It has been going around the forums. That it would be nice to see phantom improved. Most people are suggesting a support ability, while some others think a buff to his current state would be nice.
I’m sure we would all like to see phantom have a nice useful place in the game without being annoying. So, I put this together to help the devs out. What are your thoughts on the different ideas?
@gg2ez @Arjun @magnanimousMagician @Phantombrotherhood I quoted you guys, hope you don’t mind! 
@Abbadon @Adam @Amerika @avidCow @bizarreRectangle @Clown @CLS @darlingClaymore @Dawnrazor @derpypenguinz19 @DolanAndGoobyTryHard @Dwu @Fallacy @Faraleth What do you guys think?? 
I just think he needs his health increased back to 120 and speed decreased respectively, maybe give the katana a faster RMB or a bit more range which weren’t main reasons people complained about him and maybe, just maybe do something to the blishlok, I don’t know why but it just feels off.
Still doesn’t make him useful enough to make him chosen over any other merc in competitive. A simple buff isn’t what’s going to make him useful - what he needs is utility.
I’d rather him just have the spotting ability. I think SD could get their mind changed on this with enough support. And I’d only want a re-work on his refractive armor if he couldn’t attack directly out of stealth and there was an audible warning. I am not a fan of cheap mechanics in games and being able to easily attack out of a 100% invisible cloak is as cheap as it gets.
I’m not voting here because there’s really so many ways to improve Phantom, but honestly, I agree with Amerika - he just needs utility and the ability to make a contribution the team.
I voted for Blackout since no one else voted it and i felt sorry for myself LOL .
Phantom is by far the best looking Merc . Mask !!! , Sexy Armour !!! , Katana !! Holy Shit . Not to mention how much he rocked in the ‘Scrubs’ trailer of the game which attracted majority of the DB players .It was really fun at the beginning , but after the nerfs , i haven’t seen any sensible person above lvl 15 who plays with Phantom other than to have fun with Katana or when the eneny team is weak .
That aside , i personally have 2 gold Phantoms lying around unused . The only reason being that other Mercs are much more powerful and useful to the team .Even though Phantom is a Recon , the closest Merc that i can compare with phatom is Nader and Fragger ( since they are the other merc who doesn’t have any team play roles ) , But They becomes one of the most reliable Merc because of their devastating Grenade Launcher and Frags .
So yeah i would love to see a buff on our poor Phantom .
And OMG , remove the silly knives from his loadout too . Its like giving Rhino a machine pistol instead of the Mini Gun .
And if there is anyone out there who prefers pen knives more than Katana , plz disagree to this post and show your presence ( So i can confirm , there are still retards on earth )
@gg2ez and @Tommy - Thanks for the tags , since i had stopped reading or checking Phantom related discussion since no Devs or CM care to read or reply to it .
Being able to attack out of a cloak, that’s mandatory if the cloaking ability is triggered by an event such as crouching or moving quickly for a set amount of time. This is offset however by the fact that cloaking requires the player to do something very specific, compared to how something like the TF2’s spy can activate cloak any time he chooses.
Since the Phantom has TF2’s spy cloak, it would be reasonable to have his cloak act in a similar manner. Both cloaks even have the same damage reduction gimmick, albeit the Phantom being stronger in that aspect.
Meanwhile, I stated repeatedly that the Phantom needs to have an explosive if he cannot get a spotting ability, since then he would only be used to kill people, so he has to have area denial. A spotting ability would be more than ideal for the Phantom to be balanced around, and would fix the class instantly so that he can be useful in competitive play.
There’s really one path for the Phantom: in a game where support abilities are seen on every other class, assaults having the support ability of area denial, the Phantom needs to be balanced on a similar scale. Only then we would be able to have him be balanced appropriately.
Finally, @Tommy I really don’t like your Refresher ability. In a way it manipulates the team’s ammunition, even if it’s not the “ammunition” that directly relates to bullets and clips, it still relates to Vasilli’s “grenades” and many other things, which is pretty much the same concept in the military. Refreshing abilities is a fire support thing, not a recon or assault gimmick. You want Phantom to be fire support, be my guest, but that ability just gives me a case of “what the fuck” all over.
Being able to attack out of a cloak, that’s mandatory if the cloaking ability is triggered by an event such as crouching or moving quickly for a set amount of time. This is offset however by the fact that cloaking requires the player to do something very specific, compared to how something like the TF2’s spy can activate cloak any time he chooses.
Since the Phantom has TF2’s spy cloak, it would be reasonable to have his cloak act in a similar manner. Both cloaks even have the same damage reduction gimmick, albeit the Phantom being stronger in that aspect.
Meanwhile, I stated repeatedly that the Phantom needs to have an explosive if he cannot get a spotting ability, since then he would only be used to kill people, so he has to have area denial. A spotting ability would be more than ideal for the Phantom to be balanced around, and would fix the class instantly so that he can be useful in competitive play.
There’s really one path for the Phantom: in a game where support abilities are seen on every other class, assaults having the support ability of area denial, the Phantom needs to be balanced on a similar scale. Only then we would be able to have him be balanced appropriately.[/quote]
He’s not the TF2 spy and he has refractive armor and not a cloak. Also, the TF2 spy is incredibly cheap but due to the games ability to balance via rock, paper scissors with everyone being able to switch to a counter class makes it balanced. But DB doesn’t balance like that and other teams might not have a way to counter a Phantom that can attack at will out of cloak and murder anybody he wants with basically zero chance. That is what I was talking about when it comes to cheap gameplay. If DB worked like TF2 or Overwatch then it would still be cheap but you could easily counter it. But that isn’t how DB works.
But yes, he does need utility. Spotting, emp or even an engineer…something.
EMP isn’t really the best way to go about balancing the Phantom. We want to avoid rock-paper-scissors, am I right?
When I was referring to “the Phantom has TF2’s spy cloak,” I was talking about how the ability activates. The player has full control over when the class cloaks as long as they have enough energy to do so.
Whereas in some games the stealth classes have cloaks be situational and have the same deactivation condition as the Phantom’s current cloak, not having to turn it off before attacking but still giving away their position.
Vote says it all. Of course, I’d vote on keeping the hum, because we need to keep Phantom’s charm. (Even if he has the personality of a 12 yr old)
The Refresher- I think it is a nice idea, but for Phantom as Recon and Assault class mix who should be behind enemy lines it doesnt fit.
Silence Zone- Contrary to games like Counter Strike I would say that sound isnt as important in Dirty Bomb, so this ability would be kinda underpowered or even useless. I mean who really chooses a loadout for the “Sneaky” perk.
Black Out- I actually like this idea for Phantom, but it depends on the size of the detection radius. Spotting with Vasillis ball seems to be easier.
Movement (buff)- I dont think this would really adress the problems of Phantom.
Cloak (rework)- On the one hand I like this rework idea because it is just weird that you cant punish a Phantom who was seen by you. On the other hand he would still be missing an ability to help out the team which doesnt involve killing stuff.
In conclusion I would say that a mix between a cloak rework and adding a spotting ability like Black Out would adress many of the problems of Phantom.
@servuskal
Blackout was not really designed as a spotting ability . As the name goes it just a medium to hide from other Recon’s spotting ability . The detection was added just incase if there is no recon on the enemy team ( which happens often ) and that would make the device kinda useless .
For more details about backout - Link
Still doesn’t make him useful enough to make him chosen over any other merc in competitive. A simple buff isn’t what’s going to make him useful - what he needs is utility. [/quote]
What if he had an equivalent to Comms Hack in Brink, Operative characters in Brink could do what is known as Comms Hack, the operative whips out their phone over a downed enemy to have all enemies marked for their teammates after interacting with them for 3 seconds. This could give him in a way the “Truest Sight” for a Risk/Reward of incapacitating and Comms Hacking his enemy while they’re downed but not dead, rather than finishing them off.
Willing to do anything to get rid of him, his Commanding Officer volunteered Phantom to take part in an experimental Refractive Armor test program. Returning the favor, Phantom promptly stole the suit and used it to plant incriminating evidence/livestock in his former Commanding Officer’s quarters. Since then he has been a legend in his own mind. Never, ever lend him money, or your mobile phone.
Would fit his “Don’t trust him with your phone.” Bio, here is someone in Brink doing it.
@Redcap
Its a very nice idea . If the Devs agree on giving Phantom a spotter ability , i will vote for this one 10/10 . Its a very different spotting ability than the other mercs and would perfectly suit him . Should be fun on Pubs . But still i’m not sure if its very effective on competitive matches . Since when a phantom is hacking you ( for the long 3 sec , as you said ) They downed enemy can tap out ( suicide ) before he finish the hacking process. At the same time making the hacking process faster will make it OP .
P.S : i loved brink . Some of the features in it ( especially the huge customisation ) was soo fun and i wish DB had it too ^^ .
[quote=“Arjun;109667”][quote=“Redcap;109642”]
What if he had an equivalent to Comms Hack in Brink, Operative characters in Brink could do what is known as Comms Hack, the operative whips out their phone over a downed enemy to have all enemies marked for their teammates after interacting with them for 3 seconds. This could give him in a way the “Truest Sight” for a Risk/Reward of incapacitating and Comms Hacking his enemy while they’re downed but not dead, rather than finishing them off.
[/quote]
@Redcap
Its a very nice idea . If the Devs agree on giving Phantom a spotter ability , i will vote for this one 10/10 . Its a very different spotting ability than the other mercs and would perfectly suit him . Should be fun on Pubs . But still i’m not sure if its very effective on competitive matches . Since when a phantom is hacking you ( for the long 3 sec , as you said ) They downed enemy can tap out ( suicide ) before he finish the hacking process. At the same time making the hacking process faster will make it OP .
P.S : i loved brink . Some of the features in it ( especially the huge customisation ) was soo fun and i wish DB had it too ^^ .
[/quote]
I see your point, maybe there could be a bit of a decay to the bodies if they’ve been dead for at most 5 seconds, Phantom could still use them or a cooldown on the ability (30 seconds?) while the ability is activated instantly on a downed enemy?
