Strawberryweeb

I agree with most of your comment, but I have a small question regarding loot in specific areas in the game, namely the Dark Zones.

The loot quality I get there overall is way worse than anything I seem to get while soloing heroics, making the incentive to go into Dark Zones completely absent.

Is this anything you guys are thinking of changing down the line, so players might risk going into the danger to get some better loot, or should I just only go into Dark Zones when the right allocation is there so I can try for some named items?

Speaking of DZ exclusives, is it known that the NinjaBike kneepads are really underwhelming in just about any build? It's a real shame and I think there is so much potential with them.

All the love to you guys and your work, and please stay safe during this quarantine <3

Dark Zone has always been and likely will always be a highly contentious area to do... anything with. So it's difficult to say what the future of it holds with any level of certainty.

You make an excellent point about the NinjaBike kneepads, though. I almost never seen builds showing them off... I appreciate the inadvertent feedback, even if I can't answer your main question more substantially at this time.

I can personally assure you this is not the first time that an influx of community feedback has spurred a quick walk-back or change of course on a balance decision.

Secondly:

Devs, just listen to us the first time. poll the community [...] and then move into action.

It's unfortunately a bit more complicated than that. Part of what helps with the quick turnaround on something like the M1A issue was that it was a relatively cut-and-dry change that a vast majority (though still not a unanimity) of the community was unhappy with.

Even with something that seems unified in its feedback like issues with loot quality, purples, and gear drops overall isn't quite so straightforward.

Yes, we can plainly see that the community is extremely frustrated with how loot and gear feels right now... but is the solution simply increasing the rate of drops? Increasing the attribute minimums by difficulty? Increasing the averages by difficulty? Making gear always generate with 2 attributes matchi...

M1A Classic will be reverted with tomorrow's maintenance.

lord2800

Yeah, reducing the stacks while moving by 1 per second sounds perfect, actually. I'd easily switch out my kneepads if that were the case--even if I'm moving a lot, I can spare a second or two in most cover to gain enough stacks to come out net positive after moving. That would make the play of Sawyer's kneepads around managing your stacks while staying alive, and that sounds like fun and engaging gameplay.

That said... a change like that very well may thrust the new Sawyers firmly into BiS territory with little competition.

I mean, what build (besides one focused around Lady Death) wouldn't trade some personal limitations on movement in order to get a hefty damage bonus while also having a bit more armor?

lord2800

True indeed. A reduction in the max number of stacks (2-3 maybe? 21-24% weapon damage is good but not great) would probably go a long way to help it stay relatively balanced, though.

It might just be me, but I'd rather have something that's harder/more niche to use, but gives better results - rather than something that more builds can incorporate but is only good rather than great.

But like with so many things, this is a lot of personal preference. Like I said, we'll be watching for wider feedback as it gains use (or doesn't.)

lord2800

The problem is the uptime of the buff. Yes, this is a cover-based shooter, but enemies actively punish you for sitting still. Sitting still for 10 whole seconds while the buff builds back up in the middle of a fight? Forget about it. Maybe you have it up if you're patient at the beginning of a fight, or if you have a player who can draw the enemy's attention, but at any point after the first, say, 10 seconds? It's gone and you won't get it back.

True enough. I'd personally prefer if the stacks either reduced by 1 per-second when not stationary or lingered as long as you were still on a particular piece of cover.

We'll be watching for how (or if) it gets implemented into builds and how it performs in practice. It's only been changed for a day so it may take a bit of time to see more creative uses of it.

This is indeed a known issue and we're working to address it. Definitely frustrating (to say the least) since the College is only open for so long.

If you're able to get some high ground and provide overwatch to a group (or just have a view on rushers when solo) I imagine new Sawyer's will be a nice addition.

Like sputnik implies, the context of the fight is everything.

saagri

Thanks. Having shotgun pellets each count as a hit would be a minor buff but it would make talents like Fast Hands much more useful.

100% for sure. Main potential drawback is just having only specific shotguns be viable with Striker, where the difference between best and worst option is a huge range (somewhat reminiscent of TD1).

As soon as you begin the Warlords of New York expansion, the World Tier/Gear Score system pretty much evaporates. Once you're back in DC at level 40, it should be functionally as if you're in World Tier 5 endgame with everything at level 40.

If however you're being locked out of certain content like Strongholds due to not having a 'high enough gear score' despite having completed the Warlords content, please let me know.

I've passed the issue of Striker indifference to shotgun shells along to the team.

As saagri mentions though, striking a balance between the automatic shotguns vs. something like a double-barrel can be tricky territory.

Turrets and other deployable skills dying too quickly has been talked about since like TU6, but is this health issue in particular something that you've only noticed after TU8.5?

In any case, thank you for the video.