A positive post about…Battlegrounds
ESF
Member Posts: 2,014 ★★★★★
Hi, folks! Hope all is well!
First of all, let’s get the ugly out of the way: Battlegrounds has challenges, and we know about them, and Kabam knows about them. At the same time: It’s just Season 3, and I think they really have a significant interest in making the mode as good and fair as possible. I truly believe that it will happen, where Kabam irons out some of the player concerns and balances the mode overall. I don’t think it’s going to take forever to do it, either.
But that’s not the point of this post.
What is: I have been a solo player for a LOOONNNGGG time now. It’s hard to get me to commit to playing in a mode where I have to commit time consistently — family/job/blah blah blah — which is why I don’t join an alliance.
I love Solo Incursions, for example. Hate the character cooldown, but love the feeling of “exploring unknown regions of the Battlerealm.”
Battlegrounds…has been a little slower to earn my total support. Not because I don’t understand it or because losing matches bothers me — I am a good player, not a great player, so I do lose matches — but because I hate using the same characters over and over and over.
Battlegrounds is the biggest argument for the Buff Program to be robust and effective, for that reason.
There are 200-plus characters in the game. Yes, it absolutely makes sense that a Doctor Doom or a Cosmic Ghost Rider are absolute beasts in there.
But some of you folks are starting to recognize the value of Juggernaut in absolutely punishing people in there. And people already know that you aren’t protecting yourself if you don’t have one Lucas Bishop ranked and ready.
See, that’s what I am talking about.
The stronger the roster depth is in the game, the more fun Battlegrounds becomes. The more characters there are for people to want to rank up, the more people will engage with opening crystals and doing what it takes to acquire materials, which should keep the game healthy for as long as possible.
I just won a match with an Old Man Logan and a Juggernaut. Totally shocked an R3 Mole Man and R3 Odin in the process.
That’s what it’s supposed feel like, in a game with this many characters.
I literally would not, and will not, play Battlegrounds if the only way to play is with the same 40 characters everyone else ranks up.
That’s where I am with it: If we can keep Kabam interested in making as many characters effective in head-to-head play, everyone wins — let’s see some tweaks to Sentry. Let’s get Doctor Strange fixed. Let’s create Extremis 3.0 and get Superior Iron Man hitting like a truck. Let’s get Symbiote Spider-Man Fury and Infuriate and drop some people. Let’s tweak Iron Fist and let the power of K’un L’un flow. Let’s make Moon Knight a Cleansing Skill-Mystic killer.
See what I mean?
Battlegrounds has some issues. But those issues can be fixed.
But it’s soooooo close to being truly amazing, if we can get maybe 10 -12 more adjustments/buffs to characters in the next four to six months.
Just my thoughts!
First of all, let’s get the ugly out of the way: Battlegrounds has challenges, and we know about them, and Kabam knows about them. At the same time: It’s just Season 3, and I think they really have a significant interest in making the mode as good and fair as possible. I truly believe that it will happen, where Kabam irons out some of the player concerns and balances the mode overall. I don’t think it’s going to take forever to do it, either.
But that’s not the point of this post.
What is: I have been a solo player for a LOOONNNGGG time now. It’s hard to get me to commit to playing in a mode where I have to commit time consistently — family/job/blah blah blah — which is why I don’t join an alliance.
I love Solo Incursions, for example. Hate the character cooldown, but love the feeling of “exploring unknown regions of the Battlerealm.”
Battlegrounds…has been a little slower to earn my total support. Not because I don’t understand it or because losing matches bothers me — I am a good player, not a great player, so I do lose matches — but because I hate using the same characters over and over and over.
Battlegrounds is the biggest argument for the Buff Program to be robust and effective, for that reason.
There are 200-plus characters in the game. Yes, it absolutely makes sense that a Doctor Doom or a Cosmic Ghost Rider are absolute beasts in there.
But some of you folks are starting to recognize the value of Juggernaut in absolutely punishing people in there. And people already know that you aren’t protecting yourself if you don’t have one Lucas Bishop ranked and ready.
See, that’s what I am talking about.
The stronger the roster depth is in the game, the more fun Battlegrounds becomes. The more characters there are for people to want to rank up, the more people will engage with opening crystals and doing what it takes to acquire materials, which should keep the game healthy for as long as possible.
I just won a match with an Old Man Logan and a Juggernaut. Totally shocked an R3 Mole Man and R3 Odin in the process.
That’s what it’s supposed feel like, in a game with this many characters.
I literally would not, and will not, play Battlegrounds if the only way to play is with the same 40 characters everyone else ranks up.
That’s where I am with it: If we can keep Kabam interested in making as many characters effective in head-to-head play, everyone wins — let’s see some tweaks to Sentry. Let’s get Doctor Strange fixed. Let’s create Extremis 3.0 and get Superior Iron Man hitting like a truck. Let’s get Symbiote Spider-Man Fury and Infuriate and drop some people. Let’s tweak Iron Fist and let the power of K’un L’un flow. Let’s make Moon Knight a Cleansing Skill-Mystic killer.
See what I mean?
Battlegrounds has some issues. But those issues can be fixed.
But it’s soooooo close to being truly amazing, if we can get maybe 10 -12 more adjustments/buffs to characters in the next four to six months.
Just my thoughts!
24
Comments
1. Sentry be a hard counter to Doctor Doom and other Mystics/Cosmics with the Villain tag
2. Doctor Strange be a hard counter to Cosmics who proc Passive AND Active Buffs — this game is long overdue for a kit that counters Passive buffs — and be effective against all other Mystics with the Dimensional Being tag. Just make it not work against Science class and be 60 percent less effective against Tech class, so it’s not OP
3. Symbiote Spider-Man be a hard counter to Tech and Skill villains who proc Miss, Purify and Cleanse
4. Superior Iron Man be a hard counter to Tech heroes who Armor Break and use DOT damage, as well as heroes with the Avenger tag
5. Moon Knight be a hard counter to Skill and Mystics who proc Bleed, Evade or Nullify
6. Iron Fist gain Prowess, Armor Shattered and Unblockable Attacks with an Iron Fist activation mechanic
7. All Captain Americas gain Leadership synergies and specific attack bonuses against Villains in every class
8. All Cyclops gain passive power gain, Leadership synergies and Armor Shattered, even against Tech class
9. OG Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel gain Incinerate/Shock/Plasma Immunity, Havok-like Energy Resistance plus Armor Shattered on all Specials — there’s a Bishop counter right there
10. OG Iron Man gain Leadership synergies and specific attack bonuses against Villains, as well as Armor Shattered on Specials
11. Red Skull gain Leadership synergies and specific attack bonuses against Heroes, with the Cosmic Cube providing Devastating Energy Attacks and Armor Breaks on Specials
Again: Just think about how much more variety BG decks would have with even half of these kinds of counters existing
The game has tons of characters who are effective almost everywhere. Class Advantage isn’t locked in as a limiting factor and hasn’t been for a long time — Havok just absolutely nuked my Omega Sentinel in Battlegrounds, for example
The way a lot of the recent champions have been designed is to punish opponents with class disadvantage, and most of the time their mechanics don't work or are less effective against opponents with class advantage. There have been some outliers from time to time like Civil Warrior being immune to nullify and stagger. But I doubt Kabam will suddenly introduce that many champions that flip the class relationship system on its head.
There should be more. Why, for instance, should Spider-Man be at a disadvantage against Winter Soldier but have an advantage against Dormammu?
It’s a game, but it’s OK for exceptions to be made.
For example: Symbiote Spider-Man is clearly a hybrid character. Cosmic Symbiote fused with Science Base. So OG Spider-Man was strong against Mystics, which made no particular sense, but then goes to a disadvantage against Mystics…but still has no advantage whatsoever against Kraven or Black Cat? Or Electro or Rhino?
But a buff to Symbiote Spider-Man can’t deviate from a Class Wheel because…why?
That’s all I am saying. This game has plenty of examples of interesting mechanics and ideas that would allow many characters to find a unique place in a mode like Battlegrounds, which would benefit the game as a whole
The Class Wheel is a starting framework, not a rigid unbreakable code. Look at Galan and his Nullify Immunity. Hulking and his Passive Indestructible/Unblockable. Magneto removes Class Advantage if the opponent is #Metal.
There's quite a few comics examples of Kraven hunting mutants - maybe he could be given an ability to reduce his class disadvantage, like Karnak used to?
There's a lot more variability that could be introduced to take advantage of #Tags as well
Stealth-suit Spidey already has an advantage against #Sinister Six - surely Classic Spidey should get the same?
Ghost Rider has an advantage against #Villains - Captain America could get the same
Dr Strange could be given benefits if the opponent is a #Dimensional Being...
At the same time, OG Spider-Man is one of the most iconic characters in all of fiction. It’s not going to break this game to say, “Hey, we gave the kit some things to match up better with Skill villains who Purify and Cleanse, so the Skill characteristic isn’t so out of balance with what Science-class Spider-Man actually does well, which is foil characters like Kraven and Black Cat.”
I mean, seriously: Do we need a Mutant Spider-Man to have class advantage over Skill villains? Of course not.
We all know that Sentry was designed in a different era. The long-form, questing focus the kit is designed for isn’t the worst thing ever. It just takes too long to ramp up, and it doesn’t have a ton of the benefits the Science class has, in general.
But the skeleton of an AMAZING Battlegrounds hard counter to various characters is there:
1. Unawakened Sentry starts with two Reality Warps. Awakened Sentry starts with three Reality Warps plus guaranteed Indestructible on first received hit. One final Indestructible procs like Hela’s at the death.
2. Reality Warp max increased to seven. Reality Warps gained after every 7 hits in the combo meter. Attack bonus increase per Reality Warp remains but redistributed to reflect higher number of Reality Warps.
3. Reality Warp at three: 50 percent Energy Resistance increase.
4. Reality Warp at four: 8-second Petrify on Specials, refresh on Heavy.
5. Reality Warp at five: All specials Unblockable.
6. Reality Warp at six: Debuff Immunity against Mystics, partial debuff Immunity against Cosmics, Tech, Mutant and Science, 25 percent debuff damage reduction against Skill.
7. Reality Warp at seven: 12.5 percent healing, immediately gain one bar of power.
See what I mean? You don’t have to break the character’s kit completely to change how well they function in Battlegrounds — Sentry’s kit already contains Unblockable Specials, the ability to tank damage (including SP3), and healing. What you would be adding is Petrify, which Is a Science characteristic, and some class-based debuff interactions that would make the kit an interesting and fun option for Battlegrounds