[QUOTE=PixelTwitch;515243]
In a strange way I feel like these ideas are just buffing current synergies…
FO already slightly reduce Ability cool down on direct hits.
Medics also heal quicker throwing a pack on a direct hit.
Medics revive you with respawn protection.
Recons already make calling in Air Strikes more accurate.
Assaults (Fragger, Thunder and Rhino) are already meat shields that offer much more then 8hp more to Aura.
Now, I get these are the easiest to implement but I just hope for much smaller yet more impactful changes.[/QUOTE]
That was sort of the plan actually. I figured that it would be the best chance of being considered if it involved tying together current systems. I do think it would be an improvement, especially on the current patch. Big hitting abilities would be less frequent in this system, but when they did happen it would be the result of an organized effort. While it does seem to encourage 5 man group pushes, that’s not entirely reason for it to happen. Split pushes would still be completely viable, though you would have to think out pairings. The assault+medic will always be an appealing combo, but the recon/fops would still be very capable at providing necessary support in a split. So what these types of synergies would effectively accomplish would be expanding on archetype roles within the team in the sense that there were discernible benefits to cooperative play between mercs and overall positioning strategy.
So basically it would be pushing the archetype roles further in the sense that better team play would output greater ability impact;
Engineer: obj centric, ability buffing (in terms of amount/radius), anti-heal.
Recon: scouting, ability buffing (in terms of stat output, raw dmg/rates), anti-mechanical.
FOPS: Resupply, ability cool down reduction, anti-detection.
Assault: Push leader, damage absorption, anti-artillery.
Medic: Healer, momentum sustain, anti-debuff.
I wouldn’t be so determined to dismantle an entirely theoretical example of how this system could work, but I’ll give my thoughts. Really I don’t view any of these roles creating overly appealing combos or alienating mercs. The example of a medic and a rhino only seems overly powerful because his weapon is too easy to use already for the hp benefit. Still it could be easily countered by a number of strategies or approaches, not to mention nullifying the mini-gun entirely with the use of the immunity counter-ability and the full support medic with something like augmented sticky bombs. If it was a healing station, you could simply attempt to destroy it before a full on engagement. In a typical 1v2 engagement, a perfectly played support medic would still only allow for up to 30 some hp to be returned via vampirsm per killed player, which could easily come in the form of regen instead of instant return- not to say that values or durations can’t be balanced either. Spawn shields would not stack with the effect either, as they are canceled upon shooting. In the case of the 3 medic mercs we have, a station would offer more continual benefit but be limited by its static and vulnerable nature, while a pack would give additional instant hp returns from direct hits and be more mobile, and finally the phoenix aura being a medium of the two with the AoE and mobility. So even though they all function under a uniform synergy, the way they actually work in action would be entirely different.
For a quick recap on the other listed ideas. The engineer friendly augment would essentially buff half of an ability, like AoE radius or capacity, but only for inventoried items on a limited number of players at a time. The recon intel would involve spotting players and marking them with detection, which would buff the other half of abilities by allowing abilities within the vicinity of or used upon them to have a higher output in terms of raw stats, like more damage, bigger heals, faster rates, etc. The FOPS resupply would involve keeping everyone stocked on ammo, which would have a subsequent effect on reducing ability cool downs so that they could be used more frequently. Whenever you were full on ammo, your abilities would be recharging something like 20% faster and let’s say that rate would degrade linearly to the normal rate once you hit 50% capacity. Direct hits could offer an additional 10% (with a total max of 30% cdr) to top it off. The assault meat shield aura is pretty self explanatory.
With a limit of 5 players per team things can get really interesting. If you run a full highlander comp, then you’ll have all of the potential benefits, but you’ll only be able to augment two players abilities at a time. Then you’ll need to make sure that your recon is properly positioned in order to gain the second half of the ability buff, and ensure that the FOPS is able to resupply afterwards. If the abilities hit successfully, then maybe you’d run your assault in the lead, and perhaps you had your engineer augment his meat shield aura. Meanwhile the medic would be keeping everyone resupplied. Then again everything could take a wild swing in the moment if the other team retaliated with counter abilities, turning it into a pure gun fight in that specific moment. Then again you might choose to have a completely different combination of mercs in order to make a certain synergy more available for the entire team. Then when you consider how unique merc tools function under these synergies it furthers the possibilities. I just see it as a very simple first step with a lot of appealing repercussions that just don’t exist at the moment.