"Equalize" the Harvester

[tepid path]

It is no secret that the Harvester is the best pick for Pyro’s melee slot, bordering on overpowered. A competent Pyro using it can be incredibly difficult to kill, due to the weapon’s incredibly strong combination of healing and critical hits.

I’ve seen suggestions that propose removing either the healing or the crit effect. And while these nerfs would make the weapon more bearable to fight against, I believe it would also leave the Harvester in a neutered and unfun state, with no alternative to those who enjoy those separate aspects of the Harvester.

Instead, I think the best outcome would be to split the weapon’s strengths (its DPS and healing utility) into two separate melee weapons. That way, both aspects of what make the Harvester effective are preserved, but in more balanced and focused forms.

While I don't know the specifics of the weapons themselves, my general idea was that the DPS-focused weapon could take inspiration from the cut Branding Iron concept for Pyro, while the utility-focused weapon could remain as the Harvester, emphasizing healing over raw damage.

(Theres been alot of discussion about the harvester as of recent and ive had this idea for a while, so why not throw my hat into the ring)

[crimson echo]

Or just nerf it

plus the crits aren't THAT good

[tepid path]

(I also had the idea to just give it the escape plan mini crits while held but this was more interesting)

[crimson echo]

I think you could nerf healing from all other sources

[tepid path]

Yeah im good with that too

honestly im ok with anything atp

[crimson echo]

also have the healing stop when you're damaged (like how all other streams of healing work)

to make the pyro more susceptible to surprises while regenerating

[tepid path]

That and/or the mini crits when held should be fine enough as a balance

[crimson echo]

I think the fact the pyro has his melee out is punishing enough

Escape plan has it since the soldier gets a major speed boost

[tepid path]

Pyro also gets the healing when out tho
One could argue that he is sacrifices dps for the healing but the crit more than makes up for any missed out dps/kills having the harvester

[crimson echo]

help I self reacted and discords shitty ass mobile features don't work

[crimson echo]

yeah that's why I said being damaged should reduce/stop the healing

marked for death is too much imo

[tepid path]

fair nuff

[west chasm]

The harvester is not a poorly designed weapon

It doesn’t need to be split, it has a balanced and enjoyable gameplay loop

But it needs some more tweaks to make it feel more balanced

[tepid path]

For the pyro, yes

But it is extremely annoying as someone fighting the pyro

[west chasm]

If you want to make it better to fight, you can do that without splitting the weapon