If only you knew how lazy I am. How lazy I am to do or learn anything new let alone something like this. But there’s a tiny “however” that I want to write out as a little message into the void. A message that will never be understood, never accepted, and certainly never implemented by the FatShark devs. And we all know why.
And let me say this in advance to anyone who might disagree (or agree): your opinion is just as valid as mine no irony, seriously. But I might still disagree with it, for a good reason or not. No hard feelings.
I’d like to talk a bit about my beloved swamp: Havoc. Yes, I know there are other modes, and they’re full of problems too. But since I’m consciously stuck in Havoc, that’s what I’ll focus on. The other modes just don’t interest me anymore, sorry.
What I’ve always considered and still consider to be the root of all evil, the cause of narrow builds and the whole “meta” nonsense, is The Emperor’s Fading Light (let’s call it TEFaL for short). Specifically, the two parameters inside it: our reduced toughness and reduced HP. And let me digress a little: where, exactly, are players supposed to see the difference? What the hell does TEFaL even do? Well, I know. You know. But how are those who don’t know supposed to figure it out?
You also get a lot of questions about how wounds and damage intake work. Here’s an example: you have 3 wounds, let’s say you’re playing Veteran, and you get overheaded by a Crusher while you have no golden toughness on you. You survive without taking any HP damage. Or, if you’re unlucky, he just kills you outright with no chance.
You could give me the answer, and I know it. But every time I see this happen, or it happens to me, I completely stop understanding how it works. My head fills with a million questions: “How did I not die? Why did I die? I had wounds left, so why am I completely dead? How did he even hit me when I was 15 kilometers away and dodged?”
And here’s the thing I feel like I know how it’s supposed to work. But in those moments, I have so many questions that I stop understanding anything, and I start doubting my own knowledge of the game.
But the main problem - the one that drives the meta that most people say they hate and want rebalanced (I don’t like those suggestions either, but that’s my problem) - is TEFaL. And again, I’ll repeat: HP and toughness.
Let me remind you: the real enemy is the ridiculously absurd number of little regular shooters. They blend into the environment, but their damage is just as good as a sniper’s. The only difference is that a sniper is easy to spot and kill, but those little devils you can’t kill them quickly.
Yes, there are sections of maps, and entire maps, where this is somewhat mitigated by corridors and confined spaces, but even then, it doesn’t really help.
Aside from golden toughness protecting us, it also gives us control against the billion enemies that get into melee range. And even though they’ve reduced the number of enemies per match thanks to several hotfixes after the March release patch it’s still absurd. The number of enemies that want to kill you in melee at the same time is still insane. Besides 100 regular trash mobs, you’re guaranteed to get several Crushers and Maulers, plus some Berserkers, probably a couple of bosses as well. So how are we supposed to create a window to attack or defend without the so-called “meta/overpowered” things the Chorus, VoC, the Inferno Staff? Set aside for a minute the fact that they are TOO STRONG, and just think about what they actually do against what the game does to you.
Havoc had the potential to be a battle of strong players against strong enemies. But in the end, it all boiled down to this: we’re not fighting strong enemies we’re fighting their QUANTITY, their HP, and their DAMAGE. And now, if you remove the HP and toughness debuffs from TEFaL oh look, more builds become viable, because you can finally breathe.
Set aside the fact that everyone can play with whatever they want. Not everyone is an esports pro or a prodigy, but everyone has the right to try Havoc. However, it is, alas, more focused on team play. And yes, you can play purely aggressively, but that is far more punishing than playing defensively I hope I don’t need to explain why.
Let’s ignore the fact that every player has three friends (for those who even have friends, pff) and a couple of hours of free time. Let’s take the average player who queues into Havoc with a random group, no voice comms. He just wants to play here and now. He either looks up a build somewhere, or uses something he once heard or saw, or maybe he made his own but his build looks suspiciously like the meta. He plays, and maybe even has fun. Sure, he has questions about what’s happening. But the next question that comes up is: where’s the variety?
And now, a section about variety.
I think many of those who will read this wall of meaningless text remember the days of rotation announcements back when FatShark still remembered their promise to highlight them: which maps came and went, which modifiers came and went. And what do we see about rotations lately? That’s right nothing. You can see for yourselves. Same goes for deranking, but more on that later.
The current Havoc season is absolutely disgusting. I’d say it’s the worst of all. I don’t know who could possibly like it. In two months, we got two new maps and two new modifiers. And that’s fine I’m used to it. But what really makes me, and many of my friends (who are they? The voices in my head) very happy no, VERY happy is the endless stream of our favorite, never annoying, never infuriating, and definitely good modifier: PUDDLES
Apparently, the dev finds it hilarious that when players ask for more variety new maps, new weapons they decided to test how long their lab rats on Havoc can tolerate playing the same 5 maps and 3 different modifiers for an entire season. Funny joke, but the situation is terrifying.
But I see how to fix it: next season, we’ll have just one map, and on it all at once Rotten Armour + Medicae + PUDDLES + toxic gas. Now that would be the perfect season.
But seriously is it really that hard to just get rid of the rotation? Isn’t it obvious what players are asking for when they beg for new maps? If you don’t want to add new maps, fine fine! but at least remove the damn rotation. I’m not the only one tired of playing the same 5 maps and 3 modifiers for weeks on end, only to get an update with one map and one modifier.
When Havoc first launched, the limited map pool was acceptable. But now? There’s no excuse for it other than the devs’ STUPIDITY AND LAZINESS. Out of those 5 maps, my luck lets me see only 3 AT MOST 4 and rarely a 5th. Do I even need to say that I can barely remember what the other maps look like anymore? It’s supposed to feel like a breath of fresh air, except that air is poisoned.
One of the dumbest things that has no place in this game is the goddamn rotation. Remove it from the game entirely. Delete every mention of it like a nightmare you want to forget.
Dreams speaking of which.
Many players remember that wonderful developer promise about rewards: the harder the mission, the better the quality of the loot you get. Well, I remember it like it was yesterday. And yet, every time a purple item drops for me on Havoc 40, that very developer statement pops into my head. Is there anything harder than H40? A secret Havoc 50 where only gold items drop? What the hell is the point of “the harder the mission, the better the loot”? I’m not asking for Aquilas. I’m not asking for millions of resources. I just want to stop seeing purple items as a reward for winning. Would the game break if players started getting guaranteed gold items for wins on Havoc 30+? Would it ruin the balance?
But since we’re already talking about rewards and rotations, let’s touch on another interesting thing DERANKING.
Personally, I understand why this system was originally introduced. Let me explain my point of view. A long, long time ago back when patch notes were published not three days in advance but a month and a half before Havoc launched a full description of the mode came out. And many players expressed serious concern about the ranking system. The fact that you could be Rank 1, get into a Rank 40 lobby by joining a higher-ranked player, clear it, and then on Monday be given a Havoc 40 of your own to host. Many people rightfully pointed out the unfairness: some players had climbed the entire ladder to get their 40 host, while others got the same thing after just one mission. That’s not fair, right? And what did the devs do? What they always do absolutely nothing. And then the deranking system appeared. It arrives with every major patch. And while they used to notify us in advance, just like with rotations, they stopped. You’re just supposed to know .
Anyway, I digress. As practice and simple observation show, rank 40 lobbies start appearing again before the first week of derank is even over. And as usual, it’s the usual suspects, just at different times. Which raises the obvious question just like with rotations why does this keep happening? If the system was meant to fix their own mistake that they ignored, that mistake was fixed by time long ago. Those who couldn’t reach rank 40 just didn’t, or quit playing Havoc altogether. The same people keep playing at that level season after season, and the same people keep clearing 40. And as someone correctly pointed out in another Havoc discussion, having a secured rank 40 allows those players to experiment much more with builds and gives them a lot more freedom of choice.
So imagine this: what if rank 40 players got to keep their “cherished” rank in the new season? How much do you think they’d care about who they take with them, knowing that many others have lost their ranks? And how much more appealing would it be for them to bring those people into their precious 40 lobbies? Sure, deranking makes a certain kind of sense forcing players to adapt to build changes and the like. A more experienced player can help carry someone along the path to that coveted Havoc rank. But again the more experienced, knowledgeable players, or those who play in coordinated teams, will once again leave behind those who aren’t used to adapting or simply couldn’t.
So what’s the point of deranking if nothing actually changes?
And yeah least importantly all of us are stripped of our ranks and given nothing in return. Not even 100 gold, let alone some kind of seasonal title or frame marking which Havoc grade you finished at. For many, that would have been an extra incentive.
And now, a little about what is probably the last thing I wanted to touch on. There’s a lot to unpack here, but I’ll try to keep it short (yeah, right the wall of text above says otherwise).
Let’s start with the main thing: interaction. You create a lobby and start searching for 3 players. You see someone apply who has Havoc 40 displayed. How do you evaluate them without mods? By their title? There is none. By a frame or insignia? None either. All you see is “Havoc 40”. You accept them and two others, launch the mission, and then you see they have blue weapons with unmaxed perks. And then it hits you either they’re trolling, or that’s their actual gear progression, and they’re not a real Havoc 40.
Why, after more than a year, do we still see the highest mission completed instead of the actual Havoc rank? Is it really that hard to make life easier for players?
Second point: you’re hosting a lobby, you accept player X, then you want to find others, but suddenly one or two more people join your lobby without your consent. First of all that’s rude (yes, I’ve done it myself, I admit it, but at least I tried to logically fill what was missing I’m very guilty, I know). And secondly and most importantly you don’t own your lobby. You can’t kick someone before the mission starts. There’s no button for that. You have to leave the lobby and start over from scratch.
Third point: when the tag system proved ineffective, the devs said they’d add more tags for variety, etc. That was a year ago. Why can’t I set a “no duplicate class” restriction in my lobby? I’m an Ogryn I check a box “no duplicates”, and then Ogryn players can’t apply to me. Same with classes: for example, I’m on Ogryn and I check boxes for Veteran, Zealot, Psyker only those classes can apply. Where is this feature?
Moving on, back to evaluating players. In my opinion, if you’re a real Havoc 30, your character should have all weapon masteries maxed to 20 for both melee and ranged. It’s perfectly logical and correct for endgame content to impose restrictions based on gear and progression. For example: once you reach rank 29, hosting or applying to a rank 30+ lobby is only allowed if you have full mastery. You might say that’s wrong, that it’s restrictive, etc. But let’s be honest – since the devs and many players consider Havoc to be the endgame, the requirements for players, at least in terms of gear, should be strict.
Another point: inspecting builds. In the game, besides mods, there’s a feature to inspect characters when in the same hub. And I don’t understand why, for “endgame” content, it’s so hard to improve it if not to the level of a mod, then at least something similar. Yes, it’s a form of “toxicity”, but hey I’m about to go on a mission where I’ll spend the next ~35 minutes, and I should know in advance what build my ally is using. Overall, I don’t really care, but I want to know what’s going on in my ally’s head.
Also, another rather controversial and unclear point, not mandatory but worth thinking about: you take someone with a certain build, counting on that, and right before the mission they switch to something else without asking. Personally, when I apply to someone’s lobby, I don’t change my build. On the rare occasions I do, I wait for approval (if they’re silent I don’t change). What to do about this? Not sure, but it’d be interesting to hear opinions.
And let’s return to deranking and similar things. As you may or may not know, our beloved FatShark has fixed “Your assignment has been cancelled” multiple times, and it’s still not fixed. For Havoc 40 holders, it’s just an annoying moment and a reason to break something after a good run. But at the start of the season, or for those who haven’t reached the “safe zone” yet, it’s really unpleasant. Yes, there’s a way to save your attempt, but if players have already scattered and received a penalty is that fair? No. So such cases should be accounted for. When the dreaded “cancelled” appears, you shouldn’t lose your attempt. Likewise with a teammate who disconnects: if you complete the mission, they don’t get the rank-up; if you lose no big deal, everyone keeps their attempt. Yes, people would abuse this when they know they’re about to lose, but FatShark partially fixed reconnect abuse same here, they need to work on it and think it through.
And let’s add a final touch: rewards. The reward needs to be “rebalanced” a bit (oh, how I hate that word in this game). The reward should be given only for the Havoc rank you have , not for the highest you’ve completed, but taking both into account. If you’re a Host 40 but only completed 30, you get the reward for 30. But if you completed 40 while being rank 30, then the reward should be for your max rank of 30. Complicated, stupid, but correct.
Now, regarding the reward itself. As with weapon mastery for 30+, I see no value in a reward of resources for those running Havoc 30+. By that point, your need for the weekly crumbs of “ribbons” and gold should be gone. That’s not the reward you’re waiting for. Sure, you could get greedy and ask for Aquilas for 30+, but let’s be honest that would be too good to be true, considering even events rarely give us anything. There are many reward options from unique resources that can only be used in Havoc to buy temporary upgrades (e.g., spending X resource to buy a cooldown stim before the mission), all the way to wild ideas like using resources to access Havoc 40+ where we could… (and here, everyone’s imagination runs wild). The bottom line is: the current reward is nothing more than a useless thing that just fills your already limited pockets (yes, the gold and other resource caps – you get them, but have nothing to spend them on).
Well, it’s seems size of a patch note, but why not? Messy, chaotic, but it is what it is and this is only part of my thoughts. To those who read this far you’re insane.
I wish FatShark would read this, understand it, and more importantly maybe someday do something about Havoc. But as we all know, and I especially know, the only things they consistently work on are the “new” cosmetics in the premium store.
