Phantom: Melee range too short?

(sentimentalDime) #1

So first, let me get this straight, i like how they changed phantom and i think this is how he is supposed to be played.

I think the crouch-walking-makes-you-harder-to-see change fits his playstyle.

But here lies the problem: I think his melee range is too short, now, you might be thinking that it’s not, let me clarify, with this new update, changes were made so that you are damn near invisible when not sprinting or crouch walking, but, of course this slows him down.

And in a game where characters are zooming around at speeds matching that of Usain Bolt’s, having to restrain yourself in terms of speed, and at the same time, having to get close to your enemies don’t mix up well, a lot of times i’ve gotten close to a walking opponent, then try to stab them with the katana, barely missing them because i had to keep walking slow or else i’d have gotten shot, then having my invisibility disappear and getting shot.

I think this problem could be easily fixed by increasing his melee range ever so slightly.

But, of course this is my opinion, let me know what you think.

(Verticules) #2

Your gun range should fill the gap just fine.

(sentimentalDime) #3

Yeah i know, but first of all, melee is much more powerful than than guns, provided you can get close, and with phantoms ability, you can. But to me this kinda ruins it for me,

Second of all: If i wanted to gun people down, i’d probably just go with Fragger or Rhino, but sometimes, i just want to stab people in the back as Phantom, but again, this makes it harder than it should be to actually hit them with the katana.

(sentimentalDime) #4

@VerticallyObese Now you might say ‘‘Once you cover is off, why don’t you just pull out your gun?’’ but imagine this: You are right behind a proxy, then you try to stab her, but you fall just short on range, she turns around, and shotguns you in the face. How is your KEK-10 gonna save you from that one?

(Verticules) #5

If u can’t get close enough to melee, use your KEK instead. It’s either that or be damn sure you are in range before you swing.

(Mr-Penguin) #6

Or, you know, longjump into the enemy’s face?

Though your gun is still better in 90% of engagements as Phantom.

(sentimentalDime) #7

@VerticallyObese What you just said, is exactly what the problem stems from. Phantom has no real offensive cababilities, in terms of gun play.

Whereas Nader has her grenade launcher, Rhino has his minigun, Redeye has a smoke he can hide in, Fragger has frag grenades, Sparks has a revivr and instaheal medpacks etc.

His ability revolves solely around getting up close to the enemy so you can melee them, which serves no real purpose in terms of shooting the enemy.

And to make matters worse, you can’t really be ‘‘damn sure you are in range’’ as every merc (except maybe rhino) outruns him while sprinting, provided you aren’t, so they’ll over time just increase the gap between you and them, forcing you to make millisecond decicions on whether or not to swipe at them.

(sentimentalDime) #8

@derpypenguinz19 longjumps most of the time just kills melee accuracy for me, at least, in terms of the gun part, look above

(Mr-Penguin) #9

[quote=“sentimentalDime;87368”]@VerticallyObese What you just said, is exactly what the problem stems from. Phantom has no real offensive cababilities, in terms of gun play.

Whereas Nader has her grenade launcher, Rhino has his minigun, Redeye has a smoke he can hide in, Fragger has frag grenades, Sparks has a revivr and instaheal medpacks etc.

His ability revolves solely around getting up close to the enemy so you can melee them, which serves no real purpose in terms of shooting the enemy.

And to make matters worse, you can’t really be ‘‘damn sure you are in range’’ as every merc (except maybe rhino) outruns him while sprinting, provided you aren’t, so they’ll over time just increase the gap between you and them, forcing you to make millisecond decicions on whether or not to swipe at them.[/quote]

The last cloak buff has made Phantom a lot more viable now. I’ve been almost exclusively playing Phantom for the past 3 days and the cloak isn’t used for getting close enough to melee somebody, it’s to position yourself in such a way that you can chain multiple headshots very quickly on a lone, distracted, or priority target. Walking while cloaked in the midst of enemies distracted by your own teammates can get you very far, and aggroing tough enemies and then hiding around a corner cloaked and crouched can allow you to get some nifty kills. The cloak can also serve as a nice peeking tool, using it to gain an “extra” 75 health to face off against tougher opponents.

Phantom’s job is flanking amidst the chaos of the battlefield using the cloak, getting into a position where he can quickly eliminate a lone opponent, and then shooting them in the front/side/back of the head. This requires a lot more thought than playing melee Phantom, and melee should only be a last resort anyways.

(sentimentalDime) #10

@derpypenguinz19 i see what you are on about, but i still think that this update made it way too hard to use both his ability and melee together effectively, as he is a melee focused character

(Mr-Penguin) #11

While he does have the most effective melee weapon and the tools to use it, that doesn’t mean that Phantom is a melee focused merc. His guns are still his most effective tool for kills.

Also, doesn’t this belong in Mercenary Discussion?
@Faraleth @Amerika

(sentimentalDime) #12

@derpypenguinz19 It probably does yeah lol

(Faraleth) #13

Moved that for yah :wink:

(Verticules) #14

Phantom has no combat issues, he has a high skill cap. People tend to play him how they want and not how he is intended to be.

(Amerika) #15

He is not nor was he ever a melee focused. His role call trailer, his lore, the changes by SD and his equipment all show that he is not a melee focused character. People have tried to make him melee only and he is the best merc in the game if that is your bag. But he’s a flanking recon merc where you get the ability to soak damage/not be noticed and setup shots while sometimes getting to melee somebody if the situation calls for it.

(gg2ez) #16

His KEK is amazing just make sure to bring a full mag to an encounter.

(XavienX) #17

He actually has a bug where the devs NEVER fixed that his lunge attack is shorter than his slash attack.

(sentimentalDime) #18

@Xavien if that is true, that would explain a lot

(DMaster2) #19

Nah it’s fine.

(SirSwag) #20

His katana isn’t much better than a cricket bat, and the short stab range makes it arguably not as good. He should at least have the best melee.