hi! until now, soldiers are the only characters, along with scientists, who haven't received any new ability in PVZGW2 yet. so i was wondering: what about a stink cloud which, instead of damaging plants, heals zombies? this could balance the fact that also roses could use a healing ability
Only issues would be length (also area of effect), ability recovery, heal rate, and potential player abuse. If it had too high of heal rate, it would be thrown to not only provide a smokescreen (causing enemy players to miss their shots), but be spammed by newer players in order to avoid a quick death. In addition, I could see soldiers throwing it onto brains/scientists, giving them an extra advantage in close range combat. Maybe if the focus on healing came from a multi rocket or a rocket jump that could suffice, but the smokescreen could be problematic as its purpose is to disguise you and your allies so that suppressing fire can be laid down easier.
The soldier is not a support character to have this kind of skills. He is a direct attacker, so that ability would not be his.
Several times I have commented that the smoke grenade is very weak in comparison with other skills.
Maybe a sticky grenade (that when throwing it left the plants stuck to the floor without moving) or one with hypnotic smoke (that has the effect of altering the controls) would be more useful.
Personally, I find the Stink Cloud bloody irritating (excuse my language, but hopefully the forum can give me some license having just returned from a game of GW2) - or to put it in milder language - an absolute pain in the neck, and would far prefer (in complete contrast to you) that this most unfortunate ability was rubbished immediately.
Please note, that I'm not talking here as a Plant, but as a Zombie who is incessantly frustrated by foolish troopers chucking there stink bombs on to a garden making it absolutely impossible to see either potato mines, spike weeds or for that matter the Plants defending it, and thereby either ruining or delaying that delicate window of opportunity, when having annihilated the plants, a mass invasion or presence of zombies ensures final capture of a garden.
To my mind, the ability is far more of a hindrance than a help, and I say this as my favourite zombie character is actually the Stock Soldier and I have never ever found a sensible reason for using it. Maybe some of you guys can enlighten me.
The Soldier is in (my personal opinion) a scout; he is not really designed to tank damage, heal, or act like a support. He is meant to provide occasional pokes at enemy resistance and help his teammates to push advancing lines, which is why I enjoyed the idea of a alt healing ability, but again refer to previous point. The abilities reflect that as they allow ample movement across or above the battlefield, hidden direct attacks, and having cover/disguise. The stink cloud is an ability that most new players will not understand, it is not meant to kill. While there is a variant strain to use that does deal more damage (though the cloud is smaller meaning you or your teammates are more of a target), the cloud is meant to be thrown at points where your team needs to advance or throw off the aim of enemy combatants (this is why players receive xp for smokescreen).
A good example of this is Great White North's first point. When I play as a soldier, I follow behind my engineer so that I can quickly pick off targets that I spotted while advancing or what I will do is throw the cloud at where he needs to set up and distract enemies nearby. Usually most of the time, my fellow engineer is not seen and we are able to set up shop quickly with the rest of the team quickly behind us in tow.
In terms of abilities, I would rather see new ones that compliment the play style of a scout rather than push him into a high damage/stun territory like the confusion cloud orochi mentioned or a variant strain that causes more fog like levels in PVZ 1.
a camouflage skill sounds good
