Originally posted on reddit, but was asked to post here as well.
OPR Balance Changes
OPR has never been perfectly balanced, and there are definitely a few things that could be improved.
These will focus on map balance, tweaks to current systems, and removal of some exploitable aspects. Some of these would be very difficult to implement (and I doubt they would ever do it), but I’m throwing them on the list anyway.
#1 - Map Balance
If we’re talking about balance changes, the map should always be the first thing we look at.
Currently the distance/time to get to Sun is around 5 seconds different. While this doesn’t seem like much, the first team to get on point does have a significant advantage and a much better chance at success on the initial capture. Additionally (although very minor), the buy station in mid is skewed to one side which also gives a slight advantage (this also technically applies to the command post and storage as well).
One spawn side has more gatherable wood (which is also closer together and able to be gathered faster). A gather/build role positioned on the lower of the two sides will take around 30s longer to gather the same amount of wood.
While one side’s home point has visibility of both roads leading to it, while the other side does not have visibility of the road leading to/from mid and can be taken by surprise much easier.
One side’s home fort has railings around the edge that cannot be jumped over while the other side does not.
The outskirts of the map on each side are VASTLY different. One side has a sheer cliff that is relatively close while the other side has about a 2 minute run north past the spawn zone to an eventual peninsula. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but for a distraction role it comes into play quite a bit and what works on one side doesn’t always work on the other.
While none of these play a huge role in the majority of OPR games, they can be a swaying factor in close games. I would list these as a low priority fixes as the amount of effort some would need to be changed is most likely not worth it.
#2 - Spawn Immunity
I believe this to be a good change to prevent spawn camping. With the addition of the side doors (that no one ever uses), AGS attempted to give players options against being spawn camped. Currently there is a system in place that gives players a 20 second immunity to damage (not CCs) when they respawn at their home fort. I believe this is a step in the right direction, and (even though most players still don’t realize it exists) something that should not be removed.
The Change: The immunity window should be changed to apply when you enter/exit the home fort instead of when you respawn after dying. This would allow players to plan their path through any spawn campers and let them pass in and out of the fort to refresh the immunity as needed. This would basically eliminate the possibility of spawn camping. Most likely the immunity would need to be reduced to around 15s for balance.
#3 - Dropping Materials
The system of gathering/killing people to get their gathered materials is great, but DID YOU KNOW that you can manually drop your gathered materials? If you do this before engaging in a fight and then you die, you lose NOTHING. ALSO, you can go back to where you manually dropped your materials and pick them all back up. This essentially bypasses the risk for gatherers as long as they’re semi competent of when to pre-drop.
The Change: Prevent manually dropping all items in OPR.
#4 - Brute, Wraith, Bear
These used to be important aspects of the game, ever since they were HEAVILY nerfed they are all but useless. Currently the only use for each is as follows:
Brute - Use to break down a level 3 door. Does very little damage to players. Sometimes applies CC. Easily taken out in about 20 seconds by one player. The increase in azoth cost from 500 to 750 combined with the large nerf to their health/damage/abilities has made farming for these specifically generally detrimental to a team.
Wraith - Use to help break down a door on an unguarded point slightly faster than doing it alone. Does very little damage to players and dies if someone sneezes in its general direction.
Bear - Prevent someone from spawning their brute/wraith for about 10 seconds. Yes that’s its only use. Generally does not do enough damage to overcome an average player’s passive well-fed healing.
#5 - Capturing Control Points
Capturing and holding as many of the 3 control points on the map as possible is the main goal of the gametype, but it has very little incentive. Most players focus more on kills (which are worth 1 point each, but usually add up to less than 100 points per game) than map control (which accounts for the other 90%). The following changes would incentivize playing with the objective in mind.
The Changes: Add 5 points to a team’s overall match score (X/1000) for each player standing in the circle when it is fully captured. Additionally, change point multiplier for kills to the amount of control points held (Minimum multiplier x1 with 0 points held).
#6 - Baron
This has been spoken about officially, but I agree some sort of barrier should be placed around the entrances to baron to prevent that stray final shot snipe from across the map. I don’t have a huge issue with it, but I do believe that the gametype should stay with a focus of area control and a damage barrier on the entrances would be welcome, depending on how it is implemented.
That’s all I could think of off the top of my head. Let me know what you guys think. These are intended as suggestions to fine-tune the game and not a “this is broken fix now” kind of thing. If anyone has any other suggestions, I’d love to hear them!