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So while the heart of this discussion stemmed from how poor the Ranger is doing VS any other class, it also got me thinking about the core of the combo system in general and the lack of flexibility.
Preface
So currently only 1 primer per element can be applied, while this makes you think you should coordinate with your team to ensure you have everything covered it also takes away from build variety and or force someone into using something they do not like to use or have poor "inscriptions" for.
Proposed change
- Primer's of the same element can "stack" on an enemy but only in the sense that it can be detonated that many times and is not affected by the debuff more then once. IE stacking Venom does not do 4x the damage. Also it add a stack per ability not application. IE if a storm is running 2x frost primes, they will only ever be able to throw up "Frost Prime x2"
Example
- Interceptor and Storm are both running Frost primer's. If the storm uses their frost primer it applies the "Frost" debuff and when the Interceptor throws theirs you see the "Frost" debuff but with an x2 on the icon.
The same goes with any other elements. This allows for more combos to occur across a variety of builds and not create "broken" game mechanics such as people stacking 4x venom for 4x the venom debuff as that does not stack, just the ability to combo the same element.
Additional Change
- The more an enemy is hit with an element the lower their resistance is to being primed and effected with said element.
It appears the way priming occurs is the higher the damage, the higher the chance it primes, inscriptions chance aside. I have seen cases where a storm applies frost to a legendary and it primes but is unaffected by "freeze" and other times its "frozen" but is not primed. I cant speak for other classes. It just makes sense game mechanic wise that if 2 people are pounding an enemy with frost, it would eventually succumb to being primed or frozen. Bosses are a different story, I don't expect a boss to be frozen solid, I get that.
If this is already the case I apologize as I rarely run a primer and if I do no one else usually has the same element.
The Ranger
I already made a post and /u/BioCamden acknowledged it about Ranger melee so I will skip that entirely here.
What I am here to talk about is the passive perk: Bonus detonation damage.
The Problem
-- In its current state it is neigh unnoticeable that Ranger's get "bonus combo damage" and on top of that its bloody hard to even get a combo off with how slow our detonations are
This could simply be a UI issue in the fact you are not shown the actual damage a combo makes and you simply see "Combo". It is not quantitative and frankly very underwhelming in its current state so honestly that may be the issue, you simply cant see how much it does.
Proposed Solutions
1: If Bioware insists the "bonus" is not something to scoff at simply make combo's pop up as a different color damage like Orange, and simply drop the whole "combo" display. You can keep the combo noise also. Again the fact no numbers are displayed could be the issue but again seeing it may be believing.
2: With my proposed updated combo system allow the ranger to detonate ALL of the current status effects on the enemy for TONS of damage. Each non-detonated effect increases damage.
3: Allow the Ranger to ALWAYS combo regardless if the current prime on the target has been detonated previously. This would allow us to not worry so damn much about self priming or timing our abilities like our life depended on it. It could also increase the poor damage output we Ranger's have vs other classes.
I am not suggesting ALL of these be implemented, but each is a solution on its own.
What are your thoughts on the current Ranger, and or Combo system? I do not think the current system is self is broken, but can be improved on but I do feel the Ranger is not in a good place because of its passive and its MW perks based around melee.
Sincerely,
A Ranger main with 150 hours
EDIT:
My "Ranger Melee" post for anyone interested.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheGame/comments/ase4cp/the_unique_masterworks_ability_on_the_ranger/
EDIT2: My timing sucks and the loot changes just went live, rip this post getting traction :(
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