Perks Discussion: Fast Stomp and Furious Stomp

[Mirage Knight]

Fast Stomp / Furious Stomp: These ought to be mutually exclusive as this combo arguably makes Devs a bit too effective when defending against Assaults.

By themselves, they seem fairly balanced.

[Demonic Spoon]

If they dump two perks into defending against assaults (and those two perks are nigh useless against anything else), they should be really good at fighting assaults...Just like a perked meltagun tactical marine.

[Pseudonymn]

^
http://i56.tinypic.com/2n6xeh2.png
Because a footstomp should be the weapon of choice for a Spess Mehreen holding a 250lb gun (whatever) and a ton of ammo facing off against whole armies of Thunderhammer-wielding, jetpack assisted, power armor-wearing super-soldiers from the 40th millennium in honorable melee combat. By the Emperor, why didn't we think of that before? Quick! Add that to the Codex Astartes! The winning formula is finally here! Footstomping wargear for everyone! (but don't let the orks see) :p

[Mirage Knight]

@Daemonic Spoon: The thing is that double perked like that and armed with say an HB, the Dev is all but guaranteed a win against an Assault. In CC, an Assault stands an incredibly good chance of outright losing if he doesn't get the drop on the Dev as all the Dev has to do is quickly double stomp, which IIRC will strip armour and inflict health damage and is AoE, and then all the Dev needs to do is apply a quick boot to the face and GG. I've actually killed Assaults landing right in front of me with a well-timed double stomp using these perks.

Just sayin'.

[Servius]

One thing to keep in mind whenever considering things like these perks is Opportunity Cost. In this case, because everyone's limited to only 2 perks, choosing these two means you lose the opportunity to benefit from any other perk. Now, I'll grant you that some perks are more useful than others, but there certainly are other perk pairs that are quite effective together. The Iron Halo/Feel No Pain one has already been covered, as has the Tactical combo that deals with the power and number of grenades. While it's true that certain combos do make certain classes very effective, that effectiveness is usually balanced out not only by the opportunity cost, but also by the narrowness of the utility.

For example, this combo of Fast & Furious Stomp, it makes Devs pretty effective vs Assault Marines. True enough. But consider the opportunity cost of not being able to use Iron Halo & Feel No Pain, which makes Devs significantly more vulnerable to FAR more weapons and situations they may encounter. Sure, they may be able to worry less about Assault Marines, but now they need to worry a lot more about other Tacs (of many more load out options) and other Devs. If the opposition is mostly using Assault Marines, maybe this tradeoff is worth it. If the other team is balance, this pair probably makes the Dev more vulnerable overall. Not to those of you who like being Assault Marines, but overall, the Dev loses more than they gain. So, this pair has an opportunity cost (not being able to use another, perhaps more versatile perk set) AND because this pair is so specific to what it defends against, it actually makes the Dev MORE vulnerable to a balanced opposing team.

[Dimension]

this would be the case if devs didn't still have far more health than any other class. that argument only works in firefights vs other devestators really. in a straight firefight, no tac will kill a non-perked devestator unless in CQC with a melta, or possibly medium range with a vengeance launcher.

[Demonic Spoon]

Grenades crap all over devastators. A tac who uses grenades properly can certainly beat a devastator.

[konfeta]

in a straight firefight, no tac will kill a non-perked devestator unless in CQC with a melta, or possibly medium range with a vengeance launcher.
Stalker and double perked Bolter can do just fine if you aim for the face. Not at close ranges where you have zero chance of dodging, but at medium-longish its pretty simple.

[Arbit]

Feel no pain cuts down a lot on grenade damage, and the faster bracing perk lets me dodge grenades pretty well. Not picking one or the other usually gets me gibbed by grenades.