How to Fix Mines

Mines are OP. Pretty much everyone knows that. Functionally, they're working as they should... but are far too spammy and destructive. Using five mines on a shooter should not be a viable option. Players should be able to skillfully navigate through all but the most tightly packed minefields. That said, here is what Rovio should do to balance mines:

Leave their damage alone. People say mines are too powerful... I say that if you're dumb enough to drive over a ball of explosives, you should lose 1k+ HP. Which brings us to my next point...
Reduce their hitbox, making the border of the hitbox the tips of the mine's detonation pins. Due to mine spam, players often don't have room to safely cross a minefield without being hit.
Increase slot points to two. Are mines too powerful to be one-pointers? Maybe. Are mines too spammy to be one-pointers? Yes. Making mines take two slot points would cut down on spamminess. Yellow boats running dual/tri mine, one of the most annoying minelayer varieties to deal with, can suddenly only carry a maximum of one. Two for defenders, and four for shooters at the cost of their fifth slot.
Decrease the time it takes for mines to naturally detonate. As it stands, mines take roughly half a match to blow up. Sometimes the game ends before the first mines placed have gone off. And uncrossable minefields pile up quite quickly, even with just one miner.

Now, most of these have been said before, but even under these new ideas, it's still possible for a shooter running quad-mines to build up a dense, uncrossable minefield. Sure, it would take longer and require more maintenance, but it can be done, especially in TDM. So I have one last idea...

Add a "second hitbox" to the mines. Mines have one hitbox, conforming to the detonator pins, that is sensitive to enemy boats and blows it up. A second hitbox, which is larger than the mine itself (unlike the first one), is sensitive to friendly mines, and detonates all friendly mines within this radius after landing. While it is still possible to place mines to wall off areas, a skilled captain will be able to navigate it with little damage, making mines an inconvenience to enemies and a useful tool for map control... which is how they should be, not spam-machines of spawn-trapping doom.

Let me know what you all think, and share this thread around... Mines are definitely OP and this needs addressing.

@The Grim Repair
@TheAntiSnipe
@CaffeinatedChris
@Ash KOT
@Help I Cant Swim

 

You have great ideas!

However, the shrunken-hitbox thing might be too much. Mines are tiny as they are, and making the hitbox this small would make them useless for anyone but spammers.

Also, I imagine the second-hitbox thing could be used deliberately. People could place a mine right over an enemy to detonate all the surrounding mines and kill the enemy with splash damage. That might not work.

 

I'm against nerfing mine for now since Rovio already reduced the damage of it recently. Also, I don't think mine spamming is huge impact in Ranked, Only in Event. It's just an event so we can just have fun.

 

Have you SEEN the hitboxes on these mines? Many players, myself included, have been blown up by a mine which we did not make contact with in any way. Mines look like contact detonators, so they should act the part!

And when a mine clears nearby friendly mines, those mines are harmlessly disarmed. Should've clarified earlier, but I was tired after a long day at work

 

Some of the ideas are good, but from a non mine spammer prospective there are a couple that will completely ruin mine use!
1) making it a 2 slot item I mainly use my mine on enforcer when I play ranked and if it’s a 2 slot item I’ll no longer be able to do it
Shooters will still be able to carry 4 mines, defenders 2 and a 1 slot weapon, interceptors could still carry 2 mines and 2 other weapons and reaper could still carry 2 mines. There’s still way to much opportunity for spam, and spammers will will likely still do thier thing
Only non spammers will be hurt by this
2) decrease detonation time if my mines no longer stay around all that long, your forcing me to become spammy if I want my mines to be a viable option
Again it’ll only be non spammers effected by this and if you you consider it in conjunction with the reduced hit box (an idea I could accept so long as they’re still a bit bigger then the mine it’s self) then it’ll likely work in spammers favour as mines will be more likely to detonate as people are navigating through thier mine fields

Why can’t rovio simply say only one mine per boat

 

Lol so many times I’ve hit boost on my speeder then noticed a mine and hit reverse as hard as I can lol it’s almost like a cartoon where I’ve slowly come to a hult at the edge of a cliff lol
More often then not just as I’m almost at a complete stop I blow up lol or I do manage to stop in time but a wave manipulates the mines position and I blow up

 

hit box is to big for a OP weapon . there are lots of time try to go from side ways but mine still blast . sometimes i see mine stop my shooter its far from mine but it still blast . they should reduced the box . if they can't reduce the box then they should reduce the dmg because 10% nerf was not enough . one mine can still take half the hp of a boat .

 

Mines should explode upon death of user in events, and maybe ranked too. However, I am not in favour of nerfing mine's stats, except possibly the cooldown.

Another solution is to make mines more visible.

 

Stop push this theme about nerfing a mine...
1st - it’s already nerfed by damage
2nd - it’s just ONE solution how to beat speeder...
Do u ever try to hit duo nitro speeder on the map like sub zero... with huge waves... it’s almost unreal...
So catch speeder for now possible just with mine...
The mine add some strategy to the game, position and etc...
If u nerfed it to thbe ground we will see madnessbay of the speeder like couple years ago when top 48 players from 50 was a speeder... when 2 setup was played fire or frost torp...
For it will be switched to granade + something...

 

first thing of all do not touch mine thats it. Your safe if u know. i like mines btw even though i die with that, thats ironic

 

Here is the big issue. Mines should be defensive and NOT offensive. The reason why they are spam worthy is because they do 3k damage for a 1 point wep.

Please fix the hitbox. Other ideas have been to reduce the throw, maybe drop them behind your ship, etc.

Instead of going to 2pt, I would rather reduce the damage and keep them 1 point. You say it takes 1k+ hp which is true, but presenting it that way does not look as frightening as the 2.5 to 3k for a moderately leveled mine. When ships have 8-12k this is a third to a quarter of the hp. The foolish event has some elements right about mines that make it feel more right to me. I do not agree with the throw in the event but the damage and cooldown are interesting and feel more useful. If I get hit with a mine in the event, it hurts for sure, and hits for 1.5k, but it is not an instant death or end game. (mortars on the other hand... hehe)

I would prefer something be done to keep it 1 point. It is a tactic for yellow boats since they can flank an enemy and plant a trap.

I do agree that running a full kit of mines and charging in like a savage should not net you top spot in events. Reducing the damage and cooldown would still give you the same DPS but not make them so potent. I think that is my main issue. Adjust stats so it is not considered a MAIN weapon.

 

Lol the cooldown in this event allows people to spam the map quicker with one mine then a shooter with 5 could in normal conditions
It’s horrible

 

Yes but the damage is lower. There can be a balance. Also I am not in favor of the same huge throw in the event.

 

Doesn’t matter how low they make mine damage, if you can’t move anywhere with out losing 2k hp every few meters then what’s the point?
Ya might as well just fit your defender with as much hp as Possible and mortars lol and just not bother moving
Mine spam is horrible because of the quantities of mines every where, it doesn’t matter how weak they are

 

Also as a mine user I’d prefer the normal cooldown and damage any day I use mines regularly on my enforcer, but I hate mine spam as much as anyone else who hates it not just because of the fact you can’t move anywhere but also,and more importantly, simply spamming mines everywhere is extremely boring to me
I’d much rather use them sparingly and wisely
When mines are numerous people stay a lot more alert for them and will avoid areas heavily covered!
I find less is more with mines, when people are content with having free movement they’re less likely to notice the few mines I have placed

 

There are so many worse things in this game in my opinion, that since I started playing, I've never been able to see the mine as an OP weapon. In fact, I dont even consider it as an attack weapon, but just a tactical item.

Torp its not a problem? Even though they do massive damage by hitting walls, wreckage, other players (friends or enemies), they still get ice bonus, and we receive with extra a fire damage. Most of the releases are random or on nearby walls...

FB its not a problem? With a huge range, and players using 3 on shooter, 6-8 per enemy team, and this guys dont leave the base, only make damage with FB hidden on yours fears...

A lack of new itens on this game its not a problem? You guys dont be tired with all day play the same thing, and see only events events events events events, and matchmaking continue a trash, and 0 good news in the bay?

But what bothers is the only static weapon in the game? The easiest weapon to avoid damage if you are watchful on game?

Strange in my opinion...