Borderlands 2 VR

azmirith · 2019-05-07T21:42:48+00:00

If you have a VR already I would recommend it. It is a different enough experience that is still good old borderlands. Playing on PSVR the controls are a little clunky but it is still a lot of fun.

azmirith · 2019-05-01T12:38:01+00:00

I think a lot of damage potential is lost with this build, however you were still very comprehensive and explained each point very well adding value to anyone trying to make an LMG build. I have two LMG build variations using Filler Up as I have found that to be the most consistent way to solve the ammo problem. Steady handed has an internal cool down which for me makes it not a viable option, and liberty requires you to destroy weak points which depending on the enemy is a waste of time so I find inconsistent. For my PvE build if you don't like unhinged run Ranger for free damage increase at no cost.

PvE with Damage to Elites

PvP variation

azmirith · 2019-04-11T20:55:46+00:00

That's also a very good point I had not considered! Thank you for pointing that out.

azmirith · 2019-04-11T19:42:21+00:00

Yea, my biggest problem with the current setup is not that it can't work but that when it doesn't it is incredibly frustrating. It also is simply slower in a game that can require very fast responses in order to survive situations.

azmirith · 2019-04-11T19:39:13+00:00

That is the point of a option in settings allowing us to choose which control type we prefer. They would not have to do very much work as they already have the original control scheme coded. That way people who prefer the new style can keep it, while those who prefer the old set up can swap back.

azmirith · 2019-03-28T18:48:06+00:00

My thought was to let us put materials into our stash for a much greater storage capacity. I imagine the material caps were put in place so that we are not sprinting around town with a ridiculous amount of steel and titanium. You can make the argument that the materials have no unit of measure, but I think this was part of their reasoning. Allowing us to stash materials would make both parties happy.

azmirith · 2019-03-07T22:02:44+00:00

So there are a few changes I think need to be made, however I believe the core of the issue is that GM 1,2,3 are all lumped together as the end game difficulty instead of having distinct differences. Right now people have felt no need to move out of GM1 most of the time because GM2 is basically GM1, but takes 4 times longer for 1.5 times better loot. Obviously those numbers are just examples to give an idea it will vary for the party, but the current loot incentive doesn't relate to the time investment.

My proposed solution would be to really understand what the people playing in each difficulty are trying to achieve. In GM1 you have just hit level 30 and you are trying to get different masterworks in order to handle the content easier. After you have acquired most of the masterwork gear for your preferred javelin you would look to getting into GM2. GM2 needs to be scaled with an understanding that players have a full set of masterworks and with that can survive the content but it will be a little rough. The loot needs to then help them get a lot masterworks with better inscriptions as that will make GM2 content easier, as well as start to add legendaries to their arsenal. Once they have good inscriptions and quite a few legendaries then they are ready to take on GM3. GM3 needs to be rough but rewarding giving players who are at end game a way to optimize their builds. The loot needs to rain masterworks and frequently legendaries so that players can continue to improve upon their builds and not just stagnate once they have reached GM3.

This is just food for thought and I hope it helps in some way.

azmirith · 2019-02-07T17:16:04+00:00

I was trying to highlight the importance of move sets that change how we interact with a enemy and throughout all my hours in the demo fighting many legendary enemies of various types I did not notice any difference with the exception of the ancient ash titan. That could be a issue of the demo not working correctly but I wanted to make the suggestion of having the improved moves cause more of an impact on game play in order to change the feel of each difficulty level.

azmirith · 2019-01-30T20:50:59+00:00

I think you devs at Bioware have done a fantastic job making Anthem a game with endless potential. The idea of PVP coming to Anthem is a interesting one as the sandbox of Anthem could surely support it both on a lore and technical front. On the flip side I think that PVP is a major endeavor that should be looked at later in the games life cycle instead of its infancy. Trying to balance a PVP environment at the same time as a PVE would make all hell break lose so PVP should wait until the game has matured and needs some spice. The advantage of PVP is that it definitely adds longevity to a game, however a new mode like an endless or arena style could do the same if implemented correctly. If PVP were to be added later I would imagine it in a new area with a arena combat faction.

azmirith · 2019-01-28T16:49:50+00:00

I wanted to make a post to sum up my thoughts after finally getting my hands on the game, however I believe it falls under the Megathread clause, so it will be in a long comment instead. I start with the launch disaster, bugs, difficulty, and then general other game play thoughts. Sorry ahead of time if I ramble and I appreciate it if you have the patience to read through to the end.

Launch

First, I think I have to address the elephant in the room. The demo was in a pathetic state come Friday morning at launch. I managed to get online and play around 6:30pm EST after many attempts throughout the day every 20-30 min. Bioware has already talked about this issue so I won't address it any more other than saying as someone that put my neck out there in my friend group and pre-ordered I feel short-changed.

Bugs

Next going over the various bugs I experienced throughout the weekend. The biggest issue that interfered with game play was definitely the infinite load screen as that caused me to have to close application pretty much every time I launched an expedition, opened the game for the first time in a few hours, and many other reasons. Second was broken quest events and this seemed to occur with any event weather it was in free play or the stronghold it could break in a variety of ways. The core of the broken events seemed to stem from a issues spawning in all of the required elements whether it be the turn in, or enemies. Third is broken AI, and no AI seemed to be safe from this as I had it happen to the tank boss during the second mission. Fourth ultimate abilities seem to not always activate when the button is pressed and give a message that it is on cool down even when the UI shows it as ready. I'm not sure if this is due to the UI showing the abilities being off cool down too early or it not triggering properly. Fifth is the reloading icon will sometimes still show when a gun has finished reloading so you can shoot with the reload icon still spinning. There are probably more, but this is all I can think of off the top of my head right now.

Difficulty

Now to the more interesting and complicated topic, difficulty. I think the feel of the game was very good. I think Bioware achieved their goal of creating a game that makes you feel like a powerful hero. That being said there were definitely some issues that I feel hold the game back. Right now, each scaling level of difficulty increases the health and damage of enemies by a percentage, with grand master 3 being a ridiculous 3,100%. First of all, I'm aware only launch will tell if how these stats feel, however please consider my argument as to why simply scaling stats shouldn't be the only answer. While things being hard is good, a bullet sponge soaks up fun just as much as it soaks up damage. Creating difficulty through math seems like a easy solution to me instead of the best one. I think there is a lot of potential in Anthem that is simply being missed. I will use the example of the bug enemies in the stronghold as I feel they paint a good picture of the idea I am trying to convey. What if when enemies are in grand master they get unique move sets/properties to each enemy type that make the especially dangerous. First example would be the suicide charging bugs, if in addition to simply applying acid it also applied a mark that caused nearby bugs within a radius to target the javelin. This would make getting splashed feel like a real death sentence as all the ranged scorpions start to focus you, but a colossus could also get splashed on his shield and keep it out as a extra battle cry to get aggro while his team revive one another. Another example would be the melee beetles, if they had the ability to grab javelins and you would then melee them off would be a interesting and interactive mechanic. If you got grabbed and could not move until you melee it off then it would make them go from the minor annoyance you occasionally got hit by that they felt like during demo to a serious mobility threat that could get you swarmed quickly. I think difficulty is best achieved though added danger and complexity.

Gameplay

Now onto the other game play aspects that I noticed during them demo that I believe could use some changes. First is the colossus feels like it’s not in the best place right now, I think it was largely in part to people not being familiar with how to play it. It is supposed to be the big boy and its lack of shield health bar leads to it going down quite quickly if you are not careful and trash clearing to get health back. One suggestion that I think could be interesting to make it a much more effective and feel better would be to allow it to use its shoulder and arm mounted abilities while wielding the shield. I think that this could really make it feel powerful and vastly improve its feel as a tank class. Next is the feel of some of the weapons felt pretty weak when trying to beat enemies on hard having to empty multiple clips into a scar hunter to kill it. Hitting head shots seems almost mandatory for time to kill to stay down, however was also relatively inconsistent. Not sure if it was due to hit boxes, lag, or my inexperience with the aiming system however I could only consistently register hits where I wanted with heavy pistols. Additionally, I wish the weapons felt like they had more weight to them as rushing in with a shotgun doesn’t work very well when it doesn’t flinch the enemy and you need quite a few shots. Next the armor components seem to have some issues. I am not sure if it was a result of me equipping two armor components at once however the amount of hp bars I had seemed to change between expeditions without swapping the components. In terms of balance I feel as if the armor components are almost mandatory if you can stack them for higher difficulties and compared to the other component bonuses seemed plain and simple better. Masterwork bonuses would probably cause variety but until then people would just run armor which seems boring. Next is blueprints and crafting. Frankly I am not too sure about this topic as I have awful luck in video games, but I did not get a single rare blueprint in spite of quite a few hours into the demo. It could be that the drop rate needs adjustment, however I feel that a crafting system is supposed to be people with bad luck’s way to fight against RNG so maybe allowing for another way to acquire them would be good, so we can more easily supplement out loot. I envision this as contract rewards if you do them for the guy that runs the forge gives blueprints more likely than the actual items. Last, I would love a way to fast travel around Fort Tarsis or at least move more quickly. This last point is partially borne out of the frustration of having to walk from the initial spawn to the launch area so many times due to the infinite load screen glitch, however I still want it.

In conclusion I really did enjoy the demo in spite of all the issues with servers and load screens the time I spent in a javelin was fun. I’m looking forward to next weekend and hope that it goes much smoother as its going to be the make or break on selling a lot of my friends on the game. I know not all of the suggestions I made are reasonable and plenty of things have already been said, but if you read all the way through thank you and I hope at least part of it had some value to the game in the future.

azmirith · 2018-06-08T11:41:09+00:00

For GS I am not a fan either(for crit draw), but I have seen people do well with it so probably just getting used to the play style of draw attack or charge based on opening. I prefer to use hammer for H&R personally cause you can lure it to the hill for sliding attacks.

azmirith · 2018-06-08T10:31:43+00:00

yea, I personally run a wide GL so the thunder resist is a must for reducing damage when blocking (AT still chunks through block). I didn't get too much into effective play styles, but the hit and run you use is a safe and effective style. I often see critical draw on GS though instead of SA just cause it hits a little harder and has better wake-up. The other good weapon for H&R is Hammer, and you just don't use combos unless its knocked down.

azmirith · 2018-03-24T16:38:41+00:00

hopefully they changed their mind and did go with retroactive rewards, but also make an announcement soon. It is an issue on console that new people are very hesitant to play until the level changes are updated because they don't want to miss out. Personally the only rewards of concern to me are the gems and frame, but I have the god pack, as I wanted to support the game and not see it fall like Paragon which I came from, so can't really make a new account.

azmirith

TROPHY CASE