Just tried Rao for the first time to try it out vs the constant helo harrass on Exposure and omg the hacking of Rao is the dumbest thing I have seen as a specialist. It's so easy, has a short cooldown and a single person can shut down so much it's insane.And at the same time he is so boring to play, no reward for hacking at all apart from just being annoying with very little effort.Emphasis on annoying cuz that's just what it is, video games with excessive shut down mechanics are so annoying to play. You are helpless against it, same with vehicle disables, it's completly random normally nobody ever aims for a specific vehicle disable people just hit whatever seems the easiest to hit. And you get punished so hard for it.Noticed more people using Rao because of the stealth helo so wanted to try it out and my opinion, it just has no place in this game.

The gamer's mentality: If I don't like something then let's remove it because there is no way someone else will like it!

@doubleome Because DICE wants to promote co-op play without actually having systems in the game to promote co-op play, hoping folks will just do it organically.Rao CAN be insanely strong with a coordinated group in terms of eliminating vehicles, and even solo can be effective at "area denial" for vehicles if he can find a remotely safe place to hack from. But to your point...playing "area denial" on Rao is like watching paint dry. It's boring and lame, even if you're running the M5/Stinger to try to combo vehicles, or C5 to try to blow up ground vehicles you can get close to (hoping that the passengers all stop thinking and nobody exits the hacked vehicle to simply shoot you).This is a problem for many of the specialists. Some like Mackay, Falk, Sundance, or even Dozer have "generally useful" kits that work in a wide range of situations. Others like Rao, and as the devs pointed out Irish, have far more "niche" roles for their toolkits - driven in part by challenge completion (seriously, needing to destroy grenades to progress Irish feels like trash compared to how "easy" other characters progression tracks are like healing people as Falck).Honestly I think the whole vehicle design at its core, both ground and especially air, is fundamentally flawed and that we're never going to get a "good feeling" game that has any semblance of balance between that design and how specialists operate.If people aren't picking a specialists, it's not because they don't know how to use the specialist in all instances as the devs implied on their 1.2 video. It's because many of those specialists are too niche, and in a game where the majority of the design is focused on supporting solo-play these characters that are inherently co-op oriented and whose kits don't lend to solo play will see less playtime in general.DICE has always struggled with balance, and I'm still mystified why they thought that taking the already tricky balance they struggled to maintain and adding an Everest-size mountain of complexity with specialists was a good idea. Sure the concept is nice and all, but it should have been clear very early that the direction was not going to lend itself to an overall positive experience, and would instead just eat up a massive amount of additional development time towards frequently tweaking, balancing, updating, and changing specialist kits that aren't performing in-line with expectations.

because a skilled Rao player can be a nightmare for vehicles. you don't like him that's fine, but that's no reason to remove content from the game. if you don't like him just don't pick him

@PsubondThere's an argument to be made that his kit is boring and super binary vs. the more dynamic interactions from other specialists toolkits.Think Sundance: They've (DICE I REMEMBER THEIR PRONOUNS EVEN IF YOU DON'T : P) got huge flexibility in mobility with the wingsuit, plus either some infantry area-denial or a bit of anti-vehicle with the grenade. Each has a ton of possible uses and outcomes based on how the player uses those skills. There's lots of aggressive plays that you can make as Sundance with either the wingsuit or grenades! Lots of safe plays you can make! Lots of options!Now think to Rao: He's got the "spot players that shoot him" mechanic which is actually generally useful even if you're getting instantly killed. It's a free spot!But his hacking is extremely binary and doesn't really have much nuance/variety. Hold hack button for a few seconds and you're done. Vehicle has temporary protection from further hacks for a bit. There's no real vehicle counterplay to the hack, no ability to get aggressive/riskier to repeatedly hack a single vehicle at great risk to yourself.I think OP is more getting at that Rao simply isn't fun to play, even solo. Sure he fills the niche he's design to, but it's filled in an incredibly boring way for the Rao player and a frustrating way for the vehicle player. There's not really a depth of interactions with Rao that exists with other specialists, it's a binary.

@CantGetRight The gamers mentality: don’t remove something that’s annoying and that I personally abuse. It’s fine because I enjoy it.Hacking, freezing, taking away mobility and a way to defend yourself is always the worst design choice in games. It is boring to stare up into the sky locking onto targets and hacking them. It feels awful being hacked especially in tank when they’re already slow and everyone carries rockets.I completely agree with the OP. It was a bad design choice.

Played Rao for the first time, why is he still in the game?

55 Replies

whybother321
4 years ago
Rao is OP when it comes to taking down air vehicles.
Rao hacking gadget or watch has the same range as an AA missile 350m. His ability is unlimited with no cool down. It takes 3 seconds to hack a moving military grade vehicle with a 10 sec disruption to the enemy. OP

Nerf this ability. Make it so it’s a 10sec hack for a 10sec disruption with a cool down. Use a laptop animation not some stupid watch unrealistic
Two Raos can take down any attack heli in a matter of seconds lol
#hireme
ATFGunr
Legend
4 years ago
@doubleome You’re right, there is little purpose in team play. You may be the best helo pilot around, but you get so few points for it, it’s why the pilots are now trying to use it to cap points, they’re desperate for any kind of score in a game. Rao gets so few points for fulfilling his role that it’s ridiculous. If you use him to push, you have no time to hack as you’re just bait.
Psubond
Legend
4 years ago
@whybother321 wrote:
Rao is OP when it comes to taking down air vehicles.
Rao hacking gadget or watch has the same range as an AA missile 350m. His ability is unlimited with no cool down. It takes 3 seconds to hack a moving military grade vehicle with a 10 sec disruption to the enemy. OP

Nerf this ability. Make it so it’s a 10sec hack for a 10sec disruption with a cool down. Use a laptop animation not some stupid watch unrealistic
Two Raos can take down any attack heli in a matter of seconds lol
#hireme
Lol, no the hack range is 230ish meters. Stinger is 450
Psubond
Legend
4 years ago
@edgecrusherO0 wrote:
@PsubondThere's an argument to be made that his kit is boring and super binary vs. the more dynamic interactions from other specialists toolkits.

Think Sundance: They've (DICE I REMEMBER THEIR PRONOUNS EVEN IF YOU DON'T : P) got huge flexibility in mobility with the wingsuit, plus either some infantry area-denial or a bit of anti-vehicle with the grenade. Each has a ton of possible uses and outcomes based on how the player uses those skills. There's lots of aggressive plays that you can make as Sundance with either the wingsuit or grenades! Lots of safe plays you can make! Lots of options!

Now think to Rao: He's got the "spot players that shoot him" mechanic which is actually generally useful even if you're getting instantly killed. It's a free spot!

But his hacking is extremely binary and doesn't really have much nuance/variety. Hold hack button for a few seconds and you're done. Vehicle has temporary protection from further hacks for a bit. There's no real vehicle counterplay to the hack, no ability to get aggressive/riskier to repeatedly hack a single vehicle at great risk to yourself.

I think OP is more getting at that Rao simply isn't fun to play, even solo. Sure he fills the niche he's design to, but it's filled in an incredibly boring way for the Rao player and a frustrating way for the vehicle player. There's not really a depth of interactions with Rao that exists with other specialists, it's a binary.
None of that is a reason to remove him from game. I dont like/play sundance and i dont want her removed. Dont like him dont pick him but dont take option away from others
edgecrusherO0
4 years ago
@Psubond I don't think he should be removed, just context for why he can be/is viewed as weak and often pointless. While also at times feeling OP.

I'm arguing that his kit needs more actual depth and flexibility as it's currently super boring, static, and binary.
doubleome
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
@CantGetRightWether I or others like something is completely besides the point, this is about wanting something changed that in my opinion is out of place in this game and should have never have even existed in the first place. Especially in it’s current form, feel the same about the sentinel from Irish, or the attack dog or turret. These are either way too OP or completely useless and just an annoyance. And usually end up being changed/nerfed to the point they are still there but can basically be ignored. Which is think is currently true for the dog and turret.

That’s just bad game design.
AngrySquid270
4 years ago
Pretty sure Rao might be my most played character.
Probably the best anti-air character now that stealth helis exist. Before I might lean towards Angel.
While he is a great option for the anti-air role playing him does feel pretty chore-like. Hacking doesn't offer any sort of learning curve, there's is nothing to aspire to. It's 'mastered' within about 5min. I also feel like I'm just griefing other players when I hack them over and over again.
I think I'd like to see an alternate 'fire mode' for the hacking system. Perhaps an option to shoot a projectile like the BC2 tracer dart or some tradeoff in hack duration/disable duration.
UP_Hawxxeye
Legend
4 years ago
@AngrySquid270Alternate fire mode: Disables the throttle of an aircraft. (more time needed to hack than the regular hack).
Imagine if Mr heli had a harder time making the usual retreat
0_Katsui
4 years ago
@edgecrusherO0 wrote:
But his hacking is extremely binary and doesn't really have much nuance/variety. Hold hack button for a few seconds and you're done. Vehicle has temporary protection from further hacks for a bit. There's no real vehicle counterplay to the hack, no ability to get aggressive/riskier to repeatedly hack a single vehicle at great risk to yourself.
Definitely this, and as another said, 3s hack for 10s disable - it's OP and stupid.
Why do hacks disable all weaponry??? Think of tanks loading shells and then firing. Hacking disrupts manual physical actions???
Even electronically operated HMG's operating on a closed loop like a lightswitch - Button on, electric current connects, HMG fires. How and why the hell is that getting hacked? It feels so stupid, and not enjoyable, competitive, or balanced. There's no two way communication involved, how do you "hack" an electric current?
A Balanced Solution:
Hacking air-vehicles should forcibly autopilot them. Enable all weaponry, but unresponsive controls. That's a sitting duck for an M5, and causes crashes when timed skillfully. Jet auto-pilots should attempt to fly 5 deg upwards low-velocity, as posted above. Tank weaponry should still work, but gunner visions should be blanked out, and tank lock-on weaponry also shouldn't work.
Rao should be risk v reward: Let the hack persist as long as Rao holds it, max 15s. (8s to tanks) The hack ceases when Rao does. Auto-spot reveal Rao to enemies during hack. Since heli's are autopilot-immobile, they're at huge risk. Since their guns work and Rao is spotted, he's at huge risk. Everyone sees the Heli, but it'll take a moment looking around to find Rao, so this balances as a risk-reward way to take down heli's and remove the stupid "oh, now i magically can't do anything for 10 seconds." Tank turret limitations may prevent shooting Rao, so less duration.
The skill & fight is then still fully in the hands of both players, unlike now.
Psubond
Legend
4 years ago
@edgecrusherO0 wrote:
@PsubondI don't think he should be removed, just context for why he can be/is viewed as weak and often pointless. While also at times feeling OP.

I'm arguing that his kit needs more actual depth and flexibility as it's currently super boring, static, and binary.
idk, i like dueling with stealth helos on maps that have it and messing with the transport on exposure. i usually end up killing both due to them (i assume) getting frustrated and taking more chances to kill me

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Played Rao for the first time, why is he still in the game?

55 Replies

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