question about Phantom

(AnonOmis1000) #1

What merc type is he classed as?

(Ardez1) #2

Recon.

(AnonOmis1000) #3

So if that’s the case, shouldn’t he have some sporting ability like the other 3 recon mercs have?

(Ardez1) #4

Well, think of him more like a scout than a spotter. He slips in the lines and wreaks havoc in the backfield… ideally…

Also, you can use voicecomms while invisible and such. Communicate…

(AnonOmis1000) #5

Sort of. I believe that you are under the illusion that the majority of people in this game use voice comms. I’m lucky to get in a match woth one other person with a mic.

By that same token, couldn’t Redeye just tell his team where he sees the enemy woth his IR goggles instead of it marking them?

(Jostabeere) #6

Well, think of him more like a scout than a spotter. He slips in the lines and wreaks havoc in the backfield… ideally…

Also, you can use voicecomms while invisible and such. Communicate…[/quote]

Sadly communicating does not give jack-shit. He should be able to spot enemies if behind them. Like a small throwing sensor that only sticks to backs. Or actually get actually sneaky with melee/silenced guns. Or become a more useful merc instead.

(Ardez1) #7

The game is built for 5v5 which only takes place in ranked. In general the game is balanced for ranked and stopwatch mode. Communication is expected to do well in ranked and thus some mercs are greatly improved by good communication and teamwork. A kira with people spotting or calling out locations is going to be stronger then the one who has to guess where players are at and not actually see them. Phantom can do this.

So while yes, most players in pubs don’t communicate this doesn’t mean that phantom wouldn’t be greatly improved by players that do.

Redeye has a device that triggers spotting. Vassili has a device that triggers spotting. Aimee has a device that triggers spotting. Phantom has an ability that allows him to slip past defenders unseen or allow them to pass him unseen.

All of them do fit within the role of ‘recon’ as other mercs cannot spot or slip behind enemy lines as easily. Just because people choose to use his invisibility to melee rush doesn’t make it any less true.

(Jostabeere) #8

You know, it would be neat if his ability actually allows him to slip past people. Whenever I play Phantom everyone seems to see me perfectly even if I crabwalk or even stand still in a corner.

(SereneFlight) #9

So while yes, most players in pubs don’t communicate this doesn’t mean that phantom wouldn’t be greatly improved by players that do.

Aaaannd when you try communicating, you realize that nobody listens.

(Reddeadcap) #10

You know, it would be neat if his ability actually allows him to slip past people. Whenever I play Phantom everyone seems to see me perfectly even if I crabwalk or even stand still in a corner.
[/quote]
Yeah, passing by enemies isn’t easy when you sound like an air-raid horn when just standing still and something worse if you even take a step.

(AnonOmis1000) #11

I’ve played my share of comp games. On top of communication not being that prevalent, the maps aren’t simple or well known enough to have call outs be widely known. In addition, knowing the exact location is different from knowing the general location.

The whole point I’m making about Redeye is that the only time he’s able to see enemies when no one else can is through his smoke, but it’s still line of site. None of the other recon mercs use line of site to mark enemies. So if Redeye can, why cant Phantom have something similar?

(Ardez1) #12

You know, it would be neat if his ability actually allows him to slip past people. Whenever I play Phantom everyone seems to see me perfectly even if I crabwalk or even stand still in a corner.
[/quote]
Yeah, passing by enemies isn’t easy when you sound like an air-raid horn when just standing still and something worse if you even take a step.
[/quote]

Exaggeration is cool.

[quote=“AnonOmis1000;165398”]I’ve played my share of comp games. On top of communication not being that prevalent, the maps aren’t simple or well known enough to have call outs be widely known. In addition, knowing the exact location is different from knowing the general location.

The whole point I’m making about Redeye is that the only time he’s able to see enemies when no one else can is through his smoke, but it’s still line of site. None of the other recon mercs use line of site to mark enemies. So if Redeye can, why cant Phantom have something similar?[/quote]

Not saying he can’t. I’m explaining what he has now. Recon isn’t limited to people with spotting abilities though. Phantom is also the only merc in the game that essentially has a movement mechanic. You can make the case about what he should or shouldn’t have all you want. The premise of your thread was asking what his class was. I answered. When you further said he should have a spotting ability because he is in that class I attempted to explain that Recon isn’t just spotting, but you could essentially do the same thing with a team that is working together(like any merc that flanks pretty much, but Phantom can do it a little better then the rest).

Based on your statement about Redeye why can’t every merc carry grenades. Why doesn’t Aura get to throw smoke grenades? She has hands and a belt she could put them on. Same with pretty much any merc.

Well, the short answer is balance. If you want a long answer I would ask your question on a dev stream with SD. The reason he doesn’t have it can only be because they believed he would be too strong with that in addition to whatever else he had.

(AnonOmis1000) #13

Well, since they are going to give Phantom some kind of buff, wouldn’t giving him spotting abilities help make him more team oriented?

(Yoma) #14

Well maybe, maybe not. If he would get those i would maybe give him like a one time sensor which would make a one time spot on all enemies “around” him. (That would make him infiltrating the enemy lines a little more valuable) They should be spotted for a certain time after this but not for too long naturally.

However, i dont think that he should be a spotter but a little more valuable in fights in terms of options to kill enemies except hoping that they dont see or hear you. Something like maybe increasing the invisibility in the first few seconds of the ability, making him able to deflect/block the first 3 bullets with his sword, giving him a special stronger meele slash if he slashes from behind during stealth or the abiltiy to briefly blind/dazzle enemies around him by breaking his stealth by himself while the blind/dazzle would depend on how much time would be left.

All these changes would need a longer cooldown on the refraction armor because it might be too strong at some point otherwise.

(AnonOmis1000) #15

Those aren’t bad ideas. I was thinking something like a sonar ping that worked similarly to Vassili’s heart beat sensor but only triggered once and was centered on him. It’d also have a somewhat lengthy cooldown. The whole point of a “recon” merc is to perform reconnaissance. Yes he could use comms to tell enemies the locations of enemies, but then by that logic any merc could, even Rhino’s fat ass could be recon. If Phantom was classed as assault I think he’d work fine. His job is to kill people, not gather intel on their locations and pick them off. SD has pretty much set a precedence that recon mercs spot enemies. It would be like them having a objective specialist merc that cant repair objectives and arm and disarm C4 faster than other mercs or a fire support merc that doesn’t give out ammo or a medic that does heal but only revives.