First off, let me say that I am thoroughly enjoying Battleborn and have been having a blast playing the multiplayer this past weekend with my gaming buddies. That being said, I do have some suggestions for the Incursion game mode, which is an all time favorite of my friends and I.
Please note, this topic is NOT about the whole issue with Overgrowth and Marquis sniping the sentry (though it does need to be addressed IMO). This discussion is about the Incursion mode itself and some suggestions that I have that could possibly make the matches flow better.
Suggestion #1: Don’t kill all turret emplacements when a team’s sentry goes down.
This is one of the things that leads to most games being decided on who’s first sentry goes down first. The problem with the current set up is that the team trying to defend their sentry has invested a large amount of shards towards that end. But once the S1 Spider dies, all of that investment is gone, and the opposing team can advance unhindered (for the most part) into the enemy base and establish a quick foothold.
This is especially frustrating when one has just purchased and fully upgraded a Thumper turret; a 1200 shard investment; to only have it immediately blow up the moment the objective reaches zero health. I am not saying that the opposing team shouldn’t be able to place turrets in the newly conquered territory, but there should be a way to make the emplacements neutral without killing the defending team’s guns.
In my experience, it has been this element; as well as the second point that I will get to below; that snowball into one team steamrolling the other once their first sentry goes down. Either make it so that the defending team’s emplacements remain after the lost of their objective (preferred), or have it so that the base’s emplacements have a highly reduced purchase/upgrade cost while the Spider Tank is alive. This way one team isn’t going into the next stage of the match with a massive shard deficit.
Suggestion #2: The team that lost their Sentry should get the M1 Shepard bot, not the attackers.
I understand that a team that has coordinated their efforts and taken out the opposing sentry should be rewarded, but I feel that the addition of an overshield granting minion spawning in tends to be overkill for a group that is still dealing with the lost of their objective. In the many games that I have played, it has been very few that have seen the losing side be able to pull themselves back together and push back to the opposing side with supped up minion waves and an enemy team to deal with.
I’m not saying that its impossible, my friends and I were able to pull it off last night, despite losing our objective (to Marquis cheese no less) and win the game, but it takes some serious effort and the losing side is facing an even steeper uphill battle once the first objective falls than when the match first started.
My suggestion is that the team who’s Sentry is destroyed should be given the M1 Shepard spawn. It should be a fight for the leading team to push into the other’s last point, not a slaughter of the defending team once their first base is lost. An M1 Shepard bot spawn will allow the defenders to maintain a foothold, plus its not like the attackers are in desperate need of more minions to throw at their opponents.
One doesn’t have to even leave Battleborn to see a similar element to this, just look at the Meltdown mode. In that game type, the winning team, once reaching 250 points, has to escort their minions to the opposing side of the map instead of the middle, allowing the losing side to have a chance to recuperate.
IMO, Incursion matches would be a lot more back and forth, and would possibly see less surrendering at the first sign of a lost sentry with these changes.