šŸ¤– Bastion: Simplified Astro changes

Astro did a great writeup on a Bastion design concept over here:
šŸ¤– Bastion Rework Coming Next?

Hereā€™s my attempt to paraphrase and simplify it:

Bastion

Sentry mode

  • Better damage at range, however they do it.
  • Maybe just zero damage falloff at range, like Orisa.

Self Heal

  • No half second delay on startup.
  • No half second delay after using it.
  • No resource used if full HP.

E ability, Tank mode

  • Transform into a tank that fires, ~100-120 damage shots, depending on splash damage.
  • Much quieter tread noises.

Ultimate ability: Overclock

  • Ramps up the damage of his basic abilities.
  • Gives additional iron clad.
  • Faster transform speed.
  • Unlimited ammo.
5 Likes

None of that sounds balanced in the slightest. What the actual baloney, lol? You want bastion to be sneaky and put his ult on his E? His ult snipes 200-250 hp heroes like nothing, and you want that to be unlimited?

Not only that, but you want to give him a super steroid? So heā€™s basically someone Ana never needs to boost because he can literally boost himself?

NOT ONLY THAT, YOU WANT 0 DAMAGE FALL OFF ON SENTRY MODE? BRO?! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF BALANCE LOL?!

1 Like

Iā€™m sorry, but are you a moron? If you actually read the Tank Mode ability he put out, he said it would be 100 to 120 damage. Tank Mode is also INCREDIBLY LOUD because itā€™s an ULTIMATE. If it was a REGULAR, LESS-THREATENING ABILITY but still LOUD it wouldnā€™t be consistent.

Just to clarify, I read the post, and I dislike the idea. I think Bastion needs to become more a more ā€˜independentā€™ hero that relies less on his team, but not this way.

3 Likes
  1. His Ult already had unlimited ammo.
  2. By putting Tank on E, it gives him some mobility options, and a bit of burst damage. Damage, rate of fire, and splash damage can be adjusted to be fine.
  3. The damage/resistance he gets from the ultimate would be equivalent to what he already gets in his ultimate.
  4. Rather than raise his damage, Iā€™m just suggesting giving him less damage falloff at range. Meanwhile his spread at range is so bad that a Soldier does more damage past 30m range. The spread would keep it in check.
1 Like

Higher accuracy would be a nerf at lower ranks a buff at higher one , the ult would be limited to only 5 -10 shots

Hey your bastion changes are similar to mine but thereā€™s one key difference, you keep bastions ability to be in the selected mode for as long as he wants meaning he wonā€™t ever change out of his most powerful form. Take a look at my changes and let me know what you think

Bastion changes

Self heal remains unchanged

Recon mode same

Turret mode, 10 second cool down, canā€™t reload, keeps standard iron clad, 20% reduction of spread.

New tank mode: 50% movement speed reduction, shells deal 120 damage, fire slower then ult mode (about 20% slower). 6 shells. Keeps standard ironclad. No reload 15 second cool down

Ult: hunter killer mode: buffs each mode duration drains meter at different rates depending on mode vastly reduces time it takes to change forms and there is no meter drain during configuration change (.5ish seconds)
Recon - targets that remain in line of site for 2 second (pending balance) are ā€œmarkedā€ and are revealed through walls just like widow ult or hanzo sonic arrow (get it he is in recon mode heā€™s doing reconasance for his team) gains iron clad for 30% drains meter at 5% per second
Turret mode - gains the ability to reload, reload cut in half compared to live, when curser is over a ā€œmarkedā€ target spread is reduced by a further 20% buffs iron clad to 40% drains meter at 7.5%
Tank mode - still standard 6 shots with no reload, missles home in on targets if they are marked, buff to speed, fire rate, and damage to live values iron clad buffed to 50% drains meter at 10% a second

Limiting his transformation options would just kill him further than he already isā€¦ 10 seconds is an eternity to be without your primary source of damage, especially if you donā€™t even use all of your ammo in Sentry. If you press shift twice, you now have to wait 10 seconds, and you didnā€™t even do anything. Punishing players for swapping modes more often isnā€™t a good way to balance him.

Before his rework, players had to move around a lot more often than they do now because they didnā€™t have Ironclad. If we were to either go back to that (no Ironclad), or allow Ironclad to affect all modes (I suggest attaching it to his heal, and either allow him to overheal himself with more armor that only he can apply/heal, or giving him some damage resist while healing kinda like Roadhog), then people will use Recon a lot more because they donā€™t lose their defenses when using it.

Tank on E is a decent rework, but I donā€™t think he really needs a rework that largeā€¦ I think if they just make some changes to Ironclad and revert (or at least partial revert) Sentry mode to what it was before his rework, he would be fine. He would still probably be at the bottom of the pickrate list, but thatā€™s fine. A lot of people avoid Bastion because they donā€™t like his playstyle, and thatā€™s fine. Thereā€™s a lot of other options out there, leave Bastionā€™s about where it is for the people that do like it, just make him less bad.

Hereā€™s a link to a post going over the overheal idea if anyone cares

Ironclad rework
  • General changes
    • Being stunned during a transformation now instantly completes the transformation
  • Configuration Sentry
    • Reduce maximum spread to 2Ā° (Currently 3Ā°)
    • Bloom added to weapon
      • Initial accuracy of 1.25Ā°, bloom starts after 0.3 seconds of continuous fire
      • Reaches 2Ā° after 0.3 seconds of additional continuous fire
    • Headshots added
    • Ammo count reduced to 200 (Currently 300)
  • Ironclad
    • Damage resistance removed
    • Now allows Bastionā€™s self-repair to over-heal him with 75 armor
    • This armor cannot be healed by other healers, only Bastion
      • The over-heal is ā€œorangeā€ armor, similar to Torbā€™s armor packs
  • Self-repair
    • No longer consumes resources when it cannot heal Bastion
    • Startup delay reduced to 0.1 seconds (Currently 0.5 seconds)
    • Able to reload while repairing
    • Healing resource increased by 25%
      • Allows for 375 healing (Currently 300)
  • Configuration Tank
    • No self damage
      • Still applies the same self knockback, but does 0 damage to Bastion
    • Tread sounds reduced slightly
    • Adds 75 normal armor
    • Instantly applies 75 Ironclad armor (in addition to the normal armor)

And hereā€™s my take on a Tank on E rework, but again, I would much rather they do something smaller

Tank on E
  • General changes
    • Being stunned during a transformation now instantly completes the transformation
  • Configuration Recon
    • Reload time reduced to 1.5 seconds (Formerly 2 seconds)
  • Configuration Sentry
    • Headshots added
    • Bloom added to weapon
      • Initial accuracy of 1.25Ā°, bloom starts after 0.3 seconds of continuous fire
      • Reaches a maximum of 2Ā° after 0.3 seconds of additional continuous fire
    • Ammo reduced to 250
    • Reload time increased to 2.5 seconds (Formerly 2 seconds)
  • Configuration Tank (E Ability)
    • Damage reduced to 120 (Formerly 205)
      • Splash damage now ranges from 40 - 85 damage (Formerly 70 - 145)
    • Splash radius reduced to 2 meters (Formerly 4 meters)
    • Tank tread sounds reduced
    • 3 shots per clip
    • Ammo reloads over time similar to Doomfistā€™s gun
      • Shot timer and reload timer are independent, meaning he can reload shots even while shooting. This gives an effective 5 shots to begin with, and then one shot every 2 seconds afterwards.
    • Ammo reloads at 1 shell per 2 seconds
    • No self damage
    • Transformation time reduced to 1 second (Formerly 1.5 seconds)
  • Ironclad (Passive)
    • Persistent Ironclad is removed from all modes (Sentry and Tank)
    • Ironclad is now bound to Self-repair
    • Ironclad can now be activated even in Recon mode
  • Self-repair
    • No longer consumes resources when it does not heal Bastion
    • Starts healing instantly instead of having an 0.5 second delay
    • Applies 25% Ironclad for duration of repair
  • Overclock (Ultimate Ability)
    • Adds 150 armor to all forms
      • Alternatively, gives passive 35% Ironclad in Sentry/Tank, and 20% Ironclad in Recon. These are not bound to repair, they are passive.
    • Instantly reloads all ammo for all forms
    • Reduces transformation time by half
    • Lasts 8 seconds
  • Overclock (Recon mode)
    • Increases movement by 18% (From 5.5 m/s to 6.5 m/s)
    • Increases rate of fire by 50% (From 8 r/s to 12 r/s)
    • Reduce reload speed by 50% (From 1.5 s to 1 s)
  • Overclock (Sentry mode)
    • Grants CC immunity
    • Increases rate of fire by 16% to (From 30 r/s to 35 r/s)
  • Overclock (Tank mode)
    • Recharge rate decreased to 1 second (Normally 2 seconds)
    • Increase direct hit damage to 205
    • Reverts splash damage and radius to their current values

No, not silent.

Just quiet enough that it doesnā€™t sound like an airraid siren from around the corner.

The damage was said to be reduced to 120.

Thatā€™s kinda the purpose of an ult. To not act like a sudo ability that can work on a CD.

I think this is all a bit much. I would like tank on e, or hos sentry mode could be better, but if you give him all of that plus a steroid ult he could get really overbearing.

Well I figure the ultimate would just upgrade the tank in E to the current version of tank ultimate. Minus the 3 seconds of transformation times.

And they can adjust the other transformation modes individually as well.

Either revert him so heā€™s an actual glass cannon or go full on tanky and make him an anchor tank area denial hero

Hereā€™s my take on it:

Recon

  • 30 cap. mag.
  • 2 shots per second.
  • 80 damage per shot.
  • no spread
  • no longer hitscan, 60m/s projectile speed (like his tank projectiles).
  • .4s constant transform into recon
  • Sounds like this:

Sentry mode

  • 1.5 HS multiplier.
  • 3.0 spread reduced to 2.25-2.5
  • 100 ammo.
  • .75s transform speed into this mode
  • 1.5s reload.

E ability, Tank mode

  • Transform into a tank that fires, 20-120 damage per shot
  • Much quieter tread noises.
  • Has 3 shots, has to charge up each shot to do the full 120. Each shot recharges like Tracerā€™s blink, but 5 seconds instead of 3.
  • .75s transform speed into this mode

This gives him mobility when he needs it, but not the power to turn into a grounded Pharah without the enemy reacting to him.

Self Heal

  • No half second delay on startup.
  • No half second delay after using it.
  • No resource used if full HP.

Ultimate ability: Overclock

  • Gives additional 5% ironclad.
  • .25s transform speed on all modes.
  • Unlimited ammo.
  • 15% Faster firerate.
  • Lasts 10 seconds, but the final 4 seconds is when it starts ramping down, rather than abruptly ending at 10s.

Ironclad

  • 5% in Recon
    • 10% with Overclock
  • 15% in Sentry
    • 20% with Overclock
  • 20% in Tank
    • 25% with Overclock
  • 50% IC when transforming
1 Like

Nifty, hadnā€™t thought of that charge mechanic on the Tank.

Preferably the first one, but the second wouldnā€™t be bad if he had about the same-ish damage output as Orisa.

1 Like

Does the Sentry come with bloom added back, or a constant 2.25Ā°? And is the reload speed faster? It seems like Sentry is losing a LOT of power for Tank in that oneā€¦

As I see it, the only real reaction to tank that you would have is his transformation time. This charge meter allows him to have multiple shots, but not in quick succession, allows the enemy time to react/get to cover, much like Widowā€™s shots but without the OHK.

Possibly. I havenā€™t tested this idea since there is no real way to test it.

If the degree is 2.25, then possibly not because 2.0 was his original start. I donā€™t want Sentry to become a sniper again.

If 2.5, then possibly.

The goal of this is to shoot while in Sentry, but switch once done. I wouldnā€™t mind a slightly faster reload, but only slightly.

That reload is to prevent him from camping in Sentry.

This way he would reload via transforming.

His old spread was 2Ā°, but he started out at 1Ā° and bloomed out to 2Ā°ā€¦ And he wasnā€™t really a sniper before, it was just a decent gun. Worse than 76ā€™s in accuracy and spread controlā€¦

What I would really want is a slightly toned down version of Hammondā€™s spreadā€¦ the same values, but it starts itā€™s bloom slightly faster and reaches itā€™s max slightly faster than Hammond.

But how long did it take to reach full bloom.

Currently, I just got the idea of his spread starting out at .75 spread, but only shooting 6 rounds per second.

That way itā€™s accurate, but not so intensive that it would annihilate tanks.

Lemme try some brainstormingā€¦

It started bloom instantly, and I think it took about half a second, give or take, to reach max.

What I normally suggest is this:

  • Initial accuracy of 1.25Ā°, bloom starts after 0.2 seconds of continuous fire
  • Reaches 2Ā° after 0.3 seconds of additional continuous fire

Thatā€™s 6 bullets at 1.25Ā°, then 9 between 1.25Ā° and 2Ā°.

Thatā€™s about half the speed that Orisa shootsā€¦ It puts him at 90 DPS down from 450ā€¦