Copy/Pasted Directly from my post on the Forums
-Sharp inhale, runs hands over his face and lets loose a heavy sigh- Okay.. where to begin...
So, I've poured over the feedback/requests forum looking for every ounce of Scout feedback I could find and compiling a list. Suffice to say it's apparently a bigger issue than I originally figured when I decided to tackle it but I'm not going to bore this community with semantics and rhetoric. Let's just jump right into the list.
Ordered from most commonly suggested to least commonly suggested:
- CPU/PG Increase
- More Equipment Slots
- Increased Speed
- Stamina Fix (previously nerfed)
- Ability to Sprint and Charge Knives
- Increased Scan Range
- Smaller Hit Box
- Biotics re-work (reduced CPU/PG requirements)
- Reduced Fall Damage
Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to say that there are a few things I agree with and a few things that I don't because in my opinion there's a lot going on with the development side of things and some of this changes just don't coincide with that very well. So allow me to explain (I won't even try to be brief).
Sensor Profile and You
Considering there are changes coming that remove shared visibility of targets on the mini-map, I'm convinced that this will eliminate most of the issue behind the Profile/Precision. For the longest time I had practically demanded to every CPM representative that I spoke with that you should only appear on Tacnet if their precision can beat your profile, even when aiming down the sights. This is a very bad thing as a sniper just has to look in your general direction and you're lit up for his entire team/squad.
Low Profile is practically useless to a Scout so long as Tacnet exists and that's an unfortunate side effect of things. However, with the future changes practically forcing the use of the Active Scanner and/or legitimate voice communication to relay location(s) of OPFORs this is pretty much fixed, assuming it's actually working as intended to which I won't hold my breath.
Skill Requirements
I can't fathom the design decision to make Scouts focused entirely on the use of Biotics when Biotics have such ridiculous skill requirements for very little results. Requiring Biotic Upgrades 5 just to access the standard Kinetic Catalyzer is ludicrous and considering that the skill itself only provides a 1% bonus to Sprint Speed, Stamina Capacity and Stamina Recharge it's not exactly the most useful skill in the game.
In order for a Scout to be effective with the issues that it faces you have to get pretty much every skill in Dropsuit Upgrades to level 5 - that's not including a weapon. Survivability (armor/shield upgrades) Speed (biotic upgrades and the skills it bridges into) Electronics (bridging into profile dampening/precision enhancement) and Fitting (engineering/electronics/core upgrades) are all NECESSARY in order to even be a remotely decent Scout.
These are skills that are supplementary to every other class but are the staple of the Scout's very existence, making it insanely difficult to be a worthwhile scout and requiring MILLIONS of SP to be effective and we haven't even touched weaponry yet.
PG/CPU and Slot Layouts
I can understand having low PG/CPU on the Scout from a design perspective but there must have been some miscommunication when Biotics wound up having such high resource costs. These are modules that I would look at in passing as an Assault as they don't increase my damage dealing capabilities or my survivability and being as I don't rely on speed as my main form of defense they're not exactly on my highest list of things to attain.
Skill requirements aside, it's amazing to me that Scouts need these costly modules in tandem with some form of Shield or Armor supplement. Armor Repairers are practically necessary if you want to recover from the stupid things like Fall Damage (we'll get to that in a moment) and Reactive Plates are far more costly than a single Repairer. Either way, it's eating a Low Slot which you're going to be needing for your Speed/Stamina modules but both of those have issues associated with them as well (which we will also get to in a moment).
Beyond that, having only one Equipment slot restricts Scouts into fielding one necessary thing over another. A scout -could- use a Drop Uplink (assuming he could fit the damned thing in the first place) or he -could- use an Active Scanner. Both of which are a nice contribution to the Scout's alleged role of Reconnaissance but all in all it's inevitably going to be a choice. Assuming, of course, he can fit one or the other.
Fall Damage and The Stupid Death
Jack be nimble, jack be quick - Jack jumped off the rail and fell to his death.
There is nothing more infuriating (yet hilarious) than imagining (I don't role scout so I don't have this happen often) what it's like to take a wallop of damage from an enemy that you just couldn't quite kill, only to die at the hands of gravity when you decided a tactical retreat was the best option.
Considering that Scouts have such low EHP values, fall damage is something of a finicky thing. What I could survive the brunt of just with my shields as an Assault, a Scout will usually find himself in a hairy situation - especially under fire. Suffice to say, if you try to escape at elevation after having taken a few rounds, you're more than likely not going to live through it. This is made worse if you don't provide yourself an Armor Repairer (see above) to recover from the damage as more than one fall will make short work of you in a hurry.
As for the Stupid Death - I've actually seen a Scout (probably new player) get one-shotted and 'suicided' by overheating a Laser Rifle. W. T. F.
Stamina and Stamina Related Issues
I don't even know where the hell to begin with this. There are a lot of stupid little nit-picky things I have to say considering how Stamina is the life or death of a good Scout. Considering that Cardiac Regulators increase both Stamina and Stamina recovery, it took me a good long while to wrap my head around the fact that my Cardiac Stimulant (beta BPO) was practically worthless and was only good for having slightly more PG cost than CPU. Dunno. We won't touch that one.
However, I've done some experimenting with this non-sense and I have to say that the limitations on Stamina and Stamina Recovery are just obtuse. I understand we want to put a limitation on the Bunny Hopping phenomenon that many FPS players use but considering that jumping isn't exactly the most wise thing a player can do in Dust 514.... Yanno what, let me explain that bit real fast... There is no point to jumping because you don't jump high enough (that means you too, scouts) to prevent gunfire from landing shots on your kneecaps.
So, with that out of the way, Bunny Hopping isn't this giant threat that it is in say.. Halo, which practically hallmarks on the tactic because you can jump higher than the person's reticle (this is also because the reticle is lower on the screen, rather than the center). But beyond that - and I'm going to underline this so it actually gets read - No matter how much stamina you have, jumping still eats 30% of your stamina bar. I've actually stacked Cardiac Regulators and packed a gigantic 300+ stamina capacity onto a Scout suit and it doesn't do any justice when it comes to jumping.
This is a major issue as there are a lot of shortcuts Scouts need to be able to use in order for them to dip in and out of combat that other suits can't utilize. There's actually on area near objective Alpha on the Biomass Outpost where you can't jump over the wall WITH A FULL STAMINA BAR. I know, I've tried and I died a horrible horrible death to an LAV gunner while I waited like a fool for my stamina to recover just enough to make the jump.
Combine that with the interesting issue in that Stamina Recovery actually has a delay (I dunno who asked for this but I'm going to scalp you) and you'll be waiting there for quite some time as your Stamina decides whether or not it wants to save your life. This applies to Sprinting as well, so no amount of speed, 8m/s or 10m/s is going to save you when you're waiting for that bar to fill.
The Invariable Issue of the Hitbox/Collision Box
I have a very lengthy thread regarding this phenomenon here: https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1079159#post1079159
For a good long while there was the misconception that the Scout's hitbox increased in size as he tried to Sprint. Through very lengthy and extensive testing my team and a few volunteers discovered this was not the case.
BUT. BUT.......
The Collision Box DOES increase in size for whatever reason. This means that you're more likely to get caught on objects as you try to sprint past them and will sometimes prevent you outright from going through a tight gap with which you originally would have been able to walk through.
As far as the Hitbox however, my team did confirm that the Hitbox does in fact lag further behind the player as they increase in speed. The faster you go, the farther back your hitbox is. This is why when I train my Assault guys in the corporation I encourage them to aim -behind- the scout rather than in front (leading) or directly at him. This has proven to be FAR more effective as it's solely due to a gameplay mechanic rather than any kind of balance or design.
Unfortunately, while the collision box increase is something that CCP can handle, I'm not sure there's anything that can be done about the Hit Box Lag in tandem with speed without actually screwing around with the hit box location. I had once suggested actually moving the hit box INFRONT of the scout but I recalled this idea when I started thinking of how wonky it would be when the Scout started turning corners.
Either way, this is definitely something that negatively impacts the Scout.
And finally.... Lack of a Definitive Role
As much as it pains me to say this there is simply nothing a Scout can do that someone else can't do better. I've heard many suggestions as to what they can do better but there really isn't much in the line of a definitive role that isn't outright usurped by another playstyle.
Minmatar Logistics will always hack faster... Caldari Assault will always make a better CQC fighter... A Minmatar Scout, even at level 5, still can't do as much Melee damage as a Heavy (relying solely on knives)... And worse yet, any ******* with a BPO LAV will inevitably get from Point A to Point B faster than the fastest Scout. This may seem unlikely but I've actually raced a Proto Minmatar Scout with Kinetic Catalyzers, my RDV dropped off my LAV and I arrived at the Objective with time to spare to initiate the hack.
Crossed with low fitting capabilities there is unfortunately NOTHING a Scout can do that someone else can't do better, with the exception of Minmatar Scout + Nova Knives dishing out as much damage as a Railgun but considering how hard it is to master their use I don't consider it a definitive role and just as well it doesn't apply to ALL Scouts.
Worse yet, according to my math, a Scout with all level 5 skills would still have to throw on TWO COMPLEX PROFILE DAMPENERS to get beneath a Prototype Active Scanner, resulting in a situation where the Scout has to spend more SP, ISK and fitting capabilities (-2 low slots) just to overcome a single equipment slot that infringes on one of his main defenses, and if he's fitting Profile Dampeners, he's probably not using Biotics to increase his Stamina/Speed and will make an easy target in the event that I find him without the scanner anyway
Oh dear God, Aeon, how the hell did it get this bad...? What can we do?
I have dabbled with a few ideas on how to permanently fix the Scout suit and have bounced ideas off of the CPM with the hopes they'd pass it on to CCP. Unfortunately, many of the CPM are either unresponsive or disagreed with what I had to offer. As such, I've decided that perhaps the community would prefer to hear those ideas and could help define them into plausible, working implementations.
- Cloaking.
This is something I was very wary of when it first mentioned and still am. In my opinion, this is not something that belongs in the hands of every player. I feel that Cloaking is more suited for the Scout, coincides with it's pre-designed role and would greatly benefit in it's re-balance. Beyond that, I feel that limiting Cloaking as a Scout-only theme would give it a specialization that no other suit could offer, much like Sentinels are permitted the use of Heavy Weapons and Logistics are given more equipment slots.
However, this isn't something to be taken lightly. Cloaking makes or breaks a game and we have to be compassionate toward the other roles and think about how OP it would be for a Scout to be able to charge his knives and have perfect concealment. Instead, I feel that Cloaking should be disrupted on two levels. Level One, in which actions such as sprinting or charging knives will cause the Cloaking to not work as efficiently. Level Two, in which actions like firing your weapon shut the cloaking down and start up the cool-down timer.
Of course, without knowing what CCP has in store for it, this is all speculation and theory. Beyond that it's just hopes and dreams.
- Drop Uplink Specialization
At first I thought it was a great idea but then I had to recall this standpoint as it would pretty much invalidate any other player who decided to drop SP into it only to have it ripped away for the sake of balancing a broken role.
Considering the sheer amount of Drop Uplink spam going on in many PC matches (and some pub matches) I figured it would do the game a bit of justice to limit Drop Uplinks to Scouts, forcing teams to put some thought in the placement of them rather than tossing them out into the open just to get the team closer to the objective.
This idea was later recanted in favor of a discussion regarding Drop Uplink caps, and while I'm entirely against limiting how many Drop Uplinks a team can have (last thing we need is for Johnny Nobody to grief a pubmatch by capping out the DUs in the redline at the start of the match) I did give a bit of a nod to the ideal that Drop Uplinks caps could work on a player-by-player basis. However, I know there's going to be a lot of pissed off players who don't want their Drop Uplinks infringed after investing hundreds of thousands of SP into them.
Another issue is that Drop Uplinks are WAY TOO VISIBLE at the moment. It's been chalked up that it's a bug (albeit a bug that's lasted since May 6th... Hint, hint CCP..) but considering all you have to do to find them is look at your minimap, they're not exactly 'Scout privy'.
- A Complete and Total Overhaul
"Scouts need some love" is the common phrase but honestly they need more than love, they need a complete balance pass to put them in line with other specializations. Considering the WEALTH of information provided here on the forums, I'm sure we can all sit down and think about a good place to start.
Either way, a Profile Reduction and Scan Radius/Melee Increase just isn't cutting it right now. Not with such low fitting capabilities and risk vs reward associated with them. The only way this is ever going to be fixed is if each issue is looked at individually with the pros and cons weighed out. The amount of skill required to play scouts is way too high for the reward you get from them and it can get pretty overwhelming when you sit down and try to figure all of those issues out.
There's a hundred thousand different paths that can be taken with Scouts and I implore CCP to answer one question first:
"What is it that we want Scouts to do that no-one else can do better?"
Alright... We're done.... Maybe.... Kinda... Sorta...
Yeah, we're done. Thanks guys. Feel free to discuss.
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