Storm is currently the most popular Javelin in Anthem. During the demo, the developers noticed that the exosuit was too powerful and issued a nerf to it.
What kind of nerf is this? Storm is able to hover in the air. While hovering, its shield bubble becomes stronger.
In the demo, Storm’s shield bubble provided immunity against status effects. These are triggered by elemental attacks such as ice or acid. This will no longer be the case at the release of Anthem.
Storm will be able to receive a status effect at launch despite having an active second shield.
Here’s why Storm is getting the nerf
All Javelins in Anthem are capable of flying. One of Storm’s strengths is that it can do this longer than the other exosuits. If Javelins are affected by a status effect, they fall down and can no longer fly. Once Storm’s second shield was active, enemies could not bring it down by inflicting a status effect.
Why the nerf is important: Flying gives Javelins a significant advantage as they can attack their enemies from above. This provides better oversight, and they can also more easily hit multiple foes. Storm causes high elemental area damage. When in the air, it can effortlessly bombard entire groups of enemies and prepare powerful combo attacks .
In the video below from MrTriggahigga of the MeinMMO community, you can see why Storm’s shield was so strong. MrTriggahigga also alerted the author to the nerf. In a reaction to the video, Lead Producer Ben Irving announced the nerf to Storm.
Flying is difficult for developers to balance
The developers wanted Anthem to make everyone feel like a superhero. In the beginning, flying was their primary focus, and the entire gameplay was built around it.
Flying becomes quickly too powerful: In an interview with Jeux Video, the developers explained how tricky it is to find the right balance regarding flying. They want players to be able to live out their power fantasies and feel powerful. However, it should not be the case that players become so powerful that they have no challenges left.
Therefore, the developers designed ways for Javelins to be ripped from the air under certain circumstances. Status effects are among them.
Storm quickly became the most popular Javelin
We at MeinMMO conducted a poll on which Javelin is the most popular. Out of 1,156 participants, it turned out that the majority want to play with Storm. The distribution of the poll results was as follows:
- Place 1: Storm with 35%
- Place 2: Colossus with 26%
- Place 3: Interceptor with 20%
- Place 4: Ranger with 19%
Storm is quite strong: This is actually not surprising, as Storm is shaping up to be a quite powerful Javelin. Especially the long hovering gives it an advantage. Its elemental attacks are the perfect setup for combo attacks.
Combo attacks consist of Primers and Detonators. Primers deal elemental damage and must be applied first. When a player then uses a Detonator attack, it triggers the combo effect, making the attack stronger. Storm, with its elemental attacks, is the perfect combo starter.
What do you think of this Storm nerf? Will the Storm mains among you now look for a different Javelin?
