Does Phantom need a rework/buff to capture his original play style, or a new one ?

(GabebutGood) #1

Phantom on release was a absolute monster, due to how Refractive armor worked. Phantom seemed to be a melee focused merc, currently hes a bit lacking/out of place. Do you think theres a way to buff/rework Phantom to capture a melee focused play style, or a new play style similar to his current play style?

I personally think Phantom is interesting, however I feel hes out of place/doesn’t feel very good to play.

Possibly making his invisibility a passive that remains on all the time expect when firing/taking dmg I saw this idea in earlier thread by @TheStrangerous , this would be a interesting change however iam not sure it would solve any problems.

(Dawnlazy) #2

He’s not that bad right now. If there’s one thing I’d change is to separate the EMP from the cloak and turn it into a grenade.

(GatoCommodore) #3

swap red eye’s grandeur with phantom’s blishlok

(MarsRover) #4

An EMP nade would instantle make him a fun to play merc for me.

(Szakalot) #5

phantom was weak sauce even at release.

very good pubtroll merc though

(TheStrangerous) #6

If they get his EMP grenade right, then this might be enough to make Phantom great.
The cloak can wait, they either can experiment or just use TF2 spy cloak mechanic, which seems work just fine as it is.

(GabebutGood) #7

@GatoCommodore said:
swap red eye’s grandeur with phantom’s blishlok

that could actually be really fun.

(watsyurdeal) #8

Give me an emp nade

(kopyright) #9

I like the idea of a throwable nade. Half the fun of playing Vas is hiding the heartbeat sensor in spots the enemy players can’t reach to annoy the hell out of them.

(Cgz27) #10

I saw this type of comment before but after something similar again in a recent game
“If phantom didnt emp my health stations I wouldnt have noticed him” so im thinking…

As many others suggested,

Separate EMP skill from his cloak.

Also allow him to use EMP out of cloak.
Of course EMP will get a cooldown (maybe 7-12 seconds depending on number of disables per usage)

This rewards good timing.

edit:

As an example,
disabling turrets and health stations etc. just before your teammates arrive or
cancelling a fletcher sticky mid-air during a fight

(Perhaps activating the EMP could also use up 2 seconds of your remaining cloak duration if you’re cloaked during if its too strong)

p.s
Actually now that I think about it, it seems kind of OP to be able to just turn a corner into a turtle shield/turret/station/mine and disable it/them… on sight LUL
or to waste it on a heartbeat sensor just to keep hidden hehe

(Cgz27) #11

Ok new suggestion,
I see many like the idea of an EMP grenade which sounds cool but still seems a little off to me.

I think a better idea would be to give Phantom a device that requires you to place your crosshair on the device you wanna disable perhaps like an advanced smartphone app haha.
Makes you put in some effort in disabling and you get to control when its disabled.

~

EMP Device
Target a deployable within 10m and hold E for 1 second to disable it. Can be used while cloaked.

~

Downside would be that you’d have to have insane reaction time and precise aim to cancel Fletcher stickies mid flight lul, so the targeting reticule of the device could be a square ( 1.5x crosshair size ) to compensate

(Mr-Penguin) #12

Stupid idea, but giving Phantom long-ranged rifles like the Dreiss and GSR like he was originally conceived with (early art shows him with a FEL-IX) makes the obvious shortcomings of his cloak at close range much less apparent.

(Reddeadcap) #13

Without a doubt EMP nade, and maybe a reverse “reviving teammate” mechanic as I’ve mentioned a few times that would detect every enemy in the map, but for a really short duration.

(Mr-Penguin) #14

@Reddeadcap said:
and maybe a reverse “reviving teammate” mechanic as I’ve mentioned a few times that would detect every enemy in the map, but for a really short duration.
Comms Hack?

Did somebody say Comms Hack?

I would think that the duration of such an ability would have to be a little longer than"really short" to merit standing still during an active firefight.

(Reddeadcap) #15

@Mr-Penguin said:

@Reddeadcap said:
and maybe a reverse “reviving teammate” mechanic as I’ve mentioned a few times that would detect every enemy in the map, but for a really short duration.
Comms Hack?

Did somebody say Comms Hack?

I would think that the duration of such an ability would have to be a little longer than"really short" to merit standing still during an active firefight.

Suggested a short duration because most people have said it would other wise be over powered.
It’s based off an ability in Splash Damage’s last game, Brink.
Basically by interacting with a downed enemy an operative could show every enemy’s location.
maybe a long cooldown while the ability has a long lasting effect.
like I’ve said before it would fit the “Don’t trust him with your phone.” part of his bio and it could serve as the opposite of the other Recons, exposing Phantom for a while but offering a lot of Intel for it.

(Szakalot) #16

emp nade is the way to go, simple, easy to put in ( we already had emp-conc nade); no BS

(Cgz27) #17

That detection idea is really interesting and gives him a spotting mechanic like the other recons :open_mouth:

Although showing everyone at once is a little strong, maybe a scanning shockwave radar type thing travelling outward from the enemy you interacted with, otherwise the duration of being spotted could short like a second.

(Cgz27) #18

I think it might be cooler if he could shoot an EMP nade from his arm rather then him actually throwing it,

(Cgz27) #19

There are so many good suggestions I feel bad for whoever has to decide on what Phantom ultimately gets lol.

(TheStrangerous) #20

Only 1 month left 'til balance changes.
Can’t wait for this whole Phantom balance debate to be over (or will it be the new beginning?).

Anyway I gotta say, it was a nice time discussing his balance, but all good things must come to an end. The upcoming balance patch will bring a whole new age to DB. Plus I hope they give Phantom reasonable gen 3 cards with KNIVES. Katana in every gen 2 was a clear fan pandering ;p