Since Patch 3.0, I have seen a very noticeable issue with gas, its puddles, and their damage.
Pros:
Very pretty, new visual effect
Gas is scary!
Cons:
Puddle disappears faster than the gas cloud itself (within a second or so)
Puddle does not denote damage radius.
Gas cloud does not denote damage radius.
Prior to Patch 3.0, gas puddles could denote the damage radius of gas rat attacks with extreme accuracy. Once the puddle disappeared, you could make your way through the dispersing gas cloud safely so long as this puddle was no longer visible on the ground. This isn’t the case anymore as of 3.0.
This does make gas much scarier than it was pre-3.0, but not in a way I, as a player, find within the limits of my control, or in a way that I can find predictable. As a player, I am left confused where the gas damage radius begins and what is a safe limit for me to proceed through gas (or be around it) other than “Stay as far away as possible.”
Here are some demonstrations provided by everyone’s favorite Canadian nurse, @Nayre:
Gas puddle disappearance time limit and taking damage from the gas cloud after disappearance:
Gas puddle damage radius between puddle, cloud, and player:
Yes if you are blocked by a gas cloud and you are unsure, listening to the sound is great.
The big issue is when your positioning has to be perfect and you don’t know if you can stay in this spot or not. Many time i thought i was standing outside of it, when in fact i kept taking dmg. Visual cues are very big in this case, or when alot is going on and you don’t hear.
Well, to be fair this is a poisoneous gas. And its radius should be larger than the area where the concentration is so high that it is condensing. And it should spread with time.
While we have to surrender to game logic to a certain degree the area where it is damaging you despite no green air around you is small enough to let it in the game like it is. Also, you have the impaired vision telling you, not to stand on this spot.
Alas, that hissing sound is out of hearing range, so I had no idea it existed, but it’s good to know that exists!
Which I think lends itself to the original issue of visual cues for the damage radius. This thought most certainly comes from me being hearing impaired, but visual and audio cues should go hand in hand in most instances for reasons such as this.
Also, in the clips provided, Nayre is taking damage while not touching the cloud, which provides some confusing positioning cues for the player.
Bear in mind as well, a huge part of the issue is that previously, you could be pixel perfect I’m avoiding the damage of the gas. This felt great, as you could be aggressive, knew how to position around gas, knew how close you could get in order to revive someone from outside, and just in general could make educated decisions.
Now? It’s entirely guesswork. You have zero idea when you’re going to take damage from the gas. Running into it, the cloud is not there. When you leave, there are sometimes wisps of it after you’ve taken damage, but it’s not present when you step in.
As I demonstrated in the clip, the puddle that previously allowed you to know exactly where you could be to not take damage is entirely useless now for determining where you take damage… And it also disappears early most of the time anyhow.
The new gas is aesthetically very pleasing. But functionally, from a player interaction point of view, it’s bad. It’s one of those situations where realism should not be striven for, because it makes gameplay strictly worse.