Re: New Caustic nerf kinda broke him

by chiefthunderball
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Original Post

New Caustic nerf kinda broke him

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★★★ Novice

Anyone else share this view, especially fellow caustic mains?

I've been moving for the past two weeks, so I wasn't able to play Lost Treasures until today. Even when reading the patch notes for the event on the road, I was slightly concerned when it said that his gas traps can be shot away before they're fully inflated. But, I decided I wasn't going to make any judgement calls until I got to sit down and test it for myself.

 

And after playing a couple games... Wow. It feels like he's been backed into a corner. At this point, his usefulness has been reduced into pre-fight. Anything further, and his tactical ability is squat.

 

I understand a lot of players hated getting into a scrap with a Caustic out in the open and seeing gas traps fly, but that was the point in my opinion; he was the wildcard of the defensive lineup. When I did get stuck fighting out in the open, I could trust that scattering a trap or two would fulfill the defensive part; it made getting up in a Caustic's face risky, forcing smart players to reposition and tackle him from another angle. That's now gone. Or when being shot at from long range, again out in the open, throwing down a gas trap and squatting behind it was another DEFENSIVE strategy, allowing myself a second to pop a quick shield cell or two and hastily figure out my next move. But with the (opinion) fair timer on the trap once activated and the surprisingly thin hitbox on the body of the trap, it meant that doing this wasn't always a guaranteed safe move. Again, something smart players could work around.

He doesn't even feel viable for holding enclosed spaces anymore, other than, as mentioned previously, pre-fight. If you attempt to retrap a building in the middle of a skirmish, the chances of a stray bullet hitting it before it's fully inflated are almost guaranteed. Even if it appears to be inflated, and is just playing the last 0.3 seconds of the sound effect for it to be completed, and a single pellet from a mastiff brushes the side of it, you can kiss your trap goodbye. I lost two moments like that where I normally could have held a fighting chance if I had the old gas traps.

 

I'm sure to some people, his gas grenade seems like it solves those issues; bullets can't remove it, it creates a huge cloud of gas, AND it does slightly more damage than the traps. But the issue is with it being his Ultimate, meaning that the cooldown is much longer, which leads to me being afraid of using it in a stupid moment only to need it once we're inevitably third-partied. And as well, Wattson's Pylon can zap it out of the air if it's in range, which is what made the traps so useful for countering her (caustic gas destroys fences). That's gone as well, since Wattson can just sit and shoot every single trap you chuck in there.

 

Wattson has a way to counter him. Wraith has a way to counter him. Loba has a way to possibly avoid past his traps. Octane now has a slightly better way to counter him. Pathfinder can still escape from the gas if he gets a lucky grapple. Even Bloodhound and Digi-Threats can see through his gas.

 

So why on God's Green Earth did Caustic need yet another nerf? Especially after the teammate buff at the beginning of the season that finally put him in a respectable place.

 

He just feels like he lost what made him so appealing to the originally small playerbase that picked him up. There's no more storming a fight with the intent of causing confusion and chaos to an enemy squad, and being that "monster in the fog" that Respawn envisioned him as. Now I feel like I wanna hide behind corners and not move in for the kill, because I know if I do, I don't have my tactical to reliably assist me.

 

Anyone else have any opinions on it? If it wasn't for my stubborn love for him, I'd probably retire him for Octane (Who's buffs I actually love, and is something I feel he's needed. He's fun as all hell to play now!)

 

Also, apologies for any spelling/grammar errors. Wrote this on a mobile, RIP my thumbs.

Message 1 of 4 (360 Views)

Re: New Caustic nerf kinda broke him

@jareto102 only thing I care about for caustic is fixing his traps that don't activate while an enemy is standing next to it
Message 2 of 4 (268 Views)

Re: New Caustic nerf kinda broke him

★★★ Pro
@jareto102 Yess, his powers dropped significantly. Before this Caustic was able to use traps as grenades in an active fight to push enemies, now using traps in an active fight equals to death, because while you drop traps enemies can shoot both you and traps and you can’t do anything.
Caustic traps are now only good for holding a place and only his ultimate can be used for pushing fights.

However, I hope at least they made the animation for throwing his ultimate, a bit quicker. I always lose at least 50 HP when I’m trying to through my gas in the middle of a fight (to run away or push).

People think this small things wouldn’t change Caustic much, but it really affect his fighting style. I wish at least he has fast revive, or fast heal like Gibby, now that his tactical got nerfed.
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Re: New Caustic nerf kinda broke him

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@jareto102 Well,i dont really belive in nerfs,only making the playing field even for all legends. As a wattson main,Caustic was one of the biggest counters to wattson.His gas traps were usually activated before a wattson in a house would be able to shoot them.With that being said,if a pylon was in the room,it wouldve been destroyed,which wouldve allowed caustic to use his ult freely AND pretty much taking a house from a wattson.(I used to main Caustic,before Wattson and used these strats.). As you mentioned,his gas traps were effective mid fight,which i have no problem with. I wish they didnt neuter legends,because regardless ,its a hero game. There will be counters to everyone. But I'm with you,another unecessary nerf
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