Phantom-needs work fast

(fluorescentUrchin) #1

So I don’t know if I am the only one who thinks phantom still needs a rework. at the moment he is easily one of the weakest mercs in the game, though I am not sure what could be changed to make him effective without making him “OP” as people cried when he was first released.

(TheStrangerous) #2

He doesn’t have useful abilities.
There’s an EMP, but it’s not enough. Still too gimmicky to play.

Melee combat isn’t the way SD is heading, neither they wanna give him spotting ability, like other recon mercs do.

(frostyvampire) #3

Yup, SD knows about it already.

Why can’t he just get another ability to spot and disable

(terminal) #4

[quote=“TheStrangerous;187494”]He doesn’t have useful abilities.
There’s an EMP, but it’s not enough. Still too gimmicky to play.

Melee combat isn’t the way SD is heading, neither they wanna give him spotting ability, like other recon mercs do.[/quote]
Melee combat seems like the way they’re heading, seeing as how Gen 2 cards give him specifically only the Katana and the Cricket bat.

I think Phantom was a mistake to be put into the game. Invisibility never worked well in FPS and Phantom’s role doesn’t reflect on his kit unlike the others. I think SD was trying too hard to think of stuff that would work with invisibility while making him balanced or something, since he used to have a sniper rifle as shown in the old screenshots.

(Equanimity) #5

All I need is the old cloak cooldown. Literally that’s it, anything else is a nice bonus. Please SD!

(fluorescentUrchin) #6

@Equanimity yeah, that would make him more balanced. At the moment it is really difficult to escape if you mess up an ambush. I HATE the cricket bat on phantom, its hit detection is terrible. Sadly, I got a cobalt with the bat and chopper, it is more-or-less useless ;_;

(TheStrangerous) #7

[quote=“terminal;187511”][quote=“TheStrangerous;187494”]He doesn’t have useful abilities.
There’s an EMP, but it’s not enough. Still too gimmicky to play.

Melee combat isn’t the way SD is heading, neither they wanna give him spotting ability, like other recon mercs do.[/quote]
Melee combat seems like the way they’re heading, seeing as how Gen 2 cards give him specifically only the Katana and the Cricket bat.

I think Phantom was a mistake to be put into the game. Invisibility never worked well in FPS and Phantom’s role doesn’t reflect on his kit unlike the others. I think SD was trying too hard to think of stuff that would work with invisibility while making him balanced or something, since he used to have a sniper rifle as shown in the old screenshots.
[/quote]

(Equanimity) #8

Definitely don’t think phantom should be orientated towards the melee route but a melee specialist merc isn’t impossible. I just want my run n gun cloak back.

(Szakalot) #9

what he said^

i love the run n gun flanking/harass phantom, and its just not viable at all anymore.

(JJMAJR) #10

I have a different idea for invisibilty. Not for this game though, because everything’s pretty much a red siren with guns attached.

Anyways, Phantom really should have gotten a simple Comms Hack ability or use some throwing knives instead of a melee-only EMP cloak.

But why do I respond to this stuff anymore?

(yesser) #11

when you think about it redeye ability to see phontom when he use his goggles became useless make him more invisible (maybe even like when phontom got released) now with his emp added to the sound we always know that he is somewhere so just look closly and you will se him crouching no move in a corner and then boom he is dead

(Supersneaky) #12

Ive said it many times before, they need to drop phantoms health a tiny bit but boost his speed up, give old cloak back, remove heavy melee lock and make cloak quiet and less visible, then he’ll be on par with other mercs

(fluorescentUrchin) #13

@hotpinkCherry exactly, the problem with that is that all the f2ps and noobs will cry that phantom is OP and the game is pay 2 win the instant they go up against a competant phantom

(terminal) #14

The old cloak lasts for a shorter duration fyi

(TheStrangerous) #15

I’ve been thinking lately, since Phantom is headed for more gun oriented gameplay, but only sniper rifles are deadly for quiet approach.

The only answer I see is giving him:

A crossbow.
One of the most silent “guns” in shooters.

(Nibbles02) #16

Phantom is viable, best for guarding objectives where nobody has time to stop and look for him, like the first Underground objective site. He’s even better for offensive flanking because you can lunge and gun with an SMG for multiple kills, in addition to that useful EMP he now has, which is great for disabling enemy hotspots with aura stations and turrets.

He’s still pretty strong if you don’t solely rely on stealth and your melee weapon. If you encounter a faster merc, just use your SMG while cloaked and you’ll almost always win because you’re able to get them before they have time to aim at you. Also the Katana/cloak combo is perfect for CQC choke points like the elevated left-side area on the third Trainyard objective. If the enemy is too bunched up or too spread out, you can usually come out on the top of the scoreboard with Phantom.

(fluorescentUrchin) #17

That is how I play phantom, I always found flanking and shooting more fun and effective anyway. I think SD should keep his cloak, but make it more similar to the spy’s cloak and dagger in tf2, doesn’t run out when stood still and makes him completely invis, and similar running out to what we have now and vision when he moves. As for the EMP, maybe they could separate the ability into a cloak and an EMP pulse with a semi-significant cooldown of 15-20-25 seconds that disable deployables in a certain radius for small time period.
Just throwing more ideas out there.
Also the cricket bat does not fir phantom’s aesthetic at all, it was better when he had three melees.

(Equanimity) #18

The old cloak lasts for a shorter duration fyi
[/quote]

Duration isn’t nearly as important as a short cooldown for quick cloak peeks/run n’ gun cloaking.

(Nibbles02) #19

Higher cooldown means you have to pull back for a lot longer and you can’t stay on the move nearly as much as a toggleable cloak. After all, Phantom never was really meant for camping.

(watsyurdeal) #20

Just turn his EMP field into an EMP Grenade, remove the armor and make him less visible when walking, keep the same visibility he has while running though.

Then he’d be pretty damn good imo