12 replies to this topic

[Crayyon]

I love playing my infiltrator. The grenade launcher is very versatile, and synergizes very well with the HEAT cannon for quickly popping out of cover to burst, then hiding again. My only complaint is that their special cloak ability is very underwhelming.

The use for cloak is very specific: to approach or escape an area unseen, which would be great if the unseen part were actually true. Visually cloaked infiltrators are very easy to spot and every time I cross someone's line of sight while cloaked I'm immediately fired upon. In addition, since you can be spotted while cloaked, everyone on the enemy team can see me no matter what.

The only useful aspect of cloak is that you can boost without showing up on radar, which also goes away the instant you fire a weapon, making its effectiveness extremely situational.

My suggestion would be to get rid of the visual cloak, and change the ability to simply mask your radar signature for a set amount of time, even while firing. This would bring it more in line with other timed abilities and make it far more versatile. Would also be cool if the ability prevented you from being spotted, but that would likely make it too powerful.

Anyway, thoughts or suggestions on how this ability might be retooled/adjusted_

[breezytrees]

Cloak IS underwhelming. I don't play infiltrator, but cloaked infs are very easy to spot. It's similar to C class mechs in that both classes are strong, yet their special abilties just leave something to be desired.

Infiltrators cloak could use some retooling. I'd do away with the predator effect, as its gimmicky at best. Unless it's 100% invisible, a good player will always be able to spot it. A few alternates, and these are just suggestions:

Sensor Jammer

• 12 second duration.
  
• Lose your own HUD. No weapon reticle. No health bar. No heat bar. No Radar. Can still tell friend/foe similar to repair mode.
  
• Movement/boosting remains unhindered
  
• Don't show up on enemy radar even when firing.
  
• Don't show up on enemy HUD (No square around your mech).
  
• Can be instantly deactivated by hitting your special ability key once more.

Or... for even more situational utlity:

E.C.M:

• ​30 second duration
  
• Lose ability to fire all weapons/items.
  
• Lose your own HUD. No weapon Reticle. No health bar. No heat bar. No Radar. Can still tell friend/foe similar to repair mode.
  
• Movement/boosting remains unhindered.
  
• Don't show up on enemy Radar.
  
• Don't show up on enemy HUD.
  
• Can be slowly deactivated by hitting your special ability key once more. Begins a slow system restart, at which point you instantly show up on radar and your hud and weapons slowly come online over a period of 3-5 seconds.
  
• optional: If the system restart proves debilitating enough, predator-style cloaking might make this ability more interesting.

Edited by breezytrees, November 13 2012 - 01:06 AM.

[BuDeKai]

thats a pretty cool idea. i also found that this ability was next to useless for me which is why i leveled my beserker. i would definately like to see some tweak as well. i would suggest letting them stayed cloaked even when firing since they are still slightly visible and all the other abilities aid you in a duel

[NotKjell]

I've dropped my setting too as low as they can be due to having an old computer, but I can't see invisible infiltrators for fuzzy bunny with these settings. I don't think it takes you off of radar either, and honestly I'd be fine with this version of invisibilty. Makes you actually invisible  and just that. I've had people use it against me many times, and I really haven't felt it's ever been bullshit and often rather clever.

[defekt]

Ability to spot an ‘invisible’ Infil is also somewhat reliant on your game detail settings; on Ultra they all but glow in the dark.  So before you even consider the mechanics of the ability it’s already compromised by game settings.

I agree that the Cloak ability as it currently functions is the second least useful ability in the game, second only to the C-class turret mode.

When you boost I’m pretty sure that you do show up on radar.

Whether the ability takes you fully off the radar but leaves you mark one eyeball visible, or it leaves you on the radar but makes you fully invisible (no HUD red box either otherwise what’s the point of invisibility), I don’t mind which as long as it’s one or the other and not the current half-way measure that’s not all that effective in either regard.

There is a danger that this might get drowned out by the current cries of the Infil being somewhat OP.  Is it OP_  I’m not so sure, particularly now as play styles develop, but it’s undeniably a top tier option.  (If you want to see clear and present OPness then you need look no further than Zerkers with a Vulcan!)  I’d be more inclined to bring the non-top tier choices up to par rather than downgrade the currently viable choices.

[Crayyon]

Personally I also run the game on low settings due to an old graphics card and I can still spot a cloaked infiltrator pretty easily. I was also under the impression that the cloak hid your radar signature while boosting, but if I'm mistaken about that it could explain some unexpected ambushes I've experienced while trying to sneak up to a location, and would also mean that all the times I was successful it was just because the other team wasn't paying attention to their radar. (Btw I know how stupid cloaked infiltrators look when they try to run up right in front of you thinking they're invisible, so I try to only cloak when flanking enemies)

Considering both of these things, and that it's even easier to see them on higher game settings, then how is the ability anything but a brief cosmetic predator style cloak_

I was also afraid of this post being disregarded due to cries of Infil being OP w/ the HEAT cannon, but weapon values and loadouts are tweaks. A mech's special ability is what's supposed to make them unique, and having a useless ability on any mech just detracts from the game as a whole. (I'm also all for a retooling of the class C turret modes)

[Panssarikauha]

I've seen a few Infil's get around a corner because of the few seconds it took me & my team to spot them after they cloaked, but most of the time, they just die horribly. So yeah some buff would be needed, or a complete rework.
My 2 cents is a raw idea of a some sort of E.M. pulse weapon, that scrambles your & any enemies radar for 10-15 seconds, giving out only static. Could also disable HUD's. The trick is it'd only work with a LOS to the target. Say that you fire it, but your foe is behind cover, they wouldnt be affected.

Not really the best idea, seeing that breezy cleared the pot with the Sensor Jammer idea.

[BlackCephie]

I use the Inf ability constantly, and it works out well for me. It hides your radar signature while boosting. I cant tell you how many times I have cloaked and boosted up behind someone from far away, and they never even knew I was there. You never cloak while someone is looking at you, and you never approach head on. I think the idea is to be able to quickly move around the map with boost while not popping up on radar. It makes flanking easier too, because although you are not completely INVISIBLE, you are still pretty inconspicuous, especially if there is mayhem going on.

[defekt]

Can we have dev comment on whether or not Cloak actually masks boosting from the radar_  I'm not at all convinced that it does.

[Bea5t]

Cloaking in Gotham City Imposters works really good i think. Take that as a role model. Visibility is slightly lower in cloaked mode. Also there is no temporary limit to the use of the ability. The disadvantage comes from exiting the cloak, as anything else but movement is restricted for a couple of seconds. Cloaked mode also should be out of radar unless someone has dropped a radar device and decloaking should also be seen on the radar.

[Crimson_Corsair]

The thing about cloak that makes it seem underwhelming, is that it makes you hard to see (possible but still hard).
That makes you a high priority target. I know that once I see one I CANNOT let it out of my sights or the next thing I know, I'm getting a charged HEAT and GL in the back. Maybe a HE charge to boot.

Don't go flying around like you're completely invisible, and you'll be very hard to spot.

[Snoof]

The Cloak is broken at the moment fellas, if your setting is on High+ you can see the infils running around easily, and the radar boost signature is useless since the massive JET trails and dust they create is still there, BUT if you set your setting to Med- you will notice that the poorly designed shimmer disappears completely, making the mech actually invisible, so long as you dont move around kicking up particles everywhere, or get aimed at at which case a big, red named "shoot here" appears around you, this is rather upsetting since i understand that not all people can run this on Ultra and some are forced to deal with infiltrators being able to..... well infiltrate the battles

[Culex]

That's an interesting observation, Snoof. In another game I was playing called Forge, there was an assassin class that would also cloak. If players had the distortion setting in their video options checked on, it was MUCH easier to see the shimmer and stop them before they got the jump on you. Those that did not have distortion on would see right through the assassin in stealth without knowing any better (at close-ranges too) and therefore were at a pretty big disadvantage.

If this game carries this distortion setting, it should be toggled on/off in the video settings!