On the subject of Talon...
I've played with Talons today, and the mega guns are hardly annoying at all. If the Talon came after me full force, my new and improved Vermin responded back with a better Damage Per Attack Ratio and better armor than it. It was very good to do this and I could easily dismantle Talons as well as avoid their long range mega gun usage.
What is bothersome is something you guys can't control. There was a Talon that played a different style of "game" and all they did was spam remote bombs from hiding places and shoot the occasional sniper/ stalker/ and so on. Of course, the Talon didn't do much of anything, but that game I was using Reaper (which I swapped to Vermin after) so each and every time I got a remote bomb on me, my ability to attack was reduced to standing and waiting. The Talon ultimately forced me to sit out and focus on it while my team is getting hurt by other players who were of a higher class than they were. I couldn't help because then I'd have to worry about the Talon blowing me up in the middle of the pack and so on. With this situation, the major factor was the remote bomb. It was the only factor that would keep me away from the battle taking advantage of the Talon's decision to fight so sparingly and away from the action. However, I couldn't do anything because no matter what the remote bombs can't miss.
Everything else about Talon is not really bothersome as the only major thing it can do is run away and hit you from a higher vantage which you're likely not going to reach. Can't stop that since Talon's technically the issue, but unless you limit its usage, there's really no way to overcome it.
I do understand you can't reduce the lock-on anymore on the remote bombs, but there must be something you can do to completely remove it altogether. If you make it a skill weapon, then you can ultimately solve the abuse that it brings. Without lock-on properties, you are able to still use it as effectively as you like:
- Self-sticking it by jumping and rear-firing the remote at the peak of your jump, then simply allowing it to land right on top of you during its descent. It will stick. You need to do a double jump for some cars because of their size/ class.
- Rear firing as you pass by and this is a scheme based off of quick-swapping combos: for example, start with a swarm and then (make sure there is nothing between the swarm and remote bomb slots first) charge it up. Ram that into an enemy and as soon as you fire it, switch to the remote bomb upon releasing the swarm (thus quick-swapping will happen) and then simply rear fire the remote and drive away and explode it. Does good damage and allows you to return and do some form of additional move to combo attack some more.
- Stick it on a team mate and assist them that way.
- Stick it to the environment like a trap.
- Fire it manually, which is forward fired. If you're good, you can use it like a sniper from long range. If not, then you'll have to improve since it can be a skill weapon.
Otherwise, you tend to have players in the game that wish only to get easy 50 damage attacks consistently by camping near some of these and shooting them around. Rather than have to actually work for their damage, they're given a great advantage in terms of unlimited range and aim assist. It's pretty much ruled out as one of the cheapest things to do by the community, yet the common verdict isn't to condone it, but to match it if your opponent does it.
If you somehow could work to fix the remote bombs, then you'd greatly create the best result of balance. We'd have more frontal fighting and the players that wished to keep their distance would be more affected. Of course, the community would need some time to adjust to new tactics.
But as it is, the game has gotten a lot better in terms of potential move sets with weapons.
I think it's fine. It takes two bounces to use that special or a good forward runway, or a Wall Above to make it to where you can earn that 90 damage. Good amount of skillshot to lineup that hit rather than rely on a Blast Radius.
For everything else, it would require Shadows to use the ALTs in that environment and force them to aim those for quick shots.
How I normally view the primary versus the ALT is dependent on range:
1) if you need to rear fire one, the primary is easier, but as you have a scheme to do it with the ALT, that's very effective as well.
2) if you need to send something really far (outside of ALT's reach), then the primary does that rather well.
3) If you need to aim a specific area that the ALT can't reach, then the primary does that.
4) If you need something that moves around, then the primary does that.
5) if you need high instant damage, then the ALT should do that if you don't have areas to bank off walls.
6) If you need to stun and stagger, then the ALT's better for it, but you can do it with both specials.
7) If you need to occupy an area, then the ALT does that.
If they return it to 50, then people will fire that more often than the ALTs in hopes of getting widespread 50s everywhere.
i actualy said cool out loud and startted smiling.