fun game but...

[Polar Test 53]

it needs alot of work.

im gonna start with the levels in game. they give too much power and every combat starts with what level are they? 1 level below and we can push hard for basically free same level proceed as usual and if they are a level above fall back its not worth to engage and give them even more levels.
levels should be doubled or have the stat boosts from them lowered quite a bit

which is another thing the overall damage in the game is too damn high. even if you dont count in weavers minigun and ursus rockets. game is advertised as a slow tactics game but the main tactic is just deal as much dps as possible.

maps are okay but dont have much going for them to allow tactical play.
theres hardly any high ground or soft cover to make use of. soft cover being the buildings you can destroy imo. its cool you can walk thru them and all but they dont seem to add anything to the game as most people play around the hard cover points.
being able to crouch and use some of the smaller structures as cover could help.

jumping shouldn't count as a dash and should have its own cooldown if spamming it is the issue thats trying to be avoided.

most teams die in the first 2-3 min of the game leading to a very stale mid and late game most times. there's no tension when fighting for the extract if you even get to fight for it.
this could be alleviated with having a third teammate making the pacing of the game a bit better and allowing more opportunity to survive despite losing the first tower.
and if the overall damage does go down the third could make up for that damage loss.

the tower fights are also pretty boring. you dont actually even fight for the tower its more just the reward for winning the duel. adding more towers to each POI or making the range much larger to cover the whole POI and making capturing work like how the final extract does by standing in its zone can help make it feel like your actually contesting something.

not being able to walk thru enemy shields while they are able to freely shoot thru them is super cheese.

the melee is super inconsistent. sometimes i lock and lunge sometimes i dont sometimes my hunter will spin around just to miss and sometimes will fling off into the distance.
i dont really care how its supposed to work but at least make it consistent.

holding E is such a chore since the time to pick stuff up is so fast it may as well have been a single press. doesnt add anything to the game. either needs to be longer to make quick stealing more risky or just removed.

guard bots are also pretty mid to fight. just a bullet sponge that kinda shoots back and gets easily confused. their AI and ability's could use work to make them more interesting.

im not gonna get into balance too much its pretty early access ursus is an issue in the making tho the way she is now. and balance does seem a lil wack
but my boi prophet needs some love lol. he seems like he wants to be a damage dealer but just doesnt have good ways to direct that damage. survey said he was supposed to be a specialist but i just dont see it.
his drone is weak and easily killed and works like a poor mans grenade while his strike ability is pretty easily dodged. and these abilitys dont mesh well together like other classes abilitys. idk maybe that mismash was supposed to be his thing.

his drone needs to have a few charges to allow him to offer some map control and or just to up its damage and distraction ability's.
or i seen in the main menu he pulls up a black orb in his hand... why is this not one of his ability's? a orb he can drop that sucks in hunters. which would pair really well with his artillery while being functional on its own for early game.
and his artillery ability could use a shield so its not just a suicide button when used in combat and could be better directed.
having charges that launch 3-4 rockets with each. letting him cut off opponents and make avoiding it a lil harder. pairing it with a shield so he can stay up there for a bit.

oh and the UI could use a bit of work. hit detection and sounds seem to be a lil quiet and not noticeable. theres been many a time i dont realise im being shot at till my shield breaks. and ive caught a few others that im shooting at that will just stand there not realising they are getting hit.
sounds of getting hit could be louder and the hit direction could be made more apparent. i never actually know it existed till just a couple days ago.
and while this hasint been my issue my friend cant actually see their ammo counters on their screen and could use an opacity slider.

and hunter detection is a lil op. its difficult to sneak up on a team since the moment you make visual contact both teams can see each other on the map regardless of if they are actually looking. and makes the snipers radar ability seem very weak and redundant.

those are my gripes for now that i can think of. did the survey as well already but didn't go too much into depth there (was being rushed) and see the devs do look at steam.
i did enjoy the game alot for just having a friend recommend it at random to me and am excited to see how it will release. and hope you guys have a good one at that.
merry Christmas and see ya next year