Hierophant - Bugs and Suggestions

2

Hi, I've been playing with the new Hierophant character since release and found it quite fun, with some caveats.

I wanted to report some bugs and add some suggestions related to the class (or the game as a whole).

Bugs/quirks:

  • A level up unlocks an empty/unusable Hierophant spell with blue icon (see Drill Abbot Level 33).
  • Wrong tutorial for Hierophant "Spell Setup" screen (shows pop-ups for "Retinue Management" screen).
  • "Field Drug Distiller" Perk doesn't calculate duration bonus for yellow inoculator effects correctly when effect duration is also increased by other components. It works correctly for unmodified duration. Tested with: "Psychon + Holdfast + Hodfast", resulting in 11 seconds duration (instead of 10*1.75 or 5*1.75 + 5). 
  • Missing Hierophant voiceover for Data Station activation.
  • Retinue companions inactive when main char is manning a turret.
  • Companions disappear from scene if there's dialogue after teleport (general bug, but more evident with Hierophant).
  • "Improved Bulwark of the Order" passive skill: retinue members don't seem to stick to the barrier (as in the description, "Your Retinue Members seek shelter in your Bulwark"). This may be due conflicting AI priorities instead of a true bug, but it should be looked at since currently the passive effect is not apparent.
  • Retinue Members seem to be unaffected by environmental damage and traps (mines, exploding tanks, etc.). They also don't trigger laser traps, mines, etc.  Maybe this was intentional to avoid player annoyance, but I'd much rather have the retinue interact with the game elements as real entities.
  • Martyr Chapter 3 Investigation - Revelations: fourth and final clue link and text missing (text shows missing string message, clue doesn't open).
  • Martyr Chapter 3 Investigation - The Secret Weapon: seventh and final clue shows wrong video (Alpha Pariah being removed from stasis, should be Alpha Pariah meditating).
  • Cover is working wonkily or not at all (it worked correctly on previous versions). E.g., cover types that didn't block fire arc now don't let you fire at all, and for those few that still do let you fire, the characters animations are all wrong (the character turns his back to the target and bullets travel backwards!). I'm pretty sure this worked correctly on previous updates. May be weapon (tested with Autopistol) or class (tested with Hierophant) related, but probably it's a general issue.

Suggestions:

  • This may be controversial, but Retinue companions move and act too fast, which doesn't result in a very satisfying experience as you can't even tell what they're doing most of the time. I recommend giving them slightly slower base walking and animation speeds, which is Ok since they are currently quite powerful. This could also be achieved selectively via a Perk (e.g., 25% slower movement/attack speed,  X% higher Resistance, Damage and/or Critical Power) or a Passive Skill.
  • Allow players to name their retinue characters, so that their tag shows e.g.,  [PLAYER_CRUSADER_NAME] instead of "Crusader".
  • Currently the only way to lock characters to cover is to take cover yourself, which is Ok. However, ranged characters seem quite passive when taking cover (they rarely shoot). Please check their attack pattern. Also, see some suggestions for more reliable ways to lock them to cover below.
  • In general, "Orders" don't feel as satisfying as they should because the retinue override them quite quickly. In general, players would wish for Orders to be overridden with another Order and not via expiration time. Please, either tweak the times/cooldowns with this in mind, or just have permanent duration orders (overridden only by very large distance from Hierophant or another Order). Could also be achieved selectively via a "Sticky Orders" toggle in the Options menu.
  • Adding voiceovers for Orders ("Attack!", "To me!", etc.) would go a long way to make them feel distinctive, as true commands instead of spells or abstract "effects". I know it's tricky to get new voice lines (though some you already have e.g.,  for emotes) but this would greatly improve the experience.
  • Some additional suggestions related to orders:
    • "Move To Position" Order: effects should last longer than 5 seconds. When pointed to cover granting object, ranged-equipped characters should take said cover. 
    • "Defend" Order: should be able to be applied to interactive defensible object / character (e.g., those on defense missions, and escort missions).
    • "Salvation" Order: retinue seems to ignore this one (probably because the duration is so short that they have other priorities before you notice its effects).
    • "Sacrifice" Order: its behavior suggests that this should be reclassified as a Spell, so that a more tactically-relevant Order can take its slot. For example:
      • "Take Cover":  Targeted Retinue Member seeks cover nearest to Hierophant. Buff: Targeted Retinue Member character gains +N weapon range (if using ranged weapon) or Supreme Damage Resist (if using melee weapon).
      • "Covering Fire":  all Retinue Members surround the Hierophant and restore his Suppression at a rate of X%/s. Retinue Members suffer Suppression damage at a rate of X%/s but deal +N% Suppression Damage.
  • Passive Trees: the class seems to need an additional tree or passives to have more compelling choices in build construction. The Hierophant-specific trees feel almost mandatory in that they confer a clearly higher benefit than the rest, and don't take that many points to fill-up. Contrast with e.g., the Tech Adept, who has four trees and the Support tree (I guess this was omitted from the Hierophant to have a tighter control on resource generation), so that you are encouraged to experiment with partial assignment of class-specific trees and forking into various weapon/defense/support skills.
  • Hierophant voiceovers are still (after hotfix) quieter than the rest. They should be normalized, if possible.
  • EDIT: already done in a previous update! Thanks! Remove shield graphic effects when on the bridge, and add Menu Option to remove them on missions. General comment, but specially relevant to Hierophant.
  • Add a way to modify the appearance of Retinue Armor and Weapons on the Appearance tab of the Crafting menu (Omicron Arkh).
  • Add a few additional belt items types to Retinue Members, as the current selection is entirely defense-oriented. Examples: "Fabricator Scatter Field" (great fun for ranged characters!), "Flash Grenade" and "Stun Grenade" (those may be Crusader-exclusive).
  • "Echoes of Purgatory" aura graphical effects are too distracting / bright for a permanent skill. Please make them subtler.
This post was edited 2 days ago by Chacumbele
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Hierophant - Bugs and Suggestions
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4 days ago

In general, though the tone above may be considered critical, I'm enjoying this DLC a lot. The concept of the Hierophant is probably among the coolest, and playing with it is quite fun. Though a few tweaks as described above would go a long way to make it truly outstanding, there are many I love about the class as is:

  • As mentioned, the concept is simply great. I proposed having an inquisitorial retinue for all characters some time ago (see this post), but this is the next best thing.
  • The variety in each retinue member is outstanding. While ideally they could have been fully-featured characters of the class (even the player's own characters), I understand you decided to use simplified version of each class for balance reasons. Still, the customizability in each retinue member (specially their weapon and belt types) is still great and really rewarding.
  • Having such varied Orders is really cool (though their potential is still unrealized as described in the above post).
  • The fact that the class uses the regular (one handed) weapons and belt utility items with few limitations is great. I prefer having common items among classes, with a few class-specifics here and there, than having isolated item pools for each.
  • The class seems to have a huge variety of enjoyable play styles, though it's a bit early to tell. I'm intrigued by the possibility to use a limited retinue, for example.
4 days ago

(Edited OP to add some suggestions RE: passive tree upgrade, retinue belt items, environmental trap interaction, etc.).