Titanfall 2 dev explains removal of custom titan loadouts
While Titanfall 2 is widely lauded as an improvement on the first game, some wondered why Titans are now less customizable; a dev has now explained.In a NeoGaff thread post, Respawn Entertainment representative Argonomic weighed in on the new setup for titan customization. Interestingly, it has less to do with balance-- something Respawn Entertainment is very interested in-- than it does simply with variety: "[In Titanfall 1,] the nature of mixed Pilot / Titan combat incentivizes players to choose loadouts that handle most situations well, rather than to counter player choices as you would in a healthy meta. This lead to an abundance of xo-16s, cluster missiles, nukes, electric smokes, etc in mixed Pilot / Titan modes. Limited modes... were far more healthy."
While Titanfall 2 is widely lauded as an improvement on the first game, some wondered why Titans are now less customizable; a dev has now explained.
In a NeoGaff thread post, Respawn Entertainment representative Argonomic weighed in on the new setup for titan customization. Interestingly, it has less to do with balance– something Respawn Entertainment is very interested in— than it does simply with variety: “[In Titanfall 1,] the nature of mixed Pilot / Titan combat incentivizes players to choose loadouts that handle most situations well, rather than to counter player choices as you would in a healthy meta. This lead to an abundance of xo-16s, cluster missiles, nukes, electric smokes, etc in mixed Pilot / Titan modes. Limited modes… were far more healthy.”
When developing Titanfall 2, the team focused on Titans with fixed loadouts and weapons, with further customizations of those loadouts– two charges of attack [x] versus faster cooldown on ability [y], for example. The locked loadouts, however, drew from surprising sources: “The inspiration was the Street Fighter games, which have long been a big influence here. The designer that took over the Titans and finished/shipped them was a prominent LOL [League of Legends] designer so obviously that game ended up being a heavy influence as well.”
Picking a Titan is now much more about deciding which Titan fits your playstyle, and learning matchups, than trying to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. “Although there is certainly room for improvement,” Argonomic continued, “I am tentatively happy with how the new Titans are playing out. A good indicator is a much healthier debate around Titan meta in mixed modes than existed in Titanfall 1.”
Titanfall 2 is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.