Pathfinder needs to be reworked and here is why and how
Edit: I decided to remake this post because i'm not happy with how it comes off. Check out this post instead it gets right to the point without having to read 3 hours of complaining hopefully the link works.
Pathfinder is terribly weak compared to other legends and is in desperate need of a rework.
let me explain how are why.
If it seem pathfinder is still strong its because the player are just skilled.
Considering every other legend that has low profile, wraith, lifeline, and wattson has recieved a buff in some way except for pathfinder, because he was once broken as the r99 was before the balance changes, is unfair and uncalled.
Especially considering loba and pathfinder are around the same size and have very similar abilities yet loba's ability has better consistancy and slightly more range roughly 5m more distance and without requiring as much out the player as pathfinders grapple yet doesn't have low profile and is a great example of how pathfinder is unfairly weak when compaired to other legends and still is, considering the issues with him have long been fixed.
Including the addition of three different legends that have some way or form of combating him or competing with him have been added.
One of which is a superior version of him at the only thing he got right -Loba... which is his grapple.
Changes and balances to make for Pathfinder.
Pathfinder will spend on roughly about 2 to 3 soconds with at absolute most of 4 seconds in specific locations to completely take off and land again after using his grapple on a perfect full distance swing but this also depends on where he started and how he was positioned.
In my opinion pathfinders maxium cool down time should be 30s.
Pathfinders should only be punished for what they where capable of doing. Caustic doesn't get punished with cool down time if misplaces his traps and he can pick them back up and replace them if need be.
So I think this is only fair especially considering his grapple can completely fail entirely and it does require some degree of skill from the player to completely use his grapple to its full potential.
Pathfinders grapple can easily be balanced by the dividing 30s of cool down time (or time of your choosing) of cool down time across 25m of distance traveled for 1.2s of cool down time per meter traveled to get his cool down time.
This doesn't include distance gain by sliding on landing. only distance traveled by grapple when he leaves the ground and lands. Max distance is 25m. I am not 100% sure.
Lets set some rules for balance purposes.
Keep in mind his grapple velocity is still lower than it use to be, so he can't just yeet himself out of fights no where neer as quickly or as effeciently as he use to... and I agree hole heartedly with this nerf. Not to mention the 15s cool down time no matter how far or how quickly he was able to yeet himself was completely broken... thankfull this scourage is gone.
If his grapple doesn't connect to a surface no cool down.
If his grapple connects and he travels less than 13m, 15s minium cool down time. To account for when he goes no where but drags himself across the ground and for when he grapples on top of small buildings. Even if he detaches or cancels.
If he grapples and travels more than 13m, cool down time depends on distance traveled. Even if he dettaches or cancels.
If he grapples another player 15s cool down.
Pathfinder maxium cool down time 30s
Pathfinder minium cool down time 15s
Change him from a recon role to a support role.
Grappling other players is very situtational and is difficult to hit other players with. Considering this is only useful when trying to prevent other player from running away from a melee fight at the start of the game and pathfinder can't shoot at all while other players are being pulled in rendering him nothing but a target practice test dummy untill the grapple stops pulling.
We should change the way this works. Pathfinder should not move while pulling a target. He also moves toward his opponent while this happens, making pathfinder planted where he stands will allow him to make better use of this underwhelming mechanic.
Like being able to pull a far away downed teammates closer to safety without leaving cover or him waiting for a teammate to crawl to him or pulling teammates out of the ring if they go down just close to the outside of the ring or can't make it out in time potentially saving his teammates life.
Where jump pads and lifeline drones would be destroyed by the ring before being utilized. He could also be able to pull loot boxes inside the ring to collect his teammates banners who die just short of the ring. This would not be broken because crypto can do this alot better and even revive his teammates without being there.
Or retrieve a lootbox that is just out of reach for his teammates this would not be a detrimental to loba as she can do this with a much greater effiency and range, pathfinder would only pull the box closer and really wouldn't have that much control over the box and making this work with boxes below them when his team has the high ground wouldn't really be feasible so definately not game breaking.
Making this change would not only fit his personality better, but also making and defining pathfinder as more of a support character rather than a reconnaissance character that is better suited for attacking, than finding and spotting squads.
These changes would move patherfinder away from a forward scout role that is at the moment, unquestionably better suitted to aggresive attacking and 3rd partying when least expected like more of an attack character role, than a forward scout that is perfectly suited finding and spoting targets like bloodhound and crypto.
Pathfinder absolutely cannot compete with these two characters in terms of their role to play.
When compared to other legends with low profile pathfinder is bigger than wraith, lifeline, and wattson but still has low profile and dispite lifeline, wraith, and wattson having very strong passives and tactical abilities when compaired to pathfinder.
Who has a passive that is a massive joke. Insider knowledge is so unwhelming and very situtational considering you can only have one ring active at one time and you can't use it again until the ring that was revealed to you is closed and by the time that happends there are no more of these avilable to you.
The becons are clustered in some locations and usually all get swallowed up by the same ring. Some parts of the maps have large areas that only has one or maybe two becons that spread far away from each other for the hole location. Parts with just open scenery have no builds so no beacons.
There are just too few ring changes for this to useful, if you wanted to make pathfinder a reconnaissance character these beacon should have revealed player locations on the map but then again you can only use one at a time.
Beacons locations seem to be predetermined by the game before hand based on the ring location for that match so they might be there one game and gone the next instead of being all over the place in consistantly reliable locations. Thought I could be wrong here.
If there are its outside the ring where you would die before get it and they are on top of roof top where you are a sitting duck for anyone to shoot you for 5 hole seconds making these useless end game. If a pathfinder has already used that beacon well guess what you can't use that becon.
And they just added an entire location on the map dedicated to making it even more use less than it already is and his zip line ultimate is more often than not a double edged sword. His zip line is also underminded by the convenience of zip lines already scatted across the maps.
when he does relocate his team its because they are about to die. Nothing is stopping that team from riding his zipline and following them just to finish them off anyway, because he can't remove his zip lines after ward and his team moves too slow while riding it.
So even if your team had a chance at surviving in the new location they could easily get downed while ride the zip line, they are practically on display begging to be shot at by other squad as you zip out in to the open.
To fix this issue make pathfinder and his teammates travel 20% faster when riding a zipline that their pathfinder has placed during combat. While giving pathfinder the ability to take down his own zipline. Making people who ride a pathfinder ziplines outside of combat move 10% slower.
Making these change would help prevent pathfinders tendencies to play aggressive attack roles rather than a supportive one, which he would be better suitted for especially because he was not disigned with reconnaissance and scouting in mind like crypto and bloodhound. Pathfinder is way better suited for a support role.
Pathfinder also needs a new passive and he still has low profile dispite other legend with it recieving buff even though he is a bigger target than them.
I recommend made of metal/enhanced sensors
Pathfinder takes 15% less damage from smoke, caustic gas, bombardments, grenades, and thermite grenades except for arch stars and wattson fences and cannot be slowed down or recieve blurred vision effects from smoke, bombardments, and caustic gas.
Especially considering gibralter and caustic take 15% less damage on top their (gun shield absorbs an extra 50 damage every 9s) and (the shear amount of caustic gas traps) and on top of all that they can't be slowed down.
They should at least be slowed down for the sake of giving pathfinder a useful passive. Especially sense their hit box sizes have been made smaller sense then but they still have these powerful imbalances.
