Simple Nova QOL fixes

[Eli_Beeblebrox]

I love Nova. I've probably spent over 1k hours using her. However, she isn't without her issues and basically hasn't been touched in ages - aside from the Neutron Star nerf, which should be at least partially reversed for Nova and left as-is for the helminth version to bring it in line with other ability nerfs in the helminth system, just saying. Come on, it wasn't THAT good, just situational to the low level enemies in Sanctuary.

That aside, the purpose of this post is to request two simple QOL fixes to her kit.

Wormhole: tap behaves as it does now, short hold immediately takes her to the end of the wormhole without needing a collision check. A less important but also convenient change would to be to remove the current on-collision behavior from entering wormhole, make the entry zone a larger sphere, and require pressing interact to travel through it.

Why? Network latency. If you're not host, it is aggravatingly common to just run right past a wormhole before the host connection has time to allow you to use it and that'll ruin your groove. As for needing to press interact, this could enable Wormhole to live up to its name and be a two-way teleporter like Symmetra's from Overwatch, saving the player from poor placement without needing to type "/unstuck" and removing the trolling potential from the ability - which I would admittedly miss but it's sacrifice I'm willing to make for increased utility. How sick would it be to go back through Nova's wormholes in a spy vault?

Also the rectangle doorframeish look is a little dated. It would look awesome as a sphere, and make more sense given that an approach from any angle will take you through it. If it had a little sneak peek at the endpoint and maybe even expanded as you passed through it like the VR game Budget Cuts, that would be even more awesome and make the fact that it teleports projectiles actually usable but I understand it would be a lot of work. Just my two cents about the aesthetics, not what I'm asking for.

Second, Antimatter drop changes:

It needs to be faster. The game is just played a hell of a lot faster than when this ability was first designed. But if it's going to be faster, it needs to be more controllable and less affected by network latency or it will be even more clunky than it is now. I propose another tap/hold rework, but the tap suggestion is the simplest and would be greatly appreciated if that was the only change. Tap: current behavior, but replace the slow while looking at it with a significantly stronger slow while ADSing, and make it significantly faster while not ADSing. Hold: Antimatter Drop quickly travels a distance from Nova equal to Antimatter Absorb's radius. It stays at that distance, locked to the crosshair. Press 2 a second time to send it zooming off at a speed around Arca Plasmor's projectile.

Why all that? Because it's almost always not worth the time it takes to use it over just shooting enemies normally when enemies are around. Making it faster and giving the player a reliable way to charge it up when no enemies are around and keep it around without having to try to do so in the awkward way currently available will make it way more usable. The distance with the hold cast will make it so that Antimatter Absorb cannot be used as an invulnerability button, while also making it more than a gimmick you try a few times for fun and never touch again because the unwieldiness of Antimatter Drop makes Antimatter Absorb not worth the slot.

To summarize, two simple changes and potential bonuses:
1) Give Wormhole a hold-to-immediately-travel option to fix the problem it has with mediocre host connections.
Bonus: Make it a two-way interactable wormhole.
2) Make Antimatter Drop both faster and easier to control.
Bonus: Give it a hold-to-cast option to make it easier to prepare before encountering enemies, and give Antimatter Absorb actual value.

[Hera.Ci]

Please also consider a cost reduction on Wormhole. This ability does not deserve a 75 energy base cost.

[Eli_Beeblebrox]

On 2024-02-05 at 12:24 PM, Hera.Ci said:

Please also consider a cost reduction on Wormhole. This ability does not deserve a 75 energy base cost.

Considering Tharros Strike costs 25 energy, this is 1000% reasonable

[Eli_Beeblebrox]

13 hours ago, Eli_Beeblebrox said:

Considering Tharros Strike costs 25 energy, this is 1000% reasonable

IDK why I said Tharros Strike, I meant Wrathful Advance lol

Teleport, massive damage, and a buff all in one. Wormhole that does no damage? Three times the cost. Makes no sense.

[Sloth45]

Wormhole also has the dubious advantage of redirecting enemy fire. Watch a bombard launch a rocket into it and have it teleport to the wormhole's end point instead. But no, I can't say I've ever seen a squad use a wormhole, I've rarely seen a nova use one to get around, and I've never seen them placed defensively for any purpose but to annoy squadmates by blocking the door to extract with them.

Also, can we fix her passive? Nova's passive is that she knocks down nearby enemies when she's knocked down. You might never have seen this, because all enemies who are in the animation of a knockdown attack are, themselves, immune to knockdown. So it only ever procs on enemies who are immune to it. GG, DE.