Lets talk about high experience level Sparks players.

(GottaBeGreg) #1

In Sparks current form, when a high experience level player enters the game who is adept at using her, this person becomes a goddess of life and death. As soon as you are in her line of sight, she headshots you and instantly downs you, all the whilst strafing at insane speeds and instantly healing whenever you manage to touch her. She instantly heals at every range and while she is doing this she is moving at insane speeds. She is broken for an experienced player to such a degree that she manages to compete with the two other insane high level characters, Fragger and Sniper, but with one crucial difference. Not only are her assault abilities insane, but she also has the abilities of a medic. This sends her over the threshold of balance and into the realm of being OP.

And to predict and rule off some of the responses that I know are coming, Stickies from Fletcher are irrelevant to a high level Sparks, who is busy speed demoning around the map, same goes for Nader and Fragger, a simple long jump and shes gone. Phantom is the same, her speed allows instant escape. Barring that, she can strafe at top speed in the game, so charging her Revive gun is not a problem, as she can do it around a corner then pop out and take down all bar two of the currently implemented mercs in a single shot. Please do not confuse what I am saying here. Sparks for an inexperienced, somewhat inaccurate player is balanced. I see that. But meet any of the life and death goddess players out there (eg. PJ Gunmetal for all you aus players) and you will probably agree with me. She is broken.

A simple proposal to fix this imbalance. When she strafes, her hipfire accuracy goes way down on her Revive gun. This way the guys who hit 95% of the headshots they go for are going to have to actually be vulnerable while they line up their one shot on their medic gun at any range further than a pennies throw.

Anyways, I shall now prepare for the backlash from all of the Sparks players out there who are all enjoying her constant buffs.

(gg2ez) #2

Being good is not being OP.

(SirSwag) #3

It’s certainly more the player than anything else. I’ve played with you plenty of times Greg and you’re constantly getting godly scores double the second person in the lobby. But I have to agree that someone who’s mastered sparks can carry a whole team to victory 90 percent of the time.

(GottaBeGreg) #4

gg2ez;
Thats not what Im saying. What I am saying is that the “godly” Sparks is more godly than any of the other mercs, even the insta gibbing assault mercs, or the insta gibbing recon mercs. Her potential exceeds all of the other mercs and the people who can tap that are making every other medic redundant, as she exceeds the assault potential of all of the other medics by a mile.

(XavienX) #5

@Vampwood

(gg2ez) #6

[quote=“GottaBeGreg;88932”]gg2ez;
Thats not what Im saying. What I am saying is that the “godly” Sparks is more godly than any of the other mercs, even the insta gibbing assault mercs, or the insta gibbing recon mercs. Her potential exceeds all of the other mercs and the people who can tap that are making every other medic redundant, as she exceeds the assault potential of all of the other medics by a mile.[/quote]

Well in that case yes, but why is that a problem? It takes ALOT of practice to unlock the maximum efficiency of any merc and Sparks is one of the harder mercs. If you train hard, you should expect results is my point.

(GottaBeGreg) #7

Did you miss the making every other medic redundant part? In fact, that was an understatement, she does a good job at making most of the other mercs assault abilities redundant. Also, Sparks is currently not that difficult a merc to get good with. Her med packs instantly heal herself and her revive gun is not difficult to use as a reviving tool. Barring that, her med gun overcharged does more than enough damage with merely a body shot, meaning you don’t even have to consistently hit the head. Even over using her Revive gun no longer has such a large drawback as they decreased the recharge further.

(gg2ez) #8

Sparks’ abilities do not make other mercs redundant. She throws down med-packs that heal a small amount of health to a single person. Phoenix’ healing pulse can heal all friendlies within range with one press of a button, not to mention, when confronted up close, Mac-Pistols are nothing compared to real SMGs like the KEK, Crotzni, and SMG9 - they’re even worse when compared to full auto ARs. Sawbonez med-packs can heal critically injured players with extremely low health right back up to a condition where they can fight at a reliable pace again.

Saying she makes assault classes redundant is stepping past the line of reasonability because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Sparks toss a Nade down a hallway and clear out the entire enemy team in one go. I also don’t think I’ve ever seen a Sparks call down an Airstrike, Orbital Strike, or Artillery Barrage and take out an EV either. A good Sparks is pretty much just a good Vassili that can’t instagib, penetrate shot, or detect enemies within range and can throw down med-packs.

A good Sparks is no better than a good Fragger, Sawbonez, or Vassili - each good at what they’re supposed to do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that a good Sparks is easy to kill, I’m just saying they’re on the same level as many other mercs when full potential is reached.

(Szakalot) #9

[quote=“gg2ez;88969”]
A good Sparks is no better than a good Fragger, Sawbonez, or Vassili - each good at what they’re supposed to do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that a good Sparks is easy to kill, I’m just saying they’re on the same level as many other mercs when full potential is reached. [/quote]

I agree, though I think a high level fragger would laugh at a high level sparks.

She can be meaningful on pubs where people don’t gib, and has very good poke ability, but put that sparks on the frontline against equally skilled opponents and she is done for. High level sparks REQUIRES at least semi-decent teammates to make an impact on the game, she can’t carry at all.

(uWotm8-AU) #10

gud players gonna be gud. doesn’t matter what merc.

(GottaBeGreg) #11

She isn’t done for. She two full charge shots a Fragger to the body and one shots anything else bar a Rhino to the head.
Concerning Fragger further, she is going to get one free hit on him by pre-charging and strafing the corner, perhaps even a headshot, taking out a massive chunk of health. Seeing as he is so reliant on other people, if the Fragger is not near a medic in this case he is nearly incapacitated from the fight, where as the Sparks has the ability to instantly heal herself back to near full, with an extra second for full.

Concerning Sawbonez he may be able to heal all teammates to full, but he is not able to instantly drop anyone to the floor who comes within his line of sight. This means that he is only ever going to be a second fiddle to the assault medic Sparks, who is out gunning the assault medic Phoenix in the fact that she puts people on the ground instantly, meaning that instead of being an effective two man medic-and-assault-char tag team for the win, its the one goddess team of one-second-the-medic-is-dead,-the-next-its-the-assault merc.

Concerning Vasilli, considering that his heartbeat sensor serves little effect on the tide of battle, the only massive plus you get over Sparks is the insta gib. I do realise the value of this and I cant see him dissappearing, however, Vasilli loses alot of his effectiveness as the range gets close, whereas Sparks does not. Also Vasilli is no healer. And no sprinter either. Nor is he a strafer.

As for the room clearing, she may not kill them all at once, but she wont have to wait for anything to recharge, not to mention she will kill anything almost instantly the second it pops its head into view. Just because she doesn’t have mini nukes doesn’t mean she cant wither away at the entire room one headshot at a time.

So currently, she is taking her top spot along with Fragger the nuclear maniac (Hmm, suits Dirty Bomb pretty well…) in being the most Meta trendy and broken merc out there. Allow me to predict who will likely be the winning team composition, in fact, in almost any team on a ladder. Fragger for assault, Sparks for medical and Assault, Sawbonez for med. It is unlikely to be anything other than this. It is also unlikely that the scoreboard will go in any order than Sparks or Fragger on top. Which is sad to me. Variety is the spice of life, and I hate to see unseasoned teams, but I think that with the current traits of these characters they are going to be completely mandatory.

(Szakalot) #12

yeah… no:

you’re making these imaginary scenarios where the opponent is just sitting there and taking it. Two full charged shots you say? thats like 5-6sec preparation, provided you don’t miss. In the meantime fragger will blow you up with the nade, or get the 5-6 bodyshots needed to take you down.

If sparks was so OP we would see teams of 5 sparks, or a mandatory spark in high level competitive play (we are talkinga bout high level players, right?). The only time I ever saw sparks picked was when there is 1merc rule in place, and map does not favor aura very well.

There is no denial that a high-skilled sparks can be a massive influence on a pub server, but so are many other high-skilled mercs.

(Amerika) #13

A high level Fragger does laugh at a high level Sparks and I can’t think of anybody who would disagree with this that has played as either. You know how you beat a Sparks or even a Vassili with a Moa going for mostly headshots? Varied movement and walljumps. Unpredictable movement will make you win out almost all of the time, especially against a Sparks, if the Sparks tries to stand and fight. All good Sparks players run in that situation because it will boil down to them getting a lucky shot with the Revivr or trying to take on an M4/K121/Kek/Crotzni with a rather meh Emp9 and paper thin HP.

(gg2ez) #14

@Szakalot a good Fragger laughs at almost any other good merc. My point was that Sparks is not anything special when it comes to potential.

(Matuno) #15

[quote=“gg2ez;88937”][quote=“GottaBeGreg;88932”]gg2ez;
Thats not what Im saying. What I am saying is that the “godly” Sparks is more godly than any of the other mercs, even the insta gibbing assault mercs, or the insta gibbing recon mercs. Her potential exceeds all of the other mercs and the people who can tap that are making every other medic redundant, as she exceeds the assault potential of all of the other medics by a mile.[/quote]

Well in that case yes, but why is that a problem? It takes ALOT of practice to unlock the maximum efficiency of any merc and Sparks is one of the harder mercs. If you train hard, you should expect results is my point. [/quote]

You keep posting “x merc is not OP” in every thread, while you don’t exactly realise what the discussion is actually about.

In the case of Sparks, her POTENTIAL of effectively becoming a powerful sniper while at the same time reviving people before they touch the ground (revive gun hit quirkiness permitting), is quite a bit beyond other mercs’ abilities.

I agree that there should be mercs that are hard to master, and rewarding if you do. But in the case of Sparks, quick strafing/high damage/pinpoint accuracy is a combination that’s far too strong in the right hands. One of those things needs a nerf.

(gg2ez) #16

[quote=“Matuno;89110”][quote=“gg2ez;88937”][quote=“GottaBeGreg;88932”]gg2ez;
Thats not what Im saying. What I am saying is that the “godly” Sparks is more godly than any of the other mercs, even the insta gibbing assault mercs, or the insta gibbing recon mercs. Her potential exceeds all of the other mercs and the people who can tap that are making every other medic redundant, as she exceeds the assault potential of all of the other medics by a mile.[/quote]

Well in that case yes, but why is that a problem? It takes ALOT of practice to unlock the maximum efficiency of any merc and Sparks is one of the harder mercs. If you train hard, you should expect results is my point. [/quote]

You keep posting “x merc is not OP” in every thread, while you don’t exactly realise what the discussion is actually about.[/quote]

@Matuno OK, voicing out my opinion is something that I can be called out upon now. Great!

Read closely. I don’t understand what part of my posting makes you think I have no clue about what’s going on or if you just like making sh*t up and placing it on random people, but you shouldn’t pin that on me especially when there are multiple other people agreeing with my point. I guess all those other people are wrong too huh?

Just because I disagree with you does not mean I do not understand what is going on, and if you’re pissy about the fact that I disagreed with you, learn to deal with it people disagree with you in life.

I don’t know about you but I like being in the majority opinion.

[quote=“Matuno;89110”]In the case of Sparks, her POTENTIAL of effectively becoming a powerful sniper while at the same time reviving people before they touch the ground (revive gun hit quirkiness permitting), is quite a bit beyond other mercs’ abilities.

I agree that there should be mercs that are hard to master, and rewarding if you do. But in the case of Sparks, quick strafing/high damage/pinpoint accuracy is a combination that’s far too strong in the right hands. One of those things needs a nerf.[/quote]

Reply:

[quote=“Szakalot;89032”]yeah… no:

you’re making these imaginary scenarios where the opponent is just sitting there and taking it. Two full charged shots you say? thats like 5-6sec preparation, provided you don’t miss. In the meantime fragger will blow you up with the nade, or get the 5-6 bodyshots needed to take you down.

If sparks was so OP we would see teams of 5 sparks, or a mandatory spark in high level competitive play (we are talkinga bout high level players, right?). The only time I ever saw sparks picked was when there is 1merc rule in place, and map does not favor aura very well.

There is no denial that a high-skilled sparks can be a massive influence on a pub server, but so are many other high-skilled mercs.[/quote]

Thank you for your concern @Matuno

(sentimentalDime) #17

@Matuno @GottaBeGreg I really don’t get you guys’ logic, so just cause we have a handful of really skilled players, means that we should gimp every single player who likes to use Sparks?

(gg2ez) #18

You just said it all right there.

(watsyurdeal) #19

She’s in a pretty good spot imo

Very ballsy choice considering that her REVIVR is all she has going for her.

Her med packs are ass compared to Sawbonez, Machine Pistols just aren’t as good as SMGs, period, and her health pool is low…so low a fucking sneeze from Rhino will kill you.

But that REVIVR makes up for it for not only being a great Sniping tool, but literally the most borderline op revive. Reviving from any distance, full health revives even, that shit is amazing, A M A Z I N G.

It’s almost borderline broken but her downsides make up for it. Plus Fragger makes a huge impact as well since his nades gib.

(ostmustis) #20

if she plays against a sick vassili she doesnt have anything to revive…

I can agree on that her revive seems a bit too strong and shouldnt provide as much hp as the pads do but I might be a little biased since i dont like playing her.