Balance Changes
Summary
- The Path of the Riflemen has strong single target damage and many good tactic choices. However, the turret mechanic and the cooldowns on their DoT abilities prevented a smooth gameplay experience. Therefore, the team has added several quality of life improvements to the Riflemen spec to improve its gameplay, without increasing their maximum potential too much.
- The Path of the Grenadier AoE spec brings good value to warbands and will mostly stay intact except for a change to Sticky Bomb.
- The Path of the Tinkerer is built to get in the face of your enemies to deal AoE damage. Currently the risk versus reward doesn't feel balanced. Therefore Path of the Tinkerer will see some damage improvements.
- Turrets have been reworked to feel more rewarding to play around and use. The damage bonus provided by being near your Turret no longer builds up over time but instead is based only on proximity. Additionally, each Turret type now provides a unique secondary bonus.
Tactics
- Extra Powder: Additionally affects Sticky Bomb.
——Range is quite big now. Will lead to Sticky actually taken.
- Tracer Rounds: Changed to core tactic available at level 35. Now requires the player to be within 30 feet to gain 15% critical hit chance. Otherwise, if the player is within 45 feet they gain 8% critical hit chance.
Moved to Core as it fit the Tinkerer tree the least in terms of playstyle. To compensate it has its range reduced, meaning you have to remain closer to your turret to gain the full benefit.
——Was a good tactic for ST and grenadier too. But too high in the right tree. Engi has 10 great tactics for 3 spots.
- Auto-Repair Matrix: New tactic replacing Tracer Rounds as 11 pt tactic in Path of Tinkerer: While you are within 45 feet of your turret, whenever you are healed, your turret is also healed for 50% of the healing. Increases the damage of your turret abilities by 25%.
A new tactic in the Tinkerer tree, which together with an Armor buff to the Flame Turret, should allow the Engineer to play around the Flame Turret better in AoE situations. Of course, it can also be used together with other turrets to increase their damage output, but that would come at the sacrifice of other tactics for your own personal damage.
—-Pet damage is buffed. With this it can even be felt. Need test.
- Proximity Alarm: Removed.
——Thanks to the Runepriest Karast with his Ini of 900 and this tactic we were able to Sonar detect cloaked WEs at maximum range. Destro tears have washed this tactic away.
- Reinforced Casing: Now additionally increases the Ballistic Skill of the player's turrets.
- Stopping Power: Reworked into Drake Shot: Hip Shot and Blunderbuss Blast now deal Corporeal Damage.
Stopping Power has been replaced by the new Drake Shot, giving the Engineer the opportunity to make Blunderbuss Blast (and Hip Shot) deal Corporeal damage.
—- Interesting. old Tactic was useless and from a time where ranged abilites hat like 5-100ft cast range. Useless in nowadays rvr.
First test on marauder training dummy with drakeshot hipshot and Drakeshot blunderbuss gives the same damage than Blunderbuss with high WS and armor debuff and Runepriest armor debuff. Some years ago we were using shotgun Warbands. But back then with +40% damage and +20ft on Blunderbuss. And we needed all 3 debuffs active at the same time for these damage numbers. With this tactic easier
Corp Blunderbuss might give this a revival. But not near BW/Sorc numbers.
- Tangling Wire: Damage increased from 6 * (44 + 0.25*DB) to 6 * (50 + 0.38*DB).
——insignificant.
- Coordinated Fire: Now additionally causes Signal Flare to be undefendable.
—— might get now a new Must have in small roaming parties. To have the +15% damage on one target at all times. Engi has no healdebuff on the target. Ingoing or Outgoing. So this is kind of their main ranged debuff.
Abilities
- Turrets: The damage bonus you gain from being nearby your turrets is changed to be static based on your vicinity to your turret: While you are within 30 feet of your turret, your damage is increased by 20%. Otherwise while you are within 45 feet of your turret, your damage is increased by 10%.
- Gun Turret: Now gains 100% (up from 75%) of the player's Ballistic Skill, 75% of the player's Weapon Skill (no change) and 25% (down from 50%) of the player's Wounds from item bonuses. The player now gains 10 additional feet range as long as they remain within 30 feet of the Gun Turret.
- Bombardment Turret: Now gains 100% (no change) of the player's Ballistic Skill, 25% of the player's Weapon Skill (down from 30%) and 75% (up from 70%) of the player's Wounds from item bonuses. The player now has their AP cost of abilities reduced by 5 as long as they remain within 30 feet of the Bombardment Turret.
- Flame Turret: Now gains 100% (no change) of the player's Ballistic Skill, 0% of the player's Weapon Skill (down from 10%) and 100% (up from 90%) of the player's Wounds from item bonuses. The player now gains 10% Dodge and Disrupt as long as they remain within 30 feet of the Flame Turret.
—— wrote at first post. Good Buffs. Less than a half that it was 5 years ago. Wasn’t OP then. And these are less. The instant buff is great as you might get more mobile
- Snipe: Damage increased from (647 + 2.0*DB + 3.0*WDPS) to (647 + 3.0*DB + 3.0*WDPS)
—-Bugfix after 4 years. Snipe is a 3second cast ability. Needs the 3 second damage buff.
- Napalm Grenade: Damage changed from (99 + 0.3*DB) / (199 + 0.3*DB) / (299 + 0.3*DB) to (99 + 0.3*DB) / (199 + 0.6*DB) / (299 + 0.9*DB)
——Endphase more damage. Napalm was nerfed some years ago after some cities. This is not like old napalm and if destro is after 20 seconds still on the same spot they are bad or in a fort.
- Sticky Bomb: Now deals 5 * (60+ 0.35*DB) Corporeal damage over 5 seconds. Explosion damage changed from (248 + 0.38*DB) to (225 + 0.67*DB).
---Interesting buff and gives the grenadier a reason to take the ability.
- Bugman's Best: Cast time reduced from 2.0 to 1.5 seconds. Radius increased from 25 to 45 feet.
---In a land before our time the keg was healing 30ft out of party 9 order players around. These were the times of bathing on purple renown rain at a keep defense. After we defended Dragonwake Lordroom for 2 days straight with 20 engineers inside the destro tears washed that away. Changed to 60ft and inside party only. Then changed to 25ft AND Party it is now to 45ft again. Hooray!
It is a good ability if you have no healers around and have some time to cast it.
- Incendiary Rounds: AP cost reduced from 45 to 35. Cooldown removed.
----This is a real buff now. Incendiary is a good dot. With Signal Flare you can put on unseen preassure and then start doing the direct damage. It isn't near any Sorc Rotation but needed if you want to shoot someone. Or better said the second person after the first one got healed to fast.
- Signal Flare: Cooldown removed, but can only be applied to a single enemy at a time. Damage and duration changed from 7 * (206 + 0.86*DB) over 21 seconds to 5 * (206 + 0.86*DB) over 15 seconds.
This DoT ability is crucial to the single target damage build of the Engineer. Its long cooldown combined with the cooldown of Incendiary Shot made target swapping particularly difficult for the Engineer. Signal Flare no longer has a cooldown, but can only be applied to one enemy at a time. We feel like this is both a great way to balance the ability, while still fitting within the context of the ability.
----The dev explanation is quite correct. Buff and Nerf at the same time. No cooldown is great, only one target and less duration is a nerf. I remeber roughly 300 destro that moved away from us, only to dye from Signal Flare killing them 300ft away. This will be gone. But a better Rotation is that worth.
- Flashbang Grenade: Projectile speed increased.
---Nice. And Interrupt with 1sec casttime that actually has the time to interrupt an animation that you see.
- Friction Burn: Damage changed from 3 * (198 + 0.8*DB) to 4 * (176 + 0.6*DB).
---Interesting: Damage should be roughly the same. But the first damage tick is near the casttime. More upfront damage.
- Static Discharge: Damage increased from dealing (187 + 0.75*DB) once to dealing (187 + 0.67*DB) twice. Cooldown increased from 5 to 10 seconds.
-----Buff for more Damage, Nerf on CD. With 10seconds also out of Swordmaster Whispering Winds Warband tricks. Need to retrain musscles on rotation.
The most notable damage buff to Tinkerer is a buff to Static Discharge. This previously lackluster ability will now reward the Engineer of going in melee range for their maximum AoE output.
- Shock Grenade: Cooldown increased from 20 to 60 seconds. No longer induces a global cooldown and additionally grants Unstoppable for 3 seconds to the affected allies.
---An almost forgotten Abilitie on Engi. Will be usefull maybe to fight the green goblin shiat. If the engi remebers all his 29 buttons.
- Electromagnet: Randomness in pull distance reduced, making the ability more consistent overall.
----Need to be tested in Rvr. We lost the hope in magnet some years ago.
Morales
- Autoloader: Reworked to: Self. Instant. - For the next 10 seconds, the cooldown of your Gun abilities are reduced by 10 seconds and their chance to critically hit is increased by 25%.
----Now it is getting really interesting.
Autolader CD reduction works on: Snipe, Hipshot, Focused Fire, Crack Shot (Dismarming shot). So ideally in the 10 seconds you can do:
Cast 3-4 Snipes on good range. Not 182ft like 5 years ago, but 160ft with gunturret in patch today. Not really burst though. Best to catch unaware targets. Of course we will use this with more than one Engi at the same time at the same target. But as it was told me several times in the past: The Bitterstone snipersquad has no impact on dev decission. 
Joke aside, I need to see if this has any impact on Focus targets in skrimish play.
Cast 3 times Focused Fire. I am not a fan of Focused fire. Yes, it is lot of dakka, and a lot of stuff is flying through the air, but if you look at the damage numbers that is lacklustre. Gunblast with the 1,5 second casttime does the same damage as Focused fire in the same timeslot. The only cool thing on Focused fire is, that it is instant and you roll more often on your weapon procs.
Cast 7-8 times Hipshot. This is interesting if you are using the Drakegun tactic. Corp Damage on 100ft every GCD for 10 seconds on an instant ability. These arent Magus/BW/Sorc burst numbers but still a lot. Tests showed 8000 Damage in 11 seconds. So if you have Autoloader M1 you can feel like a weak magus for 10 seconds every 60 seconds.
Crackshot: Has 30s CD, then would have 20s. Insignificant.
- Mortar Round: Removed so all classes have 3 Morale 2 options.
---Sad sad Nerf. 100ft Mortar Round was the engis way of helping Order to make a breaktrough. The 65ft SW thing will be also cool though with the ranged Snare.
- Scattershot: Replaced by Unshakable Focus: Self. Instant. - A cold unyielding focus causes your abilities to have 50% less chance to be defended against and their chance to critically hit is increased by 100% for 15 seconds. Additionally, you cannot be set back while casting.
----Cool Moral with 100% Crit and -50% defendable. But this is an M4. This should do a real dent into destro. MAybe need a test if it works on Grenade dots that are already ticking and on Napalm. Then maybe. But I think napalm doesn't can crit.
Unsure if an option.
- Artillery Barrage: Now deals 800 damage every 2 seconds to enemies within 25 feet, but additionally reduces the chance of enemies within the Artillery Barrage to defend attacks by 50%.
---Less Damage in a smaller radius. 25ft is in Rvr Terms like nothing. Need rvr testing I guess.
- Fling Explosives: Reworked to: Damaging. Self. Instant. - You fling packets of explosives all around you, which explode after a short delay, dealing 2400 damage to all enemies within 25 feet.
---Interesting. Big Damage in 25ft. And instant. Maybe something for a postern push.
Pets
- Flame Turret: Armored increased from 1200 to 2400.
- Machine Gun: Damage changed from (37 + 1.5*DB) to (150 + 0.5*DB)
- Shock Grenade: Cast time reduced from 2.0 to 1.0 seconds and damage increased from (199 + 1.5*DB) to (225 + 1.5*DB).
- High-Explosive Grenade: Cooldown reduced from 8 to 6 seconds.
- Flamethrower: Cast time reduced from 2.0 seconds to instant and damage type changed from Physical to Corporeal.
- Steam Vent: Damage changed from (75 + 0.5*DB) to (150 + 1.0*DB).
----All cool stuff. Turret Daamge was in the past quite unspectecular. It will still not kill anything on its own, but it is a small buff.
Bug Fixes
- Signal Flare no longer undefendable. (Damage part was not undefendable, but the debuff part was).
----Cool.