As disclosed in the new forum dev blog, mobility is being drastically changed in, presumably, the talents update.
The devs were considerate enough to make an outline and I'll be responding to each point
- All Dash Powers now have a fixed distance and travel speed, uniform across all heroes.
I don't like the fixed distance portion. When using a melee character, the dash is can be used to close the distance to a boss, especially if knocked back. However, a fixed distance will send you too far away from where you want to be. This isn't a problem for getting away from something but dashes have more uses than running away.
I'd prefer that all dashes have a universal maximum distance but they can all end before that maximum. An example of this would be Iron Fist's current dash, which can end anywhere in range.
The universal travel speed is good. This is actually healthy for the game as there's no discrepancy between heroes.
I recommend that the travel speed is high, however. The travel speed of the dash should be over 1000 and take around a second to complete. If a dash is too slow (i.e Colossus/Hulk) it doesn't function well for dodging and keeping the game fluid.
- “Dash” Powers (such as Combat Rolls, Lunges, Teleports, and Charges) have 3 charges and generate a charge every 4 seconds.
This part is obviously to counter boss rushing. Since this is going to be implemented, it supports a fast dash because heroes can't use dashes to boss rush anymore. The recharge seems a bit on the longer side but the implementation and game context will be needed to determine if it needs to be lower.
Also, now that a recharge system will be implemented, it'd be nice if resource costs were removed from all dashes. The cost is there to limit use of dash power, but now that there's recharge there's no need for resource costs.
- Teleports still begin their travel instantly, but move across the world at the same rate of Dashes rather than disappearing from one location and instantly reappearing at the next. They are comparable in distance per second to any other Dash Power.
This could be the most infamous of the changes. Players love teleport because it has essentially the highest travel speed of all dash powers. This change necessitates that dashes complete quickly. This part is why I heavily recommend dashes complete in around a second. That should be in line with how fast teleports are currently.
A teleport that takes too long to complete will be terrible. A character disappears when teleportation begins and reappears somewhere else when it ends. If it takes long enough to notice, there'll be a time period where your characters is simply gone, nowhere.
- Dash Powers now cleanse crowd control effects, and make the user completely invulnerable while travelling.
This is a QOL change. The cleanse powers are going to removed and merged with dashes. Players will be able to cleanse more often, as current cleanse powers are well above a 4 second c/d. However, it doesn't seem that dashes will grant cc immunity afterwards so that's a downside.
The invulnerability is nice but not as good as it might seem. Players shouldn't be invulnerable for very long since the dash completes quickly.
Also, the med kit invulnerability affix is popular because players can use attacks while invulnerable. Players can't use attacks during a dash so the invulnerability is only there to ensure the dash protects the player.
Players may be expected to use invulnerability to face tank attacks. However, we already have the med kit bonus so it's unlikely until that's removed.
- Travel Powers have a 1-second channel time before they start.
This is a band-aid change to ensure people don't use travel powers in combat instead of their dash. It'd be effective enough but slightly redundant considering the decrease in travel speed in the next point. I'd rather have this than the speed decrease.
- Travel Powers reduced in speed from 1000 to 700.
This is the most unnecessary change of the update. Players will be moving slower on a power intended for moving faster.
It's another band aid fix for animation problems. The devs list two animation types that this is intended to solve: running and motorcycles. I honestly doubt people care more about the animation problems than about moving quickly. People use the power to move quickly, not to look at how good their character looks. This should at least be voted upon since travel powers will soon be the primary form of moving across a map. I'd rather this change not go through.
Also, the devs said that higher speeds are strenuous on low end machines but I'm sure the popular opinion is that the whole game is sub-optimized for processor efficiency. Travel powers are not what's preventing low end computer from playing the game.
- Ziggurat of Kargul will have a new ability replace its active power.
This part was obviously going to happen. I'm surprised the devs decided to mention it. People who'd been reading about the updates already knew it was going to change. The artifact will likely become useless as players used it mostly for teleporting and players can only have 8 abilities on their power bar after the update. Since it's confirmed to become a new ability, the power will either be garbage and not worth using in one of a player's eight slots or it'll be broken OP and nerfed to oblivion and become garbage and unused.
There were more key points that the devs left out of their outline, however. People seem to have overlooked these two key points.
The first is
- Characters that use dashes for purposes other than utility will be treated differently
@MichaelMayhem said:
If it wasn't clear from the original post, heroes like Silver Surfer, Nightcrawler, Juggernaut, etc. are considered exceptions who have higher mobility than other heroes. While you won't have completely unrestricted dashing, those heroes have lower cooldowns, more charges, ways to manipulate or regain charges through combat maneuvers, or have multiple dashes in their kit that you can choose to bring along if you want. The method changes from hero to hero, but they all deviate from the 'standard' applied by default.
Of course, there's already threads about how some characters are ruined. However, those who are worried about their character, rest assured. Gaz already knows some exceptions are needed.
Next is
- Dashes are being limited so enemies can be less binary
Those who have played the Cosmic Trial know that, for the most part, the only way to beat it is by being extremely mobile, dashing or teleporting constantly. That’s not how we want the endgame of Marvel Heroes to play out
&
When Heroes boundlessly dash or teleport around the battlefield, limited only by their Spirit pools (and often not even by that, especially with endgame gear), there’s really no game situation that can provide a challenge. The only real threat to a player is an attack that is so damaging that it takes the Hero from 100% hp straight to zero.
Based off this, enemies will be less one-shotty, especially the trial. Anyone who's done the trial knows that Viper's shots need to be avoided. It makes a stale fight as the attack is all she does.
The mobility update is intended to alleviate the problem. You'll no longer be dodging everything because you can only dash so many times. Since players can't dash as often, the trial won't be as demanding on dodging the hits.
Also, dashes will potentially add skill to the game, as opposed to beliefs the devs are dumbing it down. The devs could make new attacks that require good timing of dashes to avoid. The dash is also essentially the only power that relates to reaction time. The mobility changes can be good for the game.
PS- All quotes are from devs in case you hadn't noticed.
BTW- Could Hawkeye's hovercycle be reverted to his running animation while we're doing mobility. It's the clunkiest movement power imo.