A Bassi Idea (That Will Never Happen)

[Venkman]

Bassi is the last Alien class I tried to learn. And, considering that I have more Rant-crush kills than Bassi-slashes, I'm definately still learning. For all I know my idea could just plain suck and potentially unbalance the entire game but, after reading all the feedback about GPP Bassi, I figured it was at least worth mentioning:

What if the Bassi's attack was less effected by armor multipliers when attacking from a grab?
In other words, a human's armor would only be 50% as effective when attacked by a grabbing Bassi (maybe even 35% for Bassi+, if that's not too ridiculous.) of course, only the Bassi who is grabbing would gain this advantage. Even while grabbed, Human armor should still be just as effective against any other Alien attack; including other Basilisks.

Just like the Goon's pounce having a knock-back effect or the Rant crushing you with its fat ass if it lands on you, an enhanced grabbed attack makes sense if you think about it. Say you're holding a human in place. That means you're close enough to aim your attack more precisely than, say, a Mara flying over the same human's head at a 100 miles an hour. Which means instead of just slashing "through" the human's armor, a grabbing Bassi could theoretically pinpoint snake his attack between the armor's crevices and into the soft fleshy center beyond.

To balance the grab's damage-bump, you could reduce the Bassi's slash-damage when not attacking a grabbed human and/or reduce ROF slightly. Logically, if the Bassi's claws or whatever are small enough to slip beneath armor, they're probably too small to be really effective when slashing a human outside of grab range.

Really, my end-goal with this idea was to figure out a logical and easily-balanced way to let a Bassi kill a Helm in 3 head-shots instead of the 4 or 5 that it is now (sorry, it's late and I can't find the data for the helmet's damage-reduction modifier...), thus making the class at least slightly more useful after Humans reach stage 2.

And true, at one evo, maybe it's fine how it is. Still, I think this idea might open the class up a bit while adding an extra element of necessity to the strategies already being utilized by good Bassi-players.
  

"I'm only a badass spider-possum ninja death-hat and all y'all can do is bitch, huh? That's MESSED UP."
                  V
              

[Celestial_Rage]

Grab range exceeds slash range, therefore, you will always be "holding" the human, at least momentarily, as you slash.

[Venkman]

Ah, yes. Good point.

So, the ROF would have to be slower and maybe even ::GASP:: less HP? No, Bassi HP is low enough where it's at now. Maybe a reduced ROF would do the trick. Maybe make the damage reductions less than what I was thinking or even reduce the slash range so you could grab but still had to work your way across that gap to actually land your attacks, which would make tactics like Bassi-hating all the more viable. Just get me to three head-swipes-on-a-helm and I'll be happy.

[Celestial_Rage]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but all you are suggesting is to increase damage but decrease ROF. If this idea is ever implemented, it would be balanced such that it would take the same amount of time to kill a human (eg, you can only do 3 swipes in the time you could do 5 before. Both would kill the human). I feel that extra damage is inappropriate for a 1 evo class. Having less damage but higher ROF requires better aim instead of slashing wildly in order to land a high damage lucky shot.

[RAKninja-Decepticon]

something that is apparent to me is that the easy way to play a basi "well" is to become more team-oriented as the humans stage up.  at hs1 you'll be doing all the classical ambush tricks.  hs2 introduces the helmet, making ambush ineffective, and reducing your damage.  this is when you'll want to start partnering up with maras and goons.  you'll hold the humans, get a few licks in, and really rely on your buddies to make the kill.  your healing aura helps them be ready for more humans (as everyone knows, humans rarely travel alone) and speed up attacks on the enemy base.

at hs3, you have battlesuits to contend with.  you can really make a tyrant's day by holding a suit so they dont hop around out of range of those stubby arms they have.

in conclusion, i feel the basi is pretty much just fine the way it is.

[Venkman]

If this idea is ever implemented, it would be balanced such that it would take the same amount of time to kill a human (eg, you can only do 3 swipes in the time you could do 5 before. Both would kill the human). I feel that extra damage is inappropriate for a 1 evo class.

something that is apparent to me is that the easy way to play a basi "well" is to become more team-oriented as the humans stage up.  at hs1 you'll be doing all the classical ambush tricks.  hs2 introduces the helmet, making ambush ineffective, and reducing your damage.  this is when you'll want to start partnering up with maras and goons.  you'll hold the humans, get a few licks in, and really rely on your buddies to make the kill.

I was thinking that the extra damage per swipe would also give your Bassi a better evo-split from team-effort kills, which he usually has to take a lot of risk to secure.

But you're right; it's too much for a 1-evo class to be able to drop a helm that quickly by himself. Still I think Bassi+ might deserve a slight damage bump, considering a regular Mara which is the same price, has a bit more health, and can take out a helm in what seems like half the time. I know gas makes up for this to some extent, but it still seems like a waste of evos to me. Then again, I suck at Bassi, so...

[OhaiReapd]

This is a great idea, BUT, Basi is easy as is. I don't think a 1 evo alien should be able to take a human out any faster than it does now.

[SirDude]

are you guys forgetting that it isn't actually a damage buff?
all it would do is partly negate armor meaning that a unarmored human still takes the same damage, this is a LOGICAL idea maybe not the most balanced (yet) but LOGICAL nonetheless.

I support, and hope it could be balanced enough so that 70% of players support it.

[RAKninja-Decepticon]

But you're right; it's too much for a 1-evo class to be able to drop a helm that quickly by himself. Still I think Bassi+ might deserve a slight damage bump, considering a regular Mara which is the same price, has a bit more health, and can take out a helm in what seems like half the time. I know gas makes up for this to some extent, but it still seems like a waste of evos to me. Then again, I suck at Bassi, so...

but mara is a fighter, basi+ is still support and ambush.  mara isnt a portable booster.

and despite how much i, personally, would like to ignore armor as a basi, i can understand that it's not the best for balance.

[Venkman]

are you guys forgetting that it isn't actually a damage buff?
all it would do is partly negate armor meaning that a unarmored human still takes the same damage, this is a LOGICAL idea maybe not the most balanced (yet) but LOGICAL nonetheless.

I support, and hope it could be balanced enough so that 70% of players support it.

Another way to possibly balance things out:
Maybe lower the armor's reduction rate with each slash, meaning a Bassi's first attack after initiating a grab would be reduced by the armor's normal modifier. Then, with each additional slash, the armor is less effective (Bassi/Bassi+: 1st slash - 100%/90%, 2nd slash - 75%/65%, 3rd - 50%/40%, and so on...)

This way, a good dancer would still be difficult to kill with just one Bassi (as it should be) yet it would give tactics like Bassi-hatting that extra edge that (some think) they need.

 

[Venkman]

but mara is a fighter, basi+ is still support and ambush.  mara isnt a portable booster.

True. It's just that, once humans stage-up, Bassi seems to become good for nothing BUT support. I was hoping to find a way to give Bassi more of a chance offensively without making it strong enough to be used primarily as anything but a support class.

Again, maybe this is asking for too much. But I can still dream, damn it 

[ziplocpeople]

I'm going to say this for the gazillionth time, the 1.2 basilisk is over powered. Sure, the 1.1 basilisk in the hands of most was (very) underpowered, but as it stands in 1.2 unless the humans have someone really good, like WarLock, Nux, Dracone, Iabz, etc, I can evo farm with a basi much faster than I can with a Dragoon. This means that the basi is either too cheap, or too strong, I don't care which, I just don't want to see it get any stronger.

It could also mean I suck with the suckish 1.2 goon, but that's another story.

[Meisseli]

Another way to possibly balance things out:
Maybe lower the armor's reduction rate with each slash, meaning a Bassi's first attack after initiating a grab would be reduced by the armor's normal modifier. Then, with each additional slash, the armor is less effective (Bassi/Bassi+: 1st slash - 100%/90%, 2nd slash - 75%/65%, 3rd - 50%/40%, and so on...)

This way, a good dancer would still be difficult to kill with just one Bassi (as it should be) yet it would give tactics like Bassi-hatting that extra edge that (some think) they need.

Don't make things too complicated. It's not like we have flying numbers around us telling how much damage we do like some RPG games do. People want to know how much damage they do each hit, not guess how the computer randomizes it next.

Basilisk is as good as it needs to be, good basilisks can do a ton of damage, and merely grabbing someone is sufficiently lethal for the victim. There's no need for a damage buff, and on the other hand it's not anywhere near "overpowered". If anyone feels that underconfident when fighting basilisks, just bring a jetpack or a battlesuit to the fight. Saying it's better than a dragoon probably does equal to some heavy sucking with the goon.

[Dracone]

I think the basi's ok, and wouldn't complain if it never changed, although I'd like the medium between grab and swipe range.

Look at how it's working, people are still swiping people without grabbing them despite the numbers suggesting that this should not be possible (I think, I don't know the width/height for grab, which might be a factor in this happening). Either fix that bullshit, or give up and put swipe back as the main attack with grab being something that you have to learn to really get somewhere with basi but not so necessary in every case by case scenario.

Gas is fine by the way.

[Lecavalier]

basi should be able to suck hp from humans 

[kharnov]

basi should be able to suck hp from humans 

It'll have to use a straw since it lacks a lower jaw.