I've been playing IA for a while now and I haven't paid much attention to the faction forgotten. So recently I tried to use forgotten infantry units whenever I could, and I have a few ideas to spice them up... or at least make their price tag and time it takes to capture the forgotten hub worth the effort. Thus I will discuss each unit below.
1. 150$ Mutant Assault : Not much can be done with this guy to improve, he's the cheapest and he regenerates in tiberium... he's basically a purchasable visceriod. (Ironically it would be funny if he turned into one on death)
2. 550$ Mutant Scavenger : This unit is fairly flat... it's just an overpriced engineer, except engineers pack more explosives, get better pistol headshots, and the free ones can build an ok/poor quality rifle turret. Thus I was thinking give him something unique, maybe a forgotten turret like a flame thrower or disc/grenade launching turret, something to be proud of. I'll go as far as to say remove the C4. I've not seen it used and besides there is the demolisher unit for stationary explosives anyways.
3. 650$ Mutant Assassin : I like this character except he has one big drawback he has to go to a tiberium field to heal, which makes him vulernable, because most of them are either in the open, in a valley, or lacking cover. Not very ideal for a sniper. So I was thinking give him an RPO-A Shmel (if I remember correctly in tiberian sun the forgotten often fired rockets). It doesn't have much range but it will say stay back to anything that may drive up on him.
4. 700$ Mutant Demolisher : He is rather fun to play, but lacks one important thing... self defense. And no I know what you are thinking... I am by no means saying give him a gun, that idea would be absurd, I would rather see him have a self destruct weapon or have more C4 explosives than that. What I would like to see is him have is a knife attack, but call it tiberium claws or something catchy. I tried to infiltrate and detonate a building with him once. And I found I either had to waste the C4 on the attackers or place it on the MCT and try and stand in the way of it's defusing. I jumped around like a moron and died with no building destruction.
5. 850$ Mutant templar : I found this unit a well rounded and very versatile unit. He is like Dr. Mobius, but with a machine gun and longer range. The range and accuracy make this unit worth the price as it does good damage to infantry and light vehicles. The templar is unique and fits well in it's nitch. I have no suggestions at this time.
6. 1,000$ Mutant Marauder : I am not sure where to start with this unit. It's a large, slow, and a semi-effective unit. I say semi-effective because he does less damage than Sydney or Ravishaw and is unaffected by upgrades (last I checked). The two units like him surpass him and can be upgraded to really surpass him. Sydney and Ravishaw also move faster and are smaller targets. To make matters worse the Marauder has a harder time dodging, finding cover, and combating infantry. I tried infiltration with him to see if I could use him in a non-field environment, and found the plasma gun does too much self damage for most indoor scenarios (that and the combined previously mentioned issues with mobility). This unit is not worthy of a 1,000$ price tag. It is a nice attempt at an apex forgotten unit, it looks big, tank like, and scary... till it moves slowly and fires its' gun.
Recommendations for the Marauder. Option 1, he could get an ammo and hp boost to make him a endurance character. Also it's fun to be a constant pain in the butt. Even if your DPS is not at optimal efficiency. The low damage already exhausts ammo, yet the downside is someone on the other team can be a pain in the butt if the forgotten hub changes sides. Option 2, His plasma gun could be repurposed in a way unlike the portable ion cannon or rail gun; the plasma gun could have a slower projectile, but higher damaging projectile. Meaning light and fast vehicles (also helicopters) can dodge the shot, but larger ones won't. This would work well for stationary artillery, mammoths, tick tanks, and anything not moving. It would fill a nitch. The downside would still be infantry combat. Option 3, increase the plasma gun's range. this would make field domination easier (no need to leave the tib field) and increase the effectiveness against aircraft (which Syndey and Ravishaw already have). The downside would be the weapon out ranging minor base defenses. Option 4, add more grenades. This would be useful for both field combat and close quarters, since he cannot hurt himself with tiberium grenades. If not incendiary or emp are both nice touches to add for grenades. The downside would be increased efficiency against infantry (and emp grenades would make him devastating against tanks).
I hope to see the discussions these ideas generate.