Why does Phantom ever NOT have the Katana?

(Mufasa) #1

Seriously, why is this even a thing? Half of his identity is the fact that he has a good melee weapon, the other half being his stealth armor which lets him use said melee weapon. Having loadouts that do not include the katana is one of the worst design decisions I have ever seen in a game.

Now, picture this:
Rhino loadout cards… wait for it… Without the minigun!!!
He’d still have half of his identity, he can keep is massive health pool and slow speed, he would just like the weapon that makes him unique! What a fantastic idea, taking away a unique weapon on a merc.

Hopefully this glaring issue is addressed with the revamp to the loadout system, but who knows how long it will be until that happens. After crafting four bronze cards for him, with not a single one being a katana, I crafted my first silver card for him… With no katana. I’m still using an iron because of this nonsense.

(XavienX) #2

That’s exactly what I thought when I first saw the merc role call, I was like wtf? The point of this merc is to melee people and watch them rage, not running around with a beckhill knife trying to knife Aura’s that keep running and having your range of knife just outta reach.
And than they gave him a primary, which destroyed the melee concept of him even more.

(AnimeDude) #3

The katana doesnt make him unique, they said it would be available to all mercs depending on loadout which may be released in the future.

(frzn) #4

His gun is pretty important too, probably more important at higher levels of play, but I don’t think anyone has ever said, “hmm, do I want to use a loadout with a kek-10/crotzni and a katana, or a loadout with a blishlok and knife.”

I think some of the loadouts are just intended to be garbage.

(Mufasa) #5

But it does. Just as Rhinos Minigun makes him unique. Honestly they could just make is so pressing E is what you need you pull out the katana but he can still have a normal melee weapon. And any other merc with the katana would just be plain silly. Phantom is supposed to be the melee focused merc and I’m pretty sure the ONLY melee focused merc to be released.

(Yes) #6

The point of not all loadouts having the katana is most likely just a business decision, it makes people want to chase down only the cards with the katana.

(Mufasa) #7

I thought the idea behind the loadout cards was to offer different playstyles with different perks/guns, NOT to create clearly better options.

(Mufasa) #8

I know which is silly. When 2/3 of the loadouts are trash because they don’t include the necessary item he needs, it makes people angry. Hell everyone I’ve talked to hates the idea.

(Gi.Am) #9

I think the point was to have the katana more in line with the other melee weapons. I’ts overall stats points in that direction.
Unfortunaly because of the multihit/drag hitting thing, the Katana is way better than any other melee weapon (I know cause I played several matches on phantom without the katana). Compared to a combatknife the Katana is easymode killing.

They either have to make the Katana Phantoms unique weapon again (and keep it fairly strong) or fix the problems and balance it to be more in line with the other melee weapons (which would fix the OP Phantom problems).

(Daergar) #10

Who would play Phantom without 20% cloak duration, 20% melee damage, kek-10, revolver and sword? Only one card that’s relevant, buy it straight up and enjoy.

(Ardez1) #11

Phantoms specialty is not the katana, it is the cloak. The katana will be available for other mercs in the future, as stated by the dev stream.

The katana is not an ability, it is an alternate melee weapon.

The cloak on Phantom is a special ability. Nobody else will get that. It doesn’t appear on any loadout.
The minigun on Rhino is a special ability. Nobody else will get that.It doesn’t appear on any loadout.
The REVIVR on Sparks is a special ability. Nobody else will get that.It doesn’t appear on any loadout.
The Katana is a weapon. Other mercs will get it, although only Phantom has it right now. It appears on some loadouts.
The K-121 is a weapon. Other mercs will get it, although only Fragger has it right now. It appears on some loadouts.

Does that help explain the katana situation?