but probably not worth sacrificing an implant slot for, especially when recon has not been adjusted at all and Sensor Shield remains mandatory. One important note is that the 3-second detection delay mentioned in the implant's description does not seem to be working. The Spitfire detects cloaked Infiltrators as soon as they enter its range or line of sight. Additionally, I think that a 3-second detection delay would be far too long to make the implant viable. Consider reducing this down to 1 second. # Wraith Flash changes Although the Wraith Flash is certainly in need of changes, I don't think that the current changes are the right approach. While I think it makes total sense to carry over the cloak changes from Infiltrator to the Wraith Flash, the darklight outline that now appears within about 25 m is too much. Making Wraith Flashes this visible is not necessary and will likely make anti-vehicle gameplay using the Wraith Flash nigh-impossible. A significant increase in the cloak's visibility alone should suffice, assuming that the Wraith Flash's core issue, specifically its extreme damage output, is also addressed. The S12 Renegade in particular is completely overpowered and needs a significant nerf. Here's an example of how this could be done: - Refire Time from 320 ms (187 RPM) to 400 ms (150 RPM) - Pellet Count from 10 to 8 - Pellets Spread from 1.33 to 3 These changes greatly reduce the damage output and effective range of the S12 Renegade. # Unaddressed issues The Infiltrator rework currently leaves a lot of major problems unaddressed. It cannot be considered complete without addressing the following topics. ## Semi-automatics It is not much of a 'hot take' to say that semi-automatic weapons, whether Scout Rifle or Sniper Rifle, are currently extremely powerful and in dire need of nerfs. The Infiltrator rework cannot possibly be complete without addressing these weapons. There is little reason for me to dive deeper into this topic here, because others have already done so. Specifically, I would like to refer to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/15ofvjl/slowing_the_bleeding_a_look_at_long_rifles_and/) by Reddit user ItsJustDelta which explains the issue very well and also contains suggestions for improvement. ## Recon Another essential topic for the Infiltrator rework. Recon is currently extremely oppressive and requires significant adjustments in my opinion. The biggest issue caused by ever-present recon is that you are always down one implant slot because Sensor Shield is completely mandatory. It also puts newer players at a massive disadvantage because they do not understand recon, do not know how to counter it, and do not have max rank Sensor Shield unlocked. My suggestions for recon are as follows: ### Passive properties The rank 5 benefit of Sensor Shield should be passively enabled at all times. Recon should never detect players that are not sprinting. Currently, the only way to avoid detection is to stand compoletely still or crouch-walk, both of which are completely impractical for anything but Catlike Stalker Infiltrators. Walking is much more practical but still significantly slower than sprinting, allowing players to make a much more reasonable compromise between mobility and detectability. Applying this change would go a long way to making Sensor Shield less mandatory. ### Motion Spotters Motion Spotters currently cover too large of an area and basically make Recon Darts completely redundant. I suggest the following changes: - Detection range from 30/35/40/45/50 m to 30 m at all ranks - Real-time detection range from 20 m to 15 m - Lifespan from 120/120/180/180/240 s to 120 s at all ranks ### Recon Detection Device (Recon Darts) The Recon Detection Device currently allows far too large of an area to be blanketed by a single Infiltrator in the spawn room, while being almost completely obsolete without an ammo pack to stand on when compared to the Motion Spotter. I suggest the following changes: - Detection range from 25/30/35/40/45/50 m to 25 m at all ranks - Maximum number of active darts per Infiltrator from 6 to 2 - Dart lifespan from 20/25/30/35/40/45 s to 45 s at all ranks - Ammunition Pool from 2 to 7, plus one dart per rank (12 darts at max rank) ### Sensor Shield Sensor Shield needs its values adjusted to match the updated recon devices and also requires a new rank 5 benefit: - Detection distance from 30/26/20/10/10 m to 20/15/12/10/10 m - Rank 5 benefit now prevents real-time detection by Motion Spotters
the proposed recon dart changes would result in them being almost completely unusable. 25m at all ranks is far too restrictive when combined with a limit of 2 active darts.
You are probably right. The range reduction I suggested is based on the idea that any one recon source should not cover much more than one large building, but I hadn't really considered the verticality that may be involved. That said, I still think 50 m is too much range, even when limited to only two darts. Another interesting suggestion I read recently is to put Motion Spotters on a cooldown and Recon Darts on a slow heat mechanic that allows for two active darts on average. This would make destroying recon devices more impactful and forces Infiltrators to more carefully consider when and where they deploy them.
So we have darklight flashlights, kill cams, that one fire weapon, and no we also need to nerf cloak even further? Cloak already is bugged flashing at seemingly random times, full invisibility isn't a thing which is fine it works in the game. But let's also make autoturrets spot cloaked infils?? Sure it's an implant but what does Daybreak have against this class??? The wraith cloaking device however is a completely fair change, it being a fast moving vehicle amplifies the cloak's effectiveness. In general I feel these are some bad decisions, there are already many ways to counter cloaking both skill based and less so. A cloaked infiltrator can't do any harm when cloaked, uncloaking has a clear audio and visual cue for players to react to, and they often do. There's no need to make a cloaked infiltrator less cloaked, it defeats the point of the class. The longer delay to fire after decloaking I'd have to give more time to form an informed opinion on, I'm inclined to position myself against this as well due to aforementioned audio/visual cues, any other class will already very much win this encounter if the infiltrator doesn't time the decloak right. Scope glare I think is a good idea, IF applied only to 6x+ and NOT while cloaked. Minus the cloaking - because there is none - Battlebit remastered does this and it works really well to make long range sniping not OP. Although long range sniping already isn't very good in Planetside 2 arguably. In short, infil is squishy and relies on cloak and player skill to do well, a fun and in my experience balanced playstyle. Many of these changes make the cloak completely useless, being visible while cloaked, this WILL ruin the class. I do not recall the last time I was genuinely upset or felt they had an unfair advantage, they do not. It feels like Daybreak doesn't play a lot of infiltrator, try some and see if you still want these changes. PS: if you're going to disregard all of these facts (for those that are facts and not opinion) at LEAST give infil back that missing 100 shield, they're going to bloody well need it with these changes.
Darklights are actively bad against competent players, if you die because of a kill cam that's a skill issue, what is a "one fire weapon". Yes, infil needs to be nerfed as nothing you listed there is particularly relevant to infil balance. Bugs aren't a relevant factor in balance, they should be fixed and that is all. The spitfire spotting implant is weird and unnecessary, but it's very unlikely anyone will actually run it. There's ways to counter unskilled infils yes, but someone who knows what they're doing should effectively always get to shoot first. A cloaked player can decloak quickly enough to kill people before they can reasonably react as long as the infil has average accuracy. In short, 900 EHP is not a relevant downside in 99% of engagements, as ttk within max range is entirely unaffected for all but a few weapons like the commissioner. Claims that this will ruin the class are heavily exaggerated. And infil has been the most hated class to play against for years now, and it's not even close. I play plenty of infil and think most of the changes are fine, if imperfect. About the only thing I'd change is increasing cloak visibility, which is unnecessary with a delayed added to decloaking.
25m at 2 darts isn't restrictive, you're just too used to the idea of being able to permanently cover entire bases in recon with a single infil. 25m with two darts means you would now need at least two infils to cover most bases in recon.
Here's the phase 2 follow-up on my previous feedback and suggestions for the Infiltrator rework, which can be found here: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps...ork-feedback-suggestions.264382/#post-3608431 # Cloak changes ## Visual and audio changes In phase 2, cloak sees a reduction in both visibility and the loudness of its new humming sound. The humming sound now has a range of about 15 m and has become much less noticeable unless in very close proximity to the Infiltrator. Although I think that the volume is now dialed in quite well, I still have my doubts regarding whether this mechanic is necessary, particularly when combined with the visibility increase. Speaking of cloak visibility, I am still not fully satisfied with the current setup. Reiterating from my previous post, I would like to see standing movement states become significantly more visible than on live to alleviate the relative ease with which sprinting Infiltrators can disappear at close range. Crouched movement states are very limiting and therefore do not require a significant visibility increase in my opinion. In phase 2, I found that crouched and stationary Infiltrators are still too easy to spot, even with sound turned off to remove the hum. In conclusion, I see two viable paths forward: - Keep the humming sound, but leave cloak visibility in crouched movement states close to as it is on live. - Remove the humming sound, but keep cloak visibility in crouched movement states as it is in phase 2 of the rework. My personal preference currently goes to the former. ## Delay between decloaking and firing Although the patch notes for phase 2 mention that the firing delay has been reduced for Stalker Cloak, I struggle to notice any difference from phase 1. The delay is still about two thirds of a second for Stalker Cloak and about one second for all other cloaks. In phase 2, the decloaking animation has been properly synced up with the increased firing delay, which definitely helps alleviate the mechanic's clunkiness. However, as mentioned in my previous post, it is still not possible to enter or exit ADS during the firing delay. Hence, players can still trap themselves in ADS if they time their decloak poorly, which feels frustrating and cumbersome. I am ultimately still against the implementation of the increased firing delay. While effective in reducing frustrating client-side interactions with OHK weapons, the increased firing delay comes with the inherent effect of making Infiltrator itself much more frustrating to play. SMG playstyles in particular will be heavily impacted. The real power of the Infiltrator lies with their extremely powerful recon tools and various over-tuned weapon options. Over-tuned weapons include most semi-automatics, a few select SMGs, and certain sidearms such as the Pilot, the NS revolvers, and TR's KCAP ammo sidearms. Although getting bolted straight out of cloak can be frustrating, these interactions are rare. The increased firing delay is attempting to solve this relatively minor frustration by taking a sledgehammer to every Infiltrator playstyle at once. Consider instead allowing the CQC bolt-action playstyle to be more easily countered, for example by reducing the maximum damage of the CQC bolt-action weapons such that they can no longer kill shielded Heavy Assaults in one shot. # Recon Drone The Recon Drone's special abilities, specifically the Advanced Sensors System and Hanging Munition Ability, now share a slot with cloak. My main concern with this design is that usage of the Recon Drone will be limited to the spawn room, especially when considering that it must be resupplied after every use, but it remains to be seen exactly how this will play out on live. I would not be against the drone having a lengthy cooldown instead (we saw this same evolution with Spitfire turrets). Before I discuss the new abilities, I would like to reiterate that the Recon Drone still replaces your currently owned vehicle, causing your other vehicle to despawn after one minute. This makes the Recon Drone completely unusable alongside another vehicle, including a deployed Sunderer. ## Advanced Sensors System The Advanced Sensors System (lol, A.S.S.) extends the duration of spot checks from 10 to 32 seconds and its maximum rank allows spot checks to persist even if the target is cloaked. Infiltrators can still only be spotted while out of cloak, however. Considering that this ability replaces cloak, I think that the max rank benefit is justifiable. That said, I have major concerns regarding the extended spot duration. Spotting is an extremely powerful mechanic in PS2 because it gives away your position and the direction you are facing in real-time to all enemies within 150 m of the enemy that spotted you. Additionally, spot checks are not only impossible to prevent but also nearly impossible to remove once applied for any class other than Infiltrator. The default spot duration of 10 seconds is already an eternity in terms of the game's fast pace. By more than tripling this duration, you essentially mark anyone you spot for certain death because their every move is now broadcasted in real-time to every enemy in the base. In conclusion, I am of the opinion that 32 seconds is far, far too long for spot checks. This duration is only acceptable if the spot checks could be countered in some way, for example by destroying the Recon Drone. Otherwise, I recommend lowering the duration to at most 15 seconds. ## Hanging Munition Ability The Hanging Munition Ability allows the Recon Drone to drop whichever grenades you currently have equipped. The drone's grenade inventory is synchronized with your own, which means that grenades will cost Nanites and also that the ability works with Grenade Bandolier. Considering that the Recon Drone can be very easily destroyed up close and also that it cannot throw the grenades very far, I think that the Hanging Munition Ability is now well balanced for non-lethal grenades. That said, I am concerned that altitude can be abused to essentially 'cook' lethal grenades, resulting in extreme destructive power on for example control points without a roof above them. Hence, I think that the Hanging Munition Ability should be limited to non-lethal grenades only. Sidenote: How does the current design cope with unusual throwables such as the NSX Fujin? # Scope glint Phase 2 adds an entirely new scope glint mechanic to the game, which creates bright reflections that reveal the location of enemies aiming down a scope with at least 6x magnification. The reflection is visible even if the enemy is a cloaked Infiltrator. In its current state, the reflection effect: - Is visible when you are positioned within 45 degrees of the direction that the enemy sniper is looking in - Is only limited in distance by infantry render distance - Appears to be the same size no matter how far away the enemy sniper is Although I think that this mechanic has the potential to be a net positive for the game, I also think that it is very poorly tuned in its current form. The 45-degree cone radius in particular feels far too wide, causing the sniper to glint at everyone in the base given enough distance. This also means that it is impossible to determine whether a sniper is actually aiming at you from the glint alone. I would like to see the cone narrowed significantly such that the glint may provide actually useful intel without immediately revealing the location of the sniper to everyone in the base. Nevertheless, I am cautiously optimistic regarding this mechanic and I am interested to see how it will play out on live. # Observer implant Although my opinion regarding the Observer implant has not changed since my previous post, I would like to reiterate that the 3-second detection delay mentioned in the implant's description is still not working. # Wraith Flash changes Please refer back to my previous post, as my opinion remains unchanged: I disagree with the current set of changes. # Unaddressed issues The Infiltrator rework currently leaves a lot of major problems unaddressed. It cannot be considered complete without addressing the following topics. ## Semi-automatics Please refer back to my previous post for this topic. ## Recon Another essential topic for the Infiltrator rework. Recon is currently extremely oppressive and requires significant adjustments in my opinion. The biggest issue caused by ever-present recon is that you are always down one implant slot because Sensor Shield is completely mandatory. It also puts newer players at a massive disadvantage because they do not understand recon, do not know how to counter it, and do not have max rank Sensor Shield unlocked. My (updated) suggestions for recon are as follows: ### Passive properties The rank 5 benefit of Sensor Shield should be passively enabled at all times. Recon should never detect players that are not sprinting or flying. Currently, the only way to avoid detection is to stand compoletely still or crouch-walk, both of which are completely impractical for anything but Stalker Infiltrators using the Catlike implant. Walking, on the other hand, is much more practical but still significantly slower than sprinting, allowing players to make a much more reasonable compromise between mobility and detectability. Applying this change would go a long way towards making Sensor Shield less mandatory. If my suggestion were to be implemented, the max rank benefit of Sensor Shield would need to be replaced. Perhaps it could prevent all forms of detection from revealing your look direction to enemies. ### Motion Spotters Motion Spotters currently offer an extremely strong combination of detection power and spam-ability. Hence, the Motion Spotter should be updated in some way that alleviates at least one of these two factors. My current favorite idea for the Motion Spotter is to turn it into a cooldown-based ability, allowing one Motion Spotter to be placed every 45 seconds or so. This change would force Infiltrators to more carefully consider when and where to deploy their Motion Spotter by making its destruction more meaningful. ### Recon Detection Device (Recon Darts) The Recon Detection Device currently allows far too large of an area to be blanketed by a single Infiltrator in the spawn room, while being almost completely useless compared to the Motion Spotter when there is no ammo pack to stand on. Hence, changes to the Recon Detection Device should address its ability to blanket huge areas but also make it more useful away from the spawn room. The best solution I have seen would be to move the Recon Detection Device to a heat mechanic. This heat mechanic would allow for a maximum of 2 darts to be fired consecutively before overheating, while cooling down at a rate that supports a little more than 1 active dart on average. For example, the current dart lifespan of 45 seconds could correspond to a full cooldown time of about 70 seconds with a small extra penalty for overheating.
Hello! I heard about the possibility of Spitfires detecting cloaked infiltrators recently, and I have an idea I'd like to share. Instead of lettings turrets plainly spot cloaked infiltrators, I propose an implant that makes it rotate 360 degrees with a longer-range darklight attached. This way, the infiltrator can dodge and maneuver around the turret to avoid being spotted by it. This would make for much more interactive and interesting gameplay. Instead of just saying "No." to infiltrators, we give them a skill-check, something with the potential to create interesting moments for both sides. Even if you are able to avoid the traversing light, the turret is still forcing you to keep moving in its vicinity, which in itself makes you more vulnerable to detection, of course. Hope something like this is considered! Have a nice day, I love Planetside!!!
Here's the phase 3 follow-up on my previous feedback and suggestions for the Infiltrator rework, which can be found here: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps...ork-feedback-suggestions.264382/#post-3609072 # Scope glint Phase 3 contains a welcome set of adjustments to the scope glint mechanic. The glint now fades to become less visible depending on the distance to the enemy sniper and their look direction. Minimum visibility appears to be reached at around 50 meters, although it can go even lower if the enemy sniper is looking close to 45 degrees away from you. Notably, it seems that the distance-based fade and facing-based fade do not stack. As a result, the facing-based fade barely does anything when the enemy sniper is more than 50 meters away from you. In this case, the glint only starts fading beyond about a 35 degree angle and, as was previously the case, completely disappears beyond 45 degrees. Because of this, it is still impossible to determine whether an enemy sniper is actually aiming at you from the glint alone unless they are very close. To fix this, the fading effects should be made to stack such that there is noticeable fading beyond an angle of only 10 to 15 degrees at any distance. All that said, I think the glint is in a much better state now and I am still interested to see how it will play out on live. # Observer implant In phase 3, Spitfire turrets that are placed by an Engineer with the Observer implant receive an updated 3D model to indicate to players that they have improved target acquisition. Although this is a great addition, the new 3D model currently disappears beyond 10 to 15 meters, returning the Spitfire to its normal appearance. The render distance of the new 3D model should be adjusted to better match the Spitfire's 50-meter engagement range. Finally, the Observer implant still does not seem to implement the detection delay for cloaked Infiltrators that is mentioned in its description. # Unaddressed issues The Infiltrator rework continues to leave many major problems unaddressed. Please refer back to my previous feedback posts for more details (linked above).
Did you guys know the recon drone can carry a person? Like another infil can hop on your drone and you can use it to elevate them somewhere. I tested this with an enemy infil the other day. Crazy application of this. Personally I can't wait to use the drone in real combat. Positioning allies, breaking enemy positions, scouting... and it's fun to fly. All around I feel like a lot of time was put into the drone and it, at least, is very well done. The Observer implants work as intended as far as I could tell. This is actually how I met said enemy infil the other day lol. Decloak fire time I think is grand, but I haven't used it in combat yet so I can't REALLY say. Glint looks good to me. Hoping this all goes live with no issues!
Whait, what? They're rising cloak visibility for NSO too? Isnt NSO cloak #1 issue with infil since NSO release? Its so unfair it had to be Hotfix'd the same week NSO released. I understand NSO has clankier geometry, but cant they adjust NSO visibility factor to compensate for geometry disadvantage? They are currently tweaking visibility already, isnt it the perfect time to finally make NSO cloak match others? 4th phase already - who knows how many are left. If its not included in current rewrok - it for sure will be delayed until forever.
Some notes on the drone. Not sure if this is to be fixed later, or intentional, but it does come off as odd to me. -The drone connection distance is measured as distance to location it was spawned, not distance to player -You cannot retrieve the drone -Approaching a landed drone to relaunch results in it still using the original launch point for distance references Thou I doubt that the drone is likely to survive long enough in practical gameplay to make all of this extremely practical, the fact that it's doing this while costing resources comes across as odd to me. While I can appreciate the utility and some of the reasons why this might be the case, it feels weirdly arbitrary.
A quick note before I start; I realize that I wrote a far too generic title for this post which has led some to mistake it for an official feedback thread. Unfortunately, it seems that I cannot edit the title. If possible, I would welcome it if an administrator could edit the title to "Quadryo's Infiltrator Rework Feedback & Suggestions" or something similar. With that out of the way, here's the phase 4 follow-up on my previous feedback and suggestions for the Infiltrator rework, which can be found here: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps...ork-feedback-suggestions.264382/#post-3609400 # Sharing is Caring implant The Sharint is Caring implant is currently broken in several ways that make it extremely powerful. I have severe balancing concerns regarding this implant. Before I list my concerns, here's an overview of how the implant appears to function in the current PTS build: - Sharing is Caring applies its shield buff to all squad mates with seemingly unlimited range - Sharing is Caring works while the Engineer is in a vehicle - Sharing is Caring does not work while the Engineer is dead There are also several issues: - The extra shield health is not displayed on the shield bar, but otherwise appears to be fully functional - Sharing is Caring can be combined with Carapace to completely eliminate its downside, giving the Engineer 1000 health - Taking damage with Sharing is Caring equipped breaks the single point of shielding it leaves you with forever, causing the broken shield warning audio to play continuously Due to a lack of players, I was unable to test the maximum additional shielding that can be gained through this implant (by stacking multiple Engineers). For the purposes of this post I will assume that the maximum is 200. Sharing is Caring currently functions differently than I expected from the description in the PTS patch notes, which mentions limited range and implies that the implant can be activated on demand. I think that extreme care should be taken to ensure that this implant does not result in squads delegating one member to just existing in the base somewhere for the buff without actually participating in combat. As of now, the implant provides a permanent buff to squad members which I think is not only far too powerful but also encourages the Engineer to simply hide in a corner to keep the buff up at all times. The effect should be both range- and time-limited in my opinion. Ideally, the Engineer would do a certain action to activate the implant, which then applies the buff to nearby squad members for a few seconds, preferably ending early if the Engineer is killed. The Engineer's shield would be allowed to recharge as normal, ensuring that they are not useless in combat. The implant would require a cooldown period in this case, and the shield buff would scale linearly with the Engineer's shield health at the time of activation (e.g. `min(0.4 * shield_health, 200)` at max rank). # Hospitaller implant First, a quick overview of my test results for the Hospitaller implant: - Hospitaller applies a +200 maximum shield buff for 3 seconds after finishing a revive - Unlike Combat Surgeon, Hospitaller will trigger immediately and therefore does not require the revive to be accepted - Hospitaller only buffs maximum shield health and therefore still requires the Medic's shields to recharge up to the new maximum - Hospitaller breaks when combined with the buff from Sharing is Caring, causing the Medic's shields to drop to 300 upon reviving another player without increasing maximum shield health I do not have any major concerns regarding this implant. When compared to max-rank Combat Surgeon, Hospitaller lacks the ability energy recharge and also provides a smaller effective health buff. The only advantage Hospitaller offers over Combat Surgeon is that its buff triggers consistently and immediately because it does not wait for the revive to be accepted. Additionally, Hospitaller's buff may not work at all while under fire because the Medic's shield will not be able to recharge up to the new maximum. The 200 shield health should probably be granted immediately so that Hospitaller is not completely overshadowed by Combat Surgeon. # Remote Hacking implant I have no issues with the concept of this implant, although as others have already pointed out it is currently quite buggy and lets Infiltrators not just hack but also access terminals remotely. # Observer implant The new sounds are a great addition. I would also like to reiterate from my previous post that the new 3D model currently disappears beyond 10 to 15 meters, returning the Spitfire to its normal appearance. The render distance of the new 3D model should be adjusted to better match the Spitfire's 50-meter engagement range. # Koltyr Reactivation I share the concerns being raised by some other community members regarding the return of Koltyr. Good continent design (seen mostly on Hossin) means ensuring that every base has good attacker Sunderer locations. Bad Sunderer locations (Indar being the worst offender) encourage pop-dumping and zerging because when Sunderers are vulnerable it becomes impossible to sustain fights without overwhelming force. Good Sunderer locations do not allow the Sunderer to be sniped from long range and are placed near the edges of no-deploy zones to minimize walking distance. If memory serves, Koltyr is designed much like Indar with nigh-indefensible Sunderer locations. This is a recipe for extremely poor fight quality, especially during off-hours when a single Lightning can easily snipe Sunderers uncontested. In my opinion, any time spent getting Koltyr back online would be better spent improving Sunderer locations on the existing continents, starting with their center-most bases which are active during Unstable Warpgates. # Other changes and fixes I do not feel the need to cover the other changes and fixes mentioned in the PTS patch notes for phase 4, since I either generally agree with them or do not feel strongly about them. The changes to recon tools will be covered in the 'Unaddressed issues' section. # Unaddressed issues The Infiltrator rework continues to leave many major problems unaddressed. I have gone into more depth regarding these issues in my previous feedback posts (linked above), but since nothing is being done I feel the need to reiterate my most pressing concerns. ## Most pressing concern --- semi-automatic weapons It is not much of a 'hot take' to say that semi-automatic weapons, whether Scout Rifle or Sniper Rifle, are currently extremely powerful and in dire need of nerfs. The Infiltrator rework cannot possibly be complete without addressing these weapons. There is little reason for me to dive deeper into this topic here, because others have already done so. Specifically, I would like to refer to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/15ofvjl/slowing_the_bleeding_a_look_at_long_rifles_and/) by Reddit user ItsJustDelta which explains the issue very well and also contains suggestions for improvement. ## Second most pressing concern --- recon tools and over-reliance on Sensor Shield Recon is currently extremely oppressive and requires significant adjustments in my opinion. The biggest issue caused by ever-present recon is that you are always down one implant slot because Sensor Shield is completely mandatory. It also puts newer players at a massive disadvantage because they do not understand recon, do not know how to counter it, and do not have max rank Sensor Shield unlocked. The recon changes applied in phase 4 do absolutely nothing to reduce the over-reliance on Sensor Shield, and make the Recon Detection Device (recon darts) even more obsolete when compared to the Motion Spotter. Please consider this list of suggestions regarding recon and Sensor Shield (copied from my phase 2 feedback post): ### Passive properties The rank 5 benefit of Sensor Shield should be passively enabled at all times. Recon should never detect players that are not sprinting or flying. Currently, the only way to avoid detection is to stand compoletely still or crouch-walk, both of which are completely impractical for anything but Stalker Infiltrators using the Catlike implant. Walking, on the other hand, is much more practical but still significantly slower than sprinting, allowing players to make a much more reasonable compromise between mobility and detectability. Applying this change would go a long way towards making Sensor Shield less mandatory. If my suggestion were to be implemented, the max rank benefit of Sensor Shield would need to be replaced. Perhaps it could prevent all forms of detection from revealing your look direction to enemies. ### Motion Spotters Motion Spotters currently offer an extremely strong combination of detection power and spam-ability. Hence, the Motion Spotter should be updated in some way that alleviates at least one of these two factors. My current favorite idea for the Motion Spotter is to turn it into a cooldown-based ability, allowing one Motion Spotter to be placed every 45 seconds or so. This change would force Infiltrators to more carefully consider when and where to deploy their Motion Spotter by making its destruction more meaningful. ### Recon Detection Device (Recon Darts) The Recon Detection Device currently allows far too large of an area to be blanketed by a single Infiltrator in the spawn room, while being almost completely useless compared to the Motion Spotter when there is no ammo pack to stand on. Hence, changes to the Recon Detection Device should address its ability to blanket huge areas but also make it more useful away from the spawn room. The best solution I have seen would be to move the Recon Detection Device to a heat mechanic. This heat mechanic would allow for a maximum of 2 darts to be fired consecutively before overheating, while cooling down at a rate that supports a little more than 1 active dart on average. For example, the current dart lifespan of 45 seconds could correspond to a full cooldown time of about 70 seconds with a small extra penalty for overheating. ## Third most pressing concern --- Advanced Sensors System spot duration I have major concerns regarding the extended spot duration offered by the Advanced Sensors System. Spotting is an extremely powerful mechanic in PS2 because it gives away your position and the direction you are facing in real-time to all enemies within 150 m of the enemy that spotted you. Additionally, spot checks are not only impossible to prevent but also nearly impossible to remove once applied for any class other than Infiltrator. The default spot duration of 10 seconds is already an eternity in terms of the game's fast pace. By more than tripling this duration, you essentially mark anyone you spot for certain death because their every move is now broadcasted in real-time to every enemy in the base. In conclusion, I am of the opinion that 32 seconds is far, far too long for spot checks. This duration is only acceptable if the spot checks could be countered in some way, for example by destroying the Recon Drone. Otherwise, I recommend lowering the duration to at most 15 seconds. ## Fourth most pressing concern --- Wraith Flash changes Although the Wraith Flash is certainly in need of adjustments, the current set of changes misses the mark and implies a misunderstanding of what makes the Wraith Flash so powerful. While I think it makes total sense to carry over the cloak changes from Infiltrator to the Wraith Flash, the darklight outline that now appears within about 25 m is too much. Making Wraith Flashes this visible is not necessary and will almost certainly make anti-vehicle gameplay using the Wraith Flash nigh-impossible, as well as further reduce the already poor viability of off-meta weapons such as the Kobalt-F and Basilisk-F. Mirroring the changes to the Infiltrator's cloak onto the Wraith Flash should suffice, assuming that the Wraith Flash's core issue, specifically its extreme damage output, is also addressed. The main problematic weapons are the S12 Renegade for anti-infantry and the M40 Fury-F for anti-vehicle. The S12 Renegade in particular is ridiculously overpowered and needs a significant nerf. Here's an example of how this could be done: - Refire Time from 320 ms (187 RPM) to 400 ms (150 RPM) - Pellet Count from 10 to 8 - Pellets Spread from 1.33 to 3 These changes greatly reduce the damage output and effective range of the S12 Renegade. As for the M40 Fury-F, this weapon currently matches the Harasser's Fury but could easily be adjusted to match the weaker Sunderer Fury instead to reel in its extreme burst DPS.
