I wrote my thoughts about premium squads in this thread already (and I think it was detailed enough to explain the problem from my point of view). I would just like to say, that I´m backing this one too… premium squads should never be mandatory to have fun or be competetive.
For purpose of not spamming I´m going to avoid engaging in replies on comments that obviously are here just to evoke conflict… and in core, I would probably just repeat what I said many times before to the very same people.
Lastly, its in the hands of devs, I will just say, that this way or another, something needs to be done about premium squads, as it will most likely determine future of the game.
It is just not fair. Are we try to find the best solutionf of premium squads place in the game or just argue for fun? Let’s respect each other comments. Every my comment here started to be surge, dissected by very the same people.
Let’s just say - solving of this problem have some different ways.
It can be totally nerfed to the ground and so on the perks eather which is not the best way. Then prems place will be like TF2 hats.
Or It could be slight nerfs for stats of premium squads, and more longer earning time of their guns, also squad can start with one prem smg. And all other solutions which devs decide to do.
Agreed, it wasn´t, I was carried away by the emotions for the moment, the fact that this discussion is already around for months is probably taking its mark on me in terms of saltiness.
Thing is, premium squads will most likely always face newbies as well, as it is unlikely that matchmaker based on levels will ever be applied where premium squads receive “veteran matchmaker” status (there is also an issue with “veteran” status for players in the first place, as bad RNG can move you to higher brackets with bad gear on). While I agree that premium squads should be stronger than regular ones, it shouldn´t be that strong as it is now because of the absence of meaningful matchmaker options. Thus premium squad is not recommended thing to have, it is mandatory (there is more reasons why, that are connected closely together aka perks, smg on small maps, etc.) are which is why there is an issue with it in the first place.
We should start by resolving perks and their levels (not soldier ranks, we can leave them at rank V) that should be grindable, not granted upon purchase and see what next is needed to tone down. Again, premium squads will always be very attractive to purchase because of their uniqueness and faster research and as you correctly pointed out, for veterans with leveled up weapons, they are not as cancerous (however, they still are, especially if you have bad RNG in upgrades, logistics etc) as for newer players.
But why should they be stronger?
Isnt
1: unique appearance (maybe allow you to change non-premium soldier skins to match the premium skin?)
2: unique squad composition (pure assaulters here, but this one is arguably P2W so idk if it should stay)
3: more xp gain (this would have to be added +100% XP for campaign, soldiers inside of it and for its squad?)
enough?
Does it really need maxed out soldiers? They could be regular assaulters, imo (maybe make them start at rank 3?). Then they can equip other weapons as well. Allow it to unlock the ability to get the premium weapons in crates and allow any assaulter to carry them. Then have grind events where non-paying players can unlock the unique weapons, or give themsome other way to obtain them so they can never be called P2W.
I never said they should offer unfair advantage, in fact I have been repeatedly telling on this and many other threads that they need major changes.
Premium squads are already stronger than regular ones thanks to the equipment they get for free right on start and without RNG element and I said before, that squad composition itself is flawed and should be looked into. Another advantage over regular squad is xp boost.
You pretty much mentioned what we have been repeating over and over again ever since their release and I fully agree with that.
And that should be their selling point. Nerfing what makes them P2W is not downgrading them to “regular squad” level, they will always have some sort of advantage, thus being stronger.
So to keep t clear for both camps: 1. they need to be unique by appearance 2. They need to provide xp boost. 3. For new players, their advantage goes also in equipment (3 medkits, grenades and anti-tank charges are like a blessing for starters who got almost none).
What is not okay (aka what is making them P2W) is:
1.Perks that shouldn´t even exist making them OP right on start.
2. Composition of 7 assaulters which is in current meta just crazy.
3. fully upgraded weapons and soldiers right on start (honestly, they should be upgraded through their research tree and thus grinding just like levels of their soldiers since they are unique)
Again, premium squads should never be mandatory to be competitive or have fun.
I hope this explanatory post got some confusion out of the way.
Plus to all you say weapons can be 4, but not upgraded. More of them can be obtained by lootboxes for the further upgrade (only for those 4). After it’s fully upgraded, prem guns shouldn’t be obtained by lootboxes anymore cause it useless
That would probably involve too much RNG in the game that already got RNG problem. While that would solve maxed out weapons problem, it would be probably too punishing. For example, I managed to get as total just 3 smgs on max level.
Perhaps Cat´s ideas about changing how weapon level system works would be more elegant.
Agree, I will see it once again later. Just one more thing - it can be a special premium lootbox with “highly likely” (or for sure) obtaining prem guns once per 3-4 times.
Another way of implementing them would be a case of being sold the possibility of a good thing, if you work for it. Here’s how I’d do it.
Squad itself:
Squad starts at rank 0 with unique skins
Start with corresponding base weaponry. Only receive unique weapons after maxing out the weapon upgrade tree.
Soldiers:
Starts with one untrained 5-star soldier and normal equipment
5-star soldier gets fully trained. Player receives second untrained 5-star soldier
Second 5-star soldier gets fully trained. Player receives third untrained 5-star soldier.
Third 5-star soldier gets fully trained. Player receives fourth untrained 5-star soldier.
Fourth 5-star soldier gets fully trained. Player can now convert soldier 1 into Veteran
Etc.
This way, the player still gets their 5-star veterans, but at a cost of putting time and effort into it. They cut a lot of progress grinding short by simply already having the 5-star possibility. Add a slight XP boost on it and you’re golden.
And I cannot stress this enough: For this system to refrain from becoming P2W, health & recoil perks should not be available for either these soldiers, or in general. I’d be perfectly fine with the health & recoil perks being a reward for a non-paying player’s effort. Make it so that these perks are unable to be attained or even used on any soldier or squad you paid money for.