Feedback Friday - 21st March 2008

This week we share some of the upcoming changes to the Ranger and Spy classes in 1.7. Keep in mind that some of these changes are still in progress and are subject to be being tweaked or reworked before they reach PTS. 

You may question why Spy and Sniper are being addressed in 1.6 and 1.7. The Classes and Combat Team felt the Spy and Sniper classes were focused on TSR and Blades. Their abilities did not provide them with the tools they needed to play their class effectively. While they had huge damage numbers on their weapons, that was all they had. Our goal now is to allow the player the option to use these newly tweaked abilities in addition to their main weapons to create a more interactive, well rounded combat dynamic. They will soon be better equipped to setup more affective shots, mitigate incoming damage, and escape otherwise certain death.

Polarity Field was swapped with Magnesium Flash and then Mag Flash was enhanced to become Tactical Evasion. Tactical Evasion was placed on the Ranger tier as lack of survivability is a problem that all Rangers share. Tactical Evasion is meant to assist in solving this problem.

Ranger:

Equipment: Stealth armor will now reduce the wearer’s radar signature in PvP duels. The distance that a player will show up will change depending on how many skill points they place in the skill and how many pieces of Stealth armor they are wearing.

Abilities:

• Fire Support: This ability will replace Carpet Bombing and will now be a mixture between the area of effect damage that Carpet Bombing had and a single target, stunning Ion Strike. Rank 5 will also have a wall of fire that crafty Rangers can use in a number of situations. The reason Carpet Bombing is being replaced is to offer players more choices and a better skill. Since the higher ranks of Carpet Bombing had such limited use, the Classes and Combat team felt this skill should be reworked.
  
  • Fire Support I: (Rank 1) This ability functions similar to how Carpet Bombing 1 did previously. It creates a beacon that teleport high explosive bombs onto the battlefield.
  • Fire Support II: (Rank 2) Ion Strike. This ability calls in a single target laser that will stun the target and do damage.
  • Fire Support III: (Rank 3) This ability functions similar to how Carpet Bombing 3 did previously (more beacons, more destruction)
  • Fire Support IV: (Rank 4) Ion Strike 2. The ranger can call down a more powerful laser that will stun the target and has the chance to stun any nearby enemies.
  • Fire Support V: (Rank 5) Napalm. The ranger can call down powerful napalm bombs to first do damage to enemies in an area then set it ablaze.
• Spotter: This ability will replace reinforcements. Tap into the Waypoint Network and open a gate, bringing an ally on to the battlefield to provide combat support. Once the ability’s energy is expended the ally will return to base. While active, this Spotter will enhance your Radar by negating the effects of enemy Stealth technologies. Spending more skill points will add to all spotters ability to see enemy stealthers.
• Tactical Evasion: This ability will replace Polarity Field. This primarily defensive ability is designed to offer the Ranger protection at both long and short ranges and continue to be effective at higher levels. At Rank 5 this ability will also allow the Ranger the ability to throw down a portable beacon to teleport back to during combat. The Ranger can utilize Logos to get themselves into and out of a fight while suffering minimal damage.
  
  • Mag Flash 1: (Rank 1) Generate a blinding flash of light around yourself. Nearby Enemies will be unable to target you for a short time
  • Smoke Screen I: (Rank 2) Create a ring of thick smoke around yourself which interferes with enemy targeting system. While within this protective screen, you and your squad mates will suffer less damage from enemy ranged attacks.
  • Mag Flash II: (Rank 3) Similar to Mag Flash I, but with a larger radius
  • Smoke Screen II: (Rank 4) Similar to Smoke Screen I, but with a larger radius
  • Tactical Retreat: (Rank 5) Activate this ability to place a retreat beacon. After some time has passed, you will be teleport back to that beacon.

Spy:

Sword: To compensate for the combat increased effectiveness of the Ranger and Spy abilities the Sword’s damage has been reduced.

Abilities:

• Cloak Wave: This ability will allow the Spy and her group to become invisible. It creates a light displacement field around the spy shrouding the player and nearby squad members in a bubble of limited invisibility. In PvE combat this will drop aggro of enemies and cause them to wander away. In PvP combat this will render the Spy and her squad invisible to enemy players unless they are very close to their target. Attacking or using abilities will break the invisibility.
• Polarity Field: This ability will allow the Spy to debuff targets to many damage types. Polarity Field was given a facelift because it was felt that the previous version was not as useful or impactful as originally intended. Previously, Polarity Field was used to turn a resistance into a debuff. This ability will now become a straight debuff allowing the player to choose the damage type. Also, ALL ranks of Polarity Field become more effective based on the highest rank you have learned. This is a new concept in TR skill management used in both Spotter and Polarity Field.
  
  • Electric Polarity Field (Rank 1)
  • Photonic Polarity Field (Rank 2)
  • Kinetic Polarity Field (Rank 3)
  • Incendiary Polarity Field (Rank 4)
  • Thermal Polarity Field (Rank 5)