Phantom, as always, was that merc that you’d barely see in any competitive match. If you saw him running at you, he was pretty simple to counter, it’s called unload mags on him. Now, we have a huge change to him and his ability.
-Health buff? Nice.
-Full invisibility? Love it.
What about the delay between uncloaking and attacking? Little short delay like the Spy from TF2?
That’s where I want to begin with an issue I have.
Phantom’s biggest advantage was that he had the element of surprise at almost every turn. You see a proxy or sparks rolling up on the MG nest on Terminal? Refractive Armor and wait for them. Instantly down them from behind, they never knew what hit 'em.
Now, you have to uncloak, THEN attack. That’s not the worst thing, but that sets him to a big disadvantage. Not being able to absorb damage with armor makes him a little less viable in any kind of real match. You get caught in a crossfire between a Thunder and a Bushwhacker, chances are, you’ll sneak through, but you’ll take damage.
Let me set an example
(Pre-Phantom): A proxy is coming down to the MG nest on Terminal (Near first OBJ). You cloak inside the little room and wait for her footsteps to run up on her and oneshot her into being downed. You finish her off and wait for your next target, whom will probably also meet the same demise.
Pros to this scenario:
-Proxy is down on their team until the next spawn wave
-Simple kills
-Simple XP
Cons to this scenario:
-Proxy, if not a moron, would use common sense and either hear the Phantom’s invis hum, or, look around in the room, or atleast place a mine and try to listen for him coming up on her.
-The opposing team would probably also learn there’s a phantom in the room waiting
-Phantom could for some reason lose the fight if the Proxy was smart.
(Post-Phantom) A proxy is coming down to the MG nest on Terminal. You cloak on the railing, fully invisible, and wait for her to pass you before uncloaking and hoping she doesn’t flick around and one-pump you to hell. You (hopefully) oneshot the proxy, slower than you would as Pre-Phantom.
Pros to this:
-Proxy cannot see you AT ALL
-Easy kill, Easy XP.
-Simple to avoid any backup Proxy may come back with.
Cons to this:
-If Proxy were to bump into Phantom, (he could hide in the room, too), she could quite easily catch him offguard and down him before he has a chance to use his Katana against her.
-Now that the team knows there’s a phantom, they’ll probably be more aware and more difficult to uncloak behind and take down.
I loved being able to just hop out of invisibility and oneshot or twoshot almost every single merc, taking down even 4 man teams in the blink of an eye. Now, they’ll see me coming uncloaked and shoot me, or, I have to be more careful than I was before, making the job more difficult for me Before, I would absorb the damage they shoot into me as I run into the nest of people, and quickly take atleast one down.
This is probably me over-reacting or taking his changes in the wrong direction 100%, but the only issue I have with Phantom’s change is the attack delay after uncloaking. Doesn’t mean it’ll make me quit DB, theres only one thing that can, that’s ranked passes, which is for another thread, I guess. Don’t make us pay to play Ranked (even tho barely anyone does).
Anyways, share what you think on his changes, and yeah, have a good day or something idk. RIP Phantom’s element of surprise 
