Hey everyone! So it is obvious to most of us that Bastion, out of all the heroes in the game, is in probably the worst spot. After the Symmetra rework (she just needs buffs now) and Torbjorn rework (he might need a nerf, lol), Bastion remains the last of the “super niche” characters. I’ve seen just about every hero in comp and quickplay this season, some to varying degrees of success. Bastion is seemingly relegated to his mains, and to payload maps for pirate ship.
His problem is simple. In the same way that Torb and Symm were overly defensive and niche, Bastion is slow and mostly immobile. I tried playing him a bit ago and he feels clunky, honestly. Far from the Transformer that he should be. So I took a bit of time to think about how they would go about making him more “normal” so to speak, but keep his identity as Bastion.
One problem is that most of his power is in his sentry form. The damage output is higher even without headshots, and he recieves damage resist and immunity to boops as well. The only pro he has in recon form is walking speed mobility. There just isn’t an incentive for it except to reposition.
He’s also extremely still while transforming, and that should be made more fluid.
So, here we go…
Passive: Ironclad removed
Configuration: Recon
Head hitbox reduced slightly
weapon firing changed from Auto rifle to pulse rifle. Bursts of 3 bullets in quick succession. Same DPS but with higher burst. (This is to further differentiate Bastion from Soldier: 76)
ammo changed to 30
NEW ABILITY: Scout – Bastion sends his bird friend Ganymede to follow a single targeted enemy. That enemy is highlighted for 5 seconds, seeable through walls. 10 second cooldown. Cannot be used through enemy barriers.
Can now heal and fire at the same time, with a decreased fire rate.
Configuration: Sentry
Spread reverted and critical hits returned.
150 ammo.
cannot reload while in Sentry form, but can heal, scout, and transform.
NEW ANIMATION: Bastion can exit Sentry form by pressing and holding a direction, then Transform. He will roll and transform as a sort of horizontal Dodge. Can also roll from Recon into Sentry by using the Transform ability while moving. Moves 5 meters.
gains 75 extra armor while in Sentry form.
Configuration: Tank
Transformation speed buffed to 1.5 seconds
gains 150 armor while in Tank form.
All of these changes would make Bastion a much more fluid hero, able to leap into battle and change forms more smoothly. Recon mode is made the primary mode, reducing the necessity and crutch of constant Sentry form. A new ability, weapon firing, and several quality of life changes should make him more viable in more situations while eliminating the frustration of facing an eternally turtling Bastion.
What does everyone think? Numbers can of course be tweaked.
EDIT: numbers have been rebalanced and the extra cooldown removed.
Sentry shouldn’t be a cooldown… I’m fine with not being able to reload (and thus having to go to Recon for more ammo), but 10 seconds is an eternity to go without your
intended primary source of damage.
I would change it to 200 ammo (about 6 and a half seconds of fire for shields and such), reduce the extra armor on Tank to 150 (what it was before the rework), and 75 armor in Sentry.
I’d like to also add in that you can easily out-damage Sentry mode with Recon mode because Recon is more accurate and can headshot (with the accuracy being the more important part). Bastion’s damage in Sentry mode is actually one of the worst in the game once you factor in his abismal accuracy (Source). I do agree with the Ironclad part though, I think it takes too much away from Recon, and discourages moving around.
Ironclad could have been done well though. If they had just allowed Bastion to overheal himself with 50-75 armor (similar to Torb’s armor, can only overheal only when at full health, can’t be healed by healers) instead of giving a damage resist, it would have been a much better ability.
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, I get the cooldown argument. The only reason I put it on there in the first place was to encourage Recon mode over Sentry as the main form. The reason Bastion is bad is because Sentry, a nonmobile turret with high damage, is his “main form” and treated as that, while Recon is basically just how you get somewhere for most players. It’d be hard to balance that. If it is too weak (like now), then Bastion is terrible. If it is too strong (like 35% Ironclad) Then he is OP.
Bastion cannot be balanced if the mindset is to balance him around Sentry mode. Bastion should be Recon mode mostly with Sentry as something he can do, as opposed to Sentry mode mostly with Recon as something he can do.
But now that I think about it, the cooldown is a bit much. I’ll tweak the OP with the new info!
I’m gonna have to disagree slightly on that point… The reason he’s bad is because the of the poor power balance of his main form, and the fact that it’s encouraged too much. Sentry should be his main form, and Recon should be used mostly for repositioning and a bit of long range accuracy, but at the moment, Recon isn’t being encouraged enough. With Ironclad and Bastion’s spread being the way it is, it encourages players to sit in Sentry mode for too long, when they should be repositioning. Since he doesn’t get Ironclad in Recon mode, it often seems like a better option to stay in Sentry than it is to run away because of the damage resist. His damage (spread mostly) also plays a role in this because he can’t deal damage quickly and consistently enough to get a kill then move on, thus he stays in Sentry longer than he should.
Sentry still needs to be his main focus, but I do agree that Recon should be encouraged more… I think I posted earlier in this thread about allowing Ironclad to affect all modes (not as a passive damage resist, but instead either DR while healing, or overheal with armor). That’s the best way I can think of to encourage both forms, because you’re not punished for running by losing your extra health.