I've been posting responses for a bit and decided to start a new thread with my observations / questions.
What is a Commando supposed to be ? When I hear of a commando I think of a green beret, shadow cat, tunnel rat, etc. They are special forces and elite within their branch of service. Obvious masters of combat both ranged and melee (maybe not the best, but one of the best and certainly should be able to hold their own.) Lately however commandos have come under fire from the nerfherders. What follows is a comparison between BH and Commando. This is not an attack upon BH, but rather a comparisonbetween twoof the only hybrid combat classes.
Many say that BH should be stronger, that they require more skill points to reach novice. True, but a BH is required to learn useful skills that actually helps to amplify his final spec. Novice scout has terrain negotiation, camps, and even harvesting of creatures for supplies to make camps. Marksman line bonuses stack with BH pistol and carbine further amplifing them. The only skills wasted IMO might be novice scout traps and marksman rifle. Their prerequisites help to strengthen them and give them a solid base skillwise to develop from.
Commandos are the only combat hybrid without terrain negotiation (even CM has it...) Commandos are also required to learn the unarmed brawler line which does nothing for their commando abilities. I will point out that it does give access to warcry and intimidate though (very useful.) The marksman line requires rifle and carbine which are both wasted upon us but it does give us pistol techniques for our Launcher Pistol. And the LP needs it badly considering there are no modifiers or techniques for our AP0 commando pistol within the commando trees. True there is less to learn before novice commando, too bad most of it is useless to our class.
There are posts right now comparing our FT vs LLC.
LLC is AP1 with no delay for using specials but it does eat HAM rather quickly (which the new combat fix patch will help out with.)
FT is AP0 with at least an 8 sec delay for its specials. Up until now this has been the defining weapon for the commando class but is soon to get nerfed. No more stacking flames and a rumored "fire extinguisher" will be available.
LLC has betteraccuracy (range modifiers)and rate of fire. Given the emergence of the defensive speced classes, the LLC with the zero delay is the clearly superior weapon (at least after the nerf.)
Seems very strange that a class named after a convict tracker (no offense meant, just cant think of a better term besides a hunter of bounties) is very superior to a class named after an elite soldier.
This is not a cry to nerf BH. Merely a comparison to show how inadequate a commando is when compared to one of the only hybrid combat classes.
Commandos need quite a bit of balancing to be considered fixed.
--- Addition of terrain negotiation (a CM can run faster than a green beret up a hill ??)
--- Grenades given better ranges and damage considering they are a consumed item. Also many a KD, stun, dizzy, etc ?
--- Change the acid rifle to a E-web tripod repeating blaster (as seen in the movies.) Takes a round to set up, good damage (it is a heavy weapon) and decent longe range accuracy. For short range it should be useless.
--- Considering the nerf to the flame dot, can we get the delay shortened ? So that if we miss we might have a chance ?
--- If rebel commandos are supposed to the the achilles heal of ATSTs... shouldnt most of our weapons have some AP rating ? Would it unbalance things too much if the launcher pistol was given AP2 considering it has no techniques in the commando lines ?
Thank you for your time and please feel free to comment below.