Speculation: Infiltrator Update

Discussion in 'Infiltrator' started by giltwist, Jun 10, 2013.

  1. giltwist

    Hopefully, we'll start getting tweets and reddit posts from the devs soon as we should be seeing our update in about a month. In the mean time, I think we should put our heads together and prepare for the worst. SOE has not had a good track record with our class to date. Despite throwing us a few bones with the hold breath extension and the recon dart XP, we are only just now getting to where the other classes were at game launch. I do not want this thread turning into another flame war over differences of opinions. PLEASE DO NOT TURN THIS INTO A SUGGESTION THREAD. We have already had plenty of those. This thread is meant to be a realistic assessment of what SOE has been doing lately across the board and using it to make some reasonable predictions of what is to come. Here's a few:

    1. July is also slated to see the release of Implants. More than any other class, I think, many of the basic shortcomings of the class could see resolution with implants. In particular, I'm thinking Scout Radar. Certainly accuracy, ADS time, fall damage and other annoyances could be on this list. However, I think it is a very real possibility that Implants will make a big improvement. The only catch is that these are likely to be disposable Station Cash items like Boosts.

    2. Empire-specific seems to be one of SOE's focuses lately. While faction pistols aren't slated until October (who needs them with the Commisioner, am I right?), proper assymetric sniper rifles would be nice. If SOE was really smart, they'd convert the longshot/parallax/rams into an NS item and provide the proper conversions to people who have already bought the item. If we look at some of the other empire-specific items, I think the TR can expect a high-speed sniper of some sort. The NC might get a high calibre or double-barrelled sniper. The VS would probably get a charge-up, which could be awesome or terribad depending on how it interacts with breath holding.

    3. Orbital Strikes. We've just gotten too many hints for this not to be the case. The real question is whether this will be an Infiltrator-specific ability and under what conditions it can be used.

    4. Further tweaks on mines. SOE has already made it clear that they aren't exactly happy with mines. They have seen significant reduction in utility with the new lights and the fact that both Nanoweave and Flak can protect you from them. People hate how they sink into the floor and SOE has been unable to fix that. I would not be surprised to see further nerfing here.

    5. Some sort of nerf on the Wraith-Fury combo. They tried to nerf Furies, but that pissed off all the non-Infiltrators. Only a poorly timed sale saved the Fury. They surely still want to fix this.

    What other stuff do you think is likely to be in the pipes? Thread links and tweets are much appreciated evidence.
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  2. Amouris

    I think we will see different play styles becoming more viable with the development teams intention of additional cloaking variants. I imagine we will see something similar to the original PlanetSides cloaking, as well of at least one more varient.
  3. AnuErebus

    The thing I'm looking forward to is the hopeful balance pass on our weapons with the update. We have good SMGs and good Bolt-actions but I feel everything in between kind of falls short. The semi-automatic guns, our automatic scout rifle... They don't have many redeeming features to make them really good weapons in a lot of situations.With the semi-auto snipers taking 5 body shots at range it's faster to use a bolt-action with 2 shots to get kills. Combine that with their rather poor recoil and their crap bullet velocity and you've really got no real strength to these guns.Our automatic scout rifle is as I like to term it a nerfed machine gun carbine. It has the ADS accuracy of the hyper accurate carbines but the hipfire spread of an LMG, worse bullet velocity than guns meant for CQC and a heavily nerfed magazine size. Essentially they're a mashup of the worst stats on all the guns, how they still exist in their current form baffles me.
  4. OldMaster80

    This.
    More cloaking variants, possibly a new tool to replace the recon darts (minimap jammer ftw!) and I believe we will see the number of generators and sensible targets inside bases increasing over time. More targets that we could hack / overcharge / destroy.
  5. Pantong

    I was thinking of a cloaked placeable that would reveal people on map that are nearby. Instead if recon dart. And in place or mine
  6. RoMoronik666

    Regarding Implants -

    As the OP says, the Infiltrator class has a number of shortfalls, which are likely to be be addressed by implants. However, it is likely that these implants will cost station cash.

    It doesnt really make sense to me, as it is yet another barrier to newcomers to the infiltrator class.

    We all know infiltrators take a long time to get used to and need a heavy investment of certs to start to shine (recon device, cloak, etc)
    Having implants which we have to pay for, either in real money or in certs seems like the wrong way to go about things.

    If SOE were serious about revamping the infiltrator class, the implants should be FREE, like the recon device,, so newcomers to the class feel the benefit right away. Possibly you should be allowed to choose up to three, which you could then further cert into.

    My opinion anyway.
  7. Ravenorth

    I dont expect big from the update, since the devs took a wrong direction for the class at the very beginning. Now they´re just trying to patch it temporary with bandage instead of properly overhauling the game mechanics to make the role of infiltrator to be more invaluable.

    I dont really think that implants will be that great either, since they will probably have activation timer similar to xp/resource boosts. You have to use x amount of certs/station cash to buy one and then you can use it until the timer hits zero.
  8. BloodyPuma

    There is always an option that infiltrator will on purpouse become OP for 1-2 month. Imagine the least played class with a big ammmount of guns alredy released + new ones, suddenly happens to be "new sexy". That would give big money influx for SOE. After that, things will be back to relative normal state.
  9. Plague Rat

    I'm not pinning too much hope on implants. They described them as temporary effects, like boosts, only purchasable with certs as well as SC. They made them sound as though any effect they give wouldn't be particularly game changing to avoid balance and pay-to-win issues, but I guess all we can do is wait and see. (Don't have a link but if I recall correctly, that was on the MLG war report interview with Higby)

    Empire specific sniper rifles would be excellent, but given the narrow function of the bolt action if they do hit, they'd likely be semi-autos, if only to be able to create enough variation between faction without breaking the game. Not that this is bad thing, I'm quite fond of the ones currently in game, but that said of course, I'd love to see one with a higher velocity. Weapon-wise... we're okay. I'm kind of hoping they'll buff the scout rifles a touch, maybe a velocity boost or HV ammo, or even give infiltrator access to the battle rifle.

    I am looking forward to potentially getting Stalker cloak. I'm even practicing only using pistols for when that drops since it's been discussed (Also MLG war report w/ Higby, I think) that it will likely prevent a user from taking a primary. To be honest I've been having a LOT more fun than I should doing so, which just makes me all the more excited (Also love the new sound effects for the NC Rebel. Bass = satisfaction) Really, I'm hoping for any kind of new cloak. I found Nano-armor cloak to be a real game changer when switching off Hunter. I haven't run into much else in the game that will drive you to alter how you play in such a significant way, so I'm eager to see what other new experiences and styles this can bring.

    Finally, I'm really hopeful for more recon functionality. I've become utterly addicted to recon darts, especially once I maxed out the certs for them, and would love to see more. Particularly I'd like something based out the utility slot, since I don't always feel the need to take mines, and don't always get as much use as I should out of medical kits. Also, I'm just interested to see what kind of functionality a recon device with a resource cost attached to it might have.
  10. Dr. Euthanasia

    Not to turn this into a debate about faction specific traits, but charge-up mechanics would be terrible for both a sniper rifle and pistol to have, for the same reason. These are weapons that you want to fire immediately, after either deactivating your cloak or switching away from your primary weapon, and lengthening the time it takes to do so is simply not going to be worth any increase in power they're likely to get.

    Anyways, I expect that we'll get a solution to vehicles, and I hope that we'll get at least one cloak with a 100% invisibility setting. Most of the other problems with our class would require changes outside the class itself.
  11. Epicstrat

    Melee booster suit slot?
  12. Scan

    What I'm expecting will be a few side-grades to offer the playstyle that alot of infiltrator players have been asking for.

    Namely, being able to sneak into a base, start hacking turrets and terminals, without being shot by the first person who happens to see their "distortion" even when they are sitting completely still.

    It will probably come at the expense of the killing power we have. (no main weapon, just pistol)

    That said, the pistol+knife combo is still very powerful in the hands of someone who knows how to use this, and I can understand how this gives SoE a headache in meeting our wishes, since no one wants and invisible killing machine running rampant in bases. (exept the one doing the rampant killing)

    On the vehicle front:
    I do hope we'll get something to help the team in dealing with vehicles. Something along the lines of being able to place some sort of debuff on vehicles, when hacking them, and as such making it easier for your team to destroy them.

    We might get another tool for this, replacing the Recon Tool. So again, this will be a side-grade and have us choose between options.

    To be honest, I have no idea.

    I do hope the changes will be something we can all agree with, won't upset the large crowds playing other classes, and guards the high skill requirement that's needed to play the Infiltrator succesfully.
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  13. Rift23

    Since SOE shamelessly ripped off the Recon class for the Infiltrator from Battlefield, they should go back to what made that class viable in fights, namely that it in addition to the dart (yes it had a dart) and sniping, it also had a UAV that could fly about and mark targets (even roadkill people) in addition to a laser-marker turret that let dumbfire rockets lock on to targets even through smoke.

    Unfortunately, they took the lazy route and added scout radar and lock-on rocket launchers everywhere.