Aura vs Sawbonez - Balancing Suggestion

(CPTpurrfect) #1

As many other players already said, Aura is currently not A but THE problem in this games balance and I agree on this.
But how to balance her?

Here is my approach:

Aura:
Health: Increase it to 105
Movementspeed: Reduce it by 10 - 15%

Healing Station:
AOE: Increase by 5 - 10%
NEW! Delay: Players are only eligable to healing if they haven’t received damage in the past 1,5 seconds

Defibrillator:
Cooldown: 3 secs

On the other hand we have Sawbonez who is currently just FUBAR if you compare him to the stronger Aura.
Here is my idea how to make him “work”.

Sawbonez:
Movement Speed: Increase by 5%

Large Medikit:
NEW! Instantheal: The Medikit instantly heals 20 health. (heals himself only by 12)
HoT (heal over time): The Medikit now heals another 30 health over the course of 6 seconds. If you are damaged the HoT is cancelled. THE HOT DOES NOT STACK!! (heals himself by 23)
Maximum Number: The maximum number you can carry is reduced to 2 (you can place up to 5)
Cooldown: CD is set to 13 secs

Defibrillator:
Cooldown: 3 secs

(CPTpurrfect) #2

How can I delete this comment? o-o only can edit

(Szakalot) #3

I think you are pulling numbers out of a donkey’s… food tray.

2-3 seconds before healing is very very slow, and will make Aura unviable.
300 hp total healed is very little.

Aura’s station isn’t far from where it should be, it just needs to drop a little in its potential as a ‘stay here to win’. Looking forward to Fletcher or Nader.

(CPTpurrfect) #4

My idea behind these changes is to take the “combat” out of “combat medic” in auras case, acting more behind the lines and let Sawbonez do the wet work.

Numbers are of course discussable and I will change them as I see fit, with all of you who are willing to contribute to my basic ideas together. Basic because they are just were we begin - I want this to be as fletched out as possible at some point.
My goal here are two things: First make Sawbonez viable vs Aura and doing that (second) by differing their roles.

(CPTpurrfect) #5

[quote=“Szakalot;13366”]I think you are pulling numbers out of a donkey’s… food tray.

2-3 seconds before healing is very very slow, and will make Aura unviable.
300 hp total healed is very little.

Aura’s station isn’t far from where it should be, it just needs to drop a little in its potential as a ‘stay here to win’. Looking forward to Fletcher or Nader.[/quote]

My mainproblem with Aura’s station is that it immediatly fills you up at a very high rate (vs Sawbonez LARGE Medpacks who I really ask myself what are with the small Meds the third medic will have…).
In my perception Aura is a fully fledged medic vs Sawbonez being a combat medic, but with her heal station Aura is BOTH. And better at that.

(solt.) #6

Nothing sets me up to doubt the amount of serious consideration that went into a thread like hyperbole.

These tweaks are simply not congruent with the pacing of the game.

8 second cooldown on Defibs? That sounds like an arbitrary number you decided on after spending a game being frustrated by the enemy team having successful medics.

(CPTpurrfect) #7

By the time you created this post, I already toned the CD on defibs down to 5 (Aura) and 4 (Sawbonez) secs. Please don’t refer to outdated numbers. Also it is not just me who sees Aura as a troublemaker for current balancing, so stop trying to act mature by saying that this was a hyperbole. I said clearly that “others said that” and that “I agree”. I never said that it is more than my opinion, and that the wishes I suggested for balance change are nothing more than how it could work in MY opinion.

(watsyurdeal) #8

All Aura needs is for her healing station to heal people ONLY when they aren’t in combat, meaning it is easier to kill them when a bunch of players are crowding around it.

(adeto) #9

Aura’s station isn’t OP, Sawbonez is better as a complete package(way better mobility due to not having to stand still to heal). When you use mercs like Fragger or Skyhammer you can use their abilities to take the station out with ease. Especially with mercs like Nader and Fletcher with their explosives, Aura will simple not be used a lot anymore as Sawbonez has NONE of the downsides that Aura’s station has and will simply be a better merc completely. Also mercs like Phoenix and Sparks have none of the downsides that Aura has when it comes to the stationary healing ability. They will both be better support mercs than Aura is atm.

tl;dr, Aura is ‘okay-ish’ now, Sawbonez still better and coming mercs will also be better overall than Aura.

(CPTpurrfect) #10

I think I have to clarify myself in what I want to make this changes do:

  • make Aura while being a good healer a valuable asset which can’t go in the fighting area as aggressive as she can atm
  • make Sawbonez being a “COMBAT medic” by allowing him to go into the fighting area and save lives there.

To further go into that direction I toned my suggestions down, and complimented them into the - hopefully - right direction.

Changes to previous suggestion:

  • removed max healing
  • decreased heal from medpacks for the one who drops them (to prevent “Rambo-medics”) (from total 50 to 35 - heal for others is still full 50)
  • decreased defib-CD (IMHO defib simply should have a CD - there are just situations which don’t even give you the chance to finish someone off before some Aura/Sawbonez runs in and gives him a second wind.)
(Ardez1) #11

[quote=“sunsetRivet;13803”]I think I have to clarify myself in what I want to make this changes do:

  • make Aura while being a good healer a valuable asset which can’t go in the fighting area as aggressive as she can atm
  • make Sawbonez being a “COMBAT medic” by allowing him to go into the fighting area and save lives there.

To further go into that direction I toned my suggestions down, and complimented them into the - hopefully - right direction.

Changes to previous suggestion:

  • removed max healing
  • decreased heal from medpacks for the one who drops them (to prevent “Rambo-medics”) (from total 50 to 35 - heal for others is still full 50)
  • decreased defib-CD (IMHO defib simply should have a CD - there are just situations which don’t even give you the chance to finish someone off before some Aura/Sawbonez runs in and gives him a second wind.)[/quote]

Awww, but I love Rambo sawbonez… Maybe on that same thread decrease the healing Aura receives from her own station? That would prevent a lot of the dickery that Auras are currently capable of. Just being able to kill them when they are on station without an explosion would be great. As it is Bushwhacker NEEDs his turret to secure the kill. (Going after the station first is an obvious remark, but doing so exposes you to Aura for a good bit due to the stations health). Dropping the turret allows for overwhelming fire(if she allows it to live to the point where it can shoot) and it also gives you a chance to remove the healing station when she focuses on the turret.

Obv. that is just from bushwhackers side of things, but I have seen plenty of kills happen because an Aura has taken 150+ damage over a short time and is still at/near full due to that station.

(R5on11c) #12

In my opinion Sawbonez is one of the / if not THE most solid merc out there. His self healing abilities are everything but over-the-top and his versatility makes him a good ally to others while still maintaining self-defense in a good spot without being overpowered. I wouldn’t mind a little speed boost because he feels sluggish at times but all around i am content with him.

Aura on the other hand has a way to high self, healing ability at her disposal. That is ridiculous. I stand with my opinion that her healing station should only kick in 0,25 - 0,5 seconds after NOT taking damage. This way you can’t outheal an enemy that is taking you under fire but still maintain a great group-healing potential.

(Szakalot) #13

I reiterate the opinions here on how Aura should have a slower self-heal rate on healing stations (hers and other Auras’).

If its 75% of the present self-heal it will already go a long way to make her less of a rambo in a straight up fight. 80hp is very little after all; and its still possible to take her down. Dropping self-heal by a quarter should be enough to make her squishier, fast enough to hide in a corner and go full hp again, but not fast enough to just sit there and take it from multiple opponents.

In the end, Aura on her own isn’t AS unbalanced as she looks, but fighting her can be freakishly annoying and appear uncounterable. Devs like to promote the idea that you can be at a disadvantage, but you always stand a chance. Decreasing her self-heal will increase that chance a little bit.

With this change, her potential in helping out a teammate remains the same, but becomes much more fixed. A single aura can jump around reclaiming the station and plonking it wherever she needs to, always at a ready; always with super fast HP-regen. If the regen remains only effective with other players, a whole new layer of teamwork is required to maintain the same level of mobility.

(adeto) #14

If there is going to be a cooldown on Defib, I will quit this game instantly. Thats the dumbest thing I’ve ever read on these forums. And that includes that guy faking a cup from geforce.

(Szakalot) #15

cooldown type where you have 3-4 instant revives and the next one is on a few seconds cooldown wouldn’t be so terrible and would help avoid the revive spam.

But I also don’t think its necessary, we just need more AoE in the game.

(sinKrin) #16

I’d like to see a reduction in the HP of the health station. This should be a fairly easy variable to change and would get closer to balancing Aura. I don’t think any deployable should have more health than the merc who deployed it.

(adeto) #17

cooldown type where you have 3-4 instant revives and the next one is on a few seconds cooldown wouldn’t be so terrible and would help avoid the revive spam.

But I also don’t think its necessary, we just need more AoE in the game.[/quote]

There is no such thing as revive spam. It’s called teamplay and the medic role in it, plus it takes skill from the medic to get a revive quick vs good teams. Anticipating what is happening to your teammates etc. If you put a cooldown on the medics main teamplay mechanic you will simply break the team aspect of the game. It’s like saying well the Engineer can from now only build 30-40% of an objective and then his repair tool goes on cooldown. It will just cause attacking teams to have to completely stop pushing to get their cooldowns back. It’s just plain dumb, especially in a fast paced game like this…

With my friends we’ve played vs people(and teams) who just go Fragger+medics revive trains. All you have to do is get a nade in there and it’s done. Or get a quick gib and its over. If people have trouble playing vs mechanics as simple as that, I’m sorry but those people are just bad at the game :confused:

(R5on11c) #18

I also share the opinion that instant revive should be used without limitation. A good medic can hold the teammates alive, a great medic can hold up a zombie horde that never goes down, a bad medic dies and doesn’t revive. Easy as that. The efficiency always depends on the skill of the opponent and the competence of the medic, that shouldn’t be altered.

(Szakalot) #19

Like I said, there is no problem when enough AoE is present. But ive seen more than once a huge aura spamfest with no fragger present and no LoS on either teams healing stations. People would pop out, deal damage and go back in. Over and over again. Ive seen such fights last over a minute, and while it can be hilarious, its also a symptom of how bad such fights can get, with no intensity at all, feels like playing serious sam or sth.

(CPTpurrfect) #20

I was playing Sawbonez and a similar situation made me into suggesting the CD on the defibs.
Essentially we had two REALLY good Vassilis and I just stood between them in some cover - enemies couldn’t even come into range to drop an air- or artillerystrike - not even talking about a nade from Fragger.

I don’t say “GIVE IT 2 MINUTES CD AND LET THEM LOOSE 50% OF THEIR OWN HP PERMANENTLY!!!”
I’m simply asking for an adjustion. Because of this situations that essentially nothing happens.

Maybe simply give it a max amount of revives w/o CD (like 8) could work out as well.
This change of the revive should just prevent that two medics keep throwing their zombies (as you called them) at eachother. I don’t want to play “Necromancer SIM”.