What's up idiots, it's your neighborhood pessimist back again.
So earlier I spent a good quarter of a page or so ranting about everything wrong with this change ( link to that:
https://forum.battlebay.net/threads/regarding-hardcore-tdm.23984/)
Well, I decided I might as well try to be constructive instead of just being a grouchy stick in the mud who whines about everything (even though I am, by my own admission, a grumpy stick in the mud who whines about everything.) So, I'm going to try to predict what will become of the ranked meta.
The main thing everyone seems to agree on is that
blue items will be at a premium, due to most players building 1 (2 at most) of each item. This means that ships that use the least amount possible of blue items would be optimal to maximize the effectiveness of sharing. The best ships by this criteria are the
Enforcer,
Reaper, and
Fixer, with two slots apiece.
Shooters,
Speeders,
Guardians, and
Interceptors, with three slots, are good fits for players with more items. One of these coupled with a two-slotter, or two two-slotters, would make an excellent starting point. As for the Bay's resident morbidly obese tank class, the
Defender's 5 blue slots mean that it hogs too many valuable blue items to be practical. Scram.
The next thing we need to take into consideration is unique colors. We want ships with minimum overlap. I, Redneck Messiah, have drafted several combo outlines for your convenience. Hopefully most of you can find an idea here
.These rely on the (probably correct) assumption that most players will stick to two ships to maximize their usefulness and item quality. They are created mainly with item availability in mind, but also with plenty of thought to tactics and usage. As such, you may see a lot of recurring ships. Here we go:
Fixer/Selfish
Reaper: Only four weapons and four blues are needed, and three yellows. These categories are different enough for each ship that it will be easy to fill them both. A selfish Reaper and a nonselfish Fixer use very different greens, so that is not an issue. This one is for all you support specialists out there.
Enforcer/
Guardian: Five weapons total, but the Enforcer is limited to one-pointers, while Guardians can go 1-1 or 1-2. Five blue items are needed to fill this out. The rest of the slots are yellow on an Enfo and teal on a Guardian, so those ships both get their pick of the litter for what they want there. This is a good pair for any brawler tanks in the room.
Fixer/
Guardian: Another support tandem, and appealing to the most item-strapped of all. Four weapons and five blues total, but the Guardian has three teals, while the Fixer takes a yellow and three greens to fill. Overlap is largely avoided, and weapons aren't very hard to fill out (unless you only have firebombs...sorry event shooters).
Shooter/
Speeder: Blue items are a bit dicey here, with six total. Seven reds is not bad, considering Shooter/Speeder playstyle differences and how many reds most people have. The Speeder in this scenario can have its choice of yellows. This is a good offensive duo for those who have the items to equip both boats for combat (which I believe I do... you may catch me running this
)
Guardian/
Speeder: This build will take some skill to master due to play differences, but is easy to fill. You need to have four reds (easy) and five blues, which most of us can muster up. The yellows and teals here are exclusive, so they shouldn't be a bother to fill. This is a versatile duo that can fill an offensive or defensive role, depending on which ship is in play.
Interceptor/
Fixer: An offense/defense one-two punch, this combo is also relatively easy to fill up. Six reds are needed, and five blues. Considering those colors are the most heavily used, this isn't all that bad. You also need two yellows to split between the boats, and the Fixer can do as it likes with the three greens available to it, because Interceptors do not carry greens.
That's all for now
See you on the Bay,
Click to expand...