Does the Phalanx feel weak only to me? Or is it just bad?

[Buntkreuz]

So i played two rounds with it.
I would like the concept of a shield class, or a tank, but not the way its done here.
The blocking has several problems.

First off, your character closes it when he gets damaged, making it useless.

Two:
The radius defining where damage is blocked or going through is too small.
With shield up i only block damage directly from the front, if its just a tiny bit to the side, i still receive it.
This renders the concept of a class going forward to suck up damage useless.
I received triple the damage i normally receive, and in 90% of the sessions i play i am the least damaged player.
But even if i wasnt, compared to playing all other classes my damage going up by 3 times as much seems like an indicator that blocking doesnt work well.

Three:
The class misses a way to taunt.
I had a moment where i thought "Ok using the shield on all Aliens and even most Synths feels pointless, but using it on the big elites like Warriors could make up for it".
And theoretically thats true.
If the Phalanx could use the shield to suck up the damage of a melee elite while others shoot it, then that would be awesome.
Only that the AI doesnt work that way.
Instead your bigger enemies just ignore you standing there, run past you, attack your teammate.
It doesnt matter having a shield, if it has no use.
A way to attract enemies to me so they get off of teammates would synergize well.

Four:
The class doesnt seem to have any major synergies.
Even in the class itself it appears like it just has several abilities that dont really connect to each other.
Let alone with other classes.
In fact, i had a moment where i felt it would be more beneficial to have the shield opened on my back so i become immune from teamdamage while standing at the front with a shotgun.
This would have been a much better use for the shield than the way its used now.

Five:
Although i have a shield, it feels like i cant use it against 90% of the enemies.
Spitter shots arent blocked, i can still get nailed down by enemies like Prowlers, the typical trashy runners only get their attack blocked from the front but if they move slightly to the side it doesnt matter, exploding enemies still damage you although you have your shield up and facing the explosion, in terms of the aliens they still damage you because they leave an acid patch on the ground.
Larger enemies/elites knock you down, nail you down or enter an attack animation that still has you being damaged.

What exactly can i block with the shield now?
Besides an occasional shot from a Synth that wouldnt hit me if i was using cover or rolling instead?

Six:
Because of the previous point(s), i felt it would be more beneficial if the shield could be used in a fast way like dodge rolling.
I see an enemy goes attacking, i press a button and use it to block.
But since you become relatively static and slow, it lacks the speed and movement to avoid damage or react to attacks.

Seven:
The class is bound to a CQW and a Handgun. The CQW isnt the problem, in fact its one of the better categories of the game anyway, but a Handgun? Oh dear.
So i cant even bring a lot of damage to the table or weapon versatility.
I personally hoped that the Phalanx would be a Heavy Weapon class.
You know, a Class that can use a heavy weapon and having an armor buff while getting a movement penalty.
You know, a tank class that sucks up damage and synergizes well with the Doc.



All in all, it feels like a wasted opportunity.
When i imagined how this class would be equipped i hoped for a class that gets stuff like temporary health perks, a taunt mechanic to attract enemies and an armor upgrade to allow being damaged more for less health loss.
Basically the perfect partner for a Doc, which in one strike would also have buffed the Doc Class usefulness.
But the way it is, it doesnt play well and im no friend of its loadout.

I know one perk increases damage resistance, but it doesnt feel substantial enough to make it a tank class.
On the other hand it seemed to get several melee perks, which has me just asking why the class wouldnt just receive melee weapons instead of a Handgun in the first place?
A melee brawler would have been fine.
But i dont know what this is.

[Bottom of the Well]

I think its really damn strong. You can block off points and take 0 damage as they beat on you. The shock and knockback/stun is really nice also. I use it with a dbl barrel and 8d it really fast

[Buntkreuz]

Ok maybe i just have to use it a bit more.
It still feels off and like a wasted opportunity. But maybe its also just not a class i like to play (although i generally am exactly the Tank player).

[Bottom of the Well]

Originally posted by Argentum:

Ok maybe i just have to use it a bit more.
It still feels off and like a wasted opportunity. But maybe its also just not a class i like to play (although i generally am exactly the Tank player).

It is slow moving and the aiming feels like its a huge blind spot [it is] to anything infront of you. But some perks increase the move speed. You can stun things with melee and i think iirc get a total stun of 3 secs per melee hit on an enemy. Took me some getting use to it but i think its a good class. Im excited to try out extreme and insane with people whenever i can find a match

[Wet Water]

Yea, I think when you take damage, your shield goes back on your back is pretty dumb

[Xan84]

As of now (only lvl 2) I only have issues with the stun device, takes to long to activate.

[Bottom of the Well]

Originally posted by Wet Water:

Yea, I think when you take damage, your shield goes back on your back is pretty dumb

It is but at least its only a .5 sec cd or something like that.

This is if you take damage not the shield for those wondering.

[Nash]

Played 2 rounds and makes a wall of text. Must be an English major.

[Derrame]

Phalanx is great
cover teammate while reviving
shockave stuns xenos and synths
immune to frontal attack, you can go close to some enmies

[Thorproject]

Originally posted by Argentum:

So i played two rounds with it.
I would like the concept of a shield class, or a tank, but not the way its done here.
The blocking has several problems.

First off, your character closes it when he gets damaged, making it useless.

Two:
The radius defining where damage is blocked or going through is too small.
With shield up i only block damage directly from the front, if its just a tiny bit to the side, i still receive it.
This renders the concept of a class going forward to suck up damage useless.
I received triple the damage i normally receive, and in 90% of the sessions i play i am the least damaged player.
But even if i wasnt, compared to playing all other classes my damage going up by 3 times as much seems like an indicator that blocking doesnt work well.

Three:
The class misses a way to taunt.
I had a moment where i thought "Ok using the shield on all Aliens and even most Synths feels pointless, but using it on the big elites like Warriors could make up for it".
And theoretically thats true.
If the Phalanx could use the shield to suck up the damage of a melee elite while others shoot it, then that would be awesome.
Only that the AI doesnt work that way.
Instead your bigger enemies just ignore you standing there, run past you, attack your teammate.
It doesnt matter having a shield, if it has no use.
A way to attract enemies to me so they get off of teammates would synergize well.

Four:
The class doesnt seem to have any major synergies.
Even in the class itself it appears like it just has several abilities that dont really connect to each other.
Let alone with other classes.
In fact, i had a moment where i felt it would be more beneficial to have the shield opened on my back so i become immune from teamdamage while standing at the front with a shotgun.
This would have been a much better use for the shield than the way its used now.

Five:
Although i have a shield, it feels like i cant use it against 90% of the enemies.
Spitter shots arent blocked, i can still get nailed down by enemies like Prowlers, the typical trashy runners only get their attack blocked from the front but if they move slightly to the side it doesnt matter, exploding enemies still damage you although you have your shield up and facing the explosion, in terms of the aliens they still damage you because they leave an acid patch on the ground.
Larger enemies/elites knock you down, nail you down or enter an attack animation that still has you being damaged.

What exactly can i block with the shield now?
Besides an occasional shot from a Synth that wouldnt hit me if i was using cover or rolling instead?

Six:
Because of the previous point(s), i felt it would be more beneficial if the shield could be used in a fast way like dodge rolling.
I see an enemy goes attacking, i press a button and use it to block.
But since you become relatively static and slow, it lacks the speed and movement to avoid damage or react to attacks.

Seven:
The class is bound to a CQW and a Handgun. The CQW isnt the problem, in fact its one of the better categories of the game anyway, but a Handgun? Oh dear.
So i cant even bring a lot of damage to the table or weapon versatility.
I personally hoped that the Phalanx would be a Heavy Weapon class.
You know, a Class that can use a heavy weapon and having an armor buff while getting a movement penalty.
You know, a tank class that sucks up damage and synergizes well with the Doc.



All in all, it feels like a wasted opportunity.
When i imagined how this class would be equipped i hoped for a class that gets stuff like temporary health perks, a taunt mechanic to attract enemies and an armor upgrade to allow being damaged more for less health loss.
Basically the perfect partner for a Doc, which in one strike would also have buffed the Doc Class usefulness.
But the way it is, it doesnt play well and im no friend of its loadout.

I know one perk increases damage resistance, but it doesnt feel substantial enough to make it a tank class.
On the other hand it seemed to get several melee perks, which has me just asking why the class wouldnt just receive melee weapons instead of a Handgun in the first place?
A melee brawler would have been fine.
But i dont know what this is.

I can see where you're coming from, the class seems a little underwhelming. The blocking angle/radius seems a little to small for the size of the shield and since there are very few missions with Syths and tight corridors I really don't see this class being needed on higher diffs.

If the whole point is for the shield to take damage and you get a damage boost then why am I putting it away anytime I get hit??? I'm wondering if that's a bug (Hopefully) on their part. The shockwave seems dull and only useful on the runners.

The whole class seems dull and kind of boring which sucks because its a class MEANT to be in the front, hopefully some fixes/changes come to tweak it a bit in the near future

[Buntkreuz]

Originally posted by Derrame:

Phalanx is great
cover teammate while reviving
shockave stuns xenos and synths
immune to frontal attack, you can go close to some enmies

Somehow not immune to frontal attacks.
We played the first mission to try around a bit and i had several situations were typical runners stood infront of me and did their jump attack on my shield and somehow bypassed the block damaging me.
It doesnt matter anyway. Most of the damage i received was actually acid damage.
Which means, even IF i was blocking most of the stuff infront of me, neither can my teammates really attack them if the angle is bad as they hit me instead, nor does it save me from damage because as soon as something is killed right infront of me, i instantly get acid damage applied.
The same is true using its melee.
Not only does melee with shield seem to open you up to damage from the front, it also does barely any damage and has you stand in acid next.
The shield is also still useless against a majority of the special enemies.
Prowlers still nail you down, the Drone does the same and your E is too slow to do anything against that, other Alien Specials knock you down etc.
The only use i found was battleing an Alien Warrior.
Against a Warrior the shield is absolute ace, but how often do you fight them anyway?
And how often do Aliens ignore all the turrets to attack your shield?
We all know they hate turrets, even empty ones, more than you, let alone the chance they then attack you and not your teammates.

As of now, im not sold by the blocking.
Going head in to block enemies, even in narrow passages had me still receive much more damage than my teammates that played different classes and drastically more damage than if i played like i did before.
Maybe it IS getting used to or its just not good.

[Kashra Fall]

When they hit you, hit them back with melee. There are two main perks for this, melee damage increased by 100% and melee causes a brief stun. By brief, they mean a stumble, so if you can melee fast enough, you can stop most anything, yes, it even works on crushers AND prateorians take frontal damage from it haha. Hardest hit I did with shield was 990, standard hits were 625.

[Doomfist Main]

TC have you even looked at the kit for Phalanx? cause it looks great, it doesn't look as great as a Tech or Gunner since they are on a whole different level but it does look like it can be a great addition to a team.

The only downside is have 2 would be pretty pointless compared to having like 2 tech, 2 gunner or 2 demos wouldn't really hinder your teams progression.

[Zimbaly-|@tacks|]

I just bring a shotgun and the shotgun pistol with stumble and such. Seems solid so far with that combo.

[Elysion]

with the double shotgun i find you can do a shield bash during the reload time, though you have to give it a second to start the animation because while you can attack while reloading it doesnt seem you can reload while attacking

[Derrame]

level up some more
the modifiers are powerful
more damage to stunned enemies, 10% less damage for teammates,