[/Devices] Please Take the Taunt Aura off Gun Drone.

[ScarySai]

Most of the /devices changes that were made a bit ago were pretty good, but this one makes the power absolutely worthless.

 

The pet was never intended to be a distraction, it's not a seeker drone. It's job isn't to get shot at and explode pathetically the minute you summon it in. It was there to help with DPS,

 

Now, if you wanted to replace time bomb with something that taunted, like aforementioned seeker drones or omega maneuver, be my guest - that power sucks, but in the meantime, let's just remove that one effect from gun drone, because whatever idea was behind that change, it did not pan out at all.

Edited February 20, 2020 by ScarySai

[Redlynne]

Counter-proposal.

Change the Taunt effect to a Placate ...

[ScarySai]

41 minutes ago, Redlynne said:

Counter-proposal.

Change the Taunt effect to a Placate ...

Counter-counter proposal.

 

Remove the taunt, then we can discuss replacements after. 

 

If we want a quick fix, we can't just add things on top, removing the taunt is the simplest change that would require the least development time.

Edited February 20, 2020 by ScarySai

[Outrider_01]

Make it immobile like it was originally!

[Galaxy Brain]

46 minutes ago, Outrider_01 said:

Make it immobile like it was originally!

If so, make it an actually God-tier turret 

[Outrider_01]

44 minutes ago, Galaxy Brain said:

If so, make it an actually God-tier turret 

With Tank T9 level resists and defense, with blaster level damage, self defender buffs, scourge/assassin strike/critical hits, it's own little army of hench bots, a damage cap that exceeds brute, and control AoE powers plus random invisible melee attacks!

 

And I am missing something from a couple of AT.

[Menelruin]

36 minutes ago, Outrider_01 said:

With Tank T9 level resists and defense, with blaster level damage, self defender buffs, scourge/assassin strike/critical hits, it's own little army of hench bots, a damage cap that exceeds brute, and control AoE powers plus random invisible melee attacks!

 

And I am missing something from a couple of AT.

Sentinel Opportunity?

[Outrider_01]

32 minutes ago, Menelruin said:

Sentinel Opportunity?

Boooo!  Sentinels are dead to me.  Wanna be blasters and confused scrappers.

[DR_Mechano]

Yeah it's not exactly the pinnacle it once was. Just removing the taunt from it would be nifty. I get why it has it, it was a way to keep blasters safe before they had more personal defense but now it just isn't needed and I'd much prefer it losing the taunt aspect. I mean if folks want to turn it into TF2 tier 3 Sentry turret, that's got low hp is stationary but basically spits out rapid fire damage I wouldn't object 😄

[ScarySai]

15 hours ago, DR_Mechano said:

Yeah it's not exactly the pinnacle it once was. Just removing the taunt from it would be nifty. I get why it has it, it was a way to keep blasters safe before they had more personal defense but now it just isn't needed and I'd much prefer it losing the taunt aspect. I mean if folks want to turn it into TF2 tier 3 Sentry turret, that's got low hp is stationary but basically spits out rapid fire damage I wouldn't object 😄

I may be a bit confused by the wording here, but the drone didn't have a taunt until HC added it with the /dev changes.

 

Honestly, this is a much easier fix than time bomb. It's kinda sad how the 35 and 38 powers for devices are so useless compared to the rest of it.

Edited February 21, 2020 by ScarySai

[Novacat]

How about some mutually exclusive copy paste, like crab venom grenades? One normal one without taunt?

 

Easy, quick, and let's those who want to keep it keep it.

[Replacement]

9 hours ago, ScarySai said:

I may be a bit confused by the wording here, but the drone didn't have a taunt until HC added it with the /dev changes.

 

Honestly, this is a much easier fix than time bomb. It's kinda sad how the 35 and 38 powers for devices are so useless compared to the rest of it.

This is what I was thinking but I didn't actually see it in the patch notes from when Devices changes went live. I definitely remember them discussing it on the Beta forums though. I even remember agreeing with their reasoning (though I don't remember what that reasoning was).

 

I'm actually curious if it wasn't supposed to be included in the Live build but accidentally shipped.

 

The taunt was added 2 weeks after the other Devices buffs, along with some bug fixes.

Edited February 21, 2020 by Replacement

[Galaxy Brain]

If the taunt is kept, can it at least be made of steel mechanically like it looks? 😛

[ScarySai]

3 hours ago, Replacement said:

The taunt was added 2 weeks after the other Devices buffs, along with some bug fixes.

Oh, good. Then they can remove it in a future patch just as easily.

 

I seriously don't get it. It's not meant to be a distraction, it's not built to be tanky and the taunt does nothing but ensure the value of the ability drops.

 

Edit: If you can dig up the reasoning given, that would be appreciated, I can't find it. 

 

Clearly, whatever it was didn't translate well to the actual game, but refuting it would make it easier to push for the removal of the taunt.

Edited February 21, 2020 by ScarySai

[Replacement]

 

[ScarySai]

5 hours ago, Replacement said:

 

Not the first time CP has said something I find to be ridiculous. "It doesn't do enough damage, so we're going to make it die instantly before it can do damage."

 

Either way, clearly - his theory has failed to hold up as the drone doesn't serve the 'meat shield' role at all, unless you consider getting one shot by a boss and having the minions gun you down an effective use of your final power. Having two drones out was decent DPS in practice, especially for AVs.

 

Time to take that crap off the power. If they wanted to make gun drone into a "meat shield", the time for that was during the extended testing window when /devices was being overhauled, not shoehorned in with a half-baked idea two weeks later.

Edited February 22, 2020 by ScarySai

[Replacement]

@ScarySai it had its own beta patch. I'm not saying it's ready for primetime but to set the record straight.

 

The real issue is simply not enough people on test server. Especially in those early days.

 

As a sidenote, I feel like I remember a discussion or suggestion about it not having any magnitude unless modded for it. It must not have gone far/been a pipe dream.

 

EDIT: now that it's taking Taunt sets and could have impact if removed, would something like more HP and defense be reasonable instead of removing the taunt?

Edited February 22, 2020 by Replacement

[Redlynne]

43 minutes ago, Replacement said:

EDIT: now that it's taking Taunt sets and could have impact if removed, would something like more HP and defense be reasonable instead of removing the taunt?

The only thing that would be reasonable would be attempting to copy/paste the Malta Turrets that get summoned into the parameters for the power.  If THEY can do it, then WE ought to be able to have the same performance profile.

[ScarySai]

1 hour ago, Replacement said:

EDIT: now that it's taking Taunt sets and could have impact if removed, would something like more HP and defense be reasonable instead of removing the taunt?

I'm aware it had a patch on test, but it was not given the time the prior changes were, and pretty much everyone that did test it thought the taunt aura was a mistake.

 

They should make it into a seeker drone if this is the purpose the ability is to serve. Otherwise, it's unreasonable to persist with keeping it as a taunt ability.

 

It's akin to trying to make a warshade essence heal, a dark servant into a DPS or a genin as immortal. It is trying to make an ability do something it was never intended to do.

 

Making it tankier might help a little, depends how they do it. More health and no defenses wouldn't change anything.

 

No other blaster secondary needs a pocket "tank", with that and reasons given above, I find the idea to be inherently flawed.

Edited February 22, 2020 by ScarySai

[Redlynne]

Actually, if the Turret is meant to be a DISPOSABLE aggro magnet, the recharge time on the power ought to be reduced to something like 20-30 seconds, just so it will have SOME uptime (at all).

[ScarySai]

On 2/22/2020 at 9:34 AM, Redlynne said:

Actually, if the Turret is meant to be a DISPOSABLE aggro magnet, the recharge time on the power ought to be reduced to something like 20-30 seconds, just so it will have SOME uptime (at all).

Problem is that it would just die twice as often and accomplish very little.

 

A power shouldn't only be useful on -1x1 with bosses disabled.

Edited February 24, 2020 by ScarySai

[Black Zot]

Kinda ridiculous to finally make /Dev a useful secondary and then immediately nerf its capstone power to the ground.  Even more ridiculous to pretend that nerf is somehow a buff.

 

Scrap this garbage and give us back the REAL Gun Drone power.

[ScarySai]

4 hours ago, Black Zot said:

Kinda ridiculous to finally make /Dev a useful secondary and then immediately nerf its capstone power to the ground.  Even more ridiculous to pretend that nerf is somehow a buff.

 

Scrap this garbage and give us back the REAL Gun Drone power.

Agreed. Isn't having time bomb in the powerset enough of a dead weight? 

Edited February 24, 2020 by ScarySai

[Replacement]

6 hours ago, Black Zot said:

Even more ridiculous to pretend that nerf is somehow a buff.

Please don't insinuate this was an intentional nerf.   They're volunteers trying their best to make good decisions.  You want to argue this isn't working?  Make your case like ScarySai has done and you'll probably find a sympathetic ear in the developers.  

 

Leave the accusations on the WoW forums.

[Black Zot]

Just now, Replacement said:

Please don't insinuate this was an intentional nerf.   They're volunteers trying their best to make good decisions.  You want to argue this isn't working?  Make your case like ScarySai has done and you'll probably find a sympathetic ear in the developers.  

 

Leave the accusations on the WoW forums.

 

They put a taunt effect on one of the squishiest summons in the game, thereby guaranteeing it would never do enough to justify its End cost.  There's no way in hell they didn't realize that was a nerf.

 

Leave the naivete in the children's cartoons.