16 replies to this topic

[Murder_by_Spoon]

This has been suggested before, but I'd like to hear people's opinions on it. What do you think bout swapping the abilities of the Reaper and the Sharpshooter? Currently the SS already deals heavy burst damage from afar, and the boost it gets through it's ability "Power Shot" is only useful in certain situations, like when a skilled player keeps killing me and I just want to revenge kill him. 

1.) Switch to SS
2.) Line up a shot and pop the ability
3.) ??????

4.) Profit

Other than that, I rarely use it and go "wow, if it wasn't for the ability, I wouldn't have been able to "suppress the enemies on the AA" or "wow, if it wasn't for the ability, I wouldn't have been able to finish that guy off". It just doesn't  happen all that often.

On the other end of the debate, the Reaper's ability "Precision Overdrive" is pretty useless, as the Reaper can already shoot no-scope quite accurately, and at the range where the spread becomes significant you can easily quick scope, as you should be doing most of the time anyways.

Now whenever I'm either:
A.) Playing Reaper against a SS
B.) Playing SS against a Reaper

The SS always seems to be able to completely shut down the Reaper and negate its usefulness. It's like a Reaper check.
Both if I'm in the Reaper and the SS, this is the case, unless there is a significant skill disparity.

I think they should switch abilities. If the Reaper had "Power Shot", it could temporarily deal significant damage comparable to a volley shot by an SS, rather than the much weaker "plinking" the reaper usually does, albeit at a faster rate of fire.

This would allow the reaper to somewhat effectively deal with opposing Sharpshooters, while netting more kills that usually are left as Assists, because the enemy has time to take cover before they are taken out.

At the same time, the Sharpshooter could deal with people that get too close more effectively by using the ability "Precision Overdrive".




Now on to my other suggestion. I think this game would benefit from newer APIs. I mean this game still runs on DX9 correct?
Most people are using modern GPUs that are simply not optimized for ancient APIs. I think updating to DX12 or Vulkan, or heck, even DX11, would benefit a lot of people. However, integrating a new API into the game is very time consuming, and I'm sure they have their plates full with other stuff at the moment, but it's something to keep in mind for the future. I hope they don't expect us to keep playing on DX9 forever   

Anyways let me know what you think, thanks!

[JeffMagnum]

Other than that, I rarely use it and go "wow, if it wasn't for the ability, I wouldn't have been able to "suppress the enemies on the AA" or "wow, if it wasn't for the ability, I wouldn't have been able to finish that guy off". It just doesn't  happen all that often.

 

Zerker and Reaper both take two Slug+Sabot combos if Powershot is used and 3xSlug+2x Sabot without. Also, no A-Classes can be killed with -125 armor from a teammate's TOW/GL and Slug+Sabot, but Infiltrator, Scout, and Tech can be if Powershot is used. These situations all come up consistently and can often determine whether or not you'll get a kill on a fleeing enemy (especially if they're only visible for short periods of time through gaps in cover) or die at low armor playing corners against A's where you need to keep the amount of time you're exposed to an absolute minimum. Almost 43 damage is a lot when it comes to lights and finishing off players.

 

At the same time, the Sharpshooter could deal with people that get too close more effectively by using the ability "Precision Overdrive".

 

Increased accuracy wouldn't help much at close range. SS needs burst to fight around cover and so it can still do consistent damage while getting out of the enemy's FOV in the open to avoid prolonged exchanges where both mechs can do full DPS.

 

Reaper and SS should not play interchangeable roles and weren't meant to when designed--Reaper is primarily intended to be a mobile mid-long range sniper with a relatively fast fire rate, while SS is meant to be a less-forgiving long-range mech focusing on doing more burst at the cost of DPS. KE Sabot's lower damage/faster refire/higher DPS/quicker falloff and RPR being chosen over Hawkins for Reaper both support this, as do the differences in armor relative to other mechs of their weight classes. 

 

SS is better in most cases than Reaper right now, yes, but that's 1. because snipers will generally pick the weapon with the highest burst and accuracy out of their choices, 2. because of the current meta favoring armor over mobility against players who can aim and also because extra health lets you take and do more damage before repairing when you're supported by a solid team, and 3. because of Reaper's ability being almost useless. Rather than nerfing SS and homogenizing the two hitscan ranged mechs, I'd rather Reaper be differentiated with an ability that increases fire rate temporarily or something. 

Edited by JeffMagnum, 28 February 2017 - 02:33 PM.

[MomOw]

 

Rather than nerfing SS and homogenizing the two hitscan ranged mechs, I'd rather Reaper be differentiated

 

This. It's (kinda) disappointing that the new dev team didn't changed yet the reaper ability in howken.

[nepacaka]

i disagree with swapping ability, but in current state reaper ability usefull only if you use Hawkins-RPR + KEK. with Amsar and Slug you can forget about it, cuz you no need press "another button".

give him some sort of passive ability like "accumulate +0,5% damage for every second while you in scope-mode, to maximum +5% (10 sec in scope)" would have more sense and profit. i mean, if you press scope, and shoot like a sniper, you slowly increase bonus-damage %, if you turn-off scope you lose all bonus-damage.

Edited by nepacaka, 28 February 2017 - 03:43 PM.

[Silverfire]

DX11 is coming to Hawken, console Hawken already runs on DX11.

[Erzunterweltler]

"accumulate +0,5% damage for every second while you in scope-mode, to maximum +5% (10 sec in scope)"

 

I like the creativity, but a Reaper should never - under any circumstances - stay in scope for 10 consecutive seconds. That's how you set yourself up to be killed by a Pred/Infil. The Reaper is an A-class after all, it has relatively low armor and high mobility, forcing it to play flashier than a SS. It can certainly do that, as it scopes/zooms in way faster than SS. As a Reaper you line up the shot, scope/zoom in, correct aim if necessary, take the shot and zoom out again, all of which should take upto two seconds max. That way you ensure that you keep moving as well as having a good overview of the battle / your surroundings the whole time. Obviously, this applies to Slug-Reaper (best Reaper imho), when using AM-SAR/RPR you want to be at mid-range where you can comfortably shoot your enemy without having to use the scope, which you should then only do when you catch your target off-guard or you're certain it will not move a lot (e.g. a turreted C-class); on long range you do the same as Slug-Reaper except you use your Secondary only.

[nepacaka]

but a Reaper should never - under any circumstances - stay in scope for 10 consecutive seconds.

if you are Slug-reap, and if you fight 1v1 - No.
but if someone fight instead you (let say inci+tech) and enemies not focus you personally and you stay far away, you can do it.
ability doesn't mean that you should always got +5% bonus damage, but sometimes, when team do some things on battlefield, you can do it. 
it is the same like standart ability with cooldawn, let say SS. you can't use it every 10 seconds, right?

by the way, you are not allowed got +5% damage always, sometimes you can get 1%, sometimes 3%, anyway quick-scope with slug will always give you +0,5% :P
and actually with am-sar and RPR you spent some seconds in scope anyway many times in battle (bacoz if not, you KEK-sabot don't have bonus damage and can miss, and you need making pew-pew bacoz RPR is sustain). so, it will work like a little buff instead useless ability sometimes, mostly, if you stay far away or in the moment when you be in safety and shoot in people which have their own problems (like a meet with your handheld brawler, for example).

Edited by nepacaka, 01 March 2017 - 12:35 AM.

[coldform]

Jeff kinda got this one right. I spend most of my reaper time in a constant flux of repositioning amd harrassment/clean up. I'm always switching between the two, never really trying to do both at the same time.

All in all, reaper's ability has only been useful to me in a 1v1 situation - I have scoped acc, but retain turn speed. But considering the amount of moving I do, cqc 1v1s are more prevalent, and the ability 's cooldown is just too long for it to be of any use.

Also, I'm still no good with the long range burst that comes with ss.

Edited by coldform, 01 March 2017 - 01:00 AM.

[Erzunterweltler]

if you are Slug-reap, and if you fight 1v1 - No.
but if someone fight instead you (let say inci+tech) and enemies not focus you personally and you stay far away, you can do it.

 

Well, if you are far away the AM-SAR and RPR are rendered useless due to their spread, the damage you deal with them on long range is redundant. So it is more useful to use the KE-Sabot like I described and trying to get closer to your enemy after you zoom out so that you can use your Primary Weapon effectively. Also, if you're far away you make an even better target for a Pred/Infil (or basically any flanker) as there's nobody to defend you and when you're in the scope they're pretty much guaranteed to get the first hit. An opposed SS could still decide to shoot you anytime as well. Sure, if there is no Pred/Infil/SS/Slug-Reaper on the enemy team and you can see the whole enemy team fighting the rest of your team, you can freely use the scope for as long as you want, but if that's not given you really shouldn't. Rewarding new players resp. making new players think that you're supposed to be a stationary sniper using the scope for all eternity will just give them problems as they become better and make it into matches where they'll face a competent SS or flanker. I think the best idea so far for a possbile rework of Reaper's ability has been the increased fire rate, as it would benefit all of the Reaper's Primaries.

[nepacaka]

anyway currently ability is weird, because it is really working only with RPR.
any changes which will be work (or more usefull) with all 3 weapons will be better. doesn't matter which bonus it give to you, it is > than 0.
it is also possible give reaper ability which is not related with weapons, but related with mech instead.


funny sugestion:
ability name - Confusion. Cooldown 20 sec.

It sends to the enemies a false signals, so enemies sees you on the radar, and the monitor as an ally. Your mech-model changes in enemy eyes on a random A-class mech-model (you not look like a reaper, and you got the same nickname like a one random person from the enemy team).
Your name and the color of the marker on the radar coincide with the enemy. Ability can working infinity time until will not be interrupted, or effect disappears if you take a damage from an enemies.

 

hmm... maybe i writing it incomprehensible, so i trying write it more easy to understand my spech:
 
- while ability you got Random A-class model (maybe with random camo, or without), which look like Hologramm mech if yu stand close (have a flicker effect)
- got a clone-nickname from one of the enemy player (let say, you can see two player with nickname "nepacaka", one in your team, second is the enemy, if you see both of them in one moment :P), it does not affect on score-table, only for mech-display
- got the same brackets/icon colors as the enemies, and your marker on radar also changes color for enemies.
- your teammates still see you as a standart reaper while ability, and they see you as a friendly unit.
- enemies still see "damage markers" if you attack they
- ability lost if you got any damage from enemies.

will be pretty fun ability. xD

Edited by nepacaka, 01 March 2017 - 06:37 AM.

[nepacaka]

another variant of ability (maybe for some sort of new mech) non-based on damage, or mech-stats, just by visual chaos.

Hacking. 10 sec duration, 40 sec k/d. 
all enemies in 50m range can't see icons and nicknames of any mechs (teammates or enemies), all markers on radar will be the same colors (the effect will be more funny if someone use/put anti-radar item)

it is mean you can trust only your eyes. the effect can be pretty abusive if you use plastic config and all mechs have a "grey" color for you :D
also, can bring additional chaos on AA point where everyone shoot in everyone =)

Edited by nepacaka, 01 March 2017 - 06:39 AM.

[EM1O]

dx9 is quite fine enough.  i'd wager that 90% of your casual gamers are running older less high-profile gpus, and don't have $200-2000 in their pockets to jump up and buy a new card--likewise requiring a larger power supply, etc. 

besides, unless a high-profile game company with deep(er) pockets acquires hawken, i would seriously doubt any software modernization will ever be done to hawken.  it will likely stagnate until the last drop of blood has been squeezed out of it.  APB is excellent (?) evidence.

[HOHOHOSANTA]

no

[Nept]

No.

[Draigun]

The Circle of Several Sabots says no.

[coldform]

dx9 is quite fine enough. i'd wager that 90% of your casual gamers are running older less high-profile gpus, and don't have $200-2000 in their pockets to jump up and buy a new card--likewise requiring a larger power supply, etc.
besides, unless a high-profile game company with deep(er) pockets acquires hawken, i would seriously doubt any software modernization will ever be done to hawken. it will likely stagnate until the last drop of blood has been squeezed out of it. APB is excellent (?) evidence.

Console hawken uses dx11 - standard for xbone titles. So, hawken built with dx11 will come to pc.

[Draigun]

dx9 is quite fine enough.  i'd wager that 90% of your casual gamers are running older less high-profile gpus, and don't have $200-2000 in their pockets to jump up and buy a new card--likewise requiring a larger power supply, etc. 

besides, unless a high-profile game company with deep(er) pockets acquires hawken, i would seriously doubt any software modernization will ever be done to hawken.  it will likely stagnate until the last drop of blood has been squeezed out of it.  APB is excellent (?) evidence.

 

It won't make sense now to still use DX9 from a marketing standpoint, I would imagine. The API is almost 15 years old for god's sake. We're seeing new development for products at an exponential rate in a matter of years, or even months in some markets. It's probably not a stretch to say that certain things cannot be put into development or effect because of the DX9 API.

 

If the GPU doesn't support it, it can be implemented at the driver level. It won't have nearly the same beneficial effect as a GPU that was designed with that API in mind for obvious reasons, but DX11 software driver level support isn't unheard of for older GPUs.