Changing Arty's Ability

(Yak) #1

Yes yes, another Arty thread. The majority of players who believe Arty is underpowered say it has to do with his ability, and I agree. It’s clunky to use and does little damage, leaving him inferior to both Skyhammer and Kira.

I suggest swapping his ability out with Predator Drones. He opens up a briefcase laptop and has an aerial view of the map, where he can select a spot and shoot a missile there. The damage would be higher and the splash radius increased over his current artillery, but it would have the same cast time and telltale laser so observant people can dodge it.

With this he could cast his ability from behind cover like both Kira and Skyhammer can, and the increased damage and radius (nothing too major, just a small increase on both) will help with destroying EV’s and taking out snipers/campers.

(Dwu) #2

I think they should just give him artillery similar to one seen in Wolfenstein ET with a long cooldown.

(BushDweller) #3

Screw it, just give him a predator missile

(CCP115) #4

Let’s give him a proper backstory while we’re at it.

Shiet, why not just give EVERYONE an actual bio while we’re at it!

And I have never played Wolf:ET, but every Veteran wants it, so I guess it can’t be that bad.

(Yak) #5

[quote=“extravagentBypass;49658”]Let’s give him a proper backstory while we’re at it.

Shiet, why not just give EVERYONE an actual bio while we’re at it!

And I have never played Wolf:ET, but every Veteran wants it, so I guess it can’t be that bad.[/quote]

Every merc does have a bio, they just haven’t released them.

(StubbornOldTroll38) #6

I think the casting mechanics give you no time to aim. I’d like it if when hitting q the scope stays out ,left click fires instant and right still zooms if needed. I think the ability does plenty damage, I use him for taking out their vehicle and it’s just fine except for the casing.

(frolicsomeCrane) #7

[quote=“Yak;49801”][quote=“extravagentBypass;49658”]Let’s give him a proper backstory while we’re at it.

Shiet, why not just give EVERYONE an actual bio while we’re at it!

And I have never played Wolf:ET, but every Veteran wants it, so I guess it can’t be that bad.[/quote]

Every merc does have a bio, they just haven’t released them.
[/quote]

Phantom has a rough bio, boss gave him the invis armor, he stole it, decided to plant incriminating evidence and LIVESTOCK (hilarious) in his boss’s office), he kept the armor and he bailed.

(GeekyNerd_FTW) #8

His ability is not the greatest, I agree, but it doesn’t always have to be. Arty focuses on his accurate weapons, not on his abilities. I know it a “cliché” thing to say, but it’s a good ability of you know how to use it, have killed 5 people with one air strike twice before…

(BushDweller) #9

[quote=“Geeky_nerd;49966”]
His ability is not the greatest, I agree, but it doesn’t always have to be. Arty focuses on his accurate weapons, not on his abilities. I know it a “cliché” thing to say, but it’s a good ability of you know how to use it, have killed 5 people with one air strike twice before…[/quote]

The thing is, kira has the same guns, with a better ability. Many classes have those guns, which makes arty obsolete.

Also, skyhammer has killed 5 people with one air strike before, more than a thousand time, which also renders arty useless

(GeekyNerd_FTW) #10

[quote=“BushDweller;50058”][quote=“Geeky_nerd;49966”]
His ability is not the greatest, I agree, but it doesn’t always have to be. Arty focuses on his accurate weapons, not on his abilities. I know it a “cliché” thing to say, but it’s a good ability of you know how to use it, have killed 5 people with one air strike twice before…[/quote]

The thing is, kira has the same guns, with a better ability. Many classes have those guns, which makes arty obsolete.

Also, skyhammer has killed 5 people with one air strike before, more than a thousand time, which also renders arty useless [/quote]

Well, Kira also has a ammo station rather than a ammo pack, which IMO is better than the station.

(Hierarch) #11

Arty also has 30more health than Kira.

(CCP115) #12

[quote=“Yak;49801”][quote=“extravagentBypass;49658”]Let’s give him a proper backstory while we’re at it.

Shiet, why not just give EVERYONE an actual bio while we’re at it!

And I have never played Wolf:ET, but every Veteran wants it, so I guess it can’t be that bad.[/quote]

Every merc does have a bio, they just haven’t released them.
[/quote]

Every merc did, then they got removed for some reason. I mean, yea they sucked, but it was substance, I don’t see why they were removed.

(Kaori1) #13

Skyhammer’s ability can ALMOST 1 shot the EV while Arty alone can only do about half the ev’s health in damage. Furthermore, Skyhammer has a much easier time using this ability offensively since it has such a wide explosive radius. Why is this still a thing?

(Hadouken) #14

Because Arty get’s two charges of his airstrike

(Cappe) #15

Because Arty get’s two charges of his airstrike[/quote]

2 strikes of Arty’s arty most of the time only do 75% damage on the EV. Arty’s arty clearly needs a buff or a rework, it’s too weak/bad in comparison to airstrike and laser. It’s also a lot harder call in arty, most of the time it’s high risk low reward.
Yesterday I played Proxy and survived a hit from arty, to me that says enough if you can’t be sure to even kill a Proxy with arty.

(Gi.Am) #16

Because Arty get’s two charges of his airstrike[/quote]

2 strikes of Arty’s arty most of the time only do 75% damage on the EV. Arty’s arty clearly needs a buff or a rework, it’s too weak/bad in comparison to airstrike and laser. It’s also a lot harder call in arty, most of the time it’s high risk low reward.
Yesterday I played Proxy and survived a hit from arty, to me that says enough if you can’t be sure to even kill a Proxy with arty.[/quote]

Skyhammers Airtstrike 1shots the EV, if you almost oneshot it you didn’t hit it right.

However Arty not only gets two charges he also has a cooldown of 20 sec. compaired to Skyhammers 60+.
One Artystrike deals 300 damage pretty much across the whole circle (technically the ability throws 3 bombs with an AOE of a fraggernade and 100 damage each randomly into the circle). The only way proxy (or Rhino) survives that is by not standing in the circle and only catching some splash outside of it.

The artystrike has the advantage if you need sustained damage, Artystrike you can pull out 1 per spawnwave no problem. In contrast Airtstrike once every 3. Want to hit different places quickly (say killing the EV repaircrew and an MG emplacement). Time it right you can throw 3 strikes on top of the C4 in its whole ticking duration (preventing 3 defuse attempts).

IMO the artystrike is fine. Yes its not as flashy as the laser or the bombing run. And the targeting is less then ideal, from time to time (tho mapknowledge and positioning elevates those problems quite alot).
But the range and damage is balanced nicely in respect to the other two abilities. It is more versatile more forgiving (tnx to the low cooldown) than both.

(Cappe) #17

Because Arty get’s two charges of his airstrike[/quote]

2 strikes of Arty’s arty most of the time only do 75% damage on the EV. Arty’s arty clearly needs a buff or a rework, it’s too weak/bad in comparison to airstrike and laser. It’s also a lot harder call in arty, most of the time it’s high risk low reward.
Yesterday I played Proxy and survived a hit from arty, to me that says enough if you can’t be sure to even kill a Proxy with arty.[/quote]

Skyhammers Airtstrike 1shots the EV, if you almost oneshot it you didn’t hit it right.

However Arty not only gets two charges he also has a cooldown of 20 sec. compaired to Skyhammers 60+.
One Artystrike deals 300 damage pretty much across the whole circle (technically the ability throws 3 bombs with an AOE of a fraggernade and 100 damage each randomly into the circle). The only way proxy (or Rhino) survives that is by not standing in the circle and only catching some splash outside of it.

The artystrike has the advantage if you need sustained damage, Artystrike you can pull out 1 per spawnwave no problem. In contrast Airtstrike once every 3. Want to hit different places quickly (say killing the EV repaircrew and an MG emplacement). Time it right you can throw 3 strikes on top of the C4 in its whole ticking duration (preventing 3 defuse attempts).

IMO the artystrike is fine. Yes its not as flashy as the laser or the bombing run. And the targeting is less then ideal, from time to time (tho mapknowledge and positioning elevates those problems quite alot).
But the range and damage is balanced nicely in respect to the other two abilities. It is more versatile more forgiving (tnx to the low cooldown) than both.[/quote]

They could fix it easy by:

  • adding a 3rd strike but longer cooldown (25-30 seconds)

  • better aiming + a point and click aimsystem (like ET)
    the spotter has a lot of problems just aiming at places that are strikable like on top of an EV, I keep asking myself for what reason can I not put an artystrike directly on top of an EV?? and because of that a moving EV can cancel your strike before you can cast it.
    the aim time for arty is really bad, making it fail or get you killed a lot, a point and click could solve that

  • more places where it can actually be used
    Every spot where an airstrike or laser can be used should also work for artystrikes.

(CCP115) #18

After playing Arty more and more, I have sort of gotten accustomed to him.
No longer do I want a rework, I just want a few changes:

-10 more health please, ranged harass, especially by the M4A1 is insane. Combined with aimpunch, how am I supposed to do my job?

-Better targeting. It’s a death wish to try and call down a strike on anything really, you have to be very sneaky about it to get anything done.

-Slightly larger radius, damage, and consistency. I have directly landed artillerys on a Nader before, and she wouldn’t die.

(Indefinite) #19

[quote=“extravagentBypass;54878”]After playing Arty more and more, I have sort of gotten accustomed to him.
No longer do I want a rework, I just want a few changes:

-10 more health please, ranged harass, especially by the M4A1 is insane. Combined with aimpunch, how am I supposed to do my job?

-Better targeting. It’s a death wish to try and call down a strike on anything really, you have to be very sneaky about it to get anything done.

-Slightly larger radius, damage, and consistency. I have directly landed artillerys on a Nader before, and she wouldn’t die.[/quote]
You want -10 health?! Really?! (Just kidding). His health is right on par with Skyhammer’s, a lot of using Arty right is playing him exactly like how his description describes - from the back, hiding behind a teammate or two. Putting his health up even higher, I think, would start to borderline make him a de facto, plug-and-chug (W + Mouse1) merc, and I prefer challenge of playing him instead.

I understand and have similar experiences with the frustration with the arty itself. I am opposed to switching to 3 charges with slower cooldown - I get the distinct impression SD intended for his arty to be a more persistent AOE vs Skyhammers’, but obviously with less affect per use.

As mentioned before and in other threads, I wish they’d make arty more like other ET’s. What I would rather wish for is that they leave it the way it is, but add two more ticks of damage per strike while increasing the total duration of the strike. This way, it’s still effective for burning down EVs, but also more of an area denial tool rather than the “Target and fire it, hoping you catch someone offguard and immobile” action.

(bontsa) #20

This is exactly how I’ve thought it too and I like the intention, but for the heck of it I cannot figure why would they then implement it so that taking slightest damage cancels the whole thing. It is fast to call in, I give it that, but it seems unreasonable. By using him in this free rotation has made me feel like everything let it be strafe bullets, flies hitting your pinky or having a memoiré of that one girl you didn’t have courage to ask out in high school, is enough for the artillery designator to go “nope” on you.