Should The Nerf Be Removed/rebalanced?

[Northground]

Ever since the Nerf first got introduced to the server i have heard many complaints regarding the balance of it and that the design of the boss is bad in some aspects. The purpose of this thread is to see what the community thinks regarding it and whether or not we should remove or rebalance it. As many of you know the Nerf is a boss that is used against runners. The reason that its so good against runners and aslo the main complaint about it, is that it can knock down humans from far away. Even if you are very skilled runner and good at the game you cant do much if you are alone and a nerf comes after you. Its not very easy to dodge and once you are down you will lose about half your hp until you are up again, and in which you only have a few seconds until he can knock you down again. And this is ofcourse if he is alone, if there are zombies around its certain death the first time he hits you. Vote in the poll and discuss in the thread what should be done about the boss.

[a human being]

i vote rebalance it, just add a trait that makes you immune to its knockdown that cost 15 worth

[Kapu]

Nerf really doesn't seem that bad to me. It is slower than fasties, relatively low HP, and when you attack you get slowed to a crawl. People really only complain because its knockdown, which is really easy to dodge in my experience

[Talbot]

The knockdown attack has a considerable cool down when you use it, on the other side, this attack is easy to dodge, if it is supposed to be an "anti-runner" zombie then it gives them a hard competence at least. Not to mention it has low HP.

[ValueSensei]

I'd say re-balance it. I don't think the Nerf needs to be 'nerfed' too hard. I think perhaps decreasing the duration of how long they knock humans down for maybe? We definitely need a boss good for chasing runners in my eyes, but I couldn't mind if it was weaker.

 

Side note - Perhaps tweaking the model to make it a little scarier or even just make its sound a tiny bit more intimidating.

 

Probably wrong and being crazy.

[Smecklingdorf]

I see nerf as like, a wimpy way to take out that one guy who is just too good at juking.

It's ez to fight him in CQC if he holds down left click, the lunge is predictable to dodge (even easier if you get quick and surge), and low hp which makes him the most easiest boss to fight with 1v1 alone.

[OpposedThrone]

Before Nerf came to existance, it was Wendigo first, that was specifically created for one purpose; to chase down human runners who either outran zombies or just simply camped outside with a boomstick. Wendigo got removed, Nerf joined the game and became a lethal threat, as proven to every human runner or atleast, the human Juggernaut boss.

To be honest, I don't think Nerf needs to be rebalanced or nerfed, as it's main dmg per claw hit is 15 dmg (by far less than any other boss zombie, except Butcher and Bonemesh that deals slow dmg to cades or humans), and next is it's secondary knockdown ability, but even this is fairly just as it takes time to regain the knockdown ability and you can be in a great disadvantage if nearby to a big human group or someone with a Tier 4 - Tier 5 weapon.

I've been Nerf on several occasional games, and most of the time trying to catch humans can be pretty annoying with the secondary ability or using the claws.

 

These are just some personal reflections and what I think of Nerf. Had a few cons and pros on my mind that I wanted to share aswell

 

PROS

 

- Knockdown is decent, having a relatively good cooldown period so Nerf can't abuse the secondary at a constant rate.

- Isn't overpowered, only dangerous to human runners and juggernauts.

- Has a pretty high jump to reach high places which makes it ideal (basically an enhanced fast zombie on steroids).

 

CONS

 

- The Nerf model is very ugly and could use a big time remodel / new skin

[Boxsnake]

Nerf is as balanced as it it right now. its not too broken or anything. its only actually use is to take out runners or last human

[eXfro]

I say it needs some kind of timer or signal that the jump is recharged and usable again. Something similar to the chrono butcher timer?

[Porter2455]

I personally feel removing it is the best option. Why? The most obvious reason, it serves no purpose whatsoever that helps the zombie team, arguably hurting the zombie team instead. Legion is better at attacking windows for several reasons, so its instantly outclassed in that area of the game by another boss. It's main purpose is to decimate runners, but why is a boss dedicated to flatten runners? Running is a legit part of zs and has been largely removed on HG due to the nerf. Remove it and runners still have counters, but not a boss dedicated to destroy them. Noob bosses go nerf to attack 1 runner, wasting a boss slot completely and hurting the z team. The ONLY time people who know what they are doing select nerf is to kill the jugg, which gets obliterated by a team of nerfs. This is stupid. Unless you are a vet or really lucky, you don't get jugg very often. Why have a boss that completely shuts it down? Jugg already got nerfed, it's not even op anymore.

 

Also, if votes to remove + votes to balance are greater than votes to keep as is, it should be rebalanced. People who vote to remove would've voted balance if it meant choosing one or the other.

 

I also think the ceiling fan's idea of a trait to remove knockdown is a good idea for a "rebalance". This would give runners something they have long since wanted, as the best of the best can take on a nerf 1v1 without the worry of knockdown. I would give jugg the trait as well.

Edited January 30, 2018 by Porter2455

[MSU4LIFE]

I like that Nerf is a very situational boss and I can't really think of any changes that could made to Nerf without making it completely useless or unnecessarily OP. Maybe a slight HP buff...but that's about it. I agree with Exfro with some sort of recharge meter for the Nerf jump so the person know when it'll be up again.