Alpha 7.0+

[Nqss]

AM proven to be less effective then it supposed to be.
1.You can hear him jump , so fast capping is harder
2.The close combat weapons of him are weak or even his health is no match for his enemies
you can kill nid only in group of AM's /or with support of regular marines /or if its stealer
if you try to get in close combat you either die fast either do low damage and get your kill stealed
3. you are getting low amount of points

I can do more kills with stealer , because
1. silent jump , so i can flank enemies
2. marines doesn't have much HP to kill , so kills from behind are much more easy
That is the point of AM , he got low health which doesn't make him good at close combat


damage of the Csword increasing
Affects all swords? yes , please

health? maybe , the apothecary proven more effective in Close combat because of health

[ChromeAngel]

After Action Report Alpha 7.03
Assault Marine (AM) is progressing slower than I would have liked, but there is no-one to blame but myself.  Now the novelty has worn off the AM feels less fun to me, I had expected getting the weapon damage working would making him even more fun, but i'm just not feeling it.

It seems like the AM isn't equal to his 2nd tier piers in terms of combat performance.  The bolt pistol takes a LOT of hits to kill a warrior and leaping in for melee combat is very risky, even against a warrior.  AM seems to be a pretty good distraction class, many times I was caught scanning the skies when I should have been keeping my eyes on the ground.  At least it does not seem to be making the marines rush.

All the things I fixed seem to actually be fixed.

Bugs

• VIS / Portal issues with the new taris, Nqss is aware i'm sure.
• Server-side crash needs investigating.
• On Two occasions Oolon reported being unable to respawn, no clues.

Nearly all of last weeks known issues still remain, so that's my goal for the next week.

[edit]
I just buffed the C Sword damage on my alpha server from 50 to 75.  Tyranids Beware.
[/edit]


[edit 2nd Nov 2012]
I just remembered the AM combo isn't showing the right kill icons
[/edit]

[Nqss]

further suggestion
for all the close combat classes have an active ability
if they run
they do 1.5 more damage in close combat
they take less damage in close combat in about 1.3 times

[Valvatorez Jr.Commissar]

The Assault marine lacks the firepower his veteran and devastator counterparts have. Close combat against Tyranids usually means the Nid player will shoot you before getting into melee. Not a smart idea to parachute in front of a howitzer without your own rocket launcher to take it out.

I suggest either making the Assault Marines bolt pistol act like a machine pistol or SMG and only the Assault Marine's pistol, alternatively replace it with a hand flamer effect as a place holder. Though that might be better for a tier three power weapon version.

[Nqss]

then , what the point of assualt marines then?
jump around and shoot? without any meele (which means having a meele class to not use it for mneele)

we have veteran already with mislead powers , now when the chainsword damage changed , maybe marines will become more usefull in close combat

i say we need another game test with this amount of damage

[Valvatorez Jr.Commissar]

then , what the point of assualt marines then?
jump around and shoot? without any meele (which means having a meele class to not use it for mneele)

we have veteran already with mislead powers , now when the chainsword damage changed , maybe marines will become more usefull in close combat

i say we need another game test with this amount of damage

The strategy should be softening the enemy up before going into melee, which players should be doing as the Nid Warrior and Vet anyways. Any advantage the Apoc has in in close combat can be easily defeated by turning mouse sensitivity all the way up.

If Source 14 wasn't buggy as hell I would suggest a goomba stomp that stuns everything except Fex and Thrope . Alternatively it could set the enemy on fire if the jump pack was used next to them as its supposed to run on fictional equivalent of napalm.

[Nqss]

the tests of damage went pretty good actaully , this buff is what actually were needed over there , let see how meltabombs will do

[Nqss]

Concept thoughts on new races balance of AM
if you think about it , the new damage of Csword works for the other races as good as tyranids actually
lets imagine , IG with pity health amount or orks with some good health amount , the AM would rather scary for them , but those races got dakka as well and AM doesn't have much of a health. In case of good use and fast close up AM defenetly gonna kill several enemies of the imperium , but could be easily killed.

for the nids side , as concept again:
seems that warrior is pretty bad nemesis for the AM still , but other classes going to get some painfull experience of AM
waiting for futher updates , of meltabombs ,  venom cannons and plasma

[ChromeAngel]

After Action Report 7.04
The ambitious new patch has a whole storm of new bugs.  Believe it or not the Lictor is even more paranoia inducing now he can leap.

Bugs

• New "Psychic Healing" particle effect does not seem to work, i'm seeing the default red X placeholder.
• New Venom Cannon combo's view model is only partial textured and the world model is the same as the screamer killer.  No kill icon.  Shatter effects are going on of their own accord.  Looks like venom shards aren't fading out either.
• If the Lictor leap is staying it needs a HUD indicator to show when it's ready.
• The Apothecary class appears to be missing the animations to use the Assault Combo
• 3rd person weapon textures for the Assault combo appears to be missing.
• The Assault combo's boiltpistol kill icon is not working.
• The server appears to be getting stuck in a loop when the round ends normally, timeouts work OK.

Balance

• New Venom Cannon combo is waaay overpowered.  It needs slowing down and reducing the splash damage and radius.
• 1st tier AMs don't seem to much of a problem, but stealers might need a damage buff to equal the Csword

Performance

• GunGuy had high latency, but I can't see anything here that would cause it.
• Stahlhagel reports the Warp Bolt effect causing lag.

[Valvatorez Jr.Commissar]

I don't think supersonic means that the Heavy Venom Cannon was to be that spammy. It should be more like a Tyranid version of a missile launcher with less damage and a fire rate some what higher than a Deathspitter's but has more ammo. If Dawn of War YouTube videos are any indication as to how it should shoot.

As for the Stealers give they need better weapons than their claws. Maybe give them Scything Talons or lash whips to justify a damage boost and flesh hooks as an alternative weapon. Or make the rending claws more intimating at the very least. So make use of his two unused appendages

The leap makes Lictor a viable class again, and a dangerous alternative to the Thrope and Biovore. I think its fair to give Tactical Marines some alternative weapons now. IE flamer ,plasma gun. While Devastators get the upgraded versions.