So before I start I realised I wrote this to the devs so keep that in mind when reading. Also if you don’t agree with something please tell me what part (and don’t say all of it).
So I have 2 changes that I think would make Javelin a more balanced character. One is an objective buff the other is a re-work but hear me out here. So my first change is to remove the one second delay between Javelin giving ammo to players. Currently when playing in a casual match people don’t tend to stand close enough to me for more than 2 or at maximum 3 seconds and in this time I gives them about a mag of ammo but that doesn’t feel like your being given any ammo when you receive ammo from a Javelin. Second and the biggest change: guided mode. I think the guided mode should have a 45 second cool-down after this change. The change is a new (two second) animation where she angles her rocket launcher into the air and fires. At this point, it changes to a first person view of the rocket. In this view you can control the rockets speed, direction and height. This allows for a clear path for Javelin. As for counters: phantoms emp destroys the rocket instantly. Guardian has a clear audio cue of the charge-up regardless of Javelin’s or Guardian’s location. Also the earlier mentioned cool-down increase and long charge animation balance this out. Not to mention Javelin’s vulnerability whist guiding (You should probably make it so if Javelin is killed so is her rocket).
Hi just wanted to ask what you think about my Javelin rework idea?
nah
javelin right now is already too much of a hassle to aim the rockets and even more of a hassle if you use guided mode
if you lock javelin shooting the rocket into an animation it would feel very restrictive and restrictiveness is the last thing you want to have in this game. (even rhino is still allowed to walk or even wall jump when spinning minigun)
I like the idea of removing ammo delay- its true, no one really has the time to stand near me and wait till the ammo is full (and mostly, I would have to stand still for that, too).
But I think your idea with the change of view makes Javelin too vulnerable. I got the impression, in DB you cant really afford to stand in a corner and not be able to defend- its a fast-paced shooter, and to stand somewhere near the enemy with no possibility to defent themselves is just beeing a shooting dummy.
I think it balances out since you would be able to send out a rocket from far away.
so thank you guys so much for your feedback. I do see the Javelin change on the would break her and thank you for your feed back on this change.
I am going to send these as my recommended tweaks to Javelin to S.D. If there is anything you disagree with me on please state what it is and why you disagree and if possible what you would change to fix that issue . if you don’t think it’s an issue please state that. I want to get a good range of feedback so I can talk to splash damage and I can show the views of the community. (if you don’t mind me quoting you as well to add to my evidence. atm it’s just anecdotal experience). Also, if there is any further tweaks to add to mine please state them. One last thing before I get to my changes: if you can think of any kind of way for her counters to be 1) more clear (e.g. Javelin knows when ammo is disabled by the voice on her rocket telling her or saying error.) and 2) more powerful or weaker (e.g. larger charge up audio on the rocket to guardian or something like that). So what I have so far:
please note this may not be applicable in future so to keep everything clear. This was written on Wednesday the tenth of January 2018.
Why is Javelin broken:
yes, she is broken not overpowered or underpowered. Let’s get this out of the way: her rocket needs a fix or rework. I think if she was more aimed towards objective play and support play. She would be more balanced. I feel the way it is designed, it would fit better on an assault character. If it were reworked to be more objective based and still combat based but not as much as it is now. Also, her ammo doesn’t feel right yet. It needs to work differently in my opinion.
My ideas and changes:
change 1) remove the one-second delay before she gives ammo to other players. a simple and an easy change. This allows for her ammo ability to be a nice “mid-fight” “top-up”. Meaning she could keep her team firing before they fall back to an ammo station/pack(s). This wouldn’t be overpowered as people rarely stand close enough to get ammo from me for 2 seconds and at max 3. This mean Javelin would give 2-3 ticks of ammo rather than 1-2 ticks.
change 2) make Javelin give two-thirds of a mag per second. Again, another simple yet effective change. Paired with the last change, this would make her ammo generator better giving 1 and a third of a mag in 2 seconds compared to a half mag. The two changes let her give out more ammo in less time (as no one stands close to me for long enough). To clarify make her get 2 thirds from her own generator every 24 seconds (recharge makes this 20 seconds). This isn’t op as it still allows for ammo stations to be viable and also make javelin’s ammo viable.
change 3) make her rocket take out a full health generator in 1 direct hit or 2 splash hits (in the aoe reduce the damage after this). Also, make her rocket deal 66% of an ev’s health on direct hit and 33% on splash (in the aoe reduce after this). This isn’t op as it makes her more objective based. I think Javelin would be better if she was rewarded for objective play.
change 4) I think you should make Javelin’s rocket deal 350 damage on direct hit. this means Thunder can survive a direct contact (down but not gibbed) and rhino wouldn’t be instagibbed regardless of unshakeable. This reduces her gibbing potential and therefore her combat potential. Also, to reduce her combat capability further, make it so that thunder with unshakeable and rhino regardless of unshakable survive within the aoe (180 damage). Just a side note it would also not gib Pheonix meaning he could potentially self-revive
Well, I played some jav recently. I killed a lot but not with her rocket. rocket is now bullshti.
it is so slow, everyone can evade it. guided mode is a joke anyway and just can be used in gimmicky situaitons.
a stronger rocket with a higher cool down would be the thing imo.
I don’t have a problem with her way of giving ammo. now she shines the most with topping-off ammo, not completely refilling like real fire supports can. so i am afraid, that changes 1+2 are only in the sense of a real fire support class. at the moment, she can sustain everyone else’s ammo, but not herselve’s.
considering your change 3: I am all in for that one.
but for change 4, you have to think from the POV from small mercs. it is super annoying to be instagibbed when the rocket doesn’t even hit you at all. so if you make it powerfull enough for high hp mercs, then low hp mercs will be killed by-the-way because of splash.
but considering her ammo ability: as mentioned in other threads, an active ability like phoenix would be cool. but that would be problematic in the sense, that she could probably self-sustain with ammo - a feature they probably explicitly not want in the merc’s design.
I currently like Javelin where she is, but there is one gripe i have with the rocket: I can’t tell how far along the rocket is traveling. Maybe with practice I’ll get better with it, but I was thinking of more of a QOL addition to her rocket, where there’s a line or something similar at the bottom of the rocket to the ground that shows me how far along the ground the rocket is traveling, where only I can see it. I think it would be great for guided mode where you want to curve rockets, it would serve a nice reference for you.