I think Guardians should all get dodge abilities
So, maybe it's just me, but I feel like it'd add a really solid extra layer to the already top-of-class shooting and overall movement system in Destiny if every class got an innate dodge ability. Probably not something that could be done for D2, but maybe in D3, or somewhere down the line.
What I mean is, I wish that a natural movement ability was added to the game for all Guardians to use, regardless of class or subclass, and regardless of equipment -- just like sliding -- which would be the ability to dodge.
Basically, I'm advocating a Hunter's dodge for everybody.
Of course, the Hunters would still have their very nifty dodge roll, and it'd be on, let's say, a five-second cooldown, but there would be no i-frames associated with it (i-frames, invisibility, etc. would be perks that come from more specific sources, like class ability nodes or exotic armor). Titans would get a ducking juke, kinda like when you dodged in Alan Wake if anybody remembers that. And Warlocks would have a dash-type dodge (think Bloodborne, though not as far a movement).
And just to take it one step further, give everybody the aerial version of it, too -- the Icarus Dodge like in the Dawnblade's top node (also like the dodge from Twilight Garrison).
The result here is that people have an available response to slams and boops, a last-second way to save themselves in a jump gone awry, an extra move for combat situations (but because of the cooldown and the lack of any bonus i-frames or armor it won't be a deciding factor, just another tool in the toolbox), and a way to add some mobility and "fun" into the core movement, just to really bring home how cathartic the basic shooting and traversal is.
Now, this obviously causes some problems, first being that a dodge (granted, a more powerful one, with more bells and whistles) is the Hunter's class ability, so it's not fair to give that (even a lesser version) to everybody. The solution here is to rework the Hunter class ability (there have been lots of good ideas about what that might look like; my favorite is giving them a couple of trackers they can plant that mark enemies for the team -- this turns their class ability into something meant to benefit the team and feeds into the zone control/area denial motif of the other two classes' abilities).
Problem 2 is that it's potentially unbalanced in the Crucible, to which I say, maybe basic Quickplay modes can and should be inherently wild and unbalanced, and then the more competitive modes can introduce restrictions on it like longer cooldowns (although it's not inherently that much different than sliding, and if everybody has it, I don't see that it's unbalanced so much as "not shooting people with a primary," which is admittedly Very Important to people, but that leads to a big discussion about recontextualizing Crucible).
Problem 3 is, if all players can reasonably negate knockbacks from slams, then bosses becomes less effective. The solution there is to design better boss tactics! Double slams, grabs, mid-air swats, etc.
Problem 4 is how this steps on the toes of some exotics/perks. Solution: get rid of 'em and be free to make far more interesting ones!
Anyway, what does everybody else think? I really think adding in both a ground and an air juke or dodge to all Guardians could open up a whole lot of possibilities design-wise, as well as livening up our encounters and deepening engagement to the most core system of movement and traversal.
TL;DR What if all Guardians could dodge, even in midair, the same way we can all slide?
Edit: Come on, Guardians, downvoting is for low-effort posts, not things you just don't agree with. You're better than that!
Posted May 29, 2019, 1:05 AM UTC · edited