Reborn Reborn - Chameleon Spy

[Mojoman]

Just wanting to open a discussion about the Chameleon Spy for Nod in Reborn. I know a big patch is coming out eventually, but I think this might be a good opportunity for feedback about a unit I feel should be heavily modified.

Why do I believe this?

The Chameleon Spy, in my opinion, is a teamwork killer. The main use of the spy is not to gather information or covertly steal a vehicle that's left sitting around (though if it happens, a bonus).
The main use for the Spy is to go out on your own and wait, maybe hide in a corner and wait for someone to spawn, go up behind someone and stab them unexpectedly, but has very little to contribute to team play.

Perhaps the use for the spy could be killing an engineer that's repairing while your allies are laying siege to the base. Well, if your teammates are already attacking the base, other infantry are more than likely storming structures and any engineers are fighting for their lives or buying other units.

Overall, I feel the Chameleon Spy doesn't add to the team play of the Nod side and if anything, puts them at a disadvantage, or encourages killwhoring at the end of a game.

What are other's thoughts on this unit?

Personally, I'm not sure how it could be fixed without making to too much like the Spy from APB. Sorry for the negative nancy of a post.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Mojoman
negative nancy.

[NodGuy]

Part of me just wants the spy removed, because, as you said, people tend to use the unit to get a few kills which doesn't really help the team. It's even worse when a KDR whore is using the unit so they're more likely to camp and wait, which is a waste of a player spot in my opinion.

That's how I feel about it anyway. I'm sure someone will come and post the positives of the chameleon spy soon enough, maybe they'll outweigh the negatives?

[FRAYDO]

16 minutes ago, NodGuy said:

I'm sure someone will come and post the positives of the chameleon spy soon enough, maybe they'll outweigh the negatives?

Stealing the Mammoth MK II just as it gets delivered and going on a wild rampage. That's enough positives for me.

[NodGuy]

I can't argue with that. 

[harvester]

In TS, the function of that unit is to infiltrate buildings (and trigger what happens next in the mission), not a stealth assassin. So, a special ability upon entering buildings doesn't bother me.

Also, keep the usual stuffs stealth soldier always do in Renegade like stealing unattended vehicles, spying and giving info to teammates, crate whoring...

[NoSpoons]

You may argue that the spy is a teamwork killer but I get the feeling you might be thinking about ye olde spy who could kill anyone in one hit with his Nod knife o' doom

I used to love that spy because of its retarded strength and the patch that reduced its damage made me hate it... then while testing the new spy for lulz i had a real eye opener.

I discovered that due to its lower damage per hit I was no longer able to insta-kill anyone whenever I wanted instead I had to bide my time, wait till a damaged soldier would duck behind cover to reload or as they attempted to escape, then strike and take them out of the fight, this ended up becoming quite tactical, I would pair up with cadre to tip the balance in the favor of Nod during 1v1s with GDI officers when they least expect it and escort tic tank assaults as they destroy enemy vehicles I would kill off the pilots so the force could focus on other targets. In the end I still did very little spying and more so finishing of wounded infantry it was an interesting experience. Yes this is pretty much kill stealing to the eyes of many, but I do feel I was able to fill an important role, maybe changing the spies abilities to further suite this kind of play style of could lead to an interesting development? 

An organized team of Nod players who know their roles and plan to whittle down GDI infantry for a Chameleon to finish them of could prove to be waaay more cunning and deadly than a bunch of cyborgs charging forward into a wall of officers to see who can get the most head shots.

So perhaps I'm saying with the right changes the spy could foster a niche teamwork role rather than drain the life out of teamwork all together, I suppose I might be mistaken in thinking its teamwork but rather just the spy depending on the rest of the team to ks, but perhaps this is about changing the players mind set to think of support instead of ks machine, I suppose the only real way to do this is to alter mechanics and stats further or something but hey that was my thoughts on the matter, the spy still has potential.

 

[moonsense715]

The chameleon spy right now is a stealth attack dog, but he should really actually be a spy.

[Raptor29aa]

One important advantage is his ability to talk to his team to relay tactical info. He could be expanded have a recon purpose. (Binoculars maybe)

[moonsense715]

http://cnc.wikia.com/wiki/Chameleon_spy

[NodGuy]

So he's the RA1 spy but can also steal GDI's blueprints so you can build their buildings? Cool. 

"For Kane and Divination."

[FRAYDO]

17 hours ago, Raptor29aa said:

One important advantage is his ability to talk to his team to relay tactical info. He could be expanded have a recon purpose. (Binoculars maybe)

The problem with his binoculars however is when you use them you're technically "firing" therefore you uncloak yourself.

[Pushwall]

9 minutes ago, FRAYDO said:

The problem with his binoculars however is when you use them you're technically "firing" therefore you uncloak yourself.

Perhaps this could be a good time for the return of Beta!APB scope logic, which was activated by a custom keybinding instead of secondary fire (so presumably doesn't uncloak)? And since the binoculars can't actually fire, their ability to "v-snipe" wouldn't gate their usability to only people who know that V arbitrarily works in this one first-person scenario when it doesn't for any other.