Let's talk about deka. It's an sbd....with less mobility, harder counters, higher-rewards. Imo, historically, its always the deka that is more worthwhile to play than the sbd if you want to make a big splash on the battlefield...or are tired of normal class mechanics feeling too well-rounded/balanced/boring -_-.
Currently there are 2 main deka types:
1. The bruiser: Tanky-hull, mobile, quick-deploying deka that runs around the map deploying right in the middle of the action. It usually fights standing still since all its points are in hull and shield strength not projector. It doesn't shy away from a fight, and loves blitzkrieging.
2. The regener: Shield-regen, long-range deka who is rly picky about where on a map it fights. it always has a corner/retreat route to regen. And hardly ever visits areas it can be surrounded without insurance/backup, or areas it cant easily flee from. It avoids firefights while rolling. It has predetermined spots on each map it likes to rush/sit-in/visit...and its goal is mostly to rush to an area where it can deal a first strike, get some damage in, and retreat without losing any hull...or to defend a key area while stepping to a corner to regen/flee when needed. If a deka is walking around with its shield up....this is a regener deka.
Currently, both deka have alot in common (there actually used to be more types of deka).... Why? Cause deka pretty much are distinguished by "shield projector or hull" and the 3 abilities they choose 1 from: Power management, discharge, and quick deploy. The punchline is everyone is choosing quick deploy...and for good reason.
ABILITIES
1. Power management doesn't do anything u can't do normally. It basically just increases ur shielding or increases ur ammo-clip. I'm not saying these aren't the bread and butter of the deka, they are, but the deka already has alot of leeway when it comes to its ammo-clip and shielding. You can easily plan ur fights so a bit of extra in either category has 0 impact on the outcome of the fight. That doesnt' necessarily make power management bad in and of itself.....but it is if u consider ur alternatives.
2. Quick deploy. I cannot stress the importance of quick deploy in the current meta. It compliments many of deka's strengths while helping mitigate many of its weaknesses. Its really as simple as that. Plus its the key to the bruiser build.
3. Shield discharge...lets talk about that. Shield discharge has always been a very interesting and more skill-based ability (ya i said it). While it was historically used just to piss off jedi....it also had the ability to reflect grenades/pulses/(mbe rockets at some point idk...). The balance mechanic here was that using it removed ur shield temporarily...allowing u to take hull damage. People normally dont realize that part tho since visually it still looks like ur shield is deployed. So sometimes pushing that nade was not a good idea if ur being shot at....or if it still explodes too close to u. It also costs shielding to use, which wasn't ever really a big deal for deka...AT ALL. The main problem with it right now is it was nerfed recently. Honestly, rightly so. But the way it was nerfed was bad. They made it laggy and unresponsive...on purpose. U should never make something laggy and unresponsive for the sake of balance. its just horrible feeling atm. Imagine the devs putting a 0.5s delay increase on push? Do u realize how horrifying a reality that would create for jedi/sith? There would be rioting in the streets.
Hard counters:
Pulses. Pulses are theeee current hardcounter for deka. They are a relatively viable arc build in and of themselves....but most of the playerbase only goes this build if there's a deka, period. And for good reason. These hit hard. They do about I think 34 damage last I checked to a dekas hull automatically.....remove the shield for a good 4-5seconds...and slow the dekas walk and roll speed. Neither deka build likes these. Neither currently has a viable way to deal with them other than positioning. The Regen deka gets screwed royally if they get pulsed in close range combat. The brusier, if it hasn't been damaged previously, has a good chance to either tank the shots and run away (dmg taken stays with it tho), or sit there and tank it out and get a few seconds of shooting before they die to try and kill before they get killed....either way they can't do this twice in a round.
Jedi used to be a hardcounter against deka. Now tho? U just use quickdeploy to roll away no sweat. The deka gets to pick where they want to fight the jedi. This is kinda ridiculous, cause the conditions the deka wants to fight a jedi in are usually: downrange and when the jedi is distracted. Alot of kiting occurs because of this.
Rockets aren't a counter to deka , any deka who gets rocketed knows they made a mistake that let themselves get rocketed.
NOW THE IMPORTANT PART. THINGS SHOULD BE CHANGED
1. Shield discharge should be responsive and not laggy. These delays should be removed. INstead, to balance, u shouldn't be able to push a jedi down midair if they are more than 2m away from u (which u can still do atm....idk what the real range is its retarded)! Its just plain idiotic u can push a jedi who is in the air DOWN if they are like 7m away from u. The discharge animation doesnt come anywhere close to touching them! THis also raises the skill floor for the ability in terms of timing it right. Deka's skill is really based on positioning, prediction, and luck. Its really not great mechanics for a class to have to rely on those 3 components to determine its outcome in combat. Similarly the pushback for nades should probably be the same pushrange or something similar. Why? I realize most nades r gonna blowup in ur face if the range is that short....given most r thrown at u downrange (so pushing them if ur range is that short is usually a mistake). But pulses work uniquely right? This gives the regen deka a way to deal with grenade launcher arcs or at least to kite them that is SKILL_BASED....especially close range which is where they need 'sometthing' they can use to counterplay. It also opens up some rationale for the bruiser deka to take shield discharge over quick deploy. These suggestions are by no means handouts for the deka. They simply make the play and counterplay of the class much more healthy.
2. The damn hitbox ontop of the deka. Jedi shouldn't be able to, while standing center stage ontop the deka, do a wa or wd swing AND HIT THE DEKA. The saber does NOT VISUALLY TOUCH THE SHIELD or DEKA AT ALL. They should have to at least crouch! if u want w swings to work....fine thats reasonable even if they dont visually touch. AS or DS swings r also fine. BUt these stupid wa and wd swings....just bull. Also groundstab should do wayyyyyy more damage against a deka. Groundstabbing deka should be a great hardcounter against the bruiser style of deka since it usually sits in 1 spot. Atm the groundstab probably does less damage than a normal swing does....at best it does the same dmg. SHould fix that.
Conclusion
I think theese are all reasonable observations and things, in the wake of an actual reboot (...which willl probably be somewhat like the attempted sbd reboots: making the deka boring and unremarkable)... until then tho, these are very simple easy ways to change the class for the better...both for things trying to kill it...and for the deka itself. I guess the exception is pulse arcs will be alot less happy, free meat would no longer on the menue...but isnt that why u gave them dexlvl2 for free? Isn't it.....? LEts at least pretend for ur soul's sake it was.
Currently there are 2 main deka types:
1. The bruiser: Tanky-hull, mobile, quick-deploying deka that runs around the map deploying right in the middle of the action. It usually fights standing still since all its points are in hull and shield strength not projector. It doesn't shy away from a fight, and loves blitzkrieging.
2. The regener: Shield-regen, long-range deka who is rly picky about where on a map it fights. it always has a corner/retreat route to regen. And hardly ever visits areas it can be surrounded without insurance/backup, or areas it cant easily flee from. It avoids firefights while rolling. It has predetermined spots on each map it likes to rush/sit-in/visit...and its goal is mostly to rush to an area where it can deal a first strike, get some damage in, and retreat without losing any hull...or to defend a key area while stepping to a corner to regen/flee when needed. If a deka is walking around with its shield up....this is a regener deka.
Currently, both deka have alot in common (there actually used to be more types of deka).... Why? Cause deka pretty much are distinguished by "shield projector or hull" and the 3 abilities they choose 1 from: Power management, discharge, and quick deploy. The punchline is everyone is choosing quick deploy...and for good reason.
ABILITIES
1. Power management doesn't do anything u can't do normally. It basically just increases ur shielding or increases ur ammo-clip. I'm not saying these aren't the bread and butter of the deka, they are, but the deka already has alot of leeway when it comes to its ammo-clip and shielding. You can easily plan ur fights so a bit of extra in either category has 0 impact on the outcome of the fight. That doesnt' necessarily make power management bad in and of itself.....but it is if u consider ur alternatives.
2. Quick deploy. I cannot stress the importance of quick deploy in the current meta. It compliments many of deka's strengths while helping mitigate many of its weaknesses. Its really as simple as that. Plus its the key to the bruiser build.
3. Shield discharge...lets talk about that. Shield discharge has always been a very interesting and more skill-based ability (ya i said it). While it was historically used just to piss off jedi....it also had the ability to reflect grenades/pulses/(mbe rockets at some point idk...). The balance mechanic here was that using it removed ur shield temporarily...allowing u to take hull damage. People normally dont realize that part tho since visually it still looks like ur shield is deployed. So sometimes pushing that nade was not a good idea if ur being shot at....or if it still explodes too close to u. It also costs shielding to use, which wasn't ever really a big deal for deka...AT ALL. The main problem with it right now is it was nerfed recently. Honestly, rightly so. But the way it was nerfed was bad. They made it laggy and unresponsive...on purpose. U should never make something laggy and unresponsive for the sake of balance. its just horrible feeling atm. Imagine the devs putting a 0.5s delay increase on push? Do u realize how horrifying a reality that would create for jedi/sith? There would be rioting in the streets.
Hard counters:
Pulses. Pulses are theeee current hardcounter for deka. They are a relatively viable arc build in and of themselves....but most of the playerbase only goes this build if there's a deka, period. And for good reason. These hit hard. They do about I think 34 damage last I checked to a dekas hull automatically.....remove the shield for a good 4-5seconds...and slow the dekas walk and roll speed. Neither deka build likes these. Neither currently has a viable way to deal with them other than positioning. The Regen deka gets screwed royally if they get pulsed in close range combat. The brusier, if it hasn't been damaged previously, has a good chance to either tank the shots and run away (dmg taken stays with it tho), or sit there and tank it out and get a few seconds of shooting before they die to try and kill before they get killed....either way they can't do this twice in a round.
Jedi used to be a hardcounter against deka. Now tho? U just use quickdeploy to roll away no sweat. The deka gets to pick where they want to fight the jedi. This is kinda ridiculous, cause the conditions the deka wants to fight a jedi in are usually: downrange and when the jedi is distracted. Alot of kiting occurs because of this.
Rockets aren't a counter to deka , any deka who gets rocketed knows they made a mistake that let themselves get rocketed.
NOW THE IMPORTANT PART. THINGS SHOULD BE CHANGED
1. Shield discharge should be responsive and not laggy. These delays should be removed. INstead, to balance, u shouldn't be able to push a jedi down midair if they are more than 2m away from u (which u can still do atm....idk what the real range is its retarded)! Its just plain idiotic u can push a jedi who is in the air DOWN if they are like 7m away from u. The discharge animation doesnt come anywhere close to touching them! THis also raises the skill floor for the ability in terms of timing it right. Deka's skill is really based on positioning, prediction, and luck. Its really not great mechanics for a class to have to rely on those 3 components to determine its outcome in combat. Similarly the pushback for nades should probably be the same pushrange or something similar. Why? I realize most nades r gonna blowup in ur face if the range is that short....given most r thrown at u downrange (so pushing them if ur range is that short is usually a mistake). But pulses work uniquely right? This gives the regen deka a way to deal with grenade launcher arcs or at least to kite them that is SKILL_BASED....especially close range which is where they need 'sometthing' they can use to counterplay. It also opens up some rationale for the bruiser deka to take shield discharge over quick deploy. These suggestions are by no means handouts for the deka. They simply make the play and counterplay of the class much more healthy.
2. The damn hitbox ontop of the deka. Jedi shouldn't be able to, while standing center stage ontop the deka, do a wa or wd swing AND HIT THE DEKA. The saber does NOT VISUALLY TOUCH THE SHIELD or DEKA AT ALL. They should have to at least crouch! if u want w swings to work....fine thats reasonable even if they dont visually touch. AS or DS swings r also fine. BUt these stupid wa and wd swings....just bull. Also groundstab should do wayyyyyy more damage against a deka. Groundstabbing deka should be a great hardcounter against the bruiser style of deka since it usually sits in 1 spot. Atm the groundstab probably does less damage than a normal swing does....at best it does the same dmg. SHould fix that.
Conclusion
I think theese are all reasonable observations and things, in the wake of an actual reboot (...which willl probably be somewhat like the attempted sbd reboots: making the deka boring and unremarkable)... until then tho, these are very simple easy ways to change the class for the better...both for things trying to kill it...and for the deka itself. I guess the exception is pulse arcs will be alot less happy, free meat would no longer on the menue...but isnt that why u gave them dexlvl2 for free? Isn't it.....? LEts at least pretend for ur soul's sake it was.