HS does have the problem that many of the talents’ bonuses are conditional and the bonus not always measures up to the difficulty of fullfilling said condition. His unconditional bonuses are mediocre and don’t make for a really compelling kit.
His overall headshot/crit shtick is a solid basis for building upon. I’d say a good solution would be to make talents provide a small unconditional permanent bonus as well as an additional bonus when conditions are met, or to open up the conditions a little bit other than “score a headshot”.
Some suggestions:
10 row:
“Keep it Coming”: The bonus is okay, but a rather crude way to give HS ammo sustain. I essence, his ammo cap increases by 33% without the boon of increasing Scrounger ammo regain and you have to hit your mark.
Suggested change: “Keep it coming: Increases max ammo by 25%. Ranged headshots and critical hits refund their ammo” Would give him a smaller permanent boost and cater both towards skillful play (headshots) as well as his high crit chance for weapons that are less accurate, while giving people who have trouble head hunting a reason to pick this talent.
“Make em bleed”: Solid pick, but needs to be balanced towards similar talents from other carreers. Boosts his melee, caters towards his crit chance and his overall role as a buff/debuff carreer. However, considering WHC has access to flense and WS to ranged bleed, MAYBE consider adding something that fits the description of the talent:
Suggestion
“Make em bleed: Critical hits cause enemies to take 20% increased damage and also make them bleed for extra damage.” Tying it to crits makes it not as strong as WHC’s flense or WS’s ranged bleed, but would give it more profile as a debuffer. It’s not a guaranteed bleed like WHC or WS, but it applies to both melee and ranged and it debuffs for everyone. It makes sense, lore-wise, to put this on kruber: Kruber isn’t as precise in his melee strikes for vital organs like WHC or shots like WS, but he is a strong toughguy that just slams everything with force, and if by chance he hits a vulnerable spot in his enemy’s anatomy, they are in trouble.
One in the eye: Solid pick, but benefits melee more than ranged. Also less effective than on WHC due to WHC already having a passive headshot damage bonus, something that Kruber does not have. Overkill on most ranged weapons that are good for headhunting (handgun, manbow), unreliable on BB and repeater. Also has a tough time prevailing against “Make 'em bleed” already as it is.
Suggestion:
Increases headshot damage and ranged stagger by 50%.
20 row:
Thrill of the hunt: A pretty underwhelming bonus that is pretty much only worth it for handgung. Has no effect on manbow, unreliable for repeater and bb and not really all that necessary. Lets you pump out more damage with Hunter’s Prowl, but outside of it, it’s conditional and not very good imho. Would be nice if it would work with manbow.
Suggestion:
Thrill of the hunt: Increases reload speed and weapon handling speed (weapon switching, bow draw speed, handgun ADS, repeater spin up, BB-butt-stroke) by 10. Landing a ranged headshot or critical strike increases this bonus by 10% for 10 seconds.
Making it look easy: Easily one of his best talents.
Burst of Enthusiasm: I think it is an interesting concept, but the bonus is… small-ish. Slight increase and more utility by making it a support ability would give it more definition.
Suggestion:
Scoring a ranged headshot or critical strike grants 4 temporary health to the allies. Critical headshots double the effect
25 row
Shotcrafter: Good talent.
Thick Hide: Imho a lesser version of BH’s “A job well done” and OE’s “Ablative Armour”. Doesn’t go away on death like BH’s version and only needs 4 kills to achieve maximum, which is 10% higher, but it’s condition isn’t as easily met as OE’s talent, doesn’t stack as high, may fall a little flat during Lord encounters and it kinda forces you into a competition with your teammates. A little vulnerable to kill stealing teammates. HS used to get DR from killing monsters, which could be integrated back into this talent to make it indeed somewhere between BH and OE’s talent.
Suggestion:
Big Game Hunter: Killing a Special or Elite enemy reduces damage taken by 10%. Stacks 4 times. Taking a hit removes one stack. After killing a monster, gain 15% damage reduction. Resets if you are killed.
Longshanks: Movement speed is… I don’t know. 10% is alot, but it’s not THAT useful as a defensive option, and considering you are still slowed down by your carreer skill, you are still limited in your movement. Should be turned into a “true” defensive option.
Longshanks: Increases movement speed and dodge distance by 10. You are no longer slowed down by enemy attacks.
