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Looking for Balance & Feedback

Because my previous post got unapproved for a small edit, i think it might be best for me to repost this (Moderators can delete the old post)

I will make some edits to this thread as I go along, but for now, i think I will put some placeholders where applicable

Weapons
1911 Pistol
Considering that the 1911s have been useless for quite some time now, I still can't help but think that Tripwire should consider making the singular 1911 a cross-perk weapon with the Commando.

In terms of gameplay balance, you would have a 12-round pistol that can deal 75 damage via High Capacity Magazines and Hollow Point Rounds, and can act as a decent stopgap towards the AK-12, SCAR or FN FAL.

Thematically, the M1911 Pistol is often the preferred weapon of the commandos in action movies.

Katana
I've already said that the increase in weight and price was pretty bad, much to the point where it's now completely useless. I still think the best course of action would be to bring its weight down to 3 so as to restore its off-perk utility.

Seeker Six
No matter how i look at it, it still seems pretty wasteful when the M79 can kill trash better than this thing while the RPG-7 is still the best option for killing large zeds. I think the best way to buff the Seeker Six is to actually make it as weak as it was when it was first introduced BUT reduce its weight down to 5 blocks, so as to allow the Demolitionist to carry the Seeker Six, RPG-7 and HMTECH-101 Medic Pistol. (M79+RPG7 would still be the better zed killer, but the Demolitionist can heal other players if he picks Seeker+RPG)

Husk Cannon
Okay, the change in damage calculation is a push in the right direction for the weapon, though I feel as if a couple of things need to be changed. First thing being that it STILL cannot headshot, which makes it unable to properly benefit from the Demolitionist's skills. Second, i feel as if the base damage could be bumped up significantly, because the problem with the Husk Cannon when it was first introduced wasn't the fact that it dealt as much damage as it did. Rather, it had way too much ammo for the damage it inflicted.

HMTECH-201
Considering that the Medic SMG buffs make the MP5 useless, i think the best way to balance the Medic SMG is to make it a Tier 3. Rather than have it deal 20 Ballistic_SMG, it could deal 25 Ballistic_Shotgun, so as to have the same damage as the MP5, while simultaneously being better at killing husks, sirens and Gorefasts than the MP5.

HMTECH-501
I think the 501 highlights how stupidly linear the Medic's weapon progression is. For the damage and ammo it has, i think the best course of action would be to reduce its price to $1500.

VLAD-1000
Should it really be a Berserker weapon? IMHO, i feel like the VLAD should be exclusive to the support since it feels pretty bad on Zerker. I still think the Zerker needs a ranged Tier 2 weapon, but it shouldn't be the VLAD.

Medical Syringe
While the HMTECH-101 Medic Pistol is the new KF1 syringe, I do not know if this is the intention considering that we have multiple loadouts that fill up all 15 blocks with perk weapons without leaving any room for a Medic Pistol. With this in mind, i have to wonder if it'd be worth it to remove the double recharge in favour of making it so that healing teammates uses only half the batteries (40 HP on one player or 20 HP for two)

Welder
Welding feels like it's a noob trap more than anything, with intact doors being a crucial tool for kiting zeds when the player needs to make a quick escape. I wonder if it'd be worth it to rework the Welder around the repairing of armor. Perhaps these would be reasonable stats for a reworked welder?

Off-perk welding: Max 15 points of armor per wave. (This is enforced on a per player basis, can never weld players on Wave 1)

Anyways, moving onto the Perks


Berserker
Although a Level 25 Berserker is as powerful as he needs to be for higher difficulties, I would actually argue that the Zerker is underpowered due to his over-reliance on the perk skills. If you take those away, he only has Perk Weapon Damage. I think this thread I made on the Steam forums a while back should buff the Zerker's early game, while simultaneously changing very little with players already at Level 25.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/23209...1607501045565/

Sharpshooter
While i get that Sharpshooter is mostly focused around headshots, I feel as if the Level 5 and 10 skills should be reworked in a way that allows for a passive bodyshot damage. Perhaps these changes would be welcome?

New passive: Perk weapon damage (0.6 * Level) (max 15% damage)

The introduction of body-shot damage will actually change the effective headshot damage bonus to 1.6 * level due to redundant damage bonuses, up to a maximum of 40% headshot damage per level. However, the addition of non-situational damage bonuses will likely call for a rework in Level 5 and 10 skills. Maybe these would be welcome?

Level 5: Sidearms

As the name implies, the new Level 5 skills will focus on the Sharpshooter's secondary weapons because let's be real: The Sharpshooter's perk weapon ammo can be quite expensive and shouldn't be used against clots. I tihnk it would be worth it to have these skills...

Fallback: Increase 9mm ammo reserve and knife damage by 100%

Because the 9mm Pistol already does enough damage to decapitate clots, adding additional damage to the 9mm would be redundant. I think the prudent move would be to actually increase the ammo reserve so as to allow the Sharpshooter to pick off trash to conserve perk weapon ammo.

Off-perk: Your Headshot Damage bonus applies to all weapons in the game. Also gain +2 Sharpshooter XP when you decapitate zeds with off-perk weapons.

Inherited from Killing Floor 1. Picking this skill would allow the Sharpshooter to grab a bigger sidearm than the 9mm pistol, which could make a pretty big difference if you intend to carry a Medic Pistol alongside any of your late-game weaponry. This would also enable the Sharpshooter to roll with an M99 AMR and Medic SMG, as that would likely be the most optimal way to play M99 Sharp while still being able to heal.

Level 10: Weapon Handling

Armor Piercing Rounds: All hit zones have a minimum multiplier of 0.75. You can also shoot through Rioter and EDAR armor, albeit with reduced damage (Also has a hidden 10% Perk Weapon damage bonus)

Don't you just love it when gorefiends, bloats, scrakes and fleshpounds hide their heads with their weapons? What this will mean is that if a zed gets shot in a damage resistant zone, a check will be made to see if a player has this skill. If he does, the damage scaling will be ignored if it's below 0.75.

As for Rioter and EDAR armor, i think it'd be fair for a skill that's all about shooting through armor to be able to damage body parts with destructible armor. What this means is that a Lever Action would still deal 80 damage to a Rioter's helmet, but will deal 40 damage to the head behind said helmet (because IMO, i think a 50% damage penalty for the pierced armor would be fair).

Also, i feel like it'd be worth it to give AP Rounds a hidden 10% damage bonus so as to bring the Sharpshooter's max headshot damage to an even 50%

Harasser: Increase rate of fire by 25% and perk weapon stun power by 100%. Also increase movement speed by 10%

Due to my previous suggestion of making the Sharpshooter's bodyshot damage a passive rather than tied to situational damage bonuses, the most that can really be done at this point is to merge Marksman and Ballistic Shock as one skill. This now means that you will choose between stun power and being more effective against blocking zeds.

Demolitionist

This is more about me griping about how Siren Resistance will always be better than Fragmentation Rounds. The only solution i see is to make Siren Resistance a passive so as to free up the Level 15 skills.

Partial Siren Resistance: 25% + (15% * level)

Partial resistance would mean that Sirens will only debuff your rockets and grenades, rather than destroy them outright. Simply playing Demolitionist means that your weapons will deal 75% less damage when debuffed by a Siren, with the 5 level milestones reducing the damage penalty. As for why it's done in milestones, this would allow Tripwire to create visual cues as to how weak your projectiles are, with a level 25 Demo eventually being able to do full damage regardless of siren screams.

And now for the Level 15 skills

Level 15: Advanced Techniques

High Explosive Rounds: Increase the explosion radius of your perk weapons by 50%

Essentially what Frag Rounds is right now. Speaking of...

Fragmentation Rounds: Your frag grenades have actual fragmentations! Damage, penetration and pellet count is based on weapon used

Essentially a throwback to Killing Floor 1 as to how explosive weapons functioned, splintering into fragmentations. As for how fragmentation rounds would work, maybe this would be a good way to look at things?
WeaponDamagePenetrationPellet CountOther
HX-25 Grenade Pistol1501 per bomlet
C415424
M79 Grenade Launcher2027
M162026
RPG-72537
Seeker Six2025
Husk Cannon25 + Fire DoT02 + 1 per ammoPellets create ground fire

Also, because one of my weapon suggestions involves the Welder, I think it might be worth covering the Demo's passive Reactive Armor. On top of having his own reactive armor, I think it'd be worth it to suggest Squad Reactive Armor

Squad Reactive Armor: The Demo loses the ability to repair armor. To compensate for this, he would have the ability to grant his teammates a suit of Reactive Armor. The welded variant deals damage based on weld completion (up to 200 Damage), and will activate if the welded player's armor reaches zero or his health reaches 5, whichever comes first.

Survivalist

The recent changes are a push in the right direction, though I think there are still a few issues. IMHO, the best thing that I can ask for a perk built around carrying multiple weapons from other perks is a new passive:

Weapon Switch Speed: 2% * Level

This one should be pretty self explanatory... Also, for things from other suggestions I have made in other threads

Level 10: Melee Combat

Because Melee Expert will always be the preferred skill over Medic Training, i think it would be best to change Survival Technique to Melee Combat? These would be the skills relevant to the Survivalist's melee proficiency.

Mad Doctor: Increase syringe recharge speed by 100%, syringe potency 30%, melee attack speed 20% and melee weapon damage 50%. Also increase movement speed by 25% when using melee weapons.

CQB Training: Increase neutral weapon damage by +15%, melee attack speed 20% and melee weapon damage 35%. Also increase movement speed by 25% when using melee weapons.

Essentially guarantees that Survivalists at Level 10 or above get the Melee expert skill, replacing the skill choices between ranged weapon damage vs healing, with both skills giving the same proficiency with melee weapons. The reason for this suggestion is because even if the Survivalist intends to use ranged weapons exclusively, melee expert will still be the preferable skill since extra movement speed is often the better choice.

Level 15: Equipment
I think the best course of action here would be to make Ammo Vest more viable in the late game while also making Weapon Harness more viable in the early game. Perhaps this is a good solution?

Ammo Vest: Increase ammo reserve and magazine size for all weapons by 15% and 50% respectively. Your grenade is now a Medic Grenade.
Weapon Harness: Increase carrying capacity by 5 and your grenade becomes a Fragmentation Grenade. Also begin the game with 100 less dosh in exchange for a second Random Weapon.

Italicised the word all for the sake of giving the DBS a hidden third barrel, M32 holding 9 grenades and the Doomstick suddenly becoming a 6-shooter. Figured that would make Ammo Vest as useful as a 20 block loadout.

With that said, the Medic Grenades are very powerful at the start of the game, so i think the best way for Weapon Harness to compete would be to have Support grenades and two random weapons, so as to have more versatility at the start of the game.

Level 25: Specialist Training

While Lockdown is useless, I also want to take my time to nitpick about Madman, so here goes.

Zed Time - Madman: During Zed time, all your ranged weapons shoot 3x faster. Also increase melee attack speed by 300%
Zed Time - Grenadier: During Zed time, weapons do not require reloading. (Weapons use ammo reserve when magazine is at zero)

The nitpick is that melee weapons aren't affected by Madman, which I personally think sucks when you're trying to conserve ammo on Wave 1. As for Lockdown's replacement, this is essentially a weaker version of Whirlwind of Lead that allows the Survivalist to enjoy a much faster rate of fire than what's usually possible with single-shot weapons. I can still see Madman being the preferable choice for Commando, SWAT and Berserker weapons.

Support

Because of my Welder suggestion, I will have to cover how armor repair would work on Support. Because my suggestion involves giving the Welder the ability to repair armor, i think it would be best if the Support is the most proficient at armor repairing. Perhaps these stats will work:

Max Armor repair: 20% + (3 every 5 levels) (Max 35% armor per player every wave)
Can weld players on Wave 1 (34% penalty)

While the Support CAN weld other players on Wave 1, his welder is less effective during that wave. This is to make sure that players will still buy armor since you still want players to balance their spending between weapons, ammo and armor.
 
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I really ****ing like your level 5 sharpie skill suggestions specifically. I don't really like your survivalist suggestions solely because it's trying to make the current design work when it doesn't work fundamentally and needs to be replaced, but otherwise all your suggestions are really good.

Also: just as a nitpick, saying demo's grenades would have actual frags is incorrect since his grenades are dynamite. Would probably work if the skill swapped his dynamite sticks for actual frag grenades though
 
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Just played a few games of HoE objective and it seems like there isnt enough ammo on the gear/data recovery levels. My friend and I played as medic and zerk to try to deal with the ammo issue, but even with a zerk, medic becomes just a healer with no damage very quickly. I really think the missions that last longer should have a higher ammo spawn throughout the level to help with the very large number of zeds spawning, especially on HoE. Every time we've died on HoE obj was due to running out of ammo because of the continuous spawning of zeds.
We might need to find a new strat or just plain get better, but as it is now, I dont see myself being able to beat any of the HoE obj map due to ammo shortage.
 
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Hello everyone.
I strongly suggest, that we need a button to buy only small amount of armor!
I have been many times in situation, when I wanted to buy armor, but only like 30-40, cause I was saving cash for better weapons.
Im sure many of you were in similar spot too and a button whit would allow us to buy only 10 armor per click would be awesome.
 
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