Durational Abilities

[Retrikaethan]

hello! me again, something short this time. i doubt i'm the only one who's noticed on zephyr (and hydroid for those who have him already) that the duration abilities (zephyr+hydroids ult and hydroids first) that once you cast them, you cannot relocate them again until the duration is complete. now, this normally wouldn't be a problem except for on these two frames (and any future frame who use the same mechanic) because the abilities can either be cast again (ember 3, volt 3) or they move with you (volt 2, trinity 4, ember 4). anyway, the problem is that too much duration on these abilities (hydroids 4 and zephyrs 4) can be extremely detrimental as combat is usually highly mobile and enemies don't always happen to be in the same places. 30 seconds is a very long time in combat, usually the stuff gets to be nowhere near your ult and you end up being pretty buggered if you need it elsewhere. anyway, what i am suggesting to rectify this issue is to allow these durational ults to cancel themselves when cast again. ie hydroids tentacles on the ceiling? press 4, tentacles go poof, and you cast at the chosen location once more. the only thing this does is allow you to move the ult before the timer is done without being forced to wait for the long timer nor being forced to place them only defensively.

 

woops. TL;DR make abilities like hydroids 1+4 and zephyrs 4 able to be canceled and recast

 

[PenutReaper]

Risk/Reward my friend. It seems fine to me.

[Retrikaethan]

Risk/Reward my friend. It seems fine to me.

problem is that none of the other ults have this restriction. you'd still lose out by dropping the rest of the duration and spending energy for another cast.

[PenutReaper]

Nyx's absorb can have similar problems, Excalibur's Radial Javelin can hit the wrong enemies or no enemies at all. Banshee's Soundquake cant be cancelled and leaves you vulnerable to long range attacks.

I'm still lying in bed, but that's what I got off the top of my head.

I'll list more later if need be, I need a cup of tea first though.

[Retrikaethan]

Nyx's absorb can have similar problems, Excalibur's Radial Javelin can hit the wrong enemies or no enemies at all. Banshee's Soundquake cant be cancelled and leaves you vulnerable to long range attacks.

I'm still lying in bed, but that's what I got off the top of my head.

I'll list more later if need be, I need a cup of tea first though.

not the duration restriction, the placement *in combination with the exceedingly long duration(edited in = *). also excal just sucks.  banshee has been due a rework for a long time coming (but yes same thing there) [also ash but hes due a rework too] and with nyx you're immortal for the period of time then explode you're not trapped in place for 30+ seconds with it are you?

Edited April 12, 2014 by Retrikaethan

[PenutReaper]

I think you misunderstood my point.

Abilities have a risk/reward for the most part. If every ability had no risk, the gane would be boring. There's a reason that killing hordes is more fun with Overload than M Prime, it has a higher risk associated with it.

I think that removing the locked duration would effectively remove most of the risk of the abilities you mentioned.

[Retrikaethan]

I think you misunderstood my point.

Abilities have a risk/reward for the most part. If every ability had no risk, the gane would be boring. There's a reason that killing hordes is more fun with Overload than M Prime, it has a higher risk associated with it.

I think that removing the locked duration would effectively remove most of the risk of the abilities you mentioned.

and what im saying is that the risk is a hell of a lot more on the longer duration ults. 30 seconds without access to them with some duration mods. compared to, what? a 1-3 second cast time? the risk is not proportional to the reward

[PenutReaper]

In my opinion, the risk doesn't have to be proportional to the reward. You you want a high reward, low risk frame you have plenty of options. I like the range of risk/rewards associated with the more recent frames as opposed to the press 4 for a room of corpses at no risk to you that was seen in older frames.