u/BruceWayneOnMarvel

Reeds from all realities,

In an attempt to solve all of our problems, I came up with a list of the best changes I could think of to give us a fantastic experience once more.

Before we start, I want you to know that these changes do not necessarily need to be shipped all together (he would be legit S+ best in slot tier lol). My intent here is to present changes for many parts of his kit that can get an improvement. It's gonna be a long read, so let's dive into it.

The first change is something that we should've had since the beginning.

What is it, you may ask... Well, the answer is quick melees and, for many reasons, allow me to sell you this idea.

Primary attacks on base form, despite using his fists, are coded as a spell field (a very unique source of damage so far; it is neither a projectile nor a hitscan). That means he cannot go through shields, so even if it feels like a melee attack, it's not, making Reed unable to damage people holding a shield with primaries unless he's on inflated form.

How many times have you attempted to hit Dr. Strange or anyone else holding a shield, but ended up being unable to? Using your Flexible Elongation and standing right next to them only to be forced to watch your HANDS bounce off their shields, it doesn't seem fair, right? We are the only character in the game that needs to fill an entire resource bar to unlock real melee attacks and that's a considerable problem.

Now here's something that can also come with the addition of Qmelees: DPS and skill expression.

One of the biggest problems with Reed is that he's a menace on lower elos, so it's hard to buff him in ways that won't make him even more of a problem there, but on higher elos, he just doesn't output enough, so he really needs some buffs to compete with other characters, and quick melees can help with that.

We simply allow Reed to weave his melee and Qmelee just like Magik; this way we can increase his dps in close range in a somewhat skillful way while preserving the identity and also integrity of his Stretch Punch, as some people have suggested things like making the primaries faster (hurts his AoE potential and identity in exchange for DPS) or making them go through shields (considering the range, it would be very unfair; it's like asking for Venom to bypass shields).

How would I implement quick melees: 3 medium speed punches with reasonable range (about 3.5 to 4m, the current range for Blade's sword for reference), hitbox similar to inflated punches, as Reed is a stretchy guy, inflating his fists and elongating his arms to deliver the rubber jabs. Last punch deals extra damage (maybe something like 40, 40, 45; I'm not gonna dive deep into numbers right now, my main focus is to showcase the concept).

https://imgur.com/a/H2y5ZFo (An example of what he could look like while doing it)

Inflated form: damage per punch goes down (I was aiming for 5 less, but it all depends on how fast the weave is implemented). 3rd hit (the clap) moved to Qmelee.

It might seem like a nerf at first, and it is IF you don't weave primary into Qmelee; the objective here is to hit lower elos where people just turn big and smack everyone down with no repercussion. Keep in mind that dedicated Mr. Fantastics can still learn the timing and master weaving properly and get, in my vision for these changes, more dps, but most people at lower ranks won't even bother, so we're aiming at them, creating a gap between true dedicated Reeds and people just trying to abuse him cause he's considered broken at that elo, hopefully giving more breathing room against him there.

And since we're speaking of his Inflated form, here's another thing we need: Reasonable changes on big form (Elastic Strength)

The higher you go, the less you are allowed to get inflated value; you pop it in GM+ and you're already at half health as people shoot your massive hitbox on sight, while in lower elos, you are basically a demon with a lot of health and 80 damage AoE punches, that can be very lethal when backlines don't know how to protect themselves. How do we improve that scenario for both elos?

First idea: The Fantastic Brawler https://imgur.com/a/ytZFVFQ

We shape Inflated State into a real brawler, not only changing the formula of his punches to deal % max health instead of flat, but also giving him a new ability, transforming one of his hands into a small shield, granting him a decent amount of damage reduction in the direction he's facing, but still being able to attack with his other hand, dealing reduced damage while the block is active. He's not immune to CCs while blocking and getting hit by one will deactivate it, putting it on a very short CD.

This change would allow him to better brawl with Inflated, dealing more damage against characters with 300+ hp and a way to survive high focus without having to deflate, at the cost of some damage (note that in my vision for these changes, he is still gonna deal more damage on Inflated block state than going back to his base form against tanks). It also reduces his damage on squishier characters a little, lowering his pressure over backlines in lower elos, so they might have more time to breathe whenever he engages them in big form.

I honestly like that idea because sometimes it feels like you're hitting tanks with wet noodles. Venom, Hulk or Cap on your backline? Pray your other duelist is competent because you can only tickle these gentlemen. But with Mr. Brawler, you would be able to manage your elasticity for when they dive, so you hit them really hard and make them think twice. Magnetos and Stranges not respecting your damage output on the frontline? Not anymore!

Second Idea: Fantastic Teamwork!

Instead of reworking Inflated State entirely, we just make a new ability for it alongside a small nerf on his big Stretch Punches to compensate (once again I'm thinking about taking 5, maybe 10 damage, as the new skill deals some damage as well and we don't want lower elos to be terrorized; as always, gotta keep it fair to everybody).

The new ability: Reed jumps towards his crosshair for a single bounce. He jumps much lower than his ult, so he lands much faster; the area is also smaller, about the size of Thing's earthbound. Upon landing, Reed damages every enemy hit; it also slows them for 1 second (I'm aiming at 15% slow, since it's a very easy-to-hit ability and it also provides other things). It also gives shields to all allies on the impact area and he also gets a shield upon cast (something like 75 self shield, the same as Flexible Elongation and 50 shield for allies). It has two uses, 2 sec CD between activations.

That would be a great change for higher elos, as it not only adds some well-needed mobility to Inflated, which is highly valuable and game-changing at higher ranks, but it also allows him to keep his peel properties that he has on his base form by shielding his allies. The slow + dash effect is also decent for helping on engages too.

Since we're reducing the damage of his big form punches, once again, it allows for more breathing room for lower ranks, but doesn't make him a bad character for them as well, as they can get some value from the new ability too, even if it's not the most optimal use, and they will find themselves into more decision-making situations instead of just turning big and punching people, which is a win by the book.

These are my ideas for his Elastic Strength, let's move to his other abilities.

Flexible Elongation, AKA backshots

It's a perfect ability, really, when it works, of course. This ability can be very inconsistent against fast-moving targets and most of the time you're just gonna hump the air, failing to hit your target (damn spiders). My main idea on this ability is to just make it more reliable, making the dash faster and making sure it connects; that's all I expect from it, really.

BUT if I had to add something crazy, I would add another debuff like grounded (that would be too broken, let's be honest) or anti-heal.

Another good change would be making its effects work in an AoE around you (shield, knockback and damage), but at the same time it would lower his skill floor even more, so we would need to pay the price and give or change something in exchange for a buff like that.

Distended Grip

Oh, boy, this ability is so good that most of the time we use it on the ground to get elasticity... Yeah, it's not a great ability and it gets worse when we compare it to the other pull abilities, like Bucky's hook which is a legit death sentence, or Spidey's pull, which is well... another death sentence, and then you have this ability which is like a minor inconvenience in comparison.

But look, let's be honest, the last thing we need is another hook of doom in this game, so why don't we go for a way more creative route for this ability, while also fixing one of our problems?

https://imgur.com/a/NpsJyPG

That's right, my idea for Distended here is to allow it to hook us towards terrain, giving us a source of mobility that doesn't rely on any targets. And just like every mobility ability, it's always more valuable on higher elos, so it's skewed by default. No more walking out of base only and infinite possibilities with that change!

Reflexive Rubber

Honestly, this ability is in a great spot; if I had to buff it, I would reduce the self-slow by 10% or make the projectile a little faster and that's it, BUT if you want a crazy idea just for fun... https://imgur.com/a/7p774v7

Basically make it so it reflects hits multiple times instead of a single shot at the end, like each bullet from Punisher being delivered back in real time; it would be lore accurate, right? But honestly the burst from the single projectile is way superior, so don't even bother with this idea lol

Alright, here comes the grand finale...

Brainiac Bounce

F A N T A S T I C

H O H O

H A

Oh, this ability... there's so much we can do here... Shall we?

First of all, gentlemen, may I ask why do we bounce SIX TIMES instead of FOUR? We have no ties with the Sinister Six, we are the proud leaders of the Fantastic Four, so the first idea is to reduce the amount of bounces from 6 to 4, the amount of guaranteed bounces to 2, and then we compress the amount of damage from these 6 bounces into the new 4 and we also remove the slow effect as well to compensate it.

This idea was cooked in a discussion I had the other day on Discord, and not gonna lie, it's a pretty good direction. It might be super op on the low ceiling bounce scenario, but let him have a niche scenario, right? In every other situation, a Storm ult is way more dangerous anyway and how many Storms have you seen lately? In the end, it's not even an overpowered change, it just might make his ult a real ult; it's criminal that it costs 3400 at its current state.

Second idea: Allow his ult to keep bouncing if it hits a shield instead of being cancelled. Everyone here knows how tough it is to get value out of our ults, and it's even worse when we don't even get to the sixth bounce because a random shield was in the way. So basically if they gonna keep the ult at its current state, at least allow him to keep bouncing on shields, not bypass them, but just keep the bounces going, that's it.

Third idea: Remember the new skill I gave to Inflated mode earlier? Yeah... What if we gave that effect to his ult bounces?

Reed ult can also shield allies now instead of just dealing damage, shield amount also increases on each bounce. In the same way Captain America, in the Vanguard role, can use his ult to give his allies a breath of fresh air, Reed Richards, in the Duelist role, is now able to protect his team (at a smaller scale of course until the final bounces).

Now allow me to sell you this idea, first of all, Reed is a very unique duelist; if there's a duelist that can get an ult that isn't 100% selfish, it's him. Shielding allies is already part of his gameplay, we are just expanding it, allowing him to bring that energy over to his ult. It fits the whole flexible angle they are going for on his character and allows us to have way more agency over the battlefield. Keep in mind that since we can shield allies with it, it also means that they are valid targets to keep bounces going, enabling him to keep going despite hitting a shield as long as he hits an ally as well.

Fourth idea: Bounces now also apply anti-heal, value increased on each bounce. You know these moments when you are finally about to get some value on your ultimate, but the enemy healer ults? Well, jokes on them because now they get their ults healing reduced (With the sole exception of Satoru Gambit, of course) so with coordinated focus, it may be possible to take them down. You can also time it so you hit the final bounce right as the healer ult is about to run down, so everyone gets super vulnerable when it happens, resulting in easier picks for your team as they are anti-healed and slowed.

Honorable mention: stretchy legs out of combat https://imgur.com/a/Ii7G2m3

I've seen a lot of people suggesting that, and honestly? It feels right! Reed is always using his powers to move around faster, it feels so criminal to walk like a regular person all the time, especially when moving out of base.

And that concludes this list of possible changes, let me know what you think and what's worth being pushed for, as it would be way easier for us as a community if we can get a clear idea of what we want (It did wonders for Adam mains with his flight).

My personal must is the quick melee, it's such an essential part of every single character's kit that we simply lack, and it can also add a lot more of depth to us.

Also, feel free to also post any fantastic ideas you have that I didn't manage to cover.

Council, mission reports are promising. We’ve claimed the front page on the main sub several times this week, but do not grow complacent. Our fight continues as we are far from our goals.