Just a few mild complaints about the Crucible.

1. Arc Blade is overpowered.

This is not something I say lightly. I'm a big fan of the Crucible's "balance through superior firepower" but no other Super can clear an entire area like Arc Blade can. Worse, the only real counter is putting a rocket into the Bladedancer's face. I've watched a Bladedancer clear entire half of Rusted Lands. Shotgunning them doesn't work. Shooting them with normal guns doesn't work. Only a very aware team of people can stop an Arc Blader that they fully see coming! Heck, I've even tried to run directly away with my fastest character and they chased me down starting at the heavy weapon ammo at B on Bastion all the way towards C across the trench jump around the corner towards the C turret!

For remedies, maybe restrict the auto melee attacks to a (large) forward arc? Their ability to zip back and forth even when throughly flanked in multiple directions is pretty crazy to watch. Perhaps also reduce the amount of time they can use Arc Blade. I'm fine with them clearing out a control point, but chasing me down half way across a map is too much.

2. Lower the damage resistance of Guardians using Supers.

Supers should be, appropriately, super. But its going a bit too far. Bladedancers in particular seem twice as touch as normal. Fist of Havoc-ing Titans are also too tough. It's pretty disheartening to pull off a clutch Golden Gun shot on a Titan mid super... only for you to die and him to have a bit of health left. I'm not looking for much reduction. Even a mere 10% would do. Deej once said a shotgun is a way to stop a Titan from supering you... No, no it's not.

3. Stop joining me into losing games with no time left.

Again, as with the other features, I like join in progress. I hate it with the passion of a thousand Gunslingers times a thousand Sunsingers when I get joined into a control game where the enemy has all three zones, are up by several thousand points, with ony a couple of minutes remaining. This is not fun! Surely some logical cutoff point can be found. Some possibly weighted combination of time remaining and score spread, and number of people needed to fill out the outnumbered team. If you're joining in 4 people the game they're about to be merged into is probably going to be crap for them...

Ultimately, I'd rather wait another minute for a full game than to have a terrible experience sooner.

3b. Stop starting games with less than full teams.

When the searching for Guardians thing spins around for a bit then my ship jumps to the next planet but is only joined by two or three other ships it makes me cranky. Yes, there are good reasons that I don't get a full team from time to time, but do we really have to start the game immediately? I saw for fifteen seconds that I was going to be on a gimped team as the map loaded so surely Destiny did. Can we not pause the start of the game a few seconds until another player or two is found? Join in progress helps this a bit... unless it's joining in players to a crapy experience because my team of three can't spawn without getting sniped or rocketed.

4. Maybe keep looking at spawn rules?

That one time where I spawned and was instantly shoulder charged by a Titan or had a Warlock Nova Bomb my face... Yeah, that's kinda crappy. In general Destiny's spawn system seems to work pretty well but dang when it doesn't it really doesn't. Maybe the system is as good as it can be without resorting to throwing its hands up and just not spawning me, but those few instant spawn kills were still weird.

5. Can someone talk to us about the report system?

I'd really love a Weekly Update interview with whoever is knowledgable / worked on the in-game reporting system. Does it actually matter if I report someone? Is it a thing that ties into Destiny's servers, or the platform specific avoid features? Does reporting bad connection or inactivity or unfriendly help me avoid those people? What about marking someone with one of the good reporting options? Do people get grouped with other trouble makers eventually? It's just kinda strange to have such a nice, easy to use system but never have it mentioned ever... Are we just supposed to trust that it works intuitively and leave it at that?

6. Could someone explain to me how to use Blink?

On my Bladedancer it seems confusing, disorenting, and doesn't seem to move me very far or give me much height. When fighting against it people teleport past me or way above my head and I wonder what in the world I'm doing wrong? Should I be double tapping jump like a Warlock's Glide? Should I look straight up when Blinking to gain height? How do you use Blink? Maybe you can help me see where I'm going wrong...

As a Warlock, my Blink moves me in the direction of my current movement vector. As my jump peaks my Blink will tend to shoot me more forward, whereas if I do a quick double tap I ascend almost directly into the air.

Just a few mild complaints about the Crucible.

1. Arc Blade is overpowered.

Also the Defender's shield. A defender can hold a control point on his own for far too long with his bubble and a shotgun. I'm not one to complain about Supers, but yeah, tweaks are definitely needed (especially when they are completely invincible for what feels like over a minute, and there are zero ways to counter or outwit them...

Other than that, I like that you illustrate your points well, which is something of a rarity as of late here.

Since everybody was stuck with the first couple of classes in the beta, I'm thinking Bungie missed out on seeing how overpowered those subclasses can be in the crucible. At least it's something they can fix in an update.

Amusingly, I don't think the Defender Bubble is overpowered... at least not in a one on one. You aren't that much tougher vs a shotgun and punch and can't take on more than one person at a time if they charge you usually. Compare it to most of the other Supers (I remain unconvinced of Radiance as well) that let you get one to three kills with ease. The bubble does help a lot more if you have team members using it with you, but on its own it's actually a bit underpowered in my opinion. Annoyingly, Golden Gun, which can't stop Fist of Havoc, can kill Ward of Dawn in two shots leaving the third for the Titan within. And of course a Bladedancer just laughs and kills you and the rest of your entire team no matter how you configure the bubble...

I think you give up a bit too much with the Defender Titan honestly. The Arc Titan can blind people, can kill them instantly with a running start, can fly through the air and kill them from a distance, can kill them even if flanked from behind, and can even hurt multiple enemies with a single punch. The Defender? You get a bubble that doesn't really stop people from rushing you. The force shield you get if you manage to kill someone with a melee is kinda lame as well. The force shield isn't that great because often times you either die as you and the enemy kill each other or you're weakened and die to the next enemy shooting at you before the shield protects you. Compare it to the Sunsinger Warlocks who get their shield upon connecting the punch, not upon scoring a kill, and the Defender's special melee starts looking really underpowered and something that you normally won't even be able to activate...

The Defender Titan is basically a PVE only build except for one interesting thing. Their third grenade (Suppression Grenades) cancel and reset Supers to zero. A good Crucible team might use a Defender Titan and Arc Titan in tandem to blind enemies at a control point and make it so none of them can fire off a Super... I have not see that used, but it sounds cool in theory...

Since everybody was stuck with the first couple of classes in the beta, I'm thinking Bungie missed out on seeing how overpowered those subclasses can be in the crucible. At least it's something they can fix in an update.

Maybe, but I don't think so. It seem to me that Destiny was being play tested for a long time privately. Long before the Alpha even. Maybe Bungie thinks the Arc Blade super is restricted enough because activating it at the wrong time gets you no kills? Maybe we're supposed to realize that the Defender Titan's Suppression Grenades can stop a Bladedancer's super? Maybe it is balanced because it's pretty darn hard to survive a Nova Bomb, Fist of Havoc, or Golden Gun as well?

Takes way too long to charge-up (especially after I got the "boost speed" Warlock Glide), throws your aim off instantly, disorients you and usually misses the mark.

I'll take it for a spin next weekend, see if I can get used to it, but sings point to no.

sings point to no.

CONFIRMED: ZackDark decides whether to like something or not by bursting into song.

I tend to use blink as more of a way to break up an opponent's fire on me. There are few things better for escaping AR headshots than completely disappearing for a brief time.

It's definitely wonky at first. Once you get used to it, it's nice. I've found it very useful. Then again, I use the Bladedancer in The Crucible and there are few things I've found not useful with that subclass.

I think the supers are unbalance by design. You have to be good at the balanced stuff to get them to activate faster. I think people are sensitive to the supers we didn't see in the beta, because we didn't experience them. I remember discussions about the Gunslinger super being OP in the beta because you could one shot someone from a pretty good distance.

Takes way too long to charge-up (especially after I got the "boost speed" Warlock Glide), throws your aim off instantly, disorients you and usually misses the mark.

I'll take it for a spin next weekend, see if I can get used to it, but sings point to no.

It definitely serves a very specific purpose. Though I lose a lot of mobility in navigating vertical space, it throws my enemy's for a loop. The fact that it blinks in the direction of your movement is actually to your advantage; I figure if you start to instinctively know where you'll end up when you activate blink (and I'm starting to get it right sometimes), you can begin to aim where your opponent will be BEFORE you activate it, giving you a fresh leg up on any 1v1 encounter.

If Arc Blade is going to last as long as it does, or grant as much mitigation as it does, the melee attack needs some sort of charge/swing timer, or maybe a limit like the Golden Gun.

On another balance note: I'm really bothered by the fact that Warlocks can be killed by their own void bomb. It's already the most mediocre super ability (basically an extra wide radius rocket, oh boy) and the number of times I have killed myself with it because it clipped a light fixture hanging from the ceiling while I was trying to net a space magic medal is truly disgusting.

We were in a game where the Defender planted at B, and NOBODY could touch him thanks to the over shield he got from being in his bubble and his shotgun. I dropped on his head from behind, melee'd him with the Drain, and saw half of his overshield deplete. A second punch did nothing, and he turned and killed me easily. And then he got heavy ammo for his machine gun, so he needed only step out for a second AFTER acquiring a target and taking a few shots..

The shield's duration is ridiculous. Most supers last a few seconds. In the heat of battle, every second counts... And that thing is around long enough to guarantee Zone neutralization, capture, AND defense. If nothing else, it needs a duration decrease.

We were in a game where the Defender planted at B, and NOBODY could touch him thanks to the over shield he got from being in his bubble and his shotgun. I dropped on his head from behind, melee'd him with the Drain, and saw half of his overshield deplete. A second punch did nothing, and he turned and killed me easily. And then he got heavy ammo for his machine gun, so he needed only step out for a second AFTER acquiring a target and taking a few shots..

The shield's duration is ridiculous. Most supers last a few seconds. In the heat of battle, every second counts... And that thing is around long enough to guarantee Zone neutralization, capture, AND defense. If nothing else, it needs a duration decrease.

Um, if you're gonna nerf my Titan, then I'd like Blade Dancer to have it's strength decreased and that resurrect the Warlock has to go bye-bye.

It's funny, how many people complain one super is over powered compared to the others, when in reality they're ALL equally cheap!:P

[BR or bust] [MLG4eva] [rek skrubs]

EDIT: I wonder if the Void Bubble stops a Striker Titan.... Should test that. Might be a good (and hilarious) counter to a whole team hiding under the bubble.

Maybe... I think I've withstood a Fist of Havoc before while under the bubble and I think I've died before too. So one of my impressions is probably wrong. But which one!?

If Arc Blade is going to last as long as it does, or grant as much mitigation as it does, the melee attack needs some sort of charge/swing timer, or maybe a limit like the Golden Gun.

On another balance note: I'm really bothered by the fact that Warlocks can be killed by their own void bomb. It's already the most mediocre super ability (basically an extra wide radius rocket, oh boy) and the number of times I have killed myself with it because it clipped a light fixture hanging from the ceiling while I was trying to net a space magic medal is truly disgusting.

Yeah the biggest problem with Arc Blade for me is actually just one thing: EVERYONE USES ENCORE. For those of you that don't know, Encore EXTENDS the amount of time you have with Arc Blade every time you kill someone with it. The thing is, Arc Blade feels pretty balanced in PVE because many enemies take more than one swing to kill, but in PVP it feels overpowered because every swing is a one hit kill.

Any time I've done it, I've at least destroyed the shield. Might have killed the titan once. Leaving aftershock can do some extra damage to people that were in the shield. The best strategy is to have your striker titan bust the shield and everybody else open fire on the people inside. Striker is probably not going to live. I usually don't.

Isn't every super a one hit kill in PvP?

I can't confirm it, but I believe a void bomb using the talent that splits it into three smaller bombs is only a one hit kill if you're directly hit by a bomb, or hit by the splash damage of multiple bombs.

Other than that, yeah.

I don't have an issue with Arc Blade being a one hit kill. I have an issue with arc blade being six one hit kills, or even seven or eight if you game the respawns.

Seven or eight?! No way! I got four once because the unfortunate souls were all on one control point, but any super can do that. I just cannot imagine a situation where eight is possible. Maybe 5 or 6 if the team is all together on skirmish, but that's still a rare situation.

My personal favorite was a guy who backed off the map on Venus when I activated my super.

You misunderstood what I said (not really your fault, the wording was weird). I was merely guessing that Arc Blade is probably balanced for PvE instead of PvP. It feels overpowered in PvP because (just like all supers pretty much) it is a one hit kill per swing and they give you a ridiculous time to use it AND you can extend that time using Encore.

Ahhh, understood.

I'm generally not very good at PvP. Destiny is the exception. I credit the Bladedancer class to my success; so, I will fervently downplay any OP talk in the vain hope that Bungie will listen to me and no one else and allow me to keep the illusion alive.

Ahhh, understood.

I'm generally not very good at PvP. Destiny is the exception. I credit the Bladedancer class to my success; so, I will fervently downplay any OP talk in the vain hope that Bungie will listen to me and no one else and allow me to keep the illusion alive.

Haha, I think it's mostly fine, it just needs a little bit of a balance. I enjoy the class a lot too, although I can't give up my throwing knives in PvP most of the time.

I disagree. I play a Titan, and the only way the Titan Bubble Shield beats me is if there are two of them with two Bubbles up, even if one Titan has left. The Double Bubble is basically impossible to defeat. One Bubble with one Titan with one Shotgun? I have my Titan, my Shotgun, a sprint, a slide, a shotgun blast, and a melee. Game over. I haven't lost to one yet.

Im rather fond of the idea of maxing out my Discipline and just spamming that grenade at every opportunity. No supers for you, Bravo Team.

We were in a game where the Defender planted at B, and NOBODY could touch him thanks to the over shield he got from being in his bubble and his shotgun. I dropped on his head from behind, melee'd him with the Drain, and saw half of his overshield deplete. A second punch did nothing, and he turned and killed me easily. And then he got heavy ammo for his machine gun, so he needed only step out for a second AFTER acquiring a target and taking a few shots..

The shield's duration is ridiculous. Most supers last a few seconds. In the heat of battle, every second counts... And that thing is around long enough to guarantee Zone neutralization, capture, AND defense. If nothing else, it needs a duration decrease.

Um, if you're gonna nerf my Titan, then I'd like Blade Dancer to have it's strength decreased and that resurrect the Warlock has to go bye-bye.

It's funny, how many people complain one super is over powered compared to the others, when in reality they're ALL equally cheap!:P

[BR or bust] [MLG4eva] [rek skrubs]

EDIT: I wonder if the Void Bubble stops a Striker Titan.... Should test that. Might be a good (and hilarious) counter to a whole team hiding under the bubble.

Except we were able to put this to the test today.
A void grenade (with extended duration) perfectly centered inside the bubble will not pop a Titan's shields.
A full fusion rifle blast will not kill the Titan.

We decided to rush the Titan as a group, four on one, and while we were able to bring him down, it took four people about six seconds of melee and gunfire to whittle his health down faster than it could refill... Had he had a shotgun...

Like I said, I don't complain when I'm killed by a super. Everyone else is not automatically OP. The problem is extended balance. As has been said, Bungie said that a shotgun to the face can counter most things. It can't. I hit a blade dancer square with a rocket, and she kept slashing. I hit one cleanly with a fusion rifle blast, and she still had enough health to kill me...

Gunslingers can be killed easily, Strikers are dangerous, but predictable. Nova Bombers are entirely vulnerable during the windup, and Sunsingers take a second to revive, being vulnerable the entire time, and can be brought down before they even get into first person.

It's specifically those two classes, Blade Dancer and Defender, that tip all scales in a team's favor, rather than being a tactical weapon, they ARE the strategy.

We were in a game where the Defender planted at B, and NOBODY could touch him thanks to the over shield he got from being in his bubble and his shotgun. I dropped on his head from behind, melee'd him with the Drain, and saw half of his overshield deplete. A second punch did nothing, and he turned and killed me easily. And then he got heavy ammo for his machine gun, so he needed only step out for a second AFTER acquiring a target and taking a few shots..

The shield's duration is ridiculous. Most supers last a few seconds. In the heat of battle, every second counts... And that thing is around long enough to guarantee Zone neutralization, capture, AND defense. If nothing else, it needs a duration decrease.

Um, if you're gonna nerf my Titan, then I'd like Blade Dancer to have it's strength decreased and that resurrect the Warlock has to go bye-bye.

It's funny, how many people complain one super is over powered compared to the others, when in reality they're ALL equally cheap!:P

[BR or bust] [MLG4eva] [rek skrubs]

EDIT: I wonder if the Void Bubble stops a Striker Titan.... Should test that. Might be a good (and hilarious) counter to a whole team hiding under the bubble.

Except we were able to put this to the test today.
A void grenade (with extended duration) perfectly centered inside the bubble will not pop a Titan's shields.
A full fusion rifle blast will not kill the Titan.

We decided to rush the Titan as a group, four on one, and while we were able to bring him down, it took four people about six seconds of melee and gunfire to whittle his health down faster than it could refill... Had he had a shotgun...

Like I said, I don't complain when I'm killed by a super. Everyone else is not automatically OP. The problem is extended balance. As has been said, Bungie said that a shotgun to the face can counter most things. It can't. I hit a blade dancer square with a rocket, and she kept slashing. I hit one cleanly with a fusion rifle blast, and she still had enough health to kill me...

Gunslingers can be killed easily, Strikers are dangerous, but predictable. Nova Bombers are entirely vulnerable during the windup, and Sunsingers take a second to revive, being vulnerable the entire time, and can be brought down before they even get into first person.

It's specifically those two classes, Blade Dancer and Defender, that tip all scales in a team's favor, rather than being a tactical weapon, they ARE the strategy.

I, just a few second ago, proved definitively that the Defenders are not all that. I don't use bold often to emphasize words, but look right there. Bold. Why? I was on Shores of Time heading towards B when I saw the Defender fire up his Ward of Dawn. Me, being a Striker with Death from Above and Shockwave jumped high up in the air as I rounded the corner so I could get a full view of C. Then, and this was so gratifiying, I flew from maybe the green ammo box nearer to B all the way straight into the exact center of the bubble and BLAM!! No enemy survivors, not even the Defender. I think the idea that Strikers are predictable doesn't hold up once Death from Above comes into play. Any place with enough vertical clearance becomes a danger zone... (Sorry about all the bolding and drama, I'm still giddy at how awesome that attack of mine was!)

What's more, earlier in the same match I witnessed a Warlock do a suicide Nova Bomb within the bubble. Same result. Bladedancers carve up Defenders. Gunslingers destroy the shield and then a lone Defender. Maybe a properly speced Defender who gets a Storm Fist kill and has the recharging Force Barrier might be tough to kill, but that bubble shield of theirs is by no means an instant win. (Interestingly, the Force Barrier and defensive buffs from Ward of Dawn do not stack)

I think my biggest problem with Arc Blade is you can't outrun it and can't out maneuver it. This is partially true with Nova Bomb and Fist of Havoc, but those you don't really see coming the way you watch with frustration as a Bladedancer kills the three guys on the other side of the room then runs at you taking nearly anything you shoot and then automatically chases you up into the air when you perform a perfect escape jump. Maybe a Super should equal death, but those two or three seconds vs a Bladedancer feel a lot more unfair than vs the instant death any other class brings.

We were in a game where the Defender planted at B, and NOBODY could touch him thanks to the over shield he got from being in his bubble and his shotgun. I dropped on his head from behind, melee'd him with the Drain, and saw half of his overshield deplete. A second punch did nothing, and he turned and killed me easily. And then he got heavy ammo for his machine gun, so he needed only step out for a second AFTER acquiring a target and taking a few shots..

The shield's duration is ridiculous. Most supers last a few seconds. In the heat of battle, every second counts... And that thing is around long enough to guarantee Zone neutralization, capture, AND defense. If nothing else, it needs a duration decrease.

Um, if you're gonna nerf my Titan, then I'd like Blade Dancer to have it's strength decreased and that resurrect the Warlock has to go bye-bye.

Does resurrecting do anything besides give you another chance to die? Does it, for instance, erase the kill from the enemy's score?

Give it time.

I die to this super and those crazy accurate autorifles all the time. I wont call it OP yet as I feel I still have room to adapt and still go positive K/D most games so whats not to like?

I bet those guys get pissed when they get sniped or sticky bombed or golden gunned by me as well.

The most dubious stuff is the oversheild some melee attacks/supers get. F that noise. But again, I wont cry nerf until I understand it a bit better.

I actually like all the OHKO mechanics in this game. It's poker, sometimes someone will have a hand you cannot beat but over the course of the match you need to compensate for it and use your own equivalents. It certainly stops that feeling of been locked down and shut out that would occur in Halo MP. Better teams will still thrash you, but at least you can get a few hits in!

Does resurrecting do anything besides give you another chance to die? Does it, for instance, erase the kill from the enemy's score?

It does not remove it from your enemy's score, but does remove it as a death for you, so you get a chance to save your K/D. It also triggers your Sunsinger, so depending on how you have it setup, it will grant you the perks once you're fully up (not before).

Since it's my specialty, I've never been caught off guard by one, and once I was unable to resurrect because the enemy had his shotgun trained on me the entire time... It's a risky thing to trigger.

Your bold words don't mean much, since they come from an extremely narrow perspective (I didn't have a problem, so obviously there's no problem). Your solution depends on a very specific set of events, or one single variable that can counter a bubble.

According to you, "all you need to do" is just so happen to be a Striker Titan, Just so happen to have your specific setup, and just so happen to have a full Super when you run into a Defender bubble, while just so happening to have your teammates trained on the bubble...

The other solution is to use up a Golden Gun's three shots on the bubble, which also relies on very specific events.

Yes, these specific scenarios can counter a drop bubble, but what are the odds that you'll meet all criteria?

It's like me posting this and saying "The Blade Dancer is not all that, I could counter it easily, so obviously everyone else but me is wrong."

The problem, as I said, was in how long the bubble lasts, how invincible the person is inside (assuming nobody has a Titan with a full Super in their pocket), and the ability to cast it on a capture point, effectively locking down the spot for far too long.

A Super is a tool. It should change an encounter. It shouldn't BE the encounter. I'm not saying to get rid of it, or that it is 100% impossible to beat. I'm saying that it has far too much power when put up against the context under which it's used, and that should be addressed, not ignored simply because you found one specific situation in which it is not 100% effective.

So, I'd like to come in here and say that I've been using arc blade over the last few days in Crucible and I don't think it's overpowered at all. I feel it's probably the easiest super to use incorrectly. I can't count the number of times I've activated it only to never use it. Or to hit someone two or three times with it and then have a mutual death. My experience tells me it kinda sucks. Unless, you can find that magical moment when you have a bunch of enemies stuffed in a matchbox. Then, it's like fish in a barrel. But that seems pretty rare.

- CC :shrug: Just my experience with it.

I like it a lot, haven't mastered it yet, but overpowered? Nah.

I have found myself wishing there was some kind of Slow Grenade, though. That would slow time within the blast radius, so one could attempt to counter the Arc Blade rush.

But legitimately overpowered? Nah. I don't agree.

~m

A Super is a tool. It should change an encounter. It shouldn't BE the encounter. I'm not saying to get rid of it, or that it is 100% impossible to beat. I'm saying that it has far too much power when put up against the context under which it's used, and that should be addressed, not ignored simply because you found one specific situation in which it is not 100% effective.

Why not just leave the Defender alone? In Control, there are two more points to capture, and likely plenty of targets to kill while the Defender sits twiddling their thumbs.

A Super is a tool. It should change an encounter. It shouldn't BE the encounter. I'm not saying to get rid of it, or that it is 100% impossible to beat. I'm saying that it has far too much power when put up against the context under which it's used, and that should be addressed, not ignored simply because you found one specific situation in which it is not 100% effective.

Why not just leave the Defender alone? In Control, there are two more points to capture, and likely plenty of targets to kill while the Defender sits twiddling their thumbs.

The rest of their team if they're pursuing the other 2 control points are a man down effectively. Kind of the awesome point of Control

Since it's my specialty, I've never been caught off guard by one, and once I was unable to resurrect because the enemy had his shotgun trained on me the entire time... It's a risky thing to trigger.

I did that the other day.
"Get up so I can kill you again!"

Last time I liked something through this method was when Immigrant Song played over a very cheesy trailer.

I was really excited about teleporting, but the implementation makes it not very useful, it seems. It would be nice if there were better directional control, or anything that would allow me to position myself more accurately.

At least with the Warlock, blink, it just seems to work off of momentum. If you're already going up, you go up, forward you go forward, etc. Could be handy for evasion, but it does make aiming much more difficult, and other than that, has no real differences from a regular jump. I think it would be much better if I could just hold a direction to control where it sends me.

A Super is a tool. It should change an encounter. It shouldn't BE the encounter. I'm not saying to get rid of it, or that it is 100% impossible to beat. I'm saying that it has far too much power when put up against the context under which it's used, and that should be addressed, not ignored simply because you found one specific situation in which it is not 100% effective.

Why not just leave the Defender alone? In Control, there are two more points to capture, and likely plenty of targets to kill while the Defender sits twiddling their thumbs.

I was reading the entire thread thinking the exact same thing. Every other super can be used to chase your ass down and kill you. If I see a titan throw that bubble down, I just turn around and go to a different point. Control isn't about how long you control the points, so just let the Titan sit there and do nothing.

Why not just leave the Defender alone? In Control, there are two more points to capture, and likely plenty of targets to kill while the Defender sits twiddling their thumbs.

That's always been the efficient strategy, and we do tend to leave it alone, but think about it. You essentially give away a capture point to a single guardian while you go fight for another one with the hope that there won't be a Defender there too. The people in my game don't blindly rush at bubbles, but it shouldn't be the long-term issue that it is. Duration, as I've repeatedly stated, is one of the key issues. Have you seen how long those things can last? Especially with Gear that BUFFS it?

The rest of their team if they're pursuing the other 2 control points are a man down effectively. Kind of the awesome point of Control

No, the other team is holding down one point with a single man, essentially freeing up other guardians to capture and defend the other points.

The more I read all this the more I think it comes down to teamwork and coordination. Nothing can't be solved without some creative thinking on the fly.

Can't just twitch shoot your way out of things, like so many other games nowadays?

I like it a lot, haven't mastered it yet, but overpowered? Nah.

I have found myself wishing there was some kind of Slow Grenade, though. That would slow time within the blast radius, so one could attempt to counter the Arc Blade rush.

But legitimately overpowered? Nah. I don't agree.

~m

I wonder if being on the receiving end of these is just loud right now. I've had my far share of arc bladers take me out, but then I get two triple kills from Fists of Havoc the other day and feel a lot better about it. Wonder if anyone posted on their forum of choice that the Fists are overpowered. ;)

The more I read all this the more I think it comes down to teamwork and coordination. Nothing can't be solved without some creative thinking on the fly.

Can't just twitch shoot your way out of things, like so many other games nowadays?

On one hand I agree whole-heartedly that this is a valid (even good) development. Twitch shooting should not be a cure-all.

On the other, it's the Armor-Lock-as-stalemate-weapon issue. There is practically nothing one can do against the bubble defense without a Super handy. If it were a matter of having to do X damage over Y time and you could burst it, well..great. But it's not so. Single-handed, there is almost no recourse. I'd even thought that if the bubble were broken up into sections that could be independently damaged/destroyed by Heavy fire, that would begin to balance it a bit. But that's asking for more of a modification than will really happen.

Still personally undecided if anything needs done about it. I lean towards yes, but it's not really *breaking* the game, per se.

~m

I wonder if being on the receiving end of these is just loud right now. I've had my far share of arc bladers take me out, but then I get two triple kills from Fists of Havoc the other day and feel a lot better about it. Wonder if anyone posted on their forum of choice that the Fists are overpowered. ;)

They couldn't and have it stand up in court.

Nova Bomb would have to be, by that logic. Given the fact that Fist still puts you in the thick of the fight, even with the residual damage, you have to *be* the epicenter of the Fistquake. You're a huge bullseye. Nova Bomb at least lets you make them cry from a safe distance.

There is so much more balance than people are giving credit for. Sure, there are things I miss about Halo's MP, but if I want those things, I'll go play Halo.

I like this leaner, more agile recipe. You have to be a shark.

~m