Re: zombie characters advantage over plants

Overall I believe the balance is pretty decent. Not perfect but asymmetrical games tend to have that issue. Certain characters could use buffs (I'm looking at you Captain Squawk), and others may need slight nerfs but the situation is pretty good in GW2.

Now the just ended portal event may skew people's perception of things since a superspeed Imp is a major pain to hit without a lot of splash and a superspeed mech is no joke either, but the imps vs corn event saw imps get thrashed pretty easily, mechs just don't do well with so much firepower focused on their large forms. Cacti are snipers and hitting a tiny super fast target that can double jump is no mean feat with a precision weapon. Chompers can do well but imps can get away fairly easily if they see you coming. Most Peashooters have splash and the toxic version seemed best able to deal with the imp hordes here. Sunflowers have a large clip size and solid rater of fire but their low health made them less than ideal for the imp swarms. 

OMG it would be saltier than the Himalayan seas if kernel corn had 200 hp.

I've mastered the default Pirate. Beyond that I didn't give him another chance. This recent speed boost mania event allowed me to experience what Pirate would be if he had the speed to be an assault class.

Not only was his Barrel ludicrously fun (And felt like I actually WAS the bean bomb since nobody seemed to run), but his shotgun style of gameplay (4-5 shots to wipe someone out with only a 4-6 clip reserve) made encounters hairy and exciting.

Let me tell you, Painter, Camo and Centurion Soldier, these were the snipers we needed. The Pirate does so darn well in speed boost mode... well I hope at some point they think to give him an "In your face" variant. I really don't feel like Squawk pulls it off, even with an overheat primary.

I didn't even think to use pirate in this game mode, that sounds fun.  I've only taken to playing the pirate class in the last couple of weeks, and while it took me a while to warm up to him, I enjoy captain deadbeard quite a bit and will have him mastered in a couple more playing sessions.  I haven't tried the variants very much, but I don't like them as well as the default.  If only the cactus class was as user friendly as pirate - that's almost assuredly going to be the last class I level up.

The most glaringly disadvantaged counterpart for the plants is the Sunflower imo. It feels so much worse than the scientist as the scientist has:

1. Better ability choices across the board. Tier 1 - Scientist has Heal Beam or Heal Station, Sunflower just has two Heal Beams that are exactly the same. Scientist is the clear winner because it has a self sustain/AoE heal option the Sunflower just doesn't get. Tier 2 - Scientist has Warp or Energy Warp, massively needed tools to keep a squishy 100 hp character alive, while Sunflower has the Sunbeams which are a very poor mans version of Gatling/BBB and basically a death sentence for an easily recognizable 100 hp (now immobile) character. Though both are different and sunbeam does have its uses, Warps are far superior here for both offensive play and for getting to where you need to be to heal/revive. Tier 3 - Scientist has Healing Grenade or Sticky Grenade. Sunflower has Dark Flower and the two Heal Pots that, once again, are essentially the same thing. This is the only tier I'd say is roughly equal - Dark Flower is the only interesting ability choice sunflowers get but is severely limiting by requiring you give up your only self heal, whereas the Scientist doesn't have to make such a sacrifice to take Sticky Grenade or Heal Beam.

2. Overall better weapons. The Astronaut has more DPS than every sunflower besides the Mystic flower spamming fast attacks. On top of that, Scientist has aggressive shotgun variants that play differently, whereas every Flower pretty much plays the same way with the notable exception of Vampire Flower. Vamp Flower is the only saving grace for the class IMO, but its limited health make it very punishing to play.

3. No gigantic head. As a sunflower your 100 HP is compounded by the fact that you stand out from the crowd very visibly and have a huge head for a target, causing you to take more hits overall, most of which will be crits to your low health pool. This isn't as important as #1 and #2 but it adds up to make the Sunflower a big steaming pile compared to the scientist.

I suggest bumping all Sunflowers besides Vampire and Metal up by 25 HP to counteract the fact that they have no mobility skill like the scientist. Metal Petal needs a substantial speed boost to only be slightly slower than the rest, and Vampire is fine the way it is (high risk, high reward).

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@UmbralTremor wrote:

The most glaringly disadvantaged counterpart for the plants is the Sunflower imo. It feels so much worse than the scientist as the scientist has:

1. Better ability choices across the board. Tier 1 - Scientist has Heal Beam or Heal Station, Sunflower just has two Heal Beams that are exactly the same. Scientist is the clear winner because it has a self sustain/AoE heal option the Sunflower just doesn't get. Tier 2 - Scientist has Warp or Energy Warp, massively needed tools to keep a squishy 100 hp character alive, while Sunflower has the Sunbeams which are a very poor mans version of Gatling/BBB and basically a death sentence for an easily recognizable 100 hp (now immobile) character. Though both are different and sunbeam does have its uses, Warps are far superior here for both offensive play and for getting to where you need to be to heal/revive. Tier 3 - Scientist has Healing Grenade or Sticky Grenade. Sunflower has Dark Flower and the two Heal Pots that, once again, are essentially the same thing. This is the only tier I'd say is roughly equal - Dark Flower is the only interesting ability choice sunflowers get but is severely limiting by requiring you give up your only self heal, whereas the Scientist doesn't have to make such a sacrifice to take Sticky Grenade or Heal Beam.

2. Overall better weapons. The Astronaut has more DPS than every sunflower besides the Mystic flower spamming fast attacks. On top of that, Scientist has aggressive shotgun variants that play differently, whereas every Flower pretty much plays the same way with the notable exception of Vampire Flower. Vamp Flower is the only saving grace for the class IMO, but its limited health make it very punishing to play.

3. No gigantic head. As a sunflower your 100 HP is compounded by the fact that you stand out from the crowd very visibly and have a huge head for a target, causing you to take more hits overall, most of which will be crits to your low health pool. This isn't as important as #1 and #2 but it adds up to make the Sunflower a big steaming pile compared to the scientist.

I suggest bumping all Sunflowers besides Vampire and Metal up by 25 HP to counteract the fact that they have no mobility skill like the scientist. Metal Petal needs a substantial speed boost to only be slightly slower than the rest, and Vampire is fine the way it is (high risk, high reward).

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I totally agree!

Im so hoping they will atleast take away the long range from the Scientists. 
Ive said it before and will again. The Scientist has to much DPS and get-away-tools for being a supportclass.
Keep the the warps, but cut the HUGE dps he has.