Class Discussion: Chomper
Next on the class discussion rotation; Chomper.
Chomper is a problematic character and has been since GW1. Originally felt like a solo assassin more than a team player, often played as the notorious; ‘suicide Chomper’ (where you burrow one zombie and the rest take you while you’re vulnerable while digesting them), the target of a lot of ire of other players, and likely a difficult character to balance. I’ve seen some idea out there, Krook and Koopa had some solid ones, some of which I’ll share here, but this character could use some attention, especially after the BfN version.
The biggest issue that this character suffers from is hit registration. In GW2, you’ll see a Chomper burrow a zombie and go to shoot them, only for them to not actually be there, and they’ll jump over a few feet instead. In BfN, you’ll bite someone, especially when chasing them, and you’ll see damaging hits over and over but they aren’t taking any damage. You’ll also see them chomp zombies midair, chomp a zombie when they’re not behind them, and so on. Getting the next game’s netcode tighter would help with this, as it’s something that is a pain to deal with both as a zombie and as a Chomper. It’s not a problem reserved for Chompers, but it affects them more than most.
As for the Chomper’s normal attack, giving them chomp back when they’re surfaced would be best, but while Chomper is one of my least played characters for various reasons, I’d like to be able to just use my normal attack instead of chomping when I really don’t want to be a suicide Chomper! One suggestion I’ve seen and shared before is that we only do normal attack when not burrowing, unless we are behind the zombie and use the aim key (or the opposite, we use the aim key to not chomp, and would chomp when not using it), in which case we’d chomp them. This would make Chomper more versatile and less prone to single vanquish streaks.
Chomper has always had that the issue of zombies getting to high ground and making them impotent at attacking them in GW, in GW2 they can swap to Chomp Cannon (and it can be a fun surprise), but it’s a one shot weapon with a fairly long cooldown. It’s obvious in BfN that the devs were trying to solve this with the long ranged spit attack, but thanks largely to no damage loss over range, you will see Chompers snipe in BfN, which is so bizarre and obvious not what Chompers were designed for! I get giving them the ability to deal with zombies that stay back and avoid close range all the time, although damage drop off would help with that at least somewhat, but you will see Chompers that do nothing but spit in BfN, and that should not be a thing in the next game.
As for them attacking and wholly swallowing armored zombies in BfN, where they used to have to eat your armor first in the GW games? You did coins for that in GW1, I don’t think we do in GW2 (correct me if wrong), but removing that requirement completely is a big change. I’m not sure how I feel about this one. If others have an idea, please post it here!
I’ve also seen people complain about the digestion vulnerability as well. You’re so slow while chewing, but as you can’t attack or use any abilities anyway, do we need that slower speed penalty in the first place? Also, the Engineer/Chomper interaction has been brought many times over the years, much like the Citron/Mech interaction with EMPeach. Having specific counters like that makes sense, but also kind of a mess in a game where normally you don’t feel that you have to play a specific character, barring quests and challenges. These are things where I don’t have a good answer for that situation, but am open to ideas!
Spikeweed is another one that changed a lot. I like it most in GW1 where it has that more detailed animation and where it has an arm time like potato mines and sonic mines. In GW2 it lost the more interesting animation and became instant arming which is heavily abused by many Chomper players. I use that effect on AI, but not other players, but then I don’t play Chomper all that often in PvP. In BfN, spikeweed is just not that effective. While getting caught in it in GW and GW2 was annoying, it was there for that reason and it’s just too easy to destroy in BfN, and while letting us launch it is cool, it’s so inaccurate that it can land in useless spots. This is an ability that definitely needs a rework or revert for the next shooter. I would give it decent health so you can’t just shoot it casually as you walk by, keep the ability to launch it, although make it more accurate so it lands where you aim it, give it an arming time, and return to GW1’s animation.
Goop is one that a lot dislike to be hit with, super sticky goop has had issues with it working properly that should be fixed if kept. I do like grody goop in BfN to a point, although it’s too good against lower health characters like Imps, the idea of an area denial weapon is useful. This is an ability where I can see both sides of the argument and can deal with it being handled either way, as long as they don’t leave BfN’s AoE goop so deadly. It was too weak before to be sure, but BfN’s Chomper in general is a bit muddled.
And that leads me into BfN’s Chomper as a whole. What is it supposed to be now? In a game that adds roles (Attack, Defense, Support) which is similar to OW, Chomper is an attack role plant but that doesn’t help much, just like making Engineer a support role. In GW/GW2, they are a mix of defense by placing spikeweeds on the gardens and other points like in Suburbination, and attack as they can be very aggressive and melee/short range focused and of course, semi-stealthy assassins. This is all a little bit off in BfN; It can shoot at will with no range limit, it can still burrow to take out a particular player or AI, it’s spikeweed isn’t all that useful in BfN, and grody goop is a mixed bag. When I first started playing BfN I loved the idea of making Chomper more of a team player, but I feel the character still needs some work.
So, for GW3, I’d say to make them again more like they used to be in GW/GW2, with some adjustments to make them more versatile; give Spikeweed its old health back but let them spit it over range, give them a ranged option like chomp cannon but maybe less damage and more charges (just not so much that it turns a melee/assassin character into a sniper), chomping on the surface from behind is back but give the player more control over that, reduce their vulnerability when digesting zombies, and take a look at their relationship with Engineers and how they fit into the plant team. Chompers may always be a bit of an odd class, but they should be fun to play as and against, while maintaining their identity.
