(I have never written an article before, so forgive if anything looks weird!)
This goes for you users of the Permanent Bounty Hunter mod!
I'm experimenting with having an optional "deMastered" Bounty Hunter, for him to behave just as another character than you can upgrade. Obviously this is a nerf that not all people want so I'm thinking of adding it as an extra. But I'm no balancer, so I'm opening up for comments on what yall might want. Here's a rough rough ROUGH draft of how it would look like
EDIT: Some modifications have been made from the original try for unmastered skills. Check them out!
(Edit: Base Uppercut cooldown reduced to 1)
Please let me know what you think!
12 comments
Each line is independent from each other (except if indented with - -), so there might be contradictions. This is to gather ALL inputs.
An asterisk (*) Means Mastered Version
WIP
Collect Bounty
- Reduce damage (4-7, *6-9)
- - Up combo bonus damage to compensate (75%, *100%) ( Maybe same for both?)
Mark for Death
- No more Vulnerable, instead Removes Block Tokens instead
- - (*Add "Cannot Gain Block" debuff)
- Base No Vulnerable, No "Ignore Dodge", No "Ignore Guard"
- - *Add 1 Vulnerable, *keep Ignore Dodge and Guard
Come Hither
- No more combo in base
- Lower crit chance (Both *)
- *Add Immobilize (Always? 33, 50, 66 % maybe)
- - *Add Move / Debuff Piercing when target stunned or dazed
Caltrops
- No move, speed debuff, add 1 Immobilize (both *)
- - Chance to add Combo
Flashbang
- *Remove Stun when Combo
- *Add Combo (Chance?), *Add 2 Blind
- Remove first rank target, hit rank 2-3 simultaenously (Both *)
Staredown
- Mastered version becomes Base, but no more "Remove Vulnerable"
- - *Remove Crit token from Target
Hurlbat
- *Reduce damage (6-9), *Lower crit
- *Add Knockback (Chance?)
No Escape
- *Remove Combo marking but add Combo Effects
- - *Add Daze, Add Stun when Combo
- - *Reduce Cooldown
Finish Him
- Modify damage boost when Target Stunned/Dazed (50%, *100%)
- - Lower damage (?)
- Remove default Deathblow piercing.
- - Add Deathblow piercing when Target Stunned/Dazed (20%, *100%)
Uppercut
- *Remove default Stun, *Add Daze, *Add Stun when Combo
- - Lower countdown (?)
- *Add 2 Knockback (Chance for 1-2?)
Bodyguard
- Mastered version becomes Base
- - *Add 3 Block, 3 Guard
- *Remove Combo from target (or BH maybe?)
- *Add Dodge to Target (or BH maybe?)
- *Add 1 Riposte (?)
May I make some suggestions on the unupgraded skills?
The changes I propose have nothing to do with balance per se but rather follow the patterns set by all other hero skills. In any case, Bounty Hunter upgraded skills are very strong if not imbalanced. So I thought, better leave the rebalancing to your other mod.
If you're interested, I have edited files.
1° Collect Bounty
DMG: 6-10 (from 4-8)
Deals +50% DMG when Target Combo
Reasoning: Hellion's Wicked Hack is almost identical but in DMG and CRIT. Keeping the Combo effect makes it flat better (in DMG and range) but again, faithful rather than balanced.
DMG values are in an area where +4 total with upgrade is usually seen (Nightsworn Lunge). +8 total as current would be another range (The Burning Stars).
2° Mark for Death
Ignores Dodge (from Ignores Guarded)
Reasoning: upgraded debuff skills do not always both add an effect and improve on an existing one. But it does happen (Barbaric YAWP!, Hearthlight, Smokescreen, Weakening Curse). Also, some skills add Ignores (Intimidate, Lunge). But I think Dodge makes more sense than Guarded here, thematically (an unavoidable target). It also comes first in the list.
3° Come Hither
CRIT: 5% (from 10%)
Cooldown: 0 (from 1)
Reasoning: it is very rare to see 10% > 10% CRIT. In fact, I can see only one example of it (Hold the Line). Likewise, the only moving skill with a cooldown is Echoing March. But it has a lingering effect, so it seems like an exception. Also, cooldown reduction usually affect buffs (Howling End excepted).
All Pull effects increase with mastery but 2 should be the minimum for a back target (so it's always in reach of rank 1 and 2 skills).
4° Caltrops
Reasoning: I wanted to suggest to either keep the Bleed amount (Slice Off) or the Speed debuff (Harvest) as there is no example where both the Bleed amount increases and an effect is added on mastery. But in both cases, the upgrade becomes so lackluster that it's not worth a mastery point. This skill obviously wasn't meant for an unupgraded version.
Completely removing the Bleed effect solves that, but makes the base version quite weak. Also, there is no skill (besides Ruin) that adds a new Bleed effect on mastery. Unfortunately, removing one or several of the debuffs is not acceptable since one of the class items gives a Debuff RES Piercing to the skill. The debuff values themselves are so small that it doesn't make sense to lower them for the base skill either.
So it seems that there is no good choice, though removing the Bleed effect seems the less bad of the outcomes I can come up with. Caltrops is a good candidate for an overhaul, really.
5° Flashbang
Target: Shuffle
Reasoning: same as Disorienting Blast. Removing Blind (like Smokescreen with Vulnerable or Blinding Gas with Daze) is possible but not thematic (also one of the class items adds an additional Blind to the skill).
6° Staredown
Self: Taunt x2 (from x1)
(Target: Weak x2 (from x1))
Reasoning: there are few Taunt skills but the closest would be Leper's Intimidate. No Taunt skill only gives x1 Taunt. Barbaric YAWP! does have a x1 Weak though. And the Occultist's curses do start at x1 too. Closer in terms of range and cooldown. So, more of a consideration. I think I would go for an interesting Taunt x2 and Weak x1.
7° Hurlbat
DMG: 4-8 (from 4-7)
Reasoning: 4-8 DMG seems like the natural step for 6-10 (Wicked Hack). We do see 4-7 often but it's usually the upgraded damage of 3-6. Possibly, the 'Ignores Dodge when Target Combo' could be removed but there's only one example of that for damage skills (Break). There's Lunge too, but it's Stealth, not Combo.
8° No Escape
CRIT: 5% (from 10%)
Cooldown: 1 (from 2)
Reasoning: it's a tricky one as there's no other hero skill that causes unconditional Stun. The natural upgrade of Daze should be Stun on Combo & Daze (in that order, it seems to matter), although Pistol Shot upgrades Daze on Combo to Stun on Combo. The Bounty Hunter has synergy with both Daze and Stun (Finish Him) so it's good anyway.
I can think of two ways to go for both this skill and Uppercut (which is, in a nutshell, the front rank version). First, your solution but with a cooldown of 1 (like you experimented on Uppercut). Even though there's not a single case of increased cooldown with mastery, it's needed if Daze is the effect of choice since Flashbang itself, with very similar effects (and increased reach) has a cooldown of 1.
Otherwise, we could add Stun on Combo. It plays very well with the Bounty Hunter class ability (50% chance to not consume a Combo token). The cooldown would stay at 2. However, conditional Stun is an upgraded effect and what's more, the upgraded skill doesn't consume any Combo token so it's not very coherent.
So there's no ideal solution, but I think I prefer yours with a reduced cooldown. It also gives an opportunity to the player to either forego a rapid cooldown or a chance to stun.
9° Finish Him
DMG: 4-8 (from 5-8)
Ignores Block
Deals +75% DMG when Target Stun (from Daze and Stun)
Reasoning: DMG 4-8 is standard before 6-10 (Wicked Hack, Iron Swan, Sepsis). 1 increment on min DMG is reserved for low values (1, 2 or 3). Only exceptions are Pick to the Face and Leper but that's a theme (high range).
Deathblow RES Piercing can indeed be 10% > 20% (Double Tap).
I suggest leaving bonus DMG value (Wicked Hack) but making it harder to get (Stun only). And 'Ignores Block' can be restored (Pick to the Face, Break, Courageous Abandon), although there's the Lunge case (but the base skill already ignores Dodge).
10° Uppercut
Reasoning: (see 8° No Escape for reasoning).
11° Bodyguard
It's a tough case as there are only a couple of guarding skills (Defender, Sanctuary) and neither give less than two Block or Guarded tokens, unupgraded. But the upgraded version of Defender has one more Guarded than Block. Moreover, some skills only provide a single Block. So, I agree with the current version of this skill. A more convoluted change would be to add some kind of penalty instead. But there's no precedent.
Staredown+: self taunt x2; enemy add 2 weak; remove crit token
Caltrops+: 3 bleed; 1-3DMG, -3 SPEED 2 IMMOBILIZE; (33% COMBO TOKEN CHANCE?)
This goes as rank 3-4 disruption/debuff skill. Imagine a scenario when u use Uppercut on rank 1-2 enemy like the evangelist for example, you push him back with stun/daze after his move/stunning his move and your next attack with caltrops debuffs and locks him in the back rank, unable to use his main skills and shuffling enemy setup.
I can't recall whenever i cared (rather avoided) immobilize trinkets etc. Such caltrops/come hither tweak would open 1 more role for BH as an effective party shuffler/debuffer. (Seems like a potential for perhaps future paths)
About paths, I am fully aware that it's just an idea for now, but I just wanted to share my ideas.
Executioner path: focuses on heavy melee damage using combo tokens/daze n stuns bonuses. Favored in ranks 1-2
Mercenary path: focuses on Shuffling/disrupting enemies, protecting your party and applying combos/stuns favored ranks 2-3
Pursuer path: likes to throw axes to deal damage, removes tokens from enemies and uses riposte. ranks 3-4
Mark for Death feels too strong to not have on his bar especially when mastered. Bounty Hunter benefits especially from it since it's basically two 50%+ damage with vulnerable and the combo token, making it a 100% anyways (assuming these are additive and not multiplying each other's damage increase for whatever reason.)
Maybe instead of a Vulnerable token, it destroys block tokens instead, and the mastered version makes it so they can't generate more block tokens for three rounds. 24 max is way too much damage for a skill that can work from the front three ranks, compared to other heroes that need to be the front two, restricted to one particular rank, or in Jester's case, has a cooldown attached.
Come Hither should probably just have 5% unmastered, or just 5% overall. Critting 1 out of 10 times is 1 out of 10 times the party gets a stress heal, which is a bit much for what should be a utility move. Compared to Daemon's Pull, it's fine it does less damage overall.
Bodyguard is pretty meh for a 'mastered' move. Compare to MMA and Vestal, it doesn't really have anything going for it. I'd say buff that one in particular to have the mastered version to be the normal one, while increasing it to be three block tokens and three guard tokens. Hesitant to give him block plus, since it'll feel too much like MMA's.
I've also made edits based on my suggestions for Collect Bounty and Finish Him on my end, but haven't tested it yet. All I had for now.
And need more input for overall skill balancing, so still no ETA but shouldn't be that far away.