[MERC]: Syx

(TheGreatHoundini) #1

“Know the name. Know the number.”

Type: Assault

Primaries: ARX-160 with ACOG (unique), M4A1, Stark AR, Remburg 7
Secondaries: M9, Selbstadt 40, DE .50
Melee: Stilnotto Stilleto

Sex: F
Health: 96
Sprint: 476
Arm: 6s
Defuse: 6s

Backstory: Syx is a former Russian spy contracted by GH Research under its Quantum Six product program. The Quantum Six is a wrist-mounted Time-Dilation actualizer which alters the time frame of the wearer relative to surroundings. Not really a time machine, rumor has it the Quantum Six is either a failed attempt at Time Travel, or the result of a massive budget cut on what was intended to be a Time Machine, the Quantum Six is being marketed by GH as “Unobtrusive Temporal Body Armor”.

Initially offered to VIP’s around the world as a means of getting income after the Dirty Bomb incident outside London, many found the device’s asking price too expensive. Max Bashki was among those who turned the product down - a decision he would not live to regret.

With no potential buyers, and as a Marketing tool to show off the capabilities of the device to would-be buyers, GH Research enlisted the beautiful and glamorous Syx to serve as both the Quantum Six’s test wearer as well as its spokesmodel.

Syx sees it all as a golden opportunity, earning income both in missions as a Merc or away from it strutting GH’s latest in “timeless fashion”.

Special Ability: Phase Mode (Cool Down: 16 seconds)
Armed with a Quantum Phase device, Syx is able to bend time slightly for a duration of 6 seconds by activating Phase mode.

In Phase Mode, Syx appears like a half-visible ghost to the enemy (not invisible at all, just faded and blurred).

While Phase is active, Syx’s Sprint speed is boosted to 600 while other movement speeds (Walk, ADS, Melee) are all increased by a considerable amount. Due to Phase effects loosening her molecular density slightly, she takes damage at 60% reduction while in Phase Mode. At the same time, enemy bullets penetrate her body in Phase mode and will harm any friendlies behind Syx at 40% damage.

Another effect of Phase Mode is that head damage and other multipliers are disabled for Syx for the duration of the ability.

Syx can perform objectives while in Phase mode without Phase disengaging, but not being an Objective Specialist, she cannot do objectives any faster than 6 seconds.

Phase Mode also “bleeds” into vehicles Syx is riding in. EV’s with Syx in the turret chair while she is in Phase Mode will run at maximum speed (as if it is escorted by the maximum number of mercs) for the duration of Phase Mode remaining when Syx climbed into the EV.

Phase Mode cannot be disengaged once active.

Pros:
-Syx is useful for storming entrenched Snipers and rushing back into the action.
-Syx can be useful for clutch situations, but mostly to pave the way for Objective Specialists or to serve as a distraction to help Support Specialists achieve setup.
-Syx can help break-up entrenched enemies and objective blockades and flanking enemy positions in short bursts.
-Very good clutch use for EV-related objectives means she is not a simple Assault unit but can actively help Objectives.

Cons:
-Long activation time for ability.
-Syx is not as useful in bodyguarding as enemy bullets go through her body.
-Low HP means that Syx is fragile by default.

(TheGreatHoundini) #2

ARX-160 with ACOG: A modified version of the Beretta ARX-160. It fires a laser accurate 3-shot burst before cycling up to an RPM of 860 with very high recoil.

Tap fire for laser accuracy, or hold down the trigger for deadly spray in close quarters. The ACOG provides 4x zoom and allows for long distance options or tightening cone of fire and recoil when used with aim-down-sights.

(Dysfnal) #3

Almost 100 health with the speed of a 70 hp merc, a bit unbalanced

(TheGreatHoundini) #4

But Mercs like Proxy have 90 HP… but are no good for “Clutch Raids” against entrenched defenders… Most things being equal (and factoring in that entrenched defenders are probably using tankier classes).

Then again, considering the 60% damage reduction in Phase Mode, maybe Syx could do with 86 HP but in exchange for a higher default movement speed outside of Phase Mode?

In clutch situations you see Attackers start to commit to Proxy or other Engies because if the clock is running down that’s all you have time for: Raid and Arm/Defuse/Deliver. Defenders will start using Fragger, Thunder, or Medics. This is the stage actually where some DB matches “die” and players get frustrated.

Syx is supposed to be ideal for situations like that. But at the same time, Syx isn’t meant to be a free Get Out of Jail card. She’s only meant to keep the game “alive”.

She’s meant to be a light Kiting-style Raider who can turn the match on a dime… IF you timed the Phase Mode correctly…because it can run out at the worst of times… AND you’re actually pretty good in a pinch (you’ll still die pretty quickly even with Phase Mode on). The idea is not to face-tank a Fragger when in Phase Mode, but to have a chance of just outboxing one such defender to create the opening.

The idea is that if you’re playing as Syx but find that after a last-minute raid that you’re the one left standing… you actually have some chance of saving the objective. Being just a shave quicker at objectives than normal assault guys some of the time can enhance gameplay.

(Naonna) #5

It’s phantom but faster and with more application. - Can we just fix phantom?

(Calling phantom invisible at this point isn’t an option unless he’s standing still, so as per your description, he’s a smudge while moving. Phantom’s armor reduces damage already, but not as a percentage.)

I’ll leave the broken part of ‘no counter play in terms of objectives’ argument out, since i felt that was a given. - if you can’t stop the character from playing objectives, dafuq are you supposed to do? just give up? - adding speed to EV’s would be painful. remember that there’s a minigun on those things.

What would a game look like with this merc on free rotation?

All stuff to consider.

(HunterAssassin5) #6

no, EVs don’t have miniguns, they have single barrel machine guns, not that it makes much of a difference since both minigun and single barrel machinegun overhead and more or less the same rate, even though miniguns/modern gatling guns were made SPECIFICALLY so they don’t overheat but thats a different argument alotgether

and since i want to post that, i guess ill have to comment on the merc as well.

oh lord, i didnt read the ideas before writing the above, but now that i did, oh my god this is broken.

the ability to push the EV at max speed? no headshot multiplier in addition to reduced damage taken? increased speed across the board? ability to do objectives while in Phase mode? seriously?

(TheGreatHoundini) #7

Actually… I just wanted a Merc that would be great to counteract parts of Dirty Bomb that are not fun (and can kill enthusiasm for the game)… primarily when your team are just no good and the enemies have resorted to Spawn Camping and crowding the EV or objectives.

I believe there should be a Gameplay Feature/Merc that puts paid to that situation and forces enemies to go back to playing their objective rather than Spawn Camping or setting up a more elaborate defense rather than camping on objectives.

Every game has something that forces a gameplay adjustment against strong opposition… and it’s always something a bit OP… Like Juggernaut Armor, KEM Strikes… There’s always something that ensures you can just about turn the tables even momentarily so enemies cannot just camp all the time or just press on their advantage without retribution.

It has to be OP for a short duration for that reason.

But hey… That’s just my opinion.

(yesser) #8

so how about that her phase mode make her just faster since she become fast she would be hard to hit especially againts a shotgun or snipe

(TheGreatHoundini) #9

@agileBeetle: Yeah… originally I was thinking that would be enough… and actually a large part of her being OP comes from the fact that it’s hard enough to hit a Proxy sized hitbox and would be extremely hard to do so at high speed.

So yeah… it’s possible the damage reduction isn’t necessary and that means Phase Mode could go into cooldown when arm/disarm objectives are engaged.

The thing about the EV though is:

Boosting the EV speed has never actually won a game. It only forces both sides to engage into the endgame rather than camp (see: Chapel and Bridge). So saying that it’s OP for a character to Max-Boost the EV is beside the point. What it really does in a map like Chapel is it forces Defenders to chase the EV or fall back towards the elevator or final objective. It forces Defending Snipers to be ready to move lest they give up the EV section of the game. AoE attackers who have settled into a certain timing for Air Strikes have to adjust to the sudden speed change of the EV. On Bridge it means someone has to be thinking about the barrier sooner. Get it? It forces the game to come alive but does not assure an attacking team of absolute victory since pushing the EV isn’t the last objective. Also sitting in the EV is known as a deathtrap. If there was a need for Damage Reduction it would be here. The idea of Damage Reduction in Phase mode for Syx-in-an-EV is supposed to be similar to seeing Rhino come around a corner… It makes more than one defender target her to kill her immediately as she is committed to sitting in the EV (two shooters can negate the Damage Reduction). This has dynamics that affect the rest of the game especially if you are in a phase where the game is “dying” and Spawn Camping/EV Camping is starting to happen.

When more than one defender has to engage a “damage resistant and speed boosted” opponent and a middle objective like the EV starts to literally zoom away… you inject the match with fresh momentum.

A lot of complaints around the game (Camping, Spawn Camping, Not playing Objectives whether Attacking or Defending) tend to happen with the EV sections of missions because it’s so easy to get bogged down, leave the EV alone and not push it, enemies who have more skill can crowd around it and treat the EV section like a shooting gallery. Sitting in the EV is a deathtrap, etc. I’ve found in my experience that the EV is the biggest momentum killer in Dirty Bomb.

The EV section only comes alive if the EV is moving and defenders are frantically trying to stop it… with a key flaw that this suspense actually dies down the more attackers are needed to push the EV instead of engaging defenders. This is what Syx is for. She can sacrifice herself inside the EV for a short duration of time to burst the action and her teammates even if they are poor with objectives can actually have their fun and engage the enemy.

So the idea is to have a gameplay feature that “pushes the action”. On defense, Syx’s speed boost does little for preventing people to stop the EV… She has no AoE attack and her HP isn’t good enough to camp around the EV anyway.

(TheGreatHoundini) #10

Also note that her Arm/Disarm time is in an awkward place where she is slightly faster than other Assault characters but is definitely not Engineer-level… This means that to be able to push the EV… it is likely an Engineer has to repair it first.

(Naonna) #11

Please don’t try to dramatically rework dirty bomb through the addition of mercs. Each time you find some parts of the game boring or frustrating, that usually is an indication that you need to use teamwork, or change mercs. - Putting an opponent against a merc who can complete objectives without ANY way to stop them is not a decent solution to your frustrations.

(TheGreatHoundini) #12

Well the flavor text can claim that Rhino is a battering ram, but we all know that isn’t true. I believe in practice this is the same thing. Two shooters or a single Molotov can finish Syx quickly and little would have been achieved.

Syx is actually situational. Also, I’m fine with suiciding for the EV even with the current Mercs on-hand. I just think it’s not rewarding enough.

(fluorescentUrchin) #13

It’s an interesting idea for sure.
perhaps make it so that rather than being less visible she becomes like static or jumbled up and digitized, cos invis is kinda phantoms thing. apart from that, I would say it is a great idea which i would have no idea how to balance.
Also nice job on the backstory, no one gives enough credit for that.

(TheGreatHoundini) #14

Yeah definitely she can be rendered in “graphic static”… like how characters in mid-render in games like Assassin’s Creed so she looks a bit like a “running glitch”.

I can understand why people feel characters should be “self-balanced”. But I feel that balancing occurs in gameplay and not necessarily on characters. For example, on paper Rhino seems OP, but everytime I’ve seen one they go down too quickly.

The one Rhino I’ve seen last a whole match seemed to be very good at finding positions and was exceptionally skilled with the mini-gun.

A case in point is the 2nd Edition Phantom - Cloak now lasts 4 seconds longer, he’s still invulnerable when cloaked (Syx only has damage reduction!), is invisible, and can now disable healing stations, ammo stations, AND Bushwhacker’s turret within a 10 meter radius of himself.

I bet if that was written down for a Merc in this section, people would be crying OP too. And all the Bushwhacker fans will cry foul.

But my guess is that the 2nd Edition Phantom merely “forces people away from camping at Station Outposts before dying in a hail of gunfire eventually.” Which… come to think of it is what Syx is good for… but only in terms of keeping objectives alive.