As Light Assaults, many of us feel our class is unfinished since we are the only one without a tool selection. There are LOTS of threads about suggestions, some that aren't too original being similar to what other classes can do, and some that are very original. I'm pretty sure SOE wants to implement an idea that is upgradable to different cert levels (something not all ideas have) plus be broad enough of an idea that you can expand it with new choices in the same category if they are given time to code. Why not give the light assault class a series of BEACONS? I'm talking things that would deploy and be used similar to spawn beacons, but they could have a multitude different effects, each with a different color particle field (showing different effects, but using the same model, means only a change in color and lighting.) Personally I imagine it being deployed similar to the ACE but totally different effects. I love the idea of tossing down a small ring (similar to the disks from the new TRON) that has a fountain particle effect above it. Different colors = different effects. Remember #1 goal: The idea isn't to infringe on the roll of any other class but instead try to give Light Assaults a way to help out squads of people, bringing about a change in gameplay. Sure these could be used solo, but the would all be much more effective if used with a group. Gravity Beacon - When placed, the beacon decreases speed of enemies passing through the area. The beacon has a duration of 2 minutes but can only be placed once every five minutes. level 1 (50 certs) - enemy speed reduction 5% level 2 (100 certs) - enemy speed reduction 10% level 3 (200 certs) - enemy speed reduction 15% level 4 (500 certs) - enemy speed reduction 20% Anti-Gravity Beacon - When placed, the beacon increases jump height of friendlies in the area, lasts 2 minutes. This would scale up to the max height on a linear basis. If the max height described below comes to +2 m, then each level would add 0.5 m to the height. The beacon again has a duration of 2 minutes (too much? 1 minute then), with a 5 minute refresh on it. That necessitates people to be organized when using it with a squad. level 1 (50 certs) - (high enough to just barely get over infantry height walls?) level 2 (100 certs) - level 3 (200 certs) - level 4 (500 certs) - allows anyone to jump on top of a 1 story building (Too high? Make it high enough that you can get up on the sloped side of it only then.) This beacon would only allow squads of people to get up one story. There are still LOTS of places that are the domain of the Light Assault that would be inaccessible to people using this beacon. If SOE really doesn't like this idea of increasing jump height, a much more simple version would be the opposite of Gravity Beacon that speeds up friendly movement in the area, similar to using the Adrenalin Pump cert. Personally I rather dislike that compared to a small bonus in jump height. Shield Beacon - When placed, this beacon shortens the time for shields to recharge once they begin to recharge. Again like the other beacons, when placed it only lasts 2 minutes with a 5 minute refresh timer before placing another. An alternate version wouldn't make shields recharge faster, but instead it would knock off time from the wait timer before shields begin to recharge. This though, is way too similar to the certable ability under everyone's suit slot. level 1 (50 certs) - 5% faster recharge (or knock 0.25s off wait time) level 2 (100 certs) - 10% faster recharge (or knock off 0.5s off wait time) level 3 (200 certs) - 15% faster recharge (or knock off 0.75s off wait time) level 4 (500 certs) - 20% faster recharge (or knock off 1s off wait time) (Alternate idea, it has an effect on enemies and friendlies alike to help balance gameplay issues.) Displacement Beacon - When placed, all people in the beacon radius appear a certain % of body length away from where they actually are by people outside the radius, thus making a SUPER SMALL percentage of bullets miss their target (Think it too game breaking? The beacon would definitely be visible so they'd know they were firing into a displacement field, plus the percentage is VERY small.) Duration is 2 minutes with a 5 minute refresh timer before placing another. level 1 (50 certs) - 2% displacement (so 1 out of 50 bullets would miss) level 2 (100 certs) - 4% displacement (so 1 out of 25 bullets would miss) level 3 (200 certs) - 6% displacement (so 3 out of 50 bullets would miss) level 4 (500 certs) - 8% displacement (so 2 out of 25 bullets would miss) level 5 (1000 certs) - 10% displacement (so 1 out of 10 bullets would miss) (Yes, it works similar to how nanoweave essentially works, taking a few more bullets to kill someone, but it is presented in a very different way since you would not get a hit marker unlike nanoweave. The above percentages actually puts it a bit below nanoweave I believe, but remember it would last only 2 out of 5 minutes, thus being quite a bit less effective than nanoweave which is a constant ability.) Explosive Dampener - These beacons simply repel grenades. Toss this beacon in a doorway and grenades bounce off of it, thus keeping them out of the room. Instead of a 2 minute duration, duration would have to be based on how many grenades it could repel before being deactivated. Each time it repels grenades a portion of the health of the beacon would be used up making it super easy to put a maximum amount of grenades it could repel on the beacon. Certing higher levels raises beacon health (or reduces tossed grenade damage), thus making it able to repel more grenades. Along with that, you would still need to have a timer so you couldn't throw it down more than perhaps once every five minutes. level 1 (50 certs) - repel 1 grenade before blowing up level 2 (100 certs) - repel 2 grenades before blowing up level 3 (200 certs) - repel 3 grenades before blowing up level 4 (500 certs) - repel 4 grenades before blowing up Tracking Beacon - This would stick similar to C4 to a vehicle. Essentially you would hand toss it on a vehicle and that vehicle would then continuously show up on friendly radar for all players in a pretty big radius without the need to spot the vehicle. Duration would probably need to be a little bit longer than the usual 2 out of 5 minutes (perhaps even unlimited until destroyed?). I have worries this infringes upon the ability for infiltrators though. The main idea is you can tag ONLY vehicles and then track them when they have a tracking beacon on them for a while, where an infiltrator can spot softies and vehicles with his tool. Ideas I've thrown out: Ammo beacon - reloads ammo - too similar to ammo pack. Would a boost to reloading weapon speed be possible? That used to be an implant, had hopes they'd bring that back. Healing beacon - heals - too similar to medic (What if it was as weak as the bio-lab benefit? Still is a cross-over skill though =\ Don't want to duplicate abilities.) Repair beacon - repairs armor/maxes - too similar to engineer ability. Can you come up with good, balanced, upgradable (through certs) ideas to add to this list? The main goal here is to present a series (similar in how they can be implemented through beacons) of ideas that are balanced and would add TEAM functionality to the light assault. If you worry about balance issues, keep it constructive and give an alternate suggestion to balance it better. Mainly, I'd love to see this whole beacon idea what they end up giving Light Assaults, cause the possibilities are endless so a little support would be greatly appreciated!
Ammo, Healing and Repair Beacon: They don't meet the Light Assault playstyle, and you already have Engis and Medics for that. Gravity beacon: Meets the LA playstyle by affecting the enemy's mobility, +1 Anti-Gravity Beacon: Meets the LA playstyle, but it would be too OP, even if the reload time is 10 min. Imagine full squads of infiltrators getting to places you don't expect infils to be... Shield Beacon: The idea is not bad, but why implement it on the LA class? It seems more like an Engineer's ability (plus, it'd work better if instead of a beacon you get an "F button ability" like the medic, but instead of healing, it spreads 'nanites' that make the shield of your allies reload faster) Displacement beacon: Good idea, but it's like the concussion grenade... Explosive dampener: something really small you place on the floor and it has a radius where grenades can't pass trough Tracking beacon: nah... My ideas: I'll think of something
By "Throwing out" I mean, we should NOT go that route simply because as you stated, "They don't meet the LA playstyle, and you already have Engies and Medics for that." Anti-Gravity... I think you aren't looking at the big picture. The beacon would probably have to be placed on a relatively flat surface, similar to how the ACE works, this makes really weird places out of reach from most using it. The MAXIMUM height I'd allow is 1 story up, which makes most of the other really OP places out of reach as well. Are you seriously saying that is going to be so OP as to not allow it with that extremely limited height on it? There are very few places you will be able to get to give yourself such an advantage it would be considered OP to get other classes into. One story up, isn't so hard to shoot people who are on top of. Real light assault players go for as high of a location as possible and all of them know that 1-story up does give them advantage, but not a very big one. I personally would LOVE to see squads of infiltrators on top of 1-story buildings, cause I'd eat them for breakfast and spit out their bones. I hear their cloak and I instantly go into hunt mode for THEM. If there was a squad of them on top of a 1-story building, I'd be all over that group like white-on-rice and oh the carnage would be great. I'd love to take that group out, when they were thinking they had a huge advantage, because they wouldn't. One-story jump height would NOT introduce broken mechanics, or you would see even more Light Assaults on buildings than you currently do. Shield Beacon, might be more like something an Engineer would deploy yeah, but I'm giving lots of ideas to show how versatile this whole theme for a tool slot item for Light Assaults can be more than anything. If I were SOE and I liked it, decided to implement it, I'd start with two different beacons to begin with, to give a little variation. I'd probably choose (if I were them), Explosive Dampener and the Anti-Gravity Beacon. I do look forward to your ideas once you organize your thoughts.
Very cool ideas with a fun implementation! I don't think they should have the same visibility as spawn beacons but should be 1 to 1.5x person height. The 'tron disc' with a particle fountain would be great. The beacons' effects should not stack perfectly, otherwise a squad of LAs could make an area with so many gravity beacons that the enemies cannot move. The effects should become weaker as they overlap. 50% effect as they overlap: First lvl 2 grav beacon does 10% Second lvl 2 grav beacon adds 5% Third lvl 2 grav beacon adds 2.5% etc Comments on your ideas so far. Gravity: Should also affect their jumping ability and LA's fuel consumption. It could increase bullet drop and cause Vanu lasers to suffer damage degradation much faster. I'm hoping their physics engine would support just adding an area force to act on all things. Anti-Grav: The max jump height should be a below building roof height, but by stacking them you jump on to roofs. This would seriously promote team play and prevent one LA from letting their entire side ignore base defenses. Shield: Doesn't really fit our role really. We are about attacking and mobility, not protection. This would fit the medic more. But I think it would be great to have Displacement: Interesting idea, it would be like creating intentional lag. The effect would have to be small and perhaps the actual player's position would be visible like the infiltrator cloak overlapping the displaced image. This would still give distant snipers a chance to get headshots if they look really closely. Explosive: This would be hilarious. But the area would have to be small and the effect apparent. Tracking: Good idea, but would it have any bonuses provide beyond just maintaining a spot? My suggestions: Concussion field: Movement is unaffected but aiming speed is reduced like when hit by a concussion grenade. The effect at max level would be half that of the normal concussion grenade in order to prevent them becoming useless. Smoke field: Just emits smoke continuously but can be seen through with IRNV and spotting works in the area. Density of smoke increases with level. Nanite-Supply field: Does really fit our role, but thought I'd mention it anyway. This would give a percentage boost to ability recharge rates in the area. Adrenaline field: You mentioned this in your thrown out section, but an area that increases reload, weapon swap, and switch to ADS speed. Balance issues: though both sides could have these field laid out, there should be some effects on friendlies. Perhaps a loss in a different attribute like lower accuracy in an Anti-Grav field or slower shield regen in a grav field. Another option would be a percentage of the beacon's effect affecting the other side. Perhaps 25%. So a gravity field would slow friendlies too, and anti-grav would make enemies jump a little higher too. Overall, I think this is a very interesting idea that could be incredibly diverse. The beacons would avoid overlap with other classes and could be great ways of buffing/de-buffing enemy movement/actions without completely shutting them down with only a few LA.
Well, the Light Assault is an Assault Class, and it's likely to be found solo, not around helping MAXes or healing allies, so here are some ideas based on the playstyle of the LA (Assault, Mobility) Anti-Shield Beacon: Disables a gate shield (Amp Station, Tech Plant) for a very short period of time (like the sundy shield diffuser). This way the LA helps the team gain mobility. (I think it's too OP anyway..) Vehicle Defuser (not a beacon, but a gun like the Infil's tool): When shot at a vehicle 'nanites' make the vehicle's engine overheat, therefore it can't move for a period of time (short one), making it easy prey for every class (You only get one/two shots, otherwise it is OP) (May work better with the Infiltrator Class since it's the only class unable to face a Vehicle) Vehicle Defuser (beacon version): Works like a mine, you put one on the ground and once a vehicle passes over it, it overheats for a short time... Smoke beacon: Like the squads leader ability to drop colour smoke, but for every LA that wants to mark a Sundy or a spot of high importance
There are some very nice ideas here, I particularly like the Gravity and Tracking Beacons. The only issue I have with the beacons as a whole however is that they're a very static device and as your signature so aptly states the motto of the LA is 'give me mobility or give me death' which is at odds with that. I'd be tempted to turn the self buffing options into nanite clouds that follow the LA similar to the medic regen cloud, so for example if we were to take the secondary idea of your Anti-Grav Beacon and have all friendlies within a large area of the LA have their sprint speed boosted by 30% for 15 seconds or so (to help with reaching capture points quickly or crossing dangerous ground with as little exposure as possible) then we still get to help the team out but without nailing ourselves down to a set area. If this could be swapped for the current Adrenaline Pump then all the better frankly. I'd probably change the Gravity Beacon to Nanite Caltrops as well, because Caltrops are just freaking cool and you could add a very small damage component for people who try to move through that area, causing them to think twice before pursuing you or your buddies after an intense firefight. The Tracking Beacon could be combined with BaleRage's Smoke Beacon idea and tweaked slightly to make a Marker Device. Best bet would be some kind of dart gun that can fire a very small beacon into an area which then shows up on the minimap and HUD for friendlies, with varying beacon types that can be switched between using B for different markers. So for example you have a 'Danger Zone' marker in the form of a Red Skull that you can use to warn your team mates where enemies are massing or where you think there might be mines perhaps, a 'Safe Zone' marker in the form of a Pale Green Bubble to show an area that appears to be clear of enemies and a 'Point of Interest' marker that takes the form of a Yellow Exclamation Mark to point out to your team where the enemy Sundy is or the best direction to flank an enemy squad from. Up to 5 of these(increased through certs) could be active at any time and last roughly 30s-1min or so(again cert dependent) so you could, for example, set up a series of points showing where the main concentration of enemies is with a red skull, a path around them that you've scoped out is clear with a group of green bubbles and finally use the yellow exclamation point to signal the best attack point allowing your buddies to swiftly flank and decimate the enemy while singing your praises. Possibly could also tint the icons depending on which squad you're in for platoon based maneuvers. This ties in nicely with the idea of the LAs being Pathfinders and Scouts without encroaching onto the Infiltrator's area of effectively being saboteurs.
True true, but I'd be willing to give up some of that mobility to have more team functionality than we have right now. Plus, couldn't you still jump around and then pop back to your group once in a while? That would be encouraging MORE mobility in a way. Fly over to the objective, prep it for your team who is right behind you by dropping an explosive dampener (or gravity beacon) in the door. Sounds fun! Oh, I love this idea and could see it used quite often, but unfortunately I feel that would step on the toes of the medic a bit too much. I really had hopes that the beacons idea would be radically different from the other abilities that other classes have. How would you feel if the medic had other things they could cert their AE Regen ability to do, other than heal but with different color effects? This would be pretty cool for them imo, turning them into a mobile buff station. I just might throw that on the medic forum actually. A lot of your other ideas are good, but they really are breaking up the overall theme. Remember, I'm trying to present SOE with an idea for the LA that can be expanded using the same geometry (say that beacon/disk but with different color particle effects) so it doesn't add a lot to the system needed to play the game. I also like "nanite caltrops" but mostly as a name, maybe the damage bit. Couldn't you just make a "pain field beacon" to do something similar? That'd be kind'a fun yeah! The Smoke Beacon is a pretty good idea, I just worry it'd be too OP in the hands of a soloing LA with HSNV scope. The whole 'Danger Zone' marker though, perfect idea for a beacon (or included in the tracking beacon). Dropping red skulls on my friendly maps, heck yeah! Good stuff so far, keep the ideas coming guys.
I think the intent was that instead of a beacon you drop to get these effects, the effects are distributed with the LA as the center, like the medic AoE. But instead of healing, it could cause an anti-gravity field or something of the sort. The color would be different, but it could be interesting to have the LA be the beacon itself. The smoke wouldn't be solid. It would be a patchy sort of smoke cloud that's opacity would change with cert level. It would also be great for explosions to dissipate the cloud briefly.
