I see! It all makes sense now; Arti is not just an adventurer, but a gentleman as well! For he believes that his hat deserves its own hat!Combine_Kegan wrote:It's actually another helmet slotted over his normal helmet. Though it IS in reference to the Bomber King box art. You can see Arti's normal helmet underneath the visor at low HP.
Jokes aside, its occurred to me I haven't actually given a proper feedback yet. So here goes.
-The new graphics for the Artificer are great, and the changes are welcome. In particular I like the Cobalt Mace and the Cyclops Cannon a lot more than their forbears. The Mace's ability to smack down even tough monsters in a couple of hits if your footwork is on point makes it a lot better than the old punching gauntlets. The sniper scope on the Cyclops meanwhile gives a unique advantage among the classes.
-The Blastmaster...well, it's the Blastmaster, but with a much needed overhaul. I love it. Having Ranger grenades behave fundamentally the same regardless of temperature makes it a lot easier to use, and both the Firebrand's and the vent attack's new behaviour is vastly more useful than what it did before.
-Playing as Tech Monk makes me feel like a character from a Tatsunoko cartoon!...were Tatsunoko cartoons an inspiration for this at all? Utilizing the various combo attacks makes you burn through ammo fast, but in turn lets you tear through your enemies exceptionally fast too. Fun and a nice change from shooting things with guns. (That said I think I've found another bug; the Kame Bomb's explosion does not seem to alert enemies.)
-Past-Linked is another nice change from guns, albeit a far more slow and methodical one. Learning when and where to utilize the various subweapons takes some practice, but is satisfying (and deadly) when you get it right. That said, I noticed the class can run into difficulties in maps/mapsets that, say, give you a SSG before it gives you a Shotgun - for Past-Linked, this means having no ranged attack whatsoever for an extended period.
-The changes to the Crate Weapons are infinitely welcome; the Reload-Curse was an amusing idea, but not one suitable for the one weapon you expect to be able to bail you out in times of crisis (ie the BFG replacement). Feel like I should have more to say here, but can't think of anything...
-The other little additions, like the new mugshots with their unique per-class foibles, the option for more traditional Berserk-Pack replacements behaviour (I hope you will include this in GMOTA's Ring Of Might as well), and still being able to give your Revenant Box milk to drink, are all wonderful icing on cake.
-Malefactors is also a lot better balanced than Combined Harms was; in particular, the toning down of the Imp's lobbed fireballs means they are no longer as lethal as Chaingunners in close quarters.
Hope this is useful to you. As I said with the last major update, well played sir.