It has 3 horizontal connecting lines with 3 small nodes (Operative Modifiers) on each that greatly penalize movement from one side of the tree to the other. It also has the highest number of nodes overall so reaching keystones is more difficult than for other classes (especially if not choosing a straight line down). On a top of that it has one Aura (Survivalist - on the left side of the tree) which is mandatory to take. Because of all the mentioned the number of viable builds is limited.
I would suggest removing 1 small node from all horizontal lines. Taking inspiration from Psykerâs and the top part of Ogrynâs tree. This might save about 2 points on average in the top/mid part of the tree (in most builds) that can be invested elsewhere.
You can find more info on the image as well as some comments and ideas about other changes I would recommend for Vetâs Talents, Auras, Blitzes and Abilities.
Side note: I actually removed only one âOperative Modifierâ completely, the rest are moved (out of the way) to different places and they can be taken optionally.
I agree with you in general. While Iâve not given it that much thought as you did, I would also welcome some of the changes youâve proposed. Especially this:
Make Survivalist a baseline aura
Buff the exec stance by giving it reload on ult
Make smoke grenades have at least a niche use by being able to extinguish fire
Iâve also got a pretty big beef with the Marksman Focus keystone, since it is absolute opposite of what it tries to be. Instead of being a rewarding buff tailored for high-power, precision weapons (f.e. hellbore), it works best when paired with anything that is able to spew as many bullets as possible.
Pair it with the the stacking brittleness perk from the right tree on f.e. a Columnus IAG and see everything melt⌠As long as you do not need to kite. That is the second part, the fact that you lose stacks while moving is just bad. It conflicts with the team coherency mechanics, prevents you from utilizing the insane damage output when you need it most: while fighting bosses (hit the Beast of Nurgle in the back without moving⌠Or keep track of Chaos Spawn which changes aggro every 5 seconds) and is next to useless when you need to clutch and kite.
I would be more for having an optional evolution of it, which gives you strong buff while you ADS, but prevents you from movement as long as you ADS. Deep Rock Galactic has one modifier that does something similar (huge dps boost, but you cannot move as long as you fire) and it is a bit tricky to adjust to, but feels rewarding.
Other than that, the 20% chance to have double grenades is a meme. Either merge it completely with the +1 grenade perk, so it has some niche use or threw it out of the airlock and put there something else.
Agreed. At best be relegated to more than just an active hindrance if they had some function other than obscuring the vision of teammates from threats and adversely impacting performance
MEGA: Make Executionerâs Great Again
But, seriously though if it just did what it used to itâd be great.
RE:Marksman Focus keystone:
Yes, fair points. I donât like it either. I didnât mention it because I didnât have a definitive answer to the problem. I like your idea that it should rather reward precision. Thinking of it now I would actually want it to reward you with stacks for a weak spot hit and loose stacks if you miss - body (and limb) shots would not build stack but not even loose stacks. And maybe totally scrap the whole movement penalties. The only penalty could be that you start loosing stacks slowly if not hitting a weak spot for letâs say 5 seconds. What do you think?
Strong buff while you ADS and not move is also an interesting one. It would sort of buff Deadshot further. Maybe if you gave it extra stamina regen rewards so you could use Deadshot for an extended time, that would make it a great combo.
RE:Twin Blast:
I even forgot about this one. Yes, I agree that it is very underwhelming at its current state. 20% chance means that you need to throw 5 grenades to get 1 thrown for free. I think even increasing it to 33% would make a decent difference - you would need to throw 3 grenades to get 1 free. Which would make it almost as useful as Demolition team.
I remember seeing one older Reddit post where the poster mentioned that it also could outline enemies behind it for the whole team (just like executionerâs stance with the enhanced target priority modifier) - but in a different colour. If it highlighted enemies than it also could be a thicker smoke and look visually better because now it looks like some weird mist. That would also improve itâs usefulness a bit.
EDIT:
RE:Reload:
I donât see why exceptions are needed here.
Even though Executionerâs Stance is stronger now then the old Volley Fire (+25% damage) the increased ability cooldown should balance it. Even with Tactical Awareness you would need to kill 7-8 specialists to be able to spam the ability and reload over and over again - which is mainly doable in Auric/Maelstrom (where in many cases there is a 20% ability cooldown reduction too on a top of that). It would be easy to spam reload in specialist waves like dogs, bursters or muties though.
Make it gain stacks on kill, and more on headshot kill. No timer.
Lose 50% of maximum possible stacks on miss.
Canât use autoguns with MF now. You can now boost it to not be a big nothing burger on single shot weaponsâ breakpoints without worrying about making things like MK V even more op.
It is now thematically appropriate to its name, and will no longer hinder movement in a movement based game.
Iâd rather see Marksmanâs Focus ONLY apply to semi-auto weapons, MAYBE the burst-fire headhunters.
I do kinda enjoy the shoot and scoot mechanics MF currently promotes (stable platform vs movement hindering aim).
50% loss on miss would likely be more harsh to single-fire weapons that youâd think, particularly since the server interpolation loves to eat shots (ghost hits). Hence why Iâd rather have no âpunishmentâ and it simply focus on a subset of weaponry⌠likely wouldnât be something they want to do, though since FS are keen on sweeping buffs/debuffs rather than specific ones⌠Other than the lasgun crits⌠there are exceptions to their arbitrary rules, of course!
The punishment doesnât need to be as harsh as 50%. Loosing 3 stack per miss would do.
And you could gain them letâs say:
2 stacks for a weak spot kill
1 stack for a normal kill
1 stack for a weak spot hit (Iâd like to have this too since it would allow buffs even in scenarios when there are no enemies except 1 monstrosity - so hitting its weak spot would reward you)
on body hits wouldnât gain or loose stacks
Iâm saying this because I donât think there is a way FS will make MF LIMITED to semi or burs fire guns so the punishment could be the limitation.
