Right now mech has the biggest and best variety of DPS characters, but energy is no slouch either. Bio is really missing out - the best bio DPS characters are probably Odachi, Mauler, Astrix, Kaishi and Fischer, and from what I’ve seen, only Astrix is regularly used in PVP by top-flight players. Given the (over)power of Kurtz and Shivs, good bio DPs would be a great way for us to have some balance in the force.
Odachi’s build seems to suggest that he’s meant to be exactly what I’m asking for - a bio DPS one man killing machine when properly supported. He can heal block, he can stun, he can slow people who are trying to run from him, and he can quickly and easily finish wounded opponents - he checks nearly every skill box for master assassin except the most important one - damage. He can only take advantage of his opportunist skill when the character is past the halfway damage mark, and, honestly, he’s pretty bad at getting them there. And if your opponent has Butters or Castellan, well, good luck, because you have no chance of cracking an energy shield with Odachi. His poison caltrops are also pretty easy to dodge, and the cartwheel thingy he does instead of rolling ironically makes him easier to target when moving between cover. I think making his cartwheel and caltrops land like 15% faster and buffing his magazine size and/or reload time would go miles towards making him a more playable character (more damage from his gun wouldn’t be amiss either). We’re in a world where the faceless Kuno far, far outshines her master. Give the man his due!
Mauler…this guy’s gone from OP powerhouse to hanging in the dog house. He does moderate damage and has good health for a midline character, but his disruption abilities aren’t much to write home about. If you want to have a good shot at the permastun (which is his main role in a buildout since his damage isn’t good), you have to run him with both Moss and Caine, which severely limits your team composition. I think HH did the right thing when they reduced his flash powder from 4 seconds to 3, because it not only made the stun less damaging, but it made it harder to actually achieve (getting a second crit in 3 seconds is much harder than getting a second crit in 4). But it reduced his viability as a potent disruptor, and I think that should have been mitigated by giving him back the crit bonus from his skin. IMO, his crit skin bonus should come back at 3%+, and flash powder should either stay at 3 seconds or go to 2.75/2.5 seconds, and the stun from his silver should go down to maybe 7/8 seconds.
I don’t have much to say about Kaishi or Fischer since I don’t use them, but Kaishi seems like he’s built to fight people one on one. Unfortunately, in a team game what I think what we need is a bio DPS who can kill someone who’s killing our support characters…
Astrix is a great DPS hero, but she’s 100% reliant on active skills, and her boomerang is completely dodgeable. She’s a great player to have on your team, but very inconsistent and not an answer to a piloted mech (especially not Kurtz).
Let me know if you agree or disagree. Maybe we can get some viable bio DPS up in here!