Just a re-skinned Mellka

Battleborn Open Beta Caldarius Discussion
#1

Except worse than Mellka!

Hear me out, I get that they are fundamentally different but here’s the problem.

They both have 20 ammo clips, they both have an L trigger melee that does more damage than regular melee, they both have a dash attack, they both have a circular aoe special, and they both are pretty mobile.

Let’s list differences then starting with Caldarius. Caldarius has a shield, he does more damage at closer rang with his gun, he can double jump, he has a blinding AoE attack, and his Ult launches him into the air where he can strike with an AoE circle. He may have health regen?

Mellka has a gun that launches the clip to poison the enemy, at which point you can now do more damage both with claws and range attacks, AoE is mostly used (in my case) as a get out of dodge ability, no shield but pretty fast health regen (especially coupled with gear), Ult appears underwhelming, I’m not entirely sure what purpose it serves.

So ya, looks like quite a few differences right? As I said, fundamentally they’re about the same.
I could do without double jump, I can do without a shield in multiplayer because there just isn’t enough ways to heal your health fast enough, the venom canister is just amazing feature that I have killed even after being killed.

Sooooo what say you? I think the similarities are just too similar at this point. And I get that Caldarius is more of a finesse that maybe I need to work at him more, but for nearly an identical skill set I’ll just choose Mellka :confused:

I want an honest to goodness debate on this, please no name calling or anything like that, I have honest concerns I want addressed and I don’t mean this topic to offend anyone.

#2

I have already stated multiple times she is exactly like Cal but with more damage and less mobility (Although better vertical options). Both can have a big impact on the game when played to their fullest. It really is just a preference on play style since both fulfill basically the same role although Mellka has better sustained damage overall.

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#3

He his faster then mel and can blind people.

#4

Ya, but just a minor nuisance. As @Dr_H0H0 Pointed out, Mellka has better sustained damage and seems to be more powerful.

Who needs hit and run when you can do hit and chase and escape? lol

#5

I played Cal to level 11, and to me the biggest difference between the two is their power distribution. They both have pretty similar capabilities, but to what extent those capabilities are present are different between the two of them. Starting with their guns- Mellka’s got Cal beat on this one. It’s not quite as accurate and the reload is longer, but it does more damage over range and comes with a fantastic reload damage buff that combos into the rest of her abilities. I found it kind of awkward to use, but it certainly out-dpsed Cal.

The second is their melee- I actually felt like Cal’s was stronger. The attack speed on it is pretty pathetic at level 1, but the level 2 helix you can take that increases attack speed gives you great dps and minion clear. Also, unlike Mellka’s, Cal’s melee attacks don’t knock enemies back after the full combo, meaning he can keep swinging as long as they’re in range unlike his Eldrid counterpart.

The third is their mobility, and this is in all cases Caldarius’ strong suit. His passive is fantastic, making you pretty much immune to damage from cc-less melees as you can just keep double jumping back while shooting them. He can be really tricky to duel or even keep track of in close range since he can just jump to your side and make you briefly lose line of sight. Not to mention, he has one of the (if not the) longest dashes in the game, covering huge ground and having way more versatility then Mellka’s claw lunge. He also has his level 3 helixes- run 9% faster or move 30% faster after casting an ability. This, paired with his double jump, puts him amongst the best shard collectors, roamers, or chasers in the game.

Some additional closing thoughts- Cal has a blind with a huge aoe, his ult which can be used to escape or burst down squishies (and gives him health with his legendary gear), harder better faster stronger melee at later levels, and significantly better taunts.

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#6

This was a well thought out explanation thank you!

Well I do like Rogue like tactics and hit-and-run, maybe I’ll give him another shot that I have learned more about his strategies!

#7

Benedrict and Caldarius almost have the same jump animation…but

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#8

I actually took interest in Mellka because she was similar in my mind to Cal, and Cal isn’t the clone to me, he was revealed first :stuck_out_tongue:

But Mellka has always felt different in play style and the worse of the two if you try to pretend to be Cal.

Her damage is okay, but her health regen is awful and having comparatively slow movement speed she just can’t survive or get into the fray the way Cal can. Cal does damage and, when used properly, can’t be shot, coupled with a shield for safety.

This may sound silly, but I enjoy Mellka as a rogueish smuggler type character, basically going Han Solo, harassing with the pistol and being as cunning as possible with engagements. Cal is much more dynamic and no nonsense.

By the way, her ult is to enable venom and grant huge single target damage, but it used to have a shorter cooldown, not sure why it’s longer now.

Overall, I’d rate Cal as the stronger of the two. He takes some getting used to but you’ll soon be asking why Mellka doesn’t have a shield, Eldrid be damned.

So this is why they’re my two favourites!

#9

Haha, well actually I meant it that way in my mind, but ya I said completely opposite as for who has whom’s skin.

Well I gave her health regen gear and a shield gear and it works out fantastic lol.

I haven’t ever played Cal correctly to even try to play Mel like him so guess I’m in good shape there lol.

Looking forward to giving Cal a second chance once the game comes out! Especially with that digital deluxe skin :wink:

#10

I actually used Mel with a shield a while ago, was great, but didn’t have a shield augment to play with during the beta and she felt much MUCH harder to engage with. I feel like she’s the only Eldrid that suffers badly from lacking a shield, the tanks seem to have nice sustain, Miko definitely has nice sustain and Thorn’s fast and bloody thin.

On that note though, like how you built for Mellka’s shortcomings, Cal survives so well that he loves damage gear. I ran with a gear that grants about 9% attack speed +5% attack speed for 5 seconds on taking health damage, second gear was about 8% attack damage with about 4-5% more for 3 seconds on taking shield damage, and lastly a cheap gear with about 5% skill damage with about 5% attack speed for a few seconds on melee hit. Working with what I had, but it really helped his damage. Felt awesome too landing a melee hit then rattling off the super speed TMP shots.

#11

Haha, nice! Well thanks!

Sometimes it’s a hard choice when you choose gear. I always think back to the days of playing Warmachine, if you have a slow character with heavy defense and a fast one with light defense, who do you apply more speed buff to? Generally it would be the faster unit. Even though he doesn’t appear to need more speed, you’re better off if you just play to his strengths. So since Mel has some superior firepower do you just make that stronger? Maybe? I liked health regen though so I could stay in the fight longer.

#12

I think it really depends on the game. Giving more speed to the lighter unit is something you’d do if the speed buff scales with your base speed, and they’re still not quite fast enough to get the job done.

In Mellka’s case, she does feel damaging enough, almost anyway, but having no shield definitely does no favours to her short range and lacking constantly mobility style, shield feels very necessary.

But in Cal’s case, he has way more than enough, to the point where most of his speed augments feel unecessary and bad, but you know his DPS suffers. I buffed the basic damage, but he might actually gain from a skill damage build too, though that’s more Flashbang and Aerial Assault focused.

If Mellka wasn’t as vulnerable to being shot up (I still think she’s decent at dodging, but then I’m not the greatest with aim and any shots you land are going to hurt her) I’d be all for buffing her damage.

#13

Ya I heard that cooldown is something to beef on him, so skill damage sounds like the next step on that road.

As I said I seem to do all right with her, I think people forget about that exploding venom canister to be honest.

#14

I always build attack speed and skill damage on him to increase his overall damage. Shield and shield recharge rate are also good on him since it’s bad to take health damage with him not having any sustain without his legendary gear.

#15

I think that cooldown is considered because his cooldowns are pretty long. Not too sure skill damage is incredible on him. It’s just that he doesn’t have much to scale on either side, though the attack damage and ats felt effective enough.

Shield recharge delay seems awesome for him because he can dodge all the time, but I go extreme on damage because he’s typically fast enough not to worry about any damage in general.

#16

Wish I had played him well enough to experience that lol

#17

Oh, I absolutely adore Cal’s playstyle. My first beta game with him, plenty of kills and assists, only died once because I made a mistake and got stunned by Galilea (good throw on her part too to be fair). There were a couple of close calls but in general he can be impossible to shoot if you will it.

#18

Very nice! I didn’t have such luck lol

#19

My impression was that when you look at the stats and abilities they look pretty much the same, but when you actually play them, they feel completely different.

#20

That’s very much a valid argument.