So Uh... About Zephyr... (Revisited 2.0)

[(PSN)thefallenloser]

Zephyr's still lacking!

Her rework was half-baked and didn't really fully fix her issues.

To quickly review her revisit:

• Tail Wind and Dive Bomb were merged, Hover mechanic added.
  • indoor collision issues not solved, Tail Wind is too fast and rams you into the walls of the super tight corridors
• Air Burst added to 2nd slot as a new ability
  • deals very low damage and clunky CC
• Turbulence is almost perfect.
  • sometimes just doesn't work with Detrons, flamethrowers, and hitscan weapons
• Tornadoes are much better, just not perfect.
  • way too slow in tracking enemies
  • base damage is magnetic (why?)
  • THEY DON'T GOT GIRTH

So, let's quick address said issues in this Revisit, 2.0!

_______________________________________________

Tail Wind / Dive Bomb

• simply tapping the command will propel Zephyr forwards like she currently does, but at 50% speed
  • colliding with any level geometry will trigger Dive Bomb, you can also instantly recover from Dive Bomb
    • basically, Zephyr can Dive Bomb into walls, and can also Dive Bomb on angles
    • this also helps because you'd be able to instantly recover after colliding with walls, which is something people really want
      • not as much struggle on indoor maps due to Tail Wind being slower and being able to instantly recover after collision
• holding the command will propel Zephyr forwards at 100% speed for 5 seconds, but costs double the energy
  • in this mode, Zephyr can change flying direction by guiding the reticule
  • plus, all the Dive Bomb extra effects are in this mode also
• pressing the aim command while using Tail Wind will cause Zephyr to Hover in the air temporarily

Tail Wind will now be much more effective both in and outdoors. Indoor collision issues are solved. Dive Bomb not has more diverse uses.

Air Burst

• base damage
  • contact base damage is 500
  • explosion damage reduced to 250
• tapping the command will use the current Air Burst
  • when colliding with the surface, it pulls in nearby enemies
• charging Air Burst will make the damage and range increase with distance
  • knocks down enemies when colliding with a surface
  • damage diminishes with distance on explosion

Air Burst now has effective damage and CC.

Turbulence

• only changes needed for Turbulence are glitch fixes against Detron's and Hyekka Master Flamethrowers, also hitscan weapons fixes
• also Bombard rocket explosion diversion would be nice too, just saying

Tornadoes

(I know it's actually just called "Tornado" lol)

• GIVE OUR TORNADOES SOME GIRTH GOD DANG IT
• base damage change to slash, magnetic is bad
• refine enemy tracking and increase speed
  • a solution could possibly be to just make them use NPC coding?
• maybe a charge mechanic that merges all tornadoes to make one big one?

Tornadoes would now be pretty much perfect.

That's all I have, leave any suggestions below!

[Caelward]

The divebomb on contact idea was talked about before, but the thing is... most of the time I'm using Tailwind I'm traveling. Divebomb has an impact, making it essentially a full stop. But I'm on the move. I don't want to stop because I clipped some invisible geometry, which happens all the time. Right now Zephyr will slide off anything without a raised edge. I'm not looking forward to having to be even more careful when I move. I'm sadly lacking in faith in how well any future changes (if any) to Zephyr's kit would pan out.

The the divebomb impact... I suggested this one as well way back when. Then several other Zephyr mains started a conversation with me. The idea evolved into the simple concept of having Zephyr transition into either wall running/jumping if she hit the wall at a shallow angle, or wall latching if she hit it straight on. This would easily support Zephyr's typical high speed movement. I wouldn't be surprised if the momentum problem is messing with that. Although at this point I also wouldn't be surprised if no one has even thought about whether this would work...

DE has also given me the impression of being really stubborn about expanding on divebomb... which makes me sad because I think Divebomb would be best used as passive that replaces melee slam and adds the effects her weapons melee slam to the ability. This would probably solve the hover glitch when Zephyr tries to melee slam at the apex of a jump as well.

[Xrkr]

Base damage for Tornado is already slash.

[(XBOX)GearsMatrix301]

Tornados do get range increased when buffed with air burst.

[Amhiel]

I use Zephyr quite a bit, she's my go-to frame for bounties so I'd like to give my opinion on your ideas:

En 9/11/2018 a las 20:23, (PS4)ArtPrince17 dijo:

Tail Wind / Dive Bomb

•  simply tapping the command will propel Zephyr forwards like she currently does, but at 50% speed
  • colliding with any level geometry will trigger Dive Bomb, you can also instantly recover from Dive Bomb
    • basically, Zephyr can Dive Bomb into walls, and can also Dive Bomb on angles
    • this also helps because you'd be able to instantly recover after colliding with walls, which is something people really want
      • not as much struggle on indoor maps due to Tail Wind being slower and being able to instantly recover after collision
• holding the command will propel Zephyr forwards at 100% speed for 5 seconds, but costs double the energy
  • in this mode, Zephyr can change flying direction by guiding the reticule
  • plus, all the Dive Bomb extra effects are in this mode also
• pressing the aim command while using Tail Wind will cause Zephyr to Hover in the air temporarily

Tail Wind will now be much more effective both in and outdoors. Indoor collision issues are solved. Dive Bomb not has more diverse uses.

In my experience she's more suited for open areas, but if you use her in regular missions you should use a different build with less duration. Personally I like the idea of triggering the dive bomb on colision but only against very steep angles, roughly the same as when doing it against the ground but sliding when the angle is more open. Just those two things (different build and slide-collision detection) would be enough control as to not need a charge mechanic. 

 

En 9/11/2018 a las 20:23, (PS4)ArtPrince17 dijo:

Air Burst

• base damage
  • contact base damage is 500
  • explosion damage reduced to 250
• tapping the command will use the current Air Burst
  • when colliding with the surface, it pulls in nearby enemies
• charging Air Burst will make the damage and range increase with distance
  • knocks down enemies when colliding with a surface
  • damage diminishes with distance on explosion

Air Burst now has effective damage and CC.

Personally I think this is too complex. I would boil this down to: air burst is affected by melee mods (like Khora's, atlas and Gara's first abilities) and when you push an enemy against a surface you do exactly the same as frost's snow globe (50% health, I think, as true damage and knockdown). I like the direction you're going towards but It's too complicated. 

 

En 9/11/2018 a las 20:23, (PS4)ArtPrince17 dijo:

Turbulence

• only changes needed for Turbulence are glitch fixes against Detron's and Hyekka Master Flamethrowers, also hitscan weapons fixes
• also Bombard rocket explosion diversion would be nice too, just saying

I totally agree with that. 

 

En 9/11/2018 a las 20:23, (PS4)ArtPrince17 dijo:

Tornadoes

(I know it's actually just called "Tornado" lol)

• GIVE OUR TORNADOES SOME GIRTH GOD DANG IT
• base damage change to slash, magnetic is bad
• refine enemy tracking and increase speed
  • a solution could possibly be to just make them use NPC coding?
• maybe a charge mechanic that merges all tornadoes to make one big one?

Tornadoes would now be pretty much perfect.

All of that point sounds pretty fun to me. I support this. 

I like the general spirit of your ideas, I think they need some polish regarding then being easy to use and easy to understand. I have a lot of fun with Zephyr and I'd love it DE could show her some more love. Unfortunately, given the fact that her latest rework made her quite usable and very popular in the open areas, she probably is pretty low in the priority list.