You've forgotten something important. Perks can't be nerfed anymore. I don't know why but for the last two years or so the only changes that have been made to perks have been buffs. If there is a nerf it's extremely minor and/or the only one in a group of 3+ other buffs. Similar but less strict trend with weapons as seen in this report.
As a RLLLR zerk(when I do play as one)... Yeesh. Zerk was already game-breakingly good and these buffs are going too far, IMO. Zerk was already nigh-immortal and I don't see the point of increasing his durability further. Like, it feels pointless. I guess I can afford to make even more mistakes now? I can pay even less attention to the game?
I get and agree on the concept of balancing perk skill choices but find it odd they are or have been prioritized over inter-perk balancing. Surely the latter will disrupt the former and require more work in the long run?
Well, a peculiar and implicit rule of thumb isn't truly a rule, is it? I've always been a strong advocate of "buff the weak instead of nerfing the strong" but my POV regarding the medic's polyvalence is now a running gag at that point. Anyhow, even though the official word about it is that after five years of updates, the game is now quite fragile and it's pretty much impossible to change something meaningful without having to rework a bunch of other things...But as I said numerous times before as well : stop wasting resources on weapons we don't want and instead use that last push to bring closure to the game. Better to inject one last sprint to secure victory than to keep a steady pace and lose in the long run. Call it "rebalancing" if "nerfing" is a taboo word. But just do something to make it so the medic isn't a mere walk in the park anymore.
Totally agreed on the zerk tho, which makes
@Kazaanh's comment downright incomprehensible (no offense dude !) It's already a very tough perk, that becomes damn near unkillable if he's paired with a good medic. And the funny thing is that no matter how good those buffs are, it still seems less valuable than the damn Skirmisher perk ! I personally believe that an innate health regen is just too good to pass up. Again, call me crazy, but I believe Skirmisher should be nerfed rather than buffing Dreadnaught. Kazaanh is calling the perk a "hit'n'run glass cannon" with Skirmisher, but I believe it's the wrong way of looking at it. Regardless of the skill chosen, the zerk IS a hit'n'run perk. Because your main purpose is to strike a powerful blow without leaving the possibility to any zed to retaliate. It's parry ability and extra speed makes that very clear, but also it's main source of damage ( melee weapons : they obviously can't provide a steady flow of damage the way a flamethrower or SMG does. It's more akin to the sharp or demo => once you fired, you have to fallback slightly to "reload" and bring the pain again). As for being a glass cannon, it's the complete opposite : you can stay in the fight longer because your health keeps being regenerated. And assuming you picked the skill that allows you to heal on kill, you're actually even encouraged to be ballsy. That perk is a glass cannon under NO circumstances. He's certainly the tank of the team. Along with the SWAT and Medic to some extent.
Similarly (sorry
@Kazaanh , it's really not about you !), giving HP regen to the medic... Have you lost your damn mind? The medic can already heal better and more often than all his teammates. He can also heal himself with his grenades and got better armor. He doesn't need to regen on top of that, or we might as well have a team full of medics at that point.