u/CharacterPasta123

This is a sort of follow-up to a previous post of mine where I argued that Toolbox should be basekit since it’s conceptually too strong to just be a Gadget. I used the idea of a switch mechanic akin to Jae-Yong as a possible way to do that without removing what already exists. But I want to know how others would tackle this situation.

But now I think it could be a good time to mention that I think that making it basekit can elevate the current concept of Meg’s identity. The fantasy of riding a powerful mecha is something her Buffies tried to lean into. This is taken from the official in-game article. Making Toolbox a basekit ability means that this specific part of that “riding a mecha” fantasy is then part of Meg’s kit the moment you unlock her, and gives the Pilot form an additional purpose rather than just being “the 2nd health bar”. It can also advance her supposed purpose as a “Vanguard/True Tank” character due to the knockback, although I still think Meg’s stats need an overhaul before she can actually fulfill that role due to Rob having very low HP for what is classified to be a damage sponge.

I used Alleycat Bull for pixel measurement since he has the most upright pose I could find. He has heels which I tried to accommodate for.

Why is Bull 6’3”? This is because of the Hopper Bull skin. Hopper in Stranger Things is portrayed by David Harbour, who’s 6’3”. Considering that Bull is depicted to be one of the larger characters in the game, that being Bull’s height within the game is believable.

I personally thought that Meg would be around 5ft, but she seems to be about 4 inches taller, thus about 5’4”. This makes her about an inch taller than comic accurate Wolverine.

Note: with “Basekit” I’m referring to the abilities the Brawler has access to from the start at PL1. Just saying that in case someone normally has a different interpretation of the meaning of “Basekit”.

Since this is the competitive sub I’m gonna assume everyone is aware of what Meg’s Toolbox is, what it does and why it is broken. In short: when combined with Meg’s Force Field it becomes a very good panic button.

So why shouldn’t this be a Gadget? It’s pretty simple: as long as it functions the way it currently does, it is inherently strong. Unless it’s nerfed into being useless, it’s gonna be better than Jolting Volts. In my opinion, this type of ability should not be something Meg can gain access to passively due to how rewarding it can be.

Well, then what about tying it to Super Charge? Requiring Rob to have a charged Super before Meg can use it? Here’s the problem with that: If it’s then available to use, the player will choose to activate Toolbox instead of Feel the Steel. This is a similar situation to Bull with his Stomper before he got his Buffies. That also immediately puts Meg in D-tier if Rob’s Super Charge then isn’t buffed because she’s very reliant on that Gadget currently and Rob has a particularly bad Super Charge for the amount of health Rob has.

So how can this ever be a basekit ability, if Rob already has Feel the Steel? It could be tied to aiming, maybe something similar to Nori’s main attack. Or the Super could have an additional reticle and the effect changes depending on how far the reticle is aimed. However, people would most likely use the Toolbox effect since it’s more reliable as an Anti-Aggro tool, meaning that Feel the Steel gets overshadowed. An “Overcharge” mechanic could work, but that would mean looking for the middle-ground between “Feel the Steel practically doesn’t exist” and “The Toolbox effect practically doesn’t exist.” My personal favourite solution: give Rob a “stance change” mechanic for the Super similar to Jae-Yong, but when a new charge bar is fully charged Meg can activate the Toolbox effect if the Super is manually aimed.

Why do I think a stance change mechanic is a good idea? Because I don’t think Feel the Steel in its current state goes well with the way Meg is currently designed. In Meg’s original iteration, Rob was a temporary form, so Rob having a long-ranged attack with decent damage and a generic heavy melee blow as its Super made sense, since it allowed Rob to deal with snipers and melee-attackers alike. But ever since the first rework, Feel the Steel feels underwhelming. In fact, Rob feels underwhelming due to Rob’s kit not being particularly interesting, which means Meg’s Legendary rarity is carried by a gimmick rather than the time of release (Crow, Leon, Spike) or complexity (Kenji, Draco, Chester). And this reality reveals itself in Meg still being meta after her harsh Super charge nerf. I know that is not a particularly fair statement due to the Toolbox-Force Field-combo and the SCR nerf, but if a Super has little to no influence over a Brawler’s meta spot, then the devs really messed up with making the Super a good effect. Pearl’s Super is better designed since that Super has wallbreak and knockback and thus has a secondary reason to be used other than just raw melee damage. So a rework with a “Stance change” mechanic that acknowledges this problem by turning a weaker Feel the Steel into a type of primary attack can make Rob feel more interesting on its own, make Meg’s rarity and gimmick more reasonable and allow Toolbox to be a basekit Super effect rather than an inherently broken Gadget.

In short: Toolbox is conceptually broken for a Gadget with the way it currently works. When combined with Force Field, it becomes an extremely effective Panic Button, to the point that Feel the Steel has become meaningless to Meg’s viability. To me, it would make more sense as a basekit Super effect, so that the player has to earn this ability, without completely messing up Toolbox as a Gadget. In order to allow for Feel the Steel to not become overshadowed and to make Rob more mechanically interesting, I think a rework that adds a “Stance Change” mechanic with a new melee-oriented form for Rob can work really well. It’s not the only solution, but it’s the best one I can think of that doesn’t cause one Super to possibly overshadow the other.

Image from Berlin City Club on Twitter