I’ve gone through two Malice missions as an Ogryn and with 3 different Psykers; these were random players. Those missions were smooth, and my Psykers handled everything I couldn’t. I had my Slab Shield both times, and a Ripper for one of them, and maybe again for the second or the Stubber. However, I’m having some bad times with uneven games, and I think this is due to player skill, limitations of the classes, and teamwork, with my main fixation being on teamwork.
Being able to choose a class at free will is great. It allows different variations of teams to happen, or sometimes, you have a combination of classes that unbalance gameplay in either a good or bad way. As in, running around with 3-4 of the same class can be your biggest downfall, or your teamwork and skill will outplay the limitations of your class [and subsequently your selected weapons].
I know other people are happy to see me hop in their game as an Ogryn with a shield, but whenever I play any of my other classes, I am immediately deterred from attempting Malice or higher, because of the class disparity. Each class has value and excel greatly at very specific situations that would either hinder or most likely end the run right there. For example: Opening a door and finding a crowd of 50+ enemies can easily be managed with a single Ogryn push or a Zealot with a Flamer. Veterans can throw grenades, but that takes a second, and the potential damage dealt to your team at that time could be enough for that random sniper to one-shot someone. I have seen that situation end my runs, and in those times, we didn’t have an Ogryn or a Zealot with a Flamer.
FIRST PROPOSAL: Add a matchmaking option to force even teams. Having one of each class is balanced and would ensure most of our bases are covered. Psykers and Veterans on long-range specials, Ogryns and Zealots on crowd control and hordes. Specifically, Psykers can focus on Snipers, Bombers, Hounds, and the bigger elite enemies, because Brain Blast* is amazing. Veterans are amazing at taking down elites and mini-bosses. Zealots can do work against all specials and elites in melee-range, and can shred Captains apart. Ogryns are amazing at crowd control and actually protecting the team, especially with that shield.
SECOND PROPOSAL: Keep quickplay as it is, as in you can match with whomever else is playing, and that means you might have a team that’s missing one or more other classes. I intend my first proposal to be considered as an additional option.
THIRD PROPOSAL: An yet another option for players to choose who they want to match with. For example, if an Ogryn wants to match with 3 other Ogryns, allow them the freedom to meme.
With that said, another concern some of us seem to have is matchmaking within our levels. I don’t necessarily fully support that, but I understand that at Malice, matching with a player still wearing their prison garbs can be stressful, especially when they enter combat and you see them running around with the Shredder Autopistol. I would not be against a level restriction if it was for the difficulties above Malice. Those difficulties are meant for the best, after all. But for difficulties up to Malice, which is what I normally play at, I’m willing to deal with matching with the occasional bad teammate, whether they’re a bad teamplayer or not skilled enough. I’m not the best myself, but Malice is a unique difficulty where players are truly getting their feet wet, and maybe preparing for more difficult runs.