Malta Sappers....

[krj12]

There's a reason why most PI teams avoid Malta like the plague.    Carnies and Arachnos can be a pain,  but just that one Malta minion can wreck an individual or a team.

 

I typically solo +4x8 on my scrapper vs most groups with varying degrees of difficulty, but it's manageable.   Just tried it this morning vs Malta to see how it would go.

Nothing much you can do against a minion that can take well over 50% of your endurance with one attack.  You run into multiples of this mob or miss one in the horde, and it's over,

your endurance is gone - toggles go off and you are dead.

 

My suggestion is that this attack be toned down to something that is reasonable for a minion.  Perhaps 10-15% of your endurance per attack (at lev54),  just to give you time to respond.

Add some damage and/or a debuff to that attack to compensate.  Positives is that this would give radio teams in PI something else to pick vs the non-stop Council missions.   

I'd also be more inclined to doing the arcs featuring this faction.

 

 

[Vanden]

I don't think Malta Sappers even crack the top 5 of the enemies that annoy me most. Ever since they changed it so jetpacks only show their glow when you're flying, they've been harder to spot in a mob, and I'd like to see that reverted for them so they're easier to spot, but seeing as how they have no mez protection, tohit buffs, or defense debuffs, I don't think they're dangerous enough to warrant a change.

[Haijinx]

I do not think they should change enemy difficulty based on whether its too difficult to solo at 54x8.

 

If you can't solo them at 53x1, as solo friendly AT like a scrapper.  Then maybe.

 

Yes teams avoid most of the less faceroll easy groups during radio missions.  But in Task Forces most 8 person teams just steamroll Malta just like everything else.

 

 

 

 

[arcane]

No change needed because all they require is the slightest forethought to fully counter. Simply target them first and mez them or burst them down. Since they’re minions, nothing’s stopping you from doing this.

 

Only thing I find difficult about Malta is how their stun grenades last a couple decades... 

Edited September 24, 2020 by arcaneholocaust

[FrauleinMental]

Malta Sappers and a few other End-draining foes have been discussed:  https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/19560-reducing-end-drain/

 

Sappers are the only mobs remotely threatening from Malta, so I don't mind that you have to be careful about them.  Without Sappers, Malta are basically Council with different uniforms.

 

I also like that there's a hint of content people can't solo-faceroll at +4/x8.

Edited September 24, 2020 by FrauleinMental

[aethereal]

I don't think that more than one sapper is ever put in a single spawn.

[FrauleinMental]

1 minute ago, aethereal said:

I don't think that more than one sapper is ever put in a single spawn.

I've had to deal with more than one, but I think it was because someone aggroed multiple spawns.

[Haijinx]

Think I've seen two before?

 

Or the fact they look a lot like the other minions might influence things.  

 

Don't the gunslingers also have a hold?  That can be annoying soloing them with a blaster.

 

 

 

 

[Greycat]

We don't need to nerf one of the few anti-faceroll mobs in the game. You can do what Khelds have done for Quantums and Voids - make a macro that targets sappers.

 

3 minutes ago, Haijinx said:

Don't the gunslingers also have a hold? 

Yes.

Edited September 24, 2020 by Greycat

[Haijinx]

Even on a SO eng/eng blaster i could solo malta at +1x1 for the Patron questline.

 

The sappers did make me run a couple of times when I forgot to blast them first.

 

We don't run away enough in COH.   So I think Malta is fine.

 

 

[Vanden]

15 minutes ago, FrauleinMental said:

Sappers are the only mobs remotely threatening from Malta, so I don't mind that you have to be careful about them.  Without Sappers, Malta are basically Council with different uniforms.

Careful, your melee AT preference is showing! 

 

For characters without mez protection, there’s two enemy types in Malta alone more dangerous than Sappers (four if you consider the boss and lieutenant rank  versions separate). Gunslingers have holds and huge +ToHit buffs, meaning those holds are going to land. You could maybe survive against a Lt. Gunslinger long enough for the hold to wear off on its own, but against a boss Gunslinger you are dead unless you have Break Frees. And Operations Officers have Stun Grenades, AoE stuns that last literally absurd lengths of time. The lieutenant’s version lasts an already ridiculous 20-30 seconds, but the boss version can stun you for upwards of a full minute. You could literally use a Break Free and go back to being stunned once that wears off. 

[CFIndustries]

Jeez, keep some challenge on Homecoming…and force people to use some strategy once in a while. 

 

Next someone will ask for Night Widows to have their Smoke Grenade nerfed…

 

Tell all the Voids and Quantums to go home…

 

Or to have Succubus confuse removed…

 

Or force the Roman Surgeons to use children's bandages…

 

May as well just give all the badguys NERF weapons and call it a day. It would certainly end the vicious Game Balance arguments…

[MTeague]

7 minutes ago, Vanden said:

Careful, your melee AT preference is showing! 

 

For characters without mez protection, there’s two enemy types in Malta alone more dangerous than Sappers (four if you consider the boss and lieutenant rank  versions separate). Gunslingers have holds and huge +ToHit buffs, meaning those holds are going to land. You could maybe survive against a Lt. Gunslinger long enough for the hold to wear off on its own, but against a boss Gunslinger you are dead unless you have Break Frees. And Operations Officers have Stun Grenades, AoE stuns that last literally absurd lengths of time. The lieutenant’s version lasts an already ridiculous 20-30 seconds, but the boss version can stun you for upwards of a full minute. You could literally use a Break Free and go back to being stunned once that wears off. 

Sappers and Malta in general, are a cakewalk for Controllers too.  Observe the spawn, figure out who has to die first.  Apply your favored control (most espically Confuse, if you have it) and the sapper is out of the equation entirely, if not shifted to your side.

 

Now you do need to plan your kill order, and you may not be soloing +4x8.  But "mez them first" also eliminates the problem.

[Saiyajinzoningen]

i regularly solo 4x8 with a blaster and have no issues with malta (or carnies)  aside from that hella long stun and even that is easily managed. Can we get someone to balance pass the rularuu please?

[Mopery]

I got hurt by *this enemy* so please nerf *this enemy* because I hates it, thanks.

[Dragon Crush]

Depending on your armor you can just ignore sappers, or if not using one of the armor sets that grants either immunity or near immunity to end drain opt to either kill them first or hit them with a control. Or have a MM send a minion to get drained, have a kin fill you back up or any of several other methods of dealing with them. 

While malta might not be something you steamroll without looking at the screen, they're not too bad if you pay attention and adjust accordingly.

[Haijinx]

7 minutes ago, Saiyajinzoningen said:

i regularly solo 4x8 with a blaster and have no issues with malta (or carnies)  aside from that hella long stun and even that is easily managed. Can we get someone to balance pass the rularuu please?

Rularuu are probably the toughest enemy group.

 

That said, I like them fine how they are.

 

I vote for buffing up the underperforming groups to Malta/KOA/Nemesis levels.

[SwitchFade]

Very sorry, no vote.

[Andreah]

I would like to see more special mobs show up in various groups spawns, especially when they are at higher difficulty or scaling settings. 

 

Sappers need to stay. In fact, they should get some survivability tricks. Maybe they can go invisible, and then try to sneak around. Maybe they get target lock breaker with it, and a short range instant teleport, if they're spawned from +2 or higher.

 

Make Malta a tactical challenge!

[FrauleinMental]

40 minutes ago, Vanden said:

Careful, your melee AT preference is showing! 

 

For characters without mez protection, there’s two enemy types in Malta alone more dangerous than Sappers (four if you consider the boss and lieutenant rank  versions separate). Gunslingers have holds and huge +ToHit buffs, meaning those holds are going to land. You could maybe survive against a Lt. Gunslinger long enough for the hold to wear off on its own, but against a boss Gunslinger you are dead unless you have Break Frees. And Operations Officers have Stun Grenades, AoE stuns that last literally absurd lengths of time. The lieutenant’s version lasts an already ridiculous 20-30 seconds, but the boss version can stun you for upwards of a full minute. You could literally use a Break Free and go back to being stunned once that wears off. 

Heh.  That's the first time I've ever been accused of melee AT preference.  Granted, I main (it's not even close) a mind/kin controller, so I do what I'm supposed to do.  I have fun confusing Sappers. 🙂

 

But I've heard way more people complain over the years about Sappers than any other mob in the game, so I'll stand by my statement.

[Yomo Kimyata]

1 hour ago, aethereal said:

I don't think that more than one sapper is ever put in a single spawn.

 

1 hour ago, FrauleinMental said:

I've had to deal with more than one, but I think it was because someone aggroed multiple spawns.

These are both true.  Only one shows up in each spawn but it is easy to aggro nearby spawns if you are not careful.

[tidge]

1 hour ago, Vanden said:

Careful, your melee AT preference is showing! 

 

For characters without mez protection, there’s two enemy types in Malta alone more dangerous than Sappers (four if you consider the boss and lieutenant rank  versions separate). Gunslingers have holds and huge +ToHit buffs, meaning those holds are going to land. You could maybe survive against a Lt. Gunslinger long enough for the hold to wear off on its own, but against a boss Gunslinger you are dead unless you have Break Frees. And Operations Officers have Stun Grenades, AoE stuns that last literally absurd lengths of time. The lieutenant’s version lasts an already ridiculous 20-30 seconds, but the boss version can stun you for upwards of a full minute. You could literally use a Break Free and go back to being stunned once that wears off. 

Careful, your non-Mastermind AT avoidance showing! 

 

The Titan AoE attacks can wreak havoc with Pets. Crabbermind pets suffer as well, but the Crab should be able to handle Malta without pets, whereas the Mastemind will have fewer tools available.

[skoryy]

Someone has yet to experience the joy of dropping Deceive on a sapper.

[Darkneblade]

Counter idea : buff them

Similar to fulcrum shift. When sappers sap you nearby enemies around sapper gets damage buff.

[AerialAssault]

So are we making this game easier or harder or what.

 

Please Suggestions, make up your mind.