They could just increase the bite cone to the old levels (or say the current 50 dmg cone) and remove the system altogether, skulk vs marine balance early game isn't the problem.
They could just increase the bite cone to the old levels (or say the current 50 dmg cone) and remove the system altogether, skulk vs marine balance early game isn't the problem.
The old levels were hilariously huge. The marine could be on the edge of your screen and you could get a 75 damage bite... seems like a bit of an extreme crutch for skulk play.
Well the 50dmg cone would be reasonable enough, it's a good compromise between keeping a lower skill floor (i.e skulk play not being frustrating for new players) and skulk being too easy while still getting rid of the confusing glancing bite system.
They really, really need to add better feedback for glancing hits. Preferably distinct audio sounds for each level of damage... having to rely on draw damage is dicey at best, incredibly unintuitive at worst. It becomes apparent when you get newbies making forum threads all the time titled: "Is bite damage random?" and "are there headshots in the game?"
This is a FANTASTIC idea. Perhaps an ever-increasing intense sharp sound like a 25 damage being "dun..." 50 being "dunDUN" and 75 a crippling squish sound or something.
They really, really need to add better feedback for glancing hits. Preferably distinct audio sounds for each level of damage...
This is a FANTASTIC idea.
It's funny since we've had issues with feedback on bites since NS1. Part of the problem is that when you're being bitten you have the skulk bite sound and the LMG sound both going simultaneously. So you need to have a feedback sound that you can distinguish from that and not detract from immersion. It's been one of those things that they have never really been able to get a handle on. They've tried different ways, and it usually ends up being a 'less is more' approach.
I certainly don't mind feedback either - from BOTH sides. It would be nice for marine and alien alike to know what kind of bite has landed.
There definitely needs to be better hit feedback on glancing hits, especially in the sound. 25 damage should be barely audible, 50 damage should be a bit quieter than today, and 75 damage should be louder than today.
It appears that the forums ate my first reply when they upgraded
As is, the cone just feels too big to me, even if you only get 25 damage at the edge. I think it would be worth a try to flat out remove the 25 damage cone and reduce the 50 damage cone to 35-40 damage (probably 38). This would give the direct hit full damage, and a (smaller) glance for roughly half damage. This would still give the bite some newbie training wheels, but make the glances less effective (and hopefully reduce the effectiveness of lawnmowering marines).
They could just increase the bite cone to the old levels (or say the current 50 dmg cone) and remove the system altogether, skulk vs marine balance early game isn't the problem.
The old levels were hilariously huge. The marine could be on the edge of your screen and you could get a 75 damage bite... seems like a bit of an extreme crutch for skulk play.
It was a box, at least before tracers were removed. Actually, it was 9 boxes. My understanding is that they basically throw out a box, and whatever it collides with first is what is hit... but since 1 box can hit the floor before hitting a marine, if you're looking downward, they use 9 boxes in a grid instead. That way, the bottom ones might hit the floor, but one of the top ones can hit the marine and trigger a hit (I don't remember if it accepted the first hit, or if it waited for all the boxes and selected the best target, such as prioritizing a marine over a structure).
That was before the full damage bite went to a tiny sliver though, and before the glances were added, so who knows what it currently is.
I think they deal too much damage still. The idea was that you still got some damage in, not bite/strafe spam until you kill people. I think it was fine when it had the small bite cone personally.. however, the glancing blows wouldn't be too bad if the damage was toned down a bit. The way it is now, it can be abusable by good skulks that know how to stay out of a players vision and be safely strafing along the walls to avoid fire from backup. This encourages the alien team to harass less as a team, because once one skulk dies another one can run in and mop up whatever the first didn't get. Idk. The "middle" range should be lowered imo to 35~40, & remove the outer glance (perhaps if necesary, increase the main bite cone, because that's what should matter anyways). I don't understand why there's 3 damages and the outercone is dealing so much... It's a melee class. If you didn't know what you were getting into when you chomped at the air beside a marine, you shouldn't get any damage in! After all, how many builds was it like that in the first place? Were there really that many complaints about biting a marine being so hard?..
Comments
The old levels were hilariously huge. The marine could be on the edge of your screen and you could get a 75 damage bite... seems like a bit of an extreme crutch for skulk play.
This is a FANTASTIC idea. Perhaps an ever-increasing intense sharp sound like a 25 damage being "dun..." 50 being "dunDUN" and 75 a crippling squish sound or something.
I certainly don't mind feedback either - from BOTH sides. It would be nice for marine and alien alike to know what kind of bite has landed.
As is, the cone just feels too big to me, even if you only get 25 damage at the edge. I think it would be worth a try to flat out remove the 25 damage cone and reduce the 50 damage cone to 35-40 damage (probably 38). This would give the direct hit full damage, and a (smaller) glance for roughly half damage. This would still give the bite some newbie training wheels, but make the glances less effective (and hopefully reduce the effectiveness of lawnmowering marines).
What, you don't want lawnmower skulks back?
It was a box, at least before tracers were removed. Actually, it was 9 boxes. My understanding is that they basically throw out a box, and whatever it collides with first is what is hit... but since 1 box can hit the floor before hitting a marine, if you're looking downward, they use 9 boxes in a grid instead. That way, the bottom ones might hit the floor, but one of the top ones can hit the marine and trigger a hit (I don't remember if it accepted the first hit, or if it waited for all the boxes and selected the best target, such as prioritizing a marine over a structure).
That was before the full damage bite went to a tiny sliver though, and before the glances were added, so who knows what it currently is.