Vauban: Minelayer

[Truearcaneist]

Hi everyone!

Bit late to this but I feel as though I would be a bit off-put if I didn't at least put my penny in on this, seeing as I loved my time with him when he was introduced when we still had T4 Defense missions.

As a disclaimer, we have not been given all the details of exactly how his new kit works, this is just feedback to what has been given us.  If it was an older build to present to us the basics of what he is going to be then I’m sure this will either be irrelevant or just another of the dozens of dreamed up rework ideas that will never see the light.

Regardless, here we go.

As for what DE has done, thank you.  The orbital strike and merging of Bastille and vortex, as well as the overhaul for Tesla, make a lot of sense and helps bring him closer to what is needed for the current meta.

That being said, its highly disappointing the lack of imagination and forethought in bring Minelayer into its own (as shown during the devstream). 

So, for abilities 1, 3 and 4, I say sure, looks like it could be good. but let’s see what Minelayer could be.  Essentially, it’s his utility slot.  We have cheap mobile CC for around Vaub-man with Tesla, a scaling one-shot nuke with a (somewhat comical) windup in orbital strike, and a large area denial with synergies and buffs/debuffs for a larger price.  What we don't have is a form of self-sustain or cheaper alternative for smaller pockets of area denial.

So we keep the ability wheel concept, but bring it in line with other frame abilities that help in utility or support.  There are three concepts that stick out in my mind, those being area denial, point defense, and recovery.

Now, lets tackle them one at a time, with the first thing being area denial. 

Ionization Field Emitter (IFE):  This deployed device emits a 10-ft radius field of electrostatic energies that disrupts shields, disables drones, Slows armored hostiles, and jams weapons of hostiles within the field. This ability does no damage and has a base duration of 5/10/15/20 seconds. 

Next is point defense, along with some sustainability worked into it.

Ion Nail Defense System (INDS): Deploys a device that will target nearby hostiles randomly, dealing puncture damage and having a 60% chance to proc. an ionized condition for 1/2/3/4 seconds. Any drones affected by ionized will be disabled, and any nullifier bubble hit by this ability will have a 20% chance of being destroyed. Any enemies that die while ionized have a 25% chance to drop an energy orb.  Its range is 5/7/10/15 meters, and will last 5/10/15/20 seconds, firing projectiles at a rate of 7.00 per second. (as for the damage, IDK, DE can work that out)

Finally we have the recovery, or as I like to call it…

Resist and Recovery dispenser (R&RD):  Deploys a device that will attach tendrils of energy to allies within 10/14/18/22 meters.  When under the effect of this device, they will regain life over time at a rate of 20/30/40/50 per second.  If the ally kills a hostile while being within range, their reload speed will be increased by 5% and gain 5% damage resistance.  This buff will remain until the end of this skills duration and will stack to a maximum of 50%.  when the duration is up, the effect will degrade by 1% every second.

Now let’s talk synergy: As of what we have been shown, only Bastille and orbital strike seem to have a form of synergy with his kit.  Tesla is upgraded but doesn’t seem to really mesh with the level needed for being able to affect either of these skills.  This leaves minelayer to need to synergize with tesla.  Here is my proposed concept to have these two interact with each other:

Overcharge:  A deployed tesla can attach itself to a deployed minelayer, giving it additional properties but at a cost.  When attached, the duration of the minelayer ability is halved, and when the duration runs out, explodes.  The following affects are generated when a Tesla overcharges a minelayer:

IFE Overcharged: All hostiles within range are affected by an electric proc. every 1 second.  All ranged attacks that pass through the field are negated. When the duration is up, causes an explosion dealing 250/500/750/1000 electrical damage and blinds enemies within the ability’s range.

INDS Overcharge: Hostiles damaged by this ability will suffer an electric proc. and the ionized energy orb drop chance will increase to 40%. When the duration is up, causes an explosion that deals 250/500/750/1000 blast damage and a forced blast proc. to enemies within the ability's range.

R&RD Overcharge: The health regained is doubled and the cap for the buff is increased to 75%.  When the duration is up, a wave of energy will be unleashed, traveling up 30 meters, restoring 250/500/750/1000 shield.  Any shield gained passed max is halved and added as overshield.

 

And that’s all!  Any response or critiques are welcome, and if DE finds this, at least humor us with a “huh, that’s neat” response to let us know you actually spend a few minutes in this place you call a feedback forum.

[PsiWarp]

It's a pretty comprehensive rework suggestion, but a tad too late. I hope Sticky Ripline and Nail Grenade (also Boost Pad) will be useful.

[keikogi]

At this point it is too late for suggeations , I was hopping for a energy wall and shield booster. But a got horizontal bounce and nail grenades. Anyways, nice suggestion but the nail grenede popping nulifiers bublies would never fly.

[(PSN)Ozymandias-13-]

It's too late to change what they have. You can still suggest modifications of the new abilities they've already announced and shown, if there's important features they're lacking.

That feedback should be posted here. 

 

[Truearcaneist]

I know it’s late, just wanted to put this up for the record, also to get it off my chest. I’m sure I’ll love a good amount of what they changed and improved with him, just hate seeing the potential of a ‘tactical cc support’ frame go to waste. Just a little more support outside cc is all I would think to bring him up to closer to the likes of harrow (not even close I know).