It’s been quite some time since I last posted anything. For those that remember, I’m probably more known for my negativity. So, to push back against that I’ll start with the good stuff.
Versus really surprised me how well balanced it is, despite all the claims to the opposite I tend to hear in game.
I was expecting a completely unbalanced mess but it’s arguable better balanced than Adventure and Chaos Wastes, DLC chars are far from op here and in case of WP and GK 2nd worst and worst char. (Note that this isn’t a big deal balance wise. They are tanky and you can play well with them, but you will never overcome that you are a no range char.)
It’s a Team game so a lot of the balance comes from the skill/teamplay of a team. Usually, people claim it’s unbalanced when they play completely uncoordinated or face an exceptionally coordinated team. The differences here are massive, if 2 gunners know they can wipe a downed teammate, and they actually do it (extraordinary rare), they will immediately deny a rev and skyrocket the Pactsworn (PS) chances to win. PS are all about capitalizing on an allies action, keeping people downed and wiping downed heroes.
On the heroes side the most efficient tactic is to stay exactly on top of each other and press W.
Staying very close will make all assassins (worst PS) near meaningless but most importantly block any hooks (best PS) from disrupting your team. Speed will leave most PS and Vermintides back in the dust, as well as reduce time to take any dmg.
In high Versus-lvl matches it’s not rare to see both teams reaching the end on most maps as the teamplay required to stop a good hero team, doing the above, is extremely hard. A game is usually won or lost due to one mistake/sick play by a hook (and I hope the hook wasn’t abusing its many powers to drop people through the floor).
Issues:
First and most importantly: Team Balance
You simply have to balance along versus lvl when you create new lobbies. Catch the 8 players in a pool then assign them to create balanced teams. (or something alike this)
The balance of this game mode has a lot to do with experience (logged as versus lvl). So, this is the best way to make it balanced and enjoyable because the worst part of the game is stomping and getting stomped.
Teams of Unequal Size:
A similar issue is happening when teams are unbalanced due to player count. Let’s right jump to the extreme: A 1 PS vs 4 heroes is completely unbeatable (not counting me dispatching a full green team as a hook at the exactly right spot), PS need to stack on top of each other. While this is an extreme example, and I don’t have THE solution, I suggest the following:
Make it so less players not only reduces respawn time (this should be further buffed a bit) and increases Vermintide-meter (buff this to the stratosphere on 1v4) but also increase the selection of rats available. I’d suggest letting a single rat choose from all options all the time.
It might also be worth taking a look at preventing the game start count down if the teams are unbalanced (this might backfire, really depends if it fills quickly).
Assassin
I hinted before that I think this is the worst PS. Now that doesn’t mean he’s useless no-false but he’s easily dealt with and therefore usually the worse hook if you get to pick him.
TBH I think his biggest issue is that most people, myself included, cannot make full use of his skill set and therefore have to use him as a worse hook.
He lacks an aim cursor for his jump, this means he got an insane learning curve to use his actual ability and bonus dmg for long jumps. Most inexperienced assassin miss and die 9/10 times more experienced players use him as a throw away (because 2 choices) or short range to ensure they actually get the disable.
I really think an aim cursor would do a lot to boost him in the PS ranking and especially lower the skill ceiling of using him effectively.
Hook shenanigans:
You need to find a way to deal with some hook shenanigans: dropping people through the map needs to teleport them back up onto the map. We cannot have these instant kills, and I doubt you will be able to fix all the ways this can happen. I’d argue the checkpoints that give points upon passing/completing could be used for these respawns, so no downed person ends up on a roof voiding the entire idea.
And then there are the out of bound hooks. I kind of like them, they are not that different from hooking a low hp hero and dragging him over a cliff. They are also not instant kills but they reward/punish map experience.
People loading in mid game
On the hero side: Consider spawning people in at the last checkpoint (similar to the falling out of the map thing) even if they replace a downed bot (otherwise they are usually left far behind as the loading time can be immense).
On the PS side: Consider not setting a CD immediately for no reason?
That’s about it, I could go into more minor issues, but they are likely far more subjective, such as Merc and Handmaiden being very strong, nearly forcing PS to specifically target them to have a chance, as they tend to break the balance around reving teammates.
Feel free to ask my opinion on anything, dispute or clarify any of my points.
