[u]I appreciate the gunslinger rootin tootin power fantasy[/u], but I think this in conjunction with invis or radiant dodge is creating negative player sentiment towards Hunter. I [b]like an assassin rogue[/b] but not enough Titan and Warlock players seem to know how to make builds on their respective classes to feel competitive.
I'd personally like to see more [b]Aspects, Melees,[/b] and [b]Fragments[/b] to be made for other subclasses to encourage variety in builds rather than a nerf to the power fantasy.
Hunters have always been the majority, but I recognize there's an increasing number of Locks and Titans playing on their Hunter trying RDM + LW.
The suggestions about how these things are nerfed, if necessary, are awful. [u][b]Getting this right would be imperative[/b][/u] to not continue to swing the pendulum back and forth on class balance before the armor overhaul.
[spoiler]People don't appreciate that each class by design ideally serves a role where they excel and where they are weak. I think at the highest levels people recognize Hunter strength does cap out in a way the other classes built properly can exploit.
I think there's a lot of nuance* for why any particular group picks a thing, but when the scale tips too far the bandwagon people pile on. There's little appreciation for how the environments we create shape player choice.
I think there are a lot of powerful builds that don't feel strong in a stand back Redrix meta when they remain quite powerful.
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[spoiler] I don't think invis needs a rework, that's excessive.
I think RDMs weapon interaction is quite strong with certain hip fire weapons. And it retains the spirit of its previous iterations by allowing you to earn extra dodges.
Peace keepers are still quite strong with subs and Behemoth slides. Shiver strike.
I'd personally like to see more [b]aspects, melees,[/b] and [b]fragments[/b] to be made for other subclasses to encourage variety in builds rather than a nerf to the power fantasy.
Behemoth and Prismatic Titan have strong builds that are fine contenders but rarely used and mastered.
Top dawn style Warlock is an excellent subclass. Air dashes. Floating with precision weapons. Healing. While Void is underutilized for its crowd control. Stasis isn't being used cause everyone is staying back with a Redrix.
The oversaturation of Pris. Abilities resulted in blanket nerfs. Strand and Stasis are a far cry from their former selves pre nerf. So people use the new aspect. Like Titans are using bolt charge.
I think Warlocks should decide what they want with actionable steps and clarity and ask if devs will create it.
There are a lot of Hunters undoubtedly but Diamond Lances Knockout rubberbanding was crazy. People traverse invisible to close ground where everyone is laning with a pulse or scout. I think it's RDM. It's making Invis uptimes unhealthy when paired with OTP. Individually they aren't too strong, together they are quite powerful. I like having to choose between this and the other leg exotics though. So they shouldn't be overly nerfed.
Either way, a solution shouldn't be knee jerk like things being offered here in the forums[/spoiler]
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Really well put together post and you hit the nail on the head. I don’t believe invis itself is the problem, it fully falls on RDM. Any exotic that gives passive aim assistance is going to be strong, especially when you stack on other bonuses. What I’d like to see is RDM being reverted to its prior state, but still allow it to work with class ability aspects. It was a pretty solid exotic before and the changes (to me) made it feel a bit awkward in PvE. In my opinion, RDM is meant to be a PvE exotic. Infinite dodges in PvP were bound from the start to cause problems, adding all the hip fire buffs only added to the fire. Don’t get me wrong though, I like that there’s a hip fire exotic. I just believe that at the moment it’s a bit too hot. I suggest moving the hip fire bonuses to Speedloader Slacks. It’s an underused exotic and I believe this would give it some much needed help. At this point in time, Speedloader Slacks grants handling and reload bonuses upon dodging. Kills while the buff is active makes the effect stronger and refreshes the duration. As you can see, this exotic is already centered around weapon buffing. Moving hip fire bonuses to this exotic would lean more into the weapon platform builds. Also, from an aesthetics standpoint, the exotic already looks pretty cowboy-like. It could desperately use an ornament though.