White Phosphorus needs a rework

While Enlisted gives players a wide range of weaponry to capture and defend strategic zones, the current way White Phosphorus is implemented strongly ruins the balance of it.

Let’s lay out the main point.

Upon throwing the grenade, it generates a cloud of smoke which damages all soldiers who stay within it, by draining their health and stamina.

The problem is how the smoke is generated :
It can pass through walls.

While it seems like a minor inconvenience, on some maps (especially D-Day) it can fully block one side from progressing further.

While all other weapons like guns, molotovs, grenades, flamethrowers and etc, require a clear line of sight and an entrance for a projectile to enter, white phosphorus fully ignores all of those limitations.

White Phosphorus can be thrown outside on top/side of bunkers and buildings (in which many capture points reside), fully blocking enemy from getting in or staying inside.

I have seen people get more kills with a single grenade than Bf-110 doing a missile strike on an enemy spawn. (Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but the point stays).

Since I doubt you would even consider removing it, I would propose two main ways to handle this:

A - Volumetric Smokes

Smokes that expand and fill the area based on the geometry around it. I think most have seen the new smokes of CS 2, or Source 2. While this implementation would be much harder it is one suggestion to handle it. This would prevent these to fill building or areas where smoke should not pass through.

B - Give soldiers gas masks

While I am no expert whether gas masks actually protect from it, as with anything, game elements can be bent for better gameplay experience.
Make it something everybody has, or at least something that can be purchased and equipped - for example instead of flask.

Or of course just nerf it.

Make the radius smaller, reduce the damage, give more time for players to retreat or something else.
But it does need some kind of redo.

What do others think?

7 Likes

nah… i wouldnt trust the devs to actually make them work without introducing 10 other bugs and exploits…

3 Likes

White Phosphorus burns so while the gas masks may reduce the longer term effects of the gas, you are going to be burnt to death if you are caught in that cloud before the mask can do anything. WP is fine now, the only improvement that could be warranted is as you said earlier, making it so that it respects walls, or at least the airtight ones.

7 Likes

I don’t even know how would they balance it. It is broken, overpowered. It was a mistake adding them, they should have knew it would be a nightmare to balance.

This reminds me of old meta of Grenade satchel(x4 before Mine slot) and Explosion Pack spam. You would rarely use your weapon because the blast radius was very large.

It’s just too strong especially you can equip x3. Should be restricted to one per soldier at least as a nerf. Even with grenade pouch.

You clear entire objective sites without firing one bullet or ever exposing yourself to any danger. This is really poor gameplay.

And I don’t wanna see Gas masks, this is WW2 not WW1. From what I gathered these nades were not even that used in WW2. Just bad altogether from all standpoints, be it game-play, balance, historical accuracy etc.

1 Like

White Phosphorus was an integral part of the American arsenal in WW2, and the British, Japanese and Italians also used it, but to a far lesser extent.

Gameplay wise, following the nerf, it seems fine. Still denys area more consistently than molotovs but for a shorter duration, and doesn’t quite have the radius of a frag.

3 Likes

Or just cut it from the game…
New system means that soviets will have no WP in it

Doesnt.

Then again, from what i understand the fumes are not really lethal (and certainly not to the extent they are in the game)

But it seems pretty OK after the nerf. At least it’s no longer a ww1 battlefield.

Somtimes i think its Bethesda developping in second hand

1 Like

For me white phosphorus is the most useful grenade. It clears rooms better than moltovs, conceals movements, and can damage vehicles. The only other grenades that are almost as good are explosive packs and moltovs.

currently the phosphorus grenade, molotovs, ampulots or flamethrowers are “broken”, it doesn’t matter if you are on the ground floor and the phosphorus or any of the aforementioned is on an upper floor, or even in another room, you will burn or you will hopelessly suffocate unless you walk away and on certain maps it’s a real mess, major adjustment required here