Chomper needs some changes.

(Summary of what I think should be changed at the bottom of post, for those who don't want to read all this)

First things first, let's be honest. Chomper has never been a top tier character. He's tricky to use, and his instakills leave him highly vulnerable. This has been the case since GW1. However, he's still by far my favorite class to use. There's just something about him that has always been amusing. But he has definitely suffered from the conversion to BfN from GW2. I mastered him, and have taken most of his character upgrades for a spin, so I'm not going into this blind.

First, he's got a huge hitbox. This is kinda hard to change without making him OP, so I think just a slight HP boost would be ideal. 200 HP would be a good place for him. He's already got 175, so it wouldn't be a huge difference to a Chomper who gets caught swallowing a zombie.

I do love the addition of a ranged attack, though. I'll say that now. I love his ability to stop a player from escaping thanks to this.

Here's where things start to change, though. I'm going to go over his abilities. First:

• Grody Goop. This is honestly his one ability that I don't think needs any changes. I disliked it at first, but then I realized the full extent of how it works. The Zombies spread the infection if they group together, and, more importantly, any Zombie standing in the cloud loses their abilities until they escape. This means that, although it takes some getting used to, it accomplishes the same thing as Sticky Goop and Super Sticky Goop, in that it stops a character from escaping before you can KO them. If you can creep up behind someone and goop them, it's rare that they'll be able to escape, as Goop + 2 chomps will vanquish almost any character.

• Spikeweed. This one needs some huge changes. I despise the fact that it is now a projectile that takes a few seconds to set. This means that placing spikeweeds in the exact spot you want is much more difficult than it was in past games. Spikeweeds are highly effective when placed in terrain that disguises them, such as in grassy areas. But now the projectile bounces around and is difficult to place precisely or quickly. This is especially frustrating when dealing with close range characters. The Chomper could deter enemies like Super Brains from getting close by dropping a spikeweed and getting the kill on anyone dumb enough to try and get close. As is, it is no longer a deterrent for melee opponents, as they can see it coming and simply step away. By extension, it is no longer good at stopping pursuers, either. One of my favorite tactics was fleeing when at low health, and catching any pursuers in a spikeweed. I'd love to see the ability simply be dropped at his feet like in past games. I'd even be OK paying a couple ability points to do so, since it's a pretty drastic change.

• Burrow. This one is especially frustrating. Half of Burrow's viability was the fact that it was stealthy. You could use the move to sneak up on people, and, most importantly, if you didn't move when using it, you became silent, and the little mound of dirt around you vanished. This allowed you to wait until a group of players walked past you, and then vanquish them from behind, starting with the last person in line. Now, for as long as you are burrowed, your Chomper loudly growls, alerting any Zombie within 20 feet of your presence. Whatever happened to "The best Chomper is a sneaky Chomper"? PLEASE allow Burrow to be a more silent ability as it was in the past. This ability also has painfully bad hit detection, even worse than in any past game, I'd like to see that fixed.

To sum up, here's what I think:

Pros of Chomper:

• Melee damage VASTLY improved over past games (except for Armor Chomper, but he was super slow to balance out his damage).
• Added ranged attacks make him great at playing defensively. It is hard to approach an area guarded by a Chomper.
• Grody Goop is excellent crowd control.

Downsides of Chomper:

• Lost all semblance of stealth.
• Lost assassination capability when attacking from behind.
• Lost ability to counter melee and close range opponents effectively.

What I think should be changed:

• Allow spikeweed to be deployed at one's feet instead of a projectile. I would be fine if this was an upgrade into which a couple points needed to be placed.
• Add additional damage when attacking from behind, or even consider returning his assassination ability. Chomper should be a sneaky character, and deserves to be rewarded for it.
• Remove the the dirt pile and super loud growling sound when using burrow, but ONLY when remaining motionless. I am fine with him being super loud when moving, but when you're sitting motionless and he's still screaming "Grah! Grah! Grah!" for every zombie in Neighborville to hear loud and clear, he's not exactly sneaky.
• Round him off at 200 HP if he's not going to get back his stealth capacity. Right now, he has the HP he did when he was still a stealth character, despite the fact that he plays like an assault character. If he does get back his ability to go silent, then his HP should NOT increase. But he needs one or the other. He either needs a bit more beef, or a bit more stealth.
• Fix the hit detection on Burrow. As an ability, it is extremely unreliable. This fix needs to happen whether burrow is made stealthy or not.

Please remember that these are just my opinions. I'd love to hear what other players think, and whether they like my ideas or would like to see things changed in other ways, or even if they think the Chomper is perfect and needs no changes.

Thoughts?