I kind of feel that Stoker’s fire grenade feels too soldiery, and not field ops like. So here is what I propose to finally get the fourth soldier and field ops into the game. Switch Thunder and Stoker’s class. Thunder will no longer carry an LMG, and instead carries an assault rifle. Stoker will carry either an assault rifle or SMG, I don’t know. Stoker loses the ammo station and gives it to Thunder. Stoker gains a flamethrower ability as well as keeping the fire grenade ability in some form. Thunder loses concussion grenade ability, because why stun them when you can just blow them up? If Thunder must stun someone in some way, it should be via the same methods as Kira calling in the orbital laser. Rather than a laser moving around, Thunder’s ability is to have a lightning bolt strike at a target, and enemies around them will be stunned as well as disabling Bushwhacker turrets and maybe the EV for a while. If you want to have the same concussion grenade effect, why not make it look cool?
I’m not suggesting that Thunder’s lightning bolt ability does what I say it does, so long as Thunder calls forth a lightning bolt that does something, whether it damages enemies, stuns them, does something to deployables, EV, or anything. It’s all about the gimmick, much like the abilities of the other mercs, namely Kira’s orbital laser, Rhino’s minigun, Sparks’ revive gun, Phoenix’s self revive, and especially Phantom. Invisibility + katana.
If Phantom can have is invisibility and katana as a gimmick, Thunder can have the lightning strike and bare fists as his. Throw in some nunchucks for another merc too.
