Ideas for soldier love patch
I have played just about every class on AO, with soldiers and fixers being my favorite. Soldiers do have alot going for them *cough* TMS *cough*, but for those not oriented for PvP, there are a few things lacking, that can be rather easily fixed.
what i noticed is that soldiers dont really have a buff that can help others greatly. TMS is self only, and by the time a soldier is able to cast his masteries, the other prof at his lvl have something better. Also, AC buffs are outclassed by MAs and engys, health buffs are blown out of the water by docs and enforcers, and shield buffs arent worth the IP and NCU investment (and even then, engys are better).
What soldiers need is something unique that is team-oriented, but useful for PvP... like a massive damage buff nano, or line of burst/fling nanos that can be cast by someone not at stratospheric levels... or more for the PvM crowd... a fear nano like what crats and MAs have. (heck, if i saw a soldier with a BFG and OP Elite on, I would run like a bat out of h***)
I have put my 117 soldier on sabbatical simply b/c its hard as heck for him to find a decent team, he cant PvP, and frankly BS missions get old when it takes 2 or 3 outings to level once, b/c of deaths (or stupid overpowered MAs). But, i will save myself the flames, and wont get on my "nerf MAs" rant.
Hopefully, someone at FC will take note of this... and everyone is welcome to post with their suggestions... and be sure to consider those who *dont* PvP, like me.
Here's a tweaked version of my ideas from earlier
There are some good ideas already in this thread, thought I contribute a some of my own list of what I think should be considered for fixes to the soldier profession.
Weapon Skill Buffs
Grenade (weaker than Extreme Prejudice) - self only with one minor buff for others, does not stack with Extreme Prejudice. Include minor Fire/Chemical damage buff on top buffs.
Heavy Weapons (on par with Extreme Prejudice) - self only. Include minor Projectile damage buff on top buffs.
Pistol (at least equal to adventurer line) with Fling Shot buff - self only, retain Pistol Mastery to buff others (does not stack with adventurer line).
Assault Rifle (at least equal to pistol line) - self only, retain Assault Rifle Mastery to buff others. Include minor Projectile damage buff on top buffs.
Ranged Energy (equal to pistol line) - self only, retain Ranged Energy Weapons Mastery to buff others. Include minor Energy damage buff on top buffs.
Rifle (weaker than agent lines) with Aimed Shot minor buff (up to +40) - self only, retain Rifle Mastery to buff others.
Shotgun (weaker than pistol lines) - self only with one minor buff for others.
SMG (weaker than fixer line) - self only with one minor buff for others (does not stack with fixer line).
Burst (up to Riot Control) - leave it open to buff others.
Full Auto (not as strong as Riot Control) - self only.
Multi Range (slightly weaker than the adventurer line) - self only.
*** Note that buffs should account for Total Focus (+50 skill buff), so that the total of the buff and Total Focus meets the final total. Total Focus would do well to have a lesser version for lower level soldiers (maybe +18(to +25) to ranged weapons and -15(to -20) initiative to keep the same mods.
(Fixer, Agent, and Adventurer nano lines have established a new skill buff model that should be used to update older lines.)
Alternate Skill buff idea to break away from the dreaded self-only:
Create buffs that read the targets profession. If target = profession x, then buff by y, or buff by z.
Example buff using Riot Control
Target Profession = Soldier: Burst Skill +110
Target Profession != Soldier: Burst Skill +86
Professions meant to excel in certain skills still maintain their strength through raw skill and a better buff, yet can still buff other professions, so that they can break away from the cookie-cutter mold.
This is similar to the line of buffs used by adventurers in wolf form (i.e. Pack Hunter, etc.).
Other buff fixes
Automatic Targeting - decrease NCU cost to 12-18 range. Alternately increase the offense boost to 50-70 or add in a damage buff to all damage types (like +23 all offense, +14 all damage types).
HP line - remove Heal Delta and replace with Attack Rating buff (+0 to +70) or something with some effect (nano resist, damage reduction, run speed, anything)
Damage buffs - add Fire and Chemical to the list (Energy and Projectile is limiting and doesn't cover Flame Throwers and Grenade Launchers). Engineers could use this boost too.
(Some of the buffs designed in beta have had their effect rendered obsolete and should be updated. Damage buffs proposed to place soldier self damage buffing at least on par with adventurers post 14.4.)
Other nano fixers
Allow One More Hit Healing to break roots during battle too as the soldier option for in battle root breakers.
Improve taunts. It seems that the top level taunts are about equal to a 1500 point attack. At level 80+ single taunts are unable to steal aggro except when the person with aggro and the taunter are doing about the same damage.
(One More Hit Healing is a natural fit to a root/snare breaking nano line.)
Weapons
Add more weapons using a combination of Assault Rifle, Ranged Energy, Heavy Weapons, Pistol, and Grenade for soldiers (some soldier only). Add in viable offhand weapons with Pistol and Ranged Energy too (soldier and adventurer options).
Update some of the older traditional soldier weapons to measure up with the newer designed weapons.
Ability to use Weapon Smith to modify some weapons with Tradeskill items. Maybe increasing clip size, upping damage, or improving attack speed. Increasing one area should hinder another to balance out. Add more sealed weapons with greater diversity and options (like the Summer).
Ability to augment weapons. We now see this in a database for certain unique weapons, how about adding this to some of the other non-unique items, such as the IMI Tellus. Maybe these modified weapons may also need a Weapon Smith equip requirement justified as the user needs to continually maintain the weapon for it to work properly.
(Newer weapons are being designed to balance better with the shotguns. Some older weapons can be brought on par with the new weapons with a little rework. Adding new weapons just floods the boss loot, while fixing old weapons makes them more available for character diversity. Weapon smith is currently under utilized with IMI Tellus, Sol Chironis, and the new XP being the only sealed weapons worth making. The weapon construction kits are outside a soldier's ability to complete, but none of the available weapons are in demand to be made, much less have a soldier contribute in part of the construction process.)
Armor
Hardsuits/Combat frames - require Vehicle Land, as well as things like Heavy Weapons, Ranged Energy, Run Speed, etc. Better AC than Battle Suits. Possible built in weapons, HP buff, jump buff. Scope them for different uses - some are high speed while others are solid, damage absorbing behemoths. Some could be Soldier or Enforcer only. For balance, maybe only allow them to be equipped for 30 minutes with a 2-5 hour refresh time with a drain on de-equip equal to the fixer grid warps.
(Very little use to vehicle skills currently.)
Other items
HUD items (Hud 2) that increases in QL with soldier level. Adds to Ranged Initiative and Attack Rating (+120 Ranged Initiative and +60 All Offense for QL200). Add in Psychology req of 4xQL to upgrade/equip. Maybe call is a Smart Link Ranged Weapons Interface.
(This item would scale the same way as the NCU Hacker Interface. Ranged initiative is higher buff since it's an area that soldiers can excel in, and can help soldiers out by giving them more leeway in equipping scopes or reducing aggression. All Offense buff at QL 200 is only slightly higher than the adventurer's top sabre tooth polymorph's +54.)
Summary of issues:
Allow soldiers to maximize their weapon strengths (Assault Rifle, Heavy Weapons, Ranged Energy, and Pistol) by updating their buffs and upgrading their damage buffs.
Revisit some of our nano lines that have lost functionality since beta.
Give soldiers more to do with Weapon Smith. Soldiers should be able to modify their personal weapons.
More weapons and updating old weapons keeps everyone happy.
Justify Land Vehicles with something useful and obtainable.
Soldier HUD items to strengthen a soldier's assets and help define them.
