Rampart Rework idea for SHEILA! Hear me out!

she's fine just like she is.

Is that why she's just completely unviable in Plat Lobbies and above? Cause yea, id fully agree that she's "fine" where she is! However, very unviable as a choice when trying to do ranked. I wouldn't at all suggest her in a form of ladder and although she CAN bring value to the table, she's just not that great when it comes to keeping up to the meta. ESPECIALLY when Legends like: Ash, Wraith, Bangalore, Gibby, Maggie, Axle, SEER, Crypto, Fuse, and Ballistic, are all MOST LIKELY on the field and can fairly easily counter Rampart's role as a setup character.  HELL BALISTIC, AND SEER CAN LITERALLY CANCEL THE ENTIRE ULT USING A TAC THAT THEY HAVE 2-3 OF😂, Fuse can send ONE, that's ONE with an O, Knuckle Cluster, and entire setup goes up in flames. (I FULLY AGREE THAT THIS SHOULD HAPPEN AND I THINK THAT THESE LEGENDS SHOULD STILL COUNTER RAMPART IN THE WAYS THAT THEY STILL DO.) I Personally love some of the counterplay Aswell as the forcibility of being unable to use your abilities and leaving it to pure gun skill! fuse is like playing like you are a hot potato and it's kind of funny the plays you need to make when going against him.

Side Note- If you don't have these counter picks in play, fun fact! 2 Grenade's will break the walls for White Armor, 3 for Blue, and 3 1/2 for Purple which anyone can carry as a Trio even IF you are not the names listed. Ark Stars do 50% LESS DAMAGE than normal to shields as well, so keep it in mind to use Nades and Thermites if you catch a Rampart Team in a building. I can't stress enough how good one well-placed grenade can screw you over. 
Side-Side Note - throwing this out to the newbies and although i laugh every time I catch someone healing behind a door. DONT BLOCK A DOOR AGAINST SHEILA IT BLAST THROUGH THE DOOR AND WILL MAUL YOU. please quit giving me free downs. it's funny but omg is it so bad for your team.
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I want to Heavily note that a key problem of Rampart needing Set Up Time, would still be a key weakness and counter when looking at this change. SPEED IS NOT WHAT IS BEING HEAVILY PUSHED HERE, I am looking at the Minigun being a lot more of a TOOL of Chaos than a Weapon of Mass Destruction. However, it still can hold the relation of both simultaneously without altering her entire kit or making a new character just for this... buffs and nerfs to the minigun damage, or shield hp/damage amp, can also be changed to accommodate the changes!

You, the Reader: "Well how?"
Me: "thank you for asking! and if you weren't, too bad! 😀"

Let's say this change was made to be a Purple Shield Upgrade for the Left Side, and doing everything i said in the post. the jet mode being buffed where needed, nerfed where needed, changed and tested to burn a proper amount, actually refined and tested over the course of 2-3 seasons worth of time behind the doors of the devs. well, there's few things:

- Rampart would still be heavily required to use her main kit until Rampart has reached said Purple Evo!

- The Minigun itself will still bare the same reproductions of the pull-out time, rev time, and the un-rev time. 
(Another thing that could also be implemented to add more salt on her entire counterplay, could be an animation lock for when you change the toggle fire, much like how the car smg takes a little bit to swap ammo types. just throwing experiments out there!)

- Rampart would now be more likely to use this new variant, causing rampart to burn more bullets, and this would in return make Sheila less useful in a battle with less bullets to actually spend on enemies. This is where her Barriers would be a PERFECT match for her as like I also stated before that using her Shields as Pivot Points is where I find Rampart best suited when fighting the mid-range fights and trying to make distance to either close or short range.

- Rampart would not be able to just freely fly across open fields, or scale walls at rapid speeds if she is being aimed at by multiple teams, ESPECIALLY not in higher ranks, You as Rampart, will MOST DEFINATLY get shot down like a Valkire in NO TIME. (This is the part where needing to be balanced before play, doing a lot of playtesting is needed, and why i stated that Worlds Edge would be an AMAZING map to test this on. to get a proper gage on how fast the pulses should send you)

- In a way, it would be as if a new gun was added without the direct implication of a new gun actually being added to the weapon pool, creating more clutter, or needing to worry about what ammo type it would need to be, it's an ult.

-  .7% pick-rate overall scream "fine" but room for work and improvement. this would go up more as it's a new update for a character who still hasn't even been relevant SINCE EVEN HER LAUNCH. and I've been playing her nonstop since season 9.

- Players will now have to worry about Rampart taking height or taking advantage points. I'll admit that this is definitely a strong argument. My thing is, isn't the entire point of Ramparts kit to be able to get into position to set up shop quick and get out quicker! Rampart although deadly with her positioning advantage can still get beamed while getting to the position flying up, will still have your barriers be the equivalent to paper when being placed for a short time, and if you take a bad angle entirely, YOU GET PUNNISHED. 

-This could open up a new form of skill expression found only for rampart as she would be the ONLY character to now be able to propulse herself in any direction based on where she's looking! Both making rampart be mindful of the LOS the enemy has on her, Aswell as the direction she needs to go, the speed, and the amount of ammo she has to burn through. (Sure, you can make a new legend and make it do everything here but their own thing, and so on. but if it does turn out like this i think it would be a missed opportunity as a legend who actively uses a minigun and is an arms dealer/maker.)

(i want to also note that Rampart has a buyable skydive emote where she is seen using Sheila to fly herself around in the air. so, I'm just saying this is not an unheard of visual.)
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Rampart is indeed "Fine" as you'd put it. However, id argue that she should be better than what she is. Id argue that ALL of the controller class needs more of a look at then what has been brough to the plate. Why keep The Legend who is ALWAYS changing up other Legends, as well as boosting their kits to be more "amped up", as rampart would say. Just to keep her as just "eh... she's fiiine. not Great, not Badd.... could be better hahaa". Compared to SOOOO many legends, "fine" is just another term for Mediocre. and "mediocre" is NOT where im trying to see MY GIRLS, Sheila included! 😭

Putting this last bit at the bottom but lore wise, Rampart has been seen with conversations to many of the Legends where she upgraded their kits to be better throughout the patches, I can make headcanons all id like but it doesn't change the fact that rampart is an active weaponsmith, a mechanic, "a gear head" as mirage says, ya' bloody doughnut; and knows her ways around ammunition. Actively doing it for the love of the game and just wants to cause chaos while burning through bullets knowing they are hitting their mark. she would definitely make it work, would definitely laugh at anyone telling her not to, and would do it with a smile, gum in her mouth and a smile from ear to ear.

Make Rampart the Apex Equivalent to Iron Man. I said it.

what do you think of Caustic and fuse?

🫣

As any controller legends I would say it requires 3stack, otherwise uncoordinated random bafoons can't play around controller and controller usually can't keep up in speed of pushing everything :) thus the class is hardly present in the pick rates, it would be rock bottom if Caustic wouldn't get his buff to gas (well deserved) and Wattson players still picking the legend because they feel like doing nothing and just showing skins and animations during intense Diamond+ lobby battles without any fences or ult being set in place.

Also I would say that amp barriers can be only utilized in mid or more so long range fights as in a close range people probably will either flank or just straight up jump through them. Again a thing randoms can't pull off especially if they are using those dumbsticks.

If played well, Rampart is decent, at most I would give 1-2 additional barriers to her given how easy these days it is to flank the setup unless you are covered by the zone for significant portion of a possible angle.

I tried to play her for fun at the end of season 29 split 1...for me as MNK Sheila felt underwhelming. Did they nerf it? I used to be able to kill a full team in one go, now I struggle to finish one person time and time again, even in ADS mode bullets seem highly inaccurate or no-reg.

All in all I really liked controller legends, mained Caustic for a seasons back in like early teens season, played Rampart and Catalyst for at least a split, even mained Wattson because I was sick of those clowns playing her so I rather play her myself and be beneficial, put down util vs Nessie...but besides Caustic experience was horrible, these legends are not for soloq / current rank reward system that is still heavily kill focused.

Finally what else I noticed - many people are too scared to play Controller legend or with controller legends as eventually it involves hunkering down and taking loads of pressure from util, different angles, outheal incoming damage = most people panic and leave the fortified area making controller legend useless. In other words I think it is not so much about how you can counter controller legends and more about if you have balls to play one/with one.

p.s. Getting back to Wattson "mains" point - most controller legends require frequent util replenishment and good game awareness e.g. not to put Wattson Ult next to window so it is instantly destroyed. Which becomes and issue to dumbstick players who are just lazy to press so many buttons so frequently :) Paired with the fact that dumbstick users still dominate player base  -> no controller legends for you.

- "Also, I would say that amp barriers can be only utilized in mid or more so long-range fights as in a close-range people probably will either flank or just straight up jump through them. Again, a thing randoms can't pull off especially if they are using those dumbsticks." 

The thing about Rampart Walls is that this feel like it is to be the intended counter play to Rampart, and how you should deal with her as a threat on the field. Be mindful of her line of fire, get in her blind spot, and break her down when she's building up! As the enemy team fighting a Rampart you should be trying to look for ways around the walls, finding a spot that rampart hasn't covered, and taking ad"vantage" of it! Her walls can be very useful in many cases in close range encounters such as taking 4 bullets for you, blocking a door for you to keep running, or protecting your teammate who is down on the ground from taking that last tiny little tickle before they die.
This in mind, most legends will still be able to keep up and inevitably kill you in the end because, "too bad we have a rev on our team :>" or something like that. Rampart would still get caught when in chase running from skirmishers, and others with movement even with the minigun in hand as a jetpack. Seer and Ballistic both would be able to shut her down completely if they are on the team comp also. plus, once she's out of bullets, she's on foot. this would also play into the fact that like you mention, her barriers are better off when played in that medium to long range, sooooooo a toggle fire on the characteerrss ult to thrust her to said medium range would be beautiful!

-"If played well, Rampart is decent, at most I would give 1-2 additional barriers to her given how easy these days it is to flank the setup unless you are covered by the zone for significant portion of a possible angle."
I think that giving rampart the ability of 1-2 barriers wouldn't be a bad option, but I also don't think it's an amazing option. I feel like this would in return make rampart too obnoxious with how many angles she could hold or take advantage of with her shields. Having 7 barriers on the ground would be a little insane to not only manage but also deal with on the opposing side keeping in mind that if rampart is at Purple Armor, her shields in return gain 600Hp, and can actively tank almost 4 grenades. Rampart in a building would be even more annoying and as much as I'd love to see this as a change, I don't feel that adding a number to the tac is a solution to her. As a Rampart main, to bestow upon the enemy the force of 7 barrier all with 600HP, all giving amp damage, and my team able to use them. now that just feels a little much...😶

Giving Rampart the alternate fire mode would allow Rampart an out in those situations of being flanked, and being rushed head on through the barrier. it wouldn't be a free getaway, BUT A CHANCE at one! You will still get killed when inside a long building! Still will get beamed if you take a predictable path! If you cut your momentum, well now you are free falling = a free beam. Look at Axle ult if you want a reference on what that looks like! AGAIN, I WANT TO KEEP RAMPART AS A SETUP CHARACTER AND ONE WHO IS STILL HAS A RISK-REWARD SYSTEM, WITHOUT PRYING TO HARD INTO MAKING THE MINIGUN ABSOLUTELY BUSTED < A TOOL TO BE USED LIKE RAMPART TRIES TO CREATE ON THE REAGULAR!!

This ^ would give Rampart a new Skill Floor, and would make Rampart in High Level Play, both entertaining to watch, and a fun experience for even just casuals trying to play Jetpack Joyride in Apex! making her both fun, and more than just "decent"!

- "I tried to play her for fun at the end of season 29 split 1...for me as MNK Sheila felt underwhelming. Did they nerf it? I used to be able to kill a full team in one go, now I struggle to finish one person time and time again, even in ADS mode bullets seem highly inaccurate or no-reg."
To answer the question of a Sheila Nerf, NO, she did not gain a nerf on the minigun, it was more of a power creep, where every other gun simply just out preforms. Recently there was a Damage Buff to EVERY GUN other than Sheila. This in return overall increased the TTK to average to around the same point of Sheila for MOST GUNS. Although Sheila doesn't feel powerful, it's still the power of an R99 with an ungodly mag, will still shred through unknowing foes, and still has the same recoil. It's just a lot less rewarding and you have to play SAFER when trying to fire the death ray. Another thing is that Rampart with these changes to her purple armor upgrade would make her cooldown will be a major part of her kit, forcing the player to be really mindful if they spend their bullets or not. if things get hairy and you burned through your ult, it's time to LEAVE, and you got nothing, you still get screwed. 

- "these legends are not for soloq / current rank reward system that is still heavily kill focused." 
this is a factor as to why I want to speak out about this change and call out Rampart specifically. Rampart is in an interesting spot where she's actually not the one supposed to do the killing and full assault, she's supposed to be the suppressing fire of the matter. the one doing the damage and assists, vs getting the last shot. i love this for Rampart personally and think its a very unique way to have to play. MAKING the opening for your team to enter on. giving her this on purple would still require playing rampart normally in the early rings, but later on she can use it to scale rough terrain, get out of sticky situations, and get out with her team vs getting left stranded calling for help with nobody around to hear her. Other than the enemy finishing her ofc! giving her this would give her more opportunities to create that opening shatter, and creating the opening Rampart heavily struggles at creating when things like VERTICALITY are at hand! 
ramparts kill rate would also go up from this, given that enough time was put into learning the changes!

my two favs

I'm against giving Rampart mobility, because I don't think it fits who she is as a character.

To me, Rampart is the kind of person who grins in the face of danger and unloads SHEILA rather than backing down.

She enjoys the sound of gunfire and the thrill of a risky fight. She doesn't strike me as someone who would solve bad situations with mobility.

Sure, she has the technical skill to build a jetpack. But being able to build something and actually wanting to use it are two very different things.

I didn't become a Rampart fan because she's strong.

I became a Rampart fan because of her personality, her confidence, and the way she doubles down on overwhelming firepower even when the situation is risky.

That's why I'd rather see her developed further in ways that reinforce her identity as Rampart, rather than giving her mobility just to increase her pick rate.

The flying SHEILA from the April Fools event was fun. But I think it was fun precisely because everyone understood that it wasn't really Rampart.

As a limited-time joke mode, it was great. As a permanent part of her character design, that's a different story.

I'm not a fan of reworks that dilute a character's identity instead of strengthening it.

That version of Rampart isn't the Rampart I fell in love with.

If Rampart were to tinker with SHEILA, I don't think her first thought would be, "How do I fix its weaknesses?"

The risk and the shortcomings are part of the fun.

If anything, she'd gladly sacrifice something else just to squeeze even more firepower out of it.

Rampart loves the thrill. That's who she is.

I would lean towards what Akipekopeko​ said - Rampart and controller legends in general shouldn't be ones:

a) caught in the open ground
b) ones intended to run away from the fight

I view them as legends for coordinated and SMART players that not only utilize console scans to rotate early and TO THE RIGHT DIRECTION (talking to you "run into zone to get 1 kp" people) but also set up their util to punish pushing enemies, enemies that rotate into the zone from other POIs.

Basically my idea with barriers is exactly about it - it would be like a stronghold which you as solo coundn't break, that would require equally coordinated fighting tactics e.g. grenade spam, Fuse ult or Maggie drill, Bang smoke etc.

Imo that would be fair - if smart Rampart player sets up her fortress -> it can be taken only by equally smart players vs now just W 1 button tap strafe abusing Octane jumping over barriers and doing 99s with PK on you. And for people like this Sheila should be imo buffed to a point where you can mow down 3stack if they dumb enough to just run in the open, at least with a help of Barrier + Sheila = amp damage. It but be imo just fair. Giving her current situation where she is basically standing target with R99 power...still can be focused very easily also controller aim assist + r99 + close range allows people to hipfire it with very good accuracy (you must be disabled not to hit for 100+ with blue mag on) vs Sheila making Rampart quite inaccurate when hipfiring and totally stationary at the same time.

Making "every" legend mobile in this game would render many maps totally useless, there is no more advantage of buildings, verticality of the map, better spots on the map, headglich points etc. Like now with lower level lobbies and Axle - you can just slide in the middle of 3 teams and they will still struggle to shoot you without having ANY cover which on the one hand is skill issue but on the other hand is the fact of legend(s) being too mobile. In comparison to other games usually the more mobile legend the more "glass cannon" like they are and vice versa. Rampart is more of a Tank and if not via Barriers and now good perk of armor recharge (even though a bit flimsy as how can people damage Rampart without damaging barriers = that negates shield recharge) she and controller should get something towards fortify e.g. if X number of util (gas traps, fences, barriers, blocked doors) are down = controller gains 25 shields or regen within the area.
Unfortunately since Wattson initial nerf in early 10s season making her Ult super brittle, following with destroyable caustic gas traps controller legends have gone the opposite way probably because casual movement players couldn't do **bleep** vs those type of legends :D

If not giving Rampart mobility with Sheila, or mobility at all other than what she currently has with her amped speed when barrier is destroyed/ you jump over it after damage delt. I am curious on your take (as well as others!) on what should be improved for Rampart if doing something like this really is off the table (even with it being a Purple Armor Enhancement and balanced to not allow her to fly off to Narnia at rapid speeds, Moreso looking at it burning all of the ult without her even fully leaving the POI, Estates for example, going from one side of the oval, to the other would run her out before reaching the other side).

I want to say that I don't want to just scrap the entire idea of an alternate fire just yet if the jet fire mode is just marked off for good. I understand not wanting to change a core part of ramparts identity by giving her movement, and I'm willing to drop the usage of using it as a movement tool but still wanting to craft something out of it.

 I do want to mention something I forgot to originally mention about the alternate fire mode even if the idea is just going to the recycling bin, Aswell as another alt fire idea made while brainstorming with her. while writing his out.
- The change of the mobility i forgot.
I was also looking at the jet burners being kind of like the function of a Maggie drill that can't go through walls, only doing damage if the enemy is close to Sheila with the Range being lost unless toggled back to the main minigun and you would still be able to toggle in and out the sight as normal with the main gun. It would do increased damage for the downside of the range, with the idea being that you could essentially cook someone to death if caught trying to jump a barrier in a doorway for example. 
This wouldn't be too far from what her legendary finisher looks like, just instead it's a jet being blasted in their face instead of a hailstorm of bullets. this could create interactions where she doesn't even need to use it as a getaway, she could just go scorched earth and burn the players, the jet having a thick hurt box but obviously not the size of a full Maggie drill lmao. it wouldn't be interactive with the amped cover's damage amplification, and the enemy can still pick her off from that medium range if/when the toggle is active.
^ I know this still goes into the whole giving rampart mobility thing, but i do still think that cutting the range and making it a close-range blast of heat would be a solid idea for keeping foes out and keeping "control" over the building/ field you are taking control over. Vs flipping the sight down and unloading at an octane stim strafing in your face and hardly being able to keep up with it. EVEN TAKING AWAY THE MOVEMENT PART, a close-range toggle of some sort would be interesting. 

Going into the topic of close rage encounters.
-alternatively, another idea i had was making it more of a blast cannon underbarrel or something of the sort to force players off of her, going probably no further than 10-15 meters away, taking a chunk out of the ult, and would allow Rampart to start firing soon after. something to experiment on and just throwing ideas. damage wise i don't think it would do damage because right after she could just continue firing at the misplaced enemy. Again, keeping foes out of her safe zone and keeping control of her area. (i get if this gets shut down too lol I'm just crafting ideas here.)

- I don't personally find usage in the placeable turret and think that its due for some sort of change if anything was to get changed. My reasoning is that being completely still in any case for this game is you just asking to get kraber'd to the dome the moment that shield breaks. (This is just an analogy, but it's the equivalent on what WILL happen to you if you use it in that manner... in really any point of the match) It's just a meaningless feature 82% of the time other than allowing rampart to use a 3x(in hand it has a 2x), finish off a team as a third party from about 70-100 meters away, or you are using it to mantle boost off of because you have no more barriers left. maybe I'm just using the placeable wrong, but it's almost in every way stronger to just run and gun than to spend 8 seconds to shoot at a wall with a placeable turret.
more of a mix-up on my button presses but - sometimes I end up tripping over the placeable toggle trying to pick up my barriers and that in itself is an issue at times because it stops me from being able to aim/shoot entirely. again, i know this is mostly just me pressing a bind on accident, still tedious to die to😶


Regarding Ramparts Barriers
-I think Ramparts Walls are honestly in a solid spot, thinking that her Sheila is just less viable given that all the other guns got buffed. If anything was to change for the barriers having the barrier pull up time and build time be faster by just a hair, or the hp of the barrier when building increased. Not both at the same time, one or the other. The recharge rate I think is in a great spot with power amp especially in the mix + purple armor right side. I will agree if there was to be a change in number of barriers, it should ONLY be a max world place limit of 6 total instead of 5. and that's really it for placements. giving an extra tac (4 total) would take away the vulnerability of being mindful of when and where you place the barrier, as to not have it get shot in the building process. (i fear that barrier spam would be a little too obnoxious unloading clip after clip into barriers.)

its not my intention to make her op, however i do understand that i am reaching far ahead when typing out "give rampart movement", and hope that there's something that can be done to the minigun side of things, instead of the barriers. part of it admittedly is a lot to do with being tired of getting slammed by the same stuff different day, axle slide, stim strafing octanes, people getting way to **bleep** close to my face. or just getting left behind by my teammates who can just bail and wont comm anything. i agree on the part where she does require certain comp to be more viable, much like octane pad being a very solid usage for rampart getting to a spot to setup or get out with the team, but when I don't have one on my team it feels so suffocating to play and it just drags the whole match it seems. Even if my thoughts aren't what is wanted for the character, I do like seeing what you all have to say about Rampart and controllers as a whole :>

I tried to summarize your position.

•  Your argument starts from frustration with mobility creep.
• You feel that not only Rampart, but the entire Controller class has been left behind by the current meta.
• You are open to buffs that do not involve increasing mobility.
• You do not want Rampart to become too strong.
• Both SHEILA and barriers are subjects of adjustment.
• For SHEILA, you seem to want improvements for close-range combat (such as a flamethrower or knockback effect) as well as improvements to the deployed version.
• As for barriers, you seem generally satisfied with their current design, but would like either faster deployment speed or increased durability while they are being built.
• You oppose increasing the number of barriers that can be carried, but may be open to increasing the maximum number that can be deployed.

My thoughts on your position are as follows.

• I agree that mobility creep is a real problem, and that Controllers are being affected by it more than most. However, before buffing Controllers, I think legends with excessively strong mobility should first be brought back to a healthier level. Like a tangled ball of string, if you deal with things in the wrong order, the situation only becomes worse.
• That said, Respawn does not seem interested in addressing mobility creep. If that remains the case, then I would reluctantly support buffs for Rampart and the Controller class.
• As for barriers, I also think increasing their inventory would be excessive. Faster deployment speed seems like the more reasonable option.
• Regarding SHEILA, I agree that both close-range combat and the deployed version have room for improvement.
• I thought the knockback idea was interesting. For example, I could imagine a deployed SHEILA exploding when packed up and blasting nearby enemies away. That sounds exactly like the kind of prank Rampart would pull.
• For close-range combat, I think SHEILA could be improved significantly by giving it its own sensitivity settings, similar to Seer's passive.
• I also rarely use deployed SHEILA. Personally, I would suggest giving the deployed version a gun shield. I've also seen suggestions within my local community to turn it into a simplified automated turret.