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New perk: Jack of all trades

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flying_icarus

Active member
Mar 24, 2009
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#1
Here is a suggestion for a new perk: Jack of all trades

A jack of all trades would be proficient in all weapons, but master of none (a multiclass, if you play RPGs)

This would be a perk which would be similar to the pre-perk KF days, when everyone chose weapon loadout based on weapon preference, not perk specialization.

This gives a jack of all trades an option to pack a shotgun with a LAR, or an AK and be moderately useful with them.

Bonuses:
- lvl6 jack of all trades has bonuses as if he has all other perks simultaneously enabled and leveled to i.e. 2 (or perhaps 3 if it would be too weak/inventory constricted), and lower level jack of all trades have appropriately scaled down bonuses.

Alternatives to consider:
- limit bonuses only to mid-tier weapons (no m14/xbow/scar/etc bonus), or limit bonuses to combine fewer regular perks (i.e. only support, commando & sharpshooter bonuses up to level 3, or some other combination).

Requirements:
- number of kills while having jack of all trades active as a perk

What do you guys think?

It would come very handy for those awkward team compositions one runs into now and then to fill in the gaps, and for players who would like the option to mix it up.
 
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#2
Given the balance changes the beta is looking into, it might actually work. However one thing it would do is detract from other perks alot. Alot of the fun is trying to find alternative weapoins that work well for your perks abilities.

A few quick examples: -
- Using the shotgun with a Commando gives you a nice quick spike, and will benefit from the commando's reload speed.
- The Medic can use the steady DoT and Crisp Up effect of the flamethrower to support his team, and his impressive armour boosts will give him good protection from self inflicted damage.
- The Sharpshooter can use the Mp7M to get long range healing and will also get his 50% headshot damage boost when attacking ZEDs.
- Etc, etc.

If you make an actual jack of all trades perk, then what point if there having perks? Having no clear cut strengths also means no clear cut weaknesses, and no clear weaknesses tend to bring about things like rambo Zerdicks and lone Sharpies.

Restricting his weapon choices isn't fair, as no other class in the game is incapabale of wielding anything, so balancing this thing to be useful but not OP would be very hard I rekcon.

Plus on a simpler note... what on earth would its logo be? A picture of the face of the most average man in the world? :)
 
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#4
I would like to see a jack of all trades perk too. I suggested something like this in the gunslinger thread, but I never got any feedback on it :(. It is a little different from what you described:

Small arms perk: The small arms perk could dual wield light versions of weapons you would find in other perks.

Sharpshooter: pistols (maybe .50 cal should go to these guys and Sharpshooter should get something else?)
Commando: submachine guns
Support: compact/ sawed off shotguns
Demo: pistol/ light grenade launchers
Berserker: machetes
Firebug: incendiary pistols

All the weapons wouldn't be as effective as the top tier of the other perks, but they would be lighter and less expensive allowing you to have a wide variety of weaponry. The perk would be just as effective overall as other perks, but is going to have to switch weapons more often depending on the situation. To deal with a scrate for example, the perk could use dual pistols when the scrate is far away- and when it gets close they could switch to dual shotguns or machetes.

So it is basically like the perk you described, a jack of all trades perk. But it will have it's own weapons and bonuses rather than using existing perk's weapons.
 
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#7
Oh hello there, i see what you're doing.

A multi-perk perk would indeed be able to fill in the cracks, but that's both good and bad.

It takes the challenge - and therefore the fun - out of KF.

Even with just L2-3 perks put together, this'd game-breaking.
Imagine putting Sharpie, Medic and Support together with Demolitions, Berserker and Firebug.

Just being Berserker gives clot grab immunity and melee speed, Commando give universal reload and health sight, Sharpshooter gives SS damage and reload, Support gives weight and penetration, Firebug gives Fire immunity, fire penetration and fire nades, and throwing Medic in with armour, speed and healing bonus makes this JoaT a bit broken.


But, all the perks together is broken, but maybe 2-3 isn't.

Well, not as much anyway.
 
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#12
Undedd_jester is on a good train of thought, although trying to shoehorn non-perk weapons has a lot of drawbacks as well.

I.e. packing a shotgun as a SS does nothing for the shotgun ammo count, precision, damage, or penetration, so you just end up using your perked weapon anyway. And in higher difficulties if you are left only with ammo for the off-perk weapon, there is a much higher chance of dying and failing the team, because hard and suicidal specimens really don't take nonsense. ;)

As of making an overpowered class, candlejack is right that it would need to be balanced properly by maybe just restricting it to some selected perk bonuses/weapons, but that would be ok. You would know what you're getting into before choosing the perk.

However, if done right it shouldn't really have a negative impact on playability... If someone remembers KF from its mod days, before perks, way back then there was only one implicit perk - a jack of all trades. ;)

But that didn't stop players from "inventing" perks of their own on the fly. A couple of guys would choose longer range or more precise weapons, one or two would go LAW in the later waves, and the rest would combine their loadout based on current map and preference - much like happens today with defined perks.

Even now the difference in perks is not so pronounced until you get to higher level perks. Then you naturally want to start playing higher difficulties to keep it interesting, but higher difficulties also punish much more for going with a "wacky" loadout. A jack of all trades would allow for such experiments without screwing up on later waves.
 
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#13
Novfanaion said:
No, where's the Sharpahooter's "advanced" melee, demo, welding abilities, hmm?
Click to expand...

You're taking it too literally. What I meant was that Sharpshooter is at least moderately effective at every job in the game. Crowd-control, spike damage, sweeping an area, on the move or holed up. Sharpshooter is never out of his element the way Commando is against big targets or Support is at prolonged combat.

Also, it was a joke. Though not one without a grain of truth.
 
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#14
Salad Snake said:
You're taking it too literally. What I meant was that Sharpshooter is at least moderately effective at every job in the game. Crowd-control, spike damage, sweeping an area, on the move or holed up. Sharpshooter is never out of his element the way Commando is against big targets or Support is at prolonged combat.

Also, it was a joke. Though not one without a grain of truth.
Click to expand...

I see...
But, truth comes in grains?
 
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#16
Sammers said:
But it would suck at doing anything.
After all, the saying is "Jack of all trades, Ace of none"
Click to expand...

The saying is true, yes, but it would suck less than a support with LAR or demoman with a MAC10. :)

It would moderately suck because it trades specialization for adaptability. A teammate dies - sure, pick up his AK or scar without getting recoiled to the next room. You get cornered in a room - teammate throws his other shotgun so you can get up close and personal without being completely useless.

Like a handyman in a building - he may not be able to make a new TV from a pile of plastic and metal, or carve out a staircase out of timbers, but he sure is handy to have for those leaky faucets or when you'd like to screw in a shelf to the wall.

It seems like a concept worth investigating, at least in this here imaginary form. :)
 
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#18
Salad Snake said:
That, my friend, is a figure of speech.
Click to expand...

Ha, trying to fool me with your silly idioms? I think not!
Spoiler!
 
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#19
The problem with having a jack of all trades perk is that if you play as the jack of all trades you will always be leveling two perks simultaneously. Simply play as the Jack of all trades and get some head-shots with a pistol, and the specimens you kill will go towards the sharpshooter and the jack of all trades perk .

So either the perk would need its own weapons (like the small arms perk I suggested) or just give players the option of playing in a no-perk mode. It would require no leveling, and would give players the equivalent of level 3,2,1,or 0 bonuses for all weapons (they could choose the level they want to use). Killing in this mode would not count towards leveling your perks up.
 
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#20
Dead :( said:
The problem with having a jack of all trades perk is that if you play as the jack of all trades you will always be leveling two perks simultaneously.
Click to expand...

That is a very good insight, and could be even a deal breaker for jack of all trades. :-/ It stops it being a minor addition and becomes a large update with new weapons and stuff.

...Back to the drawing board. ;)
 
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