Hey SD, since you know Phantom is broken:

(Press E) #41

@Darkwolf3802 said:

@STARRYSOCK said:

@Brycko said:
people are playing him less out of a) respect for other players on the server (at least in Europe), b) because of the bad stigma Phantom players get and c) people have stopped playing him because he’s low skill, high reward, and people aren’t find that low risk, high reward gameplay fun.

Not to mention a lot of people had taken a break from the game until he was fixed because they find him annoying to fight against, and they don’t like to constantly spam the same complaint with little to no indication that it might have any affect on the game

They could always play ranked, where phantom doesnt exist

There are a lot of people who hate ranked even more than they hate phantom, lol

(martha_smith) #42

@STARRYSOCK said:

There are a lot of people who hate ranked even more than they hate phantom, lol

though ranked matches are still more enjoying than 8 vs 8 …

(geefunkster) #43

Haven’t been back yet. Doesn’t sound promising.

(JonBongNoJovi) #44

About Phantom - main reason i’m considering quitting the game .

(HauniHaunted) #45

@martha_smith said:
phantom ain’t broken ,

but if you can see him while cloaked , then his ability is of no use…

That happens if you can only see black and white. I think that it is okay to spot him the way it is now, but what i would wish for is stuff like a higher cooldown or to gain better vision on him when he gets damage, I mean he still has a gun to shoot with, so he does not need to get into meele combat with everyone, so spotting him should result in some kind of reward.

And yes, he is broken. It is absolutely no challange to get lots of kills with him and there is no merc where I get even close to the kills/minute that i get with him. And it is just annoying to play against that, especially when your merc gets oneshotted by him.

(Rokon2) #46

Does anyone know when Phantom’s fixes are going live?

(Teflon Love) #47

@Rokon2 said:
Does anyone know when Phantom’s fixes are going live?

There was a fine tuning update on Monday. That seems to be the closest thing to a fix we get for now.

(Darkwolf3802) #48

@Rokon2 said:
Does anyone know when Phantom’s fixes are going live?

Its already live. Big change no?

(B_Montiel) #49

@woodchip said:

@Szakalot said:
regardless of how balanced phantom is (in 5v5, its probably still way too weak a pick), its just not so much fun to have multiple phantoms on both teams going pure katana sprinting at enemy team to get a stab or two at the light mercs.

Phantom could be pretty close to ‘fun’ though if sprinting/running speeds were easier to spot (much closer to pre-hunter patch levels), and the slower moving speeds were super/completely invisible. ATM. Phantom can just charge at the enemy team, and as is the case on pubs, the background chaos will provide them enough cover to just show up ontop of aura station and smack people to bits. Its hardly powerful but not so much fun to play against either. Definitely a newbie-basher merc though, thats gonna keep putting more and more newcomers off the game.

This is so right. A Phantom that is good enough at stealth to be a strong pick in competitive would have to be insane. A 110 HP SMG merc with a fiddly answer to Aura stations is not very close to good enough to take the assault spot over a Fragger or something.

If he can be spotted even 25% of the time by good players that’s enough to make him super weak as a competitive pick.

But if he’s spotted less than 25% of the time by good players, he’s free killing casuals with Katana almost every time he presses Q.

In my view, Phantom is not the only merc who suffers from the “not fun and fair to play against in pub while not viable in a skilled 5vs5 setup” effect : Javelin, Proxy, Rhino, and to a lesser extent Kira.

And the almost opposite “strong in skilled setup but pretty meh in pub” also exists (Red Eye, Sparks, the current iteration of fragger, etc…)

(Rokon2) #50

@Darkwolf3802 said:

@Rokon2 said:
Does anyone know when Phantom’s fixes are going live?

Its already live. Big change no?

LOL, I genuinely cannot tell the difference.

(Darkwolf3802) #51

@Rokon2 said:

@Darkwolf3802 said:

@Rokon2 said:
Does anyone know when Phantom’s fixes are going live?

Its already live. Big change no?

LOL, I genuinely cannot tell the difference.

Ikr. it doesnt change the fact hes op, can attack while invis so by the time hes decloaked ur down already, can emp deployables every 10sec making them pointless and doesnt req any skill to use. He doesnt fit in Dirty Bomb and Phantom is just driving ppl away from the game.

(geefunkster) #52

So SD leaves Phantom broken for weeks instead or reverting, only to release a half-ass tweak that they immediately admit was insufficient? Disappointing, glad I’ve stayed away.

Maybe the difficulty in balancing Phantom should cause you guys to pause for thought regarding the viability of a merc like Phantom in DB.

Again:

In a game based on fast, head-on combat, what’s the value of a merc designed to directly avoid head-on combat?

Who needs a merc that specializes in flanking, when it should be a high-risk, high-reward activity anyway?

Are you sure you can really get a stupid idea merc like Phantom to a point where he’s viable in both casual and competitive, is competitive against more gun-focused mercs, is fun to play as as well as against and makes good use of stealth and flanking advantages without being unfair?

I personally enjoy the speed, movement and combat of Dirty Bomb but couldn’t care less for the special abilities. I hear Blizzard makes a little game for people who want ability spamming. I can’t speak for anyone else, but the more you choose to focus on these abilities and things like mercs specializing in basically cowardly avoiding direct combat, the less inclined to play I will be.

(kopyright) #53

@geefunkster said:
Maybe the difficulty in balancing Phantom should cause you guys to pause for thought regarding the viability of a merc like Phantom in DB.

Removal isn’t an option since they would have to compensate players who have already spent real monies on skins or loadouts, so constantly fixing him is the only viable path at this point.

(Mr.Cuddlesworth) #54

So much in this thread.
Just take away his primaries or replace them with the baby smgs, or make him a bit more visible while running.

(l2c) #55

.> @geefunkster said:

I personally enjoy the speed, movement and combat of Dirty Bomb but couldn’t care less for the special abilities. I hear Blizzard makes a little game for people who want ability spamming. I can’t speak for anyone else, but the more you choose to focus on these abilities and things like mercs specializing in basically cowardly avoiding direct combat, the less inclined to play I will be.

DB has had abilities all along. If you started playing thinking they’d remove them or stop adding them, your displeasure with DB is all on you. I hear id makes a little game for people who wants to shoot and run.

(watsyurdeal) #56

Half the problems with Phantom come down to the fact that an invisible guy who can one shot you out of cloak is broken.

They ought to look at how cloak was done in Blacklight Retribution anf BF2142, where it was treated as a seperate piece of gear you switch to and activate, therefore making attacking while cloaked impossible.

(D'@athi) #57

At least Phantom is a good excuse, so nobody really thinks about it and finds out, people are leaving because of bad … ehm … no balance and tons of laggers/scripters/cheaters. I like him.

(Press E) #58

@kopyright said:

@geefunkster said:
Maybe the difficulty in balancing Phantom should cause you guys to pause for thought regarding the viability of a merc like Phantom in DB.

Removal isn’t an option since they would have to compensate players who have already spent real monies on skins or loadouts, so constantly fixing him is the only viable path at this point.

Tbh they’ve fucked over players who spent real money in the past. And unlike those times, considering we could actually benefit from this fucking over, I really wouldn’t mind it.

Imo, he really should be removed temporarily until SD figures out how to actually deal with him. Yeah, it might piss off a few obsidian card buyers who want easy kills, but considering how many new players I’ve seen getting pissed off in the in-game chat, I think it would be more than worth it.

I bought his first obsidian even, crafted a lot of cards for him and all around used to love playing him. But as he is now, it’s just so unsatisfying that I avoid him altogether.

(Szakalot) #59

@STARRYSOCK said:

I bought his first obsidian even, crafted a lot of cards for him and all around used to love playing him. But as he is now, it’s just so unsatisfying that I avoid him altogether.

yup, Phantom was a lot of fun on pubs: I only played one kek loadout with the knife, using him for flanks and playing for peeks.

Current iteration just feels too cheap to play.

(JShug07) #60

And I thought DB was a Sci Fi FPS game and there you have it, Phantom.