A Suggestion For Balancing Alternate Playstyles

[Laces115]

I've heard some complaints about how recent updates hinder runners and solocaders in ways that could be considered a bit unfair. Specifically, I am referring to the Devourer and Overtime mode.

 

For Devourer, the ability to basically force humans up to you literally stops any physical momentum in combat: dodging and boomstick jumping as a human, and predicting the next movement of humans as a zombie, and coordinating other zombies to try and trap them in. Those require some skill and thought, when an insta-stopper eliminates that.

 

For Overtime, I feel like it is just too difficult for what will at this point be a small group of humans to repair supply with supercharged zombies, not impossible, but enough to just flat-out deter humans from even trying, and just pointwhore until death instead.

 

And I kinda understand these complains, and think that two somewhat minor things could shift it to make it feel more balanced and interesting.

 

For Devourer: just reduce the range of the grabbing attack. This way, there's still some skill involved in combating this boss, by keeping your distance while juggling other zombies, and as the boss, you have more skill involved in getting up close and landing your shot before they can escape again.

 

Solocaders are pretty likely to be the ones who are alive if Overtime is triggered, since they aren't on a supply crate. What this usually means is that you have a death march against the most dangerous conditions in the game to sit in an uncaded spot, repairing the supply that zombies will likely be guarding.

 

For Overtime, what I suggest is DOUBLE repair rate during Overtime intermission and QUADRUPLE repair rate during the wave. This sounds OP on paper, but bear in mind that repairing during this super wave is massively risky, since zombies have a huge number and strength advantage at this point, so humans should be rewarded for trying. This also makes things more interesting as zombie, because humans are more likely to push out and attempt a repair than before, opening up more chances of ambush.

 

The quad repair rate wouldn't be enough to go from 0% repair to 100% mid-wave, because you'd still get swarmed, what it is there for is to encourage risky play by CONTINUING to repair the supply after intermission when you are already at the supply. Basically: "fuck it, we need to fix this, we will hold them off and try and finish it before we get overrun". This adds some down-to-the-wire gameplay that is intense for everyone involved. Intensity isn't a bad thing for a situation like this.

 

What do you guys think?

[Lunar]

Give devourer more hp, instead of nerfing his range hes meant to out take outsider for running out of cade.

Edit: how is skill involved on a pointsave server

Edited August 30, 2018 by Lunar

[Snowyamur]

Nerf the Devourer's hook range and it becomes almost useless in its role. The point of its range is to allow it to play the role of a backline support, capable of hooking humans from within the barricade into range of attacking zombies. Besides, there is no real skill for a Devourer choosing whether or not to get up close to hook or not; at the end of the day, you're still being shot in the face.

 

If you played Dota 2, this boss is basically like Pudge: hook the player you first see, and if the hook makes contact, you are immediately dragged. I can see that being a problem here on ZS because humans aren't durable. I think what might work is that once the Devourer's hook makes contact with the player, lock the player in place for a second or three, where they can't move nor shoot, then drag them, that way it doesn't seem so sudden and the victim's teammates can try something to save him. Once the player is dragged, they will be severely slowed to the point it's a crawl, that way they can't escape.

 

I think that would fulfill the Devourer's role without making him useless by reducing his hook range.