I am very much into the class in concept and aesthetically, I think y’all nailed it!
I do think the trailer was not a good showcase of her, I really expected the crux of the trailer to be that the hive gangs know Tertium’s insides and outs better than anyone and a whole horde of them would pop up in unexpected ways and with a bunch of improvised tools to overwhelm our captors. The single Hive Scum lady being alone feels odd! The scene could’ve ended with that same kinda progression, but on its own, it just feels out of place and goofy.
This design blog is nice to read, but does have me concerned in multiple ways:
- Why does the class have an aura that’s literally the same as another one? I don’t think auras are the most important thing for a class to have, but surely the first step of making a class unique means adding as many unique aspects as possible? There has to have been so many more options for even a crit-related aura, not to mention just the melee damage aura being similar to Ogryn Bonebreaker’s Aura
- I’ll say the same thing about Desperado; I really hope at least through the modifier nodes it feels significantly different than Ogryn’s Point-Blank Barrage. There are some differences, but the core ability being “instantly reload your ranged weapon and go nuts with it” is the same for both. Weren’t there other unique ways you could’ve gone? (By contrast, all of the custom stimm and chem stuff sounds amazing!)
- If Hive Scum is supposed to be a close-range ranged-damage focused class by default that can flex into a hybrid ranged/melee fighter, can Zealot please get some of that flexing for ranged builds? The latest talent rework for Zealot removed multiple gun-related talents, and while I am super excited to try the new class, if it doesn’t end up dethroning Zealot for me, I’d like some of that flex to go around on the other dedicated fast, close-range class, otherwise it’s just encroaching on that play style
- Likewise, Hive Scum is already shown to be getting a number of movement related talents (dodges, unlimited sprint, etc), which again was part of Zealot’s high speed fantasy. Can Zealot please get some more mobility focus at least for Inexorable Judgment, the movement-based Keystone? I made a small proposal here: Making Inexorable Judgement more interesting, unique, and fun with a few changes. Again, I will gladly try Hive Scum but if the class just steals Zealot’s thunder and I don’t end up getting into it, that will be disappointing
I am excited for the new class but also don’t want it to trample on the uniqueness of the existing classes and hope steps will be taken to continue to develop all classes in more unique ways.