From the point SK was conceived, we have had many different items within the game to choose from. These have long been about the same list, and boss weapons have always had their own ways of being obtained. But since the time they moved into public testing, times have changed. A lot. Yes, from the adding of 5* items, to LD, to the removal of the fabled tortodrone, and the more recent craft, rev, and heat system changes; many changes have hit SK over the years. All of these have affected our arsenals, and the way we play.... some, however, not for the best. This is a listing of fixes to patch up the holes made where changes simply left some items behind, or skipped them altogether, or made them much more than they should be.

(Do note i have had this lingering about for a while. finally decided to post the tweak set in parts to avoid ridiculously long post size (beyond that which it no doubt is anyway). Though these issues remain relevant, giving cause to post this.)

NOTE: I have, for your reading pleasure, inserted (((^))) as TL;DR marks to skip larger details that technically aren't part of the main suggestion: simply move past any details marked with the character until another one is seen to continue reading. Although some of these are notes that may add to actual understanding of the suggestion and it's purpose. Anyone complaining about post length shall recieve proceeding recommendation to go find something more suited to their reading ability. Might i suggest Dr. Seuss?

<< PvP >>
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With the release of lockdown to the public as the surrogate for super brawl (removed for it's popularity dip); PvP exited the early stages and went on to be a big feature of the game, and a favorite among post-endgame players. The fact that this game has changed has become apparent with it's release as well, however; and the weapons that already needed fixing and balancing need it more, while some new gear joins the roster as well. Many things need fixing in the entire gear lineup in order to allow items to be more friendly to a PvP environment they weren't meant for. Combine with that it simply isn't as well put together as it's cousin, and OOO; you have a big mess to clean up.

Classes:
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The way lockdown is assembled gives you three class choices: Recon, Guardian, or Striker.... if i were to form a summary of public reception of them, it would have to be: stupid, more stupid, and ridiculously OP; if you can't already tell, allow me to inform you that this is an issue.

(((^))) The issue, simply, lies in balancing of the UVs tagged to each class... perhaps even the mechanics of the classes themselves. To put into perspective:

Striker gives the ability for the player to boost. This comes tagged with a Sword ASI Med, and a Sword DB Med. Any piece of vog comes with elemental resistance, neutral resistance, and a sword ASI Med; While Snarbolax Coat provides shadow resistance, normal resistance, and an inane DB Med. Combine the two WITH a striker, and you have a player with a universal DB: VH, and an ASI: Med. Through wiki sources, the MAXIMUM level of any UV that has effect on weapons is VH. While this may be wrong, this implicates a player speeding around the map faster than anyone else... with resistance to anything but piercing (fixed by switching out snarby for skolver), maximum weapon effectiveness, and the only point of "balance" is nullified by simply applying one or more tri-heart pendants. Anyone out there dominating the leaderboards, i will tell you now; DOESN'T stop at one... and certainly not without... maybe they will not even feel satisfied with the 3 boost each and aim a bit higher. We are talking HIGH likelihood of 2 true love lockets on our theoretical skolver clone (have no need for weapon bonuses.. why not?). This means our skolver clone totals:

ASI: Very High
Damage Bonus: Very High
Health: +20
Fire Resist.: Very High
Freeze Resist.: Very High
Piercing and Elemental are defended against
Normal does next to nothing

If they happen to invest in UVs (all of them do), it is even MORE of a nightmare. Essentially, the UV setup on striker allows people to effortlessly gain unparraleled strength with little to no effort. And while setting up loadouts to be carefully thought out is acceptable, this is near invulnerability. Still not convinced? I present Auto-Target. Yes, i am going here. A fine example on a feature never intended to adapt to the relatively new PvP environment. Three rings created the game with intent to keep it fair for all players, and under knowledge of player lag, they implemented this. In essence, any foe within 30 degrees from the range in which they WOULD be hit by the weapon, WILL be. But wait: Polaris has a wider arc of impact than most swords at full projectile size... and sealed swords have a 180 degree arc! Sealed swords being THE most common piece of the set of LD annoyance, i will use it. Players who aren't lagging to need it simply turn it on to enjoy it's benefits anyway... with the sealed sword, the effective range given to this weapon stretches 3 blocks out, and all in total 240 DEGREE ARC! Our imaginary skolver clone can simply move a little, swing, and unless i am right behind them, i take some of the highest sword damage IN THE GAME, MULTIPLIED by about 130% it's already large damage, and with the increase in attack speed, a followup hit is almost guaranteed, and always fatal. Meanwhile, i can make almost NO dent in them, and even if i could, their speed makes ensuring the shots HIT difficult. The only thing, in fact, that can face this monstrosity, is ANOTHER skolver clone.

On a similar note, while swordies get what is perhaps the most overpowered combo in the game, bombers and gunners are basically spit on. Sure, bombers can get a very high CTR with recon, but not even that acts fast enough to allow you to so much as place ONE with these guys running around once you have sneaked behind your foes. Let us not forget that even ONE piece of specialized equipment for either combined with a level 10 weapon makes CTR redundant anyway, as anywhere above very high is, again, ignored. Charge attacking in general is hard to pull off anyway! The same applies for gunner charge attacks, and none of these guys ever group up; so alchemer charges out, autoguns out, and catalyzers out right there. Because magnus line weapons make you stand still, the ASI doesn't make them any better here against these guys... plus; Piercing and normal; easilty resisted by them with HoH items; so they are out. What we are left with is only 3 weapons that truly benefit from these; and all 3 are popular sidearms for the skolver clones, that they will use against you, anyway. Plus, no love for us in the form of a damage boost; so gunners are forced to stand in the sidelines altogether, becoming blade fodder, and bombers can't deploy their weapons AT ALL without becoming blade fodder. Push comes to shove, one third of the game's weapon types are ignored, and simply spamming the same 3 loadouts is all anyone needs to be "l33t and skill3d". Shall we throw on that AT ignores recon cloaks activated within 4 seconds of them clicking, They flail their balldes around the minute they see a mark appear, they have enough speed to dash to the health pad SECONDS after a kill, and that guardian shields break after CUMULATIVE damage which adds the attack's damage to itself for as many players hide within it? LD's classes need rebalancing, reprogramming, and revamps overall.... no, OOO, making the skolver clone dash slower won't help... you better be ready to make some BIG changes. (((^)))

A few options exist to fix the canned UV exploit:
1. Remove class-based play altogether, making it an open PvP match and, ironically and potentially, promoting teams to stick together rather than dash ahead, and move to the objective before the grouped up team presses it. This is the EASIEST, but might remove potential for unique future PvP modes (like, say, superbrawl)

2. Alter the UV listing to nerf striker's UV monopoly, ripping the other UVs off of the other classes with it. Then all you have is a shield, a boost pack, and a cloak... is it the end of the world if noone suffers OR benefits from any of them? The WORST that could happen is that people use guardian shield too much for themselves exclusively. The solution THEN is to significanty weaken the shield durability unless other team members are beneath it.... which i was to suggest anyway (read on. you will get it when i get there)

3. entirely swap UV and mechanical setup for the existing one (my personal reccomendation):

Recon:
Marked Target DMG Bonus: Medium
Attack Speed Increase: low
Movement Speed Increase: Low
Health Penalty: -2

Striker:
Attack Speed Increase: Medium
Damage Penalty: Medium
Health Bonus: 2

Guardian:
Damage Bonus: Medium
Attack Speed Decrease: Low
Movement Speed Decrease: Low
Heath Bonus: 5

Notice the universal UVs. This allows ALL playstyles to enjoy the class, and be appropriately accommodated by it. The balance removes the additional damage bonus on the striker for a damage penalty; gives recons better damage against their own targets, and eases their ability to outmaneuver the striker; and guardian has it's stats entirely scrapped to be the barbarian of the party. You now have the properly balanced stealth fighter recon, the scouting and speedy striker, and the human tank guardian

General Mechanic Tweaks:
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Now, to tend to other directly LD-related issues;

auto-target should automatically target off within a PvP environment. This prevents the frighteningly great range arc of certainweapons being further improved. Some weapons are better off without it anyway, and if you can't aim the 180 swing of the heavy swords, you have eyesight issues anyway, and should consult a physician before playing. Alternatively, auto-target could require a test of connection, for those who genuinely need it; that checks how quickly the information is sent to the server... this is probably the better solution, but in any case; people being able to blindly swing a heavy sword around and hit all the time HAS to go for those who can go without it.

(((^)))Guardian shield is rather broken up in it's current state... you are actually better using it alone, due to it taking multiplied damage when others are in it... it also lets enemies in, so anyone with a blade can do this easily, while anyone with guns... not so. And it deploys a little slowly to do much of anything for your allies in sticky situations. I propose a change in the mechanics of the shield that makes it much more often see the use intended for it. (((^))) The shield deploys with a slowly expanding radius as opposed to the current one that reaches full size after .75 seconds, compared to the current time of 1, this can make all the difference. The shield absorbs all individual attacks, and as opposed to the net damage done to each person hit. The catch is that players within the field have a slight cut to attack power (Attack Power Decrease: Low while in it), and that the shield has varying durability based on number of people under it (starting at durability equal to 2*, after 1 additional player 3*, at 4 players 5*, and if all teammates are beneath it, it has 1.5 times it's CURRENT durability.). The regen also grows as more players enter the field (starting at 5, squaring itself each time a player is added), but the timer for regen resets every time someone leaves or enters to prevent exploitation through only stopping to heal.

(((^)))Now... a little list of stuff that i think seems to fit well for each class... since we are cutting them down a little, these mechanical tweaks should help define the roles they fill... not needed like the previous listing, but just reccomendations... but they would involve adjusting the mechanics themselves as opposed to the classes, so they may not be worth the work.(((^)))

Guardians, as they use a shield, should gain access to the shield bump/bash... just as a little extra for guardians to help them support and tank for the team.

Recons gain the ability to charge an attack cloaked if a target is marked for death. Because ninjas.

Strikers can capture points a little faster, about 1.5 times faster than any other class... yes, this is ripped off of TF2.... deal with it.

Play Field Revamp and Expansion:
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A personal recommendation, while the upcoming weapon fixes section should fix this easier, is that the maps be altered to make it a little more fast-paced, destroy cheap camping strategies, and require a little more strategy and teamwork to control an area. My proposal is that, on current maps:

1. Existing narrow passages be expanded, in a manner that turns bombers into the only ones who can truly seal off the main entrances to a passage
2. Some more hidden-off passages be added, to allow more strategic presses revolving around sneaking in if people overlook them
3. On-field health pads be removed in favor of health pickups that respawn slowly, disallowing regen-pad camping. These use the same behavior of hearts in PvE, dropping one for each player, but heal more.
4. Hazards placed near spawns to prevent/discourage spawn-camping, and also inconvenience players trying to exploit the healing pads.
5. Players healing at the spawn have a 1 out of 4 chance of being cursed, further discouraging overuse of the healing pads, and keeping players from camping in the base the entire time
6. Some unique and odd hidden bonuses might be nice... hidden button operated defenses, anyone?

Weapons to be posted later.