[SUGGESTION] Revamping the Feats System | Forums

[We.the.North]

REVAMPING THE FEAT SYSTEM

The Goal :

I would like the feat system to achieve 3 things. First, as an RPG player, I would like more freedom to customize my character by choosing different “builds”. Second, regarding gameplay, I would like feats to be able to mold my character’s gameplay with support feats, group vs group feats, 1v1 feats, etc. Third, regarding the Metagame, I would like feats to be able to create a shift in the current turtle / ganking squads Metagame.


The Mechanics :

First, lets remove feat cooldowns. Insane right ?? But hear me out. It never made any sense that “renown” is the resource to unlock feats, but cooldown determine when you can use them again. I think renown should be a resource you expend when you use your feats, and having a maximum renown available would stop players from throwing multiple catapults all at once for instance. A character at maximum renown would be encouraged to use a low cost small feat so he can keep earning more renown.

Passive Feats : Since those are always “on”, they should impose a renown gain penalty to the player.
Activate Feats : Stronger than passive feats, no renown gain penalty, but would cost renown to activate.

As a result, players are left with 2 choices :

#1 : When building their character, do they want to focus on passive feats at the cost of slower renown gain and use a single activate feat way less often ; or do they want many active feats they can activate often with faster renown gain, but have no passive bonuses ??

#2 : If they choose to have many activate feat, do they hoard renown and use only the strongest feats (Catapult) or do they use weaker activate feats more often (Sharpen Blade).

Another thing : You can add the “Renown Gain” attribute on a piece of equipment. I suggest putting it on the same piece as “Revenge Gain” and maybe bring back “Throw Distance”. That way, you have 3 gameplay defining attributes on the same piece of equipment.


The First Feat :

The first feat should be a passive feat that determine how the character will earn bonus renown. That feat is extremely important and will mold the gameplay of that character during the entire match. Those are already in the game, but could be improved as follow :

1. Body Count : Nearby minions deal more damage, Killing Soldiers grants you Stamina, Health and bonus Renown
2. Conqueror : Gain a small attack bonus while contesting a zone, Capturing a zone grants you bonus Renown
3. Bounty Hunter : Killing Heroes and Assists grants you Stamina, Health, a Movement Speed boost and bonus Renown
4. Defender : Gain a small Shield while boosting a zone, Boosting a zone grants you bonus Renown

Also, if a new and improved matchmaking system could allow players to pick their hero before the matchmaking happens, then we could shuffle players with different first feats into the same team so you don’t end up with 4x defenders turtling in the first zone raging at each other because they won’t move forward to capture other zones.


Role / Faction Specific Feats :

To keep the “roles” alive, some feats could be only available to specific roles. For instance, the passive feat “Stealth” could only be usable by Assassins ; the activate feat “Fury” could only be usable by Vikings. This will strengthen the identity of the character roles and factions, while also limiting some of the player’s freedom with character building. You wouldn’t want to see a Lawbringer with Stealth …


Exemple #1 : Lawbringer

1st Feat : Defender, my Lawbringer will stay at the first zone and boost it.
2nd Feat : Righteous Deflection, against aggressors, gives me more time for help to arrive
3rd Feat : Pungo Mortis, when my renown is full, I want to throw a bomb at the minions
4th Feat : Catapult, let’s kill everyone if I’m outnumbered, I’ll be back before them

This Lawbringer being a defender, he’ll stay at the first zone and boost it for most of the game. His 3rd feat is only used if he has spare renown to burn so he can help the minion zone from far away. Most his renown is kept for his 4th feat when desperate to hold his zone.


Exemple #2 : Berserker

1st Feat : Bounty Hunter, my Berserker will run around flanking enemy heroes
2nd Feat : Doom Banner, to support my teammates if the fights get too chaotic
3rd Feat : Punch Throught, so blocked attacks from the flank still do damage
4th Feat : Berzerker, when desperate and outnumbered

Being a bounty hunter, this Berserker will run around from points to points landing a hand to his teammates. When he has renown to burn, he’ll use Doom Banner as a “renown dump feat” to help his teammates. He’ll keep the majority of his renown for his 4th feat when he desperately needs it.

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TLDR :

First, with correct matchmaking, this new feat system will shuffle players around the map depending on their 1st feat. This’ll kill the “gank squads” we’ve been seeing. Second, feats are now much more interesting and allows players to have different “builds” when they design their character and thus, creates more diversity within For Honor.

[Sunderlorn]

This is a well-thought-out post and I fully endorse it.

Honestly, I love the degree to which feats - in combination with a more diverse selection of gear effect stats, like we had in Season 1 - enable you to personalise classes further, and tailor them to your playstyle. I feel season 2 has lost a lot of that.

A wider range of feats, and a more complex mechanic, like you're suggesting here, would go a ways towards remedying that. All that, I like because I would love more RPG elements to this game. But the idea of expending renown to activate and use feats is, I think, the best part of this post. Rather than giving them cooldowns, and being able to skive off once you've unlocked your top feat, this would force players to keep playing their role, and working for renown throughout the game, and make difficult tactical decisions about what feats to use when. I'm all about that added complexity and strategic challenge!

So yeah, this deserves a bump.

[RLTygurr]

Agree with this 100%. Although I personally would like to see more options for feats per tier on each character (like 5 or 6 per tier) because some characters just feel very restricted in what they can do at the moment. Some characters really don't have many options besides the main one because certain feats just outclass the others so much.

Definitely like the idea of spending renown, but I think the cooldown on active feats should be like 5 seconds. Not enough to hinder you in combat, but long enough to where you're not just chucking grenades, setting traps, or whatever in the middle of combat without giving your opponent any time to fight back.

[ir0n4ge]

Mind-blowing, shouldn't be buried. Really hope this gets the devs' attention.

Renown as resource is a wonderful idea! Currently, once you use a feat you can forget about it for the rest of the fight. But this makes you always aware of your renown amount, making every move a trade-off. I also love how this suggestion can shape your long term tactics, something that seems to be lacking in Dominion IMO.


I have a few suggestions IF revamping the match making is not possible. Basically it's about what to do when you get four same heros.
Two problems. It's inefficient, and it encourages ganking.
I think it might work if people can see each other's feats, so the more versatile player can switch tactics or, if possible, switch heros. Change in tactic can be done by giving each hero an alternative first feat (sorry if I misunderstood your suggestion). So for example players can choose between Conqueror/Defender (Heavy), Body Count/Bounty Hunter (Vanguard), and Bounty Hunter/Conqueror (Assassin). Other first feats can be for other modes.