Mine Reconstructor Rebalancing Idea

[TheWaywardKid]

So with the HRG Vampire getting a similar "charged glob" gameplay, twice the reserve ammo, faster equip speed, additional bleeding/suctioning potential, high-damage "spikes", the exact same weight, and (as of Beta 2) better healing than the Mine Reconstructor, I think a rebalancing of the latter would be in order (especially considering it was a paid weapon). Following Tripwire's initially-stated goal of making DLC weapons try to introduce new mechanics while serving similar roles to free weapons, here is an idea for the Mine Reconstructor:

Suggestion:
- Make it Tier 5 and a weight of 9.
- Reserve ammo increased from 108 up to 120.
- Twice the magazine size.
- Mines also release a blue cloud of healing gas upon explosion. (The size and duration of the cloud would depend upon the charge level of the mine, but the maximum would be a slightly larger radius than a healing grenade with half the duration of one.)
- Healing of explosions reduced from 4-40 down to 2-20 in order to partially - but not completely - account for the addition of healing gas. (Explosions still only heal teammates, but the gas clouds can self-heal.)

This suggestion would essentially aim to make the Mine Reconstructor a side-grade to the HMTech-501 Grenade Rifle. Neither the 501 nor the Reconstructor have access to darts. 120 ammo would equate to 20 fully-charged mines, each supplying half the gas duration of a 501 grenade (which can carry 10, making total durations equal). The initial healing of the Reconstructor's explosions would be halved, but would still mean that the Reconstructor would have higher overall healing potential than the 501. (The HMTech-501 can heal up to 800, whereas the Reconstructor would be able to heal up to 1,200). To compensate for this, 1 weight would be added to the Reconstructor in order to limit access to alternative sources of damage and healing, such as the HMTech-401 or the Healthrower. The mines are rather effective offensively for a Medic weapon (especially with gas), but the 501 has an entirely separate ammo pool for its versatile assault rifle and would also have greater loadout flexibility.

(More balancing to my idea would almost certainly be required, whether it be in stats or cost. This is just to show one direction in which the Mine Reconstructor could be improved while further differentiating itself with the new HRG Vampire!)

 

[Aleflippy]

It seems a lot of people can't quite wrap their head around the Mine Reconstructor! I personally love it... a bit too much actually. I find it way too powerful for a medic in a way. For real, you can blast a FP or Scrake in like...two fully charged shots?

So making it a T5 with some spice added to make it worth that title would indeed be the way to go IMO. It may not be as versatile as the HM-501, but it has raw power to make up for it.

The addition of a healing gas would improve the weapon tremendously. I guess it was meant to be the specialty of the HM-501... But that's honestly too valuable to let it go. I think upper tiered medic weapons should always have it. Plus, as I said, the weapons are still vastly different.

I don't have much to say actually : it's simple and effective. A nice breath of fresh air considering we're seeing more and more complete reworks of whole perks !

 

[TheWaywardKid]

It seems a lot of people can't quite wrap their head around the Mine Reconstructor! I personally love it... a bit too much actually. I find it way too powerful for a medic in a way. For real, you can blast a FP or Scrake in like...two fully charged shots?

So making it a T5 with some spice added to make it worth that title would indeed be the way to go IMO. It may not be as versatile as the HM-501, but it has raw power to make up for it.

The addition of a healing gas would improve the weapon tremendously. I guess it was meant to be the specialty of the HM-501... But that's honestly too valuable to let it go. I think upper tiered medic weapons should always have it. Plus, as I said, the weapons are still vastly different.

I don't have much to say actually : it's simple and effective. A nice breath of fresh air considering we're seeing more and more complete reworks of whole perks !

I actually have you to thank for convincing me to give the Mine Reconstructor a second chance! Your insistence led me to play with it more, which gave me a better understanding of its strengths and how it might be tweaked. (Especially considering the similar stuff they're doing with the Vampire.)

I hadn't thought about it, but raising the weapon to Tier 5 also somewhat helps address the problem of it being "way too powerful for a medic"; it prevents the ability of upgrading for further damage, and it presents a higher cost of entry for that power. The gas would give the weapon more "medic" ability, as well as more area control (which would make the "mine" function more satisfying). Right now if I use the Mine Reconstructor I fully upgrade it and run both "Focus Injection" and "Battle Surgeon"; I trail powerful mines if kiting, and place stockpiles of mines behind others' lanes if hunkering down (hoping the stockpiled healing/damage makes up for not taking "Coagulant Booster").

The Mine Reconstructor is more effective than I thought, but is in a really weird place as-is. Its mine-oriented gameplay makes it seem more like it should be a strategic weapon, but there's not enough payoff in that area (making it seem disappointing). This forces you to use it in a more straight-forward and clunkier offensive manner, but it's a bit too powerful in that regard for a Tier 3. Awkwardly enough, the current Mine Reconstructor both overperforms and underperforms at the same time!

 

[Aleflippy]

I actually have you to thank for convincing me to give the Mine Reconstructor a second chance! Your insistence led me to play with it more, which gave me a better understanding of its strengths and how it might be tweaked. (Especially considering the similar stuff they're doing with the Vampire.)

I hadn't thought about it, but raising the weapon to Tier 5 also somewhat helps address the problem of it being "way too powerful for a medic"; it prevents the ability of upgrading for further damage, and it presents a higher cost of entry for that power. The gas would give the weapon more "medic" ability, as well as more area control (which would make the "mine" function more satisfying). Right now if I use the Mine Reconstructor I fully upgrade it and run both "Focus Injection" and "Battle Surgeon"; I trail powerful mines if kiting, and place stockpiles of mines behind others' lanes if hunkering down (hoping the stockpiled healing/damage makes up for not taking "Coagulant Booster").

The Mine Reconstructor is more effective than I thought, but is in a really weird place as-is. Its mine-oriented gameplay makes it seem more like it should be a strategic weapon, but there's not enough payoff in that area (making it seem disappointing). This forces you to use it in a more straight-forward and clunkier offensive manner, but it's a bit too powerful in that regard for a Tier 3. Awkwardly enough, the current Mine Reconstructor both overperforms and underperforms at the same time!

The way I see it, it's a good weapon... But not a medic weapon. It's actually incomprehensible as to why it's not a demolitionist gun, at least crossperked (even though I know they don't like the idea of crossperk that much anymore)

I mean, people have been lamenting the loss of the pipebomb pretty much since KF2 got released. It was such an iconic tool of the first game, even when it got a massive increase to its price. The C4 just isn't truly the same... So I believe the mine reconstructor would be some sort of compromise between the two. And an alternative to the Seal Squeel (what you gain in accuracy, you lose in trapping potential and DPS). Last random thought, but I pictured the Mine Reconstructor as KF2's answer to the Demoman's Sticky Bomb Launcher. Which it isn't in the end.

Everything you said is spot-on however : from the method of using the weapon (I also fully upgrade it and play almost like a battle medic) to the perks of making it T5. As for it's poor-use as a trap-setting tool... I think it's not really fhe weapon's fault and more the game's. Again, C4 is barely used compared to the pipebomb of the first game, and it's not only due to the fact that it doesn't automatically detonate once a zed steps on it. It also stems from the fact that the game is way faster paced. It's not easy at all to properly "set" traps in KF2, mostly because camping is not nearly as effective as it once was.

In KF1, the only real tools to prevent camping were : husks (if you camped in a fairly open area), sirens (to destroy the pipe bombs but after a while you knew how to avoid them) and raging FPs (and similarly : with a good demo or sharp, you often got rid of them before they became a nuisance)

Here in KF2, you got EDARs as ranged zeds. Husks can kamikaze themselves, killing whole groups if you're not careful. Zeds in general tend to be more agile and faster. And maps themselves rarely have perfect "safe spots" anymore. KF1 maps often had at least one or two.

Speaking of more ranged-zeds and them being faster...Noticed how cramped KF2 maps are? None are really open unlike Farm or Mountainpass in KF1... And for good reasons. Even if the zeds got new tools, it was bloody easy to kite endlessly. Not only is it way less efficient in KF2, but it's harder to do too... And yet, everything is done in order to ensure the players keep moving, or at least "camp" in a larger area. So it doesn't really help to make mines helpful. But then... Why bother calling it a "mine" reconstructor when you use it more like a grenade launcher?

Eh, the weapon sits in a weird place indeed.